May I be the first to wish you, “Happy That Bit Between Christmas and New Year.”
Whether you’re at work, at home, working from home, or none of the above, here’s your Daily View for Tuesday:
Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal statesman and four-times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (By the way, remember to nominate your Liberal Voice of 2009 here.)
It’s also 34 years since the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts came into force, legislation which now faces overdue modernisation and streamlining by the Equality Bill.
2 Must-Read Blog Posts
What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:
- Cameron’s potted plants underline the difference. Peter Black’s post (a late contender for my favourite blog post title of 2009) features a video of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Tory candidate for North East Somerset, “a key Conservative candidate who reflects the views of many in his party that he is a member of the ruling class with a God-given right to be in Government and that as far as he is concerned the rest of us are just potted plants.”
- Is photography the new crime? Andrew Reeves takes a photo of the police taking a photo of the protesters.
Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.
2 Big Stories
Fury as China executes British drug smuggler
China was this morning condemned for its human rights record after a British man who, his supporters say, had mental health problems, was executed for smuggling drugs.
Akmal Shaikh, 53, was shot dead by a firing squad at 10.30am local time (2.30am British time) after frantic last-minute pleas for clemency by the Foreign Office failed. [Guardian]
Argentine gay couple becomes first in region to marry
Two Argentine men have become the first gay couple in Latin America to marry.
Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the southern city of Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego province.
Gay marriage is illegal in Argentina. However, the Tierra del Fuego governor issued a special decree allowing the couple to wed there.
A judge in the capital, Buenos Aires, prevented the couple from marrying there earlier this month.
The men, who are both HIV-positive, had planned to get married on 1 December, world Aids day.
They eventually travelled to Tierra del Fuego, where they received the support of provincial governor Fabiana Rios.
Although Argentina’s civil code bans gay marriage, the constitution is silent on the matter.
Correspondents say the governor exploited this grey area and gave the two men a special dispensation. [BBC]
Gladstone’s Birthday Bonus
(Hat-tip: Paul Walter)
One Comment
The execution of a British national Akmal Shaikh confirms that the medieval justice system operates in the 21st Century in UN member State, where it has been reported, that probably up to 10,000 similar executions have occurred last year, for a range of offences ,including drug smuggling and tax evasion,fraud and bribery.
China is a pariah State on human rights and implements a criminal code and justice system upon its own people that is barbaric and also the harshest in the modern world.
It can be estimated that over 90% of the world`s capital punishment executions are carried out in China.