Floods lowering .. debt rising ... Dollar sinking ... Dubya ... ????

The US National Debt is now nearly £8 Trillion

US TREASURY SECURITIES OUTSTANDING, AUGUST 31, 2005 (Millions of dollars)
Public 4,614,279
Intra Gvt 3,312,654
TOTAL 7,926,933

Statutory Debt Limit Total = $8,184,000 Balance of Statutory Debt Limit $ 315,605

National Debt increase is $596 Billion for fiscal '04… a record .. so far.

So after taking out £60Bn for Katrina (Iraq war - Congress appropriations to end Fiscal 2005 =$200Bn) , Dubya has $315Bn - £60Bn = $ 255Bn "walking about money" in the Treasury cookie jar, which at an annual burn rate of ...say $ 600 Bn is at most 5 months increased expenditure (up to Feb 2006 latest) so he needs to go to Congress before then to lift the ceiling on the Statutory Debt Limit. Nota Bene : Contracting cronyism defines this administration. FEMA are being given $60 billion to one of its most cronyfied outposts.

Remember gadfly Rep Waxman (Dubya's nemesis ?) wrote to Appropriations Committee Chair Lewis on Sept 8th. about a provision in the Katrina Emergency Supplemental Appropriations that would extend from $15,000 to $250,000 the purchasing limit for an individual transaction for federal employees with government-issued credit cards. (There are about 500,000 of these credit cards in use in the federal government !!!!)

With the mid-term Congressional Elections looming Dubya is going to have to do some fancy financial juggling - you can bet he's going to get splinters in his fingers scraping the bottom of the pork barrel to keep/win some friends.

Dubya is also going to have to keep an eye on those Bond Auctions to make sure the Central Banks fall in line in taking up the slack for Uncle Sam... and the almighty dollar is getting that sinking feeling .. especially against Far Eastern currencies and the Euro. (Which is why the yield on 30yr bonds has started to rise)

Deficits elsewhere are soaring, in the Tri-State area alone, New York State owes $4.2 billion; New Jersey, $4 billion; Connecticut, $1.3 billion.

A Billion here a Billion there and soon .... you are talking serious money.The late Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Il (Attrib)

Mathematical note: The word "billion" comes from the french (bi- million) where it stood for a"million-million". In the United States it was "mis-translated" and has ended up representing a "thousand million".To give an idea what a billion is; at 10.40 a.m. on April 20, 1902, (ish) exactly a billion minutes had elapsed since the (alleged) birth of Christ. In the US a Trillion is (confusingly) one million million = 1 followed by 12 zeroes = one thousand billion. In the UK a Trillion = one billion billion = 1 followed by 18 zeroes and is (more correctly) known as a Quintillion.

Doctor gives Cheney impossible medical advice:

Ben Marble, MD, comes from Alabama. He is an ER doctor who doubles as lead guitarist for Dr O and you can hear his Garage band here.( cool (?) titles like "Jesus loves me but I hate myself", "4 More Wars")

Ben Marble MD got his 15 minutes of fame, not as a rock star, but when he told Dick Cheney “To Go Fuck Himself” whilst the photo op. cameras rolled and the journos listened, on the road outside his devastated NOLA house (see pic of his garden pool) … there is more here. Whilst Veep Cheney can use this language to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee on the floor of the House ; Dr M got ‘cuffed by the local gendarmerie, but was released later (wrong color).

His NOLA street was shut down for a Cheney photo-op and he had to drive 20 miles out of the way to get to his house. When he discovered his problems were cause by Veep Cheney , he strolled on down to the photoshoot. The rest is history.

He has a website called hurricanekatrinasucked.com with more pictures of his neighborhood and the damage to his house. He is also selling a DVD of film of the incident and a sound track on his site, and on E-bay.

Human Interest : Dr M's family is safe, he has a daughter born during the hurricane.More

This won't change anything....but DR M feels a lot, lot better.

If you got here from Dr Marble's site please go to the top by clicking on "Postman patel" sign in for an e-mail as the site updates. Have a look around. Comment.

Nobody could have foreseen the post Katrina problems ...could they ?

In June, Pleasant Mann, a 16-year FEMA veteran who heads the agency's government employee union (see pic) , wrote members of Congress to warn of the agency's decay. "Over the past three-and-one-half years, FEMA has gone from being a model agency to being one where funds are being misspent, employee morale has fallen, and our nation's emergency management capability is being eroded," he wrote. "Our professional staff are being systematically replaced by politically connected novices and contractors."

But the merger into DHS has compounded the agency's problems, says FEMA employee and union president Pleasant Mann. "Before, we reported straight to the White House, and now we've got this elaborate bureaucracy on top of us, and a lot of this bureaucracy doesn't think what we're doing is that important, because terrorism isn't our number one," he says. "The biggest frustration here is that we at FEMA have responded to disasters like Oklahoma City and 9/11, and here are people who haven't responded to a kitchen fire telling us how to deal with terrorism. You know, there were a lot of people who fell down on the job on 9/11, but it wasn't us."

The FEMA program administrator says the crux of the problem is that the agency is buried in DHS, which is regarded as a "do-nothing agency" among FEMA's action-oriented staff. "You know, FEMA could do well by itself, and FEMA was starting to do well by itself. But that's changed."

Being wise after the event ? Monday morning quarter backing? …No. This was written by Jon Elliston a North Carolina-based writer who specializes in national security issues. Eileen Loh Harrist also wrote about “Homeland Insecurity “ , claiming that Louisiana should have been high on the list for FEMA's biggest disaster mitigation grant program -- so why did the state get nothing?

You can find both these articles here. The “Best of New Orleans” published 28th September 2004. Essential and detailed background reading to understand the continuing shambles that is NOLA today. (Thanks to Rob Kettenburg)

NOLA ...Low wages / High Stakes

In Feb 2001weeks after being installed in office, President Bush proposed repealing the Davis-Bacon Act in the context of his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2002. The Davis-Bacon Act requires the payment of prevailing wage rates, as determined by DOL, to workers on federal construction projects of a certain size. The President also proposed raising the Davis-Bacon threshold from $2,000 to $1 million. He failed to get it through.

Seizing the opportunity afforded by the national disaster President Bush issued an executive order (Sept 8th) allowing Federal contractors rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to pay below the prevailing wage in designated affected areas. (Daddy did it for Hurricane Andrew)

In a notice to Congress, Bush said the hurricane had caused "a national emergency" that permits him to take such action under the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act in designated areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. (Note this includes Broward and Dade in FL, with minimal problems - helping BRo. Jeb ?). It also appears that this EO removes the need for employers to secure details of nationality - ie. will allow us eof illegal immigrant labour.


Democratic Congressman George Miller of California said "The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives and their communities."

Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, famous swimmer, and a man familiar with minimum wages and claimed supporter of unionised labour said, “"I regret the president's decision,"… why ? Because it is an attack on the wages of workers ? No…"One of the things the American people are very concerned about is shabby work and that certainly is true about the families whose houses are going to be rebuilt and buildings that are going to be restored,"

If we are going to have Disneyfied NOLA let’s make sure it’s not shabby.

Pres Kabacoff and Ed Boettner,’ s Historic Restoration, Inc, are busy already in controversially re-shaping and re-designing New Orleans, with their Operation Rebirth, which they hope will become a road map to create the new New Orleans. The study, which seeks to reinvigorate rundown stretches of the city, envisions an "Afro-Caribbean Paris," with garden-lined boulevards.

"There's now the possibility of getting substantial federal aid to do what would have been impossible before Katrina," says Mr. Kabacoff, whose firm, Historic Restoration Inc., is operating from a temporary office in Houma, La., about 50 miles southwest of New Orleans.

Nevada based Las Vegas Sands Inc.,(“ great entertainment options including the "Just for Laughs" Comedy Club, live entertainment nightly in the Empress Lounge, a jumpin' casino with all the latest and most popular slots and table games “ says their website), looks to enter the New Orleans market, “ if the conditions are right”. Sands and other casino operators (Harrah’s - here for news of their hurricane problems in Gulfport /NOLA / Gulfport) have experience constructing major projects that include hotels, shops, restaurants and entertainment, plus casinos. "It's clear we have the capability for large-scale projects," Sands spokesman, Ron Reese is quoted saying.(pic shows Sinatra one time Sands owner, playing Chemin De Fer / Baccarat)

I can't wait to visit.

The Mom & Apple Pie Constitution

The BBC have published a translation of the proposed Iraqi Constitution which is well worth looking at. You could be forgiven for thinking that Blue Peter ( a children's program for non UK readers) had a hand in it.

It would be tedious to take it line by line but the following few paragraphs (suitably annotated ) give a flavour. (pic (c) courtesy of Kinkos copyshop (now owned by Fed-Ex)

"Article (29): 1st - (a) The family is the foundation of society and the state should preserve its (the family's) existence and ethical and religious value.(unless you are a Jew - we kicked them out in the 30's and don't want THEM back again)

(b) The state shall guarantee the protection of motherhood, childhood and old age and shall take care of juveniles and youths and provide them with agreeable conditions to develop their capabilities. (and apple pie available every night ?)
2nd - Children have the right to upbringing, education and care from their parents; parents have the right to respect and care from their children, especially in times of want, disability or old age.(...and George Bush is a boy genius, and Donald Rumsfeld a military mastermind)

3rd - Economic exploitation of children in any form is banned and the state shall take measures to guarantee their protection.( so don't you work on Daddy's farm no mo' - even if it's the only way we get food on the table ? )

4th - Violence and abuse in the family, school and society shall be forbidden.(see Article 35 below)

Article (30): 1st - The state guarantees social and health insurance, the basics for a free and honourable life for the individual and the family - especially children and women - and works to protect them from illiteracy, fear and poverty and provides them with housing and the means to rehabilitate and take care of them. This shall be regulated by law. (now that's something even the US citizen doesn't get or even hope to get)

Article (31): 1st - Every Iraqi has the right to health service, and the state is in charge of public health and guarantees the means of protection and treatment by building different kinds of hospitals and health institutions. (now that's something even the US citizen doesn't get or even hope to get)

2nd - Individuals and associations have the right to build hospitals, dispensaries or private clinics under the supervision of the state. This shall be regulated by law.

Article (32): The state cares for the disabled and those with special needs and guarantees their rehabilitation to integrate them in society. This shall be regulated by law.(especially those injured by the Coalition of the Willing in liberating their country)

Article (33): 1st - Every individual has the right to live in a correct environmental atmosphere. (so that means the US military are going to clean up the Depleted Uranium shells and debris ?)

2nd - The state guarantees protection and preservation of the environment and biological diversity.( FOE and Green peace will be overjoyed )

Article (34): 1st - Education is a main factor for the progress of society and it is a right guaranteed by the state. It is mandatory in the primary school and the state guarantees fighting illiteracy.(which is more than you can say for PUblic Schools in the US)

2nd - Free education is a right for Iraqis in all its stages.( they of course have had this for decades - recognised by UN as the best education system in the Mid East ...until the US military invaded - "The Education system in Iraq, prior to 1991, was one of the best in the region, with over 100% Gross Enrolment Rate for primary schooling and high levels of literacy, both of men and women. The Higher Education, especially the scientific and technological institutions, were of an international standard, staffed by high quality personnel". (UNESCO Fact Sheet, 28 March 2003))"

3rd - The state encourages scientific research for peaceful purposes in a way that benefits humanity and it promotes excelling, creativity and the different
manifestations of excellence.

4th - Private and national education is guaranteed and regulated by law.

PART TWO: Freedoms

Article (35): 1st - (a) The freedom and dignity of a person are protected.(Whoop de dooooo!!!)

(b) No one may be detained or investigated unless by judicial decision.(tell that to the Alabama farm boys behind their shades, wielding their M-16's and uninhibited power and violence)

(c) All forms of torture, mental or physical, and inhuman treatment are forbidden. There is no recognition of any confession extracted by force or threats or torture, and the injured party may seek compensation for any physical or mental injury that is inflicted. (perhaps we could suggest President Karimov gets to sign off on this one...as well as the CIA rendition teams / the UK Foreign Office ?)

2nd - The state is committed to protecting the individual from coercion in thought, religion or politics, and no one may be imprisoned on these bases. (Abu Ghraib ?)

3rd - Forced labour, slavery and the commerce in slaves is forbidden, as is the trading in women or children or the sex trade.(well that will ensure that the UN are kept out of the post war re-settlement) "

The State Department would like to thank the Boy Scouts of America, PETA and that guy from Star Wars with the brown dressing gown, for help in producing this Constitution.

It's a good job the finest legal minds (AG Gonzales etc., ?) have been able to help in drawing up this Mom and Apple Pie enthusiasts constitution, Hamilton , .... a mere amateur.

USA Gas prices before and after Katrina

USA Today have two very interesting nationwide US maps of gas prices, before and after Katrina here. Week Aug 23/31 National Avg = $2.71 Sept 3/5 =$3.04 = Average 11% rise.

This means gas in the US costs about 78 cents a litre retail, in the UK and Europe it is about $1.70 per litre retail.

Pic shows those heady days when gas cost less than beer.

...how thinly spread the US military is..."

Bush's Gang of mad beekeepers
Canadian Spectator Feb 2003

“The course is charted, arrogant use of the military is all the US ruling class has to maintain its dominance. After Iraq, asymmetric warfare, "terrorism," will be directed at Americans, American institutions, American targets, and American allies. When the rest of the world recognizes how thinly spread the US military is, thinly spread physically, and economically, because it is not a sustainable institution in its current incarnation, rebellions will occur. Indeed they have already started. The response of the weakening US will be to lash out, often with unforeseeable consequences, just as the consequences of this impending invasion are unforeseeable, and unknown.”


Louisiana National Guard
Hundreds Begin Trip Home From Duty in Baghdad
By Ellen Knickmeyer Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, September 8, 2005; Page A15
BAGHDAD, Sept. 7 -- Hundreds of Louisiana National Guard soldiers deployed in Iraq were in Kuwait on Wednesday as a first stop on the way home, where the majority of their 3,700-member brigade was likely to help with hurricane relief, U.S. military officials said….

A Mississippi National Guard unit based south of Baghdad also had hundreds of members affected by the hurricane. They are not due to return until January.

Bush asks Congress for $50Bn from the Cookie jar

Condi offered to pray in AL last week, Cheney is due to visit the Gulf later this week to prey with advisors.

Pets left behind not starving .....

Ex National Guardsman strums into action ....

" Do you know that my life is in tatters, my baby has no food, we have no water and New Orleans is a flooded, poisoned lake ?"

"No! but if you whistle it, I'll just strum along"

FEMA to Mac, Linux users: drop dead

A stupid usability flaw in the FEMA website is causing frustration for some of the Hurricane Katrina survivors fortunate enough to have computer and internet access. Bottom line: if you're not using Windows + IE Ver. 6 , it appears that you won't be able to file a disaster assistance claim on Fema.gov.

Anon. comments ..” The browser requirement is, of course, a violation of the Section 508 regulations for accessibility and usability of US federal government websites. I'd suggest a complaint to the FEMA IG, but then there are better reasons to complain to the IG about the agency's inability to do its job.”

You can jiggle around it using Firefox extensions, Opera user definable profiles etc., but no gurantees. You can of course apply to FEMA for forms by post, but if your address is 6 feet under water.....

Looks like FEMA are ready for anything ...

From boing-boing.

NOLA, a solution ...a Modest Proposal

Signed on April 30, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase treaty included over 600 million acres at a cost of less than 3 cents an acre. For President Thomas Jefferson it was a diplomatic and political triumph. In one deal the purchase of Louisiana ended the threat of war with France and opened up the land west of the Mississippi to settlement.

There were two conventions, one for the payment of 60 million francs ($11,250,000) and the other for claims American citizens had made against France for 20 million francs ($3,750,000).15 Million very big ones.

The original documents related to the Louisiana Purchase are kept at the Library of Congress in Washington DC.

Of course, the deal went through quickly but Jefferson admitted that he had stretched his power "till it cracked" in order to buy Louisiana, the largest single land purchase in American history.

There were those who objected to the purchase on the grounds that the Constitution did not provide for purchasing territory. However, Jefferson ignored this criticism and temporarily cast aside his idealism and the Constitution to tell his supporters in Congress that "what is practicable must often control what is pure theory." The majority agreed. (Sounds like justifying the illegal invasion of Iraq all over again)

Surely some lawyer somewhere could make a case to hand Louisiana and it's stinking, foetid, diseased swamped city, back to the Cheese eating surrender monkeys, and leave them with the problems of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. After all Jefferson only charged Livingston with buying a small plot on the lower Mississippi for $2 million, so that the Americans could build their own seaport.

When Jefferson sent Monroe to Paris offer $10 million for New Orleans and West Florida the perfidious French had already wined and dined Livingstone and he had agreed to buy the whole of Louisiana for $15 million.

So the Texan Terrorist writes off $15 MN and leaves the problem to someone else … sounds like a very good deal to me Dubya. ...see what your legal friend the Attorney General says, he can mis read historical documents pretty well..the Geneva Convention etc.,

Gulf Energy Hit 70% Oil 50% Gas production stopped - Bloomberg

Bloomberg reports today : The storm devastated energy production in the Gulf of Mexico, source of about a third of the oil consumed in the U.S. and about one-fifth of the natural gas. By yesterday, 70 percent of the region's crude-oil production was out of action, while more than half of gas production was shut, the Minerals Management Service in Washington said.....

The average U.S. pump price for regular gasoline rose to a record $3.057 a gallon on Sept. 5, according to the AAA. Prices consumers paid ranged from $3.89 a gallon in Summit, New Jersey, to $3.76 in Arlington, Virginia, to $3.05 in O'Fallon, Missouri, according to Web sites GaspriceWatch.com and Gasbuddy.com.

Condi has heard the cry...Wait and He will come...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Imelda Marcos Rice, granddaughter of a Presbyterian minister , attended a service in her native Alabama at the Pilgrim Rest AME Zion church outside Mobile, Rice nodded in agreement as the Rev. Malone Smith Jr. advised the congregation, "Wait for the Lord."
"Nobody, especially the President, would have left people unattended on the basis of race," the administration's best shod,highest-ranking, most travelled, black fshionista said as she toured damaged parts of her native Alabama.

"There are some things the president can do; there are some things the government can do," Rev. Smith told about 300 worshippers during a rollicking two-hourwhoop-de-do service. "But God can do all things. I want you to know he's never late. He's always on time."

"The Lord is going to come on time — if we just wait," she said on her regal tour.

Perhaps she’s heard Dubya cry out many a time…”Lord I’m comin’ ”

One from the archives

04/08/04 The Economic Consequences of the War on Terror
THE BIG BANG THEORY – The Bigger the Bang, the Louder the Silence by Edward Teague

"The National Weather Service in the US expects a major Hurricane every 70-80 years. One is overdue. If a Force 4 or 5 step Saffir Simpson hurricane force scale hits the Gulf of Mexico this year, the impact on gas and gasoline supplies in the US will make 9/11 look like a tea party in terms of economic cost to the US economy. An economy already saddled with massive and rising double deficits on trade and internal budgets. Interest rates will rise, the dollar dive further and electors will freeze in their November homes, just when they are about to go out and vote. Alex, the first in the new season's Atlantic alphabetic tagging, a puny 90 miles per hour hurricane started the season rather late this week off the Carolina coast – keep watching!"

http://www.williambowles.info/env/big_bang.html

Light relief in the middle of flood relief

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?(From Boadicea.blog-city.com)

ANSWER - Ten.

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed;

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed;

3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb;

4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for eternal darkness;

5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for removing the faulty light bulb and installing the new light bulb;

6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner 'Bulb Accomplished';

7. One administration insider to resign and in detail reveal how Bush was literally 'in the dark' the whole time;

8. One to viciously smear No. 7;

9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along;

10. And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country."

India source of mad cow disease ?

In a report in the journal Lancet on Friday Sept. 2nd. , Professor Alan Colchester of the University of Kent in England and his daughter Nancy, of the University of Edinburgh, suggest mad cow disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD ))may have originated from animal feed contaminated with human remains washed ashore after being floated downriver in Indian funerals.

“Existing theories of the original causes of BSE, the bovine disease, we don’t find convincing,” the Colchester duo say. “We have identified the fact that a large amount of imported animal feeding material was brought into Britain during the period when BSE must first have occurred and the largest source coming to the UK was from the Indian subcontinent.” Colchester and his daughter say they doubt BSE resulted from scrapie because material infected with the disease has been fed to cattle for many decades without any sign of BSE arising.

They go on to suggest that it may have been caused by the tonnes of animal bones and other tissue imported from India for animal feed which also may have contained the remains of humans infected with CJD. Scrapie, BSE and CJD are all illnesses caused by brain proteins that transform themselves into infectious prion agents.

“BSE was acquired from a human prion disease, the route of infection was oral, through animal feed containing imported mammalian raw materials contaminated with human remains, and the origin was the Indian subcontinent, from which large amounts of mammalian material were imported during the relevant time period,” they say. “Human remains are known to be incorporated into meal made locally, and may still be entering exported material.”

Their controversial hypothesis is backed by a long list of references of evidence about the pollution of Ganges from human corpses; the inclusion of human remains in material used in processing mills, scavenged by local peasants to supplement their income; and statistics about the long history of these exports to Britain. In 10 years, more than a third of a million tonnes of material from these areas was imported into the UK,” Colchester said. The paper also points to established fears by the British authorities in the 1960s that these untreated exports could be infected with anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease (but not prion disease, of which there was no knowledge at the time).

Indian neurologists Susarla Shanka and P. Satishchandra of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, rebut the idea in another article in Lancet and say the Colchesters’ evidence is not a smoking gun. They note that incidence of prion disease is no higher in India than elsewhere and that no study has ever been done to established whether putrefied human tissue, taken from the Ganges, contains prion disease or if it could be transmissible.They say there is only one one case of scrapie, which was probably imported, which has been reported from the Himalayan foothills.

They call for extra work to substantiate the Colchesters’ theory, warning also that “scientists should proceed cautiously when hypothesising about a disease that has such wide geographic, cultural and religious implications.”

India, a desperately poor country has been exporting animal feed to the UK ? We should remember what The Rt. Hon. Stephen Dorrell, Minister of State for Health Her Majesty's Government said on 3rd December 1995 "There is no conceivable risk of BSE being transmitted from cows to people."


Meanwhile the US Government (USDA) closed its investigation into the nation's
first domestic case of mad cow disease on Tuesday, saying it could not pin down
how a Texas 12-year-old Brahma cross cow was infected with the brain-wasting ailment.

Officials continue to believe the cow ate contaminated feed before the United States banned ground-up cattle remains in cattle feed.

On June 9 2005 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) held a panel discussion led by the Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns. The discussion, titled, “The Safety of North American Beef and the Economic Effect of BSE on the U.S. Beef Industry,” was at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. The American Meat Institute was there (AMI) it is the major industry group, with it’s HQ in Washington DC, an area more used to pork barrels than sides of beef., unless presented as a succulent filet mignon.These groups represent “companies that process 70 percent of U.S. meat and poultry and their suppliers throughout America,” according to its website. Members include Tyson, Cargill, Hormel, Smithfield, Kraft, Sara Lee and other major players in the $78 billion beef industry.

Other participants at this brainstormer included the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, National Meat Association, Ranchers-Cattlemen’s Action Legal Fund (R-CALF), American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Farmer’s Union, National Milk Producers Federation, National Renderers Association, and of course the AMI. Not one health, consumer or animal welfare group was included.

The main success of these lobbyists is the stalling of the USDA proposed ban on recycled cow offal in animal feed.This it is claimed (although now standard in most of the world) would eliminate $72 million in annual income to the livestock industry, according to the AMI. To maintain the high-protein diet for cattle without the use of this waste would require “an additional 5 million bushels of soybeans or 140,000 acres of soybean production.” Even worse, the banned cattle tissues would then need to be disposed of, at an estimated cost of $55 million per year – and that’s assuming that “landfills will accept slaughter waste and adequate space is available.”

The main failure of this lobbying is that US beef is refused import licences almost worldwide and packing plants in the US are closing.

…Perhaps they should start looking for feed from India …?

Bush acts fast to stall criticism of emergency funding in LAit by

FEMA have announced the following measures for Federal financial help ......

Federal Register Notice Billing Code 9110-10-P / EFFECTIVE DATE: August 29, 2005.

SUMMARY: This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Louisiana (FEMA-1603-DR), dated August 29, 2005, and related determinations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Magda Ruiz, Recovery Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC 20472, (202) 646-2705.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that, in a letter dated August 29, 2005, the President declared a major disaster under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5206 (the Stafford Act), as follows:

Consistent with the requirement that Federal assistance be supplemental, any Federal funds provided under the Stafford Act for Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation and the Other Needs Assistance under Section 408 of the Stafford Act will be limited to 75 percent of the total eligible costs. For a period of up to 72 hours, you are authorized to fund assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, at 100 percent of the total eligible costs. Federal funding for debris removal will remain at 75 percent. ...... Covering Counties - see map above.

The time period prescribed for the implementation of section 310(a), Priority to Certain Applications for Public Facility and Public Housing Assistance, 42 U.S.C. 5153, shall be for a period not to exceed six months after the date of this declaration. (Feb 28th ?)

Critics have pointed out that the initial delays may have been prompted by the desire to reduce cost as fundingunder the Stafford Act as in the first 72 hours was for 100% . President Bush has moved swiftly to stifle public criticism, as FEMA have made a further and welcome announcement today.

FEMA Urges Patience While Search Continues for Stranded Victims and Supplies Stream In Release Date: September 2, 2005 Release No HQ-05-190

President Bush has authorized 100% reimbursement to Louisiana for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance. The government normally pays 75 percent of these costs.

The Texan Terrorist will be very sensitive to criticism, but one must carefully examine why the refugees have been scattered so far and wide. With 6 months closure on claims, it is going to be difficult to produce documentation on land/ property ownership etc.,... no doubt there will be some very helpful lawyers who will pitch into to San Antonio, Houston eager to help...

Breaking News.....Dubya and the First Lady not Condi stooopid Laura Bush will be making a State visit to Baton Rouge on Labor Day ... maybe he is getting to understand what trouble he has on his hands.Last night slim svelte, opinionated TV's Oprah Winfrey arrived in New Orleans with 33 supply trucks. She said: "It's like a war zone."

Lafayette company to the rescue of the gas guzzlers

C & C Technologies, of Lafayette, are an international company Thomas Chance, is President. He is going to be a very busy man.

Initially, C & C was operated out of a home office with five employees, but has now grown to over 200 employees in seven locations. C & C is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, “the Heart of Cajun Country”, and has additional offices in Houston, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

C & C is known throughout the world as a technological leader in the survey field. Innovations such as C-Nav, Globally-corrected GPS and the C-Surveyor™ AUVs have made groundbreaking advancements to the survey industry.

C & C is presently finishing up the customization of its next generation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), the C-Surveyor II. (pic shows Ver. 1 the predecessor) Once completed, C-Surveyor II will embark on several months of Gulf of Mexico projects.

The company has undertaken 78 projects and more than 43,000 linear kilometers of commercial underwater mapping to date, C & C Technologies claims undisputed worldwide leadership in AUV survey services. C & C's AUVs collect detailed data including multibeam bathymetry and imagery, chirp side-scan sonar, and chirp sub-bottom profiler data. Sub-sampled data is then acoustically transmitted from the AUV to the support vessel in real-time, thus allowing for on-board engineers to make informed route decisions and perform on-the-fly quality assurance.

Because of the experience from Hurricane Ivan, which slammed into the Gulf last September, there is a great deal of concern centered on the underwater pipelines that link the 4,000 platforms in the gulf to the mainland. These were be broken, buried, uprooted or damaged by last year's storm, and a similar result is expected this time from underwater mud slides or swells throughout last Monday. The damage from Ivan took months to repair.

Off-shore oil rigs pump crude oil from under the floor of the Gulf of Mexico - 1.5 million barrels a day, the equivalent of what is brought in by tanker from Saudi Arabia.

If you want more information visit the company website or send an email to info@cctechnol.com.com or contact Rick Davey at (+44) 1284-388631.

NOAA Satellite images published of Louisiana underwater

Too detailed a picture ? Go to NOAA for stunning satellite images, probably best to download and then use whatever you have to zoom.

LA Times / AP pic.

Where's a tax cut when you REALLY need one ?

What has the Bush administration done for the Third World ? ....well they've created one in their back yard. It's full of the poor, the blacks, the needy, the hungry, there is no water, power, food, water, communications ... and now the Governor's arranged for battle hardened National Guards from all over to come in "with M 16's locked and loaded"

"Look up! Look up! ..is that the President flying over ? passing by ?"

How the poor got trapped in hellish New Orleans

In the months leading up to Hurricane Katrina, it became increasingly clear to local officials that in the event of a killer storm, the No. 1 problem in a city with a 30 percent poverty rate was some 134,000 residents who did not have a car. They knew these people had no way to get out of town -- and that a Category 3 hurricane or stronger would likely bring a flood of Biblical proportions.

And so the plan was...to do nothing. Click and read on….to Attytood

Guns and Prayer..help for flood victims...at last

Washington Post. Gov. Kathleen Blanco called the looters "hoodlums" and issued a warning to lawbreakers: Hundreds of National Guard troops hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," she said. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."

"I have declared August 31, 2005, a Day of Prayer in the State of Louisiana Governor Blanco is reported on the Governors Website.

"I am asking that all of Louisiana take some time Wednesday to pray. Pray for the victims and the rescuers. Please pray that God give us all the physical and spiritual strength to work through this crisis and rebuild"

Fashionista fiddles while NOLA Floods.....

Wapo’s Robin Givhan was in ecstasy at the sight of The Secretary of State when she hit Europe this February.

“Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield on Wednesday dressed all in black. She was wearing a black skirt that hit just above the knee, and it was topped with a black coat that fell to mid-calf. The coat, with its seven gold buttons running down the front and its band collar, called to mind a Marine's dress uniform or the "save humanity" ensemble worn by Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix."

Long admired by the fashionistas she has always preferred the simple ( but oh sooooooooo expensive) Ferrogamo sling back pimp..

"Rice, Bush's national security advisor, is partial to the simple low-heeled Ferragamo pump and the classic Chanel-inspired St. John designer suit. In Washington, St. John, with its simply tailored box-cut suit ranging from $300 to $1200, is referred to as the patron saint of designers in the nation's capital."

Chicago Sun Times Classy Condi November 24, 2004 BY SARA FIEDELHOLTZ Staff Reporter Fashion Beauty.

Moda - Copia i dettagli del suo stile: fatti chiamare "magnolia d'acciaio" nell'intimità, segui ogni mattina il tuo personal trainer, scegli solo scarpe di Salvatore Ferragamo (meglio se su misura) e tailleur di Oscar de la Renta.
E non dimenticare mai il rossetto: Yves Saint Laurent, n° 10.

Well the spicy lady, after being booed on Wednesday night at “Spamalot” the Broadway Monty Python farce, she set off to Ferrogamo and spent several thousand dollars on some more of the strappy sling backs direct from the store. A screaming woman was ejected by security who criticized her “Neronic fiddling whilst New Orleans “ ... “My dear the people they let in these days…”

Any way the feisty (but fashionable lady) lady set off straight back for Washington where she is …” being kept aware of the situation”. No doubt sending our for some ho black thigh length fishing waders that Dick favours.

Having ensured that Sharon gets what he wants in preparing the Gaza Gulag , by masterly inaction and therby pleasing the founders and funders of AIPAC, JINSA, NDL etc., the girl deserves a break. I admire her, she is in keeping with this administration, fuck the floods, break out the fashion .. Christ after seeing the damage, the despair, we need cheering up….you can bet Dubya needs a little support right now, after draining the swamp in Iraq, he's got flood victims ..er...flooding Houston, … wait didn’t he rush back to Washington at the same time….. ?

Expect some action from Condi and Dubya. The floods won't go away but it might get a litle hot and sticky for them both.

Homeland Security

Eisenhower was right...ask the Katrina refugees..

"Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies,in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold
and are not clothed.

The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers,the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

Fed $'s dry up...NOLA floods...Iraq gets it's FREEDOM

From Attytood

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.

New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars. (Much of the research here is from Nexis, which is why some articles aren't linked.)

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to this Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness:

The $750 million Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project is another major Corps project, which remains about 20% incomplete due to lack of funds, said Al Naomi, project manager. That project consists of building up levees and protection for pumping stations on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles and Jefferson parishes.

The Lake Pontchartrain project is slated to receive $3.9 million in the president's 2005 budget. Naomi said about $20 million is needed.

"The longer we wait without funding, the more we sink," he said. "I've got at least six levee construction contracts that need to be done to raise the levee protection back to where it should be (because of settling). Right now I owe my contractors about $5 million. And we're going to have to pay them interest."

That June, with the 2004 hurricane seasion starting, the Corps' Naomi went before a local agency, the East Jefferson Levee Authority, and essentially begged for $2 million for urgent work that Washington was now unable to pay for. From the June 18, 2004 Times-Picayune:

"The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything is sinking, and if we don’t get the money fast enough to raise them, then we can’t stay ahead of the settlement," he said. "The problem that we have isn’t that the levee is low, but that the federal funds have dried up so that we can’t raise them."

The panel authorized that money, and on July 1, 2004, it had to pony up another $250,000 when it learned that stretches of the levee in Metairie had sunk by four feet. The agency had to pay for the work with higher property taxes. The levee board noted in October 2004 that the feds were also now not paying for a hoped-for $15 million project to better shore up the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.

Go to the original for the lengthy, detailed and damning report....then pass it on...

Iran's vital links for Uzbek's Karimov and family

Iran’s transit routes via the ports of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar, are of vital importance for the transit of Uzbekistan’s goods, announced I. Gasimov the third secretary for the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Tehran. He explained that some 70 percent of Uzbekistan’s cotton (White Gold – produced effectively by children and slave labour - see pic) is currently exported via Bandar Abbas Port. “We attach special importance to the port for the export of our goods,” he emphasized.

“Thanks to its special geographic location and its access to free waters, Chabahar Free Trade Zone is one of the shortest routes connecting Uzbekistan to the other countries of the world.”

White Gold transport is closely associated with both the smuggling of acetic anhydride (2.5 Kg required per kg of heroin produced) a precursor chemical used in the extensive heroin laboratories in Afghanistan and the onward transport of the refined heroin to Rusia and Europe.

On Jan 5th 2005 the Trans-Afghan Corridor Council met for the first time in Taskhent, and recommended construction of a 2400km highway linking the Uzbek capital to Bandar Abbas in Iran, via Mazar-e Sharif and Heart in Afghanistan.

The Ferghana Valley contains 25 percent of the people of the Uzbek Republic and 38 percent of its arable land, it grows the bulk of Uzbekistan‘s cotton, now the fifth largest cotton producer and second largest exporter. The government holds the export monopoly on cotton mainly through Karimov’s close family. Inefficiency and corruption leads to substantial smuggling across the borders to Kyrgyzstan the reason why border bridge were closed when the Anijan refugees sought help when fleeing from the massacre in May.

Old, old story about the New World Order.

In 1991 Glock made a 1000 off limited edition series of specially engraved Glock 17 handgun. A list of names of all the coalition countries is engraved down the top of the slide; "Operation Desert Storm/January 16-February 27, 1991" is engraved on the right side. On the left side is "New World Order/Commemorative".



No 1 went to Dubya's Dad. No 2 to Stormin' Norman Schwartkopf etc.,

Hmmmm, New World Order.Parvez Musharif moves nowhere without his personal, loaded Glock sidearm. It is said de Menezes' assassins both used Glock pistols, the preferred choice of many special services.

Reasons to be in Iraq No 17

Against the backdrop of the huge (1,092-foot ) new aircraft carrier “Ronald Reagan”(CVN 76 see pic ) at Naval Air Station North Island,San Diego, the Texan Terrorist addressed a crowd celebrating the signing for General McArthur by the Japanese leadership of a Peace Treaty to on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, to formally end the war in the Pacific, which had actually ended two weeks previously on August 14th.

“Now, as then, our enemies have made their fight a test of American credibility and resolve. Now, as then, they are trying to intimidate free people and break our will. And now, as then, they will fail.

They will fail because the terrorists of our century are making the same mistake that the followers of other totalitarian ideologies made in the last century. They believe that democracies are inherently weak and corrupt and can be brought to their knees. They looked at our response after the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombings of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa, and the attack on the USS Cole.

They concluded that free societies lack the courage and character to defend themselves against a determined enemy. Hear the words of Osama bin Laden that explain why he believed he could get away with the attacks of September the 11th, 2001: "We've seen in the last decade the decline of the American government and the weakness of the American soldier, who is ready to wage cold wars and unprepared to fight long wars. . . After a few blows they ran in defeat. . . (They forgot) about being a world leader."

Bush curiously lists these events as evidence that the US “cut and run”. A strange message for a military audience. Reagan faced with the instant death of over 250 Marines in the Beirut bombings, prudently saw that the fight wasn’t worth the prize. The Mogadishu killings presaged the futility of fighting the savage warriors who controlled no vital assets the invader wanted, the first World Centre bombing, as those of the US African Embassies and the SS Cole eventually resulted, directly in the rain of missiles ordered by Clinton at pregnant (!) moments in his defence of impeachment for whoring with an intern and ultimately in invasion. The newly leveraged war by remote control, perfect by Wesley Clark in his bombing from 20,000 feet of Serbia.

Now the Commander - in - Chief has a newly minted motive, which he outlined today …

“The terrorists and insurgents are now waging a brutal campaign of terror in Iraq.
1.They kill innocent men and women and children in the hopes of intimidating Iraqis.

2. They're trying to scare them away from democracy.

3.They're trying to break the will of the American people.

4.Their goal is to turn Iraq into a failed state like Afghanistan was under the Taliban.

5. If Zarqawi and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks; they'd seize oil fields to fund their ambitions; they could recruit more terrorists by claiming an historic victory over the United States and our coalition.”

Necessity is the mother of invention, Saddam the evil mastermind busy arming with weapons of insidious and sinister purpose to gas, destroy , maim and infect with deadly disease, has morphed into a multi headed hydra of scheming “insurgents”, fuelled both by Iraqi oil receipts –( perhaps funded in Euros as Saddam did, to finally seal his fate as a US ally), and by Anti - American hatred.

As Justin Raimondo says at Anti War today.

…… the party line will change, once again, as we fight a monster of our own making – and that, in a nutshell, is the whole story of this endless "war on terrorism": it is a self-renewing monster that can, in theory, never die. We slay it and it keeps reappearing – and how convenient is that?

History of Nation Building (Part (23)

When George Bush was a fresh faced, eager beaver, candidate in 2000 he claimed that, if elected, he would not allow U.S. military forces to engage in "nation building." No Sir. The Texan terrorist wasn’t going to follow the false footsteps of Slick Willy in the Balkans (Just point out where they are Condi?).

Well, having laid waste to what we used to call Iraq, we are busy building a nation (or maybe even several) , a constitution and a post propter hoc rationale for starting the whole damn thing.(Maybe we can blame Blair and the Brits ????)

Before the Coalition of the Willing hit the streets of Baghdad , (and many of it’s defenceless citizens) Iraq was a secular nation. Highly westernized, with a well educated elite, but under the iron fist of the US aided Dictator Hussein . Iraq had one of the best water systems in the Middle East. The “socialist” regime provided free education, which according to the UN was the best in the Middle East and there was access for all to a high standard of health care.

Dictator Saddam ? You remember him ? He was the guy who told US Ambassador April Glaspie he was going to invade Kuwait, and she couldn’t get through to the State Department to tell them. Maybe their 'phone service was none too good back then.

Well it wasn’t the only mistake Dubya’s Dad made. Bush's pledge (you may remember) to avoid nation building, was at a debate with Internet Developer, Democrat Al Gore, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Oct. 11th, 2000. At the time the race was neck-and-neck race for the White House (although the Supreme Court was ready to declare the winner) . Bush, short of the kind of overseas experience, short of support , short of foreign policy ideas, tried to turn this to his advantage by identifying himself as a Washington outsider and by branding Gore a member of the capital's entrenched liberal political class.

Bush recalled Daddy’s U.S. humanitarian mission in Somalia -- had "changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong."

He remembered the deaths of 18 U.S. Army rangers killed in Mogadishu on Oct. 3-4, 1993, after a gun battle and dragged in Victory through the town by what we now have now learnt to call terrorists or insurgents.

"The mission was changed, and as a result, our nation paid a price," Bush said. "And so I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building."

Bush said those who live in the liberated lands should rebuild them and if elected, would "absolutely not" indulge in nation planning….following on the successes of such efforts in Afghanistan – remember. The military action in Afghanistan was intended not only to bring bin Laden to justice but also to topple the Taliban from power. Now the US is (attempting to ) running the place.

Maybe he has forgotten, but Bush also pledged during that debate "It really depends upon how our nation conducts its foreign policy. If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us. If we're a humble nation, they'll respect us."

Remember the deal he brokered with Stalinist Dictator Karimov of Uzbekistan that committed the United States to protect the security of a former Soviet republic? That agreement (long forgotten) shielded the Uzbek government, which permitted U.S. aircraft to operate from its airfields, from retaliation by the Taliban regime. Now Karimov is kicking the US out and handing over the bases to the Russians.

Well, Afghanistan is back in the hands of the warlords and a resurgent Taliban, Somali is a basket case where the Chinese have snook off with the oil, and the US are mired in Iraq, having drained the swamp and are having their ass chewed off by the crocodiles.

George was right, the US should stay outta nation building.

UPDATE

For some reason Google continues to return this site as one showing US soldiers dragged through the Mogadishu Streets, the original source -http://www.masada2000.org/mogadishu.jpg
has long since disappeared. Thanks for your interest go here

Mission not accomplished... in fact falling apart.

Fresh from a 10 minute flight in an S-3B Viking, that he co-piloted but did not land and donning a flight suit, Mr. Bush strutted triumphantly aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 2nd 2003. He stood at the podium and declared, "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country."

This modern wannabe Alexander relished the smell of triumph, welcoming the tired and toiling troops who had wrested such a victory. Behind him the Red, White and Blue banner concocted by Ari Fleischer and his White House crew signalled a self satisfied, smugness that was quickly to disappear.(..as did Ari)

“Today, we have the greater power to free a nation by breaking a dangerous and aggressive regime. With new tactics and precision weapons, we can achieve military objectives without directing violence against civilians. No device of man can remove the tragedy from war. Yet it is a great advance when the guilty have far more to fear from war than the innocent."

What was the Mission ? What has been accomplished ? Well the the first question the answer slips by, changes, and like a mirage dances on a distant and deserted horizon.The country is not, as the Commander –in-Chief said 30 months ago claimed, neither secure nor re-constructed.

To the second question, the absurdly named “Coalition of the Willing” have succeeded like Hannibal at Carthage,” that which he did not lay waste he destroyed”. The nation they have “freed” is on the brink of war with itself, ready to fracture…as foretold by many before the first”precise” bombs were dropped and the first shots fired.

Barzani and the Kurds have, quietly and effectively carved out their own autonomous region, which the US have no chance of wishing away or destroying.

The Sunnis, so long the allies of the US, are an embittered but nonetheless powerful and well armed and financed minority.

The Shias, are divided within themselves but control the oil rich south regions which they will not soon or easily be deprived of.

What was the Mission ? What has been accomplished ?

US Apples drop

A mild February/ March turned cold in April causing many US apple producers producers to experience production losses due to poor pollination and frosts especially later crops such as varieties Red Delicious and Fuji. Lower fruit set combined with a very hot summer has affected fruit sizes and has reduced the crop which has started to be picked this week. Gala seems to be unaffected.

First estimates from the US indicate an apple crop some six per cent down on last year’s record volumes but still above 2003 levels. The crop is seven per cent down on last season in Washington state, which is the largest producer in the country, making up 57 per cent of the US total.

Lake Ontario region and Yakima Valley have both seen reductions in crop volumes. Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association in Washington State, executive director Miles Kohl forecasts a fresh crop packout of some 95 million 42lb boxes, compared to 103m last year.

Condi enjoying herself on holiday !

I tell you. It's this big! She's either in Idaho with the ex Governor of Texas or gone fishing in Wyoming with Dick.

Pushing the envelope on pubic hair.

The NY Daily News has a bombshell news item - Dolce & Gabbana(?) are offering a line of "low rise" (no doubt hi-price) men's pants / jeans , that exposes men's pubic hair.An ad featuring them makes its debut in the September issue of Esquire magazine.

The second bombshell news is contained within, veteran, bald, adman Jerry Della Femina (pic) said the photographs of these fancy pants, made sense for an envelope-pushing design house. The bombshell being this guy is still breathing - remember he brought you the memorable but unused headline he offered for Sony when they wanted to crack the US market in the early 60's for TV's -"From the People who brought you Pearl Harbour!", he's also credited with ( rather dubiously) "I honestly believe that advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on."... perhaps that was in the days when pubic hair was kept under wraps.

"Envelope pushing design house " dontcha just luv it ? - in the UK "envelope pushers" usually have them full of crisp fivers to buy MP's influence and are invariably free of pubic hair.

IPCC - a result ?

I wrote to the IPCC a few days ago, (see previous post) asking about the remit the IPCC had over people involved in the Stockwell shooting who were not police staff and were perhaps military personnel either from the UK or overseas.

This is the reply I received hours ago, which is evidently a 100% stock response to all enquiries. I would urge anyone to make enquiries, and continue making them...they must be made directly aware of the international interest in the matter.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email.

The IPCC's independent investigation into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in Stockwell on Friday 22 July continues and is making good progress. Our focus is on the search for the truth about the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The investigation into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes will cover all circumstances relating to the incident.At this time the IPCC has made it clear that we would not speculate or release partial information about the investigation, and that others should not do so. That remains the case.

We have issued a number of press statements relating to the issues surrounding the investigation. These can be viewed on our website via : http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/news.htmBoth which will be regularly updated with new information when available.


Kind regards,

Customer Services Team
Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)
90 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6BH
Tel: 020 7166 3000
Fax: 020 7404 0430
Enquiries@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk

Make of it what you will.Naturally I will be asking for a specific answer to the question which does not of course have any connection with their immediate enquiry and simply asks for clarification of their powers of enquiry and reporting.

Meanwhile in s spirit of helpfulness the Police Federation AND the Metropolitan Police Federation are reported (AP / Scotsman ) to have written last week, to the Home Secretary asking for an independent inquiry into the leaks from the Jean Charles de Menezes investigation.

They want demand a person independent of both the Police service and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to investigate the "unauthorised disclosure" of the documents.

The concept of the Police being concerned about the leakage of information to the Press boggles the mind. Why don't the uniformed tourist attractions just get on with their fucking job without shooting inoccent people?

Gunfight at the not OK Corral ?

Sky News reports that an outraged Met firearms guy is up in arms about the remarks of John Wadham, Deputy Chairman of the IPCC.

John Wadham, (see pic BBC) who was head of "Liberty" prior to his appointment, claimed that the IPCC "overcame" the Met's attempt to block it's enquiry, securing "an important victory for our independence".“This dispute has caused delay in us taking over the investigation, but we have worked hard to recover the lost ground,” Mr Wadham saidat the time.

According to the BBC online news service, the case was not formally handed over to the IPCC until five days after the incident. At the time the BBC said this sounded like "an unsavoury power struggle between the two organisations and is likely to leave the public even more bemused."

The BBC have just announced (Aug 25th) that they reject the complaint, as it does not refer to personal conduct and say anybody can say anything they like about the IPCC - ti is apparently a "free" country.

Meanwhile this man who is so keen that the IPCC swing into action, has released a Press statement to the effect that no information about staff will be released after Sky News reported last Thursday evening that the IPCC had suspended one of its staff. Apparently senior staff were informed that an IPCC employee was responsible for the leak of preliminary witness statements and shooting-scene photos in the de Menezes case to ITV.

International Terrorist to address UN - STOP HIM !!!

Between September 12th and 15th, 2005 war criminal Ariel Sharon will address the U.N. General Assembly’s 60th session. September 15th is the 23rd anniversary of the deliberate and systematic massacre of more than 2000 Arab civilians, mostly Palestinian and Lebanese, in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, the chief architect of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, was found by an Israeli commission of inquiry (The Kehane Commission) to have been personally responsible for the massacre.

Please email your endorsements of the campaign to stop Ariel Sharon the international terrorist and child murderer addressing the UN to: opposesharon@yahoo.com for more on the Indict Sharon campaign here.

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition PO Box 131352 Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA Tel: 760-685-3243 Fax: 360-933-3568 E-mail: info@al-awda.org WWW: al-awda.org

Meanwhile Jesse Jackson phoned Israeli's Ambassador to US Danny Ayalon asking him to pass on his congratulations to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the successful evacuation of Gaza and the northern West Bank.

"Sharon made a bold and painful step toward a long-term solution. He deserves a partnership that is just as bold and committed," he said.

The European Union has issued a statement praising Sharon and the Israeli government for the pullout from Gaza and the Wset Bank.

The Nobel Peace Prize is next on the Agenda.

Pat Robertson - An Apology

We may have previously given the impression that popular evangelist, friend of the POTUS wanted to assassinate (or wanted the CIA to) Hugo Chavez, the even more popular President of Venezuela.

It appears we misunderstooderated him - he only wants to kidnap him - presumably to put him in Gulag Guantanamo Bay.

De Menezes..is the IPCC wasting it's time ?

The IPCC was formed after considerable consultation

Police Reform Act 2002 2002 Chapter 30 - continued
PART 2 COMPLAINTS AND MISCONDUCT
The Independent Police Complaints Commission 9

10 .1.f.…. to carry out functions in relation to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad and bodies of constables maintained otherwise than by police authorities which broadly correspond to those conferred on the Commission in relation to police forces by the preceding paragraphs of this subsection......

10. (2) Those matters are-

(a) the handling of complaints made about the conduct of persons serving with the police;

One therefore wonders what position any serving members of HM Armed Forces who may be “working with the Police” are in in relation to the the IPCC. They certainly are not “bodies of constables”.

Presumably it can , and no doubt, will, be argued that such personnel must be answerable to only one and not two disciplinary codes.

Which may be a very good reason why it is “special forces” who are the ones who actually pull the trigger.

No doubt all will become unclear eventually... On the IPCC website you can e-mail any queries, I have done and asked for answers to clarify the position of serving members of HM forces - or indeed any odd Israeli who may have blundered by accident into the matter in hand.

Israel's Gulag

The Jerusalem Times today, quotes an anonymous “veteran Palestinian journalist”

…"Undoubtedly, Sharon has scored a big victory in the international media. Now he's being portrayed as a man of peace and there are some who are even nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is very worrying because the world has forgotten all what he did to the Palestinians over the past 50 years."

Sharon has , as usual steamrollered his way – OK so the Greater Israel is put on hold, but now we have a smaller Israel, but it will soon be 100% Kosher. He has rid himself and his land of the swarming cockroaches and will now envelop and exclude the rest of the tiresome Arabs from the West Bank (or Samaria as they like to call it officially ) who will be offered the opportunity to populate the land he has given them… “You want Palestine …Great, now you have it, now Fuck Off and enjoy it “

It wasn’t going to be like this, remember. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, on one of her whirling “Drive by Diplomacy” trips on 23rd July 2005 met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef – the man who is responsible for the Palestinian security forces - amid signs the Palestinians were beginning to buckle under heavy Israeli and US pressure to clamp down on groups like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Something they seem so far to have done with considerable success - or by the self denying ordinance of Hamas.

On the table were 13 grievances the Palestinians wanted agreed on, before the Israeli withdrawal, said Diana Buttu, Abbas’ adviser at the time, including the key points, a passage route linking Gaza to the West Bank, the opening of Gaza’s port and airport. and control of border crossings into Gaza. (Remember this was ONE MONTH AGO)

So what have they got ? If a Palestinian now wants to travel anywhere by air, he needs to travel overland450 Km to Cairo. To import or export, he can only use the Egyptian ports of Damietta and Port Saïd, an overland trip of 300Km. He can't travel to work in Israel and cannot get direct access to the West Bank. Border crossing are controlled by Israel and Egypt.

Now Israel is to ask UN Security Council to pass a resolution declaring the end of its occupation, which no doubt Mr John Bolton will be warming up, to ram through a pliant Council at breakneck speed. They will of course get it, despite decades of refusal to follow countless UN resolutions.

Legal advisor Younès al-Jarou, says such a resolution, means the Israelis intends to avoid its obligations which compel it to protect the occupied populace and to provide for their essential needs in health, education and food. Gaza will be cut off from Israel .... which Israel isn't the slightest bit concerned about ..... but it will also be cut off politically, socially and economically from the West Bank and Jerusalem and that's a problem.

This gigantic hoax perpetrated by Sharon the Butcher of Sabra and Shattila, 38 years after the 1967 defeat and 12 years after the Oslo accords transforms military disengagement into the end of the occupation. This effectively imprisons the Palestinian population in a giant Gulag, where they can neither use the port of Ashdod, the airport at Tel Aviv nor will they be allowed work in Israel.

Meanwhile the charade of “expulsion” of the Bronx bred settlers armed with their Neanderthal beliefs and Kalshnikovs and Uzis is at an end. "I have no sympathy for the settlers," Jihan Mahmoud, a university student from a village near Ramallah is quoted in the Jerusalem Times, "What we saw on television was just a show. Unfortunately, the international media, which is largely controlled by Jews, played into the hands of Sharon and the settlers.

Where were they when hundreds of Palestinian families were expelled from their homes in Rafah during the intifada?"

Sharon …. a Nobel Peace Prize ? Well they gave one to Kissinger after he organized bombing the shit out of Cambodia and Laos without the US public knowing.

Maybe one for Condi, fuck me, she’s got a whole oil tanker named after her, not much left…. Except for someone to call her mother… but then a lot of people call her a mother anyway.

The pic by the way was when she was “Drive by Diplomatizing” in what will very soon be Kurdistan, No doubt Mr Barzani who needs no lessons in US perfidy will take a leaf from Mr Sharon’s book and just ignore the bitch.

Some details, with thanks from Nur al-Cubicle.

Robertson takes the Hobbesian view

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson 75, geriatric founder of the Christian Coalition of America has suggested that American agents assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson told the Christian Broadcast Network's "The 700 Club." On Monday 22ns August.

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," said Pat Robertson "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war … and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

As Tim Padgett in Time cogently points out, this only solidifies the view on the Latin street that the Yanqui imperialists are at it again.

Bantz Craddock will be scratching his head as the cocaine pours out of Columbia (plus the odd IRA bird watcher) ... just so loing as that 1.3 Mn bpd hits the shores of Texas, nothing is going to happen real soon.

Why, in the country they freed where oil pumping is below pre-war levels, it stopped altogether in Basra, where the hig quality, high value sweet crude is exported ...because of a power outage...why ? ... huge destruction of powerlines to the refineries.

Let's hope no-one suggests shooting Pat Robertson.

The BIGGER the BANG the Louder the Silence.....

Here is a an edited view of “New Dimensions” the semi secret role of the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) prepared by Merseyside FRS.Remember ..."UK Fire and Rescue Service has evolved beyond its statutory duty to fight fire. It is now a multi-skilled all round Fire and Rescue Service. (Office of the Deputy Prime Minster ODPM)Minister responsible for FRS Nick Raynsford (pic)

Since 9/11 an additional responsibility for the FRS is that of “New Dimensions” which compliments the already well established roles of operational planning and emergency planning. New Dimensions was launched following the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. It set out to review the Fire and Rescue Service nationally for its preparedness against a potential terrorist threat.

The programme is led by the ODPM and aims to that all Fire and Rescue Services are sufficiently equipped and trained to respond and deal effectively with major, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and conventional terrorist incidents not only locally, but also on a regional and national scale.

The changing nature of the terrorist threat mean we live with a heightened state of preparedness , for a number of years. In this new environment we must remain vigilant to new types of threat. Recent attacks have been on the least well protected targets. The principal threat at present comes from International Terrorism, in particular extremist groups, who have a much broader agenda and will use whatever means necessary to deliver their method of attack.

All other Fire and Rescue Services have in partnership with the Department of Health, accepted responsibility for the management of Public Mass Decontamination in the event of a Chemical, Biological or Radiological attack.

Following a thorough assessment of the potential risk, a new system of decontamination has been employed. To meet the needs of this system money was made available by Government, to purchase some of the best equipment available in the world. This includes portable shower units and specialist protective clothing.
We are also introducing additional vehicles to help us to perform this role. These vehicles will be an integral part of our capability to provide assistance at a range of emergencies (for example, they will also improve our ability to respond to a major incident at an airport or on the railways) and will be available for use at any incident where they can make a contribution. They will not be kept in storage only to be brought out if and when a major incident happens.

The improvements in public safety which these vehicles and equipment will provide should be made as soon as possible. We are, therefore, bringing them into service as soon as the vehicles and equipment are available and our crews have been trained in their safe use, rather than delaying until we have finalised the rest of this draft plan.

The 7/7 and 21/7 bombings were the first real terrorist threat, (on which his Worship the Mayor (pic) has been remarkably quiet)including the dreaded “Sarin” gas attack, (rumoured about in Rupert’s Rag the Times today for the House of Commmons) for the Tube to use this fancy new equipment, decontamination gear etc etc., (allegedly on a budget exceeding 700Mn Pounds Sterling).
So why was this not used ?.... (“mass decontamination Incident Response Units have been strategically positioned around the country “ .... Nick Raynsford MP Minister for the Fire and Rescue Service Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2004/05)

Why no assuring messages that the bombs were only explosive and provided no further threat of gas, radiation etc., ? What did we get …Total fucking silence.

Yet another puzzle. Unless of course it was well known that they were not needed.

Get more information on London's Preparedness here

Mid West - Middle America

In the flyover states the yellow ribbons and "Support our Troops" are in evidence, the response to an enquiry about Cindy Sheehan is a shrug and something to the effect that if Casey was alive, he'd be turning in his grave.

If this is the heartland that Dubya is relying on, he has no need to worry...just yet.

Connecticut plumps for the Mantis Religiosa

There are three species of praying mantids in North America. The native Carolina , the European and the Chinese.

For some curious reason Connecticut have adopted the imported European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) as the State insect. This is the insect for whom sex for the males is a "once in a lifetime" experience and for the females is a succession of "one night stands".

Hoosiers want to make the Say's Light Bug the State Insect in a campaign organised by Purdue University. Say was an early chronicler of the State and light bugs with their fluorescent sparkling bums are collected by kids through the summer nights.

The idea of having a state insect is to highlight the importance of the insect world around us.

Contrary to popular belief mantis are not harmful to humans, they do not bite but have specially adaptedspiny forelegs to hold their prey. They are used as insectivores in greenhouses and the eggs can be supplied for about $1 each over the web.

Ian Blair backs Cressida and says officers told no lies.

Interview “Exclusive with Rupert’s Rag News of the World today…..he makes a point of backing Commander Cressida Dick, who was in overall charge on the day of the shooting.

He adds firmly: "Cressida has my absolute confidence and support." Sir Ian stresses he has apologised to the de Menezes family and denies that his officers told them lies.

I think Cressida has good reason to worry that one of the finest minds that Christ Church has produced is backing her….. I suggest she starts to look for another job PDQ.