Yesterday, there was still a lot of concern being expressed in the media about the apparent failure o the authorities to prevent the murder of the three young schoolchildren in Southport during the summer by a deranged teenager. This unhappy individual was well known to several agencies including the anti-terrorism programme called 'Prevent' as it looked as though none of the dots had been joined up. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has announced a wide ranging review from which, no doubt, and belatedly some governmental policy will emerge to deal with this problem. The root of the problem seems to be both we think about and actually define 'terrorism' as the young adolescent concerned, despite using the internet for a range of malevolent ends including the manufacture of the nerve poison ricin was not the adherent of a particular ideology and therefore well outside the definition of 'terrorist' The governmental bodies are trying to hastily rectify this omission but disturbed adolescent boys sitting in front of their computer do not fall within the way that we normally think of as 'terrorist'. If we defined 'terrorist' as any individual who for whatever reason is contemplating or committing acts that terrorise, then we might get a bit nearer to the nub of the problem but as several newspapers have been pointing out, extending the definition of 'terrorist' in this way brings perhaps thousands of disturbed male adolescents with access to the internet within the purview of the authorities and as well as raising the questions of what practically can be done about it by police and judicial authorities. Just in passing, I might point out that Donald Trump in his recent outpourings and a slew of judicial orders is now defining the drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia as terrorist organisations and if we were to accept this nee elasticity of the term, then 'terrorism' become anything pf which the government forcefully disapproves which is quite a challenge to the concepts that lie at the heart of a liberal democracy. Incidentally, I do not think Trump was necessarily wrong in this respect but, by the same token, it is a bit of a stretch, to define the USA as a liberal democracy these days. The pardoning of the 1500 Capitol invaders by Donald Trump which is conflating some bystanders with those armed with weapons inflicting real harm to police officers is even causing concern to some Republicans. It remains an interesting question whether any of these 1500 cases of an official pardon will be challenged in the courts and who will bring the challenge in any case? No doubt, this will play out in the weeks ahead. My quick research on this subject reveals that for those with pending charges, it means the Department of Justice has to drop the charges. For those who had already been convicted, a pardon will not erase their criminal record — only expungement does that. The pardoned individual still has to ask the court to expunge their record. The pardon does restore rights, like voting or holding public office or having access to firearms.
A bit of a counter blast to the Trump presidency went viral today. In a post inauguration church service, a female bishop called Mariann Edgar Budde pleaded with Trump thus from the pulpit: 'In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in democratic, republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.' Turning her attention to asylum seekers she continued to explain 'the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings and those who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals..I ask you to have mercy, Mr President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. ...And that you help those who are fleeing war and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here...Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.' Her comments came after Mr Trump promised to carry out the biggest deportation in US history and his executive order stating the government will recognise only two sexes. Trump looked at the floor, scowled and his face was like thunder as he muttered to his aides. Afterwards we got the Trump counter blast which was as vituperative as they come. In a late-night post on his social media platform Truth Social, he called Bishop Budde a 'radical left hardline Trump hater' and said she was 'nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart... She brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way... Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job. She and her church owe the public an apology.' And to cap it all, Republican congressman Mike Collins shared a video of the sermon on X (where else?) writing: 'The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.'
Today, I wheeled Meg down into town so that I could pick up my copy of the newspaper. Our domestic help had called around instead of Friday and she was pleased to see that Meg seemed to be recovering from her chest infection and was coming out of herself a little. I received a phone call from the SALT team wanting to make an appointment to see Meg to see if they help with her swallowing of fluids but this clashed with the time I have my shopping 'slot' tomorrow so I had to ask them to make a reappointment time. I also received a message coming round to service Meg's hospital bed next week. We are looking forward to the delivery of a new specialised mattress tomorrow which may help prevent the development of bed sores, so this is truly to be welcomed. So at the moment, lots of services seem to be activated the only frustrating thing people that when people ring, they only give it about 4-5 rings and by the time I get to the relevant phone the caller has not remained on the line.
© Mike Hart [2025]