So Saddam Hussein has been hanged for committing “crimes against humanity”. This arises from the murder of 148 people in Dujail in 1982 following an assassination attempt on Saddam.

I am opposed to the death penalty, and even for people as nasty as Saddam is said to have been. To me this form of state-sanctioned murder is no different to the state-sanctioned murder carried out in Dujail. Well, there is a slight difference, Saddam Hussein did get a trial before execution, but the fairness and legality of such a trial is always going to be under question. After all, he was being tried by a governement installed after an illegal invasion looking for weapons of mass destruction that offered no threat to the US even if they had of existed.

But if we are looking at Saddam’s crimes wouldn’t you pick one of the worst crimes to try him on such as the gassing of the Kurds in 1988? Well, probably not. Since the chemical weapons were supplied by Western companies with the full knowledge and support of the USA, it would have given Saddam an opportunity to call former US government officals as witnesses for the defence. This would not have been for the yanks.

But of course, when it comes to war criminals, it must be time to indict George W Bush for crimes against humanity for the 650,000 Iraqi civilians killed during his illegal invasion. Add John Hoawrd and Tony Blair to the list while you are at it. But they should not be put to death when they are found guilty, it would be sufficient to lock them up in little cages in Guantánamo Bay for an indeterminant amount of time.

Perhaps I am just getting more cynical in my old age, but I am still not sure what to think of the Community Calendar that landed in my letterbox just before Christmas. The calendar is put out by Orica, a chemical company whose main work in Botany seems to be cleaning up the environmental mess it has made over the last 50 years.

The calendar was full of pictures of smiling children benefitting from the operations of the chemical company, and April features a map of the Groundwater Exclusion Zone, where the use of bore water is prohibited due to Orica’s pollution.

My favourite picture however is May, which shows Tom Carpenter and his wife, smiling happily as their bore water is sampled. Although Orica says there is no need for alarm, take a look at what the company rep is wearing. She has rubber gloves and safety goggles!

It also fails to mention that the bore being sampled also has among the highest concentrations of pollutants in the area. Although the calendar says the residents living in the area can have their bores tested, it fails to mention that the offer doesn’t apply to those who take up the rainwater tank rebate.

Keep smiling Tom, and lets hope Orica is not going to be the next James Hardie.