The U.S. and its bizarre 'plea bargain' system of criminal justice

Firstly, I am vehemently opposed to to the use of capital punishment - state sanctioned killing, in peacetime, is no different (in the moral universe I inhabit) than killing committed by individuals or groups.

The 'Green River' killer, Gary Ridgway, yesterday agreed to statements read out in court by prosecutor Jeff Baird in front of Judge Richard Jones in the King County Superior Court (State of Washington), as part of his plea bargain agreement with state prosecutors, to avoid the death penalty. He admits to killing 48 women.

It is only recently that DNA evidence linked Ridgway to the killings (by strangulation), which took place betwen 1982 and 1984. He was arrested in 2001. Some of Ridgway's statements, as quoted in a BBC report:

The mindset of a pitiless killer "I wanted to kill as many women as I thought were prostitutes as I possibly could." "Most of the time I killed them the first time I met them, and I do not have a good memory of their faces." "I hate most prostitutes and I did not want to pay them for sex." "I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught."

So, not a character to elicit much sympathy.

I imagine the reason for the prosectuion agreeing to this plea bargain is that the DNA evidence is not strong enough to convict him outright - and for him to be executed outright. Or perhaps there are statute of limitations constraints. Not that I am encouraging the use of the death penalty, quite the reverse, but the whole idea of agreeing not to use the legal sanction in place, specifically because the killer has admitted to the killings is a logic a little beyond my undertanding. I would far rather that the death penalty was abolished completely in the United States, but while it is in place it seems hypocritical to do this kind of deal with a man who is quite obviously evil. From the way the court proceedings were conducted, including the participation of Ridgway (all seen on television here), it is clear he is not 'mad', nor 'unfit to plead'. It is also perplexing to me that Ridgway still wants to live, albeit incarcerated for the rest of his life, rather than take the quick route out.

Is it because he is white and quite a lot of the relatives I saw in the courtroom are black? Or is there some other aspect I am missing? Would he have received the same treatment in another part of the United States?

All seems quiet - haven't heard any fireworks for around 15 minutes

.... so it's about time for me to take the 'doggette' for her final walk and for me to get to bed soon after we get back.

Atkins Diet - BBC2 'Money Programme' broadcast today at 7.30pm

Thie is the text of an e-mail I just sent to the link from the BBC 'Money Programme' website:

Hello I have just watched your programme with much interest - I am an Atkins dieter. It was very enjoyable, but I half-expected to hear that the diet would be debunked on a factual basis. True, there were lots of accusations - which I've heard MANY times before - but in reality it seemed just to be peddlers of carbohydrates bleating about the crisis in their markets. As a committed free-marketeer I have some advice for potato and grain growers - switch to other things for at least part of your production, for example salads and some other vegetables which aren't saturated with carbs generally or sugar in particular (i.e. carrots). That's the 'business' bit, that should appeal to the food-producers' accountants. I started the diet on 15 June 2003 when my weight was 216 lb - my height is 5' 7" and I am 51 years old. As at Sunday 2nd November I had lost almost 59 lb. I have about 14 lb left to reach my target. Since about 2 weeks I moved from the 'Induction' phase to the 'Ongoing Weight Loss' stage. I expect to stay on this until mid-December when my target is to have about 7 or 8 lb left to lose. I will then move to 'Pre-maintenance' and plan to take until end-March to reach my target (i.e. over about 3 1/2 months). I had my blood checked out about 8 weeks ago and all my cholesterol levels (HDL/LDL) are now 'normal' as, of course, is my blood pressure. I check my BP at home regularly using a home monitor I have had for years. I feel better now than I have for many years and have the great morale boost of having lost over 11 inches on my waist and 8 inches on my hips and appropriate amounts elsewhere. The purchase of a new wardrobe, still continuing, is a very enjoyable experience - and as I live entirely without any kind of credit (I must be one of the few people who can genuinely say this!) I am entirely without guilt at my current spending spree. I use credit cards only as a convenience and the balances are settled automatically by direct debits or the equivalent (in certain other countries). As one of those featured on the programme said, if hard evidence (not just scare stories by people with vested interests) is presented showing the diet to be dangerous in the long-term then I shall certainly study it very carefully before continuing with the diet. Meanwhile, I plan to continue eating according to Dr Atkins principles for the rest of my life. Personally I have not felt the need to indulge in any of the low-carb products becoming more widely available - I have no 'cravings' whatsoever. The only indulgence I plan is to have 1 (repeat 1) small roast potato on Christmas Day. I am perfectly happy with my new diet - for someone who has been a perpetual snacker all his life until now, that is pretty incredible - even to me. Thanks again for a most interesting programme. Sincerely Bill Cameron

Holyrood Inquiry - what I suspected all along

It starts to get quite personal. Lord Fraser said:

A pretty obvious inference “It might appear to a member of the public that this whole exercise was something of a sham and misleading."

- referring to the competition to choose a site for the new Scottish Parliament building.

"Great Britain 5th for e-government"

- and top for "willingness to interact with citizens over the net". Interesting article here - I don't know if there's a permalink, so it may disappear off the page quickly.

Luke Walmsley
Rest in Peace



I've been trying to work out how to react to this. It is simply grotesque and outrageous.

It is not even as if horrors affecting children are specially unusual nowadays. There's this, this and this - and many others. No more!

'Guy Fawkes Day' photographs taken at Nairn shore

The photograph shows the view from the viewpoint distance marker to the harbour and the sand dunes at Findhorn beyond it.



There are some more photographs here.

Anti-gay storm in Scottish Parliament equal opportunities committee meeting

The BBC is reporting a homophobic outburst from Ghulam Nabi of the UK Islamic Mission, who stated to the committee:

Islamic homophobia "... gay couples do not serve any purpose in society."

Charming!

And just so our friends in the Roman Catholic Church don't feel left out, here's what Catholic priest John Keenan said, adding his criticisms to the plans to give homosexual couples equal legal rights:

Roman Catholic homophobia "marriage between man and woman is the best context for...the proper development of society."

It's really just like in the 'good old days' of the late and much-unlamented Cardinal Thomas Winning.

Is Michael Portillo scheduled for a shock return to front-bench politics?

Personally I hope so, although I am not exactly holding my breath. It was notable that in 'Breakfast with Frost' last Sunday morning, he did not categorically deny that he would decline to serve in a Michael Howard Shadow Cabinet, although he has recently categorically denied that he envisages ever becoming Leader of the Conservative Party - prior to the recent vote of confidence on Iain Duncan Smith he stated candidly, and correctly, that there was no point in putting his name forward because he did not have sufficient support within the Party. Unpalatable, and the loss is far greater to the Party than I expect it is to Portillo, but it's a fact. What he did say though, during the David Frost session, was that he did not expect to receive a call from Michael Howard, although he strongly endorsed his candidature.

However, this article in DeHavilland which I spotted a little while ago gives some hope that this may yet occur and they speculate he may replace Oliver Letwin as Shadow Home Secretary, who is widely thought to be slated for the Shadow Chancellor position. We can but live in hope!

BBC Radio Scotland on Freeview

I mentioned a little further down the page that BBC Radio Scotland is organising a 'Blogday' today, for 16 bloggers based in Scotland. When I was contacted about this, a week or so ago I think, I mentioned that I rarely if ever listened to Radio Scotland (I know, I'm rapping my knuckles as I type!), mainly being a Radio4 or Radio3 person - shows my vintage, I suppose. Anyway, I noticed a few weeks ago when I last updated my Freeview playlist that BBC Radio Scotland has been added to the menu and is on Freeview 89, if anyone is interested.

Of course, the digital quality of Freeview means it is completely distortion-free, which can sometimes be a problem with FM in certain weather conditions. In this part of Scotland, too, we don't yet receive digital radio broadcasts per se, so the only way of receiving them is on Freeview (and probably on satellite, too, but as I don't have that wired in - there's a dish on the roof of our building - I'm not certain about that). Another radio channel I now listen to pretty frequently is the BBC World Service (Freeview 80), as coverage on medium wave up our way is pretty sporadic and it's nearly impossible to pick up on Short Wave as the beams aren't directed at us.

Now, to bring this back more or less 'on topic' (!), I thought as part of the 'Blogday' thingie I should at least make an effort and listen to BBC Radio Scotland at least a little - and indeed the morning programme I'm listening to at present is quite interesting in parts, so perhaps I'll flick the switches a little more in future. I tend to listen to it, when I do, in the car as the FM reception is sometimes better than on the other channels I listen to, for example Classic FM, when I'm driving in remote areas. Even on the A9 there is a bit just north of Bruar for about 20 or 30 miles where even Long Wave reception becomes impossible because of the deep valleys the road passes through - so then I resort to the CD.