As you probably know by now, Scotland has released the man convicted of the Lockerbie-bombing on ‘compassionate grounds’.

Without delving in to the debate of whether he’s actually guilty (there are strong reasons to suspect he was innocent), the facts are simple: Al-Megrahi is dying of cancer, and Scottish law has a rule about terminally ill convicts. Al-Megrahi’s release is simply an adherence to this rule.

A very commendable rule, in my opinion. Justice, you see, is not about revenge, no matter how many Americans seem to confuse these two concepts. Justice is about protecting society and rehabilitating offenders. It’s not about “an eye for an eye” or other equally medieval mantras.

Scotland has done a brave thing. They’ve adhered to their own rules, their own concept of justice, regardless of what the Big Bully on the block has to say about it. They’ve stood up for what they believe in, and I admire that.

What I do have a problem with is the hero’s welcome Al-Megrahi received in Libya. Not a very subtle move, and a bit of a “fuck you” towards the West.

I’m looking forward to Al-Megrahi’s side of the story which, with the appeal dropped, he is now free to tell. A shallow scan of the Lockerbie trial shows the prosecution’s case leaned heavily on a single eyewitness account to confirm a fragile link between Al-Megrahi and the explosive device that caused the disaster.

And we already know how notoriously unreliable eyewitnesses are.

Seeing as how many Americans inexplicably believe emulating Europe is a Bad Thing, I find this study to be utterly hilarious. It’s the annual index of best cities in the world to live.

As should be no surprise to any well-thinking individual, European cities dominate the list. Massively so. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 are European, with seven European cities in the top 10 and a total of seventeen in the top 30.

The first American city on the list is Honolulu at number 29. Arguably one of the least American cities that is technically a part of the United States.

Additional hilarity is caused by number 30 - San Francisco, the USA’s second contribution to the list. You know, that liberal city with its abundance of gayness and alternative lifestyles. A city nearly universally despised by its own country.

And the cherry on the cake is the city that ranks last on the list, i.e. the Worst Place in the World to live. It’s a city that has obviously benefited so much from its ‘liberation’ at the hands of the Americans: Baghdad.

A right-wing pundit with a pole up his ass the size of the Eiffel tower is complaining that an Obama presidency would result in the “Europeanization of America.” Which he seems to conclude is a Very Bad Thing.

Yes, it must be bad for America to start looking more like Europe, because Europe is this dreadful part of the world where people have lower standards of living, a lower life expectancy, more crime, and less happiness.

Eh, wait.

Actually, America’s standards of living are lower. On the December 2008 UN Human Development Index, the USA ranked 15th on standards of living. 11 European countries precede it on the list.

Life expectancy in the USA is a few years shorter than in Europe. On the World Life Expectancy chart the USA ranks 27th. Nineteen European countries are ranked higher.

Crime rates are generally much higher in the USA than in most western European nations, with significantly higher murder and assault rates per capita.

A 2006 study aimed at creating a world map of happiness showed that the top four happiest countries in the world are all in Europe, with 11 European nations ranked in the top 20. The USA ranked 23rd.

Yes, the Europeanization of America would be a bad thing. We wouldn’t want the USA to become civilized, would we?

The fact that Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are the primary Republican candidates for the presidential election is really such a powerful statement about the state of the Republican party and US politics in general, that you really can’t make a joke about it that surpasses reality in outrageousness and insanity.

Well, I suppose a joke with Ayatollah Khomeini as the punchline would come close. But only just.

And they wonder why we think they’re all a bunch of morons over there.

More reporting on this knee-jerk panic reaction here, here and here.

I hate flying. It’s not that I’m afraid of it - contrary to the idiotic masses of humankind I’m not particularly intimidated or brainwashed by fear mongering authorities and rating-craving media channels. If one plane fell out of the sky every fucking week I’d still merrily get on one, since it’d still be infinitely safer than getting in my car and driving to work.

No, I hate flying because it’s cramped, noisy and mind-retardingly boring. I’m a big fellow and airplane seats are fit to spec for smurfs. When I manage to ignore the screeching engines, wailing children, snoring elderly and bitching flight attendants, I’m still faced with the task of entertaining myself for eight hours straight strapped into a tight seat with a jittery screen ten rows ahead featuring whatever passes for inflight entertainment. Four hours I can manage - eight hours is a stretch.

Not to mention having to deal with airports. An airport is a focal point of the typically human concept of waiting. An airport is a place where you go from waiting for one thing to waiting for the next. It’s a succession of waiting experiences. You wait to check in. You wait to pass security. You wait for boarding. You wait for take off. You wait for landing. You wait for unboarding. You wait to pass customs. You wait to get your goddamn luggage. You wait to get your connecting flight. You wait and wait and wait until waiting itself seems to be the whole fucking purpose of existence.

Airports do their best to make you forget that you’re nothing but human cattle waiting to be shipped out, but it’s all commercially inspired. Ridiculously overpriced stores try to sell you shit you know you don’t need but you still feel urged to buy just because it distracts your attention from having to wait. Flatscreen TV’s show you Fox ‘news’ channels that specialize in terror-stories intended to scare your fucking wits out so you’ll happily comply with a body cavity search by a fat black woman in a crumpled uniform who always picks well-dressed white men out of the security queue. Airline personnel kindly remind you how happy they are that you chose to fly with their airline because they realize you do have a choice, but I don’t really have a fucking choice because my company selected the cheapest fucking airline they could find so I’m stuck with the smallest seats, the crappiest inflight food, the worst inflight entertainment and a collection of ridiculously gay or 50-year old flight attendants (or both!) who couldn’t get a paying job at a proper airline!

So yes, I hate flying.

Well, holy shit.

Hoax or not, I’d vote for him. Can you just imagine the speeches he’d give? I’d pay to see those.

Sorry for yet another political entry, but I got this in my email and couldn’t resist sharing it with you.

THINGS YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE TO VOTE REPUBLICAN TODAY:

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s cocaine conviction is none of our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness, and you need our prayers for your recovery.

You support states’ rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have the right to adopt.

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80s is irrelevant.

Feel free to pass this on. If you don’t send it to at least 10 other people, we’re likely to be stuck with Bush for 4 more years.

Friends don’t let friends vote Republican.