Teeth and Terrorists

The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has still to give us his opinion on whether Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, was right in releasing the so-called Lockerbie bomber, Abdel-baset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his own Westminster Government freed Ronnie Biggs, one of the Great Train Robbery perpetrators, just a few weeks earlier. Like Megrahi, he (Biggs) has never shown remorse for the crimes that they had been convicted of. There was never any doubt about Biggs’ involvement, but most would agree that Megrahi was simply a pawn in a much wider political game. Whatever the rights and wrongs of his release, I find it highly objectionable that FBI director Robert Mueller should criticise Mr MacAskill – I think he should look closer to home, where he will find a justice system that isn’t exactly squeaky clean. Despite his Government’s statements to the contrary, political prisoners have been and still are, tortured, and futher afield, some of their military haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory whilst serving in Iraq. Innocent men, women, and children there have been tortured and slaughtered by them, so I think Mr Mueller should have a look at the beam in his own eye before commenting on the splinter in ours.

As someone with an interest in money, or more precisely, the lack of it, I don’t suppose I should have been surprised when I read that some dentists in Scotland are fairly raking it in nowadays. 24 of them earned over £300,000 last year, with 138 having over £200,000 jangling in their pockets. They seem to have become experts at more than just filling molar cavities.

I’m not sure how many KPWs they could earn in North Korea, but there might soon be vacancies for more dentists in that country of povert and nuclear weapons. In yet another demonstration of his love for the people of North Korea, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il has decided to expand the list of foods they will never get a chance to enjoy.No longer must the average worker restrict his hungry fantasizing to such staples as rice, beef, kimchi, and tofu. Now he can take pride in knowing that while he and his family waste away with malnutrition, the country’s elite are enjoying such exotic foreign items as pizza and hamburgers. It seemed like big news when word leaked out that North Korea was producing its own Taedong River Beer, but throw in hamburgers and pizza as well, and you can’t help thinking we’re witnessing the disintegration of the workers’ paradise as we knew it. What’s next for Pyongyang, popcorn and the Superbowl?