RIPs

[Floyd-the-k]

Allen Carr, the anti-smoking guru, died of lung cancer, aged 72

[Art]

Hurrah!

Pity he never got to spend his last days rotting in jail.

Hows Thatcher doing these days?

[Carlsborg Expert]

Allen Carr?





You're frikkin joking ritght?

[Carlsborg Expert]

Right?

[Byron Virgo]

"It makes me a horrible human being, but he really did have it coming, and it's a pity he lasted this long."

Erm...had *what* coming, exactly? Living a long, and highly privaleged life, before dying at the ripe old age of 91? None of the 3000 people his regime had murdered lived to be that age, so why exactly are we supposed to be so fucking happy that he managed to evade justice for so long, and in such a manner? Fact is, he was never put on trial, and now he never will be, so he hasn't had to atone for what he's done, and there's no form of closure for some 30,000 victims of torture in Chilie, who wanted to see him tried for his actions.

"Just that cunt (beloved of student wankers everywhere, and the talent and wit vacuum that is post-Edwards MSP) Castro to go and I can have a good christmas."

Why? Just because some students like him? I'm not trying to defend the guy, but he (or rather the regime) has actually managed to bring about some good things for Cuba (such as the exemplery health service, which would be a hell of a lot better, were it not for American sanctions). I mean, there are a lot of dictators out there who would be higher up my list of cuntery than fucking Castro - what about Robert Mugabe, Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir or Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. These people are all the heads of incredibly violent and corrupt regimes, who seem to want nothing more than to hold on to power to the last, whilst simultaneously running their people into the ground. But according to you, that's not really important, because students don't go around wearing fucking Mugabe t-shirts...

[Dudley]

Pinochet's burning in torment in the firey bowels of hell, boy, is that not enough for you?

[Byron Virgo]

I'd want to see justice done in this life, not the next.

Particularly since all this talk of a 'Hell' is just conjecture based on the pretence of there being some flimsy metaphysical afterlife that, within the bounds of all reasonable probability, doesn't exist in a traditionally monotheistic sense anyway. Or at all.

[Dudley]

When you think of Pinochet, you think of comfy old man in comfy armchair, drinking a final glass of fine whisky before keeling over with a heart attack.

When someone who believes in hell thinks of Pinochet, they think of a man having his balls dipped in molten lead while a demonic horse buggers him with its thorny prick.  At a time like this, that can be comforting.

[Byron Virgo]

But untrue. And somehow, I don't think it's going to be particularly comforting to the surviving victims of his regime.

Link: http://www.remember-chile.org.uk/testimonies/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.remember-chile.org.uk/testimonies/index.htm

[Dudley]

Actually, in a devoutly religious country like Chile, you might be wrong about that.  More to the point, I can't honestly believe that anything could make up for torture, rape or murder.

[Byron Virgo]

No, it can't make up for it, but they can at least get some form of closure by having seen these people go to trial, and actually atone in some form for their crimes, as well as having a political heirachy admit that what they did was wrong.

And, if you judge the responses of some of the torture victims to his death, they seem to be despondant that he got away with it once again, rather than jubillant (also, remember that the Pinochet regime also tortured many foreign nationals, including those from the UK, who were not from 'devoutly religious' nations).

[W. R. Logan]

There was a good bit on 5 Live about Pinochet this afternoon by some author who had written a book about dictators & tyrants.

Whist I know about the torture and murder I never knew that because of Pinochet he ensured Chile got a constitution, brought in democracy and made the country more prosperous than it had ever known. Apparantly once the people got democracy and were alowed to vote he was quite shocked when they voted him out.

[ukdane]

Link: http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=005812" target="_blank">Green Lantern creator, Martin Nodell

http://www.comicon.com/pulse/images_07/0martnodell1.jpg">

[Adrian Bamforth]

I haven't read any Green Lantern but I like that photo.

ADE

[Floyd-the-k]

No, I'm not joking about Carr. I read it in the Grauniad