The view from afar...

It's difficult finding news on the Times online website, unlike the Telegraph that has a button which you click and a drop down menu appears and you can pick those stories which tickle your fancy. So, I usually rely on the Fink's Comment Central to see what he has trawled from the newspapers. Not so today, the Times had four stories all about Tony Blair. 'Why?' I wondered. It was not until I read three, and got started on the fourth, did it emerge that today Blair has gone to Washington to meet his master. Sit!

It's not exactly clear from the photo, but Blair and Bush are holding hands like a pair of gay lovers. The Times headline reads "The inside story on Bush, Blair and that special relationship". Usually, a dog cocks its leg and pees on a bush. The difference here is that Bush screws dog. Well and truly screwed. Admittedly, Bush has rewarded the traitor with the US Congressional Gold Medal of Honour for his war crimes. However, the Blair poodle won't fetch it and bring it back. He fears the wrath of his real masters.

Gordon Brown has recently been over to the States, but maintains that he desires to keep a respectable distance from being controlled by the Whitehouse. This is probably a wise move because Blair lost hell of a lot of respect by obeying Bush rather than asking what the electorate over here wanted from him. Cameron upset the Bush administration with his anti-American speech on the 5th anniversary of 9/11. Since then, the Tories have sent over a couple of envoys, first David Davis, and then George Osborne, to try and tell Bush that they are sorry and that they are really nice people after all, but Bush has snubbed both of them.

It would be a shame if at the next election the electorate voted in the Tories just because of this British/American rift. Blair has alienated the people from the Labour Party. However, it is worrying that there are secret links between some Tories and the BNP. I don't accept that the Tories have changed at all. If there is a change, it is not for the better. In the blogosphere it has emerged that a Tory/BNP link exists, and this can only be a change for the worse.

Exclusive: Virginia Tech blog in Cho Seung-Hui denial against the US constitution - "He whos name cannot be spoken"

Planetblacksburg is the student run blog at Virginia Tech where recently Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 students and staff before killing himself. It was a tragic event. However, just when the European Union is making holocaust denial a criminal offence across Member States, it does not seem appropriate for students in the media to attempt to rewrite history by not mentioning Cho Seung-Hui's name on their blog anymore. America makes such a play on its constitution and the right to freedom of expression. This is how the editor made the announcement:

"Editor’s Note: This is one of the final articles planetblacksburg.com will publish in regards to Cho Seung-Hui. He has dishonored the special community that is Virginia Tech. After Wednesday, April 18, 2007, his name will not be mentioned again by this student media organization".

It is a shame that censorship of this nature is brought into play. I think this is one of the situations where it is better to adopt a Lest We Forget stance than lets not mention his name. It is the kind of position more likely to be taken in a primary school or kindergarten rather than an institution preparing teenagers for adulthood. I hope that the editor rethinks this position and that it is better to come to terms with it than try and run away from it.

UPDATE: It would appear that Virginia Tech has turned into Hogwarts school according to this commenter on the planetblacksburg blog ""We said the killer's name will not be mentioned again on our website." Sounds like you kids have read the Harry Potter books a few too many times. It's a bit like "He who's name cannot be spoken." Don't let fear take over".

Posted by Sidney | April 20, 2007 12:22 PM

State of Tennessee Department of Corrections sued over lethal injections

Nashville Scene files suit against against the DOC
Posted April 17th, 2007 by Ginger
Categories: Current Events, Job

Back in February, Governor Bredesen issued an order that the Tennessee Department of Corrections conduct a thorough review of the state’s lethal injection protocol. In a previous post, I outlined some of the reasons that this review is urgent.

Let’s review those in layman’s terms, shall we?

1) The execution procedure manual is a joke. It was written by a prison warden who has no medical knowledge whatsoever to decide how lethal injection should be administered.

2) A 90-day moratorium on executions is nowhere near enough time to conduct the kind of review needed to reform the policies and procedures.

3) The details of the review have been kept secret. From the public and the media.

Well now, The Nashville Scene is officially telling the Department of Corrections to cut the crap and disclose whatever the hell it is they are hiding from us.

According to The City Paper, the Scene went through the proper procedures to request the documentation twice, on February 16th and then again on March 21st, but to no avail.

All reviews have been conducted in secret, with the exception of one lame excuse for a hearing that only lasted 40 minutes (see description of hearing from Diploma Boy in this comment).

Now the courts will have to decide whether this information is truly “privileged” or if the press has a right to access the details of a review that could have a profound affect on the future of our death penalty procedures.

I say kudos to Liz Garrigan and The Scene for taking the good ‘ol boys to task.

Hat-Tip to Gingersnaps across the pond for this interesting post.