NHS Managers control costs before controlling diseases = MRSA

Leaked memo reveals that targets to beat MRSA will not be met shrieks the Times Online 11/1/07 headline.....

"The NHS will miss its target of halving superbug infections by 2008 and may never be able to control the problem effectively, the Government has admitted secretly....blah ..blah"

13/07/04 Good News on Adverse Events? Investigating Imperialism had the story a long time ago - and provided the evidence on the next "hospital adverse events" scandal.

Margaret Beckett is a heartless, lying, cowardly ,calculating bitch

Geoffrey Bindman is a solicitor, he received a knighthood in the 2007 New Year's honours list for services to human rights. He represents Sandy Mitchell, (pic BBC) Bill Sampson and Leslie Walker who were arrested in Saudi Arabia, tortured and signed false confessions for bombings and murder of a UK citizen Christopher Rodway, at whose inquest held at Trowbridge, Wiltshire, in 2005 the coroner accepted their innocence.

The "confessions", were videoed and shown on Saudi State TV, they ludicrously claimed that they had been acting on the instructions of named officials of the British embassy. A sham trial resulted in Sandy and Bill to be sentenced to execution by crucifixion.

After much intergovernmental and secret wrangling and 3 years in jail they were released in August 2003. British ministers had applied some pressure for their release, but the key was a US Government agreement to exchange them for 4 Saudis held at Guantanamo Bay released in May 14th 2003. (See Wapo story 6/7/2004)

The men are broken, jobless, unemployable. They seek compensation. No one, no UK minister doubts the men's innocence

In November 2006, Bindman met Margaret Beckett - then finding her feet as the new Foreign Secretary. In preparatory remarks she explained her naive and simplistic approach: never pursue a course of action that you know is bound to fail.

Simply , the Saudis were not going to budge, her time was too precious to waste convincing them. The king she was told still believed the men were guilty. If an opportunity arose she would pass on our concern to the Saudis. It was evident that she felt no obligation to persuade him that he had been misinformed.

Geoffrey Bindman says " ....... far from helping their citizens to get justice, the UK government has hindered them in a number of ways. Most remarkably in our particular case, it intervened on the side of the Saudis."


Saudis expect Eurofighters 'soon' Sunday 7th Jan 2007 BBC Online

There were fears the Eurofighter deal could be lost.
Saudi Arabia has said it will start taking deliveries of 72 Eurofighter jets (US$16.6Bn) from UK defence company BAE Systems "very soon".

Read more at New Statesman Saudi torture: a Whitehall cover-up by Geoffrey Bindman

Floating crippled tanker threatens North Sea Gas Platform

Maritime & Coastguard Agency Press release in full

Press Notice No: Duty 2
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Posted 23:03 GMT CARGO VESSEL NOW DRIFTING TOWARDS SECOND GAS PLATFORMThe cargo vessel which has been drifting towards a gas platform in the North Sea has cleared the rig. The vessel, Vindo, managed to start its engines temporarily and slipped its anchor so that there was no damage to gas pipelines. However, the vessel is now drifting towards another Conoco Philips unmanned platform, Caister. Capacity of 80 billion standard cubic feet of gas, Located 75 miles (120 kilometres) northeast of Theddlethorpe St. Helen, Lincolnshire.(Specification)

Humber Coastguard scrambled an RAF helicopter to the scene a short while ago, and it is now standing by in case of need.

Although the ship has now drifted clear of the original platform, the problem still remains since it is now drifting towards a second platform with the ships nine crew on board. The crew of the vessel are still working hard to reinstate engine power.

Earlier this evening, all thirty of the Murdoch Platforms crew were evacuated by helicopter. There is no intention to begin re-manning the platform until morning.

Weather conditions are challenging with 50 knot winds from the west and a seven metre swell.

UK energy supplies are not only threatened by Russian Governments, Muslim jihadist extremist IslamoFascists and Greenpeace.

German terrorist may be released soon

In President Bush's War on Terror, many are ignorant of, or have forgotten that terrorism is not new in Europe, from Basque ETA activists , in Ireland, the IRA and and UVF and their continuing splinter groups and in germany the Baader - Meinhof Gang and the Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) who killed over 30 people.

One of their most determined German activists may soon be released.

Brigitte Mohnhaupt (pic) was first arrested on 9th June 1972 in Berlin in connection with the Red Army Faction and sentenced to prison for involvement with a criminal organisation. She was released from prison on 8 February 1977, and immediately went back underground and continued her work with the RAF.

On the 15th September 1981 Mohnhaupt took part in an assassination attempt on US General Frederick Kroesen using an RPG-7 anti-tank rocket. Kroesen survived but was badly injured.

On 11 November 1982 she was arrested along with Adelheid Schulz, attempting to enter an RAF arms cache in woods near Frankfurt which had been staked out by GSG9 operatives who had infiltrated their cell. She was subsequently charged with involvement in the murder on 30 July 1977 of banker Jürgen Ponto, chairman of the Dresdner Bank board of directors in Oberursel, Taunus ,and also involvement in the kidnappijng and subsequent murder of ex Nazi and German employers representative Hanns Martin Schleyer. She was found guilty and sentenced to 5 life sentences and has since spent most of her time in Aichach prison in Bavaria.

On 21st February last year she applied for early release in the regional court in Stuttgart and was rejected and it was determined that the minimum sentence required was 24 years which the Federal prosecutor Klaus Pflieger demanded / requested - meaning the earliest possible release date would be 26 March,2007.

She is now 57 and has re-applied for release and the Bavarian Ministry of Justice are expected to report by the end of February on her case. Press coment this week in Stren, Der Zeit suggets that her release is expected.

Andrea Martina Klump (50) was the last RAF member to be imprisoned. She was the girlfriend of Horst Ludwig Meyer and with him attempted to bomb a Spanish disco in Rota in 1984 which was often frequented by US servicemen however the attempt fell through. She was also cnsidered to be involved with the murder of banker Alfred Herrhausen in 1989 but nothing was ever proved.

With Meyer on December 23, 1991 an attempt was made with a 25KG bomb of military explosives to bomb a bus on the way to Budapest airport with 33 people on board including 29 Soviet Jewish emigrants with a car bomb.

The bomb exploded prematurely and nobody was killed but several were injured. They evaded Police until September 15, 1999 when they were approached by the police in Vienna , Meyer was shot and Klump who survived, was extradited to Germany .

She confessed to the attempted Spanish Disco bombing (German law allows trial for offences outside German territory) and was sentenced in May 2001 to 9 years but charges of involvement in a terrorist organisation, were dropped.

Klump partially confessed to the 1991 Hungary bombing, accepting prior knowledge but not direct involvement - DNA evidence of Klump's stay in Budapest around the time of the bombing linked her to it and on September 28th 2004 Klump was sentenced by a High Court in Stuttgart to a further 12 years in prison.

UK Interest Rates rise ...no shock there then

Shock as UK rates rise to 5.25% BBC

SHOCK AS INTEREST RATES RISE DailyMirror

The Bank of England surprised markets on Thursday by raising interest rates Reuters

But no shock to Lord Patel's readers who were warned on Wednesday, January 3 in the post The Mysterious case of the disappearing M3

"If you live in the US ... the only thing you will buy cheaper in a year's time is your house.

If you live in the UK ...expect interest rates 1/4% to rise when the Monetary Committee meet 2nd Thursday in Janaury... highest ever under Gordie as he battles soaring inflation which new energy bills which have been capped for many will flutter through the letter box."

Pi phone

π - phone

It's a winner ! Offers for the name accepted in brown envelopes stuffed full of legal large denomination used currency.

Bush's Urge to Surge - There is no Zionist Lobby. Ho.Ho.Ho

Bush's Urge to Surge 3 point Plan
1. Go into Baghdad and kick the living shit out of everyone. Period. C-130's the Whole Deal.
2. Anbar ... Ditto ....
3. ...er...er..that's it.
4. Get that fucking oil legislation through with PSA's

“We will expand intelligence sharing – and deploy Patriot air defence systems to reassure our friends and allies.”

PS . Lord Patel has Copyrighted pi-phone as in π - phone π - Phone
Each one numbered with a unique 10 digit number randomly selected from 1st 1 MN digits of π

Cool.

Putin wins Byelorussian / European oil war

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has had a friendly telephone chat with President Putin and appear to have resolved the 3 day freeze on the 1.5 Mn barrels a day of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. (Reuters) It appears that some understanding has been reached about a disputed 80,000 barrels of oil which the Russians claim was stolen from their onward European customers and Belarus said was taken as payment for the "transit tax" they had imposed unilaterally.(see map of Russian/European oil pipelines)

Reuters reported comments from Yaroslav Lissovolik from Deutsche UFG (part of Deutsche Bank) who said "The disruption in oil supplies has yet again undermined Russia's efforts to establish itself as a reliable source of supplies to Europe." (See map of German oil sources)

"The cut in oil supplies from Russia is unacceptable...This raises a problem, a real problem of credibility. We would like to guarantee that this does not happen in the future," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.(more comments from Chancellor Angela Merkel and Barroso here)

Claude Mandil, chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA) hat advises industrialised nations, said the disruption had shaken confidence in Russia as affected countries in Europe had to tap their strategic reserves and added that "Oil is not scarce, it can be imported from many places on the international market."

André Ballin has an interesting insight into Semyon Vainshtok, the clever and self-confident head of the pipeline group Transneft who he describes as "Russia's Pipeline Czar is Putin's 'Soldier' in Spiegel online.

"I'm a soldier, the president is commander-in-chief," said Vainshtok, who apparently is always anxious to stress his loyalty to Putin. "Orders aren't questioned."

In the conflict with Minsk, too, the commander-in-chief has spoken. Again he has won when using Russian energy as a weapon.

Paris Hilton - questions 9/11 - Hustler - Amazing pictures with dog!

Thanks to Stef and the Agonist for pointing m'Lord to the absolutely must read Hustler piece about Alex Jones, 9/11 - Loose Change etc., - at the 9/11 website(adult Alert)

Well done to Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt "The Name you Trust - The Sexual Erotica you desire" ...who got 6 months for wearing a US Flag as a diaper in court whilst wearing a Purple Heart pinned to a bullet proof vest - but won when Gerry Falwell sued for being portrayed in Hustler as having his first sexual encounter with his mother in and ..er.. an outhouse.

More revealing pictures of Paris Hilton who possibly is as confused as George Bush is about 9/11 here and with her "girl friend" Britney here

Don't miss June 2005 Hustler interview with Ray Griffin "WHAT IF EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT 9/11 WAS WRONG?" and also Author of The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 which Paris keeps by her bedside .... THAT video here.

At least he's our SOB - well one of them

Mengistu Haile Mariam, was the Communist leader of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 when on May 21st 1991 he fled in a small airplane to Kenya, organised by the US Embassy in Addis, to Zimbabe. Where he still lives in splendour assisting another evil dictator destroy his country.

Many millions of Ethiopians fell victim to his Mengusatu's regime of murderous excesses, corrupt militarism, and economic devastation. The indelible image of his misrule is the picture of an entire land wracked by genocide.

US connections with Ethiopia since then have been fractured but not discontinued, the current leader Meles Zenawi became the "Interim President "of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995. Meles Zenawi wa - beinf awarded a First Class M.A. (Masters of Arts) in Business Administration from the UK Open University at the same time. He had fought Mengistu as a member of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front and since the declaration of the War on Terror the US he has enjoyed a close and growing military and political relationship. He now leads the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

In July 2003, the Pentagon held a three-month training exercise in tandem with Ethiopian military at the Hurso Training Camp.northwest of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Ongoing “anti-terrorism” training exercises continue in coordination with the U.S. base at Djibouti and the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), provided infantry skills training on small unit tactics.

All this was as part of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Ethiopia effort to establish the first of three new Anti-terrorism Battalions.

In January of 2004, a new joint U.S.-Ethiopian military base was established at Hurso, in Ethiopia, alongside “Camp United,” where U.S. troops train Ethiopian troops in anti-insurgency strategy and tactics. The record of U.S. military aid to Ethiopia shows a marked increase since 2001. Keith Snow has documented the increasing levels of finacial support ;

“The US International Military and Education Training (IMET) delivered US$1,835,000 which involved train about 120 officers under the IMET program from 1991-2001. …

“ Financial support increased to US$2.9Mn in 2002/03 through the IMET and Foreign Military Sales and Deliveries programs. The US also equipped, trained and supported Ethiopian troops under the Africa Regional Peacekeeping Program. In August 2003, the U.S. committed $28 million for international trade enhancements with Ethiopia.”

In his second election in May 2005 parliamentary elections , the first all party election in Ethiopia, Meles' Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front took control of nearly two-thirds of parliament. in events surrounding the elections some 200 people were killed. A report by a 10 man enquiry published (leaked) in Nairobi in June 2006 and stated that ;

1. 193 people were fatally shot, beat or strangled by Ethiopian security forces
2. More than 750 people were injured
3. Police records showing that 20,000 people were rounded up during the protests. More than 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers were put on trial for treason and attempted genocide.

Vice chairman of the enquiry Judge Wolde-Michael Meshesha, told AP "This was a massacre," "These demonstrators were unarmed yet the majority died from shots to the head."

"There is no doubt that excessive force was used," added the judge, who left Ethiopia prior to the report's publication after receiving anonymous death threats, leaving his wife and five daughters behind. He claimed asylum in Europe and would not disclose his exact whereabouts out of fear for his safety.

Ana Gomes, the European Union's chief observer during the elections, said the report which she says "exposes the lie" that the Ethiopian government is moving toward democracy.

"It is time the EU and U.S. realize that the current regime in Ethiopia is repressing the people because it lacks democratic legitimacy and is actually weak." . "It is driving Ethiopia to more poverty, conflict and war."

In January 2006 , Britain withheld $87 million in aid because of concerns about the government's handling of the unrest,redirecting it to humanitarian agencies or local officials because of concerns about the central government's handling of the unrest. This followed by the UK ofUS $36m (£20m) aid increase to Ethiopia after deaths in election protests after UK Development Minister Hilary Benn met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa.

Meanwhile US bombing raids on the Somali / Kenyan border said to be in support of getting at 3 leading al Quaeda figures Fazul Abdullah Mohammed (FBI most wanted ) the alleged mastermind behind the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,killing 225 people, and his accomplices Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Talha al-Sudani. Reports today claim Mohammed has been killed.

So far the civilian death toll is at least 27 civilians killed in Afmadow, a town in southern Somalia. "My 4-year-old boy was killed in the strike," said Mohamed Mahmud Burale, who can hardly be expected to be grateful for his "liberation" at the hands of the U.S. and its Ethiopian allies.

The much feared "Spectre" AC-130 U/H gunship reportedly attacked Badmadow island, in a group of six rocky islands known as Ras Kamboni — a suspected terrorist training base.

Hussein Aidid the American educated, ex US marine, son of the late Somali warlord used to operate out in the crumbling white mansion, Villa Somalia, the capital Mogadushu , which was Siad Barre's last refuge before he was toppled from power in January 1991. Effectively without a Government since then he has risen to the top of a pile of warring factions - the Muslims are now being cleared out it seems with the US now showing their hand in attacking their southern redoubts and extending their proxy war on Muslims for the Zionists.

The position however remains confused. The US marines have bad dreams about Mogadishu.

White House pic - President George W. Bush meets President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia in the Oval Office Dec. 5, 2002.

MI5 e-mail alert fuckup - all the gory details of their incompetence

Lord Patel has already alerted readers to the apparent FU about the launch of the MI5 non existent e-mail "Terrist Alert" service.

Well savvier minds were alert and on the case, and have exposed what a botched, fucking rush job the whole thing was - resulting in subscribers to the service having their unprotected personal details / e-mail address whizzed about the electronic universe to a commercial site set up for marketing companies by Mailtrack Limited 4th Floor, King House,5-11 Westbourne Grove, London to US based servers operated by Level 3 Communications, Inc. 1025 Eldorado Blvd. Broomfield Colorado .. just north of Denver - learn more about the wonderful people of Broomfield here.

Mailtrack " ...Mailtrack delivers on the full promise of digital marketing - utilising all aspects of digital communications, the latest software," .... can now add MI5 to their list of users including Tesco, Dixons, First Direct ...

Go to the excellent Spyblog " MI5 e-mail alert signup shambles - all email subscription web forms sent to the USA, without encryption"- for all the gory technical details and some serious questions about the way UK Secret Services handle yourpersonal informatiom in a very unsecret fashion.... and don't try and subscribe as Duke of Edinburgh, he already has.

With Thanks to the industrious, well informed IanP for waking up Lord Patel's sleeping technical department about this. See his re-posting of Google Earth pics of Darfur posting if you see nothing else today. Stunning.

Secret Police ? .... evidently cast as the Keystone Kops.

Bush is not listening

Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me), who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee has recently been to Iraq (pic) with Sen. John McCain (her third visit) where she saw Prime Minister Maliki who told her he was opposed (as she was) to the "surge" "My conclusion is that it would be a mistake to send more troops to Baghdad." - "Prime Minister Maliki did not welcome the prospect of more American troops" is how she tells her constituents on 9th Jan. A B Stottards "The Hill" blog (beautiful, blonde lissom hackette with appearances on Hardball, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, C-SPAN, Court TV and PBS.) tells us how Susan Collins was one of 30 Senators President Bush met to pump up his emerging Kagan / Keane AEI war plan. (Collins is due for re-election '08)

This time it will be different – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki who was over here the other day (as well as some of his Government opposition representatives) has bought in – so we can expect to find those missing benchmarks of political equilibrium, which means increasing troops actually will ...er .... help to eventually bring them home. Right?

Well according to Newsweek when she raised her personal experience Bush walked her to an advisor’s office and left her there before she could tell her story and experience. (Search in vain on the Senator Collins' "On Line Office" for any news of this meeting)

Other people talk of The President like Hitler in the Berlin bunker, not listening, hastening non-existent armies to defeat the Russians on the outskirts of the city. ( Paul Craig Roberts, Antiwar.com "The Surge: Political Cover or Escalation? ")

This is how he ends his argument ..

"Neocon godfather Norman Podhoretz set out the plan for Middle East conquest several years ago in Commentary magazine. It is a plan for Muslim genocide. In place of physical extermination of Muslims, Podhoretz advocates their cultural destruction by deracination. Islam is to be torn out by the roots and reduced to a purely formal shell devoid of any real beliefs.

Podhoretz disguises the neoconservative attack against diversity with contrived arguments, but its real purpose is to use the US military to subdue Arabs and to create space for Israel to expand.

Not enough Americans are aware that this is what the "war on terror" is all about."

Read about Senator Collins recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan here. DO IT

Bomb Baghdad

U.S. airpower joins Baghdad battle that Iraqi officials say killed 50 insurgents

Iraq: U.S. jets screamed low over the capital and helicopter gunships swooped in to pound a central Baghdad battleground, supporting Iraqi and American troops in a daylong fight that officials said killed 50 insurgents in a militant Sunni Arab stronghold.

The battle Tuesday raged on Haifa Street about 1 1/2 miles (2.4 kilometers) north of the heavily fortified Green Zone — home to the U.S. Embassy , diplomats, NGO's — on the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush's expected announcement that he would send 20,000 more soldiers to Iraq.

This was the first two paragraphs of the AP report by the International Herald Tribune, syndicated across North America and round the world.

U.S. jets buzzing the city didn't conduct any airstrikes, but "attack helicopters were used to engage targets in support of the ground forces." said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, spokesman for Multi-National Division Baghdad. The Iraqi Defense Ministry reported 50 deaths among insurgents.

An Antonov cargo plane crashed near Balad, 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) north of the capital. The official said it was unclear whether the aircraft had mechanical problems or was shot down. 34 people, Iraqi and Turkish workers at the US Air Base were killed. This is the home of the US$190 Mn AC-130 H/U "Spectre" Gunships, with massive 40mm cannon and 105mm cannons which operate at night, were used in Fallujah, but haven't seen action over Baghdad .... yet.

In Fallujah Bill Ardolino an embedded journalist reports a US$16Mn M1A-1 Abrams tank is hit by a large IED in a notoriously active downtown street. Immobilized and set on fire by a bomb laden with fuel accelerant, the crew escape from the vehicle and make it safely to other tanks.

The Fire Station is 800 metres away and the US forces want the fire extinguished lest on board ammunition explodes - the Iraqi firemen won't move until two tank cres are despatched to ..er..encourage them. Four hours after the explosion and three hours after the call to the fire department, the blaze was finally extinguished.

Somewhere in the city 47 year old Army Maj. Michael Lewis Mundell from Kentucky, husband and father of 4 is blown to bits by a roadside bomb.

In the nearby city of Karmah, which also was home to many former Iraqi intelligence officers and high-ranking Baathists, many of the insurgents cleared from Fallujah have set up base and 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) from Fort Richardson, Alaska, has been brought in under the command of Marine Regimental Combat Team 5 (RCT-5).

Afghan born, US educated Zalmay Khalilzad, (riend of Paul Wolfowitz at Chicago University, student of neo con Straussist acolyte, Wholstetter ,) the U.S. ambassador to Iraq whom President Mailiki ignored to organise the hasty lynching of Saddam Hussein,is off to take over from John Bolton as US Ambasador to United Nations.

President Bush will explain today how 5 Army Brigades are needed to "hold" Baghdad and effectively another is needed for Anbar province...in all another 20,000 (ish) troops. Not to mention the helicopter gunships, Hornets, A-10's Apachees, Black Hawks ..... the Pentagon has decided to prepare for a fight with a restless, oppressed population of slum-dwellers, who have literally nothing to lose. As the Army Urban Ops Manual, a child of DARPA has it ..

"Army forces will likely conduct operations in, around, and over urban areas -- not as a matter of fate, but as a deliberate choice linked to national security objectives and strategy, and at a time, place, and method of the commander's choosing."

Congress, as ever, will vote the money after making a few noises and screwing up their noses.

Another fucking day in Paradise.

How Tony Blair throws away taxpayers money on carbon "offsets" on his air miles

If you are wondering what Tony Blair means when he says he will "offset" his long distance travel (as he did today) - this is what it means - when he travels , or anyone else does on Gubment business.

The UK Gubment are committed to offset Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from air travel by government staff from April 2006. (The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have their own emissions reduction commitments - don't ask why, that's how Gubments work - it's called joined up Gubment)
.
The UK Gubment does this by buying credits from UK-based emissions trading fund Trading Emissions PLC (Y/E 30/6/2006 Turnover £7.21 Mn Profit £3.49 Mn - yes folks that's GROSS PROFIT of 50%) In this instance some other City based Hooray Henries called EEA Fund Management Ltd got a share of the action as well - (follow link for details)

On 28th December 2006 (last week - PAnews/20060029/32377087 and more details here) Trading Emissions sold 225,000t of certified emissions reduction (CER) credits to the UK government carbon offsetting fund at £9.76/t = Euro 7.40 (US$19/t), or 90pc of the price of 2008 EU emissions allowances(tender bid total £2.5 Mn 1/3rd of Annual T/O). The government has the option to buy a further 50,000t of CERs = £0.5Mn. (Today's price is somewhat less at £5.20 = Euro 3.55 - see graph) - smart buying eh ?

“The government is increasingly aware of the environmental impact of air travel and this is a way to mitigate unavoidable emissions,” a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

The credits will be generated from small-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency clean development mechanism projects, one of the flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto protocol - such as Sri Lankan villagers using Photo voltaics to generate daytime electricity to run domestic low voltage lights in the evening , TV's etc instead of using paraffin fuelled lighting (which helps prevent the development of nationwide electricity supply systems that are more efficient) ...or Brazilian farmers preventing methane escaping from pig ..er...shit.

One CER will offset the emissions from around 10,000km of air travel — nearly enough for one London-New York return trip, according to the CarbonNeutral company.

All this hasn't stopped a single kilo of jetfuel being burnt - but it gives some folks in Whitehall and Westminster with a nice warm feeling , and of course a Carbon Trader with a fancy commission and if he/she anticipated the market dropping (ie they read Lord Patel on a regular basis) they could have dealt themselves a nice fat trading profit on top - which no doubt they did.

That is what Lord Patel means when he talks about the casino that carbon trading is..a casino that is fed very often with taxpayers money.

This my child is called climate change economics.

Carbon Black hole - ETS price drops 23% in one day.

The price of carbon on the European Trading System dropped yesterday (Monday 6th January 2007 ) to €3.88 .... 0.87 cents down - a drop of 23%, yet again the lowest ever - remember it was over €30 in May.

The market closed down a further 10% (38 cents) today Tuesday 9 January 2007 @ €3.50.

How long is it going to be before the market collapse and the fraudulent trading in this smoke and mirrors show can be kept out of the MSM ?

UPDATE MIDNIGHT GMT TUESDAY 9th Jan.

On BBC2 Newsnight Sir Nicholas Stern the mild mannered, distinguished development economist and former chief economist at the World Bank, with a reputation as a skilful and highly rated academic, a person of intellectual discipline and rigour spoke to Jeremy Paxman the house trained polecat of the Beeb.

Without a trace of a smile, nor sign of his sizeable tongue in his cheek he explained how the high price of carbon that the ETS scheme would result in, will change economic behaviour making people use less electricty, fuel etc., use more fuel efficient cars etc.,

This whilst carbon trades at it's lowest price ever, havinf lost 1/3rd of it's (very much reduced) value in the last 2 days ,which both Stern and Paxman(if they were aware - which is unlikely) failed to mention.

This impeccably qualified academic chatters on about creating a global market for carbon pricing by extending the existing European Emissions Trading Scheme ( the one that's fast disappearing down the toilet) to include countries such as the United States, India, and China. Meanhwile Mr Putin plays with his oily spigots ....

Sleepwalking to economic disaster.

================================

If you are wondering what this means - take a concrete example of how carbon trading works.

The UK Gubment are committed to offset GHG emissions from air travel by government staff from April 2006. (The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have their own emissions reduction commitments - don't ask why that's how Gubments work - it's called joined up Gubment)
.
The UK Gubment does this by buying credits from UK-based emissions trading fund Trading Emissions PLC (Y/E 30/6/2006 Turnover £7.21 Mn Profit £3.49 Mn)In this instance some other hooray Henries called EEA Fund Management Ltd got a share of the action as well - follow link for details)

On 28th December 2006 (last week - PAnews/20060029/32377087 and more details here) Trading Emissions sold 225,000t of certified emissions reduction (CER) credits to the UK government carbon offsetting fund at £9.76/t = Euro 7.40 (US$19/t), or 90pc of the price of 2008 EU emissions allowances(tender bid total £2.5 Mn 1/3rd of Annual T/O). The government has the option to buy a further 50,000t of CERs = £0.5Mn. (Today's price is somewhat less at £5.20 = Euro 3.55 - see graph) - smart buying eh ?

“The government is increasingly aware of the environmental impact of air travel and this is a way to mitigate unavoidable emissions,” a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

The credits will be generated from small-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency clean development mechanism projects, one of the flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto protocol such as Sri Lankan villagers using Photo voltaics to generate daytime electricity to run domestic low voltage lights in the evening , TV's etc instead of using paraffin fuelled lighting...or Brazilian farmers preventing methane escaping from pig ..er...shit.

One CER will offset the emissions from around 10,000km of air travel — nearly enough for one London-New York return trip, according to the CarbonNeutral company.

All this hasn't stopped a single kilo of jetfuel being burnt - but it gives some folks in Whitehall and Westminster with a nice warm feeling , and of course a Carbon Trader with a fancy commission and if he/she anticipated the market dropping (ie they read Lord Patel on a regular basis) they could have dealt themselves a nice fat trading profit on top - which no doubt they did.

That is what Lord Patel means when he talks about the casino that carbon trading is..a casino that is fed very often with taxpayers money.

MI5 - email alert system announced and will be up and running - er.... real soon now

MI5 chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller the soon to be ex-head of spy chasers MI5 has paused from "tracking at least 30 terror plots against the UK" (BBC)to announce a dramatic step change in the handling of spreading fear and alarm alerts.

The Home Office has a long-planned programme of reaching out to the public and keeping it better informed about the terrorist threats as they keep unravelling and so you can get fear fed straight to your e-mail in box direct from the Fear Factory... and look out for Text Messages of fear ...coming shortly.

Simply log on to the MI5 website and ask for either the level of the terror threat to the UK as assessed by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre...or subscribe to That's New, a digest of the latest information from MI5, including speeches made by the director general and links to relevant websites.... There is however a slight glitch as no one has told anybody running the MI5 website of this brave bold new initiative - there is no information about this astounding new service (as advertised) and a search on e-mail alert yields no answer.

Regular readers of Lord Patel's already will be familiar with the, simple, proven, in house and far superior MI5 Critical alarm feature - set at permanently CRITICAL ... although an in house top technical team of terrists apply a unique modifying factor ... Possibly , Maybe, Almost Certain.etc., which we feel is ..er... well more user friendly. WE don't want to frighten anyone...do we ?

Meanwhile wait for those crack technicians to put something on the website that matches what the public announcements say.... so much for the long term planning at the Home Office.

Dontcha just love it...the website where you can find the current state of alert is www.intelligence.gov.uk

NB If you are one of the gangs of terrists planning one of these 30 plots to bring on Armagedson can you just slow things down until we get this system working ? Thanks.

Do you get the feeling that the "SURGE" is...

....... like the final scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ?

Ruth Kelly is a fucking Hypocrite

Ruth Kelly MP for West Bolton and the absurdly titled Communities and Local Government Secretary, and her husband , archaeologist Derek Gadd (married 1996) bought a nice four-bedroom detached house, which had been built on a greenfield site in Horwich. In January 2001 they paid £109,000 after obtaining a mortgage for £101,148 - probable market value today approaching £180,000.

As any MP can, under the tax-free Additional Costs Allowance scheme, (on top of her Cabinet Ministers salary of £135,000) she claimed for ;

Mortgage payments
Council Tax
Energy costs
Furniture, security, repairs, decoration

Her claims have totalled £72,000 over 4 years and at this rate will exceed the £109.000 purchase price some time this year - the ZERO COST HOUSE. Which some people - journalists on the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times (£42,000 'lost in black hole of Kelly allowances') for example consider rather excessive. Greg Hands, Tory MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, said: “There should be a full investigation into this apparent black hole - which he estimated at £44,000"

The Kelly menage which includes a nanny for the 4 children - Eamonn who arrived 11 days after the 1997 General Election, Sinead in 1998, Roisin in 2000 and Niamh in 2003 live in the Borough of Tower Hamlets.... although this didn't prevent her successfully objecting to the building of 1,700 new homes near her own infrequently used pad in Horwich - after which she urged local residents to "savour this sweet victory over the developers" . Not forgetting how this devout Christian and member of Opus Dei supported opposition in March 2005 to plans to build a new Islamic College with accommodation for 200 boarding studentson a greenfield site in Westhoughton.

The residents of Bolton however were incensed when she took up her current position from the remnants of John Prescott's office when she told Today listeners on Radio 4 in May this year that the drive to build more social and low-cost housing would be one of her priorities.

"We need to put a greater emphasis on increasing housing supply in future,"

"That may mean, for example, changing the planning regulations to make sure that more housing comes forward.

"It also means changing the social culture in this country where too often the case has been that people have been protective of their own space and not wanted to see more affordable housing being built. That is something we really have to root out."

Bolton residents could point out what a hypocritical bitch this freebooter and carpetbagger was and her history of opposing local housing developments ...which Bolton Conservative councillor John Walsh listed for the Bolton Evening News on Friday 12th May 2006.

She started in March, 1998, objecting to plans to sell off land earmarked for car parking at Lostock railway station.

June, 1999, Ms Kelly labelled the abandonment of a 1,100-home estate in Westhoughton "a victory for people power".

April, 2000, she praised campaigners after developers planning a 600-home estate at Bowlands Hey, Westhoughton, pulled out of a public inquiry.

February, 2003, Ms Kelly helped to fight a plan to build homes on a hospital site in Horwich.

November, 2004, Ms Kelly backed constituents opposing new homes at a former aerospace plant at Leigh Road, Westhoughton.

April, 2000, she praised campaigners after developers planning a 600-home estate at Bowlands Hey, Westhoughton, pulled out of a public inquiry.

February, 2003, Ms Kelly helped to fight a plan to build homes on a hospital site in Horwich.

July, 2003, residents applauded her help in the "Battle of Markland Hill", which ended when planning inspectors rejected proposals for a five-storey block of flats and two houses in a conservation area.

April, 2004, she supported residents opposing plans for 30 new flats at the same site. The scheme was rejected on grounds that it would have been over-development.

When criticised earlier this year by Caroline Spelman the shadow local government secretary, of " breathtaking hypocrisy" , a spokesman for the beautiful, pouting, deeply sincere Christian, Ms Kelly said ...

" that it was perfectly reasonable for the minister to criticise Nimbies while objecting to developments in her own constituency."

Educationally challenged and so sent away to boarding school at Westminster (£25,000 out of taxed income and breakfast in the 15 Century Abbot's Dining Room) The nascent Treasury camp follower, sometime Minister for Education / Communities must have somehow packed in overtime on lessons with the Jesuits in sophistry or a passing rabbi for lessons in Talmudic scholarship.

As Miister she went to look at Zero Emission Houses (pic from Torygraph) - she beats us all with her ZERO COST HOUSE

We won't even talk about Education ...... or perhaps we should remember when as New Labour Minister for Education , she introduced the School Meals Trust and said New Labour would provide more funding (£220 Mn was mentioned)for dinner ladies, school kitchens, introduce national minimum nutritional standards for school food. Who said after 8 years of New Labour ....

" We will ensure extra resources are available to build new school kitchens and renew existing ones so that healthy, fresh, food can be prepared rather than cooked and chilled and then re-heated"

Where does that quote come from... why theLabourParty Website Monday 21 March 2005 Ruth Kelly Minister for Education "Labour on the side of parents - Kelly" ... er and Jamie Oliver it seems.

Don't bother Googling or Yahooing "School Meals Trust" .. er... it doesn't have a website ...er .. it doesn't exist.

Byelorussia - now it's an EU / Russian oil war - Happy Christmas

Having been forced to settle to pay more from New Year's Day on January 1st, for Russian gas from Gazprom, it was reported earlier today that Byelorussians have chosen Christmas Day to cut off oil flows from Russia to Poland and Germany, on the pretext of demanding a "transit tax" of $45 per metric ton of oil going through Byelorussian territory.

The Polish segment of the Druzhba(Drushba)pipeline carries about 50 million tons of oil a year, including 96 percent of Poland's oil. About 27 million tons goes to German refiners such as PCK Raffinerie GmbH and Total Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH. Germany imports about 100 million tons of crude a year.

Apparently as previously reported ,Belneftekhim, the Belarussian oil pipeline operator,did not make the decision to reduce supplies, this was done by Transneft due to Byelorussia stealing oil destined for Europe.

As today is a public holiday in Russia (The Orthodox Churches and their 150 Mn followers of Jerusalem, Russia, Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, use the Julian calendar on which Christmas Day falls on Jan 7th in the Gregorian calendar) news organisation could not easily obtain any official comment. (Pic - Prince Edward Island Unkraines tucking in to Chrsitmas Dinner this weekend)

However Russia's Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Sharonov told Echo Moskvy radio of ``illegal taxes"on Russian oil exports in a move that ``smells of a trade war,'' Talks with Belarus on renewing oil shipments will begin only after the taxes are abolished, he said.

Now (Novosti) Semyon Vainshtok, the head of Transneft, says From January 6, Belarus began tapping oil destined only for customers in western Europe from the Druzhba pipeline unilaterally, without any warning,"

He said Belarus siphoned off 900 metric tons of oil in the past 24 hours alone. "In all, 79,000 metric tons of oil has been tapped since January 6." He said. he went on Russia's NTV television to claim "Belarus cancelled the signed contracts on oil supplies to its own oil refineries for January. Why? Because they assumed they will make taps, unauthorized taps [of Russian oil] - this is how diplomats call what the Belarusian side is doing,"

In Germany Economy Minister Michael Glos, current chairman of the European Union Energy Ministers' Council, sounded relaxed , although viewing the affair with ``concern.'' he went on to say ``I expect efforts to be made to restore delivery through the pipeline at full volume as soon as possible,'' Glos said in a faxed statement to Bloomberg. The situation in Germany is ``not dramatic'' and refiners have enough crude ``to ensure deliveries even during stoppages of a longer nature,'' he said.

About 27 million tonsof Russian oil transits the affected pipeline onwards from Plock to German refiners such as PCK Raffinerie GmbH on the German Polish border at Scwhedt (although it can take supplies from the Baltic seaport of Rostock) supplying domestic highly refined low sulphur road and jetfuels.(see map) Total Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH (capacity 11 MN tonnes per annum, largest (2.6BN Euros)is the biggest French investment in Germany. They can take oil from Danzig seaport on the Baltic.

Although Poland has 60 days of oil reserves the action by Byelorussia has cut off direct pipeline shipments to Poland's two biggest refineries, PKN Orlen SA and Grupa Lotos SA in Gdansk (which processes 6 Mn tonnes per annum). Orlen's main refinery in Plock, central Poland, continues to operate at full capacity and its Polish refineries can be fully supplied by sea although Lota has only 2 weeks of immediate reserves.

PK Orlen are Central Europe’s largest downstream oil company - they recently purchased (their biggest ever) a total of 84.36% shares from Yukos International UK B.V. (Yukos) and the Lithuanian Government, paying US$ 2.34 billion for strategic stake in the Lithuanian company AB Mažeikių Nafta (MN) followed in December by 58 filling stations in Northern Germany from Deutsche BP AG.

Elswehere Industry Ministry spokesman Tomas Bartovsky of the Czech Republic said they experienced a ``short disruption'' that was covered by reserves from Slovakia and deliveries to the country ``are in no danger.''

Slovakia's Economy Ministry said supplies haven't been interrupted. Slovnaft AS, the Slovak refinerybased in Bratislava and controlled by Hungarian oil company Mol, will release a statement later today. Slovnaft co-incidentally have just today been informed by Alexandra Bernáthová of the Slovak Antimonopoly Office (PMÚ)of a a fine they are imposingof Sk 300 million (Kč 240 million/€ 8.7 million) because the refinery acted in a discriminatory way in setting discounts or extra charges for prices in the sale of its products. Slovnaft charged Royal Dutch Shell a higher wholesale price than its Austrian rival OMV had to pay - which Slovnaft contest - but then they would say that wouldn't they ?

Hungarian Economy Minister Janos Koka said Mol Rt., Hungary's biggest refiner, had experienced a drop in Russian crude supplies which may be halted by the end of the day, forcing it to tap reserves and find other supplies. The country is ready to use its reserves and start shipments via a pipeline from the Adriatic Sea.

No doubt the position will become clearer - but it highlights (yet again) the precarious nature of supplies to Europe of prime energy supplies.

Footnote

Christmas brings extra security to the streets of Moscow. The city deployed 9,000 policemen on the night of the Vigil and all Sunday... as fastingand abstinence has been observed for 40 nights since November 28th and things tend to get a bit high spirited - hence the empty offices today. President Putin said in a national address..."This feast brings joy and hope to millions of people and unites us around traditional moral values, reinforcing the moral foundations and harmony in society,' and urged Russians to look to the future with 'hope."

Pope Benedict XVI hailed 'our beloved brothers and sisters of the eastern Churches' and 'with affection' wished them 'abundance of peace and Christian prosperity.'

Spraznikom!

Guradian Monday 6.30 pm Russian-Belarus oil row rattles EU nerves
Reports on Channel 4.

Why the cost of your passport has trebled - FCO buys new computers

Hanslope Park, Bucks. FCO spook Palace expands in £320 MN facelift


Buckinghamshire is awash with spooky sites as a visit to Alan Turnbull's "Secret Bases" will reveal. He has for the New Year a spanking new aerial picture of Hanslope Park which he says houses the Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre (HMGCC) This absorbs 80% of the Hanslope Park estate and also is home to MI6's Technical Security Department (TSD), staffed by SIS operatives who process and analyse data sent from GCHQ in Cheltenham and Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire, especially data intercepted from the foreign embassies in London.

Noteworthy is the 3 story building (left of centre) over 6500 square metres of floor space – under construction , on a former car park, valued at £30Mn. Which is, Turnbull says the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) new Information and Communications Technology Centre, due for use at the end of 2007.

In 2005, the FCO signed a record-breaking £190 million, 7 year contract (it's largest computer purchase todate) with Hewlett Packard (HP) to provide the hardware and software for the next generation of the FCO's secure global IT desktop infrastructure, code name: "Future Firecrest". (See FCO explanation why they need it here to the HOC Public Accounts Committee Jan 2005).... " The e-Diplomacy Strategy was launched in January 2004 to develop the ICT component of the wider FCO Strategy. The e-Diplomacy Strategy seeks to transform the FCO into a single on-line global organisation delivering high quality services to the public ....z z z z zzzzzzzzzz....zzz"

The FCO's internal costs bring the total project value to more than £320 million – the largest contract ever signed by the UK Foreign Office. The system will be managed centrally from the new ICT Building at Hanslope Park, where hundreds more FCO staff from central London will be relocated at the end of the project in 2012 - tracking tortured souls in Uzbek jails and "rendered" CIA prisoners no doubt for Mrs Beckett.... although the Public Accounts committee were told about abducted Czechs and the problems of Stag parties in Prague losing their passports.

Let's hope it's one of the Gubment computer systems that works. For more fascinating views of UK Government spooky real estate give the site a visit.

Zimbabwe - the population is shrinking, emigration, disease ,AIDS,removals ...

The excellent and indominatable Peta Thorneycraft miraculously keeps reporting in the Torygraph the plight of Zimbabweans. El Presidente (in excellent health apparently) is apparently currently enjoying the delights of Malaysia ..... and bread is so costly it goes stale on the shop shelves. The price of bread was increased last month from Z$295 to Z$850 ($3.30-ish)a loaf because of escalating costs of flour and production.(Herald report)

Maize (corn) is unavailable and stocks (like Saddam's WMD's) are now a State secret. Zimbabwe is in the 7th year of an economic recession which culminated in a more than 1 000% inflation rate in 2006, unemployment of more than 70% and shortages of all basic goods like fuel and cooking oil and staples.

Power cuts from Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, ZESA are regular and last weeks shut down of power to half of Harare last week by workers to protest their poor wages was hardly noticed. (Doctors and some nurses are also on strike)

However the whole of Southern Africa are facing huge electricity supply problems. The SA Power Pool - a body that co-ordinates the planning and operation of electricity power systems among South African Development Community member states — total annual demand will clock 44 689 megawatts by the end of 2007 against combined net generation capacity of 45 000MW.

At the current growth rate, total regional demand for electricity is projected to hit 45 827MW by the end of 2008; 47 920MW in 2009; 48 795MW in 2010; and 50 291MW in 2011. Capital projects totalling US$5.2 Bn are required simply to meet the projected shortfall in the region.

The Sunday Times has a report yesterday , "Zimbabwe, the land of dying children"

They claim that 42,000 women died in childbirth last year, compared with fewer than 1000 a decade ago. and point to a cull ammounting to geneocide that is " perhaps 10 times greater than Darfur's and more than twice as large as Rwanda's"

Of course many haven't died but fled, South to SA, and many others worldwide. Many are simply "missing". AIDS is prevalent - a 2004 UN report stated that 55% of the armed forces were AIDS positive and the UK Health Protection Agency said in 2002 that over 50% of new AIDS cases in the UK came from Zimbabwean immigrants, principally women. There are some 30,000 native born Zimbabweans in the UK.

The crackdown started with Operation Murambatsvina (Shona for "drive out the filth") in which the police and army destroyed shanty towns and cracked down on unlicensed traders after Mugabe decreed that they needed to be forcibly "re-ruralised" to regain their peasant roots. An idea proposed by Mengistu who obtained refuge in this stricken land with the help of the US and who now works as a power behind Mugabe.

Now we have , Operation Maguta ( which in the double speak of the double ungood means "live well", prompted by a shortfall in maize production since the white owned and run commercial farms were destroyed. Maguta means villagers on communal land are compelled by Army thugs them to grow maize and sorghum, which they must then sell to the army-run Grain Marketing Board(GMB). Receipts of wheat so far are 135,000 tons against a target of 200,000 tons.

In Matabeleland, where maize does not grow well, the army has gone in hard, beating peasants who resist, raping women chopping down orchards and tearing up vegetable patches.

Didymus Mutasa, the brutal, uneducated Security Minister is reported saying in 2002, that "we would be better off with only 6million people, with our own people who support the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra people".

Pius Ncube, the Catholic Archbishop of Matabeleland, says "What is going on is truly evil but I do not think they set out to kill people, it is just that they do not care."

"Their only concern is to stay in power and enrich themselves and to turn people into terrified, compliant subjects ... Mugabe is a murderer and also a traitor - he is selling the country to the Chinese. It is lonely to be the only one to say that."

Still the West turns a blind eye. Zimbabwe is simply not on the UN agenda: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, has for a long time used his influence to stifle debate and comment. Nor do the Chinese wish to stir trouble as they ship off the copper ore, beyond supplying radar and anti-aircraft missiles for Mugabe's palace. Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary Trust Maphosa also revealed recently the purchase of 12 K8 Chinese/Pakistani jet fighter trainers at a cost of some US$20Mn each. This is no doubt part of El Presidente's "Look East" policy to forge closer links with Asia - all part of of the national economic development priority programme (NEDPP).

Chinese Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) offered $3bn for a 60% stake in Zimbabwe's struggling state-owned steel firm, Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) which is running at 30% capacity at the end of November - nothing has been heard since. This came 2 months after the government announced the collapse of a $400m investment by India's Global Steel Holdings to rehabilitate Ziscosteel - the fate of many grandiose projects.

Where does Mugabe's money come from? - well Bindura Nickel (previously 53% owned by Anglo American who sold out 2 years ago) secured a Paribas Bank loan to cover Kuwaiti owned road fuel shipped in from Mozambique. Who owns what, no-one knows but the product ships to China and the income presumably gets divvied up between ZANU PF henchmen.Their Trojan mine is undergoing a US$10 MN refit to replace 30 year old kit which will be operating from May 2007. Falcon Gold and Huwange Colliery are other successful mining enterprises.

Mugabe - and, to a considerable extent, Mbeki( This is Rupe's Rag saying this remember) -"have already been responsible for far more deaths than Rwanda suffered, and the number is fast heading into realms previously explored only by Stalin, Mao and Adolf Eichmann. "

There were 4,500 white commercial farmers in 2000, and now there are possibly 500 left. On December 20th Mugabe signed the Gazetted Land Act , the tool of Didymus Mutasa, who is also in charge of land reform, which means farmers or occupiers would be allowed to stay in farm houses for up to 90 days, and then must leave.

Mutasa is quoted last week by Reuters.."My ministry will issue notices to vacate these and expect compliance in terms of the law, failure of which will result in prosecution", he said, adding that those found guilty would pay a fine or face a two-year jail term or both.See Gubment website

The United States unveiled the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act 2001 imposing sanctions on President Mugabe and his closest lieutenants. Yet the New Zimbabwean reports ""Gifts and donations with a total value of $88 332 609 in 2003 being computer equipment and accessories were received by the Air Force of Zimbabwe from the government of the United States of America," major general Ruwondo said in a report dated October 26th 2006.

Bright spot ? (Zimbabwe won the 1.50 pm race @ Exeter on New Year’s Day !).

In July, villagers in impoverished Marange district in Eastern Zimbabwe discovered diamonds sparking a massive diamond rush, so in November police launched Operation Chikorokoza Chapera (No Illegal Panning). So far more than 19 000 people have been arrested for illegal mining and smuggling. The official Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) is supposed to have a monopoly on purchasing all diamonds in Zimbabwe. Smuggling to SA and Mozambique is rife at present.

Now suspected emerald fields have been found at three sites in Buhera district Chishanyi, Svongwa and Jori and about 3 000 people have joined the latest rush, reports the state-controlled Manica Post newspaper.

Local chiefs say the minerals are a gift to them from their ancestors, meant to cushion them from Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis.(Press 24 (SA) report)

Meanwhile an IMF team spent 11 days in Harare pre-Christmas looking at defaults on over US$125 of loans, non payment of which could lead to removal from the IMF at their review meeting in February.

What can I do ? Well educate yourself by setting up Google Alerts, Mugabe, Mutasa, ZANU-PF, hounding your MP, MEP, tell your friends now, it is too late but eventually the conscience of the West will be prodded into action. Meanwhile some links to follow ....
Cry Beloved Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Outpost of Tyranny (links to every conceivable Zim site)

Crisis in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Vigil

A vigil is held outside the Zimbabwean Embassy in London every Saturday from 1400 to 1800 hrs and this week singer Viomak was present - her new “Happy 83rd Birthday President R.G Mugabe (Zimbabwe Classics 2) Bones of a 30 Year Old.” is due out soon. Her website is here
http://www.viomakcharitymusic.com/ where you can listen to and order HAPPY 82ND BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT R.G MUGABE ( ZIMBABWE CLASSICS 1) Emotions Of The Emotionless. see more pics here

Tonight - Monday, 8th January, 7.30 pm, First Central London Zimbabwe Forum of 2007.
Jenni Williams of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise)
Monday, 15th January, 7.30 pm, Forum + MDC Central London Branch Assembly.
Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John Adam Street, London WC2

Laws of Physics temporarily suspended

Alticor Inc is the parent company of Fulton Innovation, (from Ada, Mich.)they are also AMWAY the global leader in multi level marketing ... pyramid selling to some sceptical folks.

Well on January 9, 2007, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Las Vegas Convention Center, Central Plaza, CP-7) whilst the Consumer Electronics Show 2007 is swamping Vegas,Visteon , the mega supplier of auto electronics (4th largest in world) is going to preview for invited members of the press an eCoupled-powered wireless charging device they have developed with Fulton.

This device allows electronic devices to be charged wirelessly (repeat that...but.... slowly) within an automobile environment. The user simply places the device , iPod, Mp3 player, mobile phone on Visteon's wireless charger, and power is transferred by electromagnetic induction from the charging surface to the user's portable device at a rate comparable to a plug-in power cord. The wireless charger contains intelligence that can determine if an object is in close proximity to the charger and whether the object can be charged it also plugs into the mains, or your vehicle cigarette lighter (?)

Wow!

Now Faraday discovered how electricity is induced by moving a magnet inside a wire coil, and he was able to build the first electric motor. From this he developed the first generator. Tesla later showed Westinghouse how by producing an alternating current he could transmit electricity generated at Niagara Falls to New York City - and without losing much current on the way.

Tesla also made all sorts of other claims, he could power things by remote electricity, he would send pages of newsprint round the world - what tosh, whom can send pictures down a wire? As a his name is helping to sell a super battery powered electricar in California.

Anyway Fulton and Blue chip Visteon claim that this wireless charging device works and that ... wait a minute let's try and understand how it works.

How eCoupled Intelligent Wireless Power Works - (it says here)

eCoupled technology leverages inductive coupling, which works by transferring energy from one device to another through a shared magnetic field. (The technology stems from the foundational work of renowned scientists Michael Faraday and Nikola Tesla.)

They have overcome historic limitations of adaptive inductive coupling by using resonance-seeking circuitry that dynamically seeks and optimizes power transfer under multiple, varying load conditions and spatial configurations.

eCoupled technology addresses the limitations of spatial rigidity, static loads and unacceptable power losses. The eCoupled technology power supplies adapt to multiple loads and spatial configurations while maximizing energy transfer efficiencies by dynamically seeking resonance between the power supply and device at high frequencies to achieve the optimal coupling coefficient under all conditions. Energy efficiency is increased over conventional (!) inductive coupling with power losses as low as 2 percent, making eCoupled technology comparable to hardwired connections.

eCoupled technology includes an intelligent feedback and control system, communicating with individual devices in real time, which allows the technology to determine not only power needs, but also factors such as age of a battery or device and charging lifecycles on an individual basis in order to supply the optimal amount of power to keep a device at peak efficiency.

Any clearer? - no it isn't to Lord Patel either which is why he will be in the front row at Vegas, asking some darn hard questions.

PS

The engineers behind eCoupled say thay have been developing and perfecting the technology for many years. The product has been deployed in Alticor water treatment products for six years. Nearly a million devices with eCoupled technology, representing over $1.2 billion in sales, have been sold to date - which sounds the right development environment for something that seems to put the laws of physics aside.

Sounds a bit like Nano Neowater. Remember that ? See Lord Patel April 16th 2005
Drugs deliver the profits - Nano Neowater from DoCoop in Israel was another scientific dsicovery that defied the laws of physics and they when they didn't answer hard questions here
and that reminded some folks of Polywater
Chicago Tribune reviews it here CNet News who also cover Izhar Matzkevich's Wildcharge which it says here does the4 same thing and replaces the MobileWise they introduced ...oooh ...years ago. They also point out that the Visteon / Fulton / e-coupled device also doubles as a cup holder.... which is kinda neat, because modern automobiles have so few of them.

However when Lord Patel tried a bit of adaptive inductive coupling he got his face slapped, so tread very,very carefully.

PS "Coupling" is an NBC .. er ... 30 something .. er rom-com. Ho.Ho.Ho