Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

Conversation with 12 year old daughter yesterday about GAP clothing store:

"If I walked around Kirkton with a GAP t-shirt I'd get my head kicked in"

"Why's that?"

"Cause GAP stands for Gay And Proud"

"Is that why you don't shop there?"

"No I don't shop there cause it's shite!"

Brit Tornados To Enforce Libya No-Fly Zone

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that British fighter jets are being deployed immediately to enforce a United Nations no-fly zone in Libya. "At Cabinet this morning, we agreed the UK will play its part," Mr Cameron told the House of Commons.

"Britain will deploy Tornados and Typhoons as well as air-to-air refuelling and surveillance aircraft."

Mr Cameron added: "Our forces will join an international operation to enforce the resolution if Gaddafi fails to comply with its demand that he ends attacks on civilians.

"Preparations to deploy these aircraft have already started and in the coming hours they will move to bases from where they can start to take the necessary action."

Hague Holds Hoedown Hand

The United Nations Security Council late last night approved a resolution on Libya, authorising a no-fly zone and "all necessary measures" to enforce it in order to protect civilians under threat of attack from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UN resolution was necesary "to avoid greater bloodshed and to try to stop what is happening on civilians."

Let's see what happens over the next few days as Hague gets his finger on the trigger.

To Bankers Everywhere

Tax Payers' Bank Boss Takes Plenty

Hot on the heels of Barclays Bob Diamond receving a handsome multi-million pound windfall, Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester has received bonus shares worth £4.5 million on top of a £2 million annual bonus and an annual salary of £1.2 million. The bank is owned by the tax payer to the tune of 83%. Trade union Unite described the bonus as a 'disgrace'.

Barclays Bankers' Bonus Bonanzas

New chief executive of Barclays, the aptly named, Bob Diamond has received a £6.5 million bonus. He recently said the time for 'remorse and apology' from bankers should end. His bonus was dwarfed by other colleagues including Jerry del Missier who got £33 million in shares and Co-Chief Executive Rich Ricci with £24 million in shares.

Mr Diamond's pay deal was labelled 'extraordinary greed' by Labour MP John Mann, who questioned him at a treasury select committee hearing in January. Dave Prentice, General Secretary at at public sector union Unison, said, "The time for remorse is far from over - we want to see bankers accepting they must pay off the debt they caused.'

There will be more cash to come for Mr Diamond who became Chief Executive in January with a salary of £1.35 million and incentive bonus shares of up to £6.7 million next year. Barclays top earner, who is unnamed was paid £10.9 million.

History is Now

As a youngster I had very little interest in history. It always seemed to be for boring fuddy duddies who appeared as old as the relics they drooled over. As a child I used to think that history was what had gone before and that in modern peace time society, there were no historical events. As I have gotten older, I have become more aware of history as being something that is a living, breathing thing. It happened then but it is also happening now. There's just no getting away from it and you might as well embrace it on your own terms. It has of course become easier to embrace history as I have become a passive (and sometimes active) witness to the major historical events have occurred since then. The first moon landing. That miraculous save by Gordon Banks. The three-day week. On the march with Ally's Army. The Thatcher Government. The death of John Lennon. Fred and Rosemary West. The televised murder trial of OJ Simpson. A new millennium. 9/11.

One of the most bizarre moments in living history must surely have been the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003. We were "treated" to a series of incomprehensible events during that period. We had one of Saddam's right hand men, "Chemical Ali" telling news reporters that they have fought back and held the American invaders whilst in camera shot we see an American tank rolling down the street. Later, in a very simple news conference, the words, "we got him" rung around the world as Saddam was located in an underground hideaway which looked like the size of an upturned telephone box, a stark contrast to the lavish and spacious lifestyle he was afforded by his own dictatorship. The trial by the Iraqi special tribunal that followed contained almost farcical moments with Saddam and his lawyers contesting the court's authority and maintaining that he was still the President of Iraq. Lastly, his execution was captured on mobile phone and released for all to see on YouTube. Technology and history coming together in a ghoulish, but strangely seductive way.

Now, the Gaddafi regime is under enormous pressure and although it appears that his son is trying to promote reform from within by reinventing the constitution, I wonder if it is just too late in the day. Too many insiders have jumped ship. He has lost power but has he lost control? Perhaps the only control the people of Libya will accept is that Gaddafi is toppled in a manner that is "Saddamesque".

Already, American families who lost their loved ones in the Lockerbie bombing are calling for summary execution. Their death calls seem to be gaining some support from Libyan Government defectors who are now claiming the bombing was ordered directly by Gaddafi. They want to see him hang. They might yet have their day. And history will continue to both entice and repel, in equal doses.