Once more the glens echo as clans do battle

Well, maybe only if the lawyers (the main beneficiaries of this sort of tussle) decide to discuss the matter with megaphones alfresco. Whatever the outcome, I fail to see what means the eventual owner will have to prevent further vandalism thanks to the blinkered determination of the Scottish Executive to push through the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. While this might pay lip service to "responsible" use of access, the deterrent value therein lies somewhere between zero and next to nothing.
Let's all give another loud HUZZAH! for the Scottish Executive and their "ideals before real world practicality" approach to legislation.

Eye watering? Surely not...

Mouth watering seems much more apt for this.

The ban-athon that is the Labour Party in power

Another week in politics and another ban. Quelle surprise. Whether it be just Scotland or the UK as a whole, the idealogues and anti-{insert fashionable cause here} groups win the day once again. Looking through some of the groups who contributed to the Executive's consultation process in the Analysis of Responses, many of them seem to be quite irrelevant and detached from the matter under consultation: The Vegetarian Society - maybe they though the docked bits of tails were made into vegetarian sausages? West Lothian Animal Rights and Veggies - well, that says it all really, "veggie" by name, "veggie" by nature. Numerous cat groups - some sort of feline revenge for dogs chasing them into the path of speeding vehicles perhaps? Bampots the lot of them. If they have any idea of the hazards that undocked spaniels will now have to face when they are worked then I truly wonder what sort of tortured logic they use to appease their consciences with this latest "victory" for animal welfare.
It might be worthwhile stating that the ban on tail docking could be considered justifiable to prevent docking solely for cosmetic reasons. Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers are two breeds whose tails are regularly docked to obscenely short lengths. However, the inclusion of all working dogs (including police dogs of which quite a few are spaniels) seems to have resulted because of Labour's congenital inability to deal sensibly & fairly with rural issues. Nick Cohen sums it up neatly here, from today's Observer.

Trumpet Blowing

I wonder if this is the dim-witted chap I mentioned in a previous post












©Private Eye

Likewise,












©Private Eye

And finally, something not completely different via The Cabarfeidh Pages -

Something else from Samizdata

Here. Read the comments too if you have time. It must be an essential part of every actor's (in the genderless sense) genetic make-up that they cannot resist making a complete tit of themselves by displaying utter ignorance on a wide range of "right-on" topics. Especially one who is going to make a not insubstantial amount of money from a film series that "glamourises" guns and the people who use them.

Was Fate tempted?

I read this article by Andrew Sullivan earlier in the week via Samizdata and if anything seems eerily prescient with his remark

"If 10,000 angry Muslims had marched in London after the bombing of a major mosque in Iraq, I'd be impressed."

The Askariya shrine in Samarra was destroyed by a bomb on Wednesday yet today has not seen even 1,000 angry Muslims take to the streets of London. Perhaps it's too early to say and there might just be some demonstrations in the days to come. Maybe then we'll be able to see if the Muslim community as a whole is more outraged at the output of Danish cartoonists than the devious bombings of it's very own holy places.

What makes you a legitimate target?

In the eyes of the righteous, it would appear to be free speech.
This article in today's Guardian features Laurie Pycroft, the founder of PRO-Test and one of the speakers at today's march in Cambridge proclaiming support for animal testing. He expects that putting his right to free speech to use will cause him problems:

"The worry is I am going to be targeted for property damage or worse, but it's something I have to live with if I am going to get my point across," he says. "It is sad that in this country where we are meant to have free speech, I can't have free speech without the police coming round and talking to us."

It is scandalous that the police continue to focus the powers of the government's anti-terrorism legislation onto such trivial incidents as hecklers at the Labour Party Conference or a lone female reading out the names of dead soldiers near parliament. Meanwhile, the Taliban-esque core members at the heart of the animal rights movement remain unfettered in their ability to harass, antagonize and ultimately terrorise anyone who they consider as a "legitimate target". The UK is considered as being "an Afghanistan of animal rights extremism" by the US. While this might cause some unease given the tendency of the US to over-exaggerate, it nonetheless emphasises just how easy a ride that these extremists have been given. With the current climate meaning that police resources are focused on Islamic extremism, it could be the case that a different flavour of extremist, every bit as fanatical and dangerous as the religious type, makes an unwanted impact on our liberties.

St Vigeans Church & Pictish Stones

Here are the photos of the church at St Vigeans and of some of the collection of Pictish stones in the nearby museum as briefly mentioned in an earlier post.

St Vigeans Church. Vigean is the Latinised form of Fechan. The name of the Dumfries-shire town of Ecclefechan (and also the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle) is probably an Anglicised form of it's older Gaelic name, meaning "the church of Fechan".

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The Drosten Stone, as famous as Pictish stones get due to it being one of the few to possess an inscription that is not in Ogham, the old Gaelic alphabet. The inscription is located on the bottom of the stone's left flank as viewed in the above picture.

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Note the two priest like figures standing sentinel at either side of the foot of the cross.

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The superb craftmanship evident in this carving gives the stone stag something of a presence. I find the representation of the antlers quite sublime.

A quite pathetic claim to fame, by me.

BBC 1, 7pm last night and "Frontline Scotland" (the programme can be watched again here) featured the use of "Closure Orders" whereby premises that have a history of anti-social behaviour can be boarded up, effectively evicting (albeit temporarily) the inhabitants. The programme featured the Marr family from my home town of Crieff. That particular family name has over the recent decades acquired a certain cache in bonnie Strathearn and as I discovered this morning on Google, has not gone unnoticed by the Sunday tabloids. It has also been noted further afield as far away as Seattle. Funny to think, when I was at High School as a contemporary of Marr jnr, if such a thing as a US- style yearbook had existed, I think it could have been considered as the safest of safe bets that he would not have been labelled "most likely to feature in a tv programme".

Intermission

I was going to post a few pictures of a church and some Pictish carvings I took last week but due to me now being a bit worn around the edges and generally in need of brandy and my Tom Sharpe book, I shall be postponing said pictures until a later date (i.e. as soon as I have worked out how to apply a sepia filter via GIMP).

Oh no! It's the the bobblies...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. That was my first thought after a quick read through this report in today's online edition of the Depressing Journal
Something, however, seemed a little out of place. The appearance of the initials RSPB always sets off the nervous tics of late. No wonder, given whatever it is that their press spokesman seems to be imbibing in order to produce gems such as this:

The RSPB later hailed the outcome as a small victory in its campaign to eradicate the "persecution" of hen harriers by gamekeepers.

How very optimistic of them, especially in light of the fact that

Not guilty pleas to a further two charges, of attempting to kill, injure or take a hen harrier and of intentionally disturbing its young, were also accepted

the gamekeeper having already plead guilty to charges which in a rather ironic sense are usually applied to poachers!
This whole thing bothers me a considerable deal and for (but not limited to) the following reasons:

Do the RSPB provide active assistance to under pressure/lazy journalists?
It would seem so. Where else could the headline "FORMER GAMEKEEPER FINED FOR AIMING GUN AT PROTECTED BIRD" in all it's erroneous glory have come from?

What is the exact role the RSPB in the detection and prosecution of so-called wildlife crimes?
The fact that this case has only just reached the Sheriff Court over two and a half years after the incident would suggest that the RSPB has been more closely involved than perhaps might be proper with regard to due judicial process and the public interest. The RSPB only acts out of it's own self interest whereas the Procurator Fiscal prosecutes cases in the public interest. Did the RSPB's involvement in this case lead to it's dragging on and if so, how much of this was funded by the RSPB? Was undue pressure applied by the RSPB to proceed with charges that would otherwise have been dropped had it merely been "just" a normal police case?

Does the RSPB rely on a generally gullible public, spoon fed stories of dreadful deeds carried out by stereotypical villainous Victorian "gamey" types to furnish it's ever-swelling coffers?
Hey, look! There's a bear over in that wood and it's about to.. eeeuugghhhh!!!

A correction & elucidation

In an earlier post I referred to someone unknown who appeared to be a close relation of Terry F*ckwit, a borderline imbecilic who inhabits the pages of Viz. I can now identify and correctly quote this "cousin" of Terry thanks to a second reading of Saturday's Guardian and this nugget, the continuation of the leading article that was somewhat unfortunately tucked away near the bottom of the second page:

Anjem Choudhary, one of the leaders of the demonstration, refused to condemn the threat of another suicide attack in London on the scale of the July 7 bombings as a result of the perceived insult to Islam. "I am not in the business of condoning or condemning," he said.

Oooh, synchronicity!

Just a few moments ago in another post I mentioned "hing-oots". Well, see if you can spot one here.

Cartoon capers - never a dull moment

Berenike has this to say on the matter over at ex Laodicea and follows on with this pithy observation.

I'd like to dedicate this post to these characters who have helped prove the point I made in commenting on Berenike's first post.

The controversy took an unusual turn with a Belgian-Dutch Islamic political organisation posting anti-Jew cartoons on its website on Saturday. The Arab European League's site carried a disclaimer saying the images were used as part of an exercise in free speech rather than to endorse their content. One showed an image of Anne Frank in bed with Hitler. Dyab Abou Jahjah, the party's founder, defended the action on Dutch television, saying: "Europe has its sacred cows, even if they're not religious sacred cows."

- the Guardian.

A victory for the demagogues of Islam

oooh, I seem to have come over all Daily Mail editor-ish there. I do apologise.
A potted history from what I have read so far -

• The Jyllands-Posten published the cartoons in late September of last year. Yes, that's (counts fingers) over four months ago. The cartoons can be viewed here, as linked to via the Guardian.
  
• As predictably as night follows day, protests follow pretty much immediately, albeit mainly local and small scale.
• Some honourable chappies in the form of "ultra-conservative imans" tour the Middle East with copies of the cartoons and just to spice things up a bit, a few others of unknown provenance that really do go beyond the pale. No doubt all in the spirit of furthering religious tolerance and breaking down barriers between the faiths. Such selfless behaviour should not go unrecognised. I believe the Dundonian vernacular of "hing-oots" best fits the spirit of such people.
  
• A hissy fit is taken by a number of Islamic countries as they recall their ambassadors from Denmark. Ferrero Rocher report a slump in sales.
• Tuesday of last week sees a number of European papers decide that they too will publish the cartoons.
• Cue more outrage (as an aside, how many of the protesters have seen these images first hand?) and protests.
  
• Oddly enough, some breaking down of barriers does take place but not in a good way.
• Jack Straw exhibits his well practiced "kipper" capabilities and praises the UK press for their (non) handling of the cartoons.
• Muslims of all sorts gather at the Danish Embassy in London and some particularly gifted individuals make the most of their right to free speech by denouncing said right to free speech. Someone who turns up at a protest with a banner proclaiming "Freedom of expression, go to hell" is either the Viz character "Terry F*ckwit" made real or some foolhardy aspirant taking part in some sort of extreme street-theatre/comedy type thing. Somehow, I suspect the former to be the case.
• It seems Terry has a close relation when another protester, asked if the publication of such cartoons would justify more attacks along the lines of the July 7th atrocities starts his reply with the words "I'm not here to condemn or condone." Really? Just out to take the air were you? Can't beat a nice sunny winter's day, do a bit of chanting, burn a flag or two, maybe an effigy if you can spare the time before exclusively revealing to the nation via the Guardian just how much of a retarded oxygen thief you are. Well, consider it a success.
  

The summary kind of went off the rails a little and there has been enough ranting by people to fuel an intergalactic fleet of spacecraft (presuming that such fleet were to exist of course, far less be capable of using vocal output as a viable means of propulsion). So if anyone is still reading, I'm off to take a series of deep breaths and a goodly sized dram of Glen Serotonin in the form of Springbank's 12 year old malt whisky.