Bathroom chemists - has Plod got it cracked ?

BBC - And plastic trays containing bicarbonate of soda and citric acid were also discovered.

Hmmm , now what else can you make that requires cooking on a hot plate and then cooling ?Hint Citric acid has a role for injectors.

UPDATE from the soaraway Sun "Among items discovered in the bedrooms including hot plates on the floor and trays holding funnels, spoons and filter paper"

UPDATE Sunday
Worth going back to the pic and tale of the bomb factory in the Daily Mirror By Ryan Parry Us Correspondent In New York 8/01/2007 THE BEDSIT BOMBERS



This passed our DIY bomb experts by at the time ..."And Mr Cordes warned recipes to make bombs from household items are widely available on the internet. Flour and pepper can be used to desensitise the toxic mix."

WTF "desensitise the toxic mix" means is a secret which we would welcome someone sharing with us.

Labour Party - Rats abandoning sip

On Sunday, April 13, 2008 Lord Patel in the post Will Nu Labour get Balls at last ? Brown to go in shock psycho - drama - queen forecast that David Pitt-Watson who Gordon had personally selected as Labour Party Secretary would not be joining the ranks.

Today the shock horror news from the Brown Bumker is that the boy David 51, chairman of Hermes Equity Ownership Services (who were big shareholders in Northern Rock) will not be bringing "a breadth of experience and will be a great asset to the party in terms of political judgment and organisational management" as NEC chairman Dianne Hayter said to the BBC .

Talk of his concerns about his personal financial liabilities if he took the post , abortive discussions about converting the party into a limited company to avoid such problems and rescheduling the payment of large, controversial loans to the Party, made in the happy expectation of receiving an honour have absolutely nothing to do with his decision.

A Suicide Watch has been placd on Captain Queeg at the Brown Bumker.

Madame Palfrey commits suicide

Naturally conspiracy theorists will be preparing a verdict of "suicided" before she spilt the beans won't be quiet after this news.

Authorities were called to the Sun Valley Estates Mobile Home Park in Tarpon Springs, Fla., by 76-year-old Blanche Palfrey, who found her daughter's body hanging by a nylon rope shortly before 11 a.m., Tarpon Springs police Capt. Jeffrey P. Young said at a news conference. He said Deborah Palfrey left at least two suicide notes, but he declined to discuss their contents.

Dan Moldea, who interviewed Palfrey several times for a possible book about her experiences (he was actually employed by Larry Flynt) , reportedly sad today that Palfrey told him 3 times she would kill herself before returning to prison. She had served an 18-month term in California in the early 1990s for running a prostitution service and told Moldea that it was "just a horrible, horrible period for her," the writer said.

"The first time she did time, it damn near killed her, she told me," Moldea said. "She wound up in a fairly tough prison, and the stress caused some sort of an illness, and it was a very debilitating illness that affected her eyesight."

Moldea said that, in three interviews last spring and summer, after she was indicted, Palfrey told him: "I'm not going back to jail. I'll kill myself first. I'll commit suicide before I go back to jail."

"Those were her exact words," he said.

Palfrey had been found guilty of running prostitutes and was out on bail awaiting sentence.

One of the escort service employees was former University of Maryland, Baltimore County, professor Brandy Britton, who was arrested on prostitution charges in 2006. She committed suicide in January before she was scheduled to go to trial.

Rigorous Intuition forum here

Operation Theseus : Street Theatre at it's best

So that's it. You see any brown skinned, bearded men carrying rucksacks, wearing baseball caps BBC "acting like ordinary commuters, buying tickets, using escalators" on the Tube .... call the Police.

...... and if they are licking an ice cream ... run for your fucking life.

Just one other thing, on the undated, untimed CCTV ex British Medical Association offices, On the BBC it shows 10 seconds elapse between rear of bus passing doors and first signs of people legging it, @ 10 mph , in 10 seconds the bus would travel 49 yards.


...and is that a CCTV camera just above the door ? Please sir can we see the fillum from that one ...or was that er...not...working ?

Waihopi Spy Base in New Zealand successfully attacked by "Waihopai Anzac Ploughshares"

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation; and there shall be no more training for war. Isaiah 2/4

New Zealand Herald reports a successful attack to damage the plastic weather dome on a satellite communciations station at GCSB Waihopai satellite communications top secret spy base near Blenheim, New Zealand. The station has been identified by MP Keith Locke, and others, as part of ECHELON, the worldwide network of signals interception facilities run by the UKUSA consortium of intelligence agencies." See Close the Waihopi base web page which has the slogan ... "Waihopai does not operate in the national interests of New Zealand or our neigh­bours. Basically it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be closed. "

Dominican friar and political activist Peter Murnane joined organic gardener Adrian Leason and Hokianga farmer Sam Land in the early-morning raid in a pea souper fog through 3 wire fences and used sickles to puncture one of two 30m rubber balloons that protect radar aerials from the weather.

Prime Minister Helen Clark called the raid "a senseless act of vandalism", and the head of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) ordered an urgent investigation into the base's security.

Australian-born Peter Murnane provided accommodation in Auckland to Ahmed Zaoui, the Algerian refugee accused of being a terrorist but later cleared. He also has history - spilling blood on the floor of the United States consulate in protest at the Iraq war.

The three men, calling themselves the "Waihopai Anzac Ploughshares", broke through three security fences before attacking the dome with sickles.

They then built a shrine and knelt down in prayer to remember the people killed by United States military activity.

They were remanded in custody after appearing in Blenheim District Court yesterday afternoon charged with causing intentional damage and entering a building with intent to commit a crime.

They said the raid was "responding to the Bush Administration's admission that intelligence gathering is the most important tool in the so-called war on terror".

Green Party MP Keith Locke, who has often protested against the Waihopai base, said his party did not condone criminal acts, but he could "understand the frustration of those who did it".

Global Peace and Justice Auckland spokesman John Minto said the photo of the deflated dome was a "powerful symbol of resistance to New Zealand's role in supporting the so-called war on terror being waged by the US".

More pics
An update says that 2 of the 3 Ploughshares are on hunger strike and Police told Blenheim District Court yesterday they were considering charging the men with sabotage under the Crimes Act, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail.

Damage to the Marlborough base is estimated at more than NZ$1 million.

Read the Statement from the Ploughshares

Here is a good overview of the role of this station plus many links to explain Echelon etc.,

Typhoon crash - software fails.....again

We reported on this crash on Tuesday Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon from Coningsby in another crash landing and the similarity with a previous crash at Coningsby.

The Daily Mail reports somewhat oddly ... "An RAF insider said told The Sun last night: "Everything points to the pilot forgetting to lower the wheels, which does happen from time to time."

Who was flying it ? Prince William ?

No. The plane is a turkey...with a small radius of operation, or the need for speed slowing extra fuel tanks that can now fire missiles , but has to date only dropped one bomb and that with the aid of another fighter to "light" the target.

£ Sqillions wasted

Carefree child - Couldn't care less parents

Why cycle helmets save lives - Brake

"Wearing a helmet is recommended for all cyclists, but it is especially important for children. Children often have less control over their movements on a bike and are more likely to make errors of judgement. Child cyclists are also smaller and therefore harder for drivers to spot.

Helmets are effective for cyclists of all ages, in crashes which do and do not involve another vehicle. A 1999 report by the British Medical Association (BMA) strongly recommended that all cyclists, but especially children, wear a helmet when riding on the public highway.

In early 2004, Eric Martlew MP introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill (Protective Headgear for Young Riders), which would make helmet wearing compulsory for all children riding bikes.[5]
A law to make cycle helmet wearing compulsory for children is supported by the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Child Accident Prevention Trust, the Children’s Brain Injury Trust, Headway (the brain injury association), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and Brake.

A Bill passed in 1990 made it compulsory for children on horseback to wear a helmet"

Visit the site to see what Dr Tim Coats who is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Leicester and sees first-hand the horrific injuries suffered by cyclists in road accidents has to say about children wearing helmets.

Curiously Dr Gerry McCann, the father of Madeleine McCann is a cardiologist at Glenview Hospital , Leicester one of the 3 hospitals in the University of Leicester Hospital NHS Trust.

The McCann family can consider themselves lucky that helmetless Madeleine did not suffer a head or brain injury before she disappeared from her 'trusting and caring' family.

Vista is a crock of shit

USA Today

Will Weider is just the kind of customer Microsoft (MSFT) needs to keep its Windows computer operating system franchise growing.

He oversees tech for a chain of Wisconsin hospitals — 14,000 computers' worth. But Weider has no desire to upgrade to Vista, the latest version of Windows.

"I wouldn't put on Vista if it was free," says Weider, chief information officer for Ministry Health Care. "In the past, there's always been an important reason to upgrade, but XP (the previous version of Windows) is perfectly acceptable."

...At Harvard University's medical facilities, about 8,000 computers are in use by staffers, and there are no plans to upgrade to Vista, says John Halamka, dean of technology for Harvard Medical School. "XP is running well," he says. Microsoft "could potentially have another operating system on the market by the time we're in a position to do a major upgrade."

More ...

Mission not quite accomplished ..yet

Sadr City bloodshed kills 925 Iraqis
AFP by Salam Faraj Wed Apr 30, 12:09 PM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Clashes between Shiite militiamen and security forces have killed more than 900 people in Baghdad's Sadr City, an Iraqi official said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to keep up the offensive.

The latest death toll from the Sadr City fighting that erupted late last month is set to make April the deadliest month this year, denting US and Iraqi government claims of improved security.
"There were 925 martyrs in Sadr City and 2,605 others have been wounded," Tehseen Sheikhly, spokesman for the government's Baghdad security plan, told reporters.

New Head of Government Propaganda appointed

The eternally puzzled looking and Lancashire born Ian Hargreaves,57 (Queen's Cambridge) has been appointed as the new Strategic Communications Director for the The Foreign and Commonwealth Office succeed Lucian Hudson who moves elsewhere in the FCO.

Ian Hargreaves becomes therefore in charge of Government propaganda and has a fascinating pedigree. He arrives directly on loan from Ofcom, where he is currently a senior partner and Board member responsible for Ofcom's international activities.

His experience as Director of Corporate and Public Affairs at BAA, Editor of the New Statesmen,T he Independent, a former chairman of Demos, and a member of the Chancellor's Social Investment Task Force (Chairman Gordy's favourite merchant banker Lord Cohen). He is also a former director of Greenpeace UK and of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, Deputy Editor of the Financial Times and (naturally) Director of BBC News and Current Affairs... and at some time Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University as well as a panellist on BBC4's Moral Maze.

Peter Ricketts, Permanent Under Secretary at the FCO, and head of the mandarinate says Ian will be invaluable in helping the FCO to develop its global campaigning skills and to broaden the debate on foreign policy to a wider public in the UK and abroad.

All his New Statesman articles are here

PLus ca change ....

The Hayward Project Space

May 68: Street Posters from the Paris Rebellion Thursday 1 May 2008 - Sunday 1 June 2008 , 10am – 6pm (daily), Late night Fridays until 10pm

The posters of the Paris uprising of May 1968 comprise some of the most brilliant graphic works ever to have been associated with a movement for social and political change. This selection of original posters coincides with The Hayward’s 40th birthday and celebrates the vibrant activist graphics and revolutionary spirit of summer 1968. (well that's what they say)

In Paris, on the 16 May, students and faculty staff took over the Ecole des Beaux Arts to establish the Atelier Populaire (the Popular Workshop). The organisation went on to produce hundreds of silkscreen posters in an unprecedented outpouring of political graphic art. In a statement, the Atelier Populaire declared the posters “weapons in the service of the struggle… an inseparable part of it. Their rightful place is in the centres of conflict, that is to say, in the streets and on the walls of the factories.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, Keep Calm Gallery is offering a limited-edition book that contains hand screen-printed reproductions of 40 of the original posters. They will offer an extremely limited number (less than 10 each) of printer's proofs exclusively in their East Dulwich gallery. More info on how to attain one of these rare prints at Keep Calm.

Les événements began on 22 March with a small protest in the suburban campus of Nanterre University, led by lecturer Alain Geismar and students Jacques Sauvageot and Daniel Cohn-Bendit (a French-German intellectual firebrand, whom the media soon anointed "Danny the Red"). The flame quickly spread to campuses already aroused by groups campaigning against the Vietnam war and eager to mobilise against a conservative, hierarchical, immobile - and old - society. The wave then spread to the factories, where workers staged the biggest (9 million were involved) and longest (almost a month) general strike in French history.

Alain Geismar revealed in the BBCRadio 4 programme last night that from the very start they were in telephone contact with the head of the Paris Police.

It is also the 50th anniversary of the founding of the 5th Republic by referendum.

Tag Ab : The Taliban's gateway to Kabul

Combined Joint Task Force 101 made this announcement on Sunday

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (April 27, 2008) – Coalition forces engaged Anti-Afghan forces in the Tag Ab District of Kapisa province, Saturday, resulting in the death of several AAF militants.

Coalition forces conducted a search of several compounds in the Tag Ab District in an effort to disrupt AAF IED activities. Coalition forces’ search also targeted a Taliban militant known to have facilitated both Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device attacks and attacks against Afghan government and Coalition forces by foreign fighters.

The targeted Taliban militant was believed to be planning operations to disrupt the Afghan National Independence Day celebrations and is believed to be among the dead.

During their search, an unknown number of AAF engaged Coalition forces with small-arms fire from several buildings. Coalition forces responded to the AAF attack with small-arms fire, artillery and close-air support. During the battle, Afghan National Security Forces and additional Coalition forces provided reinforcements.

A day after this raid , six (?) Taliban snipers opened fire on the Mujahidin Victory parade in Kabul as hundreds of journalists, dignitaries, and government officials gathered to observe the national holiday and President Karzai.

Four people, including a Member of Parliament from Paktia province and a ten-year old boy, were killed in the attack. Three of the Taliban attackers were shot dead by police and the remaining three were arrested.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by the Haqqani Network, a terrorist organization led by insurgent commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, who outsourced logistical needs from local gunmen loyal to fugitive commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The Taliban’s ability to attack a ceremony amid heightened security in the heart of Kabul while scores of VIP’s attended served as a major propaganda coup for the Taliban who previously claimed they can launch an attack anywhere in Afghanistan at a time of their choosing. The preceding raid in Kapisa may also be significant, indicating the Taliban’s reliance on the Tag Ab Valley as the key staging ground for attacks against targets in Kabul and Bagram.

Today abc news reports that Amrullah Saleh the Afghan Intelligence chief told Parliament that Karzai was warned of an attack 3 weeks ago.

Coalition forces and their Afghan counterparts, are targeting Tag Ab Valley but there is little evidence that the Taliban will move anytime soon. Further Commando operations are planned and other security initiatives continue to play out in the area. In the latest operation, one Coalition soldier was killed and another seriously wounded after insurgents ambushed their patrol in the Tag Ab district on April 29.

Just last month, insurgents nearly assassinated the newly appointed governor of Kapisa during a remote-control bomb attack against his convoy. Governor Ghulam Ghaus Abu Bakar was going to Alasayee to introduce newly-appointed district chief Abdul Momin Muslim to local administration officials. No one was injured in the attack.

The brazen attack which struck the governor’s security convoy provided by Coalition forces highlights the freedom of movement Taliban enjoy throughout the district.

At the White House today President George Bush the battle as "an ideological struggle" that can be won by advancing democracy.

"We're dealing with a group of ideologues who use asymmetrical warfare - that means killing innocent people - to try to achieve their objectives," he said.

"And one objective is to drive us out of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East or anywhere else where we try to confront them," Mr Bush said.

"And so, yes, I mean, look, is it tough? Yes, it's tough. Is it difficult? Absolutely. Is it worth the fight? In my judgment, yes, it is."

Stop The Olympic Pantomime - STOP

David Craig has written a book published by Constable this month -: Squandered - How Gordon Brown is wasting over one trillion pounds of our money. Review here. "Craig's target is the culture of administrative and bureaucratic incompetence, indifference and corruption found in almost every branch of British government, and common to all political parties. " (Amazon)

He is also author of an article in the Daily Telegraph today "The outrageous cost of the London Olympics"

He makes the very important point that in 1970 the City of Denver was awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics by the IOC. By 1972 the estimated costs had trebled.

Exercising their democratic rights, the Denver citizenry were allowed to vote on whether to continue with the Games. A 60% majority voted against the City of Denver footing the bill for the IOC's winter extravaganza and it was handed to Innsbruck. As they had had hosted the 1964 Winter Games, they already had much of the necessary infrastructure in place.

The conclusion is clear, says David Craig - although not a single politician has dared state the obvious - all work on the 2012 Olympics should be halted, the organizations managing the Games disbanded and the Games handed back to the IOC, because it is now clear that a mixture of incompetence, arrogance and greed from those bringing us the Games mean that the UK cannot stage the Games at a justifiable cost.

A commentator suggests that if Boris had promised such a result it would be a shoo in.

It is not too late ... let's get organising.

A lesson learned ? A hooking stupid idea

On Friday, January 19, 2007 in post Hooked ? .... or Horrified ? Lord Patel wrote about complaining to the Advertsiing Standards Authority about an unpleasant ad which was aimed at smokers on behalf of an NHS £8 Mn. No Smoking program and pointed out that ..

9.1 No marketing communication should cause fear or distress without good reason. Marketers should not use shocking claims or images merely to attract attention.

On Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Hooked ...Line and Sinker by the Advertising Standards Authority reported that the ASA upheld the complain - the first Government ad to be banned for 5 years.

The campaign triggered 774 complaints. The “Get Unhooked” campaign and was created by Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy and ran across television, poster, national press and magazines, and online. More than 150 parents said that the posters had scared their kids, aged between two and 15 - the NHS claims that , "The posters were deliberately not placed near schools" - so they were evidently aware of the potential to dstress children.

The NHS Provides the following figures -Since the launch of the campaign, 83,606 smokers phoned the NHS Smoking Helpline, 545,564 had visited the gosmokefree website, 195,000 had had interactions (?) with the TV pages and 6,743 had made contact via SMS. No follow up figures are available. £8Mn (including production costs) well spent ?

Today the ASA announce it was the most complained about advertisement of the year 2007.

Unhappy Anniversary

MGySgt John J. Valdez
Staff Non Commission Officer in charge
American Embassy, Saigon, R. South Vietnam

Last off the roof of the Embassy during the Fall of Saigon 30th April 1975

We secured the final door on the roof and people began coming up toward the roof. They had forced open the main door of the embassy and were appearing on the roof's helo pad. About 30 to 40 people. They never actually got on the main roof.

We took wall lockers that we had staged reactionary gear in and tipped them over and put them against the door. And then we had those large fire extinguishers on the roof - the kind with wheels - and we brought them inside and put them against the wall lockers to reinforce the door....

UPDATE

This photograph is NOT of the US Embassy but was taken by Hubert van Es as explained here and brought to our attention by Frank Snepp (see comments).

It was taken on Tuesday, April 29, 1975 22 of Gia Long Street, an apartment building in downtown Saigon where senior Central Intelligence Agency employees were housed. Several weeks earlier the roof of the elevator shaft had been reinforced with steel plate so that it would be able to take the weight of a helicopter.

At the Embassy, Chinook's (the favoured transport of our own dear Royals) were being used.

Third Front Opens - Browne sends more ill trained, badly equipped troops to Kosovo SNAFU

A battalion of 600 British troops will be sent to Kosovo, to join the current 150 currently kickingtheir heels says Defence Secretary Des "I speak your weight" Browne.

NATO has apparently asked for some more policemen , who aren't required but you never know.The UK is responsible for providing the body's standby reserve force for the first six months of this year.

The soldiers, from 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, will be deployed to Kosovo from the end of May for one month )Ho Ho Ho) to help Nato with peacekeeping activities.

Mr Browne said in a written statement: "The security situation has remained tense and there have been some sporadic incidents of violence."

He said sending the battalion to Kosovo will demonstrate Britain's commitment to the region's security and will provide extra flexibility in maintaining local peace and stability... and fuck up plans for replaceents in Afghanistan... but WTF ?

Kosovan independence was supposed to take effect June 15th and the the 2,000-strong Europe Union Law and Justice Mission (Eulex), which has already begun to be deployed, would help and take over from UN/NATO forces which ain't going to happen.

This produces a major headache for the EU. It had expected to inherit a fleet of around 400 Unmik police vehicles, plus headquarters, outbuildings, and other equipment.

According to one estimate, the extra cost of buying and building a mission from scratch could be as high as 100 million euros (£78m; $156m).Fast.

UN Mission to continue

The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (Unmik), Joachim Ruecker, has confirmed in a BBC interview that his mission will continue longer than expected.

"It is certainly clear that the UN has a responsibility, that the mission will continue," Mr Ruecker told the BBC.

Beginning to sound like Berlin circa 1945.... al we need is some Russkis to appear.

Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon from Coningsby in another crash landing

On 17th January 2006 this £50Mn (ish) Typhoon jet landed at RAF Coningsby, Lincs, when the computer controlling the nose wheel failed to operate. Funded jointly by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain this plane is way over budget, years late and has multiple problems.

Which we reported Sunday, February 19, 2006 £50 Mn up in smoke

Here is a new report that looks remarkably similar.


"A Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon has been damaged in an incident while landing at the US Navy’s China Lake weapons test range in California, the UK service has confirmed.

Believed to be assigned to the RAF’s Coningsby-based 17 Sqn Operational Evaluation Unit, the aircraft “sustained damage on landing,” the RAF says. The pilot did not eject from the aircraft, which came to rest on the runway, and was not injured in the mishap. “The damage is still being assessed,” says an RAF source, who adds that a Board of Inquiry has already been established to investigate the cause of the accident.

The service’s remaining fleet of almost 50 Typhoons – including aircraft providing permanent quick reaction alert duties for the southern UK from Coningsby – has not been grounded, and “there is no suggestion of airworthiness being compromised,” the source adds. This is the second landing incident to have affected the RAF’s Typhoon force, with a two-seat aircraft operated by its 29 Sqn Operational Conversion Unit having sustained damage in early 2006 after its nose wheel failed to deploy."

Daily Mirror report of the first crash here

McCain’s Career Financed by Mob Money

Cindy Lou Hensley McCain ,53, is the only child of James Hensley,and Marguerite "Smitty" Hensley. One year after she was born, her dad founded Hensley & Co. which Cindy now heads and is one of the biggest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the nation. (Jesse Jackson's son owns the Chicago one)

When she married JohnMcCain in Phoenix on May 17, 1980 they had already made a prenuptial agreement that kept most of her families' assets under her name; they would always keep their finances apart and file separate income tax returns. She now has an annual income of over $400,000 from Hensley & Co. and an estimated net worth of $100 million.

The Ron Paul War Room posted a fascinating article in January this year by Michael Collins Piper - McCain’s Career Financed by Mob Money- Arizona politics greatly influenced by former associates of Bronfman, Lansky.

"...one thing about McCain that the mass media chooses not to report is his family connection to the organized crime-connected interests that have run the state of Arizona (through both major political parties) since at least the 1940s."

"To understand McCain—in particular his devotion to the interests of Israel—it is necessary to recognize the little-known fact that the powerful Bronfman family empire, based on its Seagram’s liquor fortune and its controlling influence over the Time-Warner media conglomerate, has been the primary behind-the-scenes force dominating Arizona politics. "

"One particularly famous Texas-based mob functionary, nightclub keeper Jack Ruby, for example, is known to have actually been a lieutenant of the Bronfman family (a point that has often been lost or suppressed in the legends surrounding Ruby’s ties to organized crime). And it is known—although again not mentioned by most JFK assassination “researchers”— that Ruby was a key player in a Texas-based network smuggling arms (stolen from U.S. military installations) to Israel, the Bronfman empire’s favorite foreign nation. "

"In 1976 a crusading Phoenix reporter, Don Bolles, was murdered by a car bomb in his Datsun 210 after writing a series of stories exposing the organized crime connections of a wide-ranging number of well-known figures in Arizona, including one Jim Hensley. His dying words were "They finally got me. The Mafia. Emprise. Find John (Harvey Adamson)." Five years later “Honest John” McCain arrived in Arizona as the new husband of Hensley’s daughter, Cindy. “From the moment McCain landed in Phoenix,” according to Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity, “the Hensleys were key sponsors of his political career.” But the people behind the Hensley fortune are even more controversial." Ultimately, Adamson confessed to the murder of Bolles. Emprise Corp was the empire run by Kemper Marley with 162 subsidiaries in the United States and abroad, employing more than 70,000 people. Read THE DEATH IN ARIZONA OF THE KEMPER MARLEY MACHINE see also Phoenix Rising about the Bolles murder and who instigated it. See also AZ Central pecial feature on 30th anniversary of his death in 2006 here.

"McCain’s late father-in-law was the owner of the biggest Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship in Arizona—one of the largest beer distributors in the nation. But the mainstream media has had nothing to say about the origins of the Hensley fortune that financed McCain’s rise to power. The Hensley fortune is a regional offshoot of the big-time bootlegging and rackets empire of the Bronfman dynasty. "

"McCain’s father-in-law got his start as a top henchman for Kemper Marley, who, for 40 years until his death in 1990 at age 84, was the undisputed behind-the-scenes political boss of Arizona. But Marley was much more than a machine politician. In fact, he was also the Lansky crime syndicate’s top man in Arizona, the protege of a Lansky lieutenant, Phoenix gambler Gus Greenbaum. "

"In 1941 Greenbaum had set up the Transamerica Publishing and News Service, which operated a national wire for bookmakers. In 1946 Greenbaum turned over the day-to-day operations to Marley while Greenbaum focused on building up Lansky-run casinos in Las Vegas, commuting there from his home in Phoenix. Greenbaum, in fact, was so integral to the Lansky empire that he was the one who took command of Lansky’s Las Vegas interests in 1947 after Lansky ordered the execution of his own longtime friend, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, for skimming mob profits from the new Flamingo Casino. "

"Greenbaum and his wife were murdered in a mob “hit” in 1948, their throats cut. The murder set off a series of gangland wars in Phoenix, but Marley survived and prospered. " "

"The story in Arizona is that Hensley took the fall for Marley and, upon his release from prison, Marley paid back Hensley’s loyalty by setting him up in the beer distribution business. That beer company today, said to be worth $200 million, is what largely financed John McCain’s political career. The support from the Bronfman-Marley-Hensley network was integral to McCain’s rise to power. "

"The attorney who handled Hensley’s legal defence, forging the deal that set in motion Hensley’s windfall (that now benefits McCain), was William Rehnquist, who later became chief justice of the United States, later to be joined on the court by one of his own former girlfriends from Arizona, Sandra Day O’Connor. The one-vote margin on the Supreme Court that handed the presidency to George W. Bush following the 2000 election debacle might be considered a product of the “Bronfman bloc.” "

Read on ....

You want some balance ? Then read " How Barack Obama learned to love Israel "

Head to Head in Indy - with big groundswell for Obama

Former President Bill Clinton turned up at a crowded Carmel High school gym 8.30 yesterday. The school boasts a very active Students for Barack Obama Club, but nothing for his wife.

2,200 juniors and seniors listened to a tired looking Slick Willy for an hour, along with 800 staff and visitors.

"Hillary believes America should look the way you look today," he said. "Despite race, gender, age, religion, we are all here together."

Diversity and the chance for new opportunities are what make Carmel High School so exceptional, he said.

One teacher offered the view - "Every U.S. history teacher here is going to start their class off by saying, 'Do you realize what you just saw?' " he said. "This is the first time a former U.S. president has walked through these halls."

Joe Stuelpe, a U.S. government teacher, who organises Students for Barack Obama,says "Obama is obviously very popular," .... "But then so is McCain. For the rebellious student, Ron Paul is still a favorite."

Joe Hogsett, co-chairman of Clinton's Indiana campaign, said even though Hamilton County is predominantly Republican, there are still a lot of Democratic voters, because of the county's large population.

About 100,000 votes were cast in the county during the 2004 presidential elections, he said.

Just look how Bill is out on the stump for Shrillary....

It's only money

“The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented.”

Major L. L. B. Angus

“By this means government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people, and not one man in a million will detect the theft.”

John Maynard Keynes - “Economic Consequences of Peace”

“I am afraid that ordinary citizens will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create and destroy money; and they who control the credit of the nation direct the policy of governments and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.”

Richard McKenna, Chairman, Midland Bank London addressing shareholders 1924

“When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in our account to cover the check, but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money.”

“Putting it Simply” - Boston Federal Reserve Bank

"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing."

Ralph M. Hawtry, British Sec. of Treasury

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of a pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this world would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain slaves of the Bankers and pay for the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."

Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the Bank of England in the 1920s

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

Thomas Jefferson in the debate over The Re-charter of the Bank Bill (1809).

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and money system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

Henry Ford

"The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it. The process by which banks create money is so simple the mind is repelled. With something so important, a deeper mystery seems only decent." John Kenneth Galbraith "Money: Whence it came, where it went" (1975).

Bundesnachrichtendienst caught reading journalists e-mails in Afghan spy scandal. So ?

There are currently 3,400 German soldiers stationed in Afghanistanacting as part of the NATO forces. Despite the weapons they carry, the occupiers forces are there to provide security, help re-build a shattered nation, to train, educate and generally behave like good friends and neighbours.

The German state has an apparatus for spying on foreigners, both at home and abroad, Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND)- which is headed by Ernst Uhrlau.

Within this naturally secretive outfit there are many rooms - one is BND's Division 2.

Div. 2 is responsible for what the Western spy agencies call "SIGINT" or signals intelligence obtained by technical means of eavesdropping on telecommunications.

In 2006, Division 2 consisted of 13 specialist departments and a management team (Department 20A), employing about 1,000 people. The departments are known by their German acronyms, like MOFA (mobile and operational telecommunications intelligence gathering), FAKT (cable telecommunications intelligence gathering) and OPUS (operational support and wiretapping technology).

We now know that In early June 2006, the OPUS team in department 26E launched an (authorised) intelligence assault against Afghanistan by an attack on their IT systems.

A chunk of "Trojan horse" spying software was inserted in the computer network of Afghanistan's Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Quite what it did and what information was obtained it is impossible to know because by accident lots and lots of files have been accidentally destroyed by accident. BND's Division 1 had also been caught doing this with their "peace keeping" troops in the Congo in spring last year.

What we do know is that they obtained the log-in details for the personal Yahoo e-mail account of 68-year-old Afghan Commerce Minister Amin Farhang.

Amin Farhang had studied in Cologne and spent several years in the notorious Pol-i-Charkhi prison near Kabul before he managed to flee his native soil in the early 1980s and travel to Germany, where he settled in the western city of Bochum - he has a German passport. Returning in 2001 -"for good" he wanted to help with the reconstruction of his native country after the fall of the Taliban regime.

As part of this bizarre exercise , they noted a Der Spiegel journalist Susanne Koelbl , who had been reporting on Afghanistan for 5 years was coresponding with Farhang using the spiegel.de domain.

They requested guidance on how to proceed. For 2 days, their request went unanswered. The result was that over a period of 6 months, the BND agents read more than 30 e-mails between Koelbl and the Afghan cabinet minister.

BND legal experts concluded that the OPUS group's activities did not qualify as surveillance of telecommunications, because the exchange of e-mails had already taken place. This absurd conclusion was that the BND was allowed to analyze, without official authorization, the ministry's hard drives and Farhang's e-mail.

On Nov. 27, 2006 OPUS opened e-mails between Koelbl and Farhang rgarding the kidnapping of a german doctor, and about which a relative had contacted Der Spiegel for help.

Apparently it was not until Dec. 21, 2007, the last working day before the Christmas holiday, that the BND lower ranks finally filled in Ernst Uhrlau on the case.

In February this year a BND whistelblower wrote to various people including 2 members of the German parliament's intelligence oversight committee, the Parliamentary Control Panel (PKG), about ,"an unusual, additional case of surveillance of a journalist."

MP Norbert Röttgen, of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, paid the additional postage for the letter, which did not have a stamp. After reading it he forwarded it to the Chancellery on February 25th. The office of Thomas de Maizière, the head of the Chancellery, contacted BND President Uhrlau on Feb. 26.

Koelbl, had also received tip-offs -- vague at first, but then more specific -- that her e-mails had been read. She requested a meeting with Uhrlau. The BND president only admitted to the monitoring when directly asked about it by Koelbl during the meeting. SPIEGEL began investigating its legal options, including the possibility of criminal charges.

The BND is violating the freedom of the press, a fundamental element of democracy set forth in Article 5 of the German Constitution.

Journalists, are privilged in law and do not have to reveal their sources to the government, and with good reason. Sources that draw attention to abuses and grievances must be assured of their ability to remain anonymous. It is only by guaranteeing this anonymity that the intent of the framers of the German constitution to add another layer of control to parliamentary democracy by means of the freedom of the press can work. The BND's actions were a serious affront to this concept.

The BND also violated the general right of privacy laid down in Article 2 of the German constitution. If what the BND did was legal, says Max Stadler ( lawyer and member of the Bundestag for the business-friendly Free Democratic Party) , any secret computer surveillance of any German citizen abroad would be fundamentally legal, because "the protection of basic rights also applies outside our national borders."

Max Stadler, described the espionage case as evidence that the BND was turning into a state within a state and called for an increase in parliament's power over the BND's work. Speaking for the Greens, panel member Hans-Christian Ströbele concurred.

Uhrlau , evidently has no intention of resigning, nor does it seem that the Government want to sack him . The German parliament's intelligence oversight committee met on Thursday,and chairman, Thomas Oppermann of the center-left Social Democratic Party, said Uhrlau could keep his post.

"The SPD would be well advised not to part company with a man like Uhrlau in anger," says one senior member of the party.

Who knows which e-mails Herr Uhrlau has read.

PS : Sunday was Mujahedeen Day in Afghanistan and excuse for a major parade in central Kabul in front of the Eid Gah Mosque. President Karzai survived his 4th assassination attempt.

Obama prays with the white middle class and eats with .. well .. different people

St Luke's United Methodist Church @ 86th and Meridian, Indianapolis,IN is in the heart of republican Indy - and counts Republican Senator Dan Lugar as a worshipper amongst it's 6,500 strong communion.

It was some what of a surprise therefore when Illinois Sen. Barack Obama called by on Sunday for the third service at 11.00 when Dr. Linda McCoy was preaching on the theme "Saying yes" , (Obama's campaign slogan is "Yes we can") along with a hustling crowd of bulky men with earphones carefully positioned around him, seven pews back.

Rev. Kent Millard oversees the flock with an annual budget of US$2.4 Mn and his grand daughter Taylor Hall, 7, sat next to Obama for much of the service, while her brother Tre Hall, 18, got a chance to speak to Obama before the service and fill him in on the youth scene in down town Indy.

After leaving St. Luke's, he headed for the bustling Country Kitchen at the corner of College Avenue and 18th Street. These are a chain of low cost diners that appeal to large families and large people who specialise in down home cooking and specials on hominy grits. Expect to see folks reading the bible on a Sunday as they chomp through bacon ,eggs, sausages, hash browns, waffles with strawberries and cream and root beer floats.

He was joined by U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., who is facing his own challenge in the May primary for the 7th District seat, and local Democratic Party officials.

"It's an exciting time to be a Democrat," said City-County Councilman Jose Evans, who was dining with Carson. "This is the most exciting times since the Kennedy days . . . (although) I wasn't alive then."

"Inner-city Indianapolis is a place where people need to be acknowledged," added local educator Evelyn Gearries, who was among a throng of diners surprised as Obama walked in the door. "Obama coming here shows he's doing more than talking about change."

As the candidate made his way around the restaurant, diners broke out into a chant of his campaign's slogan, "Yes, we can."

This morning (Monday) in a couple of hours (8.45am )Bill Clintonan will be making an appearance at Carmel High School (with a superb national and statewide reputation)to wrap up a 2 day whistle stop tour of the state.Shrillary arrives tomorrow for stops in Indianapolis, Hobart and Princeton. On Wednesday, she visits Kokomo, and she will be in Terre Haute on Thursday.

Popeye Pete in a local web Forum says .."I have voted Republican for many, many years. This year it is going to be different. I would rather vote for Hillary, but in either case I will vote the Democrat ticket in the fall. I voted for Bush two times. What a stupid mistake. It's time to get out of Iraq and bring our young people home. I will be voting for Hillary next month. " .. which seems to be an increasingly familiar refrain, especially amongst the older voters.


Sgt Ryan Jopek 20 , Wisconsin memorial from Gannet newspapers official news of death from IED exploding

Go to this website if you want to support Obama in Indiana sport this on your blog, or buy a T shirt.

Indiana for Barack Obama Come show your support for this man!

Obama. Ayers Rocks.

No Quarter Why is Obama Hiding the Truth About William Ayers? Follow the Money

"Maybe Barack met Bill Ayers through his wife, Michelle Obama? That is one possibility. Michelle started working at the Sidley Austin law firm in Chicago in in the summer of 1988 (and stayed there until 1991). Who else worked there? None other than Bill Ayers’ wife, Bernardine Dohrn, who worked at Sidley from 1984 through 1988. Indeed, she is widely thought in Chicago to have gotten this position due to the influence of her father-in-law, Thomas Ayers, former CEO of Commonwealth Edison, who was one of the law firm’s biggest clients.

In the aftermath of the ABC debate, no one in the mainstream media has dared probe into this relationship. The most informative article to appear since then has been written by Steve Diamond, law professor on the faculty of Santa Clara University School of Law in Santa Clara, California, on his blog, on April 22. None of what he reports has appeared in any major media outlet. "

...." So, why or how did Obama - at that point not yet the prominent first black president of the Harvard Law Review (that would happen the following year) - end up at Sidley?

Coincidentally, or not, Sidley had been long time outside counsel to Commonwealth Edison. The senior Sidley partner who was their key outside counsel, Howard Trienens, was a member of the board of trustees of Northwestern alongside Tom Ayers (and Sidley partner Newton Minow, too). Coincidentally, or not, Bernardine Dohrn worked at Sidley also, hired there in the late 80s many contend through the intervention of Tom Ayers, even though she is not a member of the bar (as far as I can tell) because of her past jail time for Weather Underground activities. "

Why Oh Why does the name of Sidley Austin keep cropping up ?

Milliband will stand idly by whilst EU endorses torture regime of Karimov in Uzbekistan

We posted on the 22nd April Karimov removes the past about the impending U turn by the EU to remove travel sanctions on Uzbek leaders.

Irisha based Uzbek exile Abdujalil Boymatov wrote a heartfely plea in the Guradian on Saturday - No soft line on Uzbekistan
My country today is an even more repressive place than it was in the Soviet era. Now is not the time to ease sanctions on the regime.

Whilst there were some releases earlier this year of political prisoners in a studied political fandango to appease EU apparatchiks, he points out that ...

"Human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibaeva of the Fiery Hearts Club has been held in isolation in prison and given forced psychiatric treatment. The sons and nephews of Ahmadjan Madmarov have been arrested and tortured to silence his voice. Even the president's own nephew, Jamshid Karimov, is held in a psychiatric hospital because of his criticism of the government. "

Rhetorically he asks ...."So why is the international community so keen for a rapprochement with the government of Uzbekistan? Could it have anything to do with the presence in the region of large quantities of oil, gas and uranium and the emergence of Uzbekistan as a strategic partner of the west in the "war on terror"? "

There are 22 comments, many, evidently from exiles about the appalling record of human rights that the EU will overlook tommorrow.

It will be a Labour Government who will silently accede to this shameful decision.

On the 17th January the Boy David Milliband in the New Statesman said he has "he has identified four great progressive causes for the world. " the 4th and last which he identifies as "build(ing) durable international institutions that recognise international inter dependence, "and that's what we're trying to do with the EU and the UN". These, he says, "are all great progressive causes".

"Now the PM says our foreign policy is going to be defined by hard-headed internationalism. "....." He adds: "We shouldn't cede the ground of universal values to the neocons."

Two months on and we give in to the body boilers, the continued child slavery of the Uzbek cotton fields, the rape of Uzbek minerals to enrich the Karimov caravanserai.

In the House of Commons last week he said .." “Ordinary Africans do not condone the way in which President Mugabe is clinging to power and beating his own people to death to ensure he retains it.”

...as he hands a licence to Mr Karimov to boil his citizens to death to ensure he and his family and coterie of gnagsters and drug runners retain power.

Meanwhile we are left with the official position of the FCO outlined by Jim Murphy in answer to a question in the House of Commons by Jeremy Corbyn In November 2007 ..

"The criminal justice system still convicts on the basis of confessions, with scant corroborating evidence, and thus encourages coercion. Anecdotal evidence suggests that judges continue to overlook allegations of torture made during trials. This suggests a lack of substantial progress to reduce the practice of torture. We continue to receive regular allegations of torture from victims, their relatives and human rights defenders. We have concluded, therefore, that torture and other forms of ill treatment are routine, particularly in the early stages of custody. We welcome the reforms to the criminal justice system that the Uzbek Government will introduce from 1 January 2008 to abolish the death penalty and implement a form of habeas corpus. The latter step is particularly key to combating torture."

Lest we forget ...

More about Mr Avazov here and of course in Craig Murray's "Murder in Samarkand" Amazon

Helicopters, money and Peerages

HAGUE, Rt. Hon. William (Richmond (Yorks))
5. Gifts, benefits and hospitality (UK)

In my capacity as Leader of the Opposition ....
Occasional use of a Range Rover provided by Lord Coe OBE. (Registered 9 November 1999)
December 1999, I received a gift of a Christmas hamper from Lord Harris of Peckham. (Registered 2 March 2000)
January 2000, use of a private plane within the USA provided by Michael Ashcroft. This included transport from Pensacola, Florida, to Punta Gorda, Florida, on 14 January and transport from Punta Gorda to New York City via Talahassee, Florida, on 16 January. (Registered 2 March 2000)
25 January 2000, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from Ceredigion to London. (Registered 2 March 2000)
12 February 2000, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from Northallerton to London and back to Northallerton. (Registered 2 March 2000)
April-June 2000, use of helicopter transport during the Local Government Campaign and the Keep the Pound Campaign provided by Lord Kirkham, Lord Harris and Sir Stanley Kalms. (Registered 18 July 2000)
14 May 2000, use of a plane provided by Sir Michael Ashcroft from Teeside to Berlin. (Registered 18 July 2000)
22 June 2000, use of a helicopter from London to Lincolnshire provided by Roger Clark. (Registered 18 July 2000)
July 2000, use of a helicopter from London to Sheffield provided by Lord Kirkham. (Registered 18 July 2000)
1 October 2000, use of a plane provided by Sir Michael Bishop from Yorkshire to Bournemouth for the Conservative Party Conference. (Registered 25 January 2001)
5 October 2000, use of a plane provided by Lord Ashcroft from Bournemouth to Spain. (Registered 25 January 2001)
October and December 2000, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham on 16 October from Wales to London; on 28 October from Yorkshire to London and back; on 14 December from London to Rochester. (Registered 25 January 2001)
17 October 2000, use of a helicopter provided by Malcolm Eastey from London to Norfolk and back. (Registered 25 January 2001)
14 November 2000, use of a plane provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from Oxford to Preston and back to London. (Registered 25 January 2001)
17 November 2000, use of a helicopter provided by Chris Kelly from Birmingham to Yorkshire. (Registered 25 January 2001)
27 January 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Leonard Steinberg from Yorkshire to London. (Registered 19 March 2001)
2 February 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from Bristol to Bideford, Barnstaple and Exeter. Use of a plane provided by Sir Stanley Kalms on 2 February from Exeter to Yorkshire. (Registered 19 March 2001)
16 February 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from London to Colchester, Norwich and Yorkshire. (Registered 19 March 20)
23 February 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from Market Harborough to Wolverhampton, Worcester and Yorkshire. (Registered 19 March 2001)
5 March 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from Yorkshire to London. (Registered 19 March 2001)
8 March 2001, use of a plane provided by Irvine Laidlaw from London to Scotland and 9 March Scotland to Wales. (Registered 19 March 2001)
9 March 2001, use of a plane provided by Stanley Thomas from Wales to Yorkshire. (Registered 19 March 2001)
March 2001, provision of a helicopter by Sir Stanley Kalms for 8 and 9 March. No flights undertaken. (Registered 19 March 2001)
13 March 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from London to Cheltenham and back. (Registered 19 March 2001)
15 March 2001, use of helicopter provided by Leonard Steinberg from Manchester to Bowness on Windermere and Standish. (Registered 19 March 2001)
22 March 2001, use of a plan provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from Exeter to London. (Registered 20 April 2001)
24 March 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from Yorkshire to Coventry and back. (Registered 20 April 2001)
25 March 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from Yorkshire to Wales and London. (Registered 20 April 2001)
29 March 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Dr Edward Haughey from Yorkshire to Carlisle and the use of a plane from Carlisle to London. (Registered 20 April 2001)
2 April 2001, provision of a helicopter by Sir Stanley Kalms. Trip cancelled. (Registered 20 April 2001)
3 April 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from London to Forest of Dean and back. (Registered 20 April 2001)
26 April 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from London to Yorkshire. (Registered 8 May 2001)
3 May 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from London to Rotherham. (Registered 8 May 2001)
8 May 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Sir Stanley Kalms from London to Watford, Taunton and return. (Registered 14 May 2001)
10 May 2001, use of a plane provided by Irvine Laidlaw from London to Edinburgh and return on 11 May 2001. (Registered 14 May 2001)
12 May 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Lord Kirkham from London to Newbury and to Yorkshire. (Registered 14 May 20010
13 May 2001, use of a helicopter provided by Dr Edward Haughey (AKA Baron Ballyedmond) from Yorkshire to London. (Registered 14 May 2001)
6. Overseas visits
May/June 2000, to Israel as a guest of the Israeli Government. The Israeli Government paid for accommodation transport and flights for me and my wife and five officials. On 1 June 2000 I was provided with the use of a private plane within Israel by Leonard Steinberg. (Registered 18 July 2000)

August 2006 From The Times
Lord Kalms, .... accused William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, of behaving like an “ignorant armchair critic” for criticising Israeli attacks on Lebanese army units and public buildings, and the high civilian death toll. He said that Mr Hague’s remarks were not just unhelpful, they were “downright dangerous” ... in a letter to The Spectator, Kalms wrote: “William Hague’s usual good sense has deserted him. Criticising Israel for being disproportionate without serious consideration of the alternatives merely mouths the buzzwords of the ignorant armchair critic. "

Gone Fishin'

For those with a taste for the exotic and unknown parts of Iraq the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Fly Fishing website is an eye opener . For adults only.

Baron Hardup - cocaine crazed, Viagra fed, sex orgies by Conservative Lord Laidlaw and top fund raiser - Amazing Pictures !!!!

Scotland's second richest man, a sprightly 64 is ranked 110 in today's new Sunday Times Rich List has reached into his capacious sporran and bunged Boris £25,00 for his London Mayoral campaign.

Last year he converted a £2.9 million loan he made to secure his peerage, into a gift. He has also donated £200,000 to the party in Scotland. He also pays the £100,000 salary of a senior spin doctor.

He gave Michael Ancram £1,000 towards his leadership fight costs and has also given him £10,000 in 2002, identical sums as Kenyan born Mr John Spurling OBE (1999) of Heidrick & Struggles business consultancy.

In 2006 he became the largest personal donor to the national youth charity The Prince's Trust donating £2Mn.

The son of a mill owner, born in Keith, he was educated at Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, one of Scotland’s leading public schools, Leeds University and New York’s Columbia Business SchoolStarting as a financial analyst for Doubleday , he set off in 1973 when he was 30 to found his Institute for International Research, and subsequently became the world's biggest trade conference and exhibition organiser.

He employed around 3,000 people and had offices in London, Monaco and Florida, operating across 70 countries. with annual sales of £313 million and profits of £48 million in 2005 when he sold out his 98% interest for a whopping £770million.

He and his wife Christine flit between their £4million vineyard near St Tropez , a £3million apartment in Monte Carlo overlooking the harbour (just near Sir Stelios Hajiannou) and a massive £10 million estate Goede Hoop, an early 20th century house in Noordhoek, near Cape Town, South Africa—the most expensive house in the country.

They also spend time in a swish £2million home in London's Eaton Square, a Scottish mansion called The Royal Palace, and Moundsmere Manor a listed building near Preston Candover in hampshire , a £14Mn mansion with 15 bedrooms and 84 acres of parkland which is now up for sale and which he bought 3 years ago for £9million. (Up for sale at £14 Mn with Savills)

He regularly competes in historic car racing around the world with his Porsche 904GTS, Porsche 904/6, 1957 Maserati 250S & Maserati 6CM.He recently he added a 1001 hp Bugatti Veyron to his extensive car collection, which is sometimes seen between Noordhoek and Cape Town, on the world-famous coastal road Chapman's Peak Drive.

Besdies fast crs he also likes loose women and regularly flies hookers out to Monte Carlo for cocaine-fuelled bondage romps "behind his wife's back" which the News of the World / Times /Scotsman provides lurid details today ..." sex-mad baron hires up to FIVE vice girls at a time for all-night orgies of spanking, bondage and lesbian lust at his Monaco tax haven....."the lewd Lord was busy splashing out another £27,000, personally arranging for four prostitutes and a male gigolo to join him in Monte Carlo's luxurious Hermitage Hotel for an anything-goes night of shame.

In the £6,000-a-night presidential suite the hookers snorted cocaine and guzzled champagne before getting down to the depraved main event.

One of his stunning escort girls, 22-year-old Vogue model Michelli Vignardi (?) told us it was a "crazy" party, but added that Laidlaw DOESN'T indulge in the coke" More and in the Sunday Times and the Scotsman plus disgusting pics here

Lord Irvine Laidlaw of Rothiemay has booked himself into a clinic for 6 weeks to straighten himself out from his exotic sex life . "I have made it a rule never to speak to journalists". BBC

Lord Irvine Laidlaw of Rothiemay bought his peerage from the Conservative party and is allegedly (although resident overseas) a Conservative peer and has been since 2004 . He was one of four major donors who received peerages (The others are Greville Howard***, Leonard Steinberg and Sir Stanley Kalms- all nominated by Ian Duncan Smith) to the party to be questioned by police investigating the “cash for peerages” claims but has always declared his donations to the Electoral Commission. Yet despite warnings from David Cameron, he has yet to become a UK resident and pay British taxes. Read the House of Lords Appointments Commission Statement on Lord Laidlaw and tax residency here (11th February 2008)

"During spring 2004, the Commission vetted a list of party-political nominees. One of the individuals on the list, Irvine Laidlaw (now Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay), was not resident in the UK. Following an exchange of correspondence and a face-to-face meeting, the Commission accepted assurances from Lord Laidlaw that he would become resident in the UK for tax purposes from April 2004. On the basis of this assurance the Commission found no objection to his appointment. The Commission would have taken a different view on Lord Laidlaw’s nomination if it had known that he would not be resident in the UK for tax purposes from April 2004. In June 2004 he was appointed to the House of Lords. "

The ubiquitous Robert Peston had a fascinating note on Lord Laidlow and an FOI request on April 20th which seemd to slip in under the radar. ... just as the CPS gets the files on cash for honours ..... Curiously enough he also blogged on the same topic on April 5th 2007 and was criticised by commentators for mixing politics with business ???

***
Mr Howard, a Eurosceptic and member of one of Britain's grandest aristocratic families donated £22,000 to the Tories, of which £6,250 was for Mr Duncan Smith's 2001 campaign to become Tory leader. He also paid Mr Duncan Smith consultancy fees of up to £100,000.

The payments, of £25,000 a year in the four years until Mr Duncan Smith became Tory leader, were for consultancy to two engineering firms, Wicksteed and Fortress Holdings, run by Mr Howard. Mr Howard did not have to declare the payments to the Lords watchdog because the rules require people nominated as peers to declare only donations to a political party.

Ulster born Mr Steinberg, a philanthropist and founder of the betting-shop chain Stanley Leisure, gave the Conservative party £3.2m. for his peerage Sir Stanley Kalms, the Dixons millionaire, gave the party £1m "in kind", such as air travel most of it flying William Hague about.