International Women's Day

It's http://www.internationalwomensday.com/ Barack Obama sacks Samantha Power his Foreign Policy Adviser... she called Shrillary a witch !

Read what Michelle Obama's ex employers do for women.

Ms Huma Abedin - Wannabe Presidential accessory ?

Those who read on November 24, 2007 Hillary Rodham Clinton and her Muslim Lesbian lover ... the odd couple and the curious relationship of Ms Huma Abedin with the democratic candidate will be interested in this fascinating picture of Hillary with her security detail.

So the wannabe President is in the sack with her Muslim girl friend ...who cares ?...well it might explain how the friendship of another democratic candidate with Mr Rezko has hit the fan.

Here's Shrillary getting on a plane this week..




Now watch out for the , the Marc Jacobs STAM bag favourite of Hilary Duff and lissome Maria Sharapova.

See Weazle Revenge today - Hillary Clinton's Lesbian Affair Story About to Break and Wide Open and the Wall $treet Fighter







For more fascinating pics of Shrillary and her pal and security detail Now just ask yourself seeing that final pic - how do the media remain silent ? ...and why ?

Sex toys to be sold by the Swedish State pharmacies

Apoteket , the government run pharmacies in Sweden, conducted a study in conjunction with he Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) (Rights to sexual and health services and sexuality education are key tools in the struggle for a healthier and more equitable society.) last year what products they would most like to see on Apoteket''s shelves, a majority chose dildos and massage oils.

So that is what they will do... or will do starting in May.

Apoteket's spokeswoman Elisabet Linge Bergman said "We are aware that sex is a very important part of everyone's life. It is important to help people in this area, and there is a certain demand for the products."

RFSU has produced a range of sex toys on behalf of Apoteket, which will be available for purchase in 50 of the 950 nationwide stores for a one year trial period. But Apoteket has not yet decided which products to stock.

"We will sell massage oils and dildos. We can't say anything more yet," said Linge Bergman.

Apoteket has a monopoly on the sale of over-the-counter drugs, although Sweden has just started to open up the pharmacy market.

Does that mean they will be available on prescription ?

News from Texas where Dildos are also in the News. Again

Over at the always amusing and frequently irritating Blondesense they take up the Great Texas Dildo Wars of 2008 - " You may have read that a woman's right to masturbate had returned to Texas recently, however the decision is being reheard by the 5th Circuit Court as it upset the Texas AG. " See also The Texas Dildo Wars at Slate and The Great Texas Dildo Wars of 2008 at Alternet.

The Texas Attorney General is of the opinion ..." that because criminal laws are generally based on society's moral judgments about right and wrong, the panel majority's decision could invite substantive-due-process challenges to other, previously uncontroversial criminal prohibitions -- suggesting that laws against incest and bigamy that would be the next to go if women are permitted to buy masturbatory aids in Texas."

Apparently there is a law in Texas about men and chickens ... but you can read about that for yourself.

Serbia : Vojislav Kostunica resigns and calls for elections - bumpy road ahead

Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has announced his resignation and called for new elections.

The BBC are reporting this is a result of his failure to get his cabinet to reject closer ties with the European Union in the wake of Kosovo's declaration of independence.

AP report that Kostunica says that he will convene a session of the government that will make a decision to call new elections for May 11.

Kostunica blames his pro-Western ministers of failing to support his efforts to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia as he has demanded that Serbia cannot join the EU unless the bloc's member nations rescind their decisions to recognize Kosovo's independence.

The Pro-EU coalition government parties won't accept this pre-condition and say Serbia's future in the EU should not depend on Kosovo's status.

In Australia 1000's attended a rally calling on the Federal Government to reverse its decision to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. They marched with banners "Kosovo is Serbia" and the "United Nations is dead".

On Friday U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told a news conference in the Kosovo capital, Pristina.

"Independence is a fact. This is a reality. History is only going to move forward," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told a news conference in the Kosovo capital, Pristina which seemed to overlook the reality of life as it is lived in Kosovo these days.

There has been an increasing level of harassment on the ground as Customs, police, courts and transport infrastructure have all been hit in a widening Serb boycott of the new country. The Serb-dominated north stands is increasingly becoming a cockpit of intense nationilsm.

Serbia have recalled their Ambassador , Vera Mavric from Finland in protest over the Finish recognition of Kosovan independence.

A note of protest she handed in repeated Serbia's position that the declaration of independence by Kosovo without the approval of the United Nation's Security Council is a violation of international law and specifically of the UN Charter, UN resolution 1 244 and the Helsinki Accords.

President Tarja Halonen gave official endorsement to the government's decision to recognise Kosovo's independence and to establish diplomatic relations with the country on Friday. No debate was involved in the decision to recognise Kosovo. President Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen agreed on the matter already a week earlier.

Earlier in the week, Serbia had recalled ambassadors to countries that had recognized Kosovo, including Sweden. The Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was due to visit Kosovo on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and President Fatmir Sejdiu in Pristina as well as officials from the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK and the EU.

Dying in an NHS Hospital near you - More Customer Choice

On publication of the annual figures for Clostridium difficile infections and associated deaths the headline in the Daily Mirror headline screamed " Superbug scandal: 6,500 killed by C.diff in one year - Minister admits delay as C.diff leaps 72% "

Gobshite and Rentaquote Ben Bradshaw who has some sort of vague connection with the Minister of Health - bag carrier, tea maker , admitted the Government had not done enough in previous years to tackle the bug, caused by dirty wards. He said: "We concentrated rightly on MRSA in the beginning. We may have come to this late."

"But we are taking action now. We are implementing ward-to-board action on this - right from the ward sister up to the boardroom."

"Ward to Board action" worth 'is weight in Gold that lad. Should have been in PR.

Whilst Ministers aren't multi-tasking ,the real world is and as the Daily Telegraph points out today Clostridum ( 72% rise since 2006 10 dead each day) is a single problem amongst many - as figures obtained by Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary show.

Currently only 3 infections are required to be reported to the Health Protection Agency - MRSA, Clostridium difficile and antibiotic resistant enterococcal (GRE) bloodstream infections. Other hospital infections reports are voluntary and must understate the levels of infection and attendant problems.

1. Staphylococcus aureus, a potentially fatal infection which in its antibiotic resistant form is known as the superbug MRSA. The infection can cause septicaemia and toxic shock syndrome. It rose 6% from 2002 to 13,648 recorded cases in 2006.

2. Hospital-acquired infections of E.coli, which also has a potentially deadly strain, have risen by 48 %.

3. Klebsiella spp infections have risen by 48 % since 2002, to 5,198 cases. The infection can cause Klebsiella pneumonia, which has a high mortality rate because it tends to target patients with underlying diseases, such as chronic lung problems. This is an HAI which has caused major problems in Israel and Lord Patel posted about this a year ago March 31, 2007
Hospital Acquired Infections - A Bad News Day - when he wrote ..."The emergence of multi-drug resistant Klebsiella will become a global concern just as MRSA's have ,and increasingly Multiple Drug Resistant TB's (MDRTB) have been invading the EU from eastern Europe and Russia whose prisons are a huge and potent resevoir of HIV / TB - the perstent habit of health autorities to conceal the problem from the public only hinders the resolution of the problem.... unless of course the policy is to kill off the old and save on their pension benefits."

4. Streptococcus pneumoniae infections rose by 9% to 4,553 cases. It can cause pneumonia, meningitis and brain abscesses.

5. Coagulase negative staphylococci, which causes bloodstream infections, was up 126 % to 14,943 cases in 2006.

6. Acineobacter baumannii has it's own website somewhat sensational it does appear that this is a major problem with soldiers returning from medical treatment in Gwermany after wounding in Iraq and Afghanistan ....

£50Mn is going to be spent on "deep" cleaning ... so that's all right then. This has nothing to do with reducing the number of beds and runnin gthem at near 100% occupancy,

GP Practice nurses taking the strain..

Ann Keen (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Health Services), Department of Health) gave some interesting figures on 4th March - GP practice nurses 2001 - 18,389 , 2004 - 19,846 , 2007 23,797 a rise over 6 years of 30%.

If , I refer an asthmatic to Secondary care they see the Respiratory Nurse Specialist.

If, I refer a diabetic to Secondary care they see the Diabetic Nurse Specialist.

If, I refer someone with Multiple Sclerosis to Secondary care they see the Multiple Sclerosis Nurse Specialist.

If, I refer an epileptic to Secondary care they see the Epilepsy Nurse Specialist.

If, I refer a prostate problem to Secondary Care they see the Prostate Assessment Nurse Specialist

If, I refer an person with crippling osteoarthritis to Secondary Care they see a Physiotherapist

If, I refer a schizophrenic to Secondary care they see the Community Mental Health team.

If, any of these people have a knowledge-base greater than my own I will eat Lord Darzi's (rarely dirty) surgical scrubs.

If from Dr Rant ... always worth reading but NOT before you visit any establishment run by the NHS.

First thing is - we'll kill all the copywriters !!! Amazing pictures

Sometimes you see a poster and you think. WTF are they trying to sell ? Who wrote that copy ?


...and all that fucking fine print .......


For Stef

Even without JTAC Prince Harry the aerial bombing of Afghanistan carries on relentlessly

March 6th Daily report - In Afghanistan :

In Nangalam, an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle dropped a guided bomb unit-38 in order to destroy enemy fighting positions. A JTAC reported that the mission was successful.

In total, 42 close-air-support missions were flown as part of the ISAF and Afghan security forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols.



In Iraq :

An RAF GR-4 Tornado performed a show of force in order to deter enemy activities in Basrah. The success of the mission was declared by a JTAC.

In total, coalition aircraft flew 67 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions integrated and synchronized coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.

On March 5, Air Force, French and RAF tanker crews flew 49 sorties and off-loaded approximately 3 million pounds of fuel to 277 receiving aircraft.. which my friends is an aful lot of jet fighter/bombers flying "close support missions" and ..." a show of force in order to deter enemy activities "

Remarkable thing is with their pin point accuracy they never kill any civilians, grannies, mothers , children ...... ever ... well hardly ever.

"Failed top brass in the NHS are on a jobs merry-go-round at taxpayers' expense"

Barry Monk brings our attention to the happy circumstance that Ruth Harrison landed a £52,000 short-term contract which started in December 2007 to head a review into maternity and children's services at Epsom and St Helier Hospital in Surrey - a review which it is feared will lead to ward closures.

Ruth Harrison was the £130,000 p.a. Chief Executive of Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Bucks, who was paid off in 2006 with a £140,000 golden goodbye - she left the trust to do an MSc at London University.

This was the day before a damning report was published, citing serious faults in her leadership.

Under her tenure 33 patients died and 334 became seriously ill with the highly infectious stomach bug Clostridium difficile.

The Healthcare Commission, which carried out the investigation into the outbreak between October 2003 and June 2005, said the trust "compromised the safety of patients by failing to make the right decisions" and that it "rejected the proper advice of their own experts". Last Updated: Thursday, 15 November 2007, 10:24 GMT

The Health and Safety Executive ruled there was not enough admissible evidence to prosecute Stoke Mandeville Hospital bosses in Buckinghamshire.

Sandra Caldwell, HSE director of field operations said they launched the investigation into Stoke Mandeville because there was the possibility that serious criminal offences had been committed.

She added: "On the basis of the evidence available, HSE did not find sufficient admissible evidence to be able to bring criminal proceedings against the Trust, alleging a link between management failures and particular deaths."

Its report said: "The Healthcare Commission considers there were significant failings on the part of the leadership at the trust and has recommended that the leadership change."

Apparently there is some disquiet among patient rights campaigners at Epsom and St Helier Hospital . Geoff Martin, from campaign group Health Emergency, called on the trust to halt plans to bring in Ms Harrison, adding that the move was "a disgrace".

He said: "Failed top brass in the NHS are on a jobs merry-go-round at taxpayers' expense, where they can jump from one highly-paid post to the next, regardless of the wreckage they have left behind."

This has lead to the announcement in the Health Service Journal today to her "stepping down" from the position.

"She made the decision after all the press interest," said an Epsom and St Helier spokesman. "She was concerned her involvement would be a distraction."

Ms Harrison will be replaced by fellow Durrow employee Nick Relph, former chief executive of Thames Valley strategic health authority.

Andy Black has a curious self serving Press Release at the Durrow website....who have a very impressive client list of hospitals no doubt they obtained a large take up on their New Year study tour in Miami this year.

Carlyle leads the way with Triple A mortage Fire Sales as margin calls cannot be met

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard seems a fairly reliable source of financial information - today in the Telegraph Online he reports ;

Carlyle Capital Corp Ltd., has leveraged itself to the hilt, taking out debt at a ratio of 32:1 to invest in US mortgage assets. Carlyle Capital leverages its $670 million equity 32 times to finance a $21.7 billion portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. housing agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Fire sales of these assets raise the spectre of distress sales on a scale large enough to trigger a cascade of liquidations by other funds. What we bankers call the "House of Cards" theory.

Shares in Carlyle Capital Corporation closed down Thursday almost 60 % at US $5.00 on Euronext Amsterdam - where it floated only in July 2007 at US$19.

Carlyle one of the world's largest private-equity firms with $76 billion in assets under management and have 55 different funds of which CCC is the only one in trouble.

Traders said Carlyle Capital had been scooping up AAA-rated mortgage securities, believing that they had fallen fall below inherent value. The risky bet - known as "catching a falling knife" - appears similar to the strategy that ensnared the UK hedge fund Peloton Partners, which was forced to close a $2bn fund last week.

(Peleton was run by Ron Beller ex Goldman Sachs and his beautiful, talented wife Jennifer Moses, an ex-Goldman Sachs managing director will NOT now be joining Gordon Brown's shit hot , hot shot team of wizard financial advisers)

Carlyle Capital Corp (CCC) said it had missed margin calls to seven creditors and lacked collateral to cover its trading exposure to mortgage securities.

This has sent nasty signals throughout the the financial markets. It held securities worth a $21.7bn (£10.8bn) last month, raising the spectre of distress sales on a scale large enough to trigger a cascade of liquidations by other funds.

Fears of forced sales ravaged real estate investment trusts, which also own big holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. Santa Monica based Anworth Mortgage (ANH : NASDAQ) shares plunged 24pc and Dallas based Capstead Mortgage was off 25pc.

Thornburg Mortgage (TMA:NYSE)crashed 60pc (and then almost disappered today) after revealing an SEC-filing in New York that it had missed a $28m margin call to JP Morgan Chase. It has suffered from the collapse in investor demand for so-called jumbo mortgages.

An analyst report that UBS was engaged in a "fire-sale" of mortgage securities worth $24bn accelerated the flight from risk. Most of the assets are alleged to be Alt A securities, the next notch up from sub-prime.

Family car - 14 into one will go

How many can you get into a 5 seat Opel Vectra family car ?

Well if you are a Romanian family returning after visiting family in France - The answer, it appears, is 14.

German Traffic cops stopped a car travelling at 40Kmh (25 mph) outside Schwabach in Southern bavaria.

In the back seats were two adult women each with two children on their laps and one squeezed between them. Two men sat in the front seats.

In the boot (trunk) were 5 kids.

Viktor Bout - RAF sub contractor arrested in Bangkok

The London Evening Standard ran this following story - it disappeared into the cyberbin within hours. Lord Patel posted about it MOD uses banned company run by wanted arms dealer. Mr Viktor Bout has of course been nabbed in sunny Thailand . DEA Press release

By Andrew Gilligan. Evening Standard, Monday, 9th May 2005.

HOW CAN BRITAIN STILL USE THE MERCHANT OF DEATH?
Today the UK will promise to curb arms traffickers. But the MoD is hiring planes from a dealer linked to Bin Laden.

By Andrew Gilligan. Evening Standard, Monday, 9th May 2005.

Victor Bout is the most notorious arms trafficker in the world. Linked to Osama bin Laden by the British government, linked to the Taliban by the US government, he was described by a New Labour minister as a "merchant of death" who must be shut down.

Yet an Evening Standard investigation has found that, just two months ago, a Victor Bout company was hired by that very same British government to operate military flights from a key RAF base.

Bout, a 38-year old Russian, owns or controls a constellation of airlines that have smuggled illegal weapons to conflict zones for the past 15 years. He has been named in countless official investigations and reports - the most recent only last month. The authorities in Belgium, where he used to work, have issued a warrant for his arrest. In 2004, the US froze his assets and put him on a terrorist watch list [not that they stopped him flying to and from Baghdad, The Yokshire Ranter].

But between 6 and 9 March this year, according to official Civil Aviation Authority records, two Victor Bout charter flights took off from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The cargo was armoured vehicles and a few British troops. The client was the Ministry of Defence.

The charters were operated by an airline called Trans Avia. It was named as one of Mr. Bout's front companies by the Government itself - in a Commons written answer on 2 May 2002. The Government cannot claim ignorance of Bout's dubious links. The Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane reassured MPs: "The UK has played a leading role in drawing international attention to Bout's activities, initially in Angola and Liberia and more recently relating to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda".

A specialist aviation journal reported that the "al Qaeda link" was Bout's role in supplying bin Laden with a personal aeroplane - in the days before September 11, when he had a little more freedom of movement. Could Trans Avia have gone legit since then? Not according to the United States Treasury Department. Only two weeks ago, on 26 April, the Treasury "designated" Trans Avia as one of 30 companies linked to Bout, "an international arms dealer and war profiteer". Bout "controls what is reputed to be the largest private fleet of Soviet-era cargo aircraft in the world", says the Treasury press release. "The arms he has sold or brokered have helped fuel conflicts and support UN-sanctioned regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Notably, information available to the US government shows that Bout profited by $50 million by supplying the Taliban with military equipment when they ruled Afghanistan."

The story doesn't end there. Another two flights were made in the same three days of March by an airline called Jet Line International, also from RAF Brize Norton. A further three flights were made at the same time from another base, RAF Lyneham. The destination was Kosovo. The client, once again, was the Ministry of Defence.

Yet Jet Line, too, is a company that has been accused of close connections to Bout. According to the authoritative US newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, it appeared on a list of Bout companies circulated by the State Department to US diplomatic posts around the world.

"There is no doubt at all about the links between Jet Line and Bout," says Johan Peleman, the researcher who wrote the UN report. "It's one of his most important assets." Intelligence agencies say the same thing. Jet Line's office address in its base at Chisinau, Moldova, is the same as that of Aerocom, a company exposed by the United Nations as involved in sanctions-busting and arms-smuggling to the brutal rebels of Liberia. According to the UN, Aerocom was involved in the illegal smuggling or attempted smuggling of more than 6,000 automatic rifles and machine guns, 4,500 grenades, 350 missile launchers, 7,500 landmines, and millions of rounds of ammunition in breach of a UN arms embargo.

Tracking down the registration numbers of the sanctions-busting aircraft, it turns out that the Jet Line aircraft that flew the MoD flights in March were previously registered to Aerocom. They are in fact the same planes.

Bout's activities have helped cause quite literally thousands of deaths in many of the worst places in the world. Born in 1967, he served in the Soviet air force and then military intelligence, where he developed a gift for languages. When the USSR broke up, he "acquired" a large fleet of surplus or obsolete aircraft, which he used to deliver arms and ammunition also "acquired" from old Soviet stockpiles. That weaponry fuelled some of the most savage wars in Africa. Charles Taylor's insurgent guerrillas used Bout weapons to destroy Liberia. In Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) used Bout weapons to terrorise the country, seize the diamond mines, and chop off their opponents' hands.

None of our business? Well, the RUF's Bout-supplied weapons were almost certainly used to attack British troops engaged on the Sierra Leone peacekeeping mission in 2000.

Bout's planes would arrive at obscure African airstrips, loaded with weapons, then leave heaped with diamonds, coltan - vital for making mobile phones - and other precious minerals in return. "He was apolitical," said one UN official. "He would fly for anyone that paid." Bout's willingness to go places that no-one else would go made him the market leader in the arms-trafficking business. Little wonder, therefore, that the then Foreign Office minister Peter Hain said "The murder and mayhem of Unita in Angola, the RUF in Sierra Leone, and groups in Congo would not have been as terrible without Bout's operations." He was truly "a merchant of death", Hain said [and for a long time I respected Hain for it, too - TYR].

Bout used to operate from Ostend, in Belgium, where a shabby hotel in the city centre acted as his informal marketplace. There was a flight departures screen in the hotel bar, so he could keep track of his planes' movements. Then he was forced to retreat to Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates - and after September 11, to Moscow, where he controls his empire through front companies such as Trans Avia. "You are not putting facts. You are putting allegations," he tells journalists on the rare occasions they manage to get through on his Russian phone number. [Actually, the quote comes from his surprise appearance on Ekho Moskhy radio in 2002 - TYR]

Britain has been embarrassed by dodgy airlines before. Last year, the Department for International Development promised a full investigation after the Standard exposed its use of Aerocom on an aid flight to Africa. The problem is that few reputable carriers want to fly to Kosovo, Iraq, Darfur or some of the places where the government needs transport. And the airline brokers used by Whitehall seem to have learned surprisingly few lessons from past embarrassments.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said the fact that its broker "seems to have used an aircraft in Jet Line International livery" was not the same as saying that the MoD itself had contracted Jet Line. But, whatever hairs the MoD may choose to split, the payout - for Mr. Bout - is the same.

Today and tomorrow, at the MoD's vast procurement headquarters in Bristol, defence officials are holding a special conference with human rights groups and arms trade campaigners. The purpose is to persuade them that the government is serious about cracking down on the scourge of arms trafficking.

One good way to start might, perhaps, be to stop putting British taxpayers' money into the pockets of the worst arms trafficker in the world."

Here is an extract from the HM Treasury "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" as of today because of his connections with Mr Taylor of Liberia - now coolig his heels in the Hague. Click to enlarge.


The Yorkshire Ranter will provide you with more information on the enterprising and gifted Russian / Uzbek / Takikistani Mr Viktor Bout than you ever wanted to know.

Will the London Evening Standard be rummaging around in their cyberbin to re-publish the piece ?

Probably not.

Will Mr Viktor Bout ever see the inside of a court on charges of gin running, drug smuggling, money laundering etc., etc.,?

Probably not.

NEWS UPDATE 10th March 2.15 GMT
We had forgotten that Tom Griffin had at the time made an FOI request about these movements and received a reply (Nov 16th in reply to Tom's September 29th e-mail) from the Defence Supply Chain Operations and Movements at the Defence Logistics Organisation which you can read here .... it makes fascinating reading.

On Line theft.....or is it ? Vietnamese robbing gamers test the law.

Hanoi on a wet Friday afternoon in February. Two keen on line gamers on Swordman Online ( Vo Lam Truyen Ky) went to an internet cafe on Giai Phong road, Hoang Mai district. This indescribably boring game has a virtual world where gamers can buy and sell products to other aimless geeks, nerds and the like.

Happily playing away, sipping their lemon grass sodas, the pair were set upon by 5 other (evidently less competent ) envious wannabe gamers who proceeded to beat them up and at knife point forced them to transfer their in-game money into their account .

The "robbers" have been identified by the Police but they are at a loss how to proceed even though they find this same gang have had 5 previous similiar hits.

Legal eagles are no help to PC Viet Plod either.

Dr. Le Thi Thu Thuy, a lecturer from the Hanoi National Law University, says these men should be charged with asset robbery. She said that today, assets are diversified, and the law can’t cover every single type. Money in computer games can be considered a kind of good, which laws don’t prohibit from trade. Anyone who uses violence to steal money, even if it’s online, must be tried as a criminal.
Find one lwayer get 9 opinions - Pham Hong Hai from the Hanoi Bar Association agreed with Thuy but procurator Nguyen Quang Long from the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau disagrees, saying money in computer games is not stipulated as assets in the Civil Code so the five men can only be charged with assault.

Yet another smart-ass lawyer, this time Nguyen Van Tuan from the HCM City Bar Association said the case should be based on the robbers’ purpose. If they rob in-game money to sell to others to collect real money, they must be charged with robbery.

They will be fascinated by the on going row in the House about whether the telcos who let Uncle Sam read your e-mails should have retrospective legal protection - there was a case of stealing ...but .....

Foreign Office demand Iranian Transport Workers Union officials be released - Shock Horror

The juvenile antics of the juvenile Foreign Office minister Kim Howells are rarely worth noting .

However.

The British government yesterday announced support for a day of action by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and Amnesty International over the detention since late last year of an Iranian bus workers' leader and others.

"We call on the government of Iran to release immediately Mansour Ossanlou (oo)and Mahmoud Salehi....They have been imprisoned for several months for their involvement in peaceful activities in support of workers' rights in Iran. This is a clear violation of their right to freedom of expression and association."

It seems improbable but our Foriegn and Commonwealth office have taken up the fight for Mansour Ossalou, head of the Tehran bus conductors' union.

Mansour was jailed last July after a protest over low pay and poor conditions. In September five unionists were accused of acting against national security after visiting his home.

The ISNA news agency reported that Iranian authorities / Police had arrested four trade unionists who work for the state bus company.

The ITF announced a protest action outside the Iranian embassy in London, as well as in cities around the world. "The Iranian government's continuing mistreatment of Mansour is a running sore," said ITF head David Cockroft.

"He has asked only for his basic rights and has been answered with fists, truncheons and manacles - but he has not been forgotten," he said.

The popinjay Howells said "We share the international concerns about the growing repression and severity of action taken against labor rights activists who work tirelessly to defend the rights of workers in Iran."

Would that he take the opportunity to support the workers rights of the Oil Unions in Iraq which Hassan Juma, President of the Iraqi Oil Workers Union has been calling for from the platform of the Stop the War Roadshow in towns up and down the country last week.

Stephen Smith, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, outlined the government’s commitment to core international labour standards and said: "The Australian government will continue to call upon the Iranian government to respect and uphold human rights.”

See photogrpahs of action around the world one above is from BTB (Belgische Transportarbeiders Bond)Kortrijk Belgium

Gaza by Lartuff out of Moon over Alabama

Glitch on Trident W - 46 missile service extension programme with "Fogbank"

The UK's Trident missiles are only allowed to be serviced in the US by US personnel. Now there has been a hitch at their utility in handling the W-76 warheads carried on the missiles, which are intended to remain in service past the end of their design life in the 2020s and to be carried by a new fleet of Vanguard submarines.

The Y-12 nuclear weapon plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee is conducting service extensions on the W-76 warheads but it has run into an unspecified problem involving a material known as “Fogbank,” - supposed to be a cleaning substance.

“The only thing we can say is there’s an issue with the W-76 life extension program. It’s been delayed a bit, but we have all our experts working on it,” said a spokesman for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees Y-12.

The agency is spending “a lot of money” to produce “Fogbank,” NNSA chief Thomas D’Agostino told a congressional committee last year. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said, noting the difficulty in working with a substance that is toxic, flammable and explosive .

"Fogbank" has safety concerns equivalent to handling beryllium which has been a matter of concern at Y12 which was reported in December 2007.

While B&W Y-12’s program already provides a level of protection well beyond Department of Energy requirements, the DOE’s Office of Inspector General looked at the B&W Y‑12 program and said there were things Y‑12 could do better.

Y-12 developed a beryllium protection program before DOE had a beryllium rule. Additionally, the site has had different internal requirements for surface contamination. Over the years, these control limits have got progressively tighter. Ten years ago, the control limit was 10.0 micrograms per 100 square centimeters. That control limit was lowered to 5.0 micrograms per 100 square centimeters. Today, the program is controlling to 0.2 micrograms per 100 square centimeters. A microgram is a millionth of gram.

Following the visit from representatives of the Inspector General, the Y‑12 Site Office of the National Nuclear Security Administration had an independent review team from DOE/NNSA headquarters come in to look at the Y‑12 beryllium program. The team reviewed B&W Y‑12’s action plan and found that it would “fully resolve all the Inspector General’s audit results and recommendations.”

Wouldn't it be real drag if we had to upgrade the missiles as well ?

Gaza - Amazing pictures

More ... Superb collection by FlickerGirl of life in Gaza

Socialist republic of Vietnam - Everyone wants to sell to them - Nguyen Tan Dang Viet PM in London and Berlin

In a little noticed meeting (BBC hasn't reported it) ,Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was in London yesterday after meeting Frau Merkel and popped into No 10 Downing Street yesterday to meet Gordon Brown for the 1st time, and have a chat over tea and crumpets about - co-operating on trade, development - reform of the UN - ways to improve English language learning and teacher training in Vietnam ( v.interesting see lower down) - climate change - illegal people trafficking and organised crime. In 2007, bilateral trade was around US $1.7 billion, the highest yet. (Full Statement)

Across town Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also met Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman David Lewis and witnessed the signing of five agreements worth US$1 billion in total bwteen UK and Vietnamese enterprises.

1. Salamander / Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to explore oil fields in Savannakhet, Champasak and Saravan. PetroVietnam also signed another deal with SOCO.

Salamander Energy (IPO LSE Jan 2006 250p today 301p) independent exploration and production company development and exploration assets concentrating on Indonesia and the Greater Mekong region (which includes Thailand, Laos and Vietnam) has approximately 42 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved plus probable reserves and is producing around 7,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) has a stake of approximately 4.2% in Salamander Energy plc.

SOCO is a London based international oil and gas exploration and production company, quotd on LSE and is a FTSE 250 company. The Company has interests in Vietnam, Yemen, Thailand and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) and Angola with ongoing production operations in Yemen.

2. A US$600 million deal between the Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank (Incombank) and the Standard Chartered Bank on cooperation in payment services, capital raising, consulting, etc.

3. A consulting and training contract between the Bao Viet Insurance Group and HSBC Insurance.

4. A contract between Lilama and Mott MacDonald on the provision of consulting and training for a US$1 billion thermo-power project in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese PM of the Socialist republic attended talks with around 70 UK leading financial investment consulting experts at the headquarters of Prudential in London. The talks were co-organised by Prudential, HSBC, Dragon Capital, and Standard Chartered Bank. The Vietnamese Government has granted licenses to HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank to establish 100% foreign-owned banks in Vietnam in line with their WTO commitments.

Other important attenders included Deputy PM Pham Gia Khiem, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, Prudential CEO Mark Tucker, Prudential Vietnam General Director Alex Hambly, and Standard Chartered Bank CEO Mervyn Davies (Salary £ 2.26 Mn.)and chum of Gordon Brown a non-Exec at Tesco PLC (and Spurs).

The Vietnam-UK Business Forum at the Intercontinental Hotel in London, was also visited by the Vietnamese PM and saw deals signed bringing th e total for the day to of US$4.5 Bn.

5. The biggest deal is the one between the Saigon Investment Group (SIG) and International Power (Results announced today profis up 17%) to develop a 1,200 MW thermo-power project in central Vietnam worth $1.5 billion.

6. The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and JP Morgan signed a memorandum of understanding worth $280 million. Ex PM Tony Blair is of course an advisor to J P Morgan.

7. The Vietnam Shipping Lines Corporation (Vinalines) signed a memorandum of understanding with Standard Chartered Bank on a $200 million loan.

8. IEC Quoc Anh Co., Ltd signed scholarship granting deals with six UK universities and high schools worth $2.46 million which will involve an increasing number of Vietnamese lecturers studying PhDs in the UK. There are currently more than 6,000 Vietnamese students studying in the UK today. The Apollo University in Vietnam has an association with University of London to provide science and technology training.

Over the next 3 years, between 40 and 60 new school links between UK and Vietnam will be established.

Currently the UK provides over £8 million per year for the training of 50,000 primary teachers, the building of 14,000 classrooms and providing over 1 million poor children with textbooks.

9 .The New World Fashion Plc signed a 5 year US$900 Mn. contract with Tesco Group who are rapidy expanding their interests in Vietnam.

10. The Nha Be Garment Company signed a contract worth US$53 million with Jayroman, a retail group.

Other deals were signed with BP, Premier Oil, Mott McDonald, and BHP Billiton.

Vietnam, one of Asia’s most dynamic economies in the past two decades
Vietnam is looking to avoid the US economic slowdown and plans to maintain strong growth in exports and the overall economy this year by focusing on the Middle East and Europe.

The German government also sees strong economic potential in Vietnam, and Nguyen Tan Dung met Economics Minister Michael Glos and Chancellor Merkel to discuss trade relations.

Germany is Vietnam's largest trading partner within the EU, with mutual trade rising 40 % in 2007 to 3.4 billion euros (US$2.4 Bn.)

Siemens is currently aiming to secure contracts in providing signals and control systems. underground rail system being built in Ho Chi Minh City for an estimated 800 million euros (US500 Mn.).

At the same time German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Vietnam with German businessmen during a tour of the region.

UK Trade for 2007 - Exports down 10% - Imports up , Carousel VAT fraud stopped rising as well

Stop Press : The Official Champagne trade body CIVC report that Britain imported 39 million bottles of Champagne last year - more than Spain, Japan and the United States put together - rising by 5.9 % last year.

UK Regional Trade in Goods have been released today ;

EXPORTS

Total value of UK exports for the 12 months to Dec 2007 was £219 Bn and fell by £ 24 Bn (10%)
UK exports to the EU decreased by £25,595m (17 %) in the same period. Northern Ireland was the only country of the UK that had an increase.

UK exports to countries outside the EU increased by £693m (1%).

IMPORTS

The total value of UK imports for the 12 months to Dec 2007 was £308.6 Bn. and rose by £ 6 Bn. (2%)

UK Imports from the EU increased by £4 Bn. (2.5 %) in the same period.

UK Imports from countries outside the EU increased by £2.6 Bn (2 %).

Trade Gap/Deficit = a Record £88 Bn. it was £55.8Bn in 2006 and £44.6 Bn in 2005

NB : Comparison of Exports and Imports between 2006 and 2007 are affected by changes in trade associated with VAT carousel fraud (MTIC) and by EU enlargement in January 2007

Sandra Tudor of the Trade in Goods Branch Statistics and Analysis of Trade Unit Balance Of Payments Division Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence in a document accompanying the Trade Statistics released today says that the impact on the trade statistics associated with Missing Trader Intra-Community VAT fraud is currently growing again – estimated at over £8 billion in Q1 2006 (13 billion euros or 14 billion US dollars).

Substantial adjustments (now up to £8 billion in a quarter) are being made to the trade figures to account for missing trade declarations associated with MTIC fraud.

She says in the same document ..."It is essential that it is made clear that the estimates are of missing trade declarations associated with carousel fraud, NOT of the fraud itself. The level of tax at risk is substantially lower. On a simplistic basis the level of tax at risk is 17.5% of the trade (the UK VAT rate). However, this will overestimate the level of VAT loss and we have explained to the Press that the estimate of the impact of MTIC fraud on trade should not be used in this way."

If adjustments are being made of £8Bn of trade transactions in 1 Quarter are being made then at a generous 10% = $800 Mn. of VAT per Qtr = £3.2 Bn. a year is still going missing in VAT payments.

Sandra Tudor explains how Carousel Fraud works ...



More posts on Carousel Fraud here and also "Lord Houghton" , law lecturer, lay preacher in £51 Mn VAT carousel fraud jailed for 61/2 years - 8 Mr Bigs free due to botched investigation by HMRC 29-11-2007 and ...Another fucking thieving VAT carousel fraudster locked up - Harjit Singh Takkar, he stole £4.5 Mn. in 3 months from taxpayer. 28-9-2007 also Raymond John Cox , Big fish caught in Carousel fraud (MITC) and £85 Million of taxpayers money which has gone AWOL 12-6-2007 also Massive Europe wide raids to tackle huge VAT fraud 12-12-2006 and how most of them used a certain bank ...VAT scams used Bermuda based Transworld Payment Solutions to move money 11-22-2006

Pic of lady called Stacy Haber-Hofberg, DOB 25/01/62 a former environmental judge in New York , who had moved to Liphook, Hampshire with her English husband and their three young children , received six years in September 2005 along with 3 others for her part (total 22 years in jail) in a £40Mn. VAT fraud. In passing sentence, Her Honour Judge Williams said, "It was an audacious and outrageous fraud... all defendants showed a shameless dishonesty."The highly organised scam, operated over 2 years, involved buying mobile phones from twelve fictitious companies (they were clones of legitimate UK firms, set up in Hong Kong with names and letter-heads identical to British firms dealing legitimately in telephones and computer chips) and using false receipts to charge VAT on the transactions, resulting in a loss to HM Revenue & Customs of more than £40 million.

Uncle Sam goes kickin' shit ...

Comment by UESLA over at Moon over Alabama on on the Ecuador/ Venezuela / Columbia hocu pocus...

"Getting Ecuador back in Western pockets, and getting Venezuela back in America's orbit are long term goals. And they have been going nowhere. 'Stagnant progress' we call it over at Foggy Bottom.

So, like any street cop working his beat, the world's super cop kicks in a few doors and starts some trouble. To see what might shake loose.

Can't have OPEC members thinking the American military won't come for them when they get off the reservation. America damn sure will, but we aren't quite there, at this time.

At this time.

UESLA claims to run the Upper East Side Liberation Army

Bush urges OPEC to weigh pain of high oil prices Guradian 4/3/08 "My advice to OPEC -- of course they haven't listened to it -- my advice to OPEC is understand the consequences of high energy prices, because I do," Bush told reporters .

Bad Times - How children are abused - then continue the cycle of abuse

Some 160 children horribly abused.A special room for rape - and even murder. An alleged cover-up at the highest levels. A Jersey "care" home dungeon offers up its secrets

Leading the investigation is Balding Mr Harper - a no-nonsense, old school policeman from Londonderry - is 56 years old and due to retire this September.

"The day Lenny sails out of Jersey harbour, the dockside will no doubt be lined with members of the Jersey Establishment delighted to wave him goodbye," one well-placed police source told me.


AFP - Sunday, March 2 11:03 pm Prince Harry wears a baseball cap with the message "We do bad things to bad people", in the desert in Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan on February 19. Prince Harry on Sunday spent his first full day back in Britain after a tour of duty in Afghanistan, amid claims that media coverage had been "propaganda" and overlooked a failed military strategy.

Obama / Rezko - old news for the realtors in Chicago

Real Estate Bloggers had this fascinating post - nearly 18 Mnths ago

Senator Barack Obama is looking to 2008 and has Presidential ambitions. Unfortunately, he comes out of the fair city of Chicago where politics is a full contact sport. To play in Chicago politics you tend to get your hands dirty. Now a suspect land deal with the “indicted” fixer Tony Rezko may derail this promising career.

A note to politicians, real estate is complicated enough if you try to make money on it for personal reasons. Also, all transactions are public records. So if you are ever going to try to scam the system, use cash, not real estate. Properties leave trails.

On the very same day last year that Obama purchased his gracious $1.6 million South Side home, Rezko’s wife paid $625,000 for the 7,500 square foot vacant lot next door. An Obama spokesperson confirmed that the senator lunches or dines with Rezko “once or twice a year,” and that he may have mentioned the available lot to Rezko. But the spokesperson said Obama never suggested that Rezko buy it.

Later, Obama decided he wanted to fence off his property from Rezko’s and balance his lot size. He asked Rezko to sell about one-sixth of his adjoining lot. Rezko agreed. Rezko paid for the fence, because city law requires him to fence the lot. Even though an appraiser valued the slice of land Rezko sold at $40,500, Obama decided it would be fair to pay Rezko substantially more: one sixth of his original purchase price, or $104,000.

Rezko, a top fundraiser for Gov. Blagojevich, is charged with plotting to squeeze kickbacks out of state contractors.

Well.well.well

Dutch Consumer research body finds 11% of pork is contaminated with MRSA bacteria

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (VWA) has undertaken a study of the incidence of nt-MRSA (non-typable MRSA), which affects pigs, calves and livestock farmers and found the bacteria in 84% of cases studied.

Furthermore they have reported that 11% of meat products in the retail sector are contaminated with the hospital bacteria MRSA. The tests consisted of 1293 samples of unheated meat taken in the retail trade (supermarkets, butchers, poulterers, etc.),throughout Holland.

MRSA is the name given to a group of bacteria that belong to the Staphylococcus aureus (SA) family of bacteria. The people who are most at risk of becoming either colonised or infected with MRSA are those in close contact with people who may be carrying the bacteria, for example in hospital wards that care for ill people. Nt-MRSA is a clone of MRSA.

According to the Authority, meat does not contribute to the spread of the bacteria, which is resistant to most antibiotics.

However, nt-MRSA can be spread where livestock is kept.

Suprisingly, most nt-MRSA is found in dead turkey and chicken (31 and 27% respectively).

With live animals, the bacteria has only been found (so far) in pigs and calves. The animal health authority has confirmed that 50% of animals on pig farms are infected with the bacteria the level of infection in cattle isn't known.

Arie van Nes, from the Faculty of Animal Health in Utrecht said "The figures surprised me. My first thoughts were that it can be spread through processing."

He published a report Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Veterinary Doctors and Students, the Netherlands in Emerging Infectious Diseases Volume 12, Number 12–December 2006

"The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the Netherlands, at 1.0%, is among the lowest in Europe. In 2004, a relationship between pig farming and a high risk for MRSA carriage was found. To investigate if those in professional contact with livestock are at higher risk for MRSA carriage, we screened 80 veterinary students and 99 veterinarians and questioned them about animal contacts and known MRSA risk factors. Of these, 27 students who did not have livestock contact were excluded from further analysis. We found 7 carriers of MRSA, a prevalence of 4.6%, which is similar to that found in patients who had previously been treated at foreign hospitals."

Here are the test results ;



Their conclusions :

· MRSA generally occurs in most types of unheated meat of farm animals and poultry sampled in retail outlets in 2007. On average, MRSA was present in around 11% of some 1300 samples. The highest prevalences were found in turkey, chicken and veal. The numbers of MRSA bacteria found were very low. In a subset of about half of
the positive samples, there were less than 10 colony-forming units per gram of meat present in each sample.
· The relative contribution of Dutch products and products from other EU Member States seems to be of the same order of magnitude, but the low numbers in the second category do not permit any reliable conclusion, and must be further investigated.
· The MRSA strains isolated from the different meat types were mostly (84%) of the Spa-type of NT-MRSA, that has recently been found also in Dutch in pigs and other species.
· A not inconsiderable percentage (16%), however, was of Spa-types, which have not been associated with livestock farming previously. Further research is required to determine whether there is a hitherto unknown reservoir in domestic (farm) animals and whether there is transmission to humans.
· The relative contribution to contamination of products, for example through the contamination of carcases, from the slaughter and processing environment or due to processors carrying the bacteria, requires further investigation to determine where effective intervention could take place in the chain. This needs to involve a comparison of the typing results and resistance patterns of MRSA bacteria in the various links of the chain.

Ian Paisley DUP RIP

Epitaph on a tyrant

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,



And when he cried the little children died in the streets.


W. H. Auden

Bacton Gas terminal fire - Shell terminal still not operating at capacity

Mystery continues over the fire at Bacton Gas terminal last week - with almost total absence of Press / TV comment although today there are reports by local press here and here by BBC Online who think it worth noting that ..."Police are also taking part in the investigation. ".

Shell announced on Tuesday that they expect to gradually increase UK gas imports through its terminal at Bacton towards normal levels , although flow rates may" dip "at times.

The Shell terminal was reopened on Monday afternoon after last week’s fire in a waste treatment unit and flow rates reached around 23 million cubic metres a day early on Tuesday before plunging to little more than 5 mcm/day.

A Shell spokesman refused to speculate on when the site would be fully operational once more but said: “It is not just a case of turning on a valve.“The whole plant has to be pressurised and gassed up before it can accept gas from the North Sea fields.”

The Shell spokesman denied there was any problem with the terminal. APX show the buying price has risen 1.75 p to 55.02 at the end of yesterday This graph shows recent movment in the wholesale price of gas at the terminal.

Lebanon - no president, a quarter of the Cabinet has resigned, parliament deadlocked - assassinations, bombs - riots - Uncle Sam appears at sea

Future Television, is a Lebanese TV Channel owned by Saad Hariri who heads the majority anti-Syrian bloc in parliament. On Saturday the station broadcast advice that the Saudi Arabian Embassy was advising their mationals to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible."

A government source said that the Lebanese government was advised about the Saudi decision which called on their citizens to "leave Lebanon if they can and to be very careful in their movements inside the country."

Kuwaiti citizens living in Lebanon are also reported to have received urgent messages on their mobiles saying that "all Kuwaiti citizens are asked to evacuate Lebanon as soon as possible."

On February 18th, Saudi Arabia issued a travel restriction advisory, urging citizens to avoid Lebanon because of the "unstable" security situation in the country.

This was a result of some factions of the Hezbollah-led opposition accusing Saudi Arabia of blocking a settlement to the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon. It also followed sharp verbal attacks by pro-Syrian figures against Saudi officials.

The anti-Syrian majority coalition blames Syria and Iran for obstructing a settlement in Lebanon.

The UK Embassy advice remains unchanged since their Letter to Wardens on January 30th .."We have not changed the main message of the FCO travel advice for Lebanon, that British nationals should not travel to Lebanon unless their visit is essential. For those of you already here, avoid large crowds and public demonstrations, which have the potential to turn violent.... "

Observers have said major Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Gulf states, might boycott the forthcoming Arab Summit scheduled for March 29 in Damascus if the Lebanese crisis persists.



Lebanese uneasily feel that their domestic problems are becoming part of a regional conflict - a proxy confrontation between the United States and some of its Arab allies on one side and Hezbollah's allies, Iran and Syria, longtime opponents of America's Mideast policies.

Meanwhile a US naval fleet assembles off the Lebanese coast beyond the Lebanese patrol boats and the 11 UN controlled "peacekeeping" warships. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Washington has regular consultations with Siniora and U.S. allies in the region. "There's constant communications at various levels," he said.

It must be remembered that UNIFIL's Maritime Task Force (MTF) handed over after 14 months to the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR) that is currently led by Italy - it will be operating under a United Nations mandate - on February 29th , 2008. Press Release

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is said to speak with the Syrian-backed opposition, linked the deployment of U.S. warships off Lebanon to Israel's missile strikes in Gaza Strip.

"The target [of U.S. warships] is Gaza. It is aimed to allow what must happen in Gaza to happen without anyone moving to support [Palestinians]," Berri said late Friday in an interview with the private ANB television.

"This is a real threat, not merely a muscle-flexing," Berri said. He added that the U.S. military move was designed to focus attention on Lebanon in order to "cover up the massacres being committed in Gaza."

"This [U.S.] fleet comes to back Israel so that it can complete its plan," Berri said.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey, said last week the warships are an important sign of U.S. commitment to security in the region. "It should provide comfort to our friends and, for U.S. adversaries, a reminder that we are there," he said.

He said the U.S. is not drawing a link between the warships and Syria, but added that, "If the Syrians want to take a message from it, happy to have them do so if what that means is it gets them out of the business of subverting democracy and the will of the Lebanese people."

Meanwhile Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country.

Military officials did not say when the ships were due to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean. The deployment includes a Navy guided missile destroyer, the USS Cole, and the USS Nassau, an amphibious warship, said a military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because full details about the ship movements are not yet public.

During the 1975-1990 civil war US ships were a familiar site, in 1983, at the height of U.S. intervention, about 17 ships - two aircraft carrier battle groups and two mammoth battleships - patrolled the Lebanese coastline, bombarding Muslim militia positions on shore, and a Marine contingent was stationed at Beirut airport.

Suicide bombings - blamed on Mughniyah - against the Marine base and the U.S. Embassy in 1983 and 1984 killed hundreds of Americans, eventually convinced Ronald Reagan to withdraw from Lebanon. The US will fight for Israel but they won't die for it.

The last time U.S. ships came to Lebanon was during the 34-day Second Lebanon War between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, when the American Navy helped evacuate Americans.

Sheik Abdul-Amir Kabalan - deputy head of the influential Supreme Shiite Islamic Council, the religious governing body of Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites - warned Americans, at a Friday sermon, recalling the 1983 attacks and an unexpected Hezbollah missile attack against an Israeli warship offshore during the 2006 war.

"We warn America and advise it not to play with fire."

Another Dead Body in lebanon - this time in Sidon..

After the 9th season of excavation at Sidon one of the most important coastal towns of ancient Phoenicia, referred to in Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Greek sources has been publishing some details of the last season's work led by John Curtis, Keeper of the Department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum has been published.

Work has concentrated on remains from the Third Millennium BC, Early Bronze Age in which 69 burials of the Middle Bronze Age were excavated .This is one found with a necklace with amethyst beads. Note the jug accompanying the body.

Bring Parliament Live to your Lap top - UK Parliamentary TV of proceedings / committees

Few people are aware that live TV of Parliament has been available over the web since 2003 The Main Audio / TV Menu is here http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Home.aspx

You can select a range of very high picture and audio which are annotated live with the Speakers name and / or the title of Question / Debate . There is also a very good facility to search the on demand archives for 28 days. Film can also be downloaded.

The site has links to order papers / background papers and also carries videos explaining how Parliament works.

Up to 18 live streams are available simultaneously. Coverage of debates in the chambers of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, Sittings in Westminster Hall and up to four committees at a time receive full audio-visual coverage.

The Video and Audio site is operated by The TwoFour Group on behalf of the UK Parliament. The full Parliamentary tape archive is administered by the Parliamentary Recording Unit and they can supply (for what they describe as "modest" fees) tape, CD and DVD recordings of proceedings.

China's Space program getting ready to upstage US Presidential elections

The meticulously planned Chinese space exploration project continues on plan and on target for a spectacular three-taikonaut manned orbital mission in October with live broadcasts from space , after the Olympics and just in time to upstage the US Presidential elections.

The Chang'e unmanned lunar probe is a 5,180-pound (2,350-kg) satellite, the first stage in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) which was launched successfully at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in SW China's Sichuan Province on October 24, 2007 (see pic) and is meanwhile orbiting the moon preparing data for a three-dimensional lunar map and analyzing the content of the surface.

The satelite is an evolution from China's successful Dongfanghong 3 telecommunication satellite platform and equipped with eight primary instruments.

The recent lunar eclipse forced some changes in the orbit of which forced the lunar orbiter to consume about 40 percent of its overall battery power, less than the 60 percent expected before the eclipse, and left it out of contact with flight controllers in Beijing for about 49 minutes.

The eclipse left the lunar probe without direct sunlight to charge it's on board photovoltaic "wing" panels for about 80 minutes, though it did fire its rocket engine to tweak its orbital path to minimize the time in shadow.

The satellite featured in the New Year celebrations and beamed back 30 songs as part of China's Lantern Festival celebration to mark the end of the country's Lunar New Year festivities as the Government pulls out the stops to broadcast their space skills.

Minister for Culture, Media and Sport , Right Honourable Margaret Eve, Lady Hodge, MBE 64 (née Margaret Oppenheimer) MP for Barking talks out of arse!

The Minister of State for Culture, Media and Sport , Right Honourable Margaret Eve, Lady Hodge, MBE 64 (née Margaret Oppenheimer) MP for Barking has a blog which Lord Patel reads assiduously in an attempt to penetrate the extraordinary mind of this woman who presided over the abuses at the 12 Islington children's care homes in her ...er... care... and then helped to conceal what had happened when it became evident and when massive quantities of documents were shredded or disappeared.

On on September 11, 2007 12:27 PM she posted a jubilant paen to visiting the Proms to hear a German Jewish conductor, friend of his collaborator , Palestinian Edward Said who regularly has concerts in Ramullah etc., play German and Austrian Music with an Austrian orchestra ... She was positively poetic.

National Treasures: Schubert, Street-Porter and Stoke on Trent..."Monday saw me at The Albert Hall on a balmy evening to marvel at Daniel Barenboim and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Schubert’s 5th symphony and Bruckner’s 4th. It was a glorious evening which demonstrated yet again what a fantastic institution the Proms are. There’s a lot of fuss (rightly) made about the Last Night each year but for me it is the season as a whole that means the most. A wonderful part of summer in London, the Proms had the hang of broadening access decades before it became a Government staple. By the way, Barenboim was seven when he first performed in public, and Schubert’s 5th (not his 1st, his 5th) symphony was written when the composer was just 19. "

Today according to the Guradian she will make a speech at the IPPR thinktank (so generously funded by Northern Rock £191,018 to IPPR in May £180,000 in the 2003 IPPR accounts allged to total over £500,000. ) to criticise the Prom concerts as one of many British cultural events that fail to engender new common values or attract more than a narrow unrepresentative audience.

They quote from the speech evdently circulated prior to the event ..."The audiences for many of our greatest cultural events - I'm thinking in particular of the Proms - is still a long way from demonstrating that people from different backgrounds feel at ease in being part of this.....I know this is not about making every audience completely representative ..."

Representative of Barking ? Wise choice of constituency.

Dying in Hospital - Adverse Drug Events in UK Hospitals - Controlling costs to control disease

Colin Norris, 32, a nasty arrogant staff nurse murdered four elderly patients with lethal injections of insulin at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital in Leeds ("Jimmy's" of TV fame) hospitals and has been given a 20 year sentence.

Dying in hospital is not an unusual event. It is a fate we all fear.

Dying or illness induced by the maladministration of medicines in a UK is not at all unusual. You don't need to meet a Colin Norris or a Beverley Allitt to die from an adverse drug event - events which have to be recorded by statute.

1 in 10 patents entering NHS hospitals will experience an “adverse event”, and 1 in a 100 will die as a consequence wrote the Editor of the British Medical Journal 0n the 8th April 2004.

Nothing has changed since then. Which is the reason that people like Norris - and don't think he is unique - can thrive in the NHS culture.

The unwillingness of the medical establishment, consultants, doctors, nursing staff, pharma companies and the NHS managing bodies, trusts and their elected and un-elected representatives to examine this dark secret within the health services is understandable, if regrettable.

Complacency and inertia well dosed with a wish to leave the washing of the medical profession's laundry in private is a powerful force.

It is even more regrettable that it is only after 60 years of the National and “free at the point of delivery” Health Service (NHS), which was apparently, until recently, “the envy of the world” are the “adverse” effects of hospital treatment being identified and studied.

Especially since Ivan Illych in the early 1970's in his book Medical Nemesis alerted the world to the problems of iatrogenic illness, that is, illness caused by medical treatment. In the UK efforts to quantify and cost these effects in monetary and wasted use of staff, time and resources. Only now are we shuffling towards framing sensible, rational plans to deal with these skeletons in the medical cupboard. Unlike say, the Netherlands where constant monitoring, high levels of isolation of affected patients and rigorous controls have almost completely removed the problem from hospital wards of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). A lesson we persist in refusing to learn.

Medical mistakes, misdemeanours, misunderstandings and resulting confusions and cockups are an apparently irredeemable consequence of organisations such as the NHS, the biggest employer in Europe. Plenty of studies on both sides of the Atlantic have shown the varying extent of dishonesty, incompetence and plain stupidity, the costs of which, both in health and money are exacerbated by the introduction of the legal process.

This has led to excessive litigation, overpaid greedy lawyers, fed and funded by obtuse thick skinned and bone headed bureaucrats unwilling to accept the realities of the world, anxious to both conceal and cover-up their organisation's mistakes and errors. Their medical colleagues meanwhile have continued to peddle the popular myths of modern medical practice with it's much publicized store of hi-tech wizardry, golden bullets and glamorous “brilliant” surgeons, fresh from their glitzy tours of the TV studios.

Staphylococcus infections, have been present for decades in UK hospitals, they frequently accelerated death for patients with terminal conditions, and consequently obtained the medically neutral and apparently benevolent description as “the old man's friend”. The problem was trivialised and ignored, a factor affected by changes in hospital management more anxious to control costs than disease. Resistant Staphylococcal aureus strains emerged (MRSA).

Strains appeared in hospitals world wide, often resulting from the use of massive doses of antibiotics, to control wound infections, increasingly because of the use of novel and extensive invasive surgical procedures, especially organ transplants, bio-mechanical implants and more recently the widespread use of very much improved dialysis methods as well as unnecessary catheterization of incontinent patients to relieve nursing care, reduce bed changes and control costs. There is broad agreement that 50,000 patients are affected each year in the UK with 5,000 deaths in hospital (at least) from HAI (not including deaths after discharge which are unknown but must occur).

To MRSA and the more recent epidemic of Clostridium difficile must now be added Multiple Drug Resistant TB (MDRTB) of which there have been (to date) a few isolated outbreaks and deaths which will increase due to in an increase hospitalised HIV / TB patients, especially of infected immigrants from Africa and increasingly Eastern Europe and the new EU states such as Estonia and Slovakia. There is reason to believe that MDRTB is where MRSA was 20/30 years ago – therefore effective prompt action is essential. Care costs for a single patient of MDRTB can be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds and an outbreak in millions.

A DRUGS DOWNER IN LIVERPOOL

Dr Munir Pirmohamed and colleagues in Liverpool reported in 2004 the consequences of admitting patients suffering from adverse drug reactions (ADR) in 2 Liverpool hospitals (BMJ Vol 329 3.7.04. p. 15-19). They studied 18,820 patients admitted over a 6 month period in 2001 over 16 years old, excluding all patients with deliberate or intentional overdosing and women with obstetric or gynaecological problems, a total of 1225 admissions.

This was the largest such study undertaken in the UK and showed that ;

Up to 6.5% of all admissions were related to ADRs, with a median age of 76 yrs compared with 66 yrs for all admissions and with a slight bias to females.

The median bed stay was 8 days or 4% of theoretical bed capacity (equivalent nationally, to seven 800 bed hospitals) involving, at average bed costs of £228 per day an annualised cost to the NHS of £466 Million.

1. 72% of the ADRs were by their definitions “avoidable”.
2. 2.3% of ADR patients died as a direct result of the ADR = 0.15% of all admissions, (broadly equivalent to reports of US experience.)
3. An annualised UK assessment indicates 5700 deaths of the 3.8 million acute hospital admissions per year. If ADRs subsequent to admission are added, this could indicate a total greater than 10,000 deaths per year. The authors indicate that deaths resulting from ADRs not admitted to hospital in primary care are probably equivalent in number. A possible total of 30,000 deaths per year in the UK.

The drugs responsible are in common and widespread use and are mainly basic drugs that have been in use a long time in general practice for many common conditions and include analgesics like aspirin and Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) like diclofenac, diuretics, steroids such as prednisolene and blood thinning warfarin. Adverse effects may result from single use or in combination.

Besides the unsurprising call for more research, the authors conclude that it is incumbent on primary care prescribers to use the lowest dose necessary to achieve results, they identify evidence from others, that deaths related to aspirin (the cause of most problems and deaths of ADRs in the study, directly and in association with other drugs) could be reduced by 30% with a standard low dose of 75mg.

Funded by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA formerly Medicines Control Agency) the study highlights the needs for urgent action to reduce the burden on the NHS (presumably in money, wasted resource, and opportunity cost, and customer satisfaction), not to mention the anguish to patients and their families of illness, hospitalization and death. It is very good news that several of the authors sit on bodies and authorities who can pursue more research and effectively ensure that the necessary and urgent action is taken. Let us not forget that the initial report quantifying the costs of HAI from the NAO was published over 9 years ago.

What would be nice to report is that the pharmaceutical industry, to which antibiotics represent 2% of worldwide sales has produced a new antibiotic. It is 25 years since any antibiotic has been produced and there is not, nor is there any imminent possibility that a new and unexplored chink has been found in the biochemical pathways and metabolic systems of the major pathogens. These communicable diseases, TB, cholera, typhoid, malaria are now only ravaging the third world, which are set to increase with population growth and with increasing low cost international travel, legal and illegal immigration and the exodus of refugees from wars for resources.

Meanwhile the pharmaceutical giants are desperately seeking a new disease, called female sexual dysfunction, so they can double the market overnight for the lifestyle drug , sildenafyl citrate (Viagra / Cialis etc.,). The results so far, are disappointing. The lady really does have a headache. Lets hope she doesn't OD on the aspirin and end up as one more of the NHS ADRs and ends up boosting Dr Pirmohamed's revealing and alarming statistics.

See an earlier US study Reducing and Preventing Adverse Drug Events To Decrease Hospital Costs. Research in Action, Issue 1. AHRQ Publication Number 01-0020, March 2001. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.

"Over 770,000 people are injured or die each year in hospitals from adverse drug events (ADEs),1-3 which may cost up to $5.6 million each year per hospital4,5 depending on hospital size. This estimate does not include ADEs causing admissions, malpractice and litigation costs, or the costs of injuries to patients. National hospital expenses to treat patients who suffer ADEs during hospitalization are estimated at between $1.56 and $5.6 billion annually.4-7."

Note also ESF-UB Conference in Biomedicine Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics:
Adverse Drug Reactions - Hotel Eden Roc, Sant Feliu de Guixols ,Spain - 27 June – 2 July 2008
Chair: Munir Pirmohamed, University of Liverpool, UK
See Program here "Adverse drug reactions are a major problem for healthcare services, the pharmaceutical industry and regulators. This has been highlighted recently with some high-profile drug withdrawals and regulatory decisions." One thinks of Vioxx....

The Bigger the Bang - The Louder the silence No 17 : Massive gas Explosion at Nyagan, Siberia covered up... and gas cuts to Ukraine ??

Nyagan is a recently developed town in Western Siberia, 230 km NW from the capital of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Khanty-Mansiysk. Originally a a settlement of foresters in 1967, it has since become the centre of a massive growth inf the natural gas and oil industry with the largest oil companies of Russia. Among them are "Tyumen Oil company - Nyagan", Khantymansiyskneftegasgeologiya", "Archneftegeologiya", "RITEK", "Sibneft" .

Probably most famous for being the home town of Maria Sharapova who was born there 19th April 1987 where her parents had fled from Gomel, fleeing from the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

There was a massive explosion there on 16th Fenruary which has only been noted once in the Russian / World Press.

These photographs have emerged (via a Sheikh of Araby in the Lord Patel offices) which suggest an apocalyptic event and no other news seems available.

One wonders if the "event" at Bacton in Norfolk could have resulted in such an event if that had really exploded.

Russian Gas supplies to Ukraine

Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom reduced shipments to Ukraine yesterday by 30% and Sergei Kupriyanov from Gazprom has threatened a further 25% cut today if Ukraine did not resolve a dispute over debts and contracts by this evening.(AP)

As a consequence Dmytro Marunich, a spokesman for Naftogaz, Ukraine's natural gas company warned today that if Russia further cuts its gas supplies, it will begin diverting shipments intended for western Europe. He said they "reserve(s) the right to resort to adequate and symmetrical measures to defend the interests of its consumers."

Only 25% of Ukraine's gas imports from Russian is of Russian origin; the remainder is from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in pipelines controlled by Gazprom. By cutting more than 25% Gazprom is effectively also cutting Central Asian gas supplies as well.

Marunich said cutting Central Asian gas "grossly violates technical agreements between the two companies."

Gazprom says the dispute is commercial but Gazprom is controlled by the state and its chairman, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president-elect.

President Viktor Yushchenko, of the Ukraine has persistently irritated the Kremlin with threats to move out of Russia's sphere of influence and aims for closer integration with NATo and the West.

Again last month Gazprom threatened supply cuts in a US$1.5 billion debt dispute, which appeared tp be timed to coincide with Yushchenko's visit to Moscow. That cutoff was avoided by a last-minute agreement between Yushchenko and President Vladimir Putin although no documents/ contracts were agreed and signed to formalise this "gentleman's" understanding.

Sergei Kupranov told the press today "In connection with the lack of progress in talks, the lack of Naftogaz signing contracts for the purchase of gas, including for the amount already delivered in January and February, a decision has been reached to cut gas deliveries for Ukraine by another 25 percent."

Naftogaz has been silent on the fauilure to sign the contracts have not been signed. Allegedly it revolves around disputes over the use of "middlemen companies" (trans. graft and the curious RosUkrEnergo company ) in the Russia-Ukraine gas trade.

RosUkrEnergo, is an intermediary company half-owned by Gazprom and half by two Ukrainian businessmen. The gas in turn is sold to UkrGazEnergo — jointly owned by Naftogaz and RosUkrEnergo — which then supplies Naftogaz, an arrangement that the glamorous Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko doesn't share in and wants stopped and the use of direct formal arrangements with Gazprom.

Here is a picture of Miss Sharapova , the beautiful daughter of Nyagan, if you have not seen one previously or have forgotten what the winner of the Australian Open looks like.

Sidley Austin Dodged Criminal Charges for Tax Shelter Opinions

The Internal Revenue Service on May 23rd 2007 issued a Press release(IR-2007-103) ..."Sidley Austin LLP Pays IRS $39.4 Million Penalty "

It appears that the IRS had reached " a settlement" with the law firm of Sidley AustinLLP, (who handled Northern Rock dealings with "Granite") the successor firm of the merger in 2001 between Sidley & Austin and Brown & WoodLLP, which has paid a civil tax shelter promoter penalty of $39.4 million. The penalty stems from the firm’s promotion of abusive tax shelters and a failure to comply with tax shelter registration requirements.

“Sidley Austin has paid a significant penalty for its role in promoting abusive tax shelters,” said IRS Acting Commissioner Kevin M. Brown was handsome in his acceptance that an agreement had been reached. ““Sidley Austin has paid a significant penalty for its role in promoting abusive tax shelters. The firm has also taken concrete steps to prevent a recurrence of this behavior in the future, which they have agreed to maintain going forward. We appreciate their actions and their cooperation in our ongoing investigations.”

The firm issued opinions in connection with potentially abusive tax shelters to over 700 high-net worth individuals and corporations.

These packages had wonderfully comic names ;

1 . BOSS (Bond & Option Sale Strategy) with variants or “Son of BOSS”
2. COBRA (Currency Options Bring Reward Alternatives)
3. BLIPS (Bond Linked Issue Premium Structure)
4. COINS (Currency Option Investment Strategy)
5. FLIP (Foreign Leveraged Investment Program)
6. OPIS (Offshore Portfolio Investment Strategy)
7. POPS (Partnership Option Portfolio Securities).

The firm also issued tax opinions in connection with certain potentially abusive non-listed transactions involving distressed assets, bond and equity strips and lease strips.

Michael Garcia, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, released a statement on the same day announcing that it would not prosecute the Sidley Austin law firm in connection with the tax shelter promotion activities of R.J. Ruble, a partner at Brown & Wood who continued issuing shelter opinions after his firm's merger with Sidley Austin.

Louise Ellman, Liverpool Jewish MP is "outraged" by visit to city by Ibrahim Mousawi

Ibrahim Mousawi is scheduled to visit Princes Park Methodist church, Toxteth, at 7.00 tonight , in the Stop the War roadshow - incorrectly described today by the Liverpool Post today , "to talk about the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon."

The Jewish member for Liverpool Riverside Louise, Ellman MP is upset ("outraged")and is quoted in the Post ..."“I am appalled he has been allowed into the country, and I am shocked that he has been invited to Liverpool, a city with a proud history of excellent community relations,”

“This is a terrorist leader who fosters division and hate. He represents the exact opposite of what is needed to bring peace and reconciliation in Lebanon and the Middle East.”

She said: “The Government has the power to deny entry to the UK to people whose presence is not conducive to public good."

The Post also quoted Mr Mousawi , who said his intentions had been misrepresented.

He said: “I am not divisive and I do not preach hate. I understand that Muslims and Jews have lived together for a long time in your city.

“In Liverpool my message will be the same I say everywhere I go - that is that people have the right to live in peace and without fear of their homes being invaded. We must all denounce war and we must all fight together to stop the killing”

The beautiful brunette, Louise Ellman made a contribution to the debate on Wednesday February 27th in the House of Commons when the Palestinian territories were discussed , "To save people's lives, it is essential that everybody recognises that the only valid way forward is a negotiated peace on the basis of two states." It seems a curious atttitude to welcome debate and wish for a negotiated peace and simultaneously demand the exclusion of representatives to explain their case to the British Public.

Louise Ellman MP knows of course that the "official" line to follow, is a willingness to deal with Bill Clinton's protege Muhammad Dahlan محمد دحلان AKA Abu Fadi , the tool, with Abu Maza AKA Mahmoud Abbas محمود عباس‎ of the plot cooked up by Rice / Bush and Elliott Abrams to smash the democratically elected government of Hamas.

An attitude and mindset we have got used to accept from mouthpieces for Israel who were reminded in the same debate by the Labour MP for Islington's down trodden middle classes, Jeremy Corbyn " Israel ... is the world’s fourth largest arms exporter; it is in possession of 200 nuclear warheads; it is quite capable of taking part in—and frequently does take part in—military attacks on Palestinian places; and, tragic as every death is, including those of Israelis who die in rocket attacks, the death rate is far higher for Palestinians than for Israelis. This is not a struggle of equals, but a war of occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories." He forgot to mention the support they receive from the world's greatest Democracy - Home of the Free and the Land of the Brave.

Wouldn't it be a welcome move for Louise Ellman to go to Toxteth tonight , and have a chat with Ibrahim Mousawi ? If she did, she might learn a great deal - she is a bright and intelligent lady.

Meanwhile the death toll in Gaza rises. "We are not prepared to show any tolerance, period. And we will respond. Our reaction is not limited to a specific operation or day," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a meeting of his Kadima party in Jerusalem on Monday. AFP

It's a Dog's life

This was Lot No: 93, at Bonhams Dog Sale, on 12th February this year . Described as a Victorian lavishly engraved silvered metal and leather collar in the baroque taste with hinged lead ring, inscribed 'Cormongers,/ Nutfield' and 'Corsellis', height 3 in. (8 cm.), diameter 5 1/2 in. (15 cm.)

This had a remarkable pedigree, it was used by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and was applied to the necks of their aforementioned pug dogs .

Absorbed by Lord Fayed of Fulham when he purchased the Windors' house in Paris. He sold them on , not it appears with the silver feeding bowls that their 4 dogs were fed from. This single collar was sold for US $2,500 plus Premium and tax .

Handbag of the Day

Toni Fabuloso has discovered this wonderful site. We try to cater for all tastes.

Whistleblower sells Leichtenstein tax dodging details of the German and US business elites to the Bundesnachrichtendienst and Uncle Sam

Heinrich Kieber, 42, stole confidential information on tax evaders from the Liechtenstein bank LGT Trust Ltd. which is owned by the Leichtenstein Royal Family. The credit outlook on the Liechtenstein's LGT Bank was downgraded 2 weks ago to 'negative' from 'stable' by international ratings agency Standard and Poor's.

He then proceeded to sell it.

In 2006 he approached the German foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND). On Jan. 24, 2006, the BND received an email through its regular Internet address. The sender offered them a DVD full of information detailing foreign investments and following capital flows from Germany into those investments. he told them he had detailed information on a number of accounts held by German nationals in the LGT Group, a bank managed by the principality of Liechtenstein. The material, he wrote, related to financial investments worth €3.5 billion (US $5.2 billion).

Negotiations followed which eventually involved German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück.61, SPD and from Rhine Westphalia. He authorised payment of 5 Million Euros for the single data disk and agreed to provide personal protection for Herr Keiber.

It now appears that he also passed on information about acounts with the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) which may (and almost certainly will) reveal tax evasion. It is now known that data on 1,400 Germans, has been made available ,many of whom had invested their money in foundations in Liechtenstein to deliberately circumvent German taxation. At stake are billions of Euros in tax revenues lost to the German government.

The first to fall was Deutsche Post CEO Klaus Zumwinkel. He resigned on February 16th after raids on his home and office by officials looking for evidence of massive tax invasion. His case was only one of many investigations launched last week and of other investigations to come.

German politicians were not slow to capitalise on these events and led by Chancellor Angela Merkel jumped on their high horses. She reminded German economic leaders that they carry a huge responsibility. "Responsible behavior from companies is an elementary prerequisite for a functioning socially-responsible market economy."

Minister of the Economy Michael Glos, told sensational tabloid Bild am Sonntag that German managers have to "become aware that they are role models for society." Otherwise, he said, "faith in our market economy will be lost."

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, CDU mused "I have zero understanding for this kind of greed. Uncontrolled capitalism, greed and massive losses on speculative investments -- that is a combination that makes people furious." Steinbrück, the Social Democratic Finance Minister, said when asked about the afair y the leading daily Die Zeit "It is the elites who are threatening to cause the system to collapse."

However Prince Alois, Liechtenstein's head of state, denounced the German investigation as an
"unprovoked attack by a large country.".. and sat back and watched the LLB share price plummet - probably as fast as customers disappeared. Roger Köppel, 43 the editor-in-chief of the Swiss weekly newspaper Die Weltwoche, sensing no doubt that these investigations might range, way beyond the tiny state of Lichtenstein described it as a "fatwa by the German tax authorities against businesses and employees seeking to withdraw from a fundamentalist taxation system."

How did Keiber ( who we now know Kieber was involved and wanted by Spanish Police for a 1996 fraudulent real estate deal in Barcelona, which had earned Kieber 600,000 Swiss francs ($553,000). He apparently fled to Argentina before returning to Liechtenstein, where he began working for LGT Bank in April 2001 - who were unaware of his criminal past) get the information to pass on to the BND ?

Kieber was very competent computer specialist ,his attorney Robert Müller says, a highly intelligent, "inconspicuous and sensitive man who speaks Spanish well." His job at LGT was to digitize all of the paper documents at a subsidiary of the bank, LGT Treuhand.

It is probable that Keiber copied the information as a useful bargaining counter if the Spanish Police caught up with him. Anyway he set to, copying contracts, meeting minutes, handwritten notes -- essentially the bank's entire inventory of information. Kieber had exceptional access to the secret archives of LGT Treuhand.

In January 2003, he resigned from LGT. He tried to blackmail them. Liechtenstein state prosecutor Robert Wallner, says Keiber demanded free passage and two forged passports, an d he agreed not to turn over the stolen client data to "foreign media and authorities."

The Liechtenstein authorities would not play ball. Nevertheless, Kieber gave himself up and on the ageing Spanish fraud charges, his attorney Müller negotiated a penalty of one year in prison, reduced to three years' probation, which would not be entered into his police record in Liechtenstein. He was not convicted of data theft and, on Jan. 7, 2004, Liechtenstein authorities closed the Kieber case.

Shortly after Kieber started to collect on his valuable data first he negotiated with the Americans , then with the British. Since then American tax investigators have been successful in 50 cases since the summer of 2007.

But Tony Blair's Govenrment was a harder nut to crack . Yes they would take the data but they wanted to pay only when they had collected the tax - either a sign of weakness or an opportunity to finesse the data and allow some high flying frineds a chance to extricate themselves from some embarassing arrangements. Some say the Germans would have never been approached if he could have collected earlier. He told the Brits to Go Fuck themsleves ( and there were a few cleaner sets of trousers in the Square Mile) and turned to the BND.

The first meeting was in mid 2006 in Offenburg for 2 days on August 16/17th . The Wuppertal tax investigators talked with Kieber, they moved to Strasbourg in France. They wanted names / details , 10 days later, a list was delivered, through a BND courier, of 150 names from North Rhine-Westphalia (home patch of German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück) -- it was dynamite.

Keiber wanted €6 million ($8.9 million). The Germans offered to place him in the witness protection program of Germany's Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA). Kieber wanted a new identity -- and he got one. They needed Keibers software expertise to crack the data - they weren't dealing with a fool.

On Dec. 14, 2006, the BND brought the Chancellery into the game.

There were concerns about - and continue to be , about the legality of obtaing the data in this way.

Regardless €5 million ($7.4 million) was rustled up for the DVDs. Keiber paid a flat tax of 10% - the rate for inromants - leaving keiber with €4.2 million ($6.2 million) after taxes. In addition notary fees and of establishing the informant's new identity wer paid . The BND used up almost the entire budget of €5 million ($7.4 million) approved by the Finance Ministry.

The BND cut Kieber's fee 3 ways , drawn on 3 banks. Two whisted through , there was ahitch with the last - they suspected money laundering.

What did the BND Buy ?

The DVDs contain information on 4,527 Liechtenstein foundations and institutions, of which 1,400 were owned by German investors. The DVDs contain data covering a period from the 1970s to approximately 2003, as well as some data through the end of 2005. About 65 of the foundations listed were still in existence at the beginning of 2008. Members of the Bundestag are rumoured to be on the list but this is denied.

Over half the 3,100 foundations and establishments are not German based . Some are part of organized crime in the Balkans and in Russia, the reason that German authorities believe that the informant's life is in danger.

Last week Liechtenstein Prime Minister Otmar Hasler's met Chancellor Merkel in Berlin , a 54-year-old high school teacher, he embodies harmless honesty. He spent three quarters of an hour repeating the same mantra over and over again, no matter what he was asked: Liechtenstein is reforming itself and is on the right track.

Merkel had an ace up her sleeve to force a detente - Germany has yet to ratify a resolution that would allow Liechtenstein to join the Schengen zone of passport-free travel.germany would find it difficult ...of course ...if ... Liechtenstein signed an agreement to provide legal assistance on matters of tax evasion ...then .... "Liechtenstein is reforming itself and is on the right track", the prime minister told the chancellor.

Of course Germans don't get to put (or pass ) their money in Leichtenstein without a little local help.

Two Frankfurt-based private banks, Metzler and Hauck & Aufhäuser, and also the Hamburg-based Berenberg Bank are feeling hot under the collar as the tax inspectors feel it.

The trick was / and probably still is (after Germany introduced a Capital Gains Tax in 1993) to move money
out of one account through a Leichtenstein Credit Anstalt and back into another account - where it stays.

Free from those nasty taxes.

All this is of course legal and above board .....

Managing foreign asets for clients is "a completely normal process," says a spokesman of Metzler. A deciding factor in determining whether criminal activity was involved, according to the Metzler spokesman, was whether the bank was aware of its client's goal of using the Liechtenstein entity for tax evasion. "As far as our clients were concerned, we assume that this was not the case," says the Metzler spokesman. Naturally.

Airbus 320 - superb plane, superbly handled - watch this and then go and change your pants

A Lufthansa Airbus 320 with 137 passengers aboard arriving at Hamburg RWY23 from Munich struggled with 90 kilometer-per-hour (56 miles per hour) crosswinds on Saturday.

The plane momentarily landed and then took off again as 39 year old pilot "Oliver A.", executed a perfect emergency ascent and re-landing with skill and heroic calm.

The low pressure system that caused the violent winds, dubbed "Emma," caused millions of euros in damage across Europe over the weekend and caused the deaths of at least 13 people. See Photogallery of damage 20 pics

Some technically skilled and competent aerospotter (Stefan 171) managed to capture the incident in the pissing rain and wind. Uploaded for one day on Live Leak this has been seen so far by 2.7 Mn viewers. For free.

The Airbus 320 main wing spar is the longest, strongest piece of metal in any equipment anywhere. Because of this strength the Airbus 320 can land with a full fuel load.

All posts on Airbus v Boeing 787 here

UPDATE Tuesday 4th March It now appears that the first approach was made by the 24 year old female co-pilot , named only as Maxi J., according to a spokesman for the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation.

I was Tortured by a Pygmy Love Queen ...and other misadventures to think about

Lovers of fine literature will be happy to know that Bookseller.com, has announced its nominees for the 2008 Diagram Prize.

The award goes to the oddest book title of the year.

"I confess," Horace Bent, the custodian of the prize, is quoted ..."I have been anxious that as publishing becomes ever more corporate, the trade's quirky charms are being squeezed out."

Literary enthusiasts can cast their vote on the Web site; the winner will be announced March 28.

To vote you don't have to :
1. Be a bookseller
2. Have read the books

The winner will be announced March 28.

Toni Fabuloso says she can hardly wait. She has gone for ,If You Want Closure in Your Relationship Start with Your Legs by Big Boom "For the first time in my life, I understand the pain so many women have experienced because they thought men loved them..." Amazon Big Boom also wrote How to Duck a Suckah: A Guide to Living a Drama-Free Life so he must have a head start ... there doesn't appear to be a handicapping system.

It may also interest Voters that Amazon suggest Customers viewing this title may be interested in these Sponsored Links ;
5 Tips to Lose Belly Fat
www.TruthAboutBellyFat.com Stop making these 5 mistakes & you will finally lose your belly fat.
God Save My Marriage
www.GodSaveMyMarriage.com How to experience a miracle in your marriage. The book you need! $15

Phorm - we can feel the Spring Surge - take action NOW

Go to Spy Blog for further and better particulars of the Phorm scam to retail your browser history.

DO something, today ...er...NOW.

SpyBlogs list of THINGS TO DO

Things to do about Phorm:

Write to your ISP, and get an assurance that they are not selling your data to Phorm or to anything similar.

If you are a customer of BT Retail (or of any other BT divisions e.g. BT Business) , Virgin Media or Carphone Warehouse Talk Talk,, then you might like to write to them quoting the very clear

Data Protection Act 1998 section 11

:

11 Right to prevent processing for purposes of direct marketing

(1) An individual is entitled at any time by notice in writing to a data controller torequire the data controller at the end of such period as is reasonable in the circumstances to cease, or not to begin, processing for the purposes of direct marketing personal data in respect of which he is the data subject.

(2) If the court is satisfied, on the application of any person who has given a notice under subsection
(1), that the data controller has failed to comply with the notice, the court may order him to take such steps for complying with the notice as the court thinks fit.

(3) In this section "direct marketing" means the communication (by whatever means) of any advertising or marketing material which is directed to particular individuals.

Join and Support the Open Rights Group, who will be campaigning to raise awareness of this issue,

Subscribe to the BadPhorm - When good ISPs go bad! website for the latest news on this topic.

Configure your web browser's privacy settings to delete any existing cookies, and to block future cookies from any subdomains and tld extensions of *.phorm.*, *.webwise.*, *.oix.* or *.sysip.* See the Yorkshire Ranter site for more information how to do this.

Consider boycotting any products or services which are advertised through this Phorm Open Internet Exchange direct marketing scheme.

National oversight over EC legislation is not democratic - because it cannot and will not work. Head of the German Constitutional Court says so

Professor Hans-Juergen Papier, president of Germany's constitutional court, speaking at Berlin's Humboldt University last week, identified a major problem with the proposed EU Treaty / Constitution.

First he pointed that the principle of democracy "is for the first time dignified with its own section in the treaty." Good thing.

Then he pointed out that democracy as defined by the Treaty / Constitution will not work. Bad thing.

National parliaments have the power to scrutinise proposed EU laws and say whether they think the EU is acting in an area where action would better be taken at member state or regional level, the so-called subsidarity principle.

This treaty determines the rules ;

1. MPs are sent legislative proposals by the commission for examination.
2. If they object they must react within 8 weeks.
3. If they do, the commission is not bound to act.

Only if one third of national parliaments get together to complain about an EU law, must it be reviewed. The unelected commission must give reasons if it intends to keep the law.

If there is a disagreement the European Court of Justice may also be called on by member states to look into whether the subsidiarity principle is being upheld. Which may take a little time.

There were 18,167 regulations and 750 directives between 1998 and 2004 . If legislation continues at this rate (for surely it will not slow down) such arrangements will prove impractical.

An 8 week deadline for delivering an opinion on an EU law considered as going too far from parliament is likely to prove too short in practice, while the numerous parliament opinions needed to get a law reviewed would require "considerable international coordination" in the two month timeframe. Not to mention the legilsators burden of delivering their own State's legislation.

The backup of reference to the European Court of Justice, is very unclear . Will they , when presented with a case, stick to looking "purely at the verification of the subsidiarity question" or whether whether the EU has competence in the particular area.

Professor Papier, who is the Head of the German Constitutional Coourt and has some experience says that the dynamics of subsidiarity are connected to the "ever closer" union principle. This he says means that there is "from the point of view of member states no fixed limit guaranteed to the creeping transfer of competences [to EU level]."

Professor Papier welcomes the EU's charter of fundamental rights is a binding part of the new treaty, but identifies London and Warsaw's decision to opt out of the charter "reveal(ing) the deeply rooted mistrust of a union and a court" that pulls "ever more competences to it."

At first glance this mistrust is misplaced , but maybe after consideration it cannot be dismissed.

For example in 2005, the EU's highest court ruled that a national law on the possibility of limiting the work contracts of older people did not only break the EU's non-discrimination law but also the general legal principle of non-discrimination.

Professor Papier points out that the time period for implementing the EU non-discrimination law had not yet run out for member states so the court had used " the general legal principle of community law." That is it , chose to override the national rights in favour of EU / Community "interests".

Professor Papier quoted statements from an attorney general of the European court of justice, quoted by the judge, and said that this "principle" was less derived from legal texts but from a "platonic legal heaven," with a vagueness concerning both their content and their actual existence.

Which is increasingly what plagues the rulings of the Supreme Court in the US.

Papier is famous for calling for less legislation ... he says , that to have better rights we need fewer laws , that frequently we seek comfort from fear which often results in less liberty.„Es ist häufig Bequemlichkeit und Furcht vor der eigenen Verantwortung, ja letztlich Furcht vor der Freiheit, die Menschen nach neuen Gesetzen rufen lässt.“

Scandals start up the machinery of legislation - „Bei jedem Skandal wird die Gesetzgebungsmaschinerie angeworfen.“ but more laws don't mean more rights and often lead to less liberty..."„sind nicht gleichbedeutend mit mehr Recht, führen aber nicht selten zu weniger Freiheit.“

US shows the foreclosure rates on houses has grown 57% in one year - 4,500 a week. Bad news in CA,FL and the Lone Star State

The RealtyTrac® Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month . The January report has just been published.

This shows that default notices, auction sales notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 233,001 properties during the month, an increase of:

1. 8 % from December
2. 57% since January 2007 (which grew 19% on January 2006)

Amongst all the States of the Union Nevada showed a 95% increase since last year, Californai and Florida followed not far behind - see map

Despite a month-over-month drop in foreclosure activity, Nevada continued to document the highest foreclosure rate among the 50 states. Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 6,087 Nevada properties during the month, a 45 % decrease from the previous month but still a 95 % jump from January 2007.

Foreclosure filings in the Sunshine State of Californai were the highest reported , at 57,158 properties , up 7 % from the previous month and up 120 % from January 2007. Florida was 2nd and Texas third highest.

The Census Bureau reported this week that new-home builders inventories of completed homes without buyers hit a record 197,000 in December, and slipped only to 195,000 in January. The median age of such houses is up to 6.7 months, twice the levels of the 2006 peak - that's a lot of money tied up - so prices are dropping.

The states low foreclosure rates are the ones that missed the boom in housing prices and now have reasonably good economies. In South Dakota, there were only 50 homes involved in foreclosures last year, a minuscule 0.007 % of homes in the state. Vermont, Maine, West Virginia and North Dakota also turned in rates below 0.1 percent.

Just when you thought it was safe to browse the Web.

BadPhorm - When good ISPs go bad!

Read this website and get a better appreciation of how your browsing history is being stolen - then sold. More details from the exceedingly well informed Yorkshire Ranter "Who needs remote control?" and from The Register on Friday 29th 2008 complete with network diagrams etc.

Briefly, three of the UK's largest ISPs (Virgin Media, BT and TalkTalk - approximately 70% of the UK broadband ISP market) have decided to sell your private browsing history to an advertising broker. Yes, the entire list of every web page you visit gets sent to Phorm (the broker) in real time, as you click, so they can send you 'targeted advertising'. Ho.Ho.Ho.

Would you believe it the New York Times wrote about it on the 18th February 2008 3 Internet Providers in Deal for Tailored Ads by Eric Pfanner.

Now why wouldn't the MSM want to tell us all about it ? Well it might hurt THEIR advertisers.

Well go to the YR - he has the fix.

Related stories from The Register

Broadband big boys waiting on data pimping (29 February 2008)
BT pimped customer web data to advertisers last summer (27 February 2008)
ISP data deal with former 'spyware' boss triggers privacy fears (25 February 2008)

Also see the comments at The Register some good and well informed others plainly ranty.

Lots of concern is expressed about Privacy blah, blah,blah ... so you think Uncle GCHQ isn't already doing this ?... and has been for a very,very long time.

Most commentators think the MSM will take up the issue ... hey if they can suppress ALL news abouyt the bacton fire - see previous post here, they are not going to get excited about a little snooping going on by their advertisers ...who are leaving them in droves.

Phorm is run by Kent Ertegrul, a serial entrepreneur alumnus of blue chip St Paul's School, London and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics from Princeton University. He started his career in investment banking, working at JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley before going into business on his own. His past ventures include selling joyrides on Russian fighter jets - Migs Etc. Previously, his most notable foray online was as the founder of PeopleOnPage, an ad network that operated earlier in the decade and which was blacklisted as spyware by the likes of Symantec and F-Secure.

Security firm F-Secure describes PeopleOnPage's software here.

It says: "The spyware collects a user's browsing habits and system information and sends it back to the ContextPlus servers. Targeted pop-up advertisements are displayed while browsing the web.

"Each installation is given a unique ID, which is sent to the ContextPlus server to request a pop-up advertisement." ContextPlus was the rootkit that PeopleOnPage used to harvest data and hide its presence.

The similarities between this business model and that which will be kicked off by Phorm in the coming months are striking.

Phorm, under its previous name 121Media, floated on AIM in December 2004.

You have to admit , if legal it's a brilliant way to sit back and make shitloads of money.

This is how Phorma explain their privacy policy
Privacy

How does Phorm protect customer privacy?
No private or personal information, or anything that can identify you, is ever stored - and that means your privacy is never at risk.

Phorm identifies each user with a unique, randomly-generated number. With it, Phorm can deliver warnings of potentially dangerous websites and replace untargeted ads with more relevant ones, but can never identify the user personally. Phorm's technology can also be switched off easily at any time.

What information does Phorm store about browsing behaviour?
Phorm only stores advertising categories that match a user's areas of interest. There is no sensitive data stored.

Does Phorm ever store a customer's IP address?
No. The IP address is never stored.

Does Phorm collect any information that can identify me by name, address or any other personally-identifying information?
No. Phorm does not collect personal information, and cannot use it to serve ads. The system does not attempt to identify the user in any way and does not integrate with any system (like the ISP's log-in system) that could identify the user.

How does Phorm ensure that no personal information is collected?
Phorm uses technology that has been built from the ground up to avoid any information that might identify a customer personally. Phorm technology does not view any information on secure (HTTPS) pages, and ignores strings of numbers longer than three digits to ensure that we do not collect credit card numbers, phone numbers, National Insurance or other potentially private information.

Can a user's browsing history be identified if the government or ISP requests it?
No. The browsing history is not stored in any way. The unique fundamental design of this technology ensures that consumer privacy is protected and that, even under compulsion, no personally-identifying data or detailed browsing data can be retroactively provided to anyone.
The privacy claims Phorm make about its technology's use of consumer data have been verified by leading global auditing firm Ernst & Young. (View report PDF) The technology used by the OIX will be regularly audited on an ongoing basis to make sure that we continue to comply with our commitment. (But if they asked you (told you) to squirt it to them rather than store it ?)

What type of security measures do you have so that aggregated data is not stolen or lost?
Phorm has a high level of system and network security and operates a stringent security policy. Access to database hosts is restricted to systems administrators and data access is only permitted for specific purposes within the terms of the security policy.

However, the major safeguard is that all data is anonymous and cannot be attached to any individual. Only derived channel-match information is stored against the anonymous id in the database and all raw data is deliberately and continuously deleted according to the privacy timeline. These procedures are regularly audited and verified by Ernst & Young.

So we rely upon auditors whom you pay to check you don't store anything ? Great.

UPDATE MONDAY 3.00EST The Register has an update / rundown on the story

Ex (?) MI5/6 Spy takes the Moral High ground in Scotland - Carry on Lying

Good news for the Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones Fan Club - they have insinuated another spook into the Conservative fold - this time as the Chairman of the Scottish Tory Party - not that under the frightful Mrs Annabel Goldie there are many of them left.

Andrew (call me "Andy" ) Fulton, 64 is an ex (?) MI6 operative , who was in a long and no doubt distinguished career , "attached" to various embassies over the last 30 years. He was "seconded" (trans. imposed) from Washington to his alma mater , Glasgow University's school of law to "help" the Lockerbie Trial Briefing Unit *** give impartial advice to the world's media.Ho.Ho.Ho.

However his pompous and conceited adoption of the title "Professor" has rebounded on him and he is exposed in the Herald today in peddling himself under this adopted title dishonestly - Proudfoot Consulting, a firm which lists Professor Fulton an adviser, as does the website of edoMidas, a company that has him as its non-executive chairman, and as "Prof R A Fulton" on the site of the Scottish North American Business Council, which he chairs.

The Herald quotes a spokesman for the university : "Mr Fulton is not associated with the University of Glasgow's law school and is not entitled to call himself a Professor."

Fulton himself said: "We need to emphasise to people that voting Conservative is equally important in Scotland as in the rest of the UK. When I was growing up the Conservative presence in Scotland was strong. I see no reason why we cannot aspire to building towards that again."

Perhaps he should also emphasise that telling the truth is " equally important in Scotland as in the rest of the UK"

It will be interesting to see what emendations are made to the websites to put the record straight.

We went to the Bide A Wee Home for Distressed members of the Security Services to ask the grea Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones for her reaction to the news about her fellow Ex (?) spies joining the Conservative Party ...



Sadly she had fallen asleep so Toni Fabuloso ate ALL the grapes herself.

**** Alas the Lockerbie Trial Briefing Unit Website http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/schooloflaw/lockerbie/is no longer - well it's there but it's "Not found ", here is a brief description of the Unit and here is the link to the Herald exposing Prfessor Fulton in May 2000 as a spy...."Last night, Fulton's boss, Professor John Grant, who is head of the briefing unit, said if allegations that Fulton was an MI6 agent were proved true he would have no option but to ask him to step down. Fulton works as co-ordinator of the unit, controlling its day-to-day briefings. His work with the unit, and as a visiting professor, is unpaid"

Fultons name appeared "Robert Andrew Fulton: 69 Saigon, 73 Rome, 78 Berlin, 84 Oslo, 89 New York; dob 1944. " in the list published on May 21st 1999 in the Executive Intelligence Review. Also on the Alpha List assembled by Richard Tomlinson . Not that that proves anything.

Brotherly love ...

In BBC 4's Monday morning book peddling programme , Start the Week , Andrew Marr interviewed Francis Wilson whose book about William's sister, The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth is published by Faber and Faber.(£18.99, pp286 Amazon ) This is essentially an extended psychobabble review of Dorothy's 4 small notebooks - The Grasmere Journals produced in the period between December 1799 and October 1802, when Dorothy and William lived together at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, and which end with William's marriage.

Childhood playmates, William and Dorothy were separated on the death of their mother, when William was 8 and Dorothy 7, their father died 5 years later. Dorothy was despatched to Halifax to be raised by her second cousin, Elizabeth Threkald.

The siblings had a happy and successful menage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Dorset about which much has been written. Their later idyll in Grasmere, documented sketchily in her journal ended in (to Dorothy) her brother's unwelcome marriage - which she refused to attend.

(Melo) dramatically she threw herself on her brother on his return to the cottage after the wedding , and it was she not his wife who was carried over the threshold. The wedding ring (some Wordsworthian has it yet) was made a Brussels and was said to have been obtained when the pair went to meet his French mistress, Annette Vallon, mother of his child.

Dutifully however Dorothy joined the happy couple on their honeymoon and continued to live with them at Dove Cottage and later at Rydal Mount. She descended eventually into madness and spent the last two decades of her life Dorothy ended her days on the top floor of her brother's house, scratching her nurses and 'making a nondescript sound more shrill than the cry of a partridge or a turkey' or simply amused by swilling water round a bowl.

The book's blurb has it that ..."The tale that unfolds through her brief, lyrical entries reveals a strange, intangible love between brother and sister" . However Marr, in questioning Francis , gave the tale a very tangible dimension.....

ANDREW MARR : This is an incestuous relationship between brother and sister ?
FRANCIS WILSON : Well Yes ! But it's a much more complicated relationship than that .

More complicated for Fuck's sake! William sodomized her ? Introduced farmyard animals into the bedroom ? Used some antique sex toys to freshen things up ? She tied him up and used him as a toilet ? Anyway you could here Francis smile as the tills started ringing in Waterstone's.

According to some reviewers Mrs W is said to have joined in the frolics to make it a merry threesome. Who knows ? Who cares ? Probably faber & Faber and Francis Wilson's anxious bank manager.

The beautiful and haunting Rachel McKinney is a Californian by way of childhood days in Chile, Mexico, and Arizona and an adult life on the stage in New York and stars as Dorothy Worsdworth in Roan Productions film Grasmere.

The Grasmere Journals text is available at Amazon.

Whizz bang! Wallop! What a Picture !! What a photograph!!

During the 10 weeks before the prince's cover was blown, he was a tactical air controller (JTAC) - calling up allied air cover in support of ground forces BBC

Bild - Is Prince Harry flying this lady pilot ?

Auch Freundin Chelsy freut sich, ihren Prinzen bald wiederzusehen. Vielleicht hat sie auch die eine oder andere Frage zur hübschen Bomber-Pilotin. (Bild)

Lucky of course that we still have a few Harriers left to fly anywhere - HMS Illustrious isn't carrying any as she steams across the Indian Ocean -they are all off bombing third world villagers in Afghanistan.

Notably Prince Harry arrived on a Tri-Star. Tri-Star ?

The three over 40 year old ex-Pan Am Tri-Stars bought by the RAF in the 1980's are largely unchanged from their airline days and operate as troop carriers, carrying up to 266 passengers (the 42 year old VC 10's carry 127 troops Max) . These aircraft are designated C2 and C2A and are used extensively for transporting troops to world-wide destinations in support of exercises and operations and are operated by 216 Squadron out of RAF Brize Norton .

All TriStar versions can operate in the aeromedical evacuation role, including the option of installing a full stretcher fit if required for the repatriation of casualties ... which they were doing when Harry hitched his ride, one guy who Harry explained had lost and arm and a leg, and one paralysed from the neck down by a shrapnel burst in his neck - sources in the UK are silent about any rides by our heric Prince with Michelle Tompkins the glamorous Harrier Hen.

But you can read all about her here as the RAF have helpfully provided a profile for recruiting... which is where Bild lifted the picture of the pouting, pert, pretty pilot from.

German Court rules Internet on line spying by Secret Services "unconstitutional"

Hans-Juergen Papier, the court president of Germany's highest court, Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe (Bundesverfassungsgericht) ruled this week against allowing German security services to use virus-like software or similar tactics to spy on the computer hard drives of suspected criminals.

The court in said on Wednesday that using such software would violate an individual's right to privacy, protected by the country's constitution. Human and civil rights take precedence over the nearly insatiable need for security cultivated by some politicians.


This will please opposition parties and civil liberties groups, as well as by Brigitte Zypries, SPD Germany's justice minister but is expected to block a proposed federal law by Wolfgang Schaeuble, CDU Germany's interior minister. Zypries does however support Großer Lauschangriff, the German name for audio surveillance being used in private homes in the course of state investigations.

In the ruling, Hans-Juergen Papier, the court president, said such software would be unconstitutional - although based on a law in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia that had permitted spying online, Papier said the high court's decision would serve as a precedent across the country.

Schaeuble said the authorities would examine the court's decision and alter the proposed legislation accordingly.

Schaeuble's creed ( as is that of many Western Terrist Ministers) is that the threat of terrorism is omnipresent, invisible , incalculable and endless. The state should take such measures in order to prevent this danger. According to Schaeuble and his Ilk , all surveillance and combat instruments should be able to be used even in totally abstract and notional situations of danger.

The argument used by those who want dentention of suspects for 90 days. The "What if ..." argument.

Not only do we need protection by the state but also from the state.

It is surely interesting that Hans-Juergen Papier, in talking about the new EU treaty last week at Berlin's Humboldt University pointed out that the principle of democracy "is for the first time dignified with its own section in the treaty." Then he went on to point out that the sheer number of laws coming from Brussels - there were 18,167 regulations and 750 directives between 1998 and 2004 could not be handled by the current proposed arrangements in the Treaty / Constitution. More ...

Makes you wish that we had a written Constitution ..but then you see how Bush has trampled all over the US Constitution.

See also BBC "German court limits cyber spying "

'I have known about Jersey paedophiles for 15 years,'

'I have known about Jersey paedophiles for 15 years,' says Eileen Fairweather in the Mail on Sunday today

This is a lengthy and revealing article that sets out the links between the 12 care homes of Islington which she investigated for the London Evening Standard, in the early Nineties. .."hundreds of children's files mysteriously disappeared in Islington " ..."prove(d) that every home included staff who were paedophiles, child pornographers or pimps".

Islington's appalling mishandling of vital records was highlighted by the independent White inquiry into the abuse in Islington children's homes, which found that "at assistant director level . . . many confidential files were destroyed by mistake, although there is no evidence of conspiracy." Ho.Ho.Ho.

...who was in charge of Islington care homes at the time ? Step forward Minister of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Right Honourable Margaret Eve, Lady Hodge, MBE 64 (née Margaret Oppenheimer) MP for Barking. She was the first Minister for Children appointed in a newly created post within the Department for Education and Skills in 2001 .

Fascinating article about the paedophile rings that run rings round the Police, the Law, the Press.

Read it.....But don't hold your breath. Abused children cannot tell the truth, have bad memories ...

...and don't miss the opportunityt to read about the infamous Kincora Boy's home ..."Kincora was run as a virtual gay brothel by loyalist leaders and MI5 . Its clientele who preyed for years on vulnerable young boys in its care like Stone included loyalist paramilitary leaders , unionist politicians , judges and public figures . "... the Police files are sealed... but perhaps you shouldn't because they also retail the story that ...

"A few years back Prince Philip's former private equerry Sir Peter Horsley wrote a book which threatened to spill the beans on Prince Phillip, Mountbatten etc, " but he was obviously bonkers ...wasn't he ? ..and all this is nonsense surely ?

UPDATE 1.00 pm GMT Sunday
'A problem with punishment'A government minister and a care manager on Jersey claim to have been sacked for raising awkward questions about child protection on the island by Haroon Siddique and David Batty Guradian, Tuesday February 26 2008 - remarkable how much has been recently uncovered , but a child's skull has kick started the interest by the Press/TV.

Community Care has links to all Press articles about the current investigations in Jersey , with History etc., which is continually updating.

And here is a curious very brief image from a curious film available on You Tube made by/for the St.Peters Youth Club, Jersey.

Thnx to Aangirfan

Drug resistant TB - WHO report documents spread of MDRTB and the even more resistant XDR-TB in Africa and Eastern Europe

The underclasses of Islington are up in arms. The prospect of the Polish peasantry, rag rolling their salons and plastering their privies, the delightful prospect of elbowing the idle Iberians in favour of energetic (and oh so grateful) Estonian au pairs, who combine the muscular rustic virtues of a ruthless and energetic haus frau with faultless English, and Madonna-like qualities of child rearing is slipping from their grasp.

The taxpaying lumpen proletariat, fuelled by the intellectuals of Murdoch's press (Sun, Times) are now alerted to the consequences of extending the excesses of Europe, to the newly free, but still impoverished Eastern Europeans. Not only will this alien wedge steal your jobs as well as your washing, seduce your daughters, slaughter your children driving cars that are untaxed, uninsured and unsafe. Now the drawing rooms of middle England are alive to the prospect that the low paid peasantry will also bring, death, disease and decay.

Third world workers, Third world wages, that's fine, but we don't want your Third world diseases.

Consumption is good. Consumption is bad

Euroland is full of consumer junkies. Retail therapy works, not only for the air head, Jimmy Choo shod, surgically assisted la Perla chested, Harvey Nick chick flashing the plastic. It works for the City. Every time the hemline shoots up, the Sloane slick chick boots up, the GNP ticks up. I make, you consume the coal, the gas, the oil goes down. But, hey the Dow is up!

That's why they used to call Tuberculosis, consumption. It doesn't only consume the body's resources it wastes them, until there are none left.

Tuberculosis, curable but making a comeback.

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by an infection, Mycobacterium tuberculosis a spore like bacteria that can lie dormant for years. It commonly affects the lung and lymph systems but can affect any part of the body. It was a disease of 19th Century cities, the worst being New York and London.

The World Health Organisation claim that one third of the world's population (2 billion) are infected and that annually 10 million will develop the active disease, and 3 million will die. General ill health, and poor nutrition will precipitate the condition and especially where the immune system is challenged through, alcohol, drug abuse, and most recently with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Multiple Drug Resistance TB

TB is routinely treated with daily doses of a range of proven and effective low cost drugs. Treatment is lengthy and demands regular daily intake. Unsupervised patients can discontinue treatment or restrict the number of drugs used which has led to the recent and rapid development of drug resistant strains and more worrying, so called multiple drug resistant strains (MDR TB). This is not only a 3rd World problem, where WHO's program of "daily observed treatment" (DOT) of supervised drug delivery has helped. It is also a problem in New York and California where the Federal Centre for Disease Control (CDC) report 7.7% of new cases in 2002 were resistant to isoniazid, the first line drug of choice. WHO estimates that 50 million people worldwide are infected with MDR TB.

MDR TB is now increasingly recognised as a hospital acquired infection, and outbreaks have occurred in Florida, New York and there have been two widely reported outbreaks in London hospitals.

Dr Arata Kochi, Director of Global TB Programmes for WHO, said in 2002, "When you become sick with MDB TB, you have an illness often impossible to cure and costing one hundred times more to treat than ordinary TB".

World Health Organisation publish new report on the spread of drug resistant TB

The World Health Organisation (WHO) have produced a new report this week (The WHO/IUATLD Global Project on Anti-tuberculosis drug resistance surveillance. Anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in the world: fourth global report. February, 2008 ) showing that nearly half a million new cases of MDR-TB emerged in 2006, about 5 % of all new TB cases. Data was collected from from 81 countries (and 2 regions of China) between 2002 and 2006 and represents over 35 percent of the global total of new TB cases recorded in that time.

China, India and the Russian Federation are thought to carry the largest MDR-TB burden, with China and India accounting for 50 percent of the global caseload.In developed western countries it still remains an isolated (but threatening) problem for example in Canada in 2005 there were only 23 MDRTB cases recorded.

Amongst patients newly diagnosed with TB the prevalence of MDR-TB ranged from 0% in several western European countries to 56% in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Half of the cases of MDRTB amongst patients newly diagnosed with TB were in China, India and 7% of TB cases in the former Soviet Union.

Resistance to at least one TB drug ranged between 0% in some European countries and 86% in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The place with the highest proportion of MDR-TB cases was also Tashkent (60%).

Africa - a black hole where TB records are concerned

Although data from 33 countries not previously covered is included, there are huge gaps in recording the problem. Only 6 countries in Africa - the region with the highest incidence of TB in the world - were able to provide drug-resistance data. Other countries lack the laboratory or human resource capacity to detect drug-resistant TB.

It is estimated that as many as half of all adults in southern Africa carry a latent form of TB. People with HIV-compromised immune systems are 50 times more likely to develop active TB, but the sputum tests most commonly used to detect TB often fail to recognise it in HIV-infected patients.

In most HIV-positive patients with negative sputum test results, the most reliable way to diagnose TB is by culture testing sputum , requiring equipment, laboratories . and money. According to Dr Paul Nunn, co-ordinator of the WHO's TB/HIV and TB Drug Resistance Unit, other countries in Africa have "a very long way to go" before they have similar laboratory capacity. "There are a number of countries in Africa that do not have a single laboratory capable of testing a culture for drug resistance."

Based on the available data, the WHO estimates there were 66,700 MDR-TB cases in Africa in 2006. However, the survey was based on smear-positive TB cases.

The HIV / MDRTB co-infection problem

The authors note that in countries with high HIV prevalence, both the proportion of drug resistance among patients co-infected with HIV, and the extent of links between HIV and drug-resistant TB could have been under-represented in the survey.

Seven countries recorded drug resistance data and HIV status in Latvia and Ukraine, 2 countries where co-infection was recognised as a problem. TB/HIV patients were nearly twice as likely to have MDR-TB as HIV-negative patients.

Tuberculosis (TB) infections in Côte d'Ivoire increased 9 percent between 2006 (18,000 cases) and 2006,(21,000 cases) and almost 10 percent of the cases were multidrug resistant, according to new World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health data.

The co-infection of HIV and TB is one of the principal causes of the disease's spread in Côte d'Ivoire, the ministry said. It has calculated that 39 % of people infected with TB are also infected with HIV. TB and HIV together form a lethal combination, each speeding the other's progress.

Now we have an even deadlier variant - XDR-TB

For the first time, the survey also includes data on extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB, a strain that is resistant to both first and second-line treatment. Forty-five countries reported at least one case of XDR-TB, but the true scale of the problem remains unclear because many countries still lack the equipment to test for resistance to second-line TB drugs.

Citing the deadly outbreak of XDR-TB in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province in 2006, which mainly affected HIV-positive patients, the report warned:

"Detection of this outbreak was only possible because of the extensive laboratory infrastructure available in the country.

"It is likely that similar outbreaks of drug resistance, with associated high mortality, are taking place in other countries but currently going undetected due to insufficient laboratory capacity."

Paradoxically and for reasons unstated, South Africa was not one of the countries that contributed data to the WHO survey. Recent official figures show that nearly 6 % of 17,615 MDR-TB cases detected over a four-year period were extremely-drug resistant; 14 % of drug-resistant cases in KwaZulu-Natal Province were XDR.

Cynically it has been pointed out that the low incidence of MDR-TB in Africa is because some of the first-line TB drugs available in Europe and other parts of the world were only introduced recently in Africa - meaning that resistance has had less time to develop - and be identified.

The WHO report shows 7% of reported MDR-TB involved cases of the often untreatable XDR-TB, with cases recorded in 45 countries - Armenia 4% of MDR-TB cases involved XDR-TB, but the figure was 24% in Estonia. The authors mordantly note ... “evidence suggests that the association between HIV and MDR-TB may be more closely related to environmental factors such as transmission in congregate settings rather than biological factors…it indicates that improving infection control in…health care facilities and prisons may be one of the most critical components in addressing dual infection.” A long way round to say that the prisons of Eastern Europe are full of HIV cases where TB is increasingly untreatable - and for reasons of cost - untreated.

"TB drug resistance needs a frontal assault. If countries and the international community fail to address it aggressively now, we will lose this battle," said Dr Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO Stop TB Department.

"In addition to specifically confronting drug-resistant TB and saving lives, programmes worldwide must immediately improve their performance in diagnosing all TB cases rapidly and treating them until cured, which is the best way to prevent the development of drug resistance."

WHO estimate that $4.8 billion is needed for TB control in low- and middle-income countries in 2008, with $1 billion for MDR-TB and XDR-TB. But there is a $2.5 billion short-fall for general TB programmes and a $500 billion shortfall for MDR-TB and XDR-TB efforts.