On March 28th this year, I posted on my own blog a commemorative piece on a murder which took place some eighteen months ago, and the purpose was to remind readers of the manner of the investigation surrounding his death, as opposed to the huge publicity surrounding another, but seemingly much higher-profile death in Liverpool!

I heard the really good news this afternoon that the killer is up on trial at last, and hope that, if found guilty of this killing, he will be sentenced to life behind bars! The bad news of course is that in Britain, life usually means some eight or nine years in comfortable surroundings; t.v. on demand and ‘human rights’ to the fore! Instead of a just and harsh punishment for taking this man’s life, this clown will be out in eight, or even less if the current trends are seen to come true. With the new Sec. State for Justice, (Charlie Faulkner to his buddies) at the helm, the average is gonna’ come down, because the one thing that Nu Labour doesn’t like is to hold crims in the slammer for long periods, as this is usually seen as a prerogative of the old-time Tory Party!

So remember Richard Whelan, and my apologies to the Metropolitan Police for any remarks made in anger about their speed in finding this murderer, and hence bringing him to the limited amount of Justice still available in this pleasant land!

World Climate Report, the world’s longest running climate change blog, reports on an article recently published in Geophysical Research Letters which seems to have slipped by the MSM.

Global warming has hit Neptune!!

Both Mars and Neptune have now been observed to be warming as the sun gets warmer – and we’re supposed to believe that the earth is any different? Something of an inconvenient truth for a certain Al Gore, but it’s kind of ironic that the observation of a gaseous lump has revealed the fallacies behind the observations of another gaseous lump.

Following on from David’s post about the number of spoiled papers in the election to the Scottish parliament, I thought this little gem of wisdom would be quite appropriate.

It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

Josef Stalin

Alright, let’s try this one! Has Scotland got the worlds most stupid electorate?

The reason I ask this superficially offensive question is that it has been revealed today that the number of rejected votes in the Scottish elections was much higher than previously thought. It had been estimated that about 100,000 ballots had been discounted, mainly because of errors in the way they were completed. Figures obtained from returning officers show the final tally of rejected votes was almost 142,000.  This is a MASSIVE figure and makes a farce out of some results where the winning margin was less than the rejected votes! I also read that the greatest level of rejected ballots coincided with some of the "poorest parts" of Scotland. So, are poor Scots just stupid or are the politicians who designed this system even stupider?

Just read that the DUP MLA George Dawson has died after a brief illness. I knew George well, and am very sorry to hear this news.  He died a young man – only 45 years – and I would like to pass on my condolences  to his family circle.

Hello.

I’m Stan. For the last few months I have been posting on my own blog, Ranting Stan, on various subjects that interest or annoy me.

I’m delighted and somewhat bemused to have been invited by David to join the ATW team. Delighted, because it is a strong team with excellent writers posting eloquent and thought-provoking articles – bemused, because i’m not sure that my ramblings are up to the quality this site deserves. But, hey – what the heck!

I was wondering what I could write that would give you some idea about my personal philosophy. The truth is, DumbJon over on the excellent House of Dumb, encapsulated it in a single paragraph more adroitly than I could ever do. So, with apologies to Jon for shamelessly pinching his words – here it is …

Liberals disparage traditional morality as irrational and self-evidently absurd, but where’s the evidence for their lifestyle ? Civilisation has been around long enough now for us to have a pretty good idea what works and what doesn’t. In that sense, traditional morality is just the accumulated wisdom of ages on how to run a society. It’s the post-1960s consensus that’s arbitrary and unsupported. Are we really living in the one moment of human history where everything that we’ve ever known about successful cultures no longer applies ?

That pretty well sums up my own views. I’m a conservative – small c, not a Cameron supporting Tory – who believes that we, as in this generation, do not own this nation but are merely the caretakers of it. As such we have a responsibility to maintain and look after it until the time comes when we can hand over the reins to the next generation. It is our responsibility to look after something immeasurably precious and to ensure that what we hand over is an ordered and secure nation. As a conservative I believe that successful change is achieved not by huge leaps in the dark on untried and untested radical theories, but by small steps that are designed and planned in such a way as not to cause irrevocable damage and that are reversible if they are found to be failing.

A big thanks to David for inviting me to join ATW and giving me the chance to annoy the hell out of liberals as much as I can.

Well now, the international media have upped camp and slouched home and our new "hard-working" political/terrorist caste here in Northern Ireland have rolled up their sleeves and are getting down to the really important business of …. photo opportunities. Yes, I read that our new devolved (ain’t that the truth) Ministers are to be out and about today, doing all those really crucially important things required of them – and Im sure tomorrow’s press will dutifully reflect this.  Anyone who doubts how Government can control the media agenda need only reflect on the universal positive coverage afforded to yesterday’s depravity. The media ENJOY the phony narrative that it was all about "old foes" laying aside ancient emnities and sitting down to work together. It wasn’t. It was about democrats laying down their principles and accepting terrorists into power. An obscenity – little wonder the MSM loved it.

Yesterday was a strange day. We had the world’s media over here in Northern Ireland, feasting on the new political arrangement which provides power-sharing for terrorists. Not sure if the media picked up on the fact that IRA/Sinn Fein had invited Palestinians, Basque separatists and Colombian agitators to the affair. At least Al Queda weren’t present but since this is the first western administration that contains terrorists, maybe they’ll get an invite – the City airport is nearby. I have to say I found the entire event to be a distasteful pantomime and the fall of the DUP into the mire is complete. Martin and Ian are welcome to the mess of pottage at Stormont.

We have also discovered that cyber troll “Sean” has set up a site which steals copy from ATW and then allows a small band of IRA sympathisers to comment. Big deal. I have more things to concern myself than with the pathetic attempts of sick individuals. Those such as Chris Gaskin and Phantom should know better than to inhabit such a sewer, but seeing as how Chris links it to his own site, maybe he should now consider ATW off-limits. Those who used my fathers death on Sean’s sick site to attack me are literally the scum of the earth. Can I ask ALL ATW readers to refrain from any further debate with these mentally ill people?

On a much more positive front, I can confirm that we have a new addition to the ATW team! Yes, I a delighted that Ranting Stan will be posting here as and when the muse takes him. Stan runs a really well written site and I think he will add a lot to ATW. Welcome on board Stan – and I’m sure the rest of the team will join with me in wishing you every best wish over here!

Michael Yon reports again from Iraq.