"Cully" Stimson generates a lot of opposition amongst the blue chip lawyers on Pennsylvania Avenue

Nice to see that Wilmer Hale 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, members (AKA Cutler Pickering) in the list of blue chip law firms that "Cully" Stimson dislikes have been creating heavy traffic to Lord Patel's site.

They point out on their website that The American Lawyer (January 2007 Cover Story)recognized Wilmer Hale’s Ronald Machen (see pic) as one of the nation's 50 most accomplished litigators under the age of 45 in this month's issue.

The article commends Ron for his ability to generate business and quotes Litigation Department Co-Chair Howard Shapiro describing Ron, saying that clients "meet him once and they keep coming back." The magazine also commends Ron for making a successful transition to private practice after having been a federal prosecutor. Ronnie has defended The Boeing Company, the former Riggs Bank nonexecutive board, and Mitchell Wade, who pled guilty to bribing former California congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Ronnie tells us he is now defending Allied Capital Corporation in an investigation of pretexting by hedge fund short sellers. In March he is scheduled to represent Prabhat Goyal, the former chief financial officer of McAfee, Inc., in an accounting fraud trial in federal court in San Francisco.

Ronnie Machen was a very effective Assistant US Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, US Department of Justice, from 1997 to 2001, when Lord Patel knew him . He was responsible for representing the United States in a wide range of criminal matters in both the local and federal court systems of the District of Columbia. As an Assistant US Attorney, Mr. Machen conducted grand jury investigations and prosecuted matters involving bribery, mail fraud, government contracts fraud, federal conspiracy, forgery, uttering and theft - what they call white collar crime in law school.

Useful to look at what they say on their website about their pro-bono work which "Cully" Stimson excoriates so much ...

"Because the law is still a profession as well as a business, lawyers have special obligations to the administration of justice and the development of the law.......We strongly believe that we have a responsibility to help strengthen our communities......we have been known for our record of pro bono representation and community service—a record based on the belief that there is more to our professional mandate than advocacy for the most powerful and successful members of society."

An original partner Reginald Heber Smith—considered the father of legal aid in the United States—authored the seminal book Justice and the Poor and galvanized the organized bar nationally to secure equal justice for those unable to afford counsel. More than seven decades later, in 1992, partner John Pickering led the effort to establish the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge and ensured that they were its charter signatory. Today, as measured by The American Lawyer in 2005, their pro bono program ranks as one of the top in the country - long may it continue.

Go and have a look at the stunning list of work they do ; including (just to upset "Cully")

WH Filed a habeas petition and are briefing an appeal to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of six men who were seized in Bosnia in January, 2002 and thereafter held at Guantanamo Bay.(These were 6 Islamic clergy alleged to have plotted to blow up the US Embassy , a charge since dropped - The Algerian 6 - see more here).

Lord Patel is happy to disclose that Melissa Hoffer of WH has acted for them and spoke (video of speech here - wmv file) at the 17th Concours International de Plaidoiries -regarding the case and their treatment - described elsewhere (pdf alert) ..." They were kept naked in their cells. They were taken to interrogation for hours on end. They were short shackled for sometimes days on end. They were deprived of their sleep. They never got letters, nor books, nor reading materials. The Bosnians had the same interrogators for a while as we did and so we knew the names which were the same as ours and they were given a very hard time by those. They told us that the interrogators said if they didn't cooperate that they could ensure that something would happen to their families in Algeria and in Bosnia.

The charge against one of them, has now been reduced to "Mustafa Idr had taught Karate to Bosnian orphans."

It seems appropriate to raise this case because these 6 prisoners were arrested on January 18th 2002 - 4 years ago to the day.

Melissa (means honey in Greek)Hoffer is pro bono environmental counsel to Boston Natural Areas Network, a Boston-based non-profit dedicated to preservation and management of urban green space and community gardens. Recently, Ms. Hoffer has provided pro bono advice related to mechanisms for establishing a carbon sequestration project in South America and has counseled a non-profit organization interested in developing a renewable energy demonstration project on the Boston Harbor Islands.

Achieved what the Washington Post described as a “stunning reversal” of a miscarriage of justice in a nationally-reported case—undertaken with co-counsel from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and other firms—in Tulia, Texas, in which multiple defendants, nearly all African-American, were wrongfully convicted and sentenced on drug charges based on the completely uncorroborated testimony of a white undercover agent who was later indicted for perjury. [One of The New York Times "100 Notable Books of 2005", Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town by Nate Blakeslee tells the sad yet ultimately triumphant story.]

"Cully" Stimson's nemesis draws nigh

Dean Harold Hongju Koh of Yale Law School has a long list of offices and awards including Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under Clinton / Human Rights Award of the Cuban-American Bar Association in 1994 / Human Rights Award of the American Immigration Lawyers' Association in 1992. He also testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to OPPOSE the appointment of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general of the United States, because of his alleged role in attempting to provide legal guidance to the U.S. military justifying abusive interrogation practices, including that the War on Terror "renders obsolete" and "renders quaint" aspects of the Geneva Convention (he supports the Red Sox which is apparently a basketball team ?). He and Dean Emily A. Spieler of Northeastern University School of Law have prepared and circulated a statement in response to the apalling views expressed by DOD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Detainee Affairs Charles "Cully" Stimson in a radio interview critizing top US law firms for providing pro bono representation to Guantanamo detainees and implying they were being paid by shady sources.

The complete statement and the signatories list, including over 130 Deans of US Law Schools and can be accessed here (Pdf Alert)

" ... we find Secretary Stimson’s statement to be contrary to basic tenets of American law."

"At this moment in time, when our courts have endorsed the right of the Guantanamo detainees to be heard in courts of law, it is critical that qualified lawyers provide effective representation to these individuals. By doing so, these lawyers protect not only the rights of the detainees, but also our shared constitutional principles. In a free and democratic society, government officials should not encourage intimidation of or retaliation against lawyers who are fulfilling their pro bono obligations.

We urge the Administration promptly and unequivocally to repudiate Secretary Stimson’s remarks."

"We urge" ... have these folks got no balls ? .....WE DEMAND these remarks are rejected and the GUY is given his lunch pail, pink slip, the boot ..whatever ... and there's a whole slew of fancy law firms where he won't find gainful employment.

3 words for Mr Koh - CALORIE CONTROLLED DIET

UK ID card scheme - Costs under scrutiny - Baroness Noakes emerges from the shadows

Baroness Noakes 57, (formerly Dame Sheila Masters) married Barry Noakes, in 1958 , a farmer and Conservative borough Councillor. Lady Noakes has many degreees in law, business and is a qualified Accountant . She was awarded a DBE in 1996.

She joined Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG) in 1970 as an articled clerk and qualified as a chartered accountant (winning several prizes) in 1973. She was a partner in KPMG from 1983 to 2000.

Lady Noakes was made a life peer in 2000 - spokesman for Health and for Work and Pensions in 2001. Between November 2003 and November 2006, she was Shadow Minister in the Lords for Work & Pensions Nov 2003 /Nov 2006. Since November 2003, she has been a Shadow Minister in the Lords for the Treasury. Director of Hanson plc, Director of Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Director of Carpetright Plc , SThree plc, Trustee of the Reuters Founders Share Company. Formerly Director of the Court of the Bank of England. Fellow ( and President 99/00) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales , Director of the English National Opera.

A year ago yesterday this strikingly beautiful, dull, but worthy accountant , evidently one of the great,and possibly the very, very good, unelected but nonetheless an ornament to the House, provided their Lordships yesterday with some fascinating financial information concerning the Gubments ID card scheme. (Hansard)

For one year starting late 2008 the Gubment say the ID card scheme running costs will be £584 Mn. - this figure (the Minister admits) does NOT include the costs of the immigration service (and probably many other undiscolosed costs) . The London School of Economics report, of June 2006 said over 10 years the costs would be £10.6 Bn, £19.2 Bn. If the Home Office figure for running costs is correct this implies a 10 year total cost of £5.8 Bn.

The Gubment currently say the cost to the user of a passport will be £93 and an ID card £30. They imply that the fees are derived from the £584 million cost estimate.

If the LSE report is right,those fees could be between £170 and over £300, and an ID card fee , maybe £100. The Gubment have refused to cap fees, implying if costs rise, fees do also.

There is plenty of research to show that the acceptability of the ID card scheme declines as its cost increases.

She concluded ....

"The ID scheme is surrounded by much secrecy. We know that the scheme will require large and complex IT systems."

She seems an unlikely champion of democracy, but nonetheless welcome. Since her intervention we have heard litle and learnt less about how the scheme will work - or any further details on costs.

Learn more about the "Database State" at NO2ID

Democrats on a Horny Dilemma - do we ordo we not support Bush bombing Iraqn?

110th U.S. Congress (2007-2008)
H. J. Res. 14: Concerning the use of military force by the United States against Iran

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - January 12, 2007

Mr. JONES of North Carolina introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

JOINT RESOLUTION

Concerning the use of military force by the United States against Iran.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAN.

(a) Rule of Construction - No provision of law enacted before the date of the enactment of this joint resolution shall be construed to authorize the use of military force by the United States against Iran.

(b) Requirements - Absent a national emergency created by attack by Iran, or a demonstrably imminent attack by Iran, upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its armed forces, the President shall consult with Congress, and receive specific authorization pursuant to law from Congress, prior to initiating any use of military force against Iran.

At his website Congressman Jones explains ;

" ...... absent a national emergency created by an attack, or a demonstrably imminent attack, by Iran upon the United States or its armed forces – the President must consult with Congress and receive specific authorization prior to initiating any use of military force against Iran."

“If a military venture against Iran is necessary, it should be easily justifiable to Congress,” Jones said. “If no military action is contemplated, then there should be no objection to this commonsense resolution.”

Pat Buchanan at war.com and Real Clear Politics says ;

"If we are going to war on Iran, Jones is saying, we must follow the Constitution and Congress must authorize it."

"If Biden, Kerry, Clinton, and Obama refuse to sign on to the Jones resolution, they will be silently conceding that Bush indeed does have the power to start a war on Iran. And America should pay no further attention to the Democrats' wailing about being misled on the Iraq war. "

What the Founding Fathers called separation of powers, and has appeared in all the History text books ever since.

As Pat puts it, after 3,000 US soldiers dead, 25,000 (at least and probably many. many more) are wounded, between 100 and 600,000 dead Iraqis, 1.6 million middle class Iraqis have finally fled the (liberated ?) country of their birth, $400 billion has been squandered, stolen , misused, abused and the world's superpower, America, s"tands on the precipice of the worst strategic defeat in her history."

Hands up those who really think that the Democrats in Congress are going to deny Bush the money he needs for this foolish venture - so when his Midle East venture fails, he can turn round and blame them ?

Don't despair however , his drive by diplomat, sometime lover, Condi is jetting around the sandy and sunny Middle East ....er ..... meeting f0lks.

SPOT THE 'FRIDGE - Win a Million Pounds - Lord Patel's challenge to Metropolitan Police

8 January 2007 Daily Mirror
THE BEDSIT BOMBERS
EXCLUSIVE - INSIDE THE 7/7 TERROR HOUSE What cops found in explosives factory Toxic chemicals strewn across floor NYPD use replica for terrorist training -

"It looked like an ordinary suburban flat on the outside, but the chilling scene within the walls of the terror den used by the 7/7 suicide bombers to bring death to London is described below."

The rooms are a replica of the flat at 18 Alexandra Grove, Leeds, where the bombs were made for murderers Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Jermaine Lindsay, 19, and 18-year-old Hasib Hussain to bring their destruction and carnage to the streets of London in July 2005.

The Mirror was given exclusive access to the mocked-up flat inside a trailer at a secret location in Brooklyn - built with the help of photos and detailed information on the home provided by British authorities.




..and today

15 January 2007 Daily Mirror
JULY 21 'BOMB PLOT' SIX ON TRIAL

THE trial of the six men accused of plotting to bomb public transport in the capital on July 21 2005 began today.

Woolwich Crown Court was told the “extremist Muslim plot” would have taken place just 14 days after the July 7 tragedy.

Muktar Said Ibrahim, 28, from Stoke Newington, Ramzi Mohammed, 25, from north Kensington, west London, Yassin Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north London, Hussain Osmain, 28, of no fixed abode, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33 of no fixed abode and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham are charged with conspiracy to murder and cause explosions likely to endanger life.

2 points -

1. No-one would of course not wish to influence a jury empanelled to try the above case commenced today - least of all the NYPD who treated us to pictures of nail bombs from a car in Luton Railway Station car park (helpfully unexploded).

2. Remember the "industrial refrigerator" that was used in the flat (whatever an industrial refrigerator" is) This is the Times report August 04, 2005 headed July 7th bombs used hair dye, say NYPD

"The only unusual piece of equipment the bomb-maker needed to produce large quantities of HMDT was a commercial refrigerator, because the explosive degrades if it is left at room temperature."

"Yesterday, NYPD officials said that an expensive fridge was found in the otherwise rundown flat in Dewsbury, on the outskirts of Leeds, where investigators believe the bombs used on July 7 were built, and that the devices were brought to Luton in cooler boxes in the boots of two cars.In the flophouse where this was built in Leeds, they had commercial grade refrigerators to keep the materials cool," said Michael Sheehan, the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Counter Terrorism. Mr Sheehan told the conference that the presence of sophisticated cooling equipment in an unlikely place could be "an indicator of a problem"."

Lord Patel is offering a

MILLION POUND REWARD

to the person(s) who points out the refrigerator in the Daily Mirror photo of the replica of the alleged Alexander Road, Leeds, bomb factory in a secret location in New York (?) - there is some cooling equipment , a fan,and a bath (we are told was full of ice where did the ice come from ?).

Of course this story is a total fabrication , allegedly originating outside the legal jurisdiction of the UK courts, and therefore "plausibly deniable" - it is a lie, bollocks, dis-information and has been circulated with the full knowledge of the Secret Services, the Metropolitan Police, the home Office, The Foreign Office and their eqivalent offices in the USA.

The intention is to affect and influence both public perception of the defendents and to affect the jury.

PS (What flats in Alexander Grove have air conditioning vents (see upper right hand wall on top picture)

There are of course no photographs of the interior of this bomb factory in public circulation - perhaps Plod might like to clarify the situtation with some snaps from the SOCO's ?

with the

Fucking big Industrial Refrigerator

included.

UK Foreign Office to use Jewish immigration proces - Law of Return?

Lord Patel first knew Lord Triesman in the 80's when he was a raving and poisonous Trot. He has been quite effective at the Foreign Office - certainly better than the dumb, clueless, gormless, brainless Margaret Beckett and has now been given a new and novel job.

Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Returns , (Evidently a specialist on the Law of Return - see Israel Ministry of Immigration ) which sounds like one of the funny men in garters who appears at Royal Weddings and Coronations an dis put away in a cupboard by the herald Alexander Extraordinary until the next won. His office however it's foundation to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Review ( 32 pages of ....Fair, effective, transparent and trusted - Rebuilding confidence in our immigration system) published by Johnny Head "in the sand" Reid on July 25th 2006 setting out the cross-government approach to the challenges of migration, and recommended the appointment of a Special Envoy on Returns .

You will remember the IND secures our borders (?) prevents abuse of immigration laws (?) and manges migration to "boost" (??????) the UK.

Apparently this jew will ...

" ...... step up our efforts to deal with barriers to remove those who are here illegally and will give greater impetus to our close collaboration with foreign governments and international partners."

In another words he is there to ;

1. Soothe Ambassadors
2. Convince newspaper editors that the Gubment means bizniz on wogs coming over from Calais
3. Keep an eye on any Muslims
4 ..er.. well...that's it

When he opened the envelope at breakfast over Matzos and marmalade he apparently said..

"I am delighted to be the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Returns. Migration is a key priority for cross-government action. We know the benefits migration can bring to the UK economy and society. But to do this we need to maintain the integrity of our immigration system. Ensuring that immigration offenders can be and are returned to their countries of origin plays an important role in sustaining public confidence."

Meanwhile Liam Byrne, the unsavory Home Office Immigration Minister, whose main job in life is to prevent Immigration said ;

" Lord Triesman ...blah...blah ... vital that we seek international solutions .... huge challenges ........ this era of mass global migration. This new role will ....... place a responsibility .... countries ....... immigration concerns to accept back blah ...blah."

"I look forward to continuing our close cooperation with FCO(Note this post was announced by 10 Downing Street) to return those who have no right to be here back to their country of origin."

So according to the IND (see page 24) This is the start of a process. Consultation with the people who work in IND and UKvisas, and with key stakeholders and partners throughout the UK and around the world, will be crucial in transforming the system.

In the meantime, any immediate comments on this document are welcome ;
These can be sent to - indreviewcomments@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

or

IND Review Comments
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Home Office
Apollo House
36 Wellesley Road
Croydon CR9 3RR

Which sounds awfully like .. anyone got any bright ideas. Best so far is Jewish Lord Triesman pop off to Tel Aviv with the PM's other personal Envoy another Jew, called Lord Levy (always assuming the Police haven't kept his passport) and have a word with their Immigration services about how they keep anyone out of the country who fails to meet strict criteria - they must be a practising Jew.

MI5 - e-mail Cock up AGAIN

MI5 terror alert blunder sends private data to US mailshot firm
By JASON LEWIS - Mail on Sunday 13th January 2007

Confidential details sent to MI5 by thousands of individuals and businesses have ended up with an American company specialising in supermarket mailshots.

The security service's new email early warning system was designed to reassure the public in the wake of the July 7 bombings and the disclosure of a string of failed terror plots. blah, blah, blah

Screams the Mail - well ...er this was broken by Lord Patel ... see here

10.00 am Tuesday January 9
MI5 - email alert system announced and will be up and running - er.... real soon now
Wednesday, January 10
MI5 e-mail alert fuckup - all the gory details of their incompetence
with all the technical details obtained by the excellent Spyblog.

If you want the news read the blogs .. if you want the really old news read the Sunday papers.

Dame Eliza - Manningham Buller (pic BBC) is 65.(and that is only round the waste)

Spyblog has updated the story today Sunday, here

It appears that the system has silently been changed and apparently (?) made more secure...

1. Anonymous registration is possible - using an alias, webname etc.,
2. A Security advice has been added to the instructions ...

"Security Your subscription details will be sent over a secure Internet connection via a Secure Socket Layer (SSL), a protocol used for secure communications over the Internet. Web addresses that begin with "https" indicate that an SSL connection will be used."

3. The e-mail list sign up web form seems to be handled by :

https://mi5.h0st.biz/xdata.html

(Note points out Spyblog that replaing the vowel o as the digit 0 in "host" is a trick od spammers, phishers etc.,) This is on a Mailtrack host which has whimsical hosts named after Lord of the Rings avatars - Merry, Elrond, Arwen, Cirdan etc.

4. This seems to have started from the date of the hastily obtained Digital Certificate ;-

Valid from:
11/01/2007 00:00:00
(11/01/2007 00:00:00 GMT)

i.e. on Thursday 11th January - 2 days after the launch of the MI5 e-mail list subscription service, and after the initial Spy Blog article, but before, say, The Register reported it more widely.

5.Subscribe and you will get this ...

MI5 E-Mail Lists - Subscription Verification

Thank you for submitting a request to subscribe to our mailing list(s).

We will send you an e-mail in the next few days asking you to click on a link to verify your subscription request.

All this suggests Spyblog suggest a manual check or perhaps a buffer whilst they sit round wondering what to do next, give up ? Do the job better ? Do the job properly ?

Spyblog also asks what has happened to the data they have already collected ? How will anyone know - if these stumblebums cannot set up such a simple service properly first time round.

As for the Mail who give no credits to Spyblog who alerted the world to the actual details - enabling them to harass Mr & Mrs Geller (who is Iranian so self evidently a spy / terrorist) of WhatCounts.com who handled the work in the US originally and appear to have been dumped -not that the Mail no Sunday tell you that.

... you could of course go to the Observer / Guradian you have a headline about MI5 ...

MI5 braced for fresh 7/7 disclosures
Security services listed Tube bombing ringleader Khan as a 'desirable suspect' a year before the attack.

The story is a lot of bollocks but again MI5 and the lovely corseted Liza are in the firing line AGAIN. If you cannot stand the heat in the kitchen ... but then that's Liza's problem , she can't keep out of the kitchen.

Does that make you feel safer ?

Judge gives ICE until 22nd Jan to tell him where 220 plus illegals are from Swift , Greeley Plant.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided Swift meat packing plants on Dec 12th 1,282 people were arrested. ICE has said about 220 face identity theft or other criminal charges and the rest face immigration charges, The plants raided were in Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn. and Greeley Colorado where 260 staff were arrested. (they didn't raid the Louisville, Kentucky and Santa Fe Springs plants) With more than $9 billion in annual sales, Swift & Company is the world’s second-largest processor of fresh beef and pork. It was founded in 1855 and headquartered in Greeley, Colorado,

The raids were said to be part of an investigation that began in February 2006 after several reports of stolen identities were linked to the company.

Now Colorado U.S. District Judge John L. Kane has given ICE until Jan. 22 to submit a list accounting for all the detainees, including those who have been deported.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 7 filed suit in Denver federal court, alleging the arrests of the 265 Greeley workers violated their constitutional rights to due process. (No civil or criminal charges, filed by the government against Swift & Company or any of its current or former management employees.)

Involved in the claim to illegal processes are 61 detainees who were taken to El Paso, Texas instead of remaining in Colorado for complete deportation processing. Some detainees claim they did not know what they were signing when they agreed to leave the country willingly. If they return, they could face felony charges, but they claim agents told them they would be allowed to return legally.

ICE has denied the charge.

Sam Rovit, president and CEO of the 150 year old Swift & Company^®. said on January 5th that the cost of those raids has been estimated at $20 million in lost revenue and $10 million for employee retention and hiring incentives. "The Company does not believe there will be a continuing effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows beyond the current fiscal year."

Prior to joining Swift, Sam was head of global mergers and acquisitions practice for Bain & Company, leading money jugglers and strategy consultants. he is said to be a leading expert in food industry value-creation strategies, and has in the past provided counsel to many of the largest companies in the food industry. There are several Directors (Joe Colonnetta, Edward Herring, John Muse) who represent Hicks Muse and First one of the biggest Private Equity outfits in the US. They with Vail, based Booth Creek Management bought the company fron Con-Agra in SEpt 2002.

Swift released its earnings report Thursday January 4th 2007 (pdf Alert). Net sales for Q2 were up 6.9 % to US$2.47 billion. In the first quarter of Swift's fiscal year, May through August 2006, Swift posted its best gains in three years, with sales for Swift beef up 12 % from the previous year. Prior to that, Swifts earnings had been dropping each quarter.The Company's second-quarter EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) was $32 million, up from $2 million in the prior-year period.

Current year EBITDA was also affected by increases in freight and packaging costs that were more than offset by reductions in workers compensation and employee medical costs based on receipt of updated actuarial reports, as well as reductions in management incentive accruals and lower utility costs.

Pic Greeley Tribune
FAMILY MEMBERS OF JOSÉ MENDOZA, a Mexican immigrant who was detained in the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at Swift & Co., fill out the necessary paperwork to enter the Aurora Contract Detention Facility/ICE Processing Center to see José in court. Family who went to the center 12th Jan to visit him included, from left, his sister, Veronica Mendoza of Fort Morgan, his sister, Maria Mendoza, visiting from Chihuahua, Mexico, his niece, Jessica Bustil los of Fort Morgan, his nephew, Raul Lopez of Chihuahua, and his uncle, Manuel Quiñonez of Chihuahua.

SWIFT CELEBRATES 150 YEARS OF MEAT INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE

Bring 'em on - the boys bring home the bacon ...er

Today is the 25th Anniversary of the Rescue of "Sir" Mark Thatcher the wannabee terrorist, adulterer, divorcee, disgraced financier ( a mere 29 yr old stripling) competed in 1982, in the Paris-Dakar rally, with the nubile exotic and highly experienced French lady co-driver, Charlotte Verney. They, with their mechanic went missing in the Sahara Desert for six days.

On the 2nd January 1982 they had become separated from a convoy of vehicles after they stopped to make repairs to a faulty steering arm (rumour was he had stopped for a "quickie"). Declared missing on January 12 , his mother Mrs Thatcher, in tears, demanded a massive aerial search of the whole of African continent , a C-130 Hercules search plane from the Algerian military spotted the white Peugeot 504 some 50km off course, run out of petrol in a lay by.

Thatcher, Verney and the mechanic were (thank God) all unharmed.

Mark Thatcher Racing Ltd., was later, like many of the boy Mark's business ventures in "financial difficulties" and was bankrupted and shut.

“I tend not to give money to people whom I’ve never met and when I don’t know what it’s for,” Mark Thatcher Cape Town Authentic Passenger Statement 25/11/2004

Let's hope that people don't dredge up pictures of Harry in a different Army Uniform and make sick jokes about joining the Afrika Korps - or even suggest he is following in his Father's (the real one) footsteps. He is going into the Hell Hole that is the officers mess of the Royals and Blues remember.

Cully Stimson - why is this cunt still in a job ?

Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, 43, is a brainless twat, he is also a lawyer, a a former federal attorney, now Deputy assistant secretary of Defense for detainee affairs (i.e Gubment employee) , and appeared on a radio talk show this week - Federal News Radio, a Washington, D.C., radio outlet that runs long interviews targeted at commuting government workers (listen here - Warning poor connection!). He rattled off a list of some of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.

They have been providing pro bono, or no-charge, legal representation to captives at the U.S. Navy base, where the Bush junta is holding some 395 men / children as so-called "enemy combatants."

Stimson cited a string of major US law firms defending clients at Guantanamo pro bono: Pillsbury Winthrop, Jenner & Block, Hunton & Williams, Alston & Bird, Cutler Pickering, Weil Gotshal, Paul Weiss Rifkin, Covington & Burling, Mayer Brown, Pepper Hamilton, Perkins Cole, Fulbright Jaworski, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, and Venable [firm websites].

Stimson predicted that "when corporate CEOs see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their bottom line in 2001 those CEO's are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms." The former Navy lawyer said "It's shocking...The major law firms in this country...are out there representing detainees."

Karen Mathis The President of the American Bar Association issued a statement on Friday condemning Stimson's comments.

"Lawyers represent people in criminal cases to fulfill a core American value: the treatment of all people equally before the law. To impugn those who are doing this critical work -- and doing it on a volunteer basis -- is deeply offensive to members of the legal profession, and we hope to all Americans. The American Bar Association supports lawyers who give of their time and expertise defending those involved in legal actions. In fact it is one of the basic tenets of the Association's Second Season of Service, that lawyers should perform pro bono and volunteer work."

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman has since said that Stimson's comments

"Mr. Cully Stimson's comments in a recent media interview about law firms representing Guantanamo detainees do not represent the views of the Defense Department or the thinking of its leadership,"

Neal Sonnett, a Miami defense attorney who's been an observer at Guantanamo for the American Bar Association, called Stimson's remarks "irresponsible" and "shameful."

The New York Times has an article today regarding this man's stupidity....

“This is prejudicial to the administration of justice,” said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University and an authority on legal ethics. “It’s possible that lawyers willing to undertake what has been long viewed as an admirable chore will decline to do so for fear of antagonizing important clients.

“We have a senior government official suggesting that representing these people somehow compromises American interests, and he even names the firms, giving a target to corporate America.”

The same point appeared ina concerted effort on Friday on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, Robert L. Pollock, a member of the newspaper’s editorial board, cited the list of law firms (obtained by FOIA with over 500 names on it) and quoted an unnamed “senior U.S. official” as saying, “Corporate C.E.O.’s seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists.”

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, (D.Vt) chairman of the Judiciary Committee, wrote to President Bush on Friday asking him to disavow Mr. Stimson’s remarks.

"Lawyers have a long tradition of coming up to the plate and representing unpopular clients, including war criminals in World War II," said Ronald Rotunda, a George Mason University law professor who worked on Guantanamo issues as a legal adviser to the Bush Pentagon.

Mr. Stimson, who was a Navy lawyer, graduated from George Mason University Law School (see above) . In a 2006 interview with the magazine of Kenyon College, his alma mater, Mr. Stimson said that he was learning “to choose my words carefully because I am a public figure on a very, very controversial topic.”

See also NYT Leader / Opinion

The curse of the Lord (Patel) is on him - jobless by Friday.

UPDATE SUNDAY
The beautiful and talented Nancy Rapoport of the of the University of Houston Law Center .....

Apparently, Mr. Stimson has missed the recent renaissance of Harper Lee, Truman Capote’s friend who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. In that famous book, lawyer Finch represents Tom Robinson, an African-American man falsely accused of raping a white woman, at a time when such accusations typically resulted in public lynchings. Suffice it to say that Atticus Finch represented a very unpopular client.

To US readers; Mockingbird is an iconic book to UK schoolchildren and is used as a study text foir GCSE exams (age 15 ish)... and so is exceptionally well known.

UPDATE - UPDATE

See this from the curious schizoid but excellent Leandrotoro blog - Wall Street Journal: Suggesting that corporate America pressure top law firms to drop their pro-bono work for Guantanamo prisoners seems to have been a rhetorical bridge too far for Charles "Cully" Stimson- plus lots of follow up information and and pictures of a member of the Hilton family looking very relaxed in the company of members of the same sex.

See also very interesting background on Stimson and his job @Govexec.com

This for example ...

In late February 2006, Human Rights First released a damning report documenting the deaths of 98 detainees while in U.S. custody, including 34 officially suspected or confirmed homicides and eight to 12 men who were tortured to death. "One such incident would be an isolated transgression; two would be a serious problem; a dozen of them is policy," retired Rear Adm. John D. Hutson, the Navy's former top lawyer and currently dean of Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire, wrote in the report's introduction.

"I wish Cully every good wish and hope that he's effective and gets it straightened out," Hutson says, but "I'm not wildly enthusiastic about the job that's being done." The fundamental problem, according to Hutson, is a failure of congressional oversight. In 2004, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said Defense was leaving no stone unturned in its investigations. But, "There are lots of stones, and they're still sunny-side up," Hutson says. "they're afraid of what's going to crawl out if they turn them over."

Don't want any of those smart corporate lawyers in doing that do we ?

Carbon traded and a famous Swede

In his Prime Minister's New Year address Norway's Jens Stoltenberg announced "The government has decided that when state employees travel by plane abroad, we will buy quotas for the emissions caused by the trip." (BBC Online)

He said the scheme was thought to be the most ambitious of its kind in the world and hoped others would follow. Under the scheme the government will buy credits to be invested in projects which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Norwegian Gubment would not give any figures but according to the Norwegian news agency NTB the estimated cost of the scheme would be around 2.5 million kroner ($400,000, £200,000) per year.

He described the plan as "an example" for Norway's companies and other countries.

Oddly the UK Gubment have also wasted the taxpayers money in the same way, but there has been (remarkably) zero publicity - except when Lord Patel published it on Tuesday, January 9 2007 Carbon Black hole - ETS price drops 23% in one day. - to point out that the price of carbon credits they had purchased had since being bought dropped by 40%. Learn more about this nonsense here.

Count Axel Oxenstiern (1583–1654)took his 13 year old son to watch the Swedish Parliament in session, which he explained to him was to illustrate ..."with how little wisdom the world is governed".

Axel Oxenstierna is not a well known figure but he was influential with Gustavus Adolphus in the 30 years wars, and took over when he was killed at the Battle of Lutzen November 6th 1632. It must be remembered that the Realm of Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent at this time and was one of the great powers of Europe and included what is today Sweden, Finland along with parts of modern Russia, Poland, Germany, Estonia, and Latvia. Axel wasn't made a Count until 1645 by Queen Kristina but is almost always ennobled too soon in the text books. This was the year in which the Ordinari Post Tijdender newspaper was first published, the first one in Sweden.

One thing the Swedes are to this day grateful for was the decision arrived at by the Count and the Queen in 1649 on Sweden's first true School Law, establishing a distinction between grammar schools and elementary schools - that survives today.

It is said that the the Count was responsible for sending the two Swedish/Dutch ships, the Kalmar Nyckel and the Fogel Grip,which arrived on March 29th 1638 at the Delaware river (although it was known for many years as Swenskes Revier) in North America who soon bought land from the Indians, and Nova Svecia (New Sweden - now Wilmington ) was established. (see pic of tapestry of first Swedes stealing land from the native Indians) This was a commercial attempt to expand the Swedish empire and not the flight of people from religious persecution.

Oxenstierna died in February 1654 and the son whom he had so early in life exposed to the dunces of the Swedish Parliament became the new Chancellor.

(More here and here on the early Swedish development of North America)

Mona Sahlin, Swedish Minister of sustainable development announced in February 2006 the inention that Sweden (pop 6Mn ish) would by 2020 be free of using oil. (Guradian) Only 32% of Swedish energy came from oil - down from 77% in 1970.

The Swedish government works with vehicle builders Saab and Volvo to develop cars and lorries that burn ethanol and other biofuels. Swedish energy agency plan to get the public sector to move out of using oil. Its health and library services are being given grants to convert from oil use and homeowners are being encouraged with green taxes. The paper and pulp industries use bark to produce energy, and sawmills burn wood chips and sawdust to generate power.

They don't play at swapping carbon credits in a finamciers casino - they fucking do something about stopping the use of fossil fuels.

Tony Blair - Comfort "The Joy of Sex" and hard and soft centres at RUSI in Albion

In the early sixties Alex Comfort, (now of course famous for his liberally illustrated guide to moneymaking "The Joy of Sex") was an academic biologist studying senescence , with his then, trendy lengthy locks and his dishevelled stump of a right hand, which he waved as a stumpy philosophers wand, presented an exotic and anarchic figure to undergraduates.

He had published a collection of essays "Darwin and the Naked Lady" and spoke fluently, and with then, uncharacteristic good humour about sex and the sexual act in describing the Koka Shastra, circumcision, which was to feature in a later (and now forgotten book about "The Anxiety Makers" - Some curious preoccupations of the medical profession, London, Nelson, 1967

He introduced what was then (and still is) the concept of hard and soft centred thinking... which probably is now more evident in so called "evidence based" medecine, the attempt to produce scientific rigour into social debate and social issues. Remember this was the time of the creepy C.P.Snow and his preposterous ideas about "The 2 Cultures", which was so effectivelty dismissed by F.R.Leavis who was the epitome of the "hard centred" mind. It was the time when Lancelot Hogben another academic maverick in his essays "Science and Society" made the claim that "no society is safe in the hands of so few clever people" - wise ( and ignored) words of warning when economists like Stern can write drivel about the economic costs of climate change, and actuaries without understanding what the Reverend Bayes was talking about have destroyed the pension of millions.

Those chosen few the illuminati of the St. James' based Royal United Services Institute, the haunt of the shady and secretive backers, both military and financial of the quasi private standing armies of Aegis and Erinys who field more troops in Iraq than the UK Army - certainly better paid and probably much better equipped , moved their showcase to the carefully theatrical setting of HMS Albion to reveal their Commander in Chief against a backdrop of camouflage military trucks and cannon today. (Did they get the idea from St. Albion's in Private Eye?)

Those chosen few, the illuminati of RUSI, the retired military and their associated and like minded coves who wield power and influence through Hakluyt, Bilderberg, Chatham House, London City instutitions and Finance houses were allowed to peer into the mind of their delusional dumkopf, and demented, and shortly to be (?) ex-Prime Minister.

They were treated to a wide sweeping view of global conflicts of truly juvenile range which he identified as"hard" and "soft" .... and showed what Alex Comfort described as soft centred thinking. The complete text - which he offers as the basis of a debate is here

Some points amongst the mass of verbiage are worthy of attention.

After 10 years in office he tells us the Cabinet are "conducting a review into every major aspect of policy to set a unified platform and policy direction for the future."

Which some may think a little late to embark upon such an ambitiuos project when he is shortly to exit the scene - however ..

Firstly we are concerned by values and interests , which are in some magical and unexplained way antithetic, but "by furthering our values we further our interests in the modern era of globalisation and interdependence."

Secondly we have two sets of Allies, America on the one hand and Europe on the other again it appears, antithetic and opposed - no mention of the Commonwealth, Australia and the ties that bind, the rising stars of the east, Japan, China The forbidding Russian Bear , the sunlit cresecnt of the Middle East whose energy we so urgently need are also exempt from this remarkably short list.

Thirdly, this review combines, almost uniquely, “hard” and “soft” power. (we will skip over for speed the concept of an "almost unique" concept and certainly dismiss the concept that such a dichotomy is in any way novel or unique - see Alex Comfort )

"But it is fair to say that the “hard” power has been considerably more controversial than the “soft”.

(Overlooking the commencement of a sentence and a paragraph , even, with a conjuction - a solecism which would knock a few marks off the Bairian "O" level Eng.Lang. exam) this basically means either kicking the shit out of wogs or stroking them gently and winning their hearts and minds by building bridges, supplying clean water, sanitation, etc., ... which regrettably (and evidently unseen by the great seer) in the preparatory, warm up or "softening up" initial phase is destroyed by the "hard" bastards dropping laser guided bombs from 20,000 feet, Tomahawk guided missiles etc., etc.,

He then advances to his key vision of the UK's place in this disordered farctured world which we can re-order ..

"There are two types of nations similar to ours today. Those who do war fighting and peacekeeping and those who have, effectively, except in the most exceptional circumstances, retreated to the peacekeeping alone."

i.e Us and Them, (sounds familiar) Them being the (let us say) the Swiss with the Red Cross, the French with Medecin sans Frontiere, the ever present and helpful, Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danes, the myriad nations that make up the UN peacekeepers and nation builders who, given the chance won't support armed intervention.

"As a direct consequence of Suez, deterrence, rather than direct deployment, became the pivot of policy."

A policy which one has to say in separating the aggressors of the Cold War seems to have worked exceptionally well, but hard thought doesn't come easily to this latter day Clausewitz...

"So much of what is written distorts the truth or greatly embellishes it. "

WTF ? This one is worthy of Dubya

As he reaches his preoration he discloses a wonderful Truth , at least to the hard thinkers, but not to the soft thinkers like him....

"September 11 wasn’t the incredible action of an isolated group, a one-off strike masterminded by Osama Bin Laden. It was the product rather of a world-wide movement, with an ideology based on a misreading of Islam, whose roots were deep, which had been growing for years and with the ability to mount a radically different type of warfare requiring a radically different type of response. What we face is not a criminal conspiracy or even a fanatical but fringe terrorist organisation. We face something more akin to revolutionary Communism in its early and most militant phase. It is global. It has a narrative about the world and Islam’s place within it that has a reach into most Muslim societies and countries. "

He thinks this describes the rag, tag and bobtail of the mujahedeen with their Kalashnikovs and leather sandals ... READ IT CAREFULLY .. see the morror image ...he has carefully delineated the Zionist , neo-con cabals that have hi-jacked, not aeroplanes, but Governments and their Armies. The role of AIPAC, NDL, AEI, the red blooded Zionist in powerful position in America, Perle, Kissinger, Wurmser (Mr & Mrs) the deputy leader of the Democcrats etc etc., Lord Levy his personal Middle East envoy and school chum of Halevy the ex (?) head of Mossad and his fnanciers who have put Blair into power abd kept him there and others out. Sat round that cabinet table when these issues post 9/11 was discussed he had a Minister , Michael Meacher who publicly supports that malign view of these bloodthirsty Zionists and their long fought vision of an apartheid non Muslim state holding sway and with Midel eastern hegemony.

"The battle will be long. "

"The frontiers of our security no longer stop at the Channel. What happens in the Middle East affects us. What happens in Pakistan; or Indonesia; or in the attenuated struggles for territory and supremacy in Africa for example, in Sudan or Somalia. The new frontiers for our security are global. "

"So my choice is for Armed forces that are prepared to engage in this difficult, tough, challenging campaign, to be warfighters as well as peacekeepers; for a British foreign policy keeps our American alliance strong and is prepared to project hard as well as soft power; and for us as a nation to be as willing to fight terrorism and pay the cost of that fight wherever it may be, as we are to be proud champions of the causes of peace in the Middle East, action against poverty, or the struggle to halt the degradation of our environment."

Finally he challenges for a debate ...

"The world has changed again. We must change with it. I have set out the choice I believe we should make. I look forward to the debate."

The man is insane. Deluded. Irrational - he calls for defence expenditure which he has starved for a decade. He calls for a war on Islam ...

"What we face is not a criminal conspiracy or even a fanatical but fringe terrorist organisation. We face something more akin to revolutionary Communism in its early and most militant phase. It is global. It has a narrative about the world and Islam’s place within it that has a reach into most Muslim societies and countries."

He and his supporters, must be resisted at every step.

Lord Patel will now go and rest in a darkened, quiet room and will return to this again, and again. This nonsense must be exposed and resisted. NO stone must be left unturned to expose the daylight on the grubby people with grubby minds who support this nonsense.

Tony Blair is a homosexual - fantasist - sorceror - kaleidescope shaken

"Tony Blair is delusional" sobbed a breathy Claire Short on BBC4 World At One just now, fresh from crying about dead Liverpool football fans on Question Time ... Lembit Opek who had previously told Tony that he helped launch National Condom Week at PMQ on Wednesday deeply probed his homo-erotic fantasies...

"Not wishing to be cheeky, I thank the House for being so happy that I am so lucky. I should point out that the other sister is still single."

..... to which the the tense and deeply troubled PM replied mysteriously , I congratulate the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) on his extraordinary work for the Motor Neurone Disease Association " and then mysteriously added, " ....and I hope that he continues with it."

Portsmouth. Morning, Military drums. A scene. Lords and Generals assembled. Officers, Soldiers and Others, St Albion.

Scenes of military might, camouflage netting "...we must continue to fight wars to maintain Britain's influence in the world" ... This Albion , this other England ... this sceptic isle.... shore up the breach with our English dead" , " "new and different challenges ....war fighters as well as peacekeepers ....a generation of terror ...... pay the cost of that fight wherever it may be ... take war to the enemy .... gung ho .....ill-advised adventures without a thought .... atavistic, misguided attempt to recapture past glories"

Scene shifters, shift scenes, lights flash, lights follow .....

Robin Cook arrives stage right clad as Banquo's Ghost " Cry havoc ...... and let slip the Dogs of War" Alan Johnson sacrifices child in foreground , Peter Hain drinks the blood ..." Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter" ; John Reid appears , chains rattle, "Heads will roll ...Unburden'd crawl toward death ....you, our no less loving son of Albany ....

Albany speaks .. at last ...last

"The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest has borne most: we that are young,
Shall never see so much, nor live so long"

"Why are you shining that light in my eyes ?"

" Doctor ........................ the light .....

Exuent omnes

Is there a Global Strike Alert ?

Not Just A Last Resort? A Global Strike Plan, With a Nuclear Option

By William Arkin
Washington Post Sunday, May 15, 2005; B01

Early last summer, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld approved a top secret "Interim Global Strike Alert Order" directing the military to assume and maintain readiness to attack hostile countries that are developing weapons of mass destruction, specifically Iran and North Korea.

Two months later, Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, told a reporter that his fleet of B-2 and B-52 bombers had changed its way of operating so that it could be ready to carry out such missions. "We're now at the point where we are essentially on alert," Carlson said in an interview with the Shreveport (La.) Times. "We have the capacity to plan and execute global strikes." Carlson said his forces were the U.S. Strategic Command's "focal point for global strike" and could execute an attack "in half a day or less."

In March last year at Fairford the European base for such a strike force there were 2 B-2 Stealth Bombers and two B-1B multi-role bombers spotted and photographed. The base, in rural Gloucestershire, last saw action in 2003 when B-52 bombers flew from there to bomb Iraq. It is the largest USAF bomber base in Europe and the only one with maintenance facilities for the B-2. Interesting site here that watches. KC-10 tanker pic from them.

This is what Sy Hersh - who let's face it, isn't always right, but has some very high level connections said earlier this year ...

"The chairman of the Defense Science Board is William Schneider, Jr., an Under-Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration. In January, 2001, as President Bush prepared to take office, Schneider served on an ad-hoc panel on nuclear forces sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. The panel’s report recommended treating tactical nuclear weapons as an essential part of the U.S. arsenal and noted their suitability “for those occasions when the certain and prompt destruction of high priority targets is essential and beyond the promise of conventional weapons.” Several signers of the report are now prominent members of the Bush Administration, including Stephen Hadley, the national-security adviser; Stephen Cambone, the Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; and Robert Joseph, the Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security."

Now that the surge is official policy it would be exciting to watch any air displays over rural Gloucestershire.

Probably all balls says 'er indoors pointin at this link.

Stem Cell research gets State funds, NCR and Wood Group workers lose their jobs - and future ?

Ohio based National Cash Register (NCR) will end a 60 year link with Dundee soon and move manufacturing of their Hole in the Wall ATM machines to Budapest and 650 jobs will go at their Wester Gourdie plant. Wood GroupPLC the oil field services company have announced 50 job losses at its Dundee turbine services operation this week as the North Sea oil fields shrink and production declines. Q3 2006 DTI Energy Statistics show Total indigenous UK oil production down by 10.2 % to 17.3 million tonnes compared with Q3 2005. 2 new fields started up in September - insufficient to make up for production declines in older fields.

Again the UK was a net importer of oil and oil products in Q3 2006 by 2.5 Mn tonnes. (Q3 2005 = 2.3 Mn tonnes)


NCR who have 1/3rd of the market in Europe are chasing lower labour costs and more central distribution in Europe as well as being located nearer fast growing emergent Eastern European markets.

In Edinburgh the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine a centre for stem cell research, and funded by the Scottish Executive (£24Mn), Edinburgh University(£19Mn) and Scottish Enterprise (16Mn) will rise soon in Little France, next to the Centre for Biomedical Research by the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary , to congest the city centre further when it opens in 2010.

It is claimed that 650 jobs will be created initially with 220 researchers and eventually up to 6,000 jobs as associated suppliers , firms cluster in the area and generate £18 million per year for the Scottish economy.

Jack McConnell claims, "This could result in thousands of jobs and a huge economic benefit for Scotland."

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.