Entebbe Anniversary : Settlers demand a move into N. Gaza.

Already the attempt at re-settlement of Gaza has begun - Activists are preparing a list of families, bachelors (11 families and 17 bachelors so far) interested in returning to former Northern Gaza , Dugit, Nisanit and Elei Sinai settlements. ‘Today everyone understands that these settlements are Ashkelon’s bullet-proof vest, and in order to protect Ashkelon we must have Jewish presence in the area,’ Baruch Marzel head of the Jewsih National Front is reported by ynet.

According to the activists, should the IDF deny their request, they will consider taking “operative steps” to resettle the Strip, including entering the area without authorization.

“To gain back Israel’s deterrence we must prove that our concessions are reversible, but the settlement enterprise will remain forever. Therefore we must impose Israeli sovereignty in these areas. A military maneuver is only temporary and will therefore give temporary results. We are willing to rebuild our homes in north Gaza.”

Wonder what the Minister of the Interior Mrs T. Livini thinks of all this ?

If you think these people have no support read this comment to the news in ynet ..

16. Gaza will be liberated and Jews will come back
Don't worry guys. Jews will be back in free Gaza. One guy asked, "But what if Olmert .?" Olmert will soon be gone to US, France or other places with his family. You forgot that Gaza belongs to Jews, and Israel is not "Olmerts Israel" like "Saudi Arabia". The main reason Jews will be back in Gaza, of course, is not that Tel Aviv and Askelon don't like missiles. The main reason is that Gaza is our Jewish place.
Yariv , Tel Aviv (07.06.06)

Picture : Hitherto unseen of the Mercedes ferried to Uganda which Israeli agents in Uganda Army Uniforms stormed the tower at Entebbe 30 years ago today.

Bush : ... "rule-maker, investigator, accuser, prosecutor, judge, jury, sentencing court, reviewing court, and jailer or executioner"

On June 5th the American Bar Association (400,000 members) announced creation of a Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine . “The task force will study thoroughly the implications of presidential signing statements for the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and interpretation of laws,” said ABA President Michael S. Greco in announcing the task force which will report at their annual shindig in Honolulu August 7-8, 2006.

Why so ?

Well if you were taught about the US constitution and were told about the separation of powers, of the Legislature (Congress) and the Executive (The President) you need a little up dating.

When the President signs a Law he can also add a “signing statement”

Whilst this practice started with 5th U.S. President, James Monroe (1817-1825), from then they were used sparingly and mostly for rhetorical purposes ( I commend this Bill in the fight against slavery etc.,) . Until Ronald Reagan became President in 1980, only 75 statements had been issued. Reagan and his successors, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton (247 SS’s) took it to new heights and George Bush II has by some accounts issued some 750 challenges to Congressional authority.


Legally there is no US Constitutional provision, federal statute or common-law principle which explicitly permits or prohibits signing statements. Art 1 S. 1 in the Presentment Clause empowers the president to veto a law in its entirety, or to sign it and S. 2. requires that the executive "take care that the laws be faithfully executed".

When challenged the Clinton Administration claimed:

If the President may properly decline to enforce a law, at least when it unconstitutionally encroaches on his powers, then it arguably follows that he may properly announce to Congress and to the public that he will not enforce a provision of an enactment he is signing. If so, then a signing statement that challenges what the President determines to be an unconstitutional encroachment on his power, or that announces the President's unwillingness to enforce (or willingness to litigate) such a provision, can be a valid and reasonable exercise of Presidential authority

What brought this to a head amongst constitutional lawyers, Congress and informed members of the public was the McCain Detainee Amendment about the inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody which the President issued a signing statement ;

"The Executive Branch shall construe [the torture ban] in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary Executive Branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power."

This is based upon the Prof. Yoo / Alberto Golazalez unitary executive theory under which the the Commander in Chief when the nation is at war has the power and authority to use his discretion in interpreting and applying the law. The result is , it is argued, the President has with the signing statement to the McCain Detainee Amendment reserved the right to waive the "torture ban", effectively re-writing the law passed by Congress.

Of course this device has been used already to override other acts. Last March, Congress passed legislation requiring Justice Department officials to give them reports by certain dates on how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.

But when President George W. Bush signed the measure into law, he added a "signing statement." The statement said the president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.

Congress is also unhappy at Bush's defense of his National Security Agency (NSA) "domestic eavesdropping" program, in which the president claimed he could ignore a 1978 law prohibiting wiretaps of U.S. citizens without "probable cause" and a warrant issued by a court.

The American Bar Asssociation had already taken the matter in hand when in February after the Press blew the whistle on widespread unauthorised elecronic surveillance, they issued a resolution ;

…. FURTHER RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association opposes any future electronic surveillance inside the United States by any U.S. government agency for foreign intelligence purposes that does not comply with the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 50 U.S.C. §§ 1801 et seq. (FISA), and urges the President, if he believes that FISA is inadequate to safeguard national security, to seek appropriate amendments or new
legislation rather than acting without explicit statutory authorization;

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association urges the Congress to affirm that the Authorization for Use of Military Force of September 18, 2001, Pub.L. No. 107-40, 115 Stat. 224 § 2(a) (2001) (AUMF), did not provide a statutory exception to the FISA requirements, and that any such exception can be authorized only through affirmative and
explicit congressional action; FURTHER RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association urges the Congress to conduct a thorough, comprehensive investigation to determine: (a) the nature and extent of electronic surveillance of U.S. persons conducted by any U.S. government agency for foreign intelligence purposes that does not comply with FISA; (b) what basis or bases were advanced (at the time it was initiated and subsequently) for the legality of such surveillance; (c) whether the Congress was properly informed of and consulted as to the surveillance; (d) the nature of the information obtained as a result of the surveillance and whether it was retained or shared with other agencies; and (e) whether this information was used in legal proceedings against any U.S. citizen.

.. and you guessed it they formed a Task Force.

Judging by the Commander in Chief’s response to the ruling last week by the Supreme Court over the case of Guantanamo resident Hamdan … don’t hold your breath.

Barbara Olshansky, Director Counsel of the Global Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a prominent advocacy group. is reported saying , "I think it is hard evidence of (The President's) continued aggressive arrogation of power. It is a blatant attempt to expand power by pulling the rug out from under Congress each time it passes a bill that he dislikes." A book to read by her, is Secret Trials and Executions - Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy


"Olshansky, ..lays out a skillful argument which, point by point, shows how the "war on terrorism" at home amounts to a declaration of war on the Constitution itself..."

"With a single swipe of his pen, President Bush replaced the democratic pillars of our legal system with that of a military commission system in which he, or his designee, is rule-maker, investigator, accuser, prosecutor, judge, jury, sentencing court, reviewing court, and jailer or executioner."

Prof. Edward Herman of the University of Pennsylvania, also said , "The brazenness of Bush's use of this practice is remarkable. Even more remarkable is the fact that this de facto further nullification of congressional authority fails to elicit sustained criticism and outrage. It is part of a step-by-step abrogation of constitutional government, and it is swallowed by the flag-wavers and normalized. We are in deep trouble!"

It was Prof Herman who wrote of the gullibity of the Press and quoted the position in Guatemala in the 50's when a United Fruit public relations man commented sardonically on the media's gullibility ... "It is difficult to make a convincing case for manipulation of the press when the victims proved so eager for the experience."

EU Parliament gets tough over CIA renditions

The EU Parliament has adopted by a massive 389 votes in favour, 137 against with 55 abstentions the interim report on alleged illegal CIA activity in Europe.


The CIA, noted the European Parliament in its report, (The preliminary conclusions, were drafted by Italian Socialist MEP Claudio Fava) has been "directly responsible" in cases of extraordinary rendition, "illegal seizure, removal, abduction and detention of terrorist suspects on the territory of Member States, accession and candidate countries" - all of which constitute violations of fundamental rights under international law. As MEPs determined, the CIA - using aircraft hired by front companies - has made use of such practices for the illegal transfer of terrorist suspects to countries which frequently use torture during interrogations. With that in mind, MEPs have demanded extraordinary renditions to be "clearly prohibited" in international law.

Member States "may be held liable" for failure to comply with the European Convention of Human Rights, they added. Under the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, EU countries have the positive obligation to prevent human rights violations on their territory -- and to carry out investigations "to ascertain whether their territory and their airspace" have been used in connection with human rights violations.

European governments attacked

MEP's say "it is implausible that certain European governments were not aware of the
activities linked to extraordinary rendition taking place on their territory". Such
involvement or complicity, they argue, was likely ;

1. On the part of Italian authorities in the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar by CIA agents in Milan
2. On the part of Bosnian authorities in the abduction and transfer of six Bosnian nationals or residents of Algerian origin to Guantanamo Bay
3. On the part of Swedish authorities, who expelled Egyptian nationals Mohammed Al Zary and Ahmed Agiza, handing them over to CIA agents for transfer to Egypt.

They also condemn the 2003 abduction of German national Khaled El-Masri by the CIA and "deplore the reluctance of [the FYROM authorities] to confirm that El-Masri was in Skopje and was probably being held there before his rendition to Afghanistan by CIA agents."

Parliament also has noted that EU-Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism Gijs the Vries and CFSP High Representative Javier Solana both told MEPs that they were not aware of any violation of national, European or international law by Member States cooperating with the CIA, adding that they were not competent to request relevant information from Member States.

Citing "repeated violations" of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation during flights carried out by the CIA in Europe - and underlining that no European country has made consistent efforts to ensure that civilian aircraft are used for purposes compatible with international human rights - the Parliament calls on the Commission to harmonise national laws on the use of national airspace and airports. Current European legislation, MEPs conclude, is "totally inadequate".


The report (as ever) asks for more time - so the Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners (TDIP) will continue its work for the remainder of its 12 month term. The Committee's final report, should appear by Jan / Feb 2007.

MEPs plan, among other things, to invite the Secretary-General of NATO to a hearing to clarify the possible involvement of SFOR and KFOR forces in the illegal detention of the six Bosnians who still remain in Guantanamo. MEPs again call for the closure of the prison at Guantanamo, asking Member States to "take a proactive role" in finding a solution for the detainees.

Curiously when Googling this news item you will find nothing in the MSM anywhere in Europe.


POSTSCRIPT 9th July 2006

The excellent Jacksonville sage Nur al Cubicle as ever has the low down on SISMI and the Italian Job - Niger Uranium, now you sees it now you don't, co-ordinating CIA kidnappings - trying to blackmail Prodi with connections ot CIA renditions etc., etc., required reading.

7/7 Plod doesn't want enquiry - Quis custodet ...

Colin Cramphorn the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police believes a similar attack to the July 7 bombings in the UK is "very possible".

He said resources would be better targeted at preventing further atrocities, rather than holding a public inquiry into the previous one in London.

So, the largest murder in UK history and we don't want to find out what really happened, we don't want public examination of the evidence and the testing of that evidence ? (Not a whimper from our elected representatives either)

Colin Cramphorn says we should be "alert but not alarmed" - when the evidence that has been published, "leaked" , "emerged", is so confusing and unconvincing to fit the official narrative we MUST have an enquiry.

E.g To take what is (one would imagine) is a straightforward piece of investigation ...the "suicide bombers" arrived at Luton in 2 cars ... here is the tale of the two cars....http://www.julyseventh.co.uk/7-7-hire-cars-at-luton.html there is also a great deal more to see at this site of course.

"There seems only one thing to say with any certainty regarding the issue of the cars that these men are said to have used that day…that there is no consistency at all in the reporting of it. For almost every account there is another that contradicts it and a myriad of questions arising from the lack of verified information on the subject. As time has gone on it has only become more mystifying."


POSTSCRIPT

Listening to Sir Ian Blair interviewed by James Naughtie on BBC Radio 4 "Today" now, it transpires he hasn't yet been interviewd about the murder by his officers of de Menezes on 22nd July 2006.

Asked about an enquiry into the 7/7 bombings he said he had no view but wouldn't disagree with Colin Cramphorn. "The investigation continues at an enormous pace. "

Asked about the chance of a threat he said it had "palpably increased" and he would agree with what Colin Cramphorn said.

Professor Yoo is upset

I can't think of a better way to spend the 4th of July than with the All Americans of the 82nd Airborne. (Applause.) You're Airborne all the way, and I'm proud to be here with you.

The architect of the principle that the wartrime President can do any damn thing he wants resents the Supreme Courts decsion last week on Mr Hamdan.

"What the court is doing is attempting to suppress creative thinking," said Professor Yoo, who now teaches law at the University of California, Berkeley. "The court has just declared that it's going to be very intrusive in the war on terror. They're saying, 'We're going to treat this more like the way we supervise the criminal justice system.' "

The court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Professor Yoo said, may signal the collapse of the entire enterprise. "It could affect detention conditions, interrogation methods, the use of force," he said. "It could affect every aspect of the war on terror."

Well, Whooooop di do Prof. Yoo. It's time someone reigned the mongers of war in at the White House.

Pic. White House POTUS rallies the troops on Independence Day at Fort Bragg

Victory in Iraq will not, in itself, end the war on terror. We're engaged in a global struggle against the followers of a murderous ideology that despises freedom and crushes all dissent, and has territorial ambitions and pursues totalitarian aims.

Shezad Tanweer, cricketer, idler, drug dealer...bomber ?

Al Jazeera began airing a tape today which is similiar to the one shown last year. This time it features for 20 seconds of Shezad Tanweer, with the same background as the earlier tape featuring Siddique Kahn.

It also shows al Qaeda's supposed No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri and the full tape is said to also include former Californian Adam Gadahn, AKA Azzam al-Amriki, or "Azzam the American" as Fox TV calls him,former heavy metal skunkhead, now Al Quaeda convert who US "sources" claim is running the al Qaeda propaganda operation from a secret location somewhere inside Pakistan.

What to make of these tapes? There seems to be little doubt that they are of the named persons, but where, when , under what circumstances, why ?

The texts of both , as supplied, convey nothing specific, and would support any argument that they were play acting out of bravado - manipulated into the situation. Certainly there are none of the usual icons of of violence, slogans, flags, guns, grenades, sloganised head bands.... psychoactive substances in evidence ? Those eyes are a dead giveaway .. but what do I know?

They will of course be used to convey the impression that these guys were committed jihadists - one the pampered middle class kid with a red Mercedes and an estate at death of £120,000 and the other married outside the faith with a child expected.

Add to that the kid whose mum called the cops when he didn't turn up after a day out in London, and the Luton lunatic who spent £900 on top of the range scents in a day.

Yeah ! Yeah! fits my picture of the radical islamofascist jihadist, who makes bathtub bombs etc., etc., etc., but can't keep a real job down.

If you believe these four guys, acting without anybody else in asupportive or manipulative role then you are wrong ... there are others out there .. and I don't think they are seeking to extend the Empire of the Saracens.

Pic (c) FBI of Gadahn

Prescott : is Sarah taking a RISE ?

Former Labour Parliamentary candidate Sarah Bissett-Scott, 57, said she had a two-year fling with Prescott and believed she was just one of a string of torrid affairs.

Mrs Bissett-Scott, who stood as a Parliamentary candidate in Stevenage in 1992, but now is the big wheel in Stevenage based Rise Associates, consultants in squeezing money from Governments, the EU and other funding bodies ....especially for regeneration projects .. which is of course a major responsibility of the ODPM.

Interestingly they have responded on their website to the excitement and interest with an item they call "News Focus" (undated)

Sometimes you get more publicity than you bargain for!

Over the years, RISE Associates have diligently brought Nolan Standards to the attention of our clients. But life, like art, is sometimes stranger than fiction!

A work relationship on a transport report for the South East has been amazingly embellished and redefined by some of the less scrupulous press. Clients and colleagues who have worked with RISE and particularly with Sarah, will know that

(a) Sarah's post-graduate dissertations on housing finance and the 'impact of planning' on women's lives were strong academic pieces of work - so much for the blond bimbo label!

(b) The SEEDS research managed by Sarah on Integrated Transport published in 1989/90 was well-received and influential - it made interesting reading for transport specialists and many councils in the South East of England.

(c) Standing as a parliamentary candidate is a serious business - that's why Sarah signed up as a founder supporter of 'Emily's List UK' - the pressure group for 'more women in parliament'.

Whilst interviews have been taking place to replace Tracey etc., (see pic) we wonder does this have anything to do with the following exchanges in the House of Commons on May 11th ?

Mr. Heald: (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative) To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many tenders Rise Associates have submitted to his Department in each of the last five years; and how many were successful.

Angela E. Smith: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002 and information prior to this date is not readily available. Since that date there have been no successful tenders for Rise Associates. The number of tenders submitted during this period is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many contracts his Department holds with Rise Associates which have a potential duration of five years or more.

Angela E. Smith: ODPM has no existing contracts with Rise Associates.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many applications for regeneration monies have been submitted by Rise Associates to his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years for which figures are available and what the value is of those which were successful.

Angela E. Smith: No regeneration monies have been paid directly by the Department to Rise Associates. The Department maintains a record of funding to its agencies, but this does not include details of any payments made by agencies to third party organisations for services.

Pic (C) PA of man with funny red skull cap meets DPM Prescott and in the background Tracey, sometime mistress to DPM Prescott (only minutes away from a quick shag we now discover) but she is was not Sarah another mistress to DPM Prescott.

British Soldier dies in Helmland

We had better get used to these BBC reports, " A British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence says.

The soldier, from the 3 Para Battle Group, was shot while on a patrol near the town of Sangin. He died while he was being given treatment."

Other reports say he was being returned to the base for treatment ... by helicopter ?

The Helmand Task Force will comprise elements of the Headquarters of Colchester-based 16 Air Assault Brigade, and airborne infantry battlegroup. Based initially around the Third Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, it will incorporate a force of 8 Apache Attack Helicopters, provided by 9 Regiment, Army Air Corps, the first time we have deployed this impressive new capability on an operation. 9 Regiment will also supply four Lynx Light Utility Helicopters while 27 Squadron, Royal Air Force, will provide a detachment of six Chinook Support Helicopters.

Other major units and capabilities include Scimitar and Spartan armoured vehicles from the Household Cavalry Regiment, a battery of 105mm Light Guns from 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, a battery of Desert Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from 32 Regiment, Royal Artillery, 13 Air Assault Regiment and 29 Regiment of the Royal Logistics Corps, 7 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and 16 Close Support Medical Regiment. We shall also deploy four additional Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

How many Apaches are airworthy ?
How many Lynx are airworthy ?
Why do the Pakistani Army use Bell AH-1 Cobras ?

Prescott and the Privy Councillor - amazing pictures

The Deputy Prime Minister Right Hon. John Prescott is alleged to have done lots of things, that have discredited both him, and his office carpet and the back seat of the DPM's pool car.
(BBC2 Newnight cover this tonight - discovered nothing but interviewed a blogger Ian Dale who turns out to be a failed wannabe Conservative MP and sad wanker to boot)

Now it alleged, quite laughably, that one of his ex office workers has been ushered into the privileged sanctums of the ruling elite and been made a Privy Councillor, one has been shipped off on a very slow boat to China and the other is still counting her pay-off from the generous gents of Fleet Street whilst indulging in a little light work in the garden and topping up her suntan.

So Prescott (rumour has it, the burly ex ship's steward is hung like a donkey) has been shagging around - the list of Whitehall shaggers is endless .....WTF?

However ... the cosy fireside chats with pint sized Mr Anschutz, may however have included the odd reference to William Wilberforce, but , more likely to relaxing the savage provision for money laundering imposed on casinos. In the land of his father , Mr Anschutz is used to a tad lighter touch on the control of the money shufflers, even so, his deep Christian conscience does not seem to trouble him in garnering the fruits of the casino operators.

There is also the control over safety / tiresome fire precautions at the Dome which naturally come within the umbrella of the man who looks after Fireman Sam and his London Burners.

Always handy to have a team from the back office to ...er .. iron out any small problems along the way. They were however on a relaxing break at the weekend so probably didn't.

God knows Anschutz needed no help in buying the Dome they practically threw the fucking thing at him and his partners.There was of course the very strange business of what land was available, at what price, who owned it, and what was was part of the deal ... see Hansard here ... very rum indeed.

£550 MN over the life of the deal for 140 acres plus ? Sounds a good deal to me.

English Partnerships owned most land , and EP are a Government Agency who are controlled by - why the semen/seaman stained office of the DPM ! - but never forget it was Fatty Falconer who announced the deal in December 2001

The National Audit Office when they looked at the deal reported ..."Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, commented that English Partnerships and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister had worked hard to get the deal and that, although there were risks still to be managed in delivering the deal, it stood to benefit local residents and the taxpayer."

The VPM was quoted , "English Partnerships have secured good value for money and a good deal with Meridian Delta Ltd and Anschutz for the future use of the Dome ..."

This is not of course to suggest that these matters were ever discussed, brought up, mulled over, thought about, even hinted at, back (as they say) at the ranch.

But the DPM seemed overjoyed at the outcome.(see pic) As well he might.

Pic : Picture of the Leader of the Privy Council who has never worked in John Prescott's office.

POSTSCRIPT

Citizen Anschutz, 66 was described by Forbes as 34th richest and by Fortune the greediest US executive, with a net worth of US$5Bn .. he is said to own more farm and cattle land than any other single private citizen in the United States.

With fingers in all sorts of entertainment and sport he controls 20% of the country's movie screens, after shrewd deals in buying up bankrupt distributors, just as he bought up railways and laid cables as Qwest for their optic fibre backbone. His original $55 million investment in Qwest turned into a $4.9 billion profit when the company went public in 1997. He is a big Republican contributor, he funded Amendment 2, a ballot initiative to overturn a state law protecting gay rights, helped stop medical marijuana.He helps fund the Seattle based kooky Discovery Institute, a right wing bunch of conservative Christian clusterfucks that pursues a public relations campaign, and finances "research" into Intelligent Design.

He has funded the Narnia fillums based on C.S. Lewis's books, an author revered by the Discovery Institute fruitcakes.

Anschutz is a very shrewd guy , now he is into newspapers with his Examiner series he is building , which it is rumoured will end up being totally online - remeber his Qwest days.

He may be a holy roller Christian but he is not a crook, I guess this rough tough , straight talking, hard nosed guy ate the DPM for breakfast, named and detailed his demands , take it or leave it, ..... what else are you going to do with an empty tent ?

Now if you want a dodgy deal have a look at Lewes / Brighton / Football / Areas of Outstanding Natural beauty etc., etc., but JP is safe, TB cannot afford to sack him and elect a successor. Besides he knows some powerful people, the Lord Chancellor, Privy Councillors etc., he's even rubbed up against a few MP's and their spouses in his time.

Discovery Institute Website

Miami 7 - not quite what they seem to be...

The beauty of living in Limey land (apart from missing out on the July 4th party) is you get "another chance to see" , the John Stewart Show on Channel4 More news @ 8pm with the sylph like, intelligent , ever smiling Sara Smith fronting it.

Well last night we got to see Alberto Gonzalez field the press (again) when he announced the arrest of the Miami 7 who planned according to POTUS " a world wide terrist" threat.

Q. Had these men had contact with Al-Quaeda ?
AG the AG confers with his confreres.
AG. The answer to that question is. No.

Q . Did these men have arms, explosives?
AG the AG confers with his confreres.
AG. The answer to that question is. No. etc., etc.,

This is the guy upon whose opinion we run Guantanamo and ask him to interpet the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions... ?

This guy looks as though he would have trouble following the instructions on a Betty Crocker Cake Mix. Proof (if needed) of Unintelligent Design in my book.... er.. the Good One.

If you want to hear another fuckwit at work on the Hill, go to Public Knowledge who has a stream or a downloadable MP3 of Senator Ted Stevens (R. Alaska) tell us what the Internet is and what it does....sample " They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck. It's a series of tubes ..." Don't believe me ? Just listen - but don't let your children hear it.

I guess they re-named the Anchorage airport after him so he knows where to get off when the plane stops.

Another Bloody silly conspiracy Theory

Now 7.7 rolls around ,I begin to think the Miami 7 (that numero 7 again) are actually another gang, who have been round Hollywood for years ... Sleepy, Dopey, Sneezy ..... the brains of the outfit is a honky broad with black hair who goes by the name of Snow White ... sleeps around a lot.

This pill is NOT sugar coated - EU / CAP reform kicks in on sugar growers

The effects of the new EU sugar reform implemented in February, replacing a system unchanged for 40 years are still being felt in the UK. The guaranteed price for white sugar will be cut by 36 percent (negotiated down from 39p) over 4 years and farmers will be compensated for 64.2 percent of the price cut through a decoupled payment. The full scheme took effect on July 1st and should see a reduction in sugar costs to the consumer - who has been paying at least 3 times the world price to subsidise the sugar / sugar beet industry for 40 years.

However AB Foods (who own British Sugar) have just announced they want to purchase the UK's remaining 83,000 tonnes of sugar quota and shut its York and Allscott (near Telford) beet sugar plants at the end of this processing year 2006 / 7 , and consolidate processing at their remaining four factories in East Anglia.
They will be investing £60m in newer and more efficient plant, said Colm McKay, head of agricultural operations, not includng £20m to be invested in the Wissington biobutanol plant with Du Pont.This plant will open in February 2007 and will manufacture 55,000 tonnes (70 million litres) of bioethanol each year from sugar beet.The plant already has forward contracts to supply Greenergy who already supply Tesco who sell a 5% bioethanol petrol at 185 petrol outlets in the South East.

ABF's CEO, George Watson said “We intend ultimately to produce more sugar from four UK factories than we currently produce from six.” Last year ABF warned that the new EU sugar reform, could slice £10m (€14.4m) from operating profit in 2006-7, and some £40m per year thereafter. ABF, the fourth-largest food producer in Britain, said profit before tax and goodwill amortisation was down two per cent to £255m for the 24 weeks ended 4 March 2006. Basic earnings per share was down 16 per cent to 21.0p and profit before tax down 13 per cent to £234m.

Naturally the NFU are unhappy with change ...the closures will “change the boundaries for where sugar is grown for the factories”, adding the decision was a “kick in the teeth” to farmers.

“Sugar beet is the most profitable of the mainstream arable products and whatever farmers do instead is not going to return as much as sugar.”About 1,200 farmers in the Yorkshire area are likely to be affected by plans to shut the beet sugar factory, which employs 102 people.Alscott is a small factory but it will affect Midlands growers.

"ABF, currently the fourth-largest food producer in Britain, said profit before tax and goodwill amortisation was down two per cent to £255m for the 24 weeks ended 4 March 2006. Basic earnings per share were down 16 % to 21.0p and profit before tax down 13% to £234m.

Danisco the European producer have closed sugar factories in Assens, Denmark, Kpingebro, Sweden, Salo, Finland and the sold parts of their sugar quotas in Sweden and Finland.They estimate that their estimated earnings will drop to DKK 600-750 million a year, not including the effects of increased energy costs.

Even so EU confectioners will still be paying twice the world price for sugar. Perhaps, given rising levels of obesity at all ages we should tax consumers (as in Scandinavia), rather than subsidise producers.

See Postman Patel, Saturday, April 8 "Sweet moves by the US & UK in the Middle East" about Tate & Lyle's response to the EU / CAP changes.

Kim lets off July 4th Firecracker

Six rockets were launched including the long-range sooper dooper "Hit California" Taepodong-2 which failed 40 seconds into its flight and landed in the Sea of Japan. (evidently NOT made in China then)

The world is outraged at this display of clapped out third world weaponry and is going to ask the UN TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

As for the rice they need to eat - fugeddaboutit.

Hoon and war readiness ..... an everyday story of military folk.

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,

R. Kipling. Young British Soldier

On considering the gormless Hoon's contribution to explaining the shambles of Afghanistan last week it was worth looking up -

National Audit Office Operation TELIC - United Kingdom Military Operations in Iraq
HC 60 Session 2003-2004: 11 December 2003 which reported on Hoon's time as Mister of Defence.

"A key issue emerging, however, is that, on a United Kingdom Government wide basis, the nature and size of the post-conflict task was extremely difficult both to predict and to plan for. There were gaps in both the coordination of the planning and in the capability to do more in the short and medium term than patch up the existing inadequate infrastructure."

".... had not fully anticipated the consequences of a total collapse of the Saddam regime and what the United Kingdom's obligations would be once hostilities had ceased."

" ... Reconstruction is not a simple task and a great deal remains to be done within the United Kingdom's area of responsibility in southern Iraq, as across the whole country."

Cost in Year 20002 - 2003 - £847 Mn. As at November 2003, the Department estimated that the cost of the Operation in 2003-04 would be around £1.2 billion.

Hoon remember, was the guy who knew Blair was talking bollocks abour 45 minutes readiness of WMD, and when asked why he had not corrected the wrong impression in the national press that Britain could have been attacked by Iraqi WMDs within 45-minutes, he replied: “I didn’t see those newspapers, so the question of a correction did not arise, as far as I was concerned.”

That sort of response must really cheer up the squaddies as they look at the 6 inert Lynx helicopters, unusable in the heat and dust.

Hoon and war readiness ..... an everyday story of military folk.

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,

R. Kipling. Young British Soldier

On considering the gormless Hoon's contribution to explaining the shambles of Afghanistan last week it was worth looking up -

National Audit Office Operation TELIC - United Kingdom Military Operations in Iraq
HC 60 Session 2003-2004: 11 December 2003 which reported on Hoon's time as Mister of Defence.

"A key issue emerging, however, is that, on a United Kingdom Government wide basis, the nature and size of the post-conflict task was extremely difficult both to predict and to plan for. There were gaps in both the coordination of the planning and in the capability to do more in the short and medium term than patch up the existing inadequate infrastructure."

".... had not fully anticipated the consequences of a total collapse of the Saddam regime and what the United Kingdom's obligations would be once hostilities had ceased."

" ... Reconstruction is not a simple task and a great deal remains to be done within the United Kingdom's area of responsibility in southern Iraq, as across the whole country."

Cost in Year 20002 - 2003 - £847 Mn. As at November 2003, the Department estimated that the cost of the Operation in 2003-04 would be around £1.2 billion.

Hoon remember, was the guy who knew Blair was talking bollocks abour 45 minutes readiness of WMD, and when asked why he had not corrected the wrong impression in the national press that Britain could have been attacked by Iraqi WMDs within 45-minutes, he replied: “I didn’t see those newspapers, so the question of a correction did not arise, as far as I was concerned.”

That sort of response must really cheer up the squaddies as they look at the 6 inert Lynx helicopters, unusable in the heat and dust.

Bad Back ? You need a biopsychosocial intervention - ie your benefits will be cut

John Hutton called for a 12 week period of consultation on his earlier Green paper on Incapacity Benefit Reform . This ended on 21st April 2006 and he has now announced his plans for an overhaul the incapacity benefit system. It is not a "penny-pinching exercise but designed to help millions of people," the work and pensions secretary, John Hutton, insisted yesterday.

You could have read about this earlier this year when Lord Patel offered a 2 part introduction on February 6th 2006.

Incapacity Benefit, / Unum Provident UK / UK Gubment Part 2

Can't work or won't work. Part 1 of the Incapacity Benefit story in the UK

Mr Hutton said: "Alongside the legislation, we are working with and consulting very closely with a whole range of organisations to try and design and implement the system more successfully.

You can be sure that the UnumProvident Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research £1.6million centre at Cardiff University, headed by Professor Mansel Aylward CB, recently appointed Chair in Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff and based in the School of Psychology and sponsored by income protection provider and insurer UnumProvident UK will loom large in these discussions.

However the top Guru on the work shy, is crystal ball gazing Professor Peter Halligan from the School of Psychology at Cardiff University, the brains behind the partnership with UnumProvident UK. He said earlier this year... very prophetically : "Within the next five years, the work will hopefully facilitate a significant re-orientation in current medical practise in the UK, whereby ‘enablement’ rather than disability will be the positive focus and goal for those involved in managing disability and those affected by unexplained symptoms."

Basically we are going to cut Incapacity claimants , especially the young, by 1 Mn.... and it will of course be amply cloaked in academic respectability by the Cardiff Chair in Psychosocial and Disability Research.

Challenging Economic Inactivity, Cardiff News March 2006

"Sickness and incapacity must be recognised as social rather than medical problems" , a University expert has told an audience at the Welsh Assembly.

Professor Mansel Aylward, Director of the UnumProvident Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research, School of Psychology, addressing an audience of Assembly Members, researchers and officials at a briefing on: Challenging the paths to economic inactivity: A programme of research for effective interventions in March. The Cardiff News refelected that the presentation was particularly timely, following the UK government’s green paper announcing plans to help one million incapacity benefit claimants back into work.

Professor Aylward said: “The paths to economic inactivity can be challenged by promoting health at work by providing the right opportunities and encouragement to support people back to work.”He advocates the adoption of biopsychosocial interventions to overcome obstacles to recovery and barriers to return to work; and illustrated the success achieved adopting this approach in the UK’s Pathways to Work initiative.

Get ready for these snappy slogans mined in the Cardiff academic groves of Psychobabbble

1. Health problems must address obstacles to recovery and barriers to returning to work.
2. Sickness and incapacity must be recognised as social rather than medical problems.
3. Challenging the paths to economic inactivity.
4. Adopting biopsychosocial interventions to overcome obstacles to recovery and barriers to return to work.

Which can be roughly translated to cut the benfits and this will sharpen the idle bastards up.

Pic. No 1. The Welsh Wizard Professor Mansel Aylward CB
Pin No 2 . TYpical claimant who expects chauffeur driven car, free grace and flacour flat, rail travel , has messy life with children by ex married girlfriends - in denial about what a lousy employee he is. Needs a severe biopsychosocial intervention.

Afghanistan - Stalky & Co Redux

The highly respected Senlis Council released a report on June 28th based on Field Interviews conducted by The Senlis Council’s international and Afghan staff in Kandahar over the last two months. The report was on the Canadian efforts in Afghanistan and starkly titled ..."Following US policies is turning Canadian military operation in Afghanistan into a suicide mission"

Emmanuel Reinert, is the Executive Director of The Senlis Council and he says ,“Most farmers feel abandoned and cheated by the central government and the international community,” said Reinert. “This has given way to a dramatic switch in alliance to the only people who they believe are showing any understanding of their needs – the Taliban.”

The Report indicates that the large-scale aggressive forced eradication of poppy crops in Kandahar, led by the US, has contributed in a significant way to the discontent of the local populations and that a wave of New Taliban are cashing-in on the local population’s disillusionment with the foreign military presence.

The Report notes that foreign troops are increasingly being seen as aggressors rather than peace-keepers in the eyes of the local population, due to aggressive military interventions which have caused numerous civilian deaths and casualties in the past months.

“The US has lost yet more of the support of the local people with the blood of innocent civilians on their hands,” said Reinert. “The problem facing the Canadian troops who have been assisting in the US led anti terrorist mission Operation Enduring Freedom, is that the local populations do not differentiate between the various nationalities – foreign troops are foreign troops. And foreign troops have killed their loved ones or other members of their communities.”

The field research in Kandahar revealed that the number of civilian deaths in the province has doubled from 2005 to 2006. Of the total number of fatalities for 2005 and the first half of 2006 (until the end of June 2006), civilian deaths represented an astonishing 22 percent of total fatalities. This equals the amount of Afghan Army and police forces killed in Kandahar.

An example of the military mindset could be found on BBC On LIne report this week ....

Captain Drew Gibson, a spokesman for the British military in southern Afghanistan, said the two UK soldiers killed in Helmand had been taking part in a "planned operation".

"The patrol was supported by close air support and by the quick reaction force that came out to support them," he said.

"Both those forces were then involved in separate contact incidents, and both were supported by close air support and artillery."

Or you might take another perspective when the gormless Mr Hoon (described as a FO Minister) On Tuesday June 27th in the House of Commons stated ...."Actually, there has been remarkable progress in Afghanistan since 2001. There have been presidential elections, parliamentary elections, and the establishment of a Government who are now increasingly able to extend their authority throughout the country. That is a success to celebrate. It does not mean that difficulties do not occur from time to time, but it is something on which I think we should all congratulate President Karzai and his Government. They are increasingly in control of their own country, as should be the case."

... all this under " the umbrella of security that our soldiers are working so hard to create"

Which was somewhat at odds with the views of Mr. Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth, East) (Con) recently returned from a bumpy trip to Afghanistan.

" ....and I was shocked to see how bad co-ordination is on the international development and reconstruction front. There is a conflict of interests between United Nations and European Union agencies, as well as the myriad of non-governmental organisations that answer to no one. A fundamental lack of leadership is leading to the pursuing of separate agendas, and to the wasting of money as projects overlap."

Send out more troops ? ... make sure we send out more body bags.

You were warned Mr Reid . . . .

Postman Patel Friday, January 27 2006
Reid sends ill equipped troops to certain deaths in S Afghanistan

Defence Secretary "Dr" John Reid met some of the troops due to die ("We expect to take casualties") in Afghanistan. In a nationwide exercise on Salisbury Plain , Dittingham Norfolk, and Otterburn exercise 3 Para are part of 3000 3,300 army personnel are due to go to the lawless southern region of the country.

Des Browne who followeed Dr Reid interviewed on Newsnight, blustered as usual .... 2 weeks in , 5 dead (In the heart of their own camp).

Gaza, a massive prison that no one cares about

Please go to the excellent peacepalestine blog and read what it is like in Gaza today.

One day in the early 70’s, Rabbi Moshe Levinger from that well known Zionist plot that God selected, the Bronx, and 70 other radical Jews (from the USA) checked into a hotel
in down town Hebron and decided not to move out after their “stay” was up.

Several years ago, Rabbi Moshe Levinger himself, shot and killed a Palestinian boy. For his punishment Levinger undertook some community service.

In February 1994, an American Israeli named Baruch Goldstein (then 38) walked into the mosque while Muslims were praying during the holy month of Ramadan and opened fire with his submachine gun. At least 40 worshippers were killed before Goldstein himself was killed by the crowd of over 400 Muslims.

In response to a question about the massacre of Palestinians carried out by Goldstein Rabbi Moshe Levinger said he is "sorry not only about dead Arabs but also about dead flies".

Tony Blair tells the TRUTH helps kick start a green revolution... and stirs a few memories

(Bateman cartoon coming on here). Yes. Tony Blair told the Truth....TRUTH.

It happened when he was entertaining the British Society of Magazine Editors at NO 10 Downing Street (See No 10 website) .... there he was explaining .."Now as I say people always talk about me as if I am sort of starry eyed about people who have made money, I am not,..."

Q: (Top shelf wank mags for kids) Question:It is a question about top shelf magazines ... vocal threat emerging from parliament ..... I wondered whether you felt it necessary that they should be displayed on the top shelf or that they should have age stamps?

Tony Blair: I don't know what I think about this actually. I don't really know, I don't know. The only thing I think is that, I mean I am not ...

Q: You don't read Nuts or Zoo for example?

Tony Blair: Look, compared with most of what I have to read, particularly about myself, it would probably be a welcome relief. (Ho.Ho. Ho.)

Then things started to get a bit more serious ..

Q. Why is the government moving towards a nuclear solution for Britain's energy production when there is ample evidence to suggest that the challenge of global warming and fossil fuel shortages can be better met through a decentralised energy production infrastructure embracing renewable fuels and energy sources?

Tony Blair : " ....there is a simple stark fact that I would just like to put in front of people, which is we are going to go over the next 15 or 20 years to a situation where: one, the 20% that we get of our electricity from nuclear is going to decline to virtually zero; and two, where we are going to go from being 80 or 90% self-sufficient in oil and gas, to 80 or 90% importing it."

" ... whether we replace the existing nuclear power component of our electricity, but if we are not going to replace it we are going to have to, well what is going to happen on renewables is going to have to be absolutely massive."

"I don't know that we were voted in on a non-nuclear ticket, I think we have always kept the option open. But even if we weren't frankly, the fact is you have got an energy problem. "

"...I think I do not want a situation where people turn around in 15 - 20 years time and say what on earth were they thinking of, you know they ended up with a situation where we ran down our nuclear power stations, we thought we could get it through renewables and now we are wholly dependent on very, very expensive imports of gas and oil." really cannot gauge." (He actually means forecast or control).

" ...But to take out of that nuclear power and say that is it, well it is a very, very big step for us to take and I would need a lot of convincing that renewables were going to fill the gap.

To those who have been following the Energy needs of the country this represents the biggest shaft of light, a Damascene revelation that Tony Blair finally realises we have the Forthcoming UK Energy Deficit (FCUKED) to face.

Tony Blair finally tells the truth about the fucking shambles the UK policy (for want of a better word) is in ... has anybody noticed ?

What is vitally important to note is that Tony now belatedly understands ;

1.) If we run the nuclear "fleet" down the energy it produces has to be replaced.
2.) Despite what their lame brained last Energy Policy said he now realises .." I would need a lot of convincing that renewables were going to fill the gap." ... which is what all the rational critics said at the time and have repeated ad nauseam ever since.
3.) 15 years is now the time horizon we face these problems ..." where people turn around in 15 - 20 years time". The crunch is coming quicker than we imagined, thought, talked about.(probably 10 years see later)
4.) The cost implications of imported oil and gas is finally seeping through ..." now we are wholly dependent on very, very expensive imports of gas and oil." ...... he says elsewhere about how China is driving commodity prices up..."danger is that you end up not merely being dependent on imports, but dependent on imports whose price you really cannot gauge." (He actually means forecast or control).

What made the Dear Leader tell us like it is? Well my view is that the 6th report of the the Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group (JESS) recently this May (the fifth of what should be bi-annula reports was published November 04.

For an excellent exegis of JESS 6 got to the excellent and superbly well informed Chris Vernon at Oil Drum. The reports factual information says basically what Our Dear leader told the magazine Editors last week.

To quote Chris ...."They expect continued increase in gas demand in the face of indigenous depletion with this demand being met by imports. The magnitude and timescales of reliance on imports is surprising though, previous reports have suggested 80-90% reliant by 2020. Forecasting 80% reliant by 2014-15 is the most pessimistic outlook I have seen." Hence Tony shortening his horizon from 20 to 15 years.

Perhaps most frightening (to the realist amongst us) Chris says..."Together this means by the end of 2015 the UK will lose 28.5% (8.2GW) of coal fired and 59.5% (7.1GW) of nuclear generation capacity." ... again forcing Tony to shorten his horizons.

In summary says Chris ..." this report has failed in its objective to provide the market with future supply, demand and price information. The quantitative data presented is so optimistic to be virtually worthless with qualitative caveats that don't adequately describe the risk." A view which will be widely shared by both energy producers and consumers.

Finally it takes a blogger (zceb90) to hit the spot which Tony has finally realised ...this 80% of fuel is imported and needs paying for.... zceb90 calculates it with gloomy accuracy .."Assuming UK gas demand for 2005 was around 1.7m Barrels of Oil equivalent per day (BOE/d), escalating at 2.2% pa through 2014 and assuming 80% imports the JESS forecast assumes that UK will be importing 1.65m BOE/d NG in 2014 (8 yrs away!) i.e. imports will amount to just slightly short of UK's 2005 entire consumption.

Using an import price of $100/BOE (which may well be extremely conservative by 2014 given increasing 'scramble' for scarce enery imports) gas imports would cost UK trade balance US$5bn per month or £2.8bn per month @ 1.80 exchange rate. Put another way projected gas imports by 2014 would more or less double existing trade deficit which is running at around £3bn per month.

As the Dear Leader told the magazine Editors .." now we are wholly dependent on very, very expensive imports of gas and oil.""

Tony Blair kept out of the Limelight (well almost).

On Friday Tony Blair went to Teeside to officially open the newly built plant (Teeside 1, Seal Sands) of Biofuels Corp plc. the largest in the UK, which is now (only 5 months after start up) at 58% capacity producing biodiesel from vegetable oils such as rapeseed, palm and soya beans.He must have met Mike Buzzacott BA. FCCA the Chairman and accountant who took over in March this year after 34 years at BP and was Group VP Petrochemicals.


(British Sugar started on Work in January on the UK's first bioethanol production facility from sugar beet with a new £20m plant to produce 70Mn litres of ethanol at Wissington, Downham Market in Norfolk.)The U.S. biodiesel market tripled in 2005.

The BBC report Mr Blair saying: "If we meet our Kyoto targets, we will only stabilise gas emissions.

"There's a big debate about whether energy should be renewable, nuclear or other but the reality is that we will have to go for every single possibility we can." (There he goes, telling the TRUTH again!)Interestingly, whilst the MSM misssed this visit the Northern Echo headlined the visit with this this quote and said "Blair sounds warning during visit to biodiesel plant"

When complete and running at peak flow the plant has a capacity to produce at least 250,000 tonnes of biodiesel each year (to EN14214 and EN590 standards) from vegetable oils, 25% of the 2010 Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation target for diesel.(2003 the UK prdocued about 5,000-6,000 tonnes per annum)

In November 2005 a target was set by the Gubment of a 20 fold increase in biodiesel production and that 5% of all motor fuel must come from renewable sources by 2010. Biodiesel costs 2.5 times to produce more than petrol, so an incentive fuel rebate is driving the market currently which Gordon Brown introduced in the last Budget.The rebate ( 25p per litre ?) of course only applies to the 5% of the biodiesel that is mixed with regular diesel.Plants such as this one also benefit from the 100% Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme for biofuels.

The company had previously announced construction delays and cost overuns at the facility and its stock has lost about 40 percent of its value during the last couple of months.

Biofuels Corp shares were trading at 1.24 pounds at 1245 GMT on Friday, up 7 pence or 6 percent but far below its peak of 3.22 pounds reached in March 2005. No Photo-op, no mention on the No 10 website, and the BBC got this quick and badly posed and taken shot with the back of Mr Buzzacotts head. How odd.

FOOTNOTE IN HISTORY

The last time TB opened an Energy co. office was for Cairn Energy PLC in Edinburgh. Cairn is run by Bill Gammell (Sir Bill since the New Year's Honours). Well in the tight knit world opening oilco offices, it so happens that Bill and Tony were at Fettes together and played fives.

The supreme coincidence is that Dad Genmmell (as very Blue chip Edinburgh Merchant Banker Sime Ivory) helped fund an outfit called Zapata oil run by ...George Bush Senior .. whose son George Bush Jnr (now POTUS) ... who used to come and play in the summer on the Gemmell family Renfrew estate (and Bill went to Kennebunkport), such good friends were they that George was Best Man at Bill's wedding... and when George was POTUS and came over to see his school chum Tony in November 2003, Bill was at Buckingham Palace browsing and sluicing with the best.History does not record any schoolboy George and Tony meetings... but it is possible.

As a further footnote, the browsers and sluicers at Her Maj's invitation was another Yank. Mrs Quinn. Helpfully the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, dog handler and father of the child William, then stirring within her loins, was able to accompany her - not that the Press noticed at the time.,, or of they did forgot to tell anyone.

Another footnote is that when Gemmell pere slid George Senior out of (loss making) Zapata Petroleum it changed a bit and ended up as the major company in Mr Glazier's stable of companies (including Man U) but selling fish oil.

I don't think Mr Buzzacot was at Fettes, but it's a small world.

Fuck Blair

A Leicestershire trader has been fined for displaying shirts bearing a rude slogan about our Dear Leader Tony Blair.

Burly, fun loving, Tony Wright, 60, from Burton Lazars,in Leicester was busy at the Royal Norfolk Show last week. So was PC Plod.

A "member of the public " snitched on him and Plod swooped on Tony's stall selling countrywear and T shirts emblazoned with the slogan ( not unpopular in country fox hunting , anti wind farm circles) "Bollocks to Blair".

Plod decided the display of these T shirts could, "cause alarm or even distress". Out came the notebooks and pre-prepared forms and Tony was given an £80 fixed penalty notice. An act in their eyes of lese majeste, no less, as our Norman forefathers would have had it, an offence under Section 5 Public Order Act, 1986 as Plod would have it.

Tony can and claims he will appeal because he is guilty of an offence only if he;

* (b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting,

Given the solid yeomanry that visit such events, and this is not the first time he has sold these shirts, he could reasonably say that he neither insulting, threatening or abusive and that ;

* (a) that he had no reason to believe that there was any person within hearing or sight who was likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress, or

Finally there are many who would support him, if in the unlikely event it reaches court would claim that ;

* (c) that his conduct was reasonable.

* (4) A person is guilty of an offence under section 5 only if he intends his words or behaviour, or the writing, sign or other visible representation, to be threatening, abusive or insulting, or is aware that it may be threatening, abusive or insulting or (as the case may be) he intends his behaviour to be or is aware that it may be disorderly.

This is however not the first time that this sort of nonsense has happened. Slim, petite, and thoroughly wholesome, peachy country lass (Charlotte Denis, 20, a gamekeeper from Gloucestershire) was arrested for wearing her "Bollocks to Blair" T-shirt at the Midlands Game Fair last year. She was stopped by the Police as she left the Countryside Alliance stand because of the "offensive" slogan and arrested - see report in Horse and Hound. She was later released without charge or explanation.

Patience Wheatcroft in the Sunday Telegraph April 30th 2005, tells of Julia Gobert, who was distributing leaflets in support of the Conservative candidates outside Earl's Court tube station in London wearing a jacket with the slogan - PC Plod told her to change her clothes.

Two British Transport Police very politely informed her that she would be arrested unless she removed the jacket. Someone, had told the police that the slogan was offensive, and the police claimed that this left them with no alternative but to act. (Remeber Plod marching with the Muslims calling for beheadings, Jihad, etc.,)

The offending T shirt and many other items of country clothing are made by Splash and you may order items on line here. Lord Patel has organised a special 50% Discount for his followers and readers. Quote 50 PCT/ LP when ordering.

You can if you want, join the British National Party here who make great play of this story here. Sorry no Discounts available.

Now you know why those guys are dying in Helmand, Basra etc.,

DEPARTMENT OF INTERESTING FACTS

The noble and hard working Lord Carlile of Berriew produces an annual report on terrism (this is his 4th) (Ouch 66 page PDF alert) ... snuck away is this fascinating tidbit,(Para 64. Page 22) as the compliant Belgians let Dubya rattle through the Swift database ....£9,318 of allegedly terrorist cash was seized in 2005 under the Terrorism Act 2000 - and that was a single seizure (Appendix D Page 56).

Write to him at 9-12 Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR if you wish to express any views you may have on the working of the Terrism Act 2000.

Otherwise you might write to statistic spouting, George Orwell quoting, Gordon Brown wannabe Prime Minister who told the Royal United Services Institute, Feb 13th 2006 that the Gubment are spending.....

1.£75 million extra for the Metropolitan Police
2.£135 million for the Regions(not sure if this includes the previous two figures)
3.Spending on the Security Service MI5 doubled to £2 Bn.
4.£ 2 Bn. a year on Counter Terrorism and Resilence

... and ask him what the fuck we get for that.

NSA sells off it's memories on e-BAY

Tom Tomorrow is selling this remarkable poster he produced for the NSA some years ago ... on e-Bay 2 days left, US$225 at present.

Does the Supreme Court judgement on Guantanamo Bay mean NSA surveillance is illegal ? Schiff , Inman says it is.

At a hearing on Thursday, April 06, 2006 before the House Judiciary Committee today, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA 29th District) questioned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the NSA's secret domestic wiretapping program. (Remember, US law directly forbids the NSA and the CIA from spying on US citizens inside the US. This is FBI territory and then only with a court order for setting up wire taps etc.,)

Schiff raised concerns about the claims that there was no limiting principle to the Administration's claim of authority in the War on Terror, Rep. Schiff asked the Attorney General whether the Administration believes it has the authority to wiretap purely domestic calls between two Americans without seeking a warrant.

"I’m not going to rule it out," responded the Attorney General.

"This is very disturbing testimony," reports Schiff .... "if the Administration believes it can tap purely domestic phone calls between Americans without court approval, there is no limit to executive power. This is contrary to settled law and the most basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers."

Dan Eggen from Wapo was there and wrote an article (no longer available at Wapo website) in which he wrote ..."In yesterday's testimony, Gonzales reiterated earlier hints that there may be another facet to the NSA program that has not been revealed publicly, or even another program that has prompted dissension within the government," At one point, discussing whether some people inside the administration have challenged the spying plan, Gonzales said that those disagreements "did not relate to the program the president disclosed. They related to something else ..... and I can't get into that."

Something else ?

Rep. Schiff and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have introduced bipartisan legislation -- the NSA Oversight Act -- to reassert that FISA and Title III are the sole authority for domestic surveillance. The bill would (inter alia) reiterate Exclusivity of Current FISA and Wiretap Laws - states that FISA and the federal criminal wiretap statutes shall continue to be the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance may be conducted.

In the New York Times today an article covering the Supreme Court's decision about the legitimacy of tribunals invented to provide a form of legal process for Guantanamo Bay detainees says...

"In ruling that the Congressional "authorization for the use of military force," passed in the days immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, cannot be interpreted to legitimize the military commissions, the ruling poses a direct challenge to the administration's claimed legal justification for its secret wiretapping program."

The authors contacted Schiff, he claimed that in the view that the court refused to give an open-ended ruling to the force resolution meant that, " the resolution could not be viewed as authorizing the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping."

FOOTNOTES

1. Bobby Ray Inman

Monday May 8th Monday 2006 night at a panel discussion at the New York Public Library on the NSA’s continued use of warrantless domestic wiretaps authorized by President Bush, former NSA director (under President Jimmy Carter) Bobby Ray Inman (now a professor of national policy at University of Texas), became one of the highest-ranking former intelligence officials to publicly criticize the program. He has been very careful in public statements he’s made since the NSA eavesdropping program hit the public media in December, he now said that “this activity is not authorized,” and that the Bush administration “need(s) to get away from the idea that they can continue doing it.”

Interesting interview and comment about Inman here, who is quotes as saying about the invasion of Iraq, ""Oil has everything to do with our relationship with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates. Where Iraq is concerned, our policy has everything to do with Israel's long-term security." read more on his fascinating views on this topic..."Iraq is about, on the one side, weapons of mass destruction, the U.N. and disarmament. And on the other one, goes back to '96, Richard Perle's study -- Institute for Advanced Political Studies --and the absolute dedication that Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle, Rumsfeld, Wurmser, Bolton ..." Evidently not a man who will be invited to talk to AIPAC anytime soon.

2. What happened when Net Wizard (AKA Mr. Yakov Shafranovich) asked the NSA under FOI for copies of the records they hold on his phone records ... ? find out and get the details how you can ask them for yourself by e-mail.

Jerffersonian democracy at work

THE WHITE HOUSE,June 27, 2005.

Executive Order 13381: Strengthening Processes Relating to Determining Eligibility for Access to Classified National Security Information

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to assist in determining eligibility for access to classified national security information, while taking appropriate account of title III of Public Law 108-458, it is hereby ordered as follows: ......

THE WHITE HOUSE,June 29, 2006
Executive Order Amending Executive Order 13381, as Amended, to Extend Its Duration by One Year

Sec. 2. Section 6(b) of Executive Order 13381 is amended by striking "July 1, 2006" and inserting in lieu thereof "July 1, 2007".

At the time ... “The signing of Executive Order 13381 is a major step forward on the road to meaningful security clearance process reform,” said Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-VA.“Large backlogs, long wait times and convoluted bureaucratic hierarchies have plagued this process for years...", which means that it is now easier, and more people have access to the Program.

But don't worry, the people who get cleared have to meet 13 adjudicative guideline categories (revised in December 2005)as follow:

--Guideline A, Allegiance to the United States.

--Guideline B, Foreign Influence.

--Guideline C, Foreign Preference.

--Guideline D, Sexual Behavior.

--Guideline E, Personal Conduct.

--Guideline F, Financial Considerations.

--Guideline G, Alcohol Consumption.

--Guideline H, Drug Involvement.

--Guideline I, Psychological Conditions.

--Guideline J, Criminal Conduct.

--Guideline K, Handling Protected Information.

--Guideline L, Outside Activities.

--Guideline M, Use of Information Technology Systems.

...

Which makes you wonder about the people who got to know about the Plame details, why Goss Porter legged it ... etc.,

The Program / Das Program ..... you hear me ?

"Intelligence is a vital part of fighting and winning the war against the terrorists. It is — because the war against terrorists is a war against individuals who hide in caves in remote parts of the world ..."

President Bush. BROADCAST ON NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2004

Days before the President was telling the world about the needs of intelligence to fight his war on terrism, The Electronic Frotnier Foundation lodged a claim on January 31st 2006 -" CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES, DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF : January 31, 2006 " this is available here.PDF Alert !

Here is a selection of relevant paragraphs outlining the claim, (better to read the whole thing to fully grasp the case) stating the basis in law, and outlining the case for punitive damages.

It reveals that when you pick up the phone, send an e-mail, text a message you are feeding a massive database which the the EFF claim is accessible to the US Government illegally, an enterprise which since 911 they have been assisted by AT&T... and now other US based telco's.... and are continuing to do so. Remember, somewhere there is a database record that you are now accessing this page......

23. By the end of 2004, on an average business day, AT&T Corp.’s network handled over 300 million voice calls as well as over 4,000 terabytes (million megabytes) of data, including traffic from AT&T Business Services and AT&T Consumer Services, approximately 200 times the amount of data contained in all the books in the Library of Congress.

31. The NSA began a classified surveillance program (“the Program”) shortly after September 11, 2001 to intercept the telephone and Internet communications of people inside the United States without judicial authorization, a program that continues to this day.

32. The President has stated that he authorized the Program in 2001, that he has
reauthorized the Program more than 30 times since its inception, and that he intends to continue doing so.

33. The Attorney General has admitted that, absent additional authority from Congress, the electronic surveillance conducted by the Program requires a court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq.).

52. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, “AT&T has a database code-named Daytona
that keeps track of telephone numbers on both ends of calls as well as the duration of all land-line calls…. After Sept. 11, intelligence agencies began to view it as a potential investigative tool, and the NSA has had a direct hookup into the database….” Joseph Menn and Josh Meyer, U.S. Spying is Much Wider, Some Suspect, L.A. TIMES, Dec. 25, 2005, at A1. On information and belief, this report is substantially correct.(See Footnote re NYT)

93. By the acts alleged herein, AT&T Corp. has intentionally engaged in electronic surveillance (as defined by 50 U.S.C. § 1801(f)) under color of law, but which is not authorized by any statute, and AT&T Corp. has intentionally subjected Plaintiffs and class members to such electronic surveillance, in violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1809.

137. In relevant part, 18 U.S.C. § 3121 provides that:
(a) In general.--Except as provided in this section, no person may install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first obtaining a court order under section 3123 of this title or under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

Subsequently further claims have been made in the press, notably by USA Today. However they have just rowed back a little on the specific claims they have made on May 11th which USA TODAY reported that its sources said AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon had agreed to provide the NSA with call records.

In a story yesterday USA Today makes a statement "Based on its reporting after the May 11 article, USA TODAY has now concluded that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling records to that database."

Perhaps two elements of the story that intrigue most are the comment from Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who receives briefings as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee and after whom they named an Airport in Alaska."It was long-distance. It was targeted on (geographic) areas of interest, places to which calls were believed to have come from al-Qaeda affiliates and from which calls were made to al-Qaeda affiliates." (Just what is the area code for Tora Bora caves ?)

They also report that quail and lawyer shooter, Vice President Cheney held private talks this month with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cheney discouraged them from supporting Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter's vow to call telecommunications executives before the panel to answer questions about the database. Specter, R-Pa., protested to Cheney in an angry public letter.

It would be surprising that any US citizen should be surprised by all this ... especially as the original EFF complaint stated .....

63. On information and belief, there is a strong likelihood that Defendants will continue to intentionally intercept, disclose, divulge and use Plaintiffs' and class members' communications and records in cooperation with the Program.

AP has more
FOOTNOTE

On December 16, 2005, a New York Times article revealed the NSA had been instructed to intercept certain telephone conversations between suspected al-Qaeda-connected persons in the U.S. and those in other countries without first obtaining court warrants for each instance of surveillance. The NYT claimed they had known this for a year and had delayed publication at the request of White House officials.The reporters, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2006.

HISTORICAL ASIDE

As early as 1932, Walter Funk, Hitler's Personal Economic Adviser, wrote a pamphlet entitled "Economic Reconstruction Program of the NSDAP", which, after its approval by Hitler, became the Party's official pronouncement on economic matters ... "Das Program".

Funk went on to become the effective head under Goebbels of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda ... he was quoted ...

"Propaganda is the most modern instrument of power and fighting weapon of state policy. The establishing of the Propaganda Ministry is vital, for the national political policy of the new State Leadership is to be the general good of the whole people. Therefore, the total political, artistic, cultural and spiritual life of the nation, must be brought on to one level and directed from one central point."

(Voelkischer Beobachter, South German Edition, 31 March 1933).