Poppies blow in foreign fields for UK soldiers sacrifice and service

From an article in MOD Defence News about 800 Naval Air Squadron's tour on Operation Herrick in Afghanistan.

"They participated in a number of major operations over the October to January period, the overall aim of which has been to support the Government of Afghanistan in its goal of providing peace, governance, security, stability and redevelopment in the region. Yet there has been - and remains - a need to deliver weapons in support of troops on the ground when they come into contact with enemy forces."

"800 Squadron have achieved a tremendous amount in their deployment to Afghanistan, demonstrating again the professionalism, dedication and team work that is the hallmark of Naval Aviation." said Head of the Fleet Air Arm, Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Adrian Johns.

NBC reports ...Bucking U.S., Afghanistan won’t spray heroin - Karzai reportedly would spray fields in 2008 if harvest doesn’t decline

"Rebuffing months of U.S. pressure, President Hamid Karzai has decided Afghanistan will not implement a Colombia-style program to spray the country's heroin-producing poppies, bowing to pressure from top Cabinet members who feared a popular backlash, officials said Thursday.

The decision dashes U.S. hopes that herbicide sprayed by ground applicators would help combat Afghanistan's opium trade after a record crop in 2006."

Opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 percent to 6,700 tons — enough to make about 670 tons of heroin - over 90 % of the world's supply, more than the world's addicts consume in a year. The UN claims 407,000 acres of poppies were cultivated in 2006, including 173,000 acres in Helmand province alone - 1,500 acres were destroyed by hand this year. AP report 2 members of an Afghan government eradication team were shot and wounded by unidentified gunmen as they destroyed poppies in western Herat province on Wednesday.

Now remind me again , what are our brave lads doing in Afghanistan ?

Freedom of Information ? Not from yer MP or yer Paid for Peer pal.

Hansard 19 Jan 2007 : Column 1115
Remaining Private Members’ Bills
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

Bill read a Second Time, and committed to a Public Bill Committee, pursuant to Standing Order No. 63 (Committal of Bills).

It took until Burns Day, Thursday January 25th for the press -
in the shape of the Guradian's Westminster correspondent David Henceck to realise how David Maclean, (another bloody Scot) the former Tory chief whip's , private member's bill had sneaked through on the nod.

The the brief two-clause bill is passed it removes both Houses of Parliament as public authorities obliged to release information under the act from any obkigation to do so. It also protects all MPs' correspondence from release and stops authorities even being able to confirm or deny whether they have received a letter from an MP.

Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, who celebrated a win at the information tribunal recently forcing the disclosure of more details of MPs' travel expenses, said to the Guradian.

" This proposal is outrageous. What particularly amazes me is that everyone knows government whips can easily object to a private member's bill and stop it going anywhere. In this case the government whips were silent, which I can only assume means they are secretly sympathetic to this proposal as it fits in with their plans to curb the Freedom of Information Act."

The Index on Censorship writes about the BIll and highlights that not only us the UK Gubment out of step but marching inthe wring direction.

"The bill now seeks to put MPs beyond the reach of the Act, when surely they should be the most accountable individuals in the UK. In addition, it proposes that Parliament as a whole, the most important of all our public institutions, be exempted from the Act.

This would put the UK out of step even with the newest and most fragile European democracies, such as Bosnia and Serbia, who have recently legislated to open up their parliaments to public scrutiny. "

You are invited to write to your MP because ...

If the bill becomes law, an absurd specatcle will result where all correspondence on matters of public policy - say, a hospital closure, a PFI venture, a proposed wind farm - will be available under the Act - except for MPs’ correspondence. The most directly accountable public figures in the country will enjoy a protection denied to their constituents, other Gubment bodies, commercial firms and their representatives, charities, Trade Unions ......

That was the day of course when everybody got excited, and the Press diverted because the Rochdale Labour Party selected Mr Simon Danczuk, from 30 candidates on a 78% turnout. Previously campaign manager for Rossendale MP Janet Anderson at the 2005 general election,member of Labour’s North West regional board and GMB union member for 20 years.

He also founded The Big Issue North West and in 1999 he co-founded Vision Twentyone, a Manchester-based agency which carries out social and political research with not-for-profit sector, including councils, trade unions, Government Departments, and regeneration bodies with winsome, pert and pretty Ruth Turner who also was mentioned in the Press that day.

You can contact Simon at simon.danczuk@visiontwentyone.co.uk, or on 0161 200 8000

North Korea objects to Press censorship

The Worldwide Index of Censorship
prepared by Reporters without Borders puts lists North Korea at 168th (out of 168) as "one of the worst predators of press freedom". They also list Turkmenistan (167th) and Eritrea (166th) - Turkmenistan journalist Ogulsapar Muradova was tortured to death and shows that the country’s leader, “President-for-Life” Separmurad Nyazov (deceased Dec.06), was willing to use extreme violence against those who dare to criticise him. They are also extremely concerned about a number of Eritrean journalists who have been imprisoned in secret for more than five years.

It therefore comes as a shock to learn that Kim Jong Il's demi paradise has been critical of their Southern neighbour South Korea (31st on the list) , one of the most wired nations on earth with 75% of the population having internet access, denying them the delights of the official DPRK news agency. Quite why anyone would want to access the KCNA official North Korean newsite is difficult to understand - except exceptional curiosity coupled with insomnia.

A sample ;

"The reactionaries of the land of Japs had better behave themselves, clearly mindful that their evermore frantic moves to suppress and stamp out the General Association of the Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and Koreans in Japan would only precipitate their doomsday."

Which only adds credibility to the widely boosted view by Washington that they are a nation of rocket scientists.

" a campaign of State Terrorism" - McGuinness

On Wednesday, a Sinn Fein delegation led by Martin McGuinness MP held talks with the Dermot Ahern TD Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dundalk.

After the meeting, Mr McGuinness in remarks not widely reported said ,

"Collusion was a British policy, it was about upholding the Union [with Britain] and its result was a campaign of State terrorism in Ireland."....the report by the Police Ombudsman was he said "the beginning of the process to uncover the full extent of collusion and the involvement of the most senior political figures in the British system in it."

He went on to refer to a recent press report (?) quoting former RUC/PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Raymond White, who has apparently admitted that British Ministers and senior officials were "regularly briefed"on undercover operations and that he personally had briefed former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Those with medium term memory will remember he was named in Affadavits prepared by Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan and Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kincaid lodged at the High Court in Belfast which criticised White and Chief Constable Flanagan over the report into the Omagh bombing.(Ulster TV Wednesday 2 /05/2002 cached only )

"This goes right to the very top .... "I impressed upon the Irish government today that a passive role on this issue is no longer an option for them. They must join with Sinn Fein and the families of those killed and injured through this British policy in demanding that the British government come clean."

Making a point which must have been embarassing to the wily Ahern , McGuiness put him on an unwelcome spot ;

"They (The Irish Gubment) must rigorously pursue those instances where the collusion policy directed from Whitehall resulted in attacks in the 26 counties. They must join with us in demanding that any serving members of the PSNI involved in this activity are drummed out of policing."

Meanwhile SDLP leader Mark Durkan used parliamentary privilege at to name three former heads of RUC/PSNI Special Branch Chris Albiston, Ray White and Freddy Hall,who are believed to have refused to cooperate with the police ombudsman's investigation into its murderous links to the UVF in north Belfast. The first two named have however not hesistated to publicly criticise the Ombudsman's report.

Mark Durkan added that collusion "was a fact, not a myth" and demanded former RUC/PSNI chief constable Ronnie Flanagan resign as 'Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary', a supervisory role over all British Crown police forces, including the PSNI.

"Can Ronnie Flanagan, who presided over a culture of 'anything goes but nobody knows', be credible as the chief inspector of constabularies, and will the prime minister now rethink plans to install MI5 as continuity special branch in Northern Ireland beyond the reach of key
powers of the Police Ombudsman?"

Tony Blair replied that whilst the Gubment regretted the state killings, it was important to "make sure that such a thing can never happen again and that obviously, as we are doing, we deal with those responsible".

No details have yet emerged as to what actions, if any, are to be taken against those involved in the conspiracy. The Policing Board met on 24th January with Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde and had a briefing from Nuala O`Loan, the Police Ombudsman - they have agreed (at their private meeting) to consider any changes that the PSNI have made in response in six months.

The ten documented and principal assassinations ( which involved the killing of both Republican and Protestant supporters) in the report from Nuala O`Loan are briefly;

RAYMOND McCORD JNR:

The 22-year-old Protestant former RAF member was found beaten to death at Ballyduff quarry N Belfast on November 9th 1997. Mrs O'Loan's report states that Haddock ordered
Mr McCord jnr to be killed following a dispute over drugs.

One suspect in the killing is referred to in the report as "Man D", a prisoner on leave from Long Kesh prison. However, there was a failure to examine the suspect's clothing at the prison and a vital forensic opportunity was lost.

Haddock and others were arrested and questioned about the killing but were released without charge. The report details destruction of exhibits, including a car thought to have been used in the McCord killing.


PETER McTASNEY:

The 26-year-old Catholic voluntary worker was shot dead at his home in the Bawnmore area of north Belfast on February 24th 1991.

Haddock was arrested and questioned 19 times by his RUC "handlers". Mrs O'Loan reports that they "babysat" him through interviews to ensure he did not incriminate himself. She further reports that the interview notes did not reflect the interview and that he was released without
charge. 2 men were subsequently convicted, but Special Branch never revealed the involvement of a police informant.


SHARON McKENNA:
Ms McKenna was a 27-year-old Catholic taxi driver, was shot dead on January 17th, 1993 while visiting a Protestant pensioner at his N Belfast home.

Two men called to the door and forced their way in when the pensioner opened it. They demanded the keys to Ms McKenna's car and, as she turned to lift them from the fireplace, they shot her in the back.

In interviews with Mrs O'Loan's investigators, senior RUC officers said Haddock had told them he was one of the gunmen. This is supported by "high grade" information.

Haddock was arrested on the 19th (he saw his handlers the following day) and interviewed 37 times over the course of six days, on some occasions by his "handler".

The report states that another officer present claimed he felt like "a gooseberry" in that he knew his RUC colleague was interviewing his own "source" and that nothing of any value would emerge from the questioning.

No one has been charged with the murder and Haddock's monthly informant's pay was increased from £100 to £160, despite the fact that he remained the main suspect.


SEAN McPARLAND:

The 55-year-old Catholic father of four was shot dead in N Belfast on February 25th, 1994 as he babysat his grandchildren in his daughter's house. He died the following week from his wounds.

Mrs O'Loan reports that other evidence, seen by her investigators, shows another informant carried out the killing and that Haddock was also involved.


GARY CONVIE AND EAMON FOX:

Mr Convie, a 24-year-old Catholic father of one, and Mr Fox, a 44-year-old married Catholic father of six, were shot dead while eating lunch at a building site in the Tiger Bay area of N Belfast.

Haddock was suspected of the murders and arrested. Mrs O'Loan reports that the gunman was said to have had a "goatee" beard at the time of the attack. Haddock too had a "goatee" beard, but was given time to shave it off while in custody.

A former British soldier was later convicted of the killings. He had been dismissed from the Royal Corps of Signals.


GERARD BRADY:

Mr Brady was a 27-year-old Catholic father of two, part time taxi driver and plumber. He was shot dead by 2 men who were passengers in his car on June 17th 1994.

Mrs O'Loan's investigators found that the RUC had intelligence linking Haddock and another RUC agent to the killing. They state also that ballistic tests on the gun used had established a link to Haddock and to other informants.


JOHN HARBINSON:

Mr Harbinson, a Protestant died after he was handcuffed and beaten to death by a UVF gang based in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast on May 18th 1997.

Mrs O'Loan reports that RUC special branch had a "significant amount of high grade intelligence" about the four main suspects for the murder, including Haddock, but did not pass on this information to the police officers investigating the murder.

THOMAS SHEPPARD AND THOMAS ENGLISH:
Mr Sheppard was a 41-year-old UVF member who was shot dead in a pub in the Balee area of Ballymena, on March 21st, 1996. Mr English, killed on October 31st, 2000, was a prominent loyalist in N Belfast who was shot dead as part of a loyalist feud. (i.e during the time a New Labour Gubment was in power)

Mrs O'Loan's report states that investigators have seen information which links Haddock to the murders of both men.

Whilst the Gubment would like this to go away - it won't. Perhaps they should draft in Desmond Tutu and set up a Reconciliation Commission. There are sufficient dead bodies and grieving families to justify one - when Martin McGuiness and his fellow killers can provide the details of their "campaign of anti-State terrorism".

Lawyers Triumph

Due to a break down in staff relations Lord Patel was ironing his daily, gaily coloured " Bollocks to Blair" and "George Bush International Terrist" Tee shirts and sundry other items of laundry and took the opportunity to be enraged by one of the Dimblebores (the smug, fat,Home Counties accented , fucking know-all) hosting " Any Questions" and "Any Answers" on BBC Radio4.(pic Lord P ready for some extreme ironing)

There is of course always some reptilian MP ready with knee jerk responses, one of the many self important commentators firmly fixed for a living on the dug of the State, a celebrity ethnic, ..to latch on the uncanny ability of the world every week to highlight the imperfectness and impermanency of the world we live in. Remarks guaranteed to furrow the noble brow, raise the heartbeat, anger and temperature ( an unintended irony ?) of the noble Lord. AQ and AA did not disappoint.

No 1. Despite stalwart service over decades, happily (or even maybe unhappily) passing on putative homsexual adopters, as Catholic Doctors re-direct (with the state and the laws blessing) would be abortionees, the Catholic Adoption Service is subject to the relentless attacks of bar room lawyers across the media. So it is on "AQ" and "AA".

No 2. Media whoops of the joys of "Whisky Galore" as greedy scavengers descended like seagulls on a council tip, soon turned to revulsion as blameless Swedes saw their household possessions shamelessly looted and BMW watched apparently helpless, as the Police stood by watching their valuable cargo carried, off by a new suburban criminal class.

Thus the apogee of the lawyers state is enacted, played out. displayed for all. The state inserts it's insensitive feelers unfettered after erecting laws to let them , in this case over the tiny number of cases of adoption - yet thieves are watched by inert Police who are acting under ancient laws - and a detailed and handy exegisis is provided instantly on BBC Online for the unrepentant thieves to justify their self evident criminal behaviour.

There is a natural law to which we all conform, learnt with our mother's milk. Should a lorry overturn and the public descend and strip it of it's contents, the onlookers would have no hesitation of the fact and the nature of their crime, nor would PC Plod hesitate to haul off the miscreants and relieve them of their booty to return it to it's rightful and undisputed owner.

Enter the law and it's litigious servants. Ever ready to scan a sub-paragraph , an unhelpful conditional clause, a sloppily defined statute, an inexpertly defined exemption - and collect a fee accordingly.

Yours sincerly Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

Israeli Security Company installed No 10 systems for 2nd level communications network - source of incriminating e-messages from Ruth

Guido Fawkes reminds us that Whale Communications supplied the Labour Party with a secure access solution to their internal networks. What he doesn't do, is remind us of the origins of the company.

Founder and CEO of Whale Communications Elad Baron (Mr. Baron (pic) served in the "elite" Communications Corps of the Israeli Ministry of Defense as a software developer and system manager) a start up electronics company in Israel in 1998 described the system ...

"We created an air-gap between the two networks. The back office and Internet are completely disconnected at all times," he said. "There is a safe zone. If the data is OK, then it's passed on to the back office to execute the transaction." The system consists of two servers, or computer systems. One is connected to the Internet and the other to the back office. A black box in the middle contains a memory device toggling between them. "

Another interesting insight into their thinking is here. "We do lots of things at the application level (e.g. URL analysis, SSL decryption/encryption, authorization, authentication); all benefit from the fact they are implemented on the trusted side of the Air Gap."

Interestingly Whale boast about / publicise their success in installing their e-Gap Remote Access with the Labour Party that in April 2005 they increased their 100-user license to allow the maximum 250 users to connect remotely to the network, also deploying 250 RSA SecurID key fobs. A one month trial had been initially been held with 30 users at the end of 2004.

When Microsoft announced their acquisition of Wale on May 18th 2006 they didn't mention the Israeli origin (But Lord Patel brought his reader's attention to the deal and how Microsoft would develop the Israel office into a research and development center), but the company press release simply said the company is headquartered in Fort Lee, N.J.,(see NessING below) and has international offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Israel, and representation in France. They are currently advertising for software development engineers in Rosh Ha’ayin,Israel.

Mention security / terrism in London in the same breath as New Labour, Gubment and up pops an Israeli link, the Underground and that strange company HeadQuartered in Tavistock Square, that nice schoolmate of Lord Levy, Mr Halevy ex Mossad chief who was so up to speed on, the 7/7 bombings, which luckily Mr Netanyahu also missed....

Makes you wonder who recommended Whale security solutions to New Labour.

PS Whale formed an alliance in 2000 with Ness ING, who were taken over by Sapiens who are part of the Formula Group ( Abba Eban Boulevard, Herzlia ISRAEL )who consist of companies are traded on Nasdaq: Formula Systems (FORTY), Magic (MGIC), Sapiens (SPNS), BluePhoenix (BPHX) and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE): Formula Systems, Magic, Sapiens, BluePhoenix and Matrix they also have 50% of nextSource a private recruitment company.

UPDATE 27/1/07 22:30 - due to requests for info on Israeli security / Tavistock Square / ex mil. techies / Whale etc.,

JOIN THE DOTS

ICTS (UK) Limited, South Block, Entrance D, Tavistock House,Tavistock Square, London,WC1H 9LG is a subsidiary of ICTS International which is the company that was developed from Fraport AG, the owner and operator of Frankfurt Airport which was split off from ICTS Europe Holdings B.V., (NASDAQ: ICTS) which Nasdaq Stock Market said that it was delisting the securities of the Company because the Company had not filed it's annual report on Form 20-F for the period ended December 31, 2005 as required by Marketplace Rule 4320(e)(12). They are still quoted but barely traded at present.

INFRACO JNP LIMITED, is Tube Lines, is a PFI joint venture between specialist public services provider Amey and U.S. private industrial firm Bechtel, and the Mayor of London (who was on his way back from Singapore and Olympics triumph on 7/7/05) they have business associations with ICTS (UK) Limited and their subsidiary Fortress GB Ltd.,

Mr Oded Shoham, was Col. Shoham and was the former head of the Technological Research, Development and Implementation Center of the Israel Defense Forces' Intelligence Corps. He was CEO , ICTS Technologies USA, Inc. part of ICTS Europe Holdings B.V which (confusingly) changed it's name in May 2005 to i-sec Technologies BV of which he is CEO.

Clue. A bus blew up in Tavistock Square on 7/7/05.

Baghdead - Shit or Bust! Official ... says Cheney

Wolf Blitzer on CNN on January 24, 2007, (video links) talked to Vice President Dick Cheney who explained why the invasion of Iraq had been such a monumentally huge success.

"The world is much safer today because of it,"

"There have been three national elections in Iraq. There's a democracy established there, a constitution, a new democratically elected government."

He failed to mention however that , as predicted, civil war (or whatever you want to call it) has started and the citizens of this wonderful Democracy are kidnapping, torturing, raping, killing, bombing, shooting each other at a fast clip....that is unless US /UK troops haven't bombed, shot them already... 100 a day dead , 200 on a bad day in Baghdead, 40 a day in Mosul, which even Saddam couldn't manage.(Times 16/1/07 - UN says 34,000 civilians died violently in 2006) - not forgetting the mass exodus of 2/3 Mn educated middle class from the land of their birth.

Asked to describe the biggest mistake made by U.S. war planners, Cheney said,

"I think we underestimated the extent to which 30 years of Saddam's rule had really hammered the population, especially the Shia population, into submissiveness. It's very hard for them to stand up and take responsibility, in part because anybody who's done that in the past have had their heads chopped off."

Which ranks pretty badly against kidnap, torture, rape, killing, bombing, shooting by State sponsored Shia Police / State Security killer squads, ad hoc Saudi funded Sunni killer squads, al Quaeda (?) insurgents, private mercenary armies, peshmurgas ... not to mention the liberating forces of US/UK and the Coalition of the Damned.

Blitzer asked Cheney about the growing resistance in the Congress to the Administration's strategy in Iraq.

BLITZER: What if the Senate passes a resolution saying, This is not good idea? Will that stop you?

CHENEY: It won't stop us. It would be, I think, detrimental from the standpoint of the troops. As General Petraeus said yesterday -- he was asked by Joe Lieberman, among others, in his testimony about this notion that somehow the Senate could vote overwhelmingly for him, send him on his new assignment and then pass a resolution at the same time, say, "But we don't agree with the mission you've been given." (Cheney's daughter Liz, (see pic) in a WAPO OpEd"Retreat isn't an Option" - boosting her Dad on Tuesday, said of Joe L. he was ..."the only national Democrat showing any courage on this issue.")

BLITZER: You're moving forward, no matter what the Congress does?

CHENEY: We are moving forward. We are moving forward. The Congress has control over the purse strings. They have the right, obviously, if they want, to cut off funding. .... the President's made his decision ..... we need to get the job done. I think General Petraeus can do it. I think our troops can do it. I think it's far too soon for the talking heads on television to conclude that ..." it's impossible to do, it's not going to work, it can't possibly succeed."

VP Cheney has been doing an awful lot of thinking ....let's hope for the sake of the President's approval rating (28% and sinking fast) and to the confusion of the Talking Heads of TV he's right.

At Defense Secretary Robert Gates's first Pentagon news conference on Friday , he was askedfor his reaction to the debate in Congress over the effect of such a nonbinding resolution that Blitzer had quizzed Cheney about..

"It's pretty clear that a resolution that in effect says that the general going out to take command of the arena shouldn't have the resources he thinks he needs to be successful certainly emboldens the enemy and our adversaries,"

Would someone please tell us who the ,"enemy and our adversaries" are ?

It's beginning to sound like the American voters.

Read Attytood re "Cheney's State of delusion Address" for more...

Cigarettes - Smuggling - Tax Avoidance - Prison - Confiscation - Satisfied ?

Cigarette smuggling is big business. It is widely claimed that 16% of UK cigarette consumption is smuggled. 1 in 6 cigarettes and about half of hand-rolling tobacco smoked in Britain is illicitly imported resulting in a net loss to HM treasury of more than £2 billion a year. (1) The World Bank states that probably one third of internationally traded cigarettes (355 billion per year) are smuggled and sold to the consumer illegally and the sellers have avoided duty in some fashion.

This year the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will probably seize 2 Billion smuggled cigarettes which they judge to be some 10% of cigarettes entering the country illegally.

Contrary to popular belief - bootlegging white van man represents a fraction of a percent of this trade. The dominant route is by large-scale ‘container fraud’ in which duty is not paid in any jurisdiction and cigarettes are smuggled in container loads. Legitimate cigarettes are ‘lost’ in transit and re-enter Britain described as non-dutiable goods. Counterfeit cigarettes, indistinguishable from the genuine article, are manufactured in the Far East (including North Korea) and Eastern Europe and are smuggled into the UK in large quantities - it is claimed they reprsent over 50% of smuggled product.,

A couple of likely lads (who probably were not the prime movers and financiers) were dealt with today, and helped to fill up the gaps in Mr Reid's overflowing prisons.

Wynne Dale John Wynne, (27) a coach builder, of 8 Ribbesford Crescent, Bilston, Wolverhampton, West Midlands,was in a Ford Fiesta in a lay-by near Junction 4 of the M5, in Worcestershire on the 18th May 2006... nearby Attila Budi (35) a LGV driver from Hungary was in a lorry containing 7.5 million Lambert & Butler cigarettes which they had smuggled into the UK and avoided Excise duty of £1.2 Mn.

They were intercepted by HM Revenue & Customs HMRC assisted by Plod.

The men pleaded guilty in Worcester Crown Court today, Buda was jailed for 2 years and Wynne to 4 years and 4 months in prison.

Over in Bradford on Wednesday Gerrard Strange, 51, who had been MD and CEO of Bradford-based textile firm Listers plc, was jailed for 33 months in November 2005 after pleading guilty to smuggling of cigarettes inside furniture from Poland and evading duty totalling £665,000.

A confiscation hearing on Wednesday heard of assets of his home in Shipley and other properties in Wexford in the Republic of Ireland and South Africa and Judge Prince finally agreed he would have to pay up almost £98,000 in relation to his share in the properties with an additional £3,000 for some paintings and a further £13,300 in respect of money he had given his son to help him buy a flat over the next 6 motnhs or face 3 further years in prison.
Strange's finance director Richard Ramsden, was sentenced to 120 hours community service work but avoided a consfiscation order.

The Wynne's and Buda's of the world are of course facilitated by cigarette manufacturers like Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher, who export brands that are only supported in the UK - Imperial Tobacco's Superkings and Regal, Lambert & Butler (complete with UK specific health warnings- see pic ) to phantom markets in the Balkans, Baltic States, CIS States and Southern Africa which then return illegally to the UK.

In 2004-05 Imperial's Superkings accounted for 22% of the genuine UK brands seized by Customs officers - two Gallaher brands – Sovereign and Dorchester accounted for 25% and 16% respectively of seized cigarettes (2)

In the 2006 Budget the Chancellor got tougher with the UK cigarette companies and they have signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Gubment aimed at providing greater control - although the companies are not legally bound by them! (3)

The EU have got Philip Morris to sign a legally binding agreement to stop its products being illegally imported into the European Union. This was a trade off arising from an EU dropping a lawsuit against Philip Morris over the smuggling of cigarettes into the European Union. (4)

Of course this is only a segment of an international trade which invloves many cigarette manufacturers - R J Reynolds (Camel) and Philip Morris ( Marlboro Men) who have retqained the services of Mrs Margaret Thatcher as a consultant have been successfully prosecuted , latterly under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act RICO laws.


(1)New responses to new challenges: Reinforcing the Tackling Tobacco Smuggling Strategy. HM Treasury, March 2006. www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

(2)HM Revenue & Customs Annual Report 2004-05

(3) ASH BAT and Tobacco Smuggling also see this astonishing expose of BAT

(4) ASH Anti - Contraband and Anti-counterfeit agreement EU/P Morris

Oz Prosecutor pleads guilty to child porn possession

The use of child pornography knows no boundaries of race, creed, intellect or position.

Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor Patrick Power took his computer hard drive for repair and a New South Wales State IT employee allegedly discovered an explicit video recording with pornographic footage of minors.

The IT employee reported finding the explicit material to his superiors and Power was summoned to the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions' office and, after a "brief discussion", suspended. This became public knowledge in July 2006.

Powers has indicated through his lawyer David Giddy that he will now plead guilty (and faces a 2 year jail sentence) to a single charge of possessing child pornography on his personal computer.

This plea now allows the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery to take action to remove Power, 54, from his $230,000-a- year job. The NSW Bar Association may also disbar him from his rank as senior counsel. NSW state Governor Marie Bashir may remove prosecutors for conduct including misbehaviour or conviction of a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for 12 months or more.

Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson at Downing Centre Local Court yesterday continued Power's bail and adjourned the matter to April 24 for sentencing, and ordered a pre-sentence report.

The State will import a prosecutor, Jeremy Rapke a senior counsel from Victoria to prosecute.

Liberal candidate for the seat of Epping, Greg Smith, who was acting DPP when the allegations against Power were brought to his attention warned Power that child pornography had allegedly been found on his computer, before informing police.

Apparently Greg Smith had discussed this with the DPP before speaking to Powers.

A counterpoint to the case of Derek Williams, 46, of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, who received a suspended sentence from Judge John Rogers QC in Mold Court, North Wales yesterday because the UK prisons have insufficient room for perpetrators of similiar crimes.(BBC)

Simply searching in Google news on "kiddie porn" or "child porn" (over 100 reports worldwide in English datelined 22/23/24/25 th Jan) discloses an international epidemic of similiar cases. e.g a Police officer (now resigned) from Lancashire Police who pleaded guilty to possession of images and repeatedly viewing and deleting images for 11 months. He was put on the Sex Offenders Register for five years and sentenced to 2 months supervision, during which he must attend the Internet Sex Offenders Treatment Programme and was ordered to pay £100 costs. Lancashire Evening Post 23/1/07 "Child porn policeman avoids jail"

Ruth Turner ....the IT girl - Amazing Pictures

No 10 hidden IT internet net. e -mails and minding your "K" and "P's" Jonathan

e- mails have been recovered from 10 Downing Street computers that provide "potentially" vital evidence the the cluster of unelected cronies close to Tony Blair openly discussed the possibility of Labour donors being paid with peerages. Police forensic investigators backed by MI 5 technical staff (those friendly folks who fucked up the e-mail alerts last week - see pic of Mr E. Bah Gumm) have uncovered a separate and "secret" remote computer network in Number 10 Downing Street from which some e-mails (or "P" mails as Plod calls them or "K" mails) have been removed / deleted / altered.

e-mails that were not voluntarily disclosed and have been deliberately concealed. e-mails that date from September 2004 between the ravishing, petite Karaoke King Lord Levy, Mr Blair's bouffant haired "chief of staff", Jonathan Powell....and

36 year old beautiful, raven haired, vivaceous and ambitious Ruth Turner, Director of Government Relations (The IT girl) arrested by 4 Plods who dropped in for an early morning cuppa' (dawn raid ..surely...ED) at her home last week on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, is repeatedly named as the dodgy deleter. A decision on what to charge her with, will be made soon ....possession of a g-mail / Yahoo / hotmail account, being pretty, knowing a known purveyor of peerages, is being mentioned in hushed tones the length and breadth of several bars near Fleet prison.

10 Downing Street and senior prosecution sources deny allegations made by ITV News, which claiming that a separate IT system (AKA Bush Telegraph ***) in the building was revealed to police by a witness over recent weeks. They did not (could not ?) deny Downing Street staff used many e-mail addresses which might aid secrecy of communications - or confuse people seeking to identify the history of office memos / letters / e-mails.

Alastair Campbell is 56.

*** Bush Telegraph see lies about Iraq WMD stories.

Flywheels - storing electricity for instant demand - smoothing the load from wind energy

The California Energy Commission was created by the Legislature in 1974, and is the state's primary energy policy . A high priority is the development and application of new energy storage technologies - especially as the significant commitment to deploy renewable energy has placed new and complex demands on the state's electricity grid. - a problem not unique to CA.

On this last point it is essential to read ...
See Interim Report - System Disturbance on 4 November 2006 "union for the co-ordination of transmission of electricity" (UCTE) report on the 9 nation power outage across Europe on 4/11/06.

Section 5.1 Page 25

About 40% of the total generation units which tripped during the incident were wind power units. Moreover, 60 % of the wind stations connected to the grid at 22:09 tripped just after the frequency drop.

Sect 8.1 Page 51
"The events in the evening of 4 November 2006 have been the most severe disturbance in the more than 50-year history of UCTE regarding the number of involved TSOs and the amplitude of the registered frequency deviation."

Page 52
"During the disturbance, a significant amount of generation units tripped due to the frequency drop in the system which resulted in the increased imbalance. Most of this generation is connected to the distribution grid (especially wind and combined-heat-and-power)."

Massachusetts-based Beacon Power (NASDAQ: BCON) have developed and tested a novel 100 kilowatt scale-power vertical flywheel energy storage system which is a prototype for a planned 20 megawatt-level commercial system.

A flywheel energy storage system draws electrical energy from a primary source (say wind power), and stores it in a high-density rotating flywheel. The flywheel system is actually a kinetic, or mechanical battery, spinning at very high speeds (>20,000 rpm) to store energy that is instantly available on demand.

Modern electromechanical flywheels couple a motor generator with additional rotating mass. Depending on whether the application requires a long or a short discharge time, one may have a small motor generator coupled to a large rotating mass, or the reverse.

Energy storage in a flywheel is descriibed by the equation:

E = kMv[2]
E = energy; k is a constant based on the shape of the flywheel;
M = Flywheel mass
v = Rotational velocity of the flywheel (speed of rotation).

If the mass of the flywheel is doubled, the amount of energy is doubled.
If the speed of rotation is doubled , you quadruple the amount of energy.

Upon input power loss, the motor driving the flywheel acts as a generator. As the flywheel continues to rotate, this generator supplies power to the customer load.

The Beacon Power The Smart Energy Matrix flywheel design proposes an integrated system of 10 higher-power (25 kWh) flywheels, interconnected in a matrix to provide energy storage for utility-grade applications. This is designed to deliver megawatts of power for minutes, providing highly robust and responsive frequency and voltage regulation capabilities for increased grid reliability.

Flywheel technology also serves as a method to reduce electrical fluctuations and helps regulate the even flow of power (frequency regulation) on the grid. This can make massive cost savings alone as the California ISO, uses and pays for frequency regulation services every day. In 2005 alone , the value of regulation services purchased by four U.S. regional grid operators in open power markets was in excess of $600 million.

Flywheel based electrical storage systems, although often involving higher initital capital costs offer advantages for "sustainable" systems.

1. They do not incoroporate hazardous materials for production, nor create them during operation.

2. Low maintenance and long life.

3. Unlimited discharge / recharge cycles (qv batteries)

4. Can be installed underground to free space and improve visual environment.

5. Remote real time monitoring built in.

6. No degradation of performance with temperature / climate changes.

8. Beacon units have surpassed the Telcordia Level 4 earthquake test - the equivalent of a 7.6-Richter scale seismic disturbance for 40 seconds - without failure.

The 2005 California Energy Commission contract with Beacon Power has demonstrated the potential benefits of using flywheel energy storage for frequency regulation of the grid, became operational in 2005 and completed a series of performance tests and technical assessments prior to a six-month field trial phase on August 1, 2006 which will be completed by l January 31, 2007.

Bill Capp, Beacon Power president and CEO says that the California ISO trial proves that ,"new technologies will be required to maintain grid reliability while achieving ambitious goals for the deployment of renewable energy and the reduction of carbon emissions".

Other companies in the US supplying flywheel storage technology include ;

Active Power, located in Austin, Texas, has developed 2 flywheel power systems that can handle DC loads up to 250 kW and 500 kW, respectively, for short periods of time. In additon, the company has teamed with Caterpillar in the development of battery-free UPS systems.

AFS Trinity, in Livermore, California, produces flywheel power systems for stationary and mobile applications. (Good detailed and lengthy introduction to flywheel design, construction , use here)

Pentadyne, in Sun Valley, California, has developed a flywheel that supplies up to 120 kW of electricity for up to 20 seconds, or any other combination of 2400 kW-seconds.

Precise Power Systems, of Palmetto, Florida, is a developer of flywheel power systems for power protection applications.

Deus nobiscum quis contra. The Catholic Lobby V The Gubment Round 2

BBC Online reports "Adoption decision 'due next week"

"Tony Blair (currently Prime Minister) has promised a decision next week on whether Catholic adoption agencies will be able to opt out of gay discrimination laws."

Whatever Tony says appears now, or even next week, to be redundant - maybe a lengthy (say 6 months) transition period , but "it is now clear that there will be no blanket exemption from the new Equality Act", says BBC Political Correspondent Nick Robinson - which let us face it, will affect perhaps 2/3 adoptions per year.

Read on ....Education Secretary Alan Johnson, second hand car salesman manqué, (and sad loser in the last fight with the Catholic Lobby) said any opt-out would mean "plain, simple discrimination". Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:

"I don't think there's a way through that allows any exemption."

For which read the sub text - no way Ruth baby - not after the way you worked us over the opening up of faith schools.

Beautiful, elegant, sharp tongued and sharper elbowed Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman told the New Statesman magazine there was no scope for exemptions to the legislation.

"You can either be against discrimination or you can allow for it. You can't be a little bit against discrimination,"

For which read the sub text - no way Cherie baby - not after the way you worked us over the opening up of faith schools.

"Many ministers want to 'face down' the Catholic church" says Auld Nick - you bet. Lord Falconer of the Millennium Casino has trembled his enormous jowls at the prospect "it is extremely difficult to see how you can be excused from anti-discrimination law on the grounds of religion". Nose touching, man with the tan from the can , shifty eyed, Peter Hain the ambitious wannabe Deputy Leader (and maybe Chelsea Manager - is there no end to this lad's talents ?) recently introduced the same non - discriminatory regulations in Northern Ireland - which according to the Independent infuriated Mr Blair, absorbed in a possible fudge with Ruth Kelly - who has a lengthy Parliamentary history of failing to support ANY legislation which extended or supported homosexual rights. She has abstained in 12 votes on homosexual equal rights since 1997. (Guradian Tuesday May 9, 2006)

Devout Catholic, Home Secretary John Reid (his daughter married the son of a leading Glasgow drug dealer and gangster in Westminster Cathedral) and wannabe (and will be) Prime Minister has publicly declared non-discrimination must rule.

Surely the disproportionate backlash by Ministers and very public handwringing, has more to do with the Government's recent defeat at the hands of the Catholic Church over religious schools opening their doors than concern for adopted children or their putative homosexual adoptees.

Om Gud är för oss, vem kan då vara emot oss?

The Stones Age

Whilst apparently ageless, Lord Patel celebrated another year today - deaf friends, wives, mistresses, relatives MI5 surveillance operators alike ignored subtle hints at Christmas - leaving it to my favourite Grand Daughter to get that nice Mr Amazon to send me the Stone's estimable bass player and archivist's, compilation of cartoons - of nearly 45 years !

First the bad news. The pages are said to be designed by Glad Stockdale, who is probably about to complete his NVQ in graphic design real soon now. Shaded tints, graphics set at jaunty angles, and a wretched barely readable faux cursive script for Bill's notes make the thing look like something that gets remaindered PDQ.

Andrew Oldham's foreward is wonderful, and carries on (albeit briefly) where his Stoned and 2 Stoned left off. set totally in lower case with curious punctuation and composed probably on acid and off balance ... "led zeppelin may have played 'stairway to heaven' but it was the stones who climbed it. it must have been frighteningly awesome, playing like the gods while still on earth, almost too heady for what was, after all, only room-serviced mortals......."

Risking the ..."All rights reserved. No part of thus publication etc., etc.," it is impossible at this age and distance not to share this one.

As it was said of Septimus Severus ... Juventum egit erroribus, imo furoribus, plenam ... a Youth full of errors, nay of madness.

Find an undeaf gift giver and request a copy - better still go get a copy.

UK Armed Forces enter 21st century-new building opened

A £2M extension, completed on time and under budget (!), for 100 MoD Central Staff at the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre at Shrivenham, Wiltshire (It had been a Girl's School) was opened by Adam Ingram Minister of State for the Armed Forces yesterday.Pic is entitled "MILITARY GOVERNMENT TRAINING AT SHRIVENHAM" in a history of SHAEF.

The Press were provided with the usual claptrap that old Adam was supposed toi have said ;
"Britain's Armed Forces are among the very best in the World but to maintain that level of excellence we must anticipate the future threats and be ready for the uncertain world our forces will face in future.

Resulting from the MoD's 1998 Strategic Defence Review this does however represent serious evidence that the UK forces are thinking and working together to fight the next wars and not sit around jawing away about the last one.

The centre will ensure the Armed Forces' capabilities, equipment and force structures are suitable for the world our Armed Forces are likely to face in future to ...

" ....provide cross-dimensional analysis of the future context for Defence, from current operations out to 30 years."

or as they succintly add in Editors notes for the Press ;

Analyse, assess and articulate the framework within which future military capabilities and force structures are developed, giving high level direction on the evolution of capabilities.

Initiate, formulate and validate concepts to shape coherent capability development. Capability is led by concepts.

Not forgetting to ...

Articulate and provide doctrine at the strategic, operational and Joint tactical levels that incorporates enduring principles and best practice; ensure coherence betweenJTTPs (?) produced by delegated sponsor authorities and higher-level doctrine.

Whilst they all co-operate ....

Develop, articulate and promote the Defence role in crises and conflict as part of the multi-agency Comprehensive Approach.

..and most omportantly don't break the law....

Maintain legal compliance and sustain a favourable legal environment for Defence activity and capability.

Information about the DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme 2007- 2036 here - see footnote

Lord Patel welcomed the arrival of the evidence of this overdue approach last year

"Military might is a sign of strength, but the US military is not invincible worldwide. America's use of force as both first and last resort is a sign of profound systemic weakness. "

Perhaps the British Armed Forces are starting to look at the next war instead if fighting the last one .. lets hope that they take the lessons .. the current shambles in Afghanistan suggest they haven't - beats hiring killers as they did in Northern Ireland ...apparently.

Footnote - looking at their website Page source this may be found, which we trust does not represent the forward thinking ,"enduring principles and best practice"

/* ----- register_function.js ----- */
// http://www.defac.ac.uk/portal_javascripts/register_function.js?original=1
var bugRiddenCrashPronePieceOfJunk=(navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE 5')!=-1&&navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Mac')!=-1)
var W3CDOM=(!bugRiddenCrashPronePieceOfJunk&&document.getElementsByTagName&&
document.createElement);
function registe.....

Israel Parliament and Government - Business as usual

Former President of Israel the late Ezer Weizman, accepted “gifts” of $450,000 from a French millionaire while serving as an MP and minister and was forced to resiign.

The current President Moshe Katsav has been charged with raping a former employee at the Tourism Ministry and sexually harassing three other workers at the presidential residence. He will also face charges of fraud, breach of trust, harassing a witness and obstruction of justice.

Meni Mazuz, the Israeli Attorney-General last week announced a criminal investigation into the involvement of the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, in the sale of the government-owned Bank Leumi in 2005 when he was Finance Minister. Meni Mazuz, has removed himself from the case because his sister holds a senior position at the Finance Ministry and took part in the privatisation of the bank.

The state comptroller's office, a government watchdog, is investigating Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert's purchase of a home in Jerusalem, allegedly for far below its market value.Mr Olmert sold the house for US$2.7 million to an offshore company controlled by S Daniel Abraham, the founder of Slim-Fast, in 2004. Mr Abraham had previously contributed funds to Mr Olmert's election campaigns.

The newspaper Haaretz has claimed that Mr Olmert continued to live in the house following the sale, paying rent at about half the market rate.

On September 24th 2006 Tzahi Hanegbi the chairman of the Israel Parliament's influential Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee and a senior ally of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was charged with fraud, bribery and perjury in connection with appointments he made as a minister. The charges relate to appointing political allies to government jobs when serving as environment minister from 2001 to 2003.

Un "fucking"believable ... but TRUE

On the 11th November 1982 three unarmed IRA members were stopped at an RUC checkpoint in Craigavon, County Armagh and died as a result of gunshots.

On 24th November 1982 An RUC undercover unit, killed Michael Tighe and wounded Martin McCauley at an IRA arms cache which the two men had discovered by accident on a farm near Lurgan, County Armagh. Neither man was proved to be a member of any paramilitary group. Martin McCauley was later arrested in Colombia on the suspicion of teaching FARC guerillas in the use of explosives, in particular the "barrack buster"

On 12th December 1982 at an RUC checkpoint in Mullacreavie, County Armagh, 2 INLA members, Seamus Grew and Roddy Carroll were killed (the (alleged) intended main target, Dominic McGlinchey, was not in their car as expected)

On 24 May 1984 an inquiry under Deputy Chief Constable John Stalker of the Greater Manchester Police was opened into these 3 cases where it was alleged that a specially trained undercover RUC team known as the "Headquarters Mobile Support Unit" had carried out a "shoot-to-kill" policy.

SHOOT TO KILL was a 2 part serial drama and a discussion programme shown on 3 and 4 June 1990 which examined Deputy Chief Constable John Stalker's investigation into the alleged 'shoot to kill' policy carried out by the RUC. This drama was set arounfd the role of the Chief inverstigating officer Det Chief Inspector John Thorburn of Greater Manchester Police played by John Calder.

In The Times of 9 February 1988 John Stalker - removed from the case stated ,

"I never did find evidence of a shoot-to-kill policy as such. There was no written instruction, nothing pinned up on a noticeboard. But there was a clear understanding on the part of the men whose job it was to pull the trigger that that was what was expected of them."

On 23 June 1992 Mr Thorburn, withdrew a libel action against the RUC Chief Constable,Sir John Hermon, and he made a statement in which he took the opportunity to submit publicly that he was satisfied that the RUC had not pursued a shoot- to-kill policy in 1982 and that the RUC Chief Constable had not condoned or authorised any deliberate or reckless killings by his officers. Other members of the Stalker/Sampson inquiry team also stated in June 1990 that “the Greater Manchester officers wish to stress that the Stalker/Sampson Enquiry found no evidence of a ‘Shoot to Kill policy’ ”.

John Thorburn was a private citizen and acted as head of security for Coats Viyella plc, reporting directly to the Chaimran, Sir Davoud Alliance. The company had considerable manufacturing operations in Northern Ireland.

As theft of company textiles often involved falsification of computer records Lord Patel had the experience of dealing with John Thorburn as an outside contractor to provide an independent external audit and forensic analysis of computer systems, records, procedures etc., and so dealt with this bluff, straighforward Scot for a variety of reasons on several occasions.

Flying back from Belfast to Manchester one evening on a BA ATP (fondly known as Another Technical Problem) - whose cabin noise levels have to be experienced to be believed, Lord Patel decided to breach the topic of the "Shoot to Kill" policy

Lord Patel already knew that John Stalker only went to Northern Ireland twice and never stayed overnight and that it was John Thorburn who did all the groundwork over many months. The Special Branch officers at Belfast International, City and Manchester Airports all knew he was.

He turned slightly and looked squarely and his voice developed (even above the roar of the engines and their curious 7 bladed propellors) a sharpness and edgy timbre that is not easily forgotten.

" I can't of course tell you anything about the case, or what we did, or found out" .. he paused, searching for the right expresion...."But" ...." There are things that go on in this world that you wouldn't believe".

It seemed appropriate to shut up. The subject was never mentioned again.

After the revelations of Nuala O'Loan yesterday officially confirming that 40 retired officers, including two chief constables, failed to cooperate with her inquiry into collusion between the police and the UVF in the loyalist north Belfast estate of Mount Vernon in the 1990s. The report revealed that paid informants were directly involved in 10 murders and linked to a series of other crimes.

It has been confirmed that none of the officers involved in collusion with the loyalist terror gang are to be prosecuted.

Mrs O'Loan said the lack of relevant documentation, whether it was lost or destroyed, ruled out any legal action being taken against the Special Branch team who ran the UVF gang.

Whilst we all suspected what John Thorburn didn't wish to disclose to Lord Patel on that memorable flight, our collective state of inoccence has been smashed. There ARE things going on that you wouldn't have believed.

So when a Government scientist is found dead in a wood, apparently of a self inflicted wound.

When Bombs go off, or pretend to go off on London Transport....

When inoccent men are shot 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13 times in the head in public.

When financiers conceal gifts to political parties in collusion with the Prime Minister...

Just Remember

There ARE things going on that you wouldn't believe.

Pic : Royal Ulster Constabulary Chief Constable Sir John Hermon OBE QPM 74 at a
a rally in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Northern Ireland after the Patten report on policing in NI. Saturday, September 18, 1999 BBC Sir John, whose wife Lady Sylvia 61 is now a Westminster MP suffers from Alzheimers disease and so presumably can remember absolutely nothing.

The Liberation of Iraq : Day 1391

L'Orient Le Jour 23rd January 2007 Beirut
It was a bloody day in Iraq with more than 100 killed and 200 wounded.

1. A bombing in Baquba, NE of Baghdad . A double attack with the booby-trapped car with 88 dead and over 160 wounded. (pic)

2. At Bab Al-Charki on the banks of the Tigris where 2 car bombs exploded in a flea market and over 12 cars were set ablaze.

3. In Abou Dchir in Baghdad 4 civilians were killed was killed by mortar shells.

4. In Khales armed men killed a Policeman and 27 corpses were discovered.

5. In Khalès, close to Baquba, 12 people who were killed yesterday and 40 wounded in a double attack, wiht a bomb and mortar shells on a popular market.

6. 28 American soldiers have died in 2 days, including a soldier was killed and 4 wounded in the explosion of an home made bomb in the province of Ninive. 12 died on Saturday when a Blackhawk helicopter, was borught down by a ground to air missile in the North-East of Baghdad which a local branch of Al Quaeda claimed responsibility for.

The same day, 5 American soldiers were killed by gunmen dressed in US and Police uniforms in the Holy City of Kerbala

7. The US army announced that 93 Al Quaeda guerrillas were killed and 57 others captured,in Diyala province.

8. Government spokesmen Ali Dabbagh, spokesman of the government. asked for the release by the US of the radical chief Moqtada Sadr Shiite arrested last Friday.

Dyselxic Driver

Nuclear power sees a shift in the wind. Areva to take over REpower

The morning of 15th January 2007 on the Leipzig Energy Exchange EEA saw an extraordinary event. The price for a megawatt-hour of electricity fell to Eur 0. Zero.

The fierce storms of the previous few days had produced a surplus of wind-generated electricity - almost as much power was produced as all of the nuclear power plants in Germany combined.

Electricity cannot be stored and so , by law, wind-generated electricity has to be supplied to the mains grid at a fixed price. The price on the Energy Exchange forms the baseline for German national wholesale prices and as a reference for mains and distribution costs, taxes and duties, and forms 20% of the final consumer price in Germany.

The morning of 22nd January 2007 on the Hamburg Stock Exchange saw Areva S.A. the French Nuclear power manufacturing company a 30% share holder in REpower Systems AG (since 2005) make a friendly take over offer of Euro 144 per share (Total Euro600 - US$777Mn) a premium of 44% on the 3 month average Stock Exchange price and 17% up on FRiday's close. The shares ended the day 24% up.

The 2nd largest shareholder is the Portuguese industrial group Martifer Construcoes Metalomecanicas, which has 25.4%.- which in turn is 25% owned by Mota-Engil SGPS SA, Portugal's biggest construction company.

Repower, Germany's third-largest maker of wind-power equipment behind Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Enercon, made a loss last year of Euros 8.3 Mn but a 1Euro 1 million profit in 9 months on sales 50% higher at Euros 292.6 million.

Areva see the business complementing their sales (they have a very full order book for nuclear power) to their clutch of Utility customers in Europe and are eyeing the US market where the Global Wind Energy Council says a record 2,431 megawatts of wind-energy generating capacity was added in 2005, the most of any country worldwide.

George Galloway / Tony Benn / Yvonne Ridley and All Star Cast to speak in Rochdale

The Ramadhan Foundation are holding “Hidden Agendas”
Sunday 28th January 2007, 2.30pm till 7pm,
At the historic and beautiful Rochdale Town Hall

George Galloway MP Respect Party, Mother of all Talk shows, TalkSPORT
Rt. Hon Tony Benn Renowned peace campaigner (Ex Viscount Stansgate)
Yvonne Ridley Political Editor, Islam Channel
Dr Azzam Tamimi Palestinian Activist
Anjum Anwar Lancashire Council of Mosques
Muhammad Umar Chairman, Ramadhan Foundation

Open to all £2.00 tickets on the door and online here

All proceeds will go to Interpal, who are working so hard to help the people of Palestine.

Mr. Shazad Anwar, Chief Executive comments:

“The Ramadhan Foundation is at the heart of the community and this special event will demonstrate how we deal with the issues facing Muslims in the UK. We are please to host such internationally renowned speakers in Rochdale.

Pic Gorgeous George with Respect member Adam Yosef

UK Nuclear Power PFI / Private Policy to be written by Stone says DTI today

It is now 2 years almost to the day since Tony Blair first talked about the need for nuclear power in public. Ultimately this resulted in the half assed document called The Energy Review Report "The Energy Challenge" which was published on 11 July 2006. In the report, the Government took the view that nuclear power had "a role to play alongside other low-carbon generating options."

Alastair Darling , The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has announced today that he has appointed Dr Tim Stone as senior advisor on the "arrangements for the costs associated with potential nuclear new build decommissioning and waste management" (sic) . This is done under the stated need in the Energy review Report - Paragraph 5.141 of the report stated that "Government intends to appoint an individual with senior management or financial experience.... etc, etc," He has been appointed as senior advisor to both the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and to the Chief Secretary of the Treasury and will initially devote one/two days a week to this role for a period of one year.

That's Tim Stone, Chairman of KPMG Corporate Finance, and Global Infrastructure and Projects Group. The Group specialises in advising asset owners, government bodies, contractors and infrastructure funds on the financing of major projects worldwide across a wide range of sectors.

In addition to his role as an expert non-executive director of the European Investment Bank, he is a member of the advisory board of the Department of Health's Commercial Directorate (which includes involved in many major acute hospital transactions, road and IT PFI deals, including the hugely unsuccessful NHS £3.2bn national IT program - KPMG meanwhile advise many firms participating in these deals. Dr Tim Stone is the Ministry of Defence’s adviser on the ‘Future Strategic Tanker’ PFI scheme. This is the gorundbreaking scheme for aerial tankers s from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to bomb targets in distant Iraq/ Iran by refuelling them mid-air supplied and partly staffed by private (for profit) firms.

Paragraph 5.96 of the report set out that "Any new nuclear power stations would be proposed, developed, constructed and operated by the private sector, who would also meet full decommissioning costs and their full share of long-term waste management costs".

Dr Tim Stone's views on financing nuclear power in the UK can be seen here(pdf alert) ... Page 8 "There are easier places (than the UK) to make money in the nuclear industry…. ….. unless the regulatory regime makes it more attractive for the private sector and financiers" - in a report to the Westminster Energy Forum who will be holding .....

MAR 14th 2007 - THE FUTURE OF UK NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY

"The aim is to examine global and strategic nuclear issues, as a context for a subsequent, more UK-focused discussion which develops on from policy and regulatory examinations to a more delivery-oriented analysis of supply chain issues."

The Gubment have finally realised that the story that graphically and simply explains the FCUKED - Forth Coning UK Energy defecit on Page 3 of the report by Time Stone (essential reading for anyone insterested) means that something has to be done to secure an ebergfy future for the UK.

The Gubment have finally realised that the "private" sector ain't interested unless the rules of the game are changed.

The Gubment have finally realised that they have to poach someone who can rig and re-jig the rules of the PFI game in conjunction with the private sector / generators / users / financiers to get the Gubment out of the hole.

The Gubment haven't finally understood yet how they will get these nuclear power stations planned, designed, built and running in time and where the qualified engineers, staff etc., will come from - probably India and China having seen (and approved) BNFL's sale Westinghouse to Toshiba in October.

Have we been here before ? Times March 21st 2004

Darling calls in KPMG to fix the railways "Tim Stone, chairman of KPMG’s financing group who is leading the KPMG advisory team, said: “We are delighted — as a team and individually — to be playing a role in the revitalisation and restructuring of the national railway for the benefit of passengers as well as the national economy.”

Nicholas Neveling, Accountancy Age 26th October 2006

KPMGleads $5.4bn watershed deal - Building a presence as lead advisers on the biggest deals has always been a struggle for the corporate finance arms of accounting firms, but all that could change after a $5.4bn (£2.89bn) deal closed by KPMG Corporate Finance last week

The firm acted as lead adviser for Japan’s Toshiba Corporation on its acquisition of Westinghouse from British Nuclear Fuels plc. The deal is thought to be the largest involving an accounting firm as lead adviser.

Finally ...want to know more about "Private Investment for Public Success" a handy "e- pamphlet" produced in November 2006 by Alan Milburn, Time Stone et. al for the Public Network

" ....This pamphlet (pdf alert) argues that public private partnerships (PPP) are crucial to successful and long-term public service reform. Far-reaching socio-economic changes in the 21st century make reform inevitable and public services need to respond accordingly.

Reform can be sustained through improvements based around better choice, subsidiarity and greater diversity in supply. In this respect, the UK’s approach to PPP can act as a catalyst for wider public service reform in Europe."

ISBN 1-903805-6-10 paperback