O'Bomber picks his big fund raiser for the London Emassy - to the Victor the spoils

ABC News spotted senior Citigroup executive Louis Susman entering an elite party at the swanky Park at Fourteenth restaurant and club in downtown Washington on Sunday night January 20th for top fundraisers (Susman's massive contributions for 'o8 here) to Obama's inauguration fund and Obama officials, including incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Citigroup lost $8 billion last quarter, and has taken $45 billion in taxpayer bailout funds. Susman raised $300,000 for Obama's inaugural committee.

"We're talking about an industry that's right in the middle of a bailout program," said Craig Holman of the Washington, D.C. watchdog group Public Citizen. "They want a seat at the table with the Obama administration."

Mr Susman's has been collecting cash for Democratic presidential politics goes back to finding funds for Senator Kennedy's challenge to Jimmy Carter for the party's Presidential nomination. So successful did he become he was called "the vacuum cleaner" when he raised more than US$240million for John Kerry's White House bid in 2004.

Well it looks like he will be peddling his Presidential proteges policies in Downing Street as a reward for his loyalty to fellow Chicagoan O'Bomber as US Ambassador to the Court of St. James. The ultimate "pay and play" in Presidential politics which O'Bomber promised to put nehind him.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F Kennedy was widely boosted for the London postin. A kack handed attempt on Shrillary's Senate seat blew up and now as a prominent Roman Catholic is slated for the US Ambassador to the Vatica.

TCCB spurns Sir Allan Stanford's dosh - Lord Condon the corrupt cricket expert stays silent .. maybe he has a lot to be silent about

On July lst last year my noble colleague and expert on all things corrupt in Cricket Lord Condon. he's long been involved in corruption as the head of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit, told the governing body’s annual meeting that the IPL provided the biggest threat of corruption since the mid-1990s.

Therefore in all this brou ha ha about Sir Allan Stanford and the TCCB / Antigua and corruption on and off the cricket field - Sir Alan is also involved in golf and Polo promotion Lord Condon's silence is not golden.

At the time Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager said “Let’s face it, the IPL is the first domestic competition which has attracted such huge interest and it’s inevitably going to attract the interest of match-fixers and people like that."

Condon could so easily have checked out amongst the many, many ex (?) spooks in the House of Lords , Lady handbag .. Baroness Dame Mary jane Neville Jones (and she came in close contact with few rum coves in Bosnia in her time - epicentre of cigarette smuggling) aboutthis helicopter at lords landing , glad handing dodgy Texan., ,

Usual procedure is, to "casually" spy a spy in the bar and say something like . " My friend met this chappie - owns a Bank in ...Belize ... somewhere in sunny Carib's ocean . owns the Government for all we know , Caribbean that sort of place ... good a for a Bob or two is he ?.. slinging it about a bit, propping up marginal constituencies funding a dodgy political comic called" Total Bollocks Total Politics " You know the sort of thing. You get my drift ?.

Especially when a chaps on the square.

Couple of weeks later yer spy will spy you - maybe in the Gents urinal, the handy one by Annie's Bar, and he / she say something like " that chappie your chappie met with the bank sort of place ... seems like he has chums in all the right places " often a left and weak dependent eyelid will droop and a finger will tap on the old drink encrusted proboscis.

There you go.

Chaps bona fides sorted out .. no names. No Pack Drill. No mess, no publicity all above board , under the table you understand. Silent as the night. Quiet as the grave.

Now we have all this mud being slung , it'll be the bent groundsmen (Bob Woolmer in South Africa) and drugs being smuggled in the pads again ...

Not like Condon to let us down ... not the same since all these Blair Babes and that funny lookig Greek Lord Adonis came in to bat at this end.

Chaps word used to be his bond they said.

Old Truscott was recalling the good old days before the riff raff moved in .. fancy another ?

POST SCIPT - Wonderfully funny article plugging the crooked and corrupt Sir Allan Stamford by Simon Wilder in the Times when his plans were unveiled. It wasn't meant to be funny - oddly the name of Sir Richard Branson with extensive Carib interests pops up. (As we speak the bearded genius is on BBC4 Radio saving the Honda F1 team .... maybe)

POSTSCRIPT 2 Chief Scout of the Antigua and Barbuda Branch of The Scout Association, Freemason , 7th Day Adventist and Governer General Sir James Beethoven Carlisle was responsible for making the award of a Knighthood to Sir Allan Stamford (anyone know when ?) - the second awarded by Antigua.

Despite Stamford's alleged billions they still don't have decent cricket pitch on Antigua, nor golfcourse or Polo field.

How Lord Patel forecast the industrial slump 2 years ago based on new car registrations

Click on image to enlarge ....
We posted this modest little note Friday, March 30, 2007 UK : Number of vehicles up , new ones down

Which we tagged (very presciently) "Straws in the wind"

The total number of motor vehicles licensed at the end of 2006 was 1.4 % up on the end of 2005 at 33.4 million.

The number of vehicles registered for the first time during 2006 was 3.6 % down on 2005 (cars of all types -4.2%)

With the exception of taxis there were decreases in first time registrations for all body types. Full DVLA annual statistics

Today we discover that

Just 61,404 cars were manufactured last month, 58.7 % down on January 2008. Construction of commercial vehicles slumped by an even larger 59.9 %.

Almost all the cars made over the month - 83.5 % - were allocated for export as UK demand tails off, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

We are continually told that "no-one could have foreseen" the credit crisis ... it was staring them in the face and any motor trader would have told you so.

Here is another forecast - the UK will lose 50% at leat of it's car manufacturing capacity in the next 6 months... and it will never return.

UPDATE : 9.30 GMT : Geordie lady calls up and reminds us that old horny baldy, Adam "Shagger"Applegarth was exchanging body fluids with that lovely lady from Buy to Let and simultaneously divesting not only of all his clothes (ugh) but also of all his Northern Rock shares in 2006 and Jan 2007 at the very top f the market .... so he plainly new something .. so we aren't so clever.

Wonder what the £300K per Annum Ex (very) Non Executive Chairman of NR Eton / Cambridge educated Lord Matt Ridley Esq., (He was Chairman of the curious political "think" tank , Ditchley Foundation - now followed by John Major ex MP . List of Governors makes interesting reading - inc. Ms Shami CHAKRABARTI, CBE. Director of Liberty these days) who is as silent as the grave these days;
1. Was doing with his shares at the time
2. Thinks of Shagger' business / private life
3. Is looking for a job

GSMA Mobile Phone Producers agree on eco-friendly Universal phone charger for 2012.

The evolution establishment and introduction of International Standards & protocols in any industry is fascinating - Philips for example just unilaterally imposed the C - 60 Minute compact audio cassette as they invented it. Even Dixon's staff could understand what they were ... eventually.

This week at the annual GSMA Mobile World Congress, 17 of the top mobile operators and manufacturers agreed to adopt Micro-USB as the universal charger interface for new mobile phones designs - the TLA(Three Letter acronym) is the universal charging solution (UCS).

The intention is to have this up and running by 2012 and will meet the high efficiency targets (low energy) set out by the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform). This should see a 50% reductionin chargers built - some half a billion units or they claim 51, 000 tones. Savings for the environment, energy usage and convenience.

UCS chargers will also include a 4-star or higher efficiency rating, which they claim will be up to three times more energy-efficient than an unrated charger.

The companies that have initially signed up include majoe players AT&T, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone, among others. Apple and RIM, have not yet indicated that they wish to join the party.

Foxconn International Holdings (Hon Hai) has also announced agreements with the Vietnamese Govenment for a new US $200-million cellphone plant in the Binh Xuyen II Industrial Park in Vinh Phuc province, some 60 km north of Hanoi, 12 km away from Noi Bai airport. Production is scheduled to start Q1 2009. -whilst Foxconn simultaneously cuts back on production on Chinese mainland and Taiwan plants.

The factory will have capacity of 89 million cellphones and tens of millions of cellphone parts per year.


The Credit Crunch has some remarkable consequences ... Intel are spending US$1 Bn. of shareholders funds in Vietnam on a new factory.

UBS 'fesses up, pays up and the IRS are looking for 19,000 tax evading clients whose details they have subpaeon'd. Swiss ignore US demands

UBS (UBS) will turn over the names of around 250 clients as part of a $780M settlement with U.S. prosecutors over a wide-ranging tax-evasion probe. This (so far) unique agreement marks the first time Swiss financial regulators have allowed a Swiss bank to reveal the identity of account holders.

The bank's chairman, Peter Kurer, said UBS accepted "full responsibility" for helping its U.S. clients conceal assets from the Internal Revenue Service.

This has upset the secretive swiss authorities who claim swindling and associated secrecy is OK , and opening up could ruin the country's That's the Swiss multi - cultural neutral core of EU swindling) banking industry.

Switzerland's Federal president, 66 year old Hans-Rudolf Merz, (elected Dec 10th 2008) said his country will not relent in defending its treasured tradition of confidential bank accounts.

"Banking secrecy, ladies and gentlemen, remains intact," Merz told reporters. Hmmmmmmmm.

In his youth, like Lord Patel President Merz was a Boy Scout.

UBS' agreement will settle the criminal case against the bank. An outstanding civil case filed by U.S. tax authorities in Miami involves subpoenaes requiring UBS to turn over the names of 19,000 clients believed to be avoiding taxes ( anumber changed without explanation later to 52,00).

According to todays (Thursday) filing, the thousands of accounts in question held about US$14.8 billion in assets in the past decade. The clients, filed false tax returns that omitted the income they earned in their secret offshore Swiss accounts, according to the court papers.

Merz show a characteristic and very robust resistance to Bussels interfering with swiss tax / banking laws when he met EU President Jose Manuel Barroso in December (see pic) More here. More on Widmer -Schlumpf here & here who took over from Cristoph Blocher when he (sensationally) retired just prior to this meeting.

A lady to be reckoned with.

Terrorism Act section 58A -Channel 4 , BBC and others in breach of photographing constables about their duties guarding Home Secretary

Now here is a conundrum.

Channel 4 (as well as BBC Channels) obligingly showed fillum / video in news items of Jacquie Smith finishing off a punishing day at the Home Office and arriving at 4 pm at the easily identified and distinctive house she sometimes shares with her obliging sister (No dogs, childen or spliffs) .

No doubt ready to shuck of her shoes and settle down with a kebab and a long, well iced G & T... ready no doubt to make a fist at her red boxes with her obliging chinless chum from the office.

Now these fillums (Channel 4 is still up on You Tube herefronted by the scrumptious Victoria MaDonald) show (inter alia)

1. The distinctive Ministry car
2 The mandarin paper / file / red box office wallah
3. The details of the procedure the Home Secretary uses to enter her sisters house
4 . Shots (see above) of Plods with guns loitering outside said property - note also still snapper busy at work.

Lots of other info that would help terrists no doubt - not including Google Earth pics of Plod Slow, Bo, WEave, Duck, Slow, Slow, Slow, Gay pride Wedding Taxi service available directly from Yellow Pages etc.,

Ignoring the fact that the Home loving Home Secretary told Der Spiegel and the German nation this week ..Monday, February 16, 2009 Terrorist attack "Highly likely" Home Secretary tells the Germans but not UK citizens ... We believe that an attack is highly likely and could happen at any time and without warning.

Not only would it appear reckless that she parade publicly in this way - exposing herself to evident and needless risk but also of her sister's neighours ... although they evidently keep a better eye on her movements than Plod.

The taking and use of identifiable pics of the Plods - plus security procedures etc., must surely constitute an offence under the provisions now enacted this week of the Terrorism Act section 58A. @ Para 76 ***

Therefore where do Lord Patel's screen grabs come as evidence ... ? Why isn't Jon Snow / producer / VCR Editor / cameraman / focus puller / best boy, not cooling their heels in Paddington nick and disgorging their DNA, sweaty fingerprints, birth details, drugs preferences etc , etc.,

*** Para 76

(1) After section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information) insert—

“58A Eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of armed forces etc

(1) A person commits an offence who—

(a) elicits or attempts to elicit information about an individual who is or has been—

(i) a member of Her Majesty’s forces,

(ii) a member of any of the intelligence services, or

(iii) a constable,

which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b) publishes or communicates any such information.

Just a thought.

Taiwan - a hi - tech manufacturing base that is hitting hard times as orders from the Western consumers fall off a cliff

As Europe reels with shock and manufacturing industry sees, cutbaks in capital expenditure, production , staff, inventory it is worth remebering what is happening in the areas in Asia who also enjoy low wage costs, a well educated work force and a hi tech product base. Like Taiwan.

Taiwan (Pop. 23 Mn) has recorded the biggest ever decline in GDP yer on year of 836% - the biggest since records began in 1952. The result is Governor Perng Fai-nan and Taiwan’s central bank cut interest rates yesterday to a record low of 1.25%, the 7th cut since September.

The Taiex stock index, which dropped 46 % in 2008, rose just 0.2% today on the news . Taiwan’s currency dropped to NT424.682, the lowest level in more than five years against the U.S. dollar.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd . computer chip manufacturer (Mkt Cap US$40 Bn.) and Quanta Computer Inc. who make most of the worlds laptops have been badly hit .Like many companies are cutting capital expenditure as they see domestic retail sales fell 9.8 % in December, the bigest / fastest drop since records began in 1999.

Unemployment rose to 5 % in December, the highest since 2003, amid major job cut announcments including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which makes iPhones and iPods for Apple Inc. PC's for Dell, HP, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony; the Wii for Nintendo, the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, and Amazon Kindle. They eploy 166, 000 world wide.

Quanta Computer, said this week lap top shipments will decline more than 30 % this current quarter. Taiwan Semi in December forecast its first quarterly loss since 1990 as customers including Texas Instruments Inc. reduced their orders.

Exports, which are equivalent to 70 % of GDP, will decline 20 % in 2009 and business investment will tumble more than 28 % the Government says the economy won’t return to growth until the fourth quarter.

China and Hong Kong combined bought about 41% of its exports in 2007 often as parts for assembly into hi - tech hi- end consumer electronics, flat scren Tv's i-Phones, i-Pods, lap tops, mobile phones.

President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration plans stimulus spending of NT$858.5 billion ($25 billion) over four years, equivalent to about 6 percent of GDP, on infrastructure projects, consumer grants and tax cuts. It handed out NT$82.9 billion of shopping vouchers last month, which the statistics bureau forecasts added 0.66 percentage points to GDP.

Japan’s economy also contracted an annualized 12.7 % last quarter, the biggest drop since 1974. The Bank of Japan is about to publish details of their plan of buying corporate bonds and may prolong lending programs in place to avert a shortage of credit from deepening the worst postwar recession, economists said.

Singapore’s GDP declined by a record 16.9 % in the fourth quarter. The government is cutting corporate taxes, giving cash grants to companies to retain workers and plans to spend S$20.5 billion (US$13.4 billion).

Tony Blair does his bit for the Bold Egyptians and the Arab world at large

Tony Blair™ and his entourage as so-called Envoy of the so-called Quartet, including the delightful aand very, very cose companion Ruth Turner occupy a full floor suite at the 5 Star Inbal Hotel in Tel Aviv. Henry Kissinger always gets the Penthouse

When the big meetings happen former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, former Ukranian President Leonid Kuchma, Albanian President Bamir Topi and his wife, former Slovenian President Danilo Turk and his wife and Latvian President Valdis Zatlers, Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, (who staff tell us ) usually asks for 14 rooms for his entourage Other hangers on like Google founder Sergey Brin media mogul Rupert Murdoch and richest Jew in the world Las vegas Tycoon Sheldon Adelson get to use the hotel's Presidential suite.

You get the picture ... this is a Jewish / Zionist outfit .. Arabs .. even the Egyptian ones married to English girls are NOT welcome.

This is the Headline / Logostyle of Tony's Faith Foundation



And this is a cut serif monoline (ie parallel strokes) face popular at one time , although out of favour now ..

Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813) (NOT Bodni that's a typo- Stet) was an Italian letter cutter who followed the ideas of English lettrist Baskerville and this revival digital style has been used.

Reminding Lord Patel of happy days at Saatchi & Saatchi when some fun was derived by setting full page text ads in the many, many charity brochures , owners , Directors (and their wives ) supported , with inserts paid for by S&S clients and smuggled through on the company artwork Invoice using this handy display face.

Some bright,contemporary , literate, typographic spark somewhere has beautifully inserted the hidden leitmotif of Egyptian Bold face everywhere Jewish standard bearer, apologist, inert Gaza gazer, and Envoy Peculiar, Tony Blair ™ goes, with his vehicles of faith and flags of Zion.

Beautiful.

Dutch Bankers ING make losses and take prompt plans to cut business, costs, staff

ING the Dutch financial services, founded in 1743, has reported a whopping net operating loss of €3.1 billion euros (US $4.68 billion) which consisted of €1.07 Bn loss at ING's banking arm - principally on more bad loans, and a €2.04 Bn.loss as insurance deals have gone bad. (They escaped buying ABN - Amro in September leaving it to the Tartan Titans RBOS)

ING has cut two deals with the Dutch government. Last year it received a €10 Bn. investment lifeline. In January 2009, the state assumed most of the risk for €27.7 Bn in troubled US mortgage-backed securities ING owns.

Major attack on costs and deep jobs cuts

In January 2009, the company had warned markets it expected a loss for the quarter of €3.3 Bn and CEO Michel Tilmant had resigned.The company claims they will cut operating costs by 1 billion euros in 2009, reduce loans by 10 percent from September levels and announced 7,000 job cuts in January, representing 5 percent of their total work force. wi600 joll go at ING Direct, the online business that posted a Q4 pre tax loss of €1.41 Bn.

1,400 jobs will go at its wholesale banking unit, which lost €f 366 Mn, retail banking which made aprofit of €75 Mn. will see 800 job cuts.

The company’s insurance business, which had a loss of €1.39 Bn, will slash 4,200 jobs - 2,400 in the Americas, 1,100 in Europe and 700 in the Asia- Pacific region.

ING confirmed today they will not renew the 3 year sponsorship contract with Renault F1 and to end its presence in F1 beyond the 2009 season.

ING shares fell to €4.97 in Amsterdam - ING shares have dropped 32% this year reducing market capitalisation to € 10.2 Bn.

How can a company facing these problems have even looked at taking over ABN / AMRO - why on Earth did RBOS persist ? Hubris.

You don't need bankers to sort this mess out, clear objectives, clear policy, prompt effective action between informed Government and honest decent managment.

Not much in evidence in the UK.

Times discovers US Predator base in pakistan that US senator told the world about last week - as did the LA Times.

The Times claims an EXCLUSIVE - Secrecy and denial as Pakistan lets CIA use airbase to strike militants which is odd because you could read here about it Sunday, February 15, 2009 Afghanistan / Pakistan-Waziristan - Hellfire Holbrooke 's sleek charm use to solve the, "deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan"

They have traced the base to the base's use by the CIA of the Shamsi airfield — originally built by Arab sheikhs for falconry expeditions in the SW province of Baluchistan — for at least a year. About 30 miles from the Afghan border, the strip allows US forces to launch a Drone within minutes of receiving actionable intelligence as well as allowing them to attack targets further afield. The Predator is said to have a range of more than 2,000 miles and can fly for 29 hours depending upon armaments, typically can carry four Hellfire missiles and two 500lb bombs, plus fuel load etc,
Flight is controlled from CIA sites in the US who supplied this pic to us and may or may not be a pic of the Shamsi base.It was known that US special forces used Shamsi - also called Bardari (about 190 miles SW of the city of Quetta,) during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, but the Pakistani Government declared publicly in 2006 that the Americans had left it and two other airbases. In January 2002, a US Marine KC130 tanker aircraft crashed close to its runway, killing seven Marines on board attempting a night landing in difficult conditions without night vision euipment.

The Times have now been able to show that the US Defence Energy Support Centre delivered 730,000 gallons of F34 aviation fuel (commonly JP8) to Shamsi on the website of the Pentagon’s fuel procurement agency. Delivery was made by a civilian supply company, Nordic Camp Supply (NCS), (Virkelyst 11 DK-9400 NØRRESUNDBY, Denmark www.dcsgroup.dk ) under a US $3.2 million, from Pakistan Refineries near Karachi.

It was of course Diane Feinstein the very powerful chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Feinstein is privy to classified details of U.S. counter-terrorism efforts who blew the whistle about the use of the (un-named by her) base. The LA Times report was published last week about her remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee - evidently apart of the orchestrated manouevres over Pakistan / Afghanistan by Hellfire Holbrooke as he waved his big stick around on his trip to the region as O'Bombers new envoy / gauleiter.

Laptops and Mobile phones act as vectors for transmitting Hospital infections - increasing usage by staff - minimal cleaning and sterilising

Richard Brady, a research fellow at the Medical Research Council's human genetics unit at the Western General Hospital, EDinburgh stated the bleedin' obvious when he pointed out that MRSA could easily be trnasmitted on mobile phones and laptops.

He found up to 25% of phones ,which do not not come under hygiene restrictions at NHS hospitals – carry infections such as MRSA.

65 % of doctors say they are using mobiles while treating patients. Few - as little as 8% - ever clean their phones.Simultaneously 78 % of health workers surveyed favoured an increase in doctors using mobiles in hospitals to speed up communication between departments and reduce errors on medical records.

The report, in the Journal of Hospital Infection, added the situation "allows the likelihood that healthcare workers touch mobiles during patient care without performing hand hygiene". Scotsman Daily Record

The first review of (what were then called) Hospital Acquired Infections in the UK was -
The Management and Control of Hospital Acquired Infection in Acute NHS Trusts in England 17 February 2000, ISBN: 0105566659 (9 years ago) by the Auditor General Sir John Bourne who was more concerned with the cost to resources than with clinical problems.

Dutch / Belgian sustainable energy supply projects struggle for finance and bankruptcies loom

Econcern is the holding company of Ecofys, Evelop, Ecostream, OneCarbon and Ecoventures. The mission of these European companies is to ensure ‘a sustainable energy supply for everyone’.

Based in Utrecht Econcern and founded by A va Wijk (now with 1,400 staff) the company objective is ... “a sustainable energy supply for everyone”.

Rising oil / gas prics,inceased energy security concerns in Europe and the former Soviet republics with the growing realisation that fossil fuels economy cannot continue forever, has been good for rapidly gwing Econcern . In 2007 the company made a profit of €85.9 Mn on a turnover of €442 Mn and looking for a stock market listing - and more expansion.

Projcts underway fall off Credit Cliff

Profits began to evaporate in September and van Wijk expects a loss making year and some infrastructure projects are delayed. For example the Belwind, an €850 Mn offshore park 50 kilometers off the Belgian coast at Bligh Bank a total of 330 MW using 110 Vestas V90 3-MW turbines, designed to produce 1.2 TWh of electricity on an annual basis. . Construction has been delayed/ stopped (?). The ultiate financiers, Belgian bank Dexia and Dutch Rabobank, have pulled out and no new lead partnes can be found. KPMG Tax & Legal Advisers burg. C.V.B.A.: Created the business model of Belwind N.V.

Alex Oostvogel, financial director of Emergya Wind Technologies (EWT), a Dutch manufacturer of wind turbines. “Banks are more cautious. They have tightened their credit criteria and examine a new growth sector more critically.” The development of the sector has been rought to a grinding halt. Oostvogel says “It feels like we are suddenly cycling in sand.”

Emergya uses their proprietary direct drive turbine which provides a long-lasting slow rotating EWT-design multi-pole ring generator. This drive solution with a track record of over 200 operational units worldwide, replaces a complex high-speed geared drive train common in most competitor wind turbines. A large single main bearing carries both the rotor assembly and generator rotor, and reduces the number of rotating components

Ad van Wijk of Econcern has a gloomy view and says that if the ash crisis lasts 2 years, bankruptciesloom he predicts. Van Wijk informed his own personnel that downsizing is unavoidable at Econcern.

The Utrecht based DE Koepel foundation (Stichting) , an association of sustainable energy companies is naturally seeking some help for their members and advocates for a lower VAT tariff on energy-efficient construction. They also demand , consumers and companies must be able to deduct the investments from income and corporate tax. (HoHoHo.) Both the provision of credit and the requirement of sustainability must be secure they say looking through rose tinted glasses.

O'Bombers stability pork Barrel Bill - fed funds will oust Bank financing

The 1100 page Bill grudgingly approved by what they comically call lawmakers in theUS Press, includes one measure that will allow renewable energy developers to seek grants directly from the federal government. The wind and solar energy sector in the US is suffering as tax breaks used by banks, which used to be a primary source of financing ae eing discarded as they become averse to cean energy risks and their current nugatory rewards.

Tony Blair, Quartet Envoy, Faith healer, Ex PM, Ex Sedgfield MP promotes Durham hi-Tech company in Washington with Defence / Security interests

17/02/2009 UK Trade & Investment by COI News & PR North East. Press Release. COI ref 170693P Karen Bell, Tel: 0191 202 3603, EMAIL: karen.bell@coi.gsi.gov.uk

Kromek©, (http://www.kromek.com ) specialises in developing digital colour imaging for use in x-rays and scanners They have launched their new new liquid detection bottle scanner (with over 20 patents) at a a special events in Washington - where former Prime Minister Tony Blair™ provided the guest speech - he was of course MP for Sedgefield, County Durham here their factory is located. (Simultaneous launch in Dubai also)

“We’re not having a problem attracting the kind of staff we need, despite the perception of skills shortages in industry,” says founder professor Max Robinson - the firm employs some 30 people many with PHd's or equivalent - a tribute to the job finding skills of Sedgefield Job Centre

The company harnessed its new generation digital colour x-ray detectors to develop the new scanner that can identify and categorise liquids in bottles in less than 20 seconds, including liquid explosives, screening for alcohol and for dissolved narcotics in other liquids.This can be done without opening/ beaching the bottle / container or samping the liquid.

With Kromek’s © novel kit, it is possible to rotate a 3-dimensional X-ray image without moving the item being scanned, they claim they can identifydifferent materials, discriminating between different types of liquid.

John Holmes-Carrington, one of UK Trade & Investment's International Trade Advisers, said:

"As terrorism remains a very real threat, the safety and security of airline passengers is a key concern for those in the industry and Kromek has developed an innovative product that can be of real help.

"Its scanner also has more wide-reaching uses and as the inspection unit itself requires minimal operator training, it is something I'm sure will be of interest to clients around the world. (See launch story September 17th 2008) and also very good article here

Kromek © is a venture backed high technology company, which was spun-out in April 2003 as Durham Scientific Crystals from the Physics Department of the University of Durham where many Board Members were educated. Rebranded as Kromek in May 2008, it is pioneering digital colour imaging for x-rays and has brought ground-breaking innovation to materials technology and advanced 3D imaging that will literally change the way in which we see the world.They specialise in semiconductor materials within the Cadmium Telluride family.

From website - KROMEK © has raised an additional £1.45m from new investors and existing shareholders. This makes a total of over £3m raised by Kromek in the current round of funding. The Company now has a valuation of £48m. The company also secured a £250,000 R&D grant from the One NorthEast development agency in 2008.

The Board - * Prof Brian Tanner * Dr Arnab Basu (CEO) * Richard Morgan * Prof Max Robinson * Jerel Whittingham * Dr Andy Brinkman

Dr Arnab Basu, CEO, has a PhD in Physics from Durham University, specialising in semiconducting sensor materials. Dr Basu held senior management positions in his family business, which manufactured materials for the electronic industry. The business served over 250 customers in India, including Siemens, GEC and most of the major telecommunications and consumer electronics manufacturers. He has also worked for Elmwood Sensors Ltd, part of the Honeywell Group, in the UK where he was involved in commercial product development.

UPDATE :GMT 2300

This story and the placing of it by COI has absolutely nothing to do with the start of the trial of 8 men who are charged with ineptly plotting to use "home-made bombs" disguised as soft drinks to blow up transatlantic planes Woolwich Crown Court. Monday Feb 16th 2009

Lord Truscott appears looking after his Russian client's interests on HOL report on Georgia / Russia conflict

The European Union Committee - Third Report - After Georgia. The EU and Russia: Follow-Up Report with oral evidence from the august "Sir Humphey" - Sir Roderic Lyne, former British Ambassador to Moscow and Professor Robert Service, St Antony's College Oxford was published on Feb 3rd and is well worth a read.

Iterestingly one of the members of the ub Comittee was a cove with an interest in things russian , especially the intersts of Gazpromand his beautiful statuesque lady wife - My Noble Lord and first rate corrupt and dishonest public servant Truscott.He declared to the Committee his interests as Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute and Former Parliamentary Ambassador, British Council, Russia and Republics of the former Soviet Union

Overall conclusion

80. We agree with the overall policy of the Government and the European Union that it is important to remain engaged with Russia but, as we stated in our previous report, that engagement must be hard-headed, pragmatic and unsentimental.

The Georgian Times has a review of the report which provides a fascinating view from their perspective .. curiusly no mention really of role of US, Israel etc.,

Firefox - technical advice required

The Good news - now up and running with final V. 2 updates on Firefox - impossible under Windows Vasta OS !! now they beguile with Ver. 3.0. Do we update ? Views welcome.

The other Good News - Porn Star Stormy Daniels Considering Challenge To Senator David Vitter In Republican Primaries - our favourite low - life faux family man Senator Vitter was nororiously a user of the late lamented Madam Palfrey's services and her good time girls and nappy changers . The stunning half-Irish, half-Cherokee blonde Stormy Daniels using the strapline "She's Got the Best Stimulus Package." has an office friendly campaign website and a YouTube campaign interview 13th Feb 2009 - beware others you may find of her.

On basis of all politicians are whores, she is in with a chance , seems however she is a bit too honest (even for Louisiana pols) maybe for the boondogglers on the Beltway.

Spooky ladies call for repeal of terror induced abusive laws .......

Ministers 'using fear of terror'

Old spooky colleague (now 73 - retired in '96 head of UK MI5 brand of spookery) Dame Stella Rimington was interviewed by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

"It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state,"

Former redoubtable Irish president Mary Robinson and President of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law."Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.

"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."

Report: Leading Jurists Call for Urgent Steps to Restore Human Rights in efforts to counter terrorism( ICJ website )- "Assessing Damage, Urging Action" based on 16 public hearings covering moe than 40 countries.

“In the course of this inquiry, we have been shocked by the extent of the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the world. Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights. The result is a serious threat to the integrity of the international human rights legal framework.”

One wonder's if our kebab loving, BMI challenged, bag lady Home Secretary is reading and listening .... or even PC Slow, Slow, Slow, between shifts on his gay taxi service for those seeking almost wedded bliss.

"repeal abusive laws" don't get me going.



La Vanguardia is a moderate Spanish language newspaper , based in Barcelona with the largest circulation outside the Madrid dailies, since 1881, it accepts and prints letters in Catalan (or in their quaint usage - Catalunya)

UPDATE FRIDAY 20th Feb 2009 : Spyblog has a useful update on the interview by the Spanish with Stella and the Daily Telegraph (17/2/09) take on the interview 2 weeks after it took place "

As someone has remarked , someone has an agenda to cause prolems for kebab guzzling Home Secretary, demi homeless, intellectuall powehouse Jacqui Smith.

Definitely not Boris or anyone at Tory HQ shirley ?

Terrorist attack "Highly likely" Home Secretary tells the Germans but not UK citizens .....

Der Speigel today interviewed expenses fiddler , kebab lover , non inhaling spliff smoker and Blair "Babe", waster of Police time Jacqui Smith.

SPIEGEL: Recently, Germany has been threatened with terrorist attacks in several video messages. How would you evaluate the general situation?

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith: Severe. We believe that an attack is highly likely and could happen at any time and without warning. On the other hand we see some success. In 2008, we had 50 people convicted in terror-related trials and this year there will not be a single day in the United Kingdom without a terrorist trial on the timetable.

German Air Force Eurofighters invade India ... relax they just want to sell some - and the Airbus MRTT tanker US may/may not buy already real soon

Man robbed by Banks - Police warn of dangerous suspects wearing Bowler hats and knighthoods

This man may be escaping - if you see him tell the Police immediately. He has been robbed by several banks of many Billions of Pounds ... Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, Lloyds Bank, Halifax bankof Scotland , Royal Bank of Scotland.

This man is believed to be Scottish - and have Scottish "friends" ...

He is not armed but if you are a tax papyer he is very, very dangerous .... Don't let him get away.

IPCC eco feak, deluded fool Chris Field misuses AAAS meeting in Chicago to purvey nonsense and lies - aided by Press / Tv and our own lovely BBC

IPCC scientist Chris Field of Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution for Science warns that global warming in the 21st century is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than predicted. In a contribution to the much publicised American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago during a symposium titled, "What Is New and Surprising Since the IPCC Fourth Assessment?"

"There is a real risk that human-caused climate change will accelerate the release of carbon dioxide from forest and tundra ecosystems, which have been storing a lot of carbon for thousands of years," said Field,.blah, blah, blah Times 14th Feb. BBC Online 15th Feb plus endlessly rolling Radio/ TV / World News items.

This brought to mind the comment on some thread somewhere by a wry observer that these guys are like the guys who piss on the beach and when the tide comes in admire the results of their handiwork.

Such news reports never mention the eralier refutation of the IPCC Nbel Prize winning reports refutations this year ..eg

We, an independent group of experts in various aspects of science and the environment, ask you to redress the lack of scientific integrity of the UN’s Climate Change Panel (IPCC) and to stop them making reactionary and futile ‘Climate Change’ recommendations that hold back the developing world.

As you read this, policies that you endorse are already causing misery and starvation for the world's poor.

On the 14th of April this year some of us wrote to the Chair of the IPCC, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, copied below and available on the UN CAPSA site (ref E), asking him to present clear and graphic evidence of the theory that carbon dioxide (CO2) drives global temperature. We pointed out that no such evidence exists and offered charts and references that refute the man-made global warming theory.

Read more here with links of letter by scientists to IPCC Chair Dr Rajendra Pachauri.

What are we measuring for Co2 content ?

It is exasprating whenfigures are published for Co2 content of the atmosphere expressed as parts per million. The atmosphere, stratosphere , troposhpere how high are we going ? How homgenous is it ? Not very judging by the way Pinaturbo volcanoe debris hung around Asia for decades

Here is a classic example of measures of earth - the area - you are lucky if many of these fugures are within 3% accuracy.

510 Mm2 Total surface area of Earth 510 Mm2 - Water 360Mm2 Land 150Mm2

US 9,629,091 (Km2) 6.5% of total Earth Land area.

UK 242,900 (Km2) 0.16% of total Earth Land area.

= Total of England (130,422 km²), Scotland (78,133 km²), Wales (20,779 km²), and Northern Ireland (13,576 km²).

Alaska the largest US State is 1,717,854 sq km - ie you could fit in 7 UK's.

Zimbabwe is 386, 669 sq km 3 times the size of England.

So we here in this septic isle feel that we affect in any demonstrable way the global atmosphere ?

Of course our world changes , always had, and the sun affects our surface temperature, always has, always will.

Doesn't mean we should keep on pumping out shit, exhausts etc., Here at Forthcoming UK Energy Deficit (UKED) founded in 1999 we are all for energy consevation, fuel consevation reduction of exhaust gases, particulates, nitrous oxides ..

CO2 Sceptics Blog also see very useful current Discussion "BBC Global Warming underestimated BBC" here

Obama nixes "Car Czar" and leaves it to AIPAC as City pols scramble to get their wedge from the "Stimulus" pork barrel

If any one doubts where power lies in directing the US economy the NYT report .... To Fix Detroit, Obama Is Said to Drop Plan for ‘Car Czar’.."The administration will put the task of revamping G.M. and Chrysler in the hands of a presidential panel led by Timothy F. Geithner and Lawrence H. Summers."

Monica Davies also reports in their columns that the race is on as they scan the 1100 unread pages of the Bill - States and Cities in Scramble for Stimulus Cash, "Local officials facing budget deficits are jockeying for the upper hand in deciding how money from the federal stimulus package will be spent in their regions."

Lance Armstrong's bike is HOT !!!

Lance Amstrong the rock star of Team Astana and 7 times Tour de France winner was an unhappy bunny Sunday morning. He was due to take part in a Sacramento prologue event in the Amgen Tour of California 2009 due to start at at noon in Davis, and end 108 miles later in Santa Rosa . The team woke to find Lance's distinctive hi-tech US$ 10,000 time trials bike and three other colleagues (teammates Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and Janez Brajkovic.) bikes had disappeared overnight.

Konrad Von Schoech, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department said the distinctive bikes were stolen from an unmarked moving truck parked in the alley behind the Residence Inn at 1501 L St. between 10 p.m. Saturday and 6:45 a.m. Sunday when the theft was discovered.

Detailed photos are available on Lance's Twitter site .. http://twitpic.com/1i8t1

Two-time defending Tour champion Levi Leipheimer's bike wasn't stolen. Levi finished the stage 2nd behind Francisco Mancebo of Spain of Rock facing in foul heavy rain. Lance, after a fall ended 1oth ahead of first days -place leader Fabian Cancellara of CSC Saxo Bank.

Fabian has now pulled out of the race with a "flu" infection.

Lance won't need to use the bike until the time trial in Solvang on Friday.

The 16-city Tour of California started on Saturday and ends Feb. 22 in Escondido. The 750-mile route take riders throughout the state and comes briefly to San Francisco on Monday. Lance Armstrong told a group of reporters at an Amgen Tour of California news conference on Thursday that he's "clean as a whistle" and that his mind is "fresh" for the event after a break from cycling.

"I'm telling you, I'm clean as a whistle, and I think that the testing will prove that," Armstrong said.

When quizzed on the latest round of steroid revelations in baseball, surrounding Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada, - of interest to the President Armstrong -- who few believe hasn'tbeen using drugs -- professed hope that cycling's more stringent regulation and his personal testing regimen have reduced fans' disbelief in the sport's top athletes.

The police are contacting local pawn shops in their seach for Lance's bike.

Follow the race live on the web using the Adobe® Flash® Platform.

Afghanistan / Pakistan-Waziristan - Hellfire Holbrooke 's sleek charm use to solve the, "deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan"

1 President O'Bomber appointed veteran warmonger in Serbia Richard Holbrook to be his special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan on January 23d. Notably his third wife is Kati Marton, ex-member of Human Rights Watch a joint venture of the US State Department and George Soros. The delightful, fun loving lady is also President of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She didn't see the need for this 'protection' did not extend to journalists killed by NATO bombing of the Belgrade TV studios forced on Serbia at the behest of her fun loving husband: she declined to condemn it when asked.

As 'journalist protector', Kati Marton ( friend of jailbird "Lord" Conrad Black) lobbied for the Soros-funded B92 radio in Belgrade, which played a central role in the opposition under Milosevic, at least until his last year in power.

2 11th February Holbrooke visited Pakistan calling the situation "dire " to BBC before he arrived (is in the region to "listen and learn" and will report back to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), to meet Pakistan's political leadership, including President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. BBC

It is reported locally he gave a typical hell raising Holbroke style bollocking to the crook President Zaradari over Pak connections with the Mumbai bombings. Just after he left the Pakistani government confirmed that 'some' of the Mumbai attack planning had been done on Pakistani ground. That had been rejected so far and the National Security Advisor Durrani had even been fired earlier over confirming that the surviving attacker was indeed Pakistani.

3. Diane Feinstein is the very powerful chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Feinstein is privy to classified details of U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. At a hearing on FThursday she said publicly that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an air base in that country. The LA Times report counter-terrorism experts have long assumed (and CIA fronts like the "Long War website" have always given the impression ) that the aircraft take off from U.S. military installations in Afghanistan and are remotely piloted from locations in the United States. Such a disclosure will create monster political problems for the government in Islamabad- and explain Mr 10% being invisible since Holbrooke arrived.

Evidently there is a tacit and much deeper relationship with the United States on active in country counter-terrorism matters than has been publicly acknowledged or discussed. Tis arrengement (Feinstein we assume has not lost her marbels and this is part of some diplomatic ballet being performed) is totally at odds with protests lodged by officials in Islamabad, the capital, and will without exception inflame a deep and latent anti-American hatred in the country.

Maybe plans are afoot to remove their nuclear strike capability ?

4. The Fuck me a hell fire missile is launched (O'Bombers 3rd if you are counting- out of a total of about 30 striked overall in 2008/9)- this was in the Zangari area (a village near the town of Ladha) in the South Waziristan region..."Around 50 to 60 mujahideen have been living there for about a week. All of them were Uzbeks," a Taliban official said. The BBC report 27 killed

Waziristan is siad to be the power base of Baituallah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban and an al Qaeda ally (?) , who is alsoclaimed / accusedto be involved in the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto (wife of current Pesident Sirdari who has gone to ground) in December 2007.

5 . Later on Saturday Hellfire Holbrooke flew into Kabul and met Afghan president Hamid Karzai who is evidently on the receiving end of the old Slobobodan treatment of being humiliated and forced into a corner (shades of Sunni Saddam).

Who has this genial genius of the heavyweight diplomats got on the menu to replace the fancy dressing drug lords ? More drug lords.

If Sirdari had any sense he would try out his wife's luxurious ex home in Dubai and start to re-decorate.

ITV and Lord Grade to sell Friends ReUnited - anyone want clapped out social networking site with FREE membership ?

ITV paid a stunning £175 million over two years for the pioneering but now hopelesly outdated, outsold, antique social networking site Friends ReUnited. The husband and wife founders Steve and Julie Pankhurst, and their backer Jason Porter have just received their terminal £55 Mn payout.

ITV have put it up for sale - value ? About as much as the HBOS / RBS Domestic resdiential Mortgage Book - Zero. They will have trouble giving the damn thing away.

At the time Jeff Henry, director of ITV Consumer*** said: "The acquisition of Friends Reunited (said to have £46 Mn paying members - now membership is free) is also a key step in the delivery of our strategy to drive new revenue streams for the company." HoHoHo

Declaration of Interest : Lord Patel has lost 80% of the value of shares he bought in ITV after their re-launch , 27p Friday probably 20p on Monday when news of 10% job cuts to 2,000 work force is made public.

Lord Grade is worth every penny of his stinking fat slary, his vision, care, commercial acumen, knowledge, wisdom, business skills, and we can't wait for the new Ant'n'Dec show even if they do fiddle the results - yet again.

*** Guradian 5th Nov 2008 Jeff Henry, the managing director of ITV Consumer, the company's digital, interactive and gaming businesses, is to step down as the broadcaster merges its online operations into its main business he will leave the company by the end of the year.