BAE Saudi arms deal

How many more times will Gordon Brown be expected to cover up the decisions he and Tony Blair took whilst in office?
Ministers under pressure to reopen BAE corruption probe - Guardian Unlimited

Pants on fire, yet again

The High Court has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted unlawfully by dropping a corruption inquiry into a £43bn Saudi arms deal. BBC News.

If I remember correctly Tony Blair had a big hand in stopping this investigation and most people at the time would’ve guessed there was something a bit dodgy surrounding it to say the least.

It now transpires that the SFO and Tony Blair gave in to threats from Saudi Arabia. Surely this is as bad as giving in to the terrorist threat in allowing some one from outside to influence governmental and judicial procedure or practice.

Once again we have been lied to by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

I have a feeling those in the opposition parties and the activist groups who have bought this successful action will not allow it to fade away, and rightly so.

No one is above the law of this land, not even this government and its ex ministers.

I would be happy to see some one in the dock because of this, it probably will not happen, but this could prove to be yet another one of those legacy’s the ex PM and his ‘New Labour’ government would wish to have been forgotten.

More...Guardian Unlimited

Zimbabwe and Olympic games

It will only be a matter of time before Zimbabwe erupts into violence due to the delay in releasing election results. I had thought the idea of having independent monitors of the elections would reduce the possibility of this type of blatant manipulation of the actual outcome, regardless of who has won.

I am still hopeful for the sake of the Zimbabweans that if there is to be a ‘run off’ of the two candidates that it should happen sooner rather than later.

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London and Paris have both had their protests during the Olympic torch relay and now it is the turn of California, who have began their campaign in some style reaching new heights as can be seen in this video of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Let them rest

Breaking news: Diana [The Former Princess] and Dodi Al Fayed were unlawfully killed by a drunken French driver being chased by a reckless pack of paparazzi.

The result of an inquest costing the British Tax payer somewhere in the region of £8m [$4M] some ten years after they died.

And yes, I am being sarcastic – Even now Mohamed Al Fayed has refused to accept the verdict

A Red hot issue - 2008 Olympic torch

What a complete charade the carrying of the ‘Olympic’ torch is and has nothing to do with sport itself. Its progression through London was nothing more than a complete debacle.

As I saw the coverage of the event towards the end the torch’s journey through London I couldn’t help wondering who was paying for the security measures that were more than evident, at times there were so many police officers in yellow hi-vis jackets that it was hard to see the person carrying the baton.

Without politics we would not have had an ancient Olympics let alone a modern one, which also owes so much to the world stage of politics for its reintroduction and continued use today.

The torch carrying through other countries prior to the games commencing was something Nazi Germany began as part of their propaganda campaign prior to the Olympic games of 1936, so there was no politic intent there then!

By accepting the games China has put itself in the spotlight and should expect the type of scrutiny it is now receiving of its human rights record and policy towards Tibet.

People are once again questioning whether sport and politics should mix, that is like asking if a football match should take place without a referee.