"Kick-Gate" - Colorado Republicans get down for Dirty Dancin'

Researching events in Colorado I came across this posting by Dick Wadham Colorado republican Chair at the GOP Republican Caucus website

"Representative Bruce was absolutely wrong in literally kicking a Rocky Mountain News photographer on the floor of the House. Representative Bruce does owe that photographer and the entire House of Representatives an apology."

They take whupping the Press (and their public prayers) pretty seriously in Denver.

Apparently there is talk that the 300lb Bruce is about to set up a Radio City Music Hall Rockettes kick line.

Bruce Kicks Photographer During House Prayer Story with Live action Video

Fort Carson boosts Colorado Governor's vision for sustainable energy with massive PV arrays

"Before we can change the climate, we have to change the culture," Vince Guthrie
The Flags were out and the trumpets blowing at Fort Carson , Colo, last week when far sighted, sutainable energy junkie, Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter opened the US$13 Mn. 12 acre solar Photovoltaic Array on a former landfill site. Fort Carson won the Governor's Renewable Energy Award for 2007 for its efforts in building the solar array project.

California based 3 Phases Energy Services, LLC, SunTechnics Energy Systems, Inc., and Morgan Stanley, developed, engineered, installed and financed the 2-megawatt (MW), ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) array - it is designed to generate 3,200 megawatt-hours (MWh) of solar power annually - Xcel Energy will purchase the renewable energy credits (RECs) for 20 years under its Solar*Rewards program, which provides incentives for residential and commercial solar installations. The RECs will support Colorado's renewable portfolio standard. Colorado Springs Utilities which provides services to Fort Carson will host the system on its grid. Under its power marketing authority, Western Area Power Administration's Rocky Mountain Region will procure the power from the system on behalf of Fort Carson.

This will generate 2.3% of Fort Carson's electricity - enough power for 540 homes per year = US$24,000 capital cost per house.

This didn't cost the base a cent but they are locked in for 17 years to pay for electricity at 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour from the Grid supplier - which sounds like a very, very good deal.

Col. Eugene Smith, Fort Carson garrison commander, said "Our vision for Fort Carson is to be a sustainable installation, and it is energy projects like this and our commitment to other projects, that propel us along that journey." (In Iraq, troops have been using portable Power Plastic® lightweight solar chargers made by Konarka Technologies of Lowell, Mass a spin off of MIT - they are also developing portable, electric-generating buildings for the military.. )

Smith said the long-term energy goal for Fort Carson is to sustain all facility mobility systems from renewable sources by 2027.The solar modules are warranted for 25 years and the plant can be expected to produce energy efficiently for up to 40 years.See also detailed news on previous sustainable projects at the base.

Stephanie Carter the Directorate of Public Works utilities program manager was to prepare the landfill for construction. Vince Guthrie, coordinated the efforts of all the third party organizations involved.

Guthrie said he believes the efforts of this project will spur other renewable energy programs.

"Before we can change the climate, we have to change the culture," said Guthrie. "That's what these projects are all about."

Governor Bill Ritter recently led a successful campaign to double the amount of renewable energy in the state's renewable portfolio standard. By 2020, Colorado will get 20 percent of its power from renewable energy, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal resources.

Those interested in the financiers viewpoint would benfit from reading Morgan Stanley’s Commitment to Addressing Environmental Challenges

Arthur Penty , socialist dreamer died January 19th 1937

The Leeds Arts Club was founded in 1903 by the Leeds school teacher Alfred Orage and Yorkshire textile manufacture Holbrook Jackson and Arthur Joseph Penty (1875 –1937), who was, like his father, an architect . Penty left Leeds for London in 1905 and was followed later in 1907 by Orage and Jackson who moved to London to edit the hugely influential cultural and political journal The New Age.

Penty's ideas were widely influential and he formed the ideas of guild socialism . In 1906, Arthur Penty published Restoration of the Gild System in which he opposed factory production and advocated a return to an earlier period of artisanal production organised through guilds. Orage, as editor of The New Age, took up,although in the context of modern industry rather than the medieval setting favoured by Penty.

This more revised version of the guild philosophy was also associated with the economist G.D.H.Cole who formed the National Guilds League in 1915 and published several books on guild socialism including Self-Government in Industry (1917) and Guild Socialism Restated (1920).

In the course of his life Penty produced many books and a small collected anthology was published The Gauntlet: A Challenge to the Myth of Progress, by Arthur J. Penty. Norfolk, VA: IHS Press, in 2003 all of which were illustrative of a naiive post industrial Christian workers Utopia.

The Distributist League, consisting of men such as (Roman Catholic) Hilaire Belloc, G. K. Chesterton, and (non Roman catholic) Arthur Penty among others, advocated the formation of communes based on “Christian principles” and revival of the Guild system such as flourished during the Middle Ages. The distributists were known for their unremitting opposition to Industrialism and Capitalism per se, and their call for a more equal distribution of material goods throughout society. Penty wrote a slim 24 page pamphlet Distributism: A Manifesto in 1937 which was published after his death on January 19th that year.

Having spent some time this last week on the Pennine moors and discussing the effects of the Enclosure acts and the early industrialisation ( we visited the relict moorland coke ovens that helped feed and establish the first iron foundries that built the engines and tools of the Industrial revolution - piss poor picture but it's been a bit rainy this last week) the words of Ludwig van Mises seem apt ...

"It is a distortion of facts to say that the factories carried off the housewives from the nurseries and the kitchens and the children from their play. These women had nothing to cook with and to feed their children. These children were destitute and starving. Their only refuge was the factory. It saved them, in the strict sense of the term, from starvation…. the fact remains that for the surplus population which the enclosure movement had reduced to dire wretchedness and for which there was literally no room left in the frame of the prevailing system of production, work in the factories was salvation. These people thronged into the plants for no reason other than the urge to improve their standard of living."

That the vocal and comfortable middle classes like Chesterton , Belloc and Penty hated the removal of the individual skills that the Catholic mediaeval guilds provided - naturally they welcomed the benefits that industrialisation had brought them.

Just as Lord Patel welcomed the cheap cosy waterproof clothing, and cheap waterproof boots made by Chinese refugees from mediaeval agricuture to clothe the world in the way Lancashire did when those coke ovens were working full blast.

A Distributist blog affords a curious insight onto the Catholic elements of Penty's ideas and their curretn adherents

Gordon and Bank Robber Branson try to sell a crock of shite to the Chinese

Conspiracy theorists (Bloomberg included) are suggesting that Virgin Group Ltd. founder Richard Branson, currently seeking financing for his offer to buy Northern Rock Plc, is traveling with Gordon Brown in China, and by sheer coincidence and the two have a plan. Surprisingly (!) this story has been been peddled assiduoulsy by the BBC through nudges and winks by Nick Robinson.

Sovereign wealth funds, which invest money controlled by national governments, have taken stakes in banks including Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. in recent weeks. China Development Bank has also invested in Barclays Plc, Britain's third biggest bank.

Perhaps the cash rich Chinese might like to invest in Northern Wreck with the boundless opportunities to be associated with hugely successful Nnewcastle United) as sponsors ?

``The Chinese seem hungry for exposure to financial services,'' Phil True, head of U.K. equities for asset management at Credit Suisse Group in London, e-mailed Bloomberg ``There may be some opportunities to pick out some stocks in the U.K. market which are undervalued.''

Brown has repeatedly said he is keeping all options open (Trans : we haven't a fucking clue what to do) to recover more than £25 Bn. (US$49 billion) in government Loans / Guarantees supporting Northern Rock, including nationalizing the bank. The government would consider allowing a bid for the bank financed by a sovereign wealth fund, Michael Ellam, a spokesman for the prime minister, said on Jan. 10.

``I don't think anybody wants to see it nationalized,'' Branson told any journalists willing to listen to the bearded wonder, many iof them fast asleep on Brown's flight to Beijing late yesterday. ``We are the only serious contenders. The management indicated that they agree. The board have indicated they agree. I am still confident a deal can be done.'' ....zzzzzzzz

``I'm confident that the Bank of England can put a proposition together that can save Northern Rock,'' Branson burbled on.

Comvincing Chinese state funds to back a buyout of Northern Wreck could reduce the chances that the government would have to nationalise the bank which a gang of crooks has taken over a cliff and is now entirely supported by the Bank of England.

It is highly unlikely that the Chinese are anxious to resolve Brown's dilemma and Branson will not be seen as a suitable custodian or user of their funds.

It does demonstrate how desperate the Gubment is to offload this crock which if nationalised (the most sensible solution at present as repeatedly stated for months by Vince cable - and Lord Patel) will hang like a millstone around the Gubments neck - a lasting memorial to the Balls/Brown Tri-partite bag of Management speak shite .

UPDAT Sat. 2.00 : The BBC 4 news is assiduously boosting this story by leading the news with it and with a fuzzy telephone interview with the bearded business genius from Shanghai.

Private Eye No 2001 11/24 Jan issue (not online) . Their invariably accurate and well sourced "In the City" has a detailed and fascinating background on the finances,novel accounting procedures and trajectory of Virgin Money (transferred 1 year ago from the UK registered Virgin Money Investment Group VMIG)to the Virgin Group registered in the sunny tax haven of the British Virgin Islands ) and eccentric valuations - transferred for £2.00 into the VMIG in 2005 (with net liabilities of £49 Mn.) and then in the above transaction at £199Mn (with an accumulated and handy £24 Mn. losses on the balance sheet reflecting the previous less than stellar trading history) - and now in various PR bullshit as having an "implied capital value" a year later of £250 Mn.

The previous history of the Virgin Money which was shared with Henderson Holdings Group( we exited non-core or non-performing business) and the 2005 sale of their share is very well explained in this article from the Sydney Morning Herald 29/4/04 - especially the quote from (then) Virgin Money's Australian managing director, Rohan Gamble (there's a name for a banker) "We don't really worry about profit, to be honest," Mr Gamble said. "We are interested in growing the business as fast as possible and reinvesting our cash back into the business." HHG later said in their results, of the sale of their 50% holding -" In the period to disposal, HHG’s share of Virgin Money profit was £1million"

Virgin Money acquired CircleLending for US$49 last year which is the basis for it's US operations ... their unorthodox methods of conveying financial information to it's customers - whilst novel, even entertaining, is hardly likely to impress Gordy's hosts in Shanghai who prefer bankers to have short hair, no beard, a sober suit and neat tie.

Meanwhile the bearded wonder is moving on ....Bloomberg reports of his barnstorming China tour "Richard Branson plans to establish a company in China to help the world's biggest emitter of climate-altering gases develop clean energy and cut emissions.
``We plan to invest quite heavily in it,'' said the billionaire, who is traveling with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his first visit to China as head of government. Branson's Virgin Group Ltd. invests in alternative-energy technologies including windmills, hydroelectric projects and solar power ..... zzzzzz.

They also report that "The U.K. and China signed eight agreements on education, climate change, renewable energy and the development of sustainable cities during Brown's visit. " Bet they make fascinating reading.

See also CNN story that Brown is thrilled by Sacks of Gold bond ideas and that darling will make a statement on Monday - if it smells like shit ...

UPDATE Saturday night : BBC is endlessly repeating the Branson plan with the Sacks of Gold / Bonds stitch up that will shower money on the City and it's brokers / advisors etc.,.. and get this fucking nightmare off Gordy's desk.

Channel 4 news at 6.30 Gary Gibbons in Shanghai with Gordy helps sell the "Brown's Bonds" - Gordy will be in sunnier India when Darling unveils this master plan to enrich the merchant bankers on Monday. You can get CH 4 on the trial Simulcast - excellent.
Nation being softened up to give away £55 Billion.

Matt Frei, BBC World Service Interview with Chertoff and how the BBC persist in peddling 9/11 lies and absurd "official" conspiracy theory

The BBC World Service Interview last night was of Matt Frei, the current BBC's Washington Correspondent who talked to Michael Chertoff , Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security as part of the BBC's current scare mongering campaign about brown skinned / Islamic / jihadist / radicalised / terrists (Podcast available here).

Chertoff (son and grandson of a Rabbi and whose mother was El Al's first air hostess) was anxious to re-inforce his recently (and frequently) expressed views about the "threat from Europe" .. a phrase you will find on the BBC World Service "Interview" website.

However what struck this listener was the polite and insistent questioning about what Michael was up to on the 11th September 2001. Which proved to be a tale of heroic proportions.

Apparently he was working in Justice Department and heard of the first airplane crash into the WTC and thought it was accidental, "minutes later" he heard of the second and he was soon closeted with the FBI across town.

Apparently he then spent the next 24 hours assembling information on the Arab perpetrators of the hi-jacking which were readily and easily identified from the passenger lists supplied by the airlines.

Which is odd, because the passenger lists provided publicly of the four flights did not include a single Arab name .. and certainly not one of the people subsequently identified.

Very poor reproductions of the Passenger manifests (Flt 93 above click to enlarge) were eventually posted 5 years later on the website of the Moussaoui trial exhibits in July 2006 which did indeed include arabic names of passengers - 6 of whom when originally named by the FBI in a press release on September 14, 2001 proved to be living happily in the Middle East.

Abdulaziz Alomari

Abdulaziz Alomari was identified by the FBI as the hijacker who accompanied Mohamed Atta from the connecting flight from Portland and helped him hijack and pilot Flight 11 into the North Tower. Abdulaziz told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper: "The name [listed by the FBI] is my name and the birth date is the same as mine, but I am not the one who bombed the World Trade Center in New York." Saudi Embassy officials in Washington defended the innocence of Alomari, saying that his passport was stolen in 1996 and that he had reported the theft to the police.

Saeed Alghamdi

Saeed Alghamdi, a Saudi Airlines pilot, was identified by the FBI of being a hijacker of Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. Alghamdi was "shocked and furious" to learn this three days after the attack, noting that his name, place of residence, date of birth, and occupation matched those described by the FBI. "You cannot imagine what it is like to be described as a terrorist - and a dead man - when you are innocent and alive," said Alghamdi, who considered legal action against the FBI.

Salem Al-Hamzi

Al-Hamzi was identified by the FBI as one of the hijackers of Flight 77, thought to have crashed into the Pentagon. Al-Hamzi said: "I have never been to the United States and have not been out of Saudi Arabia in the past two years."

Ahmed Al-Nami

Al-Nami was identified by the FBI as one of the hijackers of Flight 93. Al-Nami said: "I'm still alive, as you can see. I was shocked to see my name mentioned by the American Justice Department. I had never even heard of Pennsylvania where the plane I was supposed to have hijacked."

Waleed Alshehri

Waleed Alshehri, a Saudi Arabian pilot, was identified by the FBI as one of the hijackers of Flight 11. Alshehri turned up in Morocco after the attack where he contacted both the Saudi and American authorities to tell them he was not involved in the attack.

Abdulrahman al-Omari

Abdulrahman al-Omari, a Saudi Airlines pilot, was identified by the FBI as one of the hijackers of Flight 11. After learning this, he visited the US consulate in Jeddah to demand an explanation.

Ameer and Adnan Bukhari

Ameer and Adnan Bukhari were named by CNN (not the FBI) as suspected hijackers of Flight 175, the jetliner which crashed into the South Tower, in an article dated 9/13/01. In a correction, CNN stated that Ameer Bukhari died in a small plane crash in Florida, and that Adnan was still alive in Florida, having passed a polygraph test to confirm his innocence. 11

Neither the FBI nor the 9/11 Commission addressed the issue of living / dead hi-jackers but it is fascinating to note that on 23rd September 2001 the BBC reported

"Hijack 'suspects' alive and well"..which started "Another of the men named by the FBI as a hijacker in the suicide attacks on Washington and New York has turned up alive and well." to which there is a fascinating and curious sequel.

Steve Herrman (Editor at the time of the BBC news website) on his BBC blog 27th October 2006 in a post headed "9/11 conspiracy theory" sought to clarify the BBC position over hi-jacker's identities as it had evolved.

In the intervening years we have also reported in detail on the investigation into the attacks, the 9/11 commission and its report....The confusion over names and identities we reported back in 2001 may have arisen because these were common Arabic and Islamic names.

Which is a fascinating view which the 9/11 commission didn't find the need to provide, nor have the FBI sought to ever explain the discrepancy .. or why these folks also shared the same birthdate, passport details....

So Mr Herrman helpfully provided what it evidently what is evidently now the established BBC News policy by repeating the FBI assertion about identities (without addressing the cause of confusion or seeking to explain it)..

We recently asked the FBI for a statement, and this is, as things stand, the closest thing we have to a definitive view: The FBI is confident that it has positively identified the nineteen hijackers responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Also, the 9/11 investigation was thoroughly reviewed by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States and the House and Senate Joint Inquiry. Neither of these reviews ever raised the issue of doubt about the identity of the nineteen hijackers.

Emphasis that of the BBC)

Which is probably why Matt Frei passed up on the oportunity to ask the guy who both helped to identify these Arab hi-jackers and was sat in front of him to provide such an explanation.

Easy mistake to make in the busy life of a (well educated - Westminster School and Oxford) BBC journalist.... well known in the US now, as from October 1st 2007 he has been promoted to the anchor (US) . presenter (BBC English) of BBC World News America, airing at 2300 GMT (1900 ET / 1600 PT) every weekday.

Not a position he would like to forfeit for demonstrating that the Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security was a lying bastard whose religious and racial heritage made it quite easy to finger a bunch of Arabs as the authors of Armageddon.

If you need to re-inforce your beliefs about the massive and growing threat of Islam and it's teenage keyboard generals, assembling their WMD's from marmalade and mascara listen to the Podcast. It is easy to forget sometimes that our taxes pay for the FCO to run a UKUSA state propaganda station that works globally, 24 /7.

PS : We won't even go into the discrepancies on the passenger lists and the DNA identifications eventually released that found 3 passengers (Robert Ploger, Zandra Ploger, and Sandra Teague) that didn't exist at Shanksville. If you want to go here for the details by By Thomas R. Olmsted, M.D ex naval officer.

Faster, better resolution in new CT scanning provides improved medical imaging

CT or Computed Tomography (Greek tomos (slice) and graphein (to write)) scanning often referred to as CAT scanning uses special x-ray equipment to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body. It is non - invasive and painless. The "slices" taken are combined to form a full 3-D and very detailed image of internal organs, bone, soft tissue and blood vessels.

The technique was originally developed by by Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield at EMI (now a rapidly shrinking music company) for which with he was, with Allan McLeod Cormack of Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA awarded the Nobel Prize for medecine.

The original 1971 prototype took 160 parallel readings through 180 angles, each 1° apart, with each scan taking a little over five minutes. The images from these scans took 2.5 hours to be processed by algebraic reconstruction techniques on a Data General computer.

It is claimed that EMI could cover the immense research costs with the proceeds of the Beatles records - The first commercial EMI-Scanner was installed in Atkinson Morley's Hospital in Wimbledon, England, and the first patient brain-scan was made with it in 1972.

Since then there has been accelerating progress in developing new equipment, with the aim of reducing scanning time, and therefore radiation exposure and improved image handling to give more detail and an image that can be readily manipulated.

Today there are 4 major competing systems ;

Toshiba America Medical Systems has its AquilionONE 320-slice scanner

Before the AquilionONE, 64-slice volumetric imaging entailed imaging of separate pieces or sub-volumes. Sub-volumes were stitched together after the scan, a process that produces artifacts, particularly when imaging a moving organ such as in coronary CT angiography.As they have cut scan time to 0.5 second more slices can be undertaken for the equivalent radiation dose of other, slower eqipment.

Philips Healthcare’s offers the Brilliance iCT 256-slice scanner

This new system produces superior cardiac images as its speed and coverage freezes the motion of the heart and produces a clear snapshot of the coronary arteries.

reduces the amount of radiation a patient is exposed to by as much as 80 per cent and generates images in a fraction of the time of other scanners.

Dr Keith Prowse, chairman of the British Lung Foundation, said the Brilliance iCT machine enables clinicians to see much smaller things in both the lungs and the airways and the scanner is a quantum shift from the first CT scanners as it gives a lot more detail. Head scan on this system above, more here.

Siemens Medical Solutions has developed the SOMATOM Definition Adaptive Scanner (AS)

This is an “adaptive” scanner available in 40-, 64- and 128-count configurations. This relies on using lower numbers of scans but with fast high resolution - the system fits in an 18m2 space, allowing hospitals short on real estate to shoehorn the system into spaces previously too small to house a CT suite. At the same time, the table and gantry accommodate patients weighing up to 650 pounds !!!

GE Healthcare has developed what they describe as High-Definition CT (HDCT) technology.

HDCT is claimed to enable dual-energy imaging and improved registration in conjunction with iterative reconstruction.This is claimed to both suppress image noise and allow reduced radiation dose for the patient. A modified garnet gemstone scintillator improves x-ray conversion speed. As a result it produces very sharp images of the coronary arteries and abdominal visceral arteries.

GE claim that the Projection-based, dual-energy data processing reduces beam hardening artifacts. Also it allows t and should enhance diagnostic capabilities. Other potential clinical applications include iodine separation, accurate auto-bone removal in 3D assessments and material decomposition. They await FDA approval of the system this year.

Naturally they are all expensive bits of kit to buy, install, maintain and operate and require special operator training and image evaluation for the guys in white coats and with stethoscopes hung round their necks.

Top UK SIGINT spy at GCHQ hands in lunch pail

David Pepper obtained a DPhil in Theoretical Physics at St John's College Oxford, joined GCHQ in 1972. He joined GCHQ's board in 1995 as Director of Personnel, transferring to the Home Office three years later to lead their Corporate Development Directorate.

During his two and a half years in London he was responsible for corporate change management, IT services and accommodation, gaining practical experience of delivering large PFI projects.

He has been Director of GCHQ for five years (KCMG - Order of St Michael and St George in 2005 Birthday Honours) involving a move from over 50 ageing buildings into a new state-of-the-art headquarters in Cheltenham (The Donut) ," without any break in service to Whitehall customers, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence. The organisation has continued to produce world-class intelligence and information assurance, which has been essential in helping combat threats such as terrorism, cybercrime, and narcotics, and in supporting British forces in the field." .. it says here. (as well as bugging my lover Diana Spencer's phone calls)

He is married with two sons and his leisure interests include music, reading, walking and cooking.

He has just called to tell us that he retires in July, his successor has not been named (or probably selected yet)....no doubt whoever it is will be busily involved in Jacqui Smiths knicker wetting ideas on controlling the Internet and suppressing the awkward squad.

Who knows it could be someone recruited via the subliminal advertising by GCHQ in shoot 'em down games earlier this year.



If so, it is certain that they won't have been educated at snooty, St John's the wealthiest and leader of the Norrington Table and alma mater of the Catholic Zionist carpetbagger and war criminal Tony Blair, curmudgeon and minor poet Philip Larkin, finest post war novelist John Wain and Jethro Tull (the 17 Century father of the agricultural revolution NOT the rock gods) - although they do have their own TV station.

UPDATE Saturday : Contacts at GCHQ appear anxious to explain that David's monster auditory apparatus earned him the soubriquet "Plug" the super intelligent hero of the Beano's Bash Street Kids at an early age. Rumours that his ears could be brought into use when the comms satellites were down, are apparently totally unfounded.

BA Boeing 777 crash landing - first reports concentrate on sudden power loss 2 miles out at 600 feet

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) published a statement on its website regarding the crash-landing of a British Airways flight at Heathrow.

The flight crew were interviewed on the evening of the event by an AAIB Operations Inspector and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Quick Access Recorder (QAR) were removed for replay.

The CVR and FDR have been successfully downloaded at the AAIB laboratories at Farnborough and both records cover the critical final stages of the flight.

The QAR was downloaded with the assistance of British Airways and the equipment manufacturer. All of the downloaded information is now the subject of detailed analysis.

The investigation has everything it could possible require to resolve the causes of the crash landing and the initial overview focuses on the loss of engine power .

Initial indications from the interviews and flight recorder analyses show the flight and approach to have progressed normally until the aircraft was established on late finals for Runway 27L.

At approximately 600ft and two miles from touch down, the autothrottle demanded an increase in thrust from the two engines, but the engines did not respond.Following further demands for increased thrust from the autothrottle, and subsequently the flight crew moving the throttle levers (Senior First Officer John Coward), the engines similarly failed to respond. The aircraft speed reduced and the aircraft descended onto the grass, short of the paved runway surface.

The investigation is now focussed on more detailed analysis of the flight recorder information, collecting further recorded information from various system modules and examining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation.

Presumably an air strike that caused such a rapid and total power loss would have left plenty of easily discovered evidence. Wind shear, whilst it might affect handling would not lead to power loss. Evidently the failure of the avionics to respond both to autothrottle and manual control will be at the centre of investigations but "aircraft systems that could influence engine operation" does include fuel supplies and systems.

This AP pic gives some idea of the size of the 777 - gliding that mutha down successfully over 2 miles without power is a remarkable acheivement that's some 40 hectic seconds at a typical approach speed of 150 mph.

It also demonstrates the massive structural integrity of modern metal airframes in crash conditions.

BA have 43 Boeing 777 planes in its fleet. There are no plans to ground any.

Boeing Fly By Wire systems under the microscope

Concern over the avionics on the only Fly By Wire Boeing jet passenger aircraft comes at a bad time for Boeing after the recent FAA type certification Special Conditions notice on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner electronic systems.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008 Boeing 787 Dreamliner - In Flight Entertainment mustn't include hi-jacking the Systems and Data Networks says FAA in Special Conditions Notice
Boeing shares have slipped 65 cents - 0.82% 1.00 pm EST

UPDATE : Flight have pics with captions and some comment on other elements of the landing...." many (passengers) did not realise they had "crashed" until the cabin crew ordered the evacuation"

Mark Thompson is a twat, The BBC , lack of Trust and the triumphs of Strictly Come Dancing

The Trouble With Trust: Building Confidence In Institutions by Mark Thompson, DG of the BBC. Speech given at QEII Centre, London Tuesday 15 January 2008.

Is a tiresome piece of corporate self serving bullshit , only worth reading to confirm one's first (and lasting impression) about this lickspittle accountant and Gubment apparatchik . He kicked off by quoting Comrade Blair's "feral beast" speech to Reuters last year , as he exited with his carpet bag to keep the Zionistas happy in Tel Aviv (who evidently don't give a fuck about public trust, local or global) ..

"... this relationship between public life and media is now damaged in a manner
that requires repair. The damage saps the country's confidence and self-belief;
it undermines its assessment of itself, its institutions; and above all, it
reduces our capacity to take the right decisions, in the right spirit for our
future."

The audience in his echo chamber composed of metropolitan muttering classes were bombarded with charts, slides and powerpoint wizardry (apparently) ..but everything is OK now ..

"Surveys definitely suggested falling public confidence in phone voting, yet the
actual numbers of people voting – at least on BBC programmes like Strictly Come
Dancing – went up, not down."

So that's alright then. Thank Christ..democracy is safe in their hands.

He concluded .."Public trust is the life-blood of the BBC." and in the way they can of course orchestrate public views (see the current beautifully directed Newsnight / Today / WATO / PM syndicalised and syndicated drumbeat on Radicalising the young brown skinned, Koran waving, internet groomed , terrist, suicidal jihadist fundamentalist sons and daughters of chip shop proprietors ) the DG was on "Feedback" today just after WATO.. and Mark Thompson was batting off the softballs lobbed by Roger Bolton " ...this is all about giving the public the information , the facts and the arguments so they can make their own minds up.." (20.40 secs into recording available here (only available for 7 days replay)

Well consider this information ...

The Guided Bomb Unit-24 (GBU-24) Paveway III Low Level Laser Guided Bomb [LLLGB] consists of 2,000-pound of lethal High Explosive , in the typical MK-84 general purpose bomb, US $55,600 a pop. The operator (pilot) illuminates a target with a laser designator and then the munition guides to a spot of laser energy reflected from the target. One way to deliver LGBs from low altitude is a loft attack. In this maneouvre, the aircraft is pulled up sharply at a predetermined point some miles from the target and the LGB is lofted upward and toward the target. Get it wrong and the bomb will impact well short of the target. This can be dropped from Harriers and Tornado GR4's and other now antique RAF hardware and the Typhoon / Eurofighter (19 years in development at a cost that makes Northern Wreck look reasonable) dropped it's first into the Irish Sea recently , althoughn it neded another plane to illuminate the target (We'll ignore the BL755 CLUSTER BOMB with 147 bomblets that they can also carry and drop).



These two photographs show the general configuration and one with artificers gives a better idea of the size ...these are big muthas .. 2 tons all up.




Now the Royal Air Force are dropping these bombs on Iraq and Afghanistan every day ... and have been for years ... have the BBC provided you ...er .. " information , the facts ..." or even "the arguments " for dropping them?

Go and have a look at the daily bulletins of the Coalition bombing from the air on civilians for the last 4 years which Bomber Harris and the embryonic perfected in Iraq in the 20's and Hitler tried out first in Spain in the 30's

Here is the most recent (Jan 16th) of the daily airpower summaries for coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan

..."In total, coalition aircraft flew 65 close-air support missions for
Operation Iraqi Freedom - and Five Air Force and Royal Air Force intelligence
surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions as part of operations in
Afghanistan

" What happens on "close-air support missions" missions is rarely detailed ..on Jan 13th .."A Royal Air Force GR-7 Harrier performed a show of force to deter enemy activities in Musah Qal'eh. A JTAC confirmed the mission a success." In reading these reports for years, we haven't seen one described otherwise.

This relentless, endless daily listing of the massive firepower of the coalition forces, unchallenged either from the ground or the air does have it's comic elements. Only today there is a fine piece of military journalism ... entitled "Don't overlook airpower in joint counterinsurgency doctrine"

Field Manual 3-24 by the Army and Warfighting Publication 3-33.5 by the Marine
Corps, has been widely celebrated since its publication in December 2006 for
filling a gap in American military doctrine.

However, its relegation of
airpower to a five-page appendix does not fully recognize the important part air, space and cyberspace operations can play in neutralizing insurgencies, said
Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr., the Air Force deputy judge advocate general.etc.,

Apparently according to Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr., over 4 years into this illegal invasion of Iraq and "recosntruction" of Afghanistan the Coalition Air Forces aren't dropping enough bombs, shooting enough missiles and shooting up the terrists.

Now that's something else mark Thompsons BBC , dedicated to trust and "giving the public the information , the facts and the arguments so they can make their own minds up.. haven't told you. Yet.

As we finish this vile bile we are listening to BBC 4 "PM" .. Toni Fabuloso is inconsoleable to learn from the news headlines that Dawn French AKA Vera Duckworth of ITV's "Coronation Street" is killed off tonight.

Putin and his gang extend energy interests and ownership

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev (currently entertaining President Putin and his gang - including First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Gazprom's chairman and the man Putin has nominated to succeed him) will sign up today for a 50% share of the trans Bulgarian section 0f the The South Stream project (transit deals are definitely out) , proposed by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) . This is Moscow's challenge to a rival Nabucco plan to pipe Central Asian gas to the European Union and reduce the bloc's reliance on Russian energy. (Windows media video presentation)

The Russia-Bulgaria pipeline on the seabed of the Black Sea is designed to circumvent both Ukraine and Turkey. An option that strengthens Russia’s leverage in negotiations with those transit countries - with the Ukraine’s case, it will increase Putin's leverage to demand partial control of Ukraine’s transit pipelines in return for not reducing transit volumes through the Ukraine. It was at the “energy summit” on June 24 2007 in Zagreb, that President Putin held a bilateral meeting with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov to draw Bulgaria into the South Stream project. Russia’s account of the meeting claims that Georgi eagerly accepted.

This agreement will bring the EU member state 1.4 billion euros in cash and a role in a regional energy hub and probably other financial benefits to Bulgarian interests.

Bulgaria will also sign up for a Russsian built nuclear plant Sofia News Agency18 January 2008, Friday - Bulgaria, Russia Sign 8 Memoranda during Putin's Visit
See below for more on the nuclear deal.

South Stream will carry 30 billion cubic metres of gas 900 Km. under the Black Sea, emerging on the Bulgarian coast to continue through one of two routes - through Greece and reach Italy, or pass through Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria before arriving in Italy.



South Stream - which was a sealed deal from June 23 2007 when , ENI Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni and Gazprom Vice-Chairman Alexander Medvedev signed a memorandum in Rome of an understanding to build a gas pipeline from Russia to Italy , joined by Energy Ministers Pierluigi Bersani of Italy and Viktor Khristenko of Russia . Through this and other deals the Kremlin seeks to become the political manager of an energy supply system for Europe under conditions of tight or even deficit supplies in the medium / long term.

South Stream significantly increases Russia’s options to play consumer countries and various national energy champions in Europe against each other. One element is that by planning to build surplus pipeline capacities as an element of export strategy - enabling the Russian bear to switch export directions for large hydrocarbon volumes ( euphemistically described as “flexibility,” ). These surplus pipeline capacities (if built as planned ) will enable Russia to switch supplies -- favoring one or another direction, country, or national champion -- according to a system centrally managed from Moscow.

The Nabucco proposals are central to EU efforts to diversify gas supplies away from Russia - On June 28, 2005, the five partner companies of the international Nabucco gas pipeline project - Botas, Bulgargaz, Transgaz, MOL and OMV Gas - signed a joint venture agreement for the full term of the project at their General Assembly in Vienna. But Bulgaria, torn between proving its EU credentials and maintaining its renewed ties with Russia, is eager to diversify its gas sources by being a partner in Nabucco but is also attracted by South Stream because of lucrative transit taxes.


The upstream sources for South Stream could be gas from Siberian and Central Asian. At the Rome meeting on June 23rd Medvedev spoke interchangeably of Russian gas and Gazprom-owned Central Asian . ENI , who opened direct access for Gazprom to distribution systems and end consumers in Italy, bought (was allowed to) ArcticGaz and Urengoil the Siberian gas-producing companies in April 2007, when the Russian government auctioned the last assets of Yukos.

Russia's state-owned Atomstroyexport are ready to design and build two twin 1000 MW units ready for use in 2014/5 - and Putin said "We have set aside EUR 3.8 Bn. for the needs of the Belene power plant in the Russian Federation budget and we are ready to make the funds available if they are needed," after meeting Georgi Parvanov.

Head of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, part of Putin's gang on his trip, said that Atomstroyexport expected to build 2 more reactors in the future.

Bulgaria plans to pick a strategic investor (Short-listed bidders - Czech CEZ, German E.ON and RWE, Belgian Electrabel and Italy's Enel) for 49% in the company that will operate Belene by mid-2008 and has said it would use the cash to fund part of the costs.

Bulgarian national power grid operator NEK, owning the remaining 51%, has to pick the bank that will arrange the financing for the construction of the power plant.

Currently the EUR 250 M bridge loan is with BNP Paribas any dealys will mean the need to fallback on up to EUR 600 M from EU's Euratom agency and the European Investment Bank (EIB), with the cabinet / Bulgarian state underwriting both loans.

Elswhere Vagit Alekperov's LUKoil who reported increased annual profits this week of US$8 Bn. will soon become the owner of TGK-8, one of the the largest power generation companies in southern Russia. The financial group IFD Kapital, which is co-owned by LUKoil Vice President Leonid Fedun, acquired the electricity company's shares placed during an additional offering and the sale of the state stake in TKG-8 in October. To pay for TGK-8 shares, the financial group sold $1.262bn worth of bonds convertible into LUKoil ADRs.

Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, spokesman for European energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs said when asked about the Russian / Bulgarian deal "... we consider Nabucco a priority project, rather than South Stream, because it will diversify not only the transport routes, but also the supply sources," .. who is currently up to his neck in proposed EU legislation to limit imports to the EU of biofuels.

You may not like the ruthless Mr Putin and his silovaki - but only a fool would not admire how he and his gang are relentlessly and entusiastically peforming an end run around EU energy planning.

UPDATE Tuesday 22nd Jan
The Guradian have a Reuters story today Caspian uncertainty biggest threat to EU gas scheme - Reuters Tuesday January 22 2008

It concludes ...

"The construction of a Trans-Caspian pipeline linking Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan that could provide an independent route to the West has been frozen by conflicting claims between the two over reserves in the Caspian.
Meanwhile Iranian gas, which Turkey has offered to supply for Nabucco, has been turned down by Brussels, as the Islamic Republic is subject to United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme. Iran has a poor track record as a supplier due to underdeveloped infrastructure. "

The Joys of Smoking

As the mercury plummets and smokers clog the sidewalks, this spoof ad from Canadian political pranksters Adbusters is worth wider circulation.....



..although their spoor ( a planter outside a shopping mall) leaves a very unpleasant reminder of their addiction..

The Paisley Dynasty and the murky deals that sealed the St Andrews NI agreement - orchestrated by Tony Blair

Tom Griffin points to the Irish Times story yesterday that DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley will retire as a Westminster MP at the next general but will remain as First Minister at Stormont until his term expires in 2011, after he enters his 86th year.

His preferred replacement, predicts Tom, is surely his son, fellow North Antrim MLA and junior Stormont minister, Ian Paisley Jr. He is however under close public scrutiny due to his cosy relationship with DUP member, property developer Seymour Sweeney. The Paisley's pere et fils have a long term friendship with fisherman Sweeney (see BBC Online).

The contents of a letter to the MLA from direct rule Minster , Welsh Nu-Labour MP David Hanson dated October 13, 2006 - the final day of the St Andrews talks, has been published under a Freedom of Information request by ex-DUP MEP Jim Allister - who had quit the DUP over the power-sharing deal with Sinn Fein. (Remember the NI office agreement states ..."Our discussions have been focused on achieving full and effective operation of the political institutions. " see official NI offfice agreeement. no mention of Hanson's letter)

In the letter, Mr Hanson listed six issues raised by Mr Paisley Jnr that had been "considered" by the Prime Minister - then Roman catholic Zionist carpetbagger Tony Blair.

These included publicly-owned land at Ballee, Ballymena which Mr Sweeney and other businessmen were seeking to buy and development of land at Giant's Causeway that Mr Sweeney owned / had interests in .

The full list of issues raised with Tony Blair ,"on the margins of the St Andrews talks " as listed by the NIO, give a fascinating insight into grubby money making schemes that were exercising the champions of democracy , they included :

* £1m in funding over seven years for the North West 200 motorcycling event.
* Planning approval for a "resort spa" including "200 homes" .
* Future use of St Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena "to be discussed with MP".
*Giant's Causeway - "private sector land to be included in development".
* Upgrade of the A26 Ballymena to Ballycastle road.
* Ballee lands - "judicial review to be dropped".

Fascinating - don't remember these matters receiving much of an airing at the time.

North Antrim Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay is quoted on the Sinn fein website ( last refuge it appears of the politically inoccent in NI) "Most people will find it extraordinary that Seymour Sweeney's application for a Visitors Centre at the Giants Causeway, as well as a land deal in Ballymena which he is involved with, formed part of key DUP negotiations at St Andrews to restore the Assembly. "

He also adds mysteriously ..."The DUP has a duty to the public to now clarify whether or not the Environment Minister Arlene Foster (and UUP turncoat) and the Enterprise Minister Nigel Dodds (OBE) were present at St Andrews when Ian Paisley Junior was lobbying for private sector land to be included in the development at the Giant's Causeway."

The real politik of the decades of squalid deals and stitch ups of NI will come as a surprise to no-one ... nor that Tony Blair was up to his neck in it ... and Bertie of course... not without his own money problems Times 6/1/08 "Bertie Ahern admits disorder in tax affairs"..."His current woes are linked to a long-running public investigation, the Mahon tribunal, into land planning deals linked to political favours. " in which developer, Owen O'Callaghan figures, claiming he slipped Bertie the long brown envelopes and which Bertie denies....


Paisley's Church seeks new Moderator after 56 years

Ian Paisley founded the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951 and indicated last September that he would stand down in January following mounting concern over his dual role as Moderator and Stormont First Minister. Church members anxiety may have been due to the workload facing Mr Paisley, but it may also have reflected concern at his decision to share power with Sinn Fein.

Clergy and elders of the Free Presbyterian Church will meet tonight to choose the man to succeed Ian Paisley as his 56-year term as Moderator comes to an end.

All this makes the news that the Global head of the British Council is Neil Kinnock and his son runs the Russian branch another fascinating reflection on political dynasts.

British Airways Boeing 777 inbound from Beijing crash lands at Heathrow - cause unknown

Inbound from Beijing, China, British Airways twin engined Boeing 777(G-YMMM - built in 2001 - with 23,476 flying hours as of Dec. 31, 2006), flight BA038 in bound, non -stop from Beijing China with 136 passengers (total capacity > 440), three flightdeck crew and 13 cabin crew on board was on the approach to runway 27L at 12.43local time (18 minutes ahead of schedule).

It appears that the aircraft appears to have suffered loss of power on both engines at some stage late in the approach and also use of avionics. The reason for the power loss is not yet known, nor is it known whether power loss was total.

The weather at Heathrow at the time was wind from 220° at 16kt (30km/h), broken cloud at 1,400ft (426m) and 2,000ft, temperature 11°C, dew point 9°C, with a warning that the wind might vary temporarily to 240° at 20kt, gusting to 32kt. The visibility was greater than 10km (6.2 miles).

The crew managed to control the descent to a touchdown (and without making announcments to passengers) with wings level, on grass just inside the perimeter fence at Heathrow, on the 27L extended centreline. The landing gear was down, flaps were set at about 20°, and the indications are that the crew had started the auxiliary power unit.

On touchdown after a ground run of 350m (1,150ft) on grass the 777's gear dug into the soft ground and separated. The aircraft came to rest at the threshold of runway 27L. Forward momentum would have been low as the plane was close to its stalling speed.

When the main landing gear separated it caused considerable damage to the engines and the wings near the wing-root trailing edge.

Emergency chutes were deployed and all passengers and crew evacuated in an orderly fashion. Thirteen the passengers (among them 7 British and 3 Chinese) are reported to have been treated at nearby Hillingdon Hospital for minor injuries. There was no fire.

Eyewitness Neil Jones, who has a general aviation pilot’s licence told the BBC , that the plane had been making a “very, very unusual approach,” and the engine sounded louder than normal. “The aircraft was banking to the left and it was coming in very low over the surrounding houses. The plane was significantly lower than it would normally be,” he said.

A Scotland Yard spokesman is quoted by the Daily Mail..."There is nothing to suggest at this stage that the incident is in any way terrorist-related."

On Sunday 6th January a Quantas 747- 400 with 300 passengers on the Sysdney - London route landed at Bangkok after the jumbo jet lost all power which has so far been attributed water seeping from a toilet sink into the generator as the plane descended into Bangkok.

It's early days but various theories have been advanced for the BA crash landing ...fuel starvation (they should have had 1 hours capacity spare) , interference from use of passenger wireless equipment, bird strike (Daily Mail take this up) and even wind shear.

The Boeing 777 is the only Boeing jet passenger plane with Fly by Wire controls - these can be overriden by the pilot (unlike the Airbus series). Enquiries will naturally focus on the loss of avionics - this is confirmed at EETimes .

UPDATE : BBC 4 Midnight News had a rescue person claiming to have spoken to the pilot (Peter Burkhill ?) who said there was a catastrophic loss of engine power - which would suggest that the views expresed on BBC2 Newsnight of wind shear , whilst it may be contributory was not the principal and fundamental cause.

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a team with investigator Bill English as the U.S. Accredited Representative who will work with the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) in its investigation . An aviation systems technical specialist and a powerplants technical specialist will accompany English. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Boeing Aircraft Company are also sending investigators as part of the team.

The AAIB will lead the investigation and information will be released through it. (Many will remember that the NTSB were shouldered aside by the FBI in investigating 9/11 hijacks/crashes - the only ones on US soil they have NEVER investigated)... their website states "the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Safety Board provided requested technical assistance to the FBI, and any material generated by the NTSB is under the control of the FBI. The Safety Board does not plan to issue a report or open a public docket." ...some documents are available at the National Safety Archive August 2006 in response to a Freedom of Information request by the National Security Archive.

Useful discussion here at glider pilot Ewans Musings blog

BA website has updates on effects of accident and a contact telephone number

Detauled, lengthy and informative review of flit testing the Boeing 777-ER Extended Range plane from Boeing here.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Claims by Quantas - more bad news for Boeing.

The Financial Times reports today that Qantas, the Australian flag carrier, on Thursday became the first airline to announce it was seeking damages from Boeing, the US aircraft maker, for late delivery of the 787 Dreamliner. The group has made a commitment for up to 115 aircraft. The first 15 787s to be delivered to the Qantas Group will be operated by Jetstar, its low cost subsidiary, on international routes.

The share price, initially hit US$82/3 but settled down below US$80 0.5% on the day.

The Money Shot (c) Stef

Jacqui Smith addressed the very, very, secret, The First International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence at an unknown very, very secret location in London (not a million miles from Kings College) ... as Stef said of the report in the register this is the "Money Shot"(see PS)

The internet is a key tool for the propagandists for violent extremism... Let me be clear. The internet is not a no-go area for Government.

We are already working closely with the communications industry to take action against paedophiles... we should also take action against those who groom vulnerable people for the purposes of violent extremism... I will be talking to industry... about how best to do this.

Where there is illegal material on the net, I want it removed. (Note use of personal pronoun)

One can only hope she changes her piss stained Uzbek cotton free drawers and freshens herself up before she infests our TV screens tonight to explain what the phrase "The internet is not a no-go area for Government." means. Let's hope Mark Urban with his freshly stained hair is on hand to explain what it all means. (Mark, alas wasn't there and unmarried Jacqui changed from her regulation Captain Scarlett jacket ( a trend set yesterday by Lady Dame Jane) for a cameo appearance as a dumb blonde (sans serious looking glasses) on BBC1 Question Time (see pic of the happy lady)

As The Register concludes their report ...

So, we've basically got two ways this could go.

One, the Brown cabinet are just grandstanding to technically ignorant voters. They won't do anything, safe in the knowledge that those voters will never realise this.

Or, two, the government actually plans to build a Chinese-style Great Firewall of Blighty which will prevent anyone looking at anything which says "jihadi" or "bomb" or "TATP" (whoops) etc. You'll probably be able to get round it if you know what you're doing, but it will be at the cost of slow, intermittent connections and possible, lengthy terror-powers detention without charge.

Let's hope they're just bullshitting. ®

PS : The "Money Shot" refers to the golden and exciting moment when the participants in "Bullseye" used to discover from legendary Accrington top comic Jim Bowen what they would have won.

UPDATE see PA report here and reuters here.

London development Agency, Lottery funding of the Olympics, lee Jasper, Yvonne Thompson and very confusing accounts of public expendture

London Development Agency's Resources and Risk Committee, led by the LDA's Statutory Finance Officer, with the support of Deloitte, its internal auditor has reviewed and reported on allegations about LDA funded projects published in the Evening Standard on 5, 6, 10 and 17 December 2007.

The full report is available here and the details of the Evening Standard allegations here.
Red Ken's office issued a release as well. The Evening Standard has riposted with an article
by Andrew Gilligan "MPs seek full inquiry into City Hall grants scandal"

Briefly, the Evening Standard newspaper and it's ace reporter Andrew Gilligan, nemesis (unwittingly ) of Dr David Kelly, had alleged that LDA contracts and funding were awarded to organisations because of their personal friendships with the Mayor's advisor Lee Jasper or because of inappropriate interference by Mr Jasper. The review has found that this was not true and the Press release detaining the 11 detailed conclusions is available here.

Some statements made in the Evening Standard relate to allegations that private individuals appropriated money from organisations to which the LDA had given funds. The LDA has limited powers to investigate such charges as it cannot sequester bank accounts, force disclosure of emails or accounts, or interrogate individuals, beat them up, set up loaded Tribunals headed by retired judges etc. In order to remove all ambiguities regarding any remaining charges the LDA has referred any such cases to the police to examine.

It is worth noting that the Board of LDA in reviewing the report say ..."in respect of the three projects mentioned by the Evening Standard which the LDA has referred to the Police, that the agency had already identified areas of concerns and was in any event pursuing follow-on action. "

Mysteriously, they add ... "With regard to the inaccurate and misleading statements covered by the Evening Standard and others, the Board further recognised that our concerns would be registered with the Evening Standard and any other relevant bodies." .. of course why stir up a hornet's nest and have all the sordid evidence examined in court, raise huge legal fees, with the prospect of danages, libel claims etc., when the Board recognise(s):

..."the importance of the agency in continuing to deliver its key priorities for London, including the 2012 Games and to not allow itself to be diverted by these predominantly unfounded allegations. "

Especially when LDA admitted yesterday that land owned by them and bought with Lottery cash may only be worth £800 Mn by 2012 and not £1.8Mn leaving a "black hole" of £1 Bn after basing future land values on a "reasonable" 6% annual growth and not the projected insanely ambitious 16% over 20 years. (Bad news for developers in places like Tamesis and other friends of Len Duvall)

As a result of Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport James Purnell's (Stalybridge & Balliol and one time Chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel and at 37 youngest member of the Cabinet) prudence and his claim that “I can confirm today that there will be no further diversion from the Lottery Good Causes to fund the Olympics.” BBC

Who also added , contrary to all evidence and logic that ..."There is no black hole in the Olympic budget." No stranger to financial black holes he is the most expensive MP in the Greater Manchester area. ****

The Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund Order was casually passed through providing the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund with £1,108,000 Mn funds up to 2012 ..

The schedule for which is ..

Payments into the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund
1.—(1) The Secretary of State is permitted to make the following payments from the National Lottery Distribution Fund into the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund—
(a) on or after 1st February 2009, £73 million;
(b) on or after 1st May 2009, £73 million;
(c) on or after 1st August 2009, £73 million;
(d) on or after 1st November 2009, £73 million;
(e) on or after 1st February 2010, £73 million;
(f) on or after 1st May 2010, £73 million;
(g) on or after 1st August 2010, £73 million;
(h) on or after 1st November 2010, £73 million;
(i) on or after 1st February 2011, £73 million;
(j) on or after 1st May 2011, £73 million;
(k) on or after 1st August 2011, £73 million;
(l) on or after 1st November 2011, £73 million;
(m) on or after 1st February 2012, £73 million;
(n) on or after 1st May 2012, £68 million;
(o) on or after 1st August 2012, £68 million. - 1652 days to the Grand Opening - that's £650,000 per day (give or take a few quid) EVERY fucking day. See logo with results of BBC Online poll.

Even after handsome Culture Secretary James Parnell promised yesterday that no more Lottery funds would therefore be directed to the Olympics the House divided on the issue and the vote was Ayes - 357 Noes - 9. The Question was agreed to.

See -Hansard Votes and Proceedings 15th January 2008.

David Barrie of the Art Fund says that this shortfall is "disastrous"

He wrote recently in the Financial Times recently about Arts funding in the UK ... "There's a longer-term problem too, about capital investment: the National Lottery enabled many museums (There are 1,800 museums and galleries in the UK) to transform themselves in the 1990s but the Olympic "raid" means the boom years are unlikely ever to return." he also added that ..."The outlook is grim. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport - under intense pressure from the Treasury - has told the nationals (Museums) to prepare for significant cuts following the current spending review. "

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f6a315a6-0026-11dc-8c98-000b5df10621.html

As the catastrophic dispersal of Lottery funds by Government fiat on the ephemeral Olympics rises ever upward , from the deliberately falsified £2.4 MN in the brief for Singapore in 2005 to at least £9.3 Bn in March 2007 BBC Online March 15th 2007 .."The budget for the 2012 London Olympics has risen to £9.35bn, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has told MPs. " - the future looks even bleaker for Arts funding.

David Barrie raised this vital point

..."The "creative industries", which the government so frequently claims as one of the great British success stories of recent years, depend on the existence of thriving artistic, scientific and educational communities. If, as ministers argue, the creative industries are of crucial importance to the future prosperity of this country, then someone will need to invest the relatively modest sums that are needed to ensure the continued prosperity of the museums and galleries that help to nourish them. "

Today in the Financial Times Nicholas Hytner, the director of the National Theatre is quoted
saying that the planned cuts in Arts Council funding with 200 institutions have their funding withdrawn , “ill-thought through and very unfair to those organisations that have been told to prepare for cuts”. The Guradian report him saying " "On behalf of the entire theatre, I look at what has happened over the last few weeks with total dismay."

Perhaps just as well then that the LDA have sensibly decided that ......"the importance of the agency in continuing to deliver its key priorities for London, including the 2012 Games and to not allow itself to be diverted by these predominantly unfounded allegations. "

Which leaves the Editor and Andrew Gilligan of the Evening Standard free to repeat (and anyone else) the allegations about Lee Jasper's activities, such as "Yvonne Thompson (pic) is a friend of Lee Jasper and accompanied him on a trip to New York at the LDA’s expense - which was £5,192 in transportation and accommodation costs." - The LDA is aware only of normal LDA/GLA interaction between Lee Jasper and Yvonne Thompson.

" ...the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners (EFBWBO), of which Yvonne Thompson was a director, received £25,000 from the LDA but was a dormant company and its accounts showed no such income." . A review of financial statements submitted to Companies House by EFBWBO for the financial years ended February 2004, 2005 and 2006 all indicate that the company was dormant and received no income and incurred no expenditure. The financial statements were signed by Yvonne Thompson.....There is a need to further investigate the discrepancy between amounts recorded as paid to EFBWBO and the financial statements submitted by that organisation.

Yvonne is not only a glamorous reality TV show star Channel 4's Millionaire's Mission) , she is a graduate of Common Purpose , an influential advisor in government campaigns such as New Deal In The Community, Supply London, Chairman of Learning & Skills Council overseeing spending £322 MN in London and Women’s Enterprise Task Force, but also an aide to Red Ken and LDA Board member - total spend £1.3 Bn. She is also "one of Britain's most inspirational achievers in media and marketing," and chairman of the African Caribbean Business Network (ACBN) claimed to have 2,500 members, but the income from membership subscriptions in the accounts suggests that it may actually have had only 4 paid-up members. They received grants totalling £990,000 from the LDA. She is also a paid up member of the glasses fiddler and twirler Baroness Amos fan club and a reported self made millionaire from her building up the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners (EFBWBO) .

Which is odd because the LDA review found (see above - and we repeat) in examining financial statements submitted to Companies House by EFBWBO for the financial years ended February 2004, 2005 and 2006 all indicated that the company was dormant and received no income and incurred no expenditure. The financial statements were signed by Yvonne Thompson.

"the Deshbangla Foundation (DB), run by Kumar Murshid, former LDA Board Member, received £30,000 in LDA grants that ‘vanished’ because DB has never filed any accounts." DB financial statements submitted to Companies House for the period indicate no income or expenditure; no records of DB filing accounts can be identified on the Charity Commission database - The review has revealed weaknesses in LDA project management and record keeping."
etc., etc.,

**** Controversy dogs poor old young Purnell - globally famous for the faking of his presence at the Tameside Hospital PFI by photo manipulation - not well received after he had publicly basted TV companies misleading the public the previous week.

Paul Diggett Labour candidate for Cheadle in 1997 and school Governor, one of James Purnell's political researchers was convicted after pleading guilty to 4 specimen charges in January 2004 of downloading child pornography from Purnell's PC, without the MP's knowledge. Paedo shame of ex-Labour politician

The famous photograph outside Tameside Hospital with / without Purnell had appaered on adjoining Labour MP's blog site of Andrew Gwynne but has unaccountably disappeared .. but may be found here.

Anyway here is Andrew Gwynne welcoming Gordon Brown , the current Leader of theNU - Labour party (and Prime Minister) being welcomed last summer to the Labour Friends of Israel during the Manchester NU Labour Party shindig 2008.





Readers will recall that The Prime Minister spoke at this occasion and made some interesting remarks ...

"when I was growing up, Kirkcaldy and Tel Aviv were linked very closely because my father used to spend many weeks in Israel, he was the chairman of the Church of Scotland’s Israel Committee, "

"I will continue to do what I can both to defend Israel and to protect the security of Israel’s borders "

"I have strong sense of the injustices that have been done to the Jewish people over
these years and that is why as Chancellor, I wanted to put money into the Holocaust Educational Trust"