Courtesy of Sho, I thought it was only right to share this reworking of "Flower of Scotland", penned in tribute to John Smeaton:
O John of Smeaton
When will we see your like again
That fought and panned in
Two Al Qaeda men
And set about them
Osama's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
The airport's bare now
And cherokees lie burnt and still
O'er land that is saved now
Which brave Sir Smeato held
And set about them
Osama's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
Those days are passed now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now
And be a nation again
That set about them
Osama's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Smeatonmania - "We'll set about ye"
Things have gone a bit crazy here at Groanin' Jock over the past 24 hours - with more than 200 visitors dropping by to read about John Smeaton's heroics.
So I thought that it was only right to share the video of the great man giving his TV interview.
So I thought that it was only right to share the video of the great man giving his TV interview.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Modern Day Hero
Scotland has a long and proud history of folk heroes. Great military leaders and kings like William Wallace, Rob Roy MacGregor and Robert The Bruce are immortalised in our nation's history.
In the modern age, our heroes have tended to come from the realms of science, politics and football. Amongst the inventions created by Scotsmen are the television, telephone, penicillin, radar and the pneumatic tyre.
But since Saturday, when Islamic fundamentalists brought their war of wonky ideologies to Scottish soil for the first time, Scotland has a new hero.
John Smeaton, a baggage handler at Glasgow Airport, is fast becoming a legendary figure not only here in Scotland, but around the world.
Spotting one of the would-be terrorists running towards police officers whilst on fire, John reportedly sprinted towards the man and felled him with a kick.
Interviewed afterwards by an American news crew, John said: “Me and other folk were just tryin’ tae get the boot in and some other guy banjoed him.”
John's bravery can only be commended. I am quite sure that if I saw a burning Pakistani running through an airport terminal, I would not be running towards him.
The people behind the John Smeaton tribute site have begun a campaign to reward the man himself with drink (as we do in Scotland). So far, they have received enough pledges to buy our own have a go hero more than 600 pints at the Holiday Inn at Glasgow Airport.
I urge you all to recognise the heroism of John Smeaton and to raise a glass in his honour.
(Thanks also to Silversprite and Big Rab for publicising John's heroics.)
In the modern age, our heroes have tended to come from the realms of science, politics and football. Amongst the inventions created by Scotsmen are the television, telephone, penicillin, radar and the pneumatic tyre.
But since Saturday, when Islamic fundamentalists brought their war of wonky ideologies to Scottish soil for the first time, Scotland has a new hero.
John Smeaton, a baggage handler at Glasgow Airport, is fast becoming a legendary figure not only here in Scotland, but around the world.
Spotting one of the would-be terrorists running towards police officers whilst on fire, John reportedly sprinted towards the man and felled him with a kick.
Interviewed afterwards by an American news crew, John said: “Me and other folk were just tryin’ tae get the boot in and some other guy banjoed him.”
John's bravery can only be commended. I am quite sure that if I saw a burning Pakistani running through an airport terminal, I would not be running towards him.
The people behind the John Smeaton tribute site have begun a campaign to reward the man himself with drink (as we do in Scotland). So far, they have received enough pledges to buy our own have a go hero more than 600 pints at the Holiday Inn at Glasgow Airport.
I urge you all to recognise the heroism of John Smeaton and to raise a glass in his honour.
(Thanks also to Silversprite and Big Rab for publicising John's heroics.)
Monday, July 02, 2007
Of Bowling, BBQs and Bombs
The weekend - where to begin?
As I explained previously, on Friday the company we work for paid for all employees in its Aberdeen office to spend the afternoon playing Pirate Island Adventure Golf, spinning about the on the dodgems, eating too much, playing pool and bowling.
Four minutes on the dodgems wasn't enough to demonstrate my Lewis Hamilton-esque driving, my golf was inhibited by poor approach work (though my putting was immense) and my pool playing was a bit rusty. I did finish a creditable joint third in the bowling though, missing out on the five pound prize after a play-off decided by means of one game of pool. (I came from seven balls down to lose it on the black - so close.)
And then Mrs Wife and I rose on Saturday morning to find Montrose basking in glorious sunshine. In fact, had we started our housewarming barbecue at 9.30am, the weather would have been perfect. But by 1.30pm, clouds were scattering across the sky, and by 3pm drops of rain could be felt cooling my sunburt neck. And by 6.30pm we had a full-on Montrose monsoon. But by then most people were fed and, if not drunk, merry enough not to care that they were crammed into Dungroanin' like giant sardines in a standard-sized phone box.
It was whilst we were partying indoors that news came in of the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport. For so long, terrorism in the UK, whether that perpetrated by the IRA or by Islamic extremists, has focussed on London. But to find out that this unholy war has moved north of the border was a shock.
I would imagine that every single person in the room when the news came through has been to Glasgow Airport at some point in their lives, whether as a passenger or there to collect a relative. To see mobile phone video footage of the burning jeep at the airport brought home the fact that this was happening just over 100 miles from my front door, almost live as we saw it.
Apparently this is the first bombing in Scotland since the Luftwaffe crossed the English Channel. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But if we thought that those who claim to be acting in Allah's name were going to concentrate their efforts on New York, Washington and London, we were obviously wrong.
Should we be afraid? No, we should be angry. We can't live in a state of fear - for then these ideological cretins, who would kill anyone unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, would have won.
It remains the case that you're far more likely to die in a car accident or from a heart attack than as a result of a terrorist attack. And our emergency services and military are amongst the best in the world - Glasgow airport was fully functional less than a day after the failed attack.
The greatest show of strength we can put on is to continue life as normal, to show that no matter what evil these people can summon, we will always overcome.
As I explained previously, on Friday the company we work for paid for all employees in its Aberdeen office to spend the afternoon playing Pirate Island Adventure Golf, spinning about the on the dodgems, eating too much, playing pool and bowling.
Four minutes on the dodgems wasn't enough to demonstrate my Lewis Hamilton-esque driving, my golf was inhibited by poor approach work (though my putting was immense) and my pool playing was a bit rusty. I did finish a creditable joint third in the bowling though, missing out on the five pound prize after a play-off decided by means of one game of pool. (I came from seven balls down to lose it on the black - so close.)
And then Mrs Wife and I rose on Saturday morning to find Montrose basking in glorious sunshine. In fact, had we started our housewarming barbecue at 9.30am, the weather would have been perfect. But by 1.30pm, clouds were scattering across the sky, and by 3pm drops of rain could be felt cooling my sunburt neck. And by 6.30pm we had a full-on Montrose monsoon. But by then most people were fed and, if not drunk, merry enough not to care that they were crammed into Dungroanin' like giant sardines in a standard-sized phone box.
It was whilst we were partying indoors that news came in of the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport. For so long, terrorism in the UK, whether that perpetrated by the IRA or by Islamic extremists, has focussed on London. But to find out that this unholy war has moved north of the border was a shock.
I would imagine that every single person in the room when the news came through has been to Glasgow Airport at some point in their lives, whether as a passenger or there to collect a relative. To see mobile phone video footage of the burning jeep at the airport brought home the fact that this was happening just over 100 miles from my front door, almost live as we saw it.
Apparently this is the first bombing in Scotland since the Luftwaffe crossed the English Channel. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But if we thought that those who claim to be acting in Allah's name were going to concentrate their efforts on New York, Washington and London, we were obviously wrong.
Should we be afraid? No, we should be angry. We can't live in a state of fear - for then these ideological cretins, who would kill anyone unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, would have won.
It remains the case that you're far more likely to die in a car accident or from a heart attack than as a result of a terrorist attack. And our emergency services and military are amongst the best in the world - Glasgow airport was fully functional less than a day after the failed attack.
The greatest show of strength we can put on is to continue life as normal, to show that no matter what evil these people can summon, we will always overcome.
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