"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.”
"
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009
""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that
system."
Timothy GeithnerUS Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009
At 10.55 (ish) tonight , after the remarkable story how every single London Borough decided in concert to NOT clear bus stations of snow, and all buses (yes all LT buses) would not run today, after stories of wildcat non Union Unity / Unison led strikes by Union leaders in de - nial. Then stories about the threat to power supplies by workers at Heysham and Sellafield on strike / wildcatting etc.,as the subject of corrupt fuck peter Hain in the House of Commons Fuck me!
There is Peter Powers (Ex Dorset Police under mysterious circumstances) of 7/7 fame suited and booted - billed as a Crisis Manager - telling the camera a seul - spieling about snow crises, unions.
Such is the shorthand skills left here we were short handed in the paper and pencil department and failed to get much down coherently.
The technical department have failed to show.
So can someone out there .... grab the bit of the show and You Tube it ASAP to share it with everybody. BTW the complete and fascinating J7 Truth campaign File on the elusive but evidently very well connected PP is here
UPDATE 6.00 GMT Tuesday ; Ant (see comments) has managed to post PP on Newsnight here
Now what happens if by some sort of accident a gas pipeline / pumping station / compressor or 3 gets damaged, blown up.
May 7th 2007 90 feet of the Urenhoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline was blown up - in the same place as one occurred in 2003.
Expecting the Unexpected - Russia’s acute dependence on energy, and its desperate need for higher energy prices makes it very tempting for Putin to stir the pot. To blame Amerikanski plots just as the new US President settles his bottom onto the Presidential perch in the White House would not be a surprise.
It would distract attention from major problems like - "What dog will the O'Bomber kids get ?" ... Gaza, what exactly to do with the TARP 2 funds, Gaza, Israeli war criminals and the upcoming elections, ladling money out to Detroit, Gaza, UK troops pulling out of Iraq, UK Marine sbeing blown up every day, Gaza etc.,
The BBC are reporting that, "at least 40 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the United Nations-run al-Fakhura girls school in the Gaza Strip". BBC video (timed 4.35 GMT) Israeli captain on school attack -Captain Elie Isaacson of the Israeli Defence Force said that they had had "major operational successes" in Gaza. He told the BBC's Ben Brown that the Israeli army wants to "get this thing finished as soon as possible" .. but wouldn't comment on the school massacre as they didn't have "accurate information".
Palestinian medical sources have said the school took a direct hit and slaughtered people taking refuge. Casualties were taken to 2 hospitals. Doctors at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya said 30 people had died there. A further 10 people died at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, doctors said.
UN officals said at least three Palestinians were killed when a school was hit in the Shati camp earlier in the day.
Earlier, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned of a "full-blown humanitarian crisis" in Gaza.
Speaking on the 11th day of the Israeli assault, a senior ICRC official, Pierre Kraehenbuhl, said life in Gaza had become intolerable.
We have also had reports that in the Zaytoun area two days ago, Israeli soliders rounded up a group of people into two houses; women and children into one, men into the other, where they were kept for two days. Then this morning at 11am Israeli forces shelled the houses. We have heard the number of deaths as between 7 and 20. One was a seven year old boy whose father was interviewed on TV while holding his body. We are trying to find out further details. It is getting very hard to keep up with this insanity.
We asked the Jabalia Red Crescent admin person how much of the emergency calls Israel is not letting them go to. These are in areas where co-ordination must be made with the invading forces via the Red Cross to enter. He said they are not being allowed to attend to about 80% of the calls from the north, covering the Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia area.
Shall I repeat that? 80%. Eight of ten people calling for help are being prevented from receiving it.
The Israeli's have only contempt for any contrary opinon to their actions...The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian taerritory, former Princeton University law professor Richard Falk, (see Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Gaza: Silence is not an option - Richard Falk UN Rappoteur on Palestinian territories ) has labelled what Israel is doing to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza "a crime against humanity."
Falk, who is Jewish, has condemned the collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza as "a flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention." He has asked for "the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation, and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law."
Falk's unflinching honesty and outspoken views which he is happy to air (he was on BBC4 Radio World at One today) has enraged Israel. He was banned from entering the country on Dec. 14 during his attempt to visit Gaza and the West Bank.
Dr Mads Gilbert texted a colleague in Norway - Mosquito Blog
My dad works at the same hospital as Mads Gilbert. he got a txt message from Dr. Gilbert. Translated from Norwegian it says: They bombed the central fruit and vegetables market in Gaza town two hours ago. 80 wounded and 20 killed. All of them came here, to Shifa. Hades! We are up to our knees with death, blood and amputants. Lots of children. Pregnant women. I have never experienced anything this terrible. Tell people, pass it on, shout it from the rooftops. Everything. WE MUST DO MORE! We are living in the history books now, everyone! Mads G, 1.3.09, 13:50, Gaza, Palestine (Anesthesia Doctor)
Subsequent to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Associationwith the High Court of Justice last week , Israel agreed to let a pool of 8 foreign journalists into Gaza when the border crossing was opened for humanitarian needs. (J Post) The FPA claimed that the suggestion that the ban was for "for our protection" is patently ridiculous.
But ... but ... Maj. Peter Lerner, said Sunday that there had been a plan to open the border crossing on Sunday and let a small group of reporters through, but that in the end the crossing was not opened ... "due to the security situation on the ground."
Bomb women and children in their houses, that's OK because they use surgical strikes but for everyone's sake protect the journalists - or conceal their murderous slaughter.
Shas leader Eli Yishai ( one of 4 Deputy Prime Ministers) said on Friday that Israel should not let the foreign press into the Gaza Strip to cover the offensive, since they would only work in the service of a terror organization.
Shas (ש״ס) represents HarediSephardi and MizrahiJudaism. Following the 2006 elections in which Shas won 12 seats, it plays a critical part in the Kadema coaltion and hold four cabinet posts.
The FPA strongly protests the Israeli government's decision to continue the ban on international journalists entering Gaza despite the Supreme Court ruling requiring it to allow access.
The unprecedented denial of access to Gaza for the world's media amounts to a severe violation of press freedom and puts the state of Israel in the company of a handful of regimes around the world which regularly keep journalists from doing their jobs.
We call on the Israeli authorities to lift this ban immediately in line with the decision of their own country's Supreme Court and the basic principles of democratic statehood.
If these pictures are of Phosphorous bombs and causing the wounds described by Dr Mads Gilbert this is a clearly a war crime - just as collective punishment is.
The silence of the Church. The silence of the Politicians .. is palpable.
UPDATE 6th Jan 2008 1000 GMT :
Global Research Unconventional Weapons against The People of Gaza Interview with Dr. Mads Gilbert by Akram al-Sattari
"we have clear evidence that the Israelis are using a new type of very high explosive weapons which are called Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) (see Wikipedia) and are made out of a tungsten alloy.
These weapons have an enormous power to explode.
The power of the explosion dissipates very quickly and the strength does not travel long (far ?), maybe 10 meters, but those humans who are hit by this explosion, this pressure wave are cut in pieces.
This was first used in Lebanon in 2006, it was used here in Gaza in 2006 and the injuries that we see in Shifa [Hospital] now, many many of them I suspect and we all suspect are the effect of DIME weapons used by the Israelis.
On the long term, these weapons will have a cancer effect on those who survive. They will develop cancer we suspect. There has been very little research on this but some research has been among other places in the United States, which show that these weapons have a high tendency to develop cancer. So they kill and those who survive risk having cancer."
Global Security: Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) is uniquely suited for Low Collateral Damage. It produces lower pressure but increased impulse in the near field. Far Field damage is reduced (no frags/ impulse rolloff). The lethal footprint can be tuned to precision footprint. Strike Weapon Scaling Tests were completed in August of 2004), and full-scale Mk-82 tests were in the planning stage as of early 2005. DARPA funded RPG defense system feasibility tests in January 2005, which were successful.
Additional Small Diameter Bomb funding (ie what the GBU- 39 s) would allow the facilities to continue development of a Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) using the Dense Inert Metal Explosive technology integrated into SDB I. With lawmakers' approval, the dollars would allow AFRL to "continue to mature FLM technology. The armament center would integrate the technology with the SDB I baseline model within the advanced technology demonstration construct and demonstrates utility through a flight test program.
It is noteworthy in regard to what Dr Gilbert says that when testing ...
"AFRL encountered survivability problems of conventional air-blast transducers while measuring the close-in blast environment from DIME charges."
"According to the Israeli daily Haaretz October 12th 2006 , the weapon was launched from drones in the summer of 2006, most of them in July, and led to "abnormally serious" physical injuries. Physicians in the Gaza Strip noted the pattern of wounds they were treating were unusual, with severed legs that showed signs of severe heat at the point of amputation but no metal shrapnel. The American version is still in a testing stage and had not been used on the battlefield at that time. It has not been "declared an illegal weapon", though the weapon was claimed [without described basis] to be "highly carcinogenic and harmful to the environment".
Haaretz reported ..."Israel Air Force Maj.-Gen (res.) Yitzhak Ben-Israel, formerly head of the IDF's weapons-development program, told the Italian reporters that "one of the ideas [behind the weapon] is to allow those targeted to be hit without causing damage to bystanders or other persons."
On the matter of DIME, Ben-Israel told the Italian reporters that "this is a technology that allows the striking of very small targets." ...like children ?
According to those who testified, the wounded were hit by munitions launched from drones, most of them in July. (If this isn't a war crime please explain why ?)
According to the U.S.-based website Defense-Tech, "the result is an incredibly destructive blast in a small area" and "the destructive power of the mixture causes far more damage than pure explosive." It adds that "the impact of the micro-shrapnel seems to cause a similar but more powerful effect than a shockwave."
The report says that the weapon is not banned by international law, especially since it has not been officially tested.
This is unspeakable - testing lethal weapons on civilian populations.
REVEALED: NORTH SEA SAFETY FLAWS runs todays headline in the Herald
Remember Piper Alpha? Twenty years on, major oil companies are still committing serious safety breaches on North Sea rigs - By Environment Editor Rob Edwards
THE OIL companies guilty of a series of safety breaches on North Sea rigs have been named and shamed by the government's health and safety watchdog - but only after a freedom of information request by the Sunday Herald.
In the past three years, Shell, Total, BP, Chevron, Maersk and other companies have all faced legal action from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), forcing them to fix flaws in their crucial safety and maintenance systems.
Known as the KP3 report, it uncovered safety problems on nearly one-third of the rigs inspected. But the HSE refused to name any of the companies or installations at fault, provoking furious criticism from trade unionists.
The Sunday Herald submitted a request under freedom of information legislation, asking the HSE to lift the veil on the companies. At first it refused, but after an internal review, officials agreed to identify the installations served with improvement or prohibition notices as a result of the inspections.
Late on Friday, the HSE released a list of 18 instances between March 2005 and October 2007 when legal notices had been served. The most frequent offender was the biggest and richest oil company in the North Sea, Shell, which received six notices covering five installations.
Former Shell Group Auditor Bill Campbell throws down gauntlet to Shell Chairman, Jorma Ollila
Republished today from 02 July 2007
Printed below is an extraordinary email sent today by former Shell International Group Auditor, Bill Campbell (above) to Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chairman, Jorma Ollila and the Company Secretary, Michiel Brandjes.
It was also copied to: -
*Shell executives including Jeroen van der Veer and Malcolm Brinded *Senior officials of The Health & Safety Executive *Relevant trade unions *The news media .............
This is a lengthy and detailed document which you have to read in full - it is evident that there are knowledgeable people with serious concerns about the state of some North Sea oil installations.
Mystery continues over the fire at Bacton Gas terminal last week - with almost total absence of Press / TV comment although today there are reports by local press here and here by BBC Online who think it worth noting that ..."Police are also taking part in the investigation. ".
Shell announced on Tuesday that they expect to gradually increase UK gas imports through its terminal at Bacton towards normal levels , although flow rates may" dip "at times.
The Shell terminal was reopened on Monday afternoon after last week’s fire in a waste treatment unit and flow rates reached around 23 million cubic metres a day early on Tuesday before plunging to little more than 5 mcm/day.
A Shell spokesman refused to speculate on when the site would be fully operational once more but said: “It is not just a case of turning on a valve.“The whole plant has to be pressurised and gassed up before it can accept gas from the North Sea fields.”
The Shell spokesman denied there was any problem with the terminal. APX show the buying price has risen 1.75 p to 55.02 at the end of yesterday This graph shows recent movment in the wholesale price of gas at the terminal.
At 10.55 (ish) tonight , after the remarkable story how every single London Borough decided in concert to NOT clear bus stations of snow, and all buses (yes all LT buses) would not run today, after stories of wildcat non Union Unity / Unison led strikes by Union leaders in de - nial. Then stories about the threat to power supplies by workers at Heysham and Sellafield on strike / wildcatting etc.,as the subject of corrupt fuck peter Hain in the House of Commons Fuck me!
