Iceland freeze not over

See - Thursday, March 27, 2008Iceland - funds freezing up.

The Iceland Government in Reykjavik has bought a 75% stake in the Glitnir bank for €600m (£478m) to prevent it from going bust."The government does not plan to hold its share in the bank for an extended period. The purpose of this action is to enhance stability within the financial system," it said in a statement.

Glitnir is the third largest bank in Iceland, behind Kaupthing and Landsbanki.

After the de-regulation of financial markets in 2003, Icelandic companies that previously had only meagre access to funds were able to expand rapidly.

They did...with some alarming conequences.

The banks have moved into foreign markets with their clients, investing alongside them and building investment bank capabilities.

Landsbanki bought stockbrokers Teather & Greenwood and Bridgewell in London .

Kaupthing bought Singer & Friedlander.

At the time of the post we note above the Daily Telegraph was telling us ..."As Iceland goes, so go the Baltics, the Balkans, Hungary, Turkey, and perhaps South Africa.

All are living far beyond their means, plugging the gaping holes in their accounts with fickle flows of foreign finance. All have let credit grow far above the safe "speed limit", some exceeding 50pc a year."

Icelandic Investment groups in the Uk to watch (very carefully) are

Baugur (investment company) - see Wednesday, April 05, 2006 Arctic warms ? Iceland market cools down ? Baugur CEO faces further charges - they own Mosaic Fashions, Coast, Karen Millen, Oasis, Odille, Principles, Shoe Studio Group, Warehouse, Whistles, Jane Norman, MK One, All Saints, House of Fraser, Booker, Iceland, Woodward Foodservice, Julian Graves and Whittard of Chelsea, Hamleys, Aurum, Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, Wyevale Garden Centres, Watches of Switzerland, Debenhams, Woolworths, French Connection, Moss Bros

Arev (investment company)Aspinal of London, Blooming Marvellous, Cruise, Duchamp, Hardy Amies, *** GHOST, Jones Bootmaker, Limeys, Linens 'n Things, Mountain Warehouse, Unisport

Hard Amies .... TODAY "The company recently requested further funding from major shareholder (49%) Arev Brands, which has provided significant financial support for the business. " Andrew Manders, the chairman, is also listed as a director of the privately owned Arev Brands

However, a statement from Hardy Amies this morning said that Arev informed the company late yesterday afternoon that it was unable to provide the required finance.

Directors are considering the options for the company which could involved putting the business into administration.

Cui Bono ?

The concentration of economic / financial power on Wall Street / London /Europe just grows daily. It may look like a financial crisis from down on the pavement but from the some 39th floors it looks real good.

If you seek the author of a crime the Ciceronian rhetoric goes, look to see who benefits.

Well the Titans of the Financial World got just that little bigger and often with funds supplied from Spain - Bank Santander now areprobably the biest private hiolder of mortages in the UK ownong Abbey Life and nowAlliance Leicester and having had the £14 Bn of depositors funds thrown at them along with £4 Bn from the Bank of England to cover deposits unsercured by the FSA scheme.

Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU), Japan's biggest bank by market capitalization, is closing in on a deal to buy a 20% stake in Morgan Stanley (MS) for $8-9B 9( now, remember a regulated retail bank) . An announcement is expected shortly.

Sacks of Gold, ( now, remember a regulated retail bank)has US$% Bn from the Sage of Omaha with maybe another £5 Bn in his saddlebags for shares - plus the proceeds of another US$10 Bn share issue.

Fortis whom we mentioned on Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Fortis Bank makes €8 billion provisions and Chairman talks of US "meltdown" ..Citigroup, GM ... when we suggeste dthey were due to explode, finally have - and spite talks of a BNP Paribas take over have had to be part nationalised with money from the Belgina / Dutch and Luxebougois taxpayers.

Belgium's largest financial-services firm, has taken on board a US $16.3B rescue fundin biggest European bailout since the "credit crisis" began. In exchange for the capital, Belgium will receive a 49% stake in Fortis' Belgian banking unit, the Netherlands will receive a similar stake in the Dutch banking unit, and Luxembourg will receive a 49% stake in convertible-shares in Fortis' Luxembourg banking unit. Fortis will also sell its stake in ABN Amro's consumer banking unit, but no buyer has been identified yet.

In the UK Alastair Darling has unveiled Gordon Browns secret plan to becopme the largest owner of UK Housing stock by now adding the massive portfolio of buy to let properties in the UK.

Whilst the Conservative Party unveils a £1 BN plan to cut the Council Tax by £1.40 a week he has pissed away £4 Bn on shifting the massive depositors base to Bank Santander ( who pay a nugatory £400 MN for the privilege - half the Market Cap at closing of 20pon Friday) (Forbes Santander Strikes Gold--Again ) plus a 197-strong branch network of Bradford & Bingley ...whilst Alastair and Gordon, ever the smart money guys have spent a further further eye watering £41 Bn on behalf of the tax payer for their septic loan book .

This makes Mr Darling the UK's biggest landlord. True to socialist priciples as now presented this is to provide housing, not for the needy, the essential workers ... but for those attracted by the tarted up properties Sarah Beeney style and to secure an income for the newborn wannabe rentier classes of middle England..

If there is a bright spot for the UK taxpayer the Guradian offers one - Under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 – passed in February as part of Northern Wreck nationalisation the government can claw back any losses from the UK's financial services industry.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is borrowing £14bn from the Bank of England to finance the deal - under which the government takes control of £41bn of mortgages while Spain's Santander pays just over £400m for B&B's branch operations and savers - and £4bn from the taxpayer.

The first payments on this loan will fall due September 29th 2009 , when the industry will face a levy of around £450m - a massive increase on this year's £5m levy.

The FSCS has confirmed similar interest payments will be levied again in September 2010 and 2011, which means servicing the BOE loan alone will cost ion exces of £1bn to the uK banking industry - stability ... at a price.

Darling admits his fleet of housing stock may no be thes best ..... "It does have more buy-to-let and self-certification mortgages - where, frankly, people just said what they earned and that figure was taken as fact – than we would like."

Bradford & Bingley RIP

So Farewell then B&B but worry not those out there who have failed to heed our advice to remove your deposits that nice Mr Peston at the BBC says you shouldn't "get the willies" (?)

We quote ..."There's too much at stake (including the stability of our banking system) for the government to allow B&B savers to lose a penny ...."

Should you subsequently disciover it takes you longer to get your hard earned from the ever benevolent state that the rapidly closing depositors windows at B&B don't apply to us but to Mr Peston c/o the BBC. London.

It will be interesting to see how much Mr Pym , ex A & L the briefly appointed CEO, at £2.5 Mn a year manages to take away in his wheelbarrow before the door finally shuts...... Monday, August 18, 2008 Richard Pym ex A&L skips to B&B and increases salary/ benefits x 2.5

FCUKED - an emerging problem

The BBC reports that energy trader Inenco says the UK could face power blackouts "within weeks" if a sudden cold snap or unplanned power outage occurs. (Read "The Generation Gap" pdf)

Here at Forthcoming UK Energy Deficit (FCUKED) we have been pursuing this line persistently and consistently since 1999.

Discussed on the Staurday Today programme these fears have been focussed this week since the National Grid published their latest forecast of power supply and demand for the coming winter. Ideally these are based on a "cushion" of capacity but they reveal that cusion will drop to less than 800MW in November.

BBC Online report that David Hunter, of energy consultants McKinnon and Clarke, said there was "real concern" that there could "a lack of enough power available for short periods".

After the National grid report was published the price of electricity rose above £121/MWh, (British Energy sell at approx £45 MWh to the National Grid on fixed contracts) and prices for November delivery rose 7% in a matter of hours.

Removing his head from ahole in the sand a National Grid spokesman (unnamed) said to the BBC "It is nonsense to suggest that the UK is at high risk of blackouts." ... forgetting that faced with the EU directive to pahse out coal fired plant operators have been running plants at maximum output on totally amortised plant - with resultant likelihood of running problems ... we also have nuclear fleet (whover owns them) with persistent problems of sustainability.

We suggest you have a supply of candles, wood, coal, generator depending upon your needs and circumstances.

We mustn't upset the servants or the children

Allan Asher, chief executive of consumer watchdog Energywatch, told the BBC there were several periods this winter when "it's going to be very tight".

He blamed an "appalling lack of future planning and cavalier regulation", but said: "I just don't think it's wise to alarm people about this.

"Both at a regulatory and planning level a huge amount needs to be done, but that shouldn't be done with dire threats which overstate the concern now."

"What's definitely true is that margins are tighter than they've been for a long time and not very much has to go wrong to turn that towards brownouts or blackouts."

Fortunately we are facing such a massive downturn in the UK economy that electricity demand will fall substantially - maybe that was the plan all along.

A Modest proposal Redux

It has been pointed out by the eagle eyed readers that the previous reference to "A Modest proposal" may be a reference too far. Jonathan Swift's pamphlet A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick was published in 1729.

The Modest Proposal was response to the wailing and handwringing of the pious about the degrading poverty of the Irish poor . This is, he declares a direct result of too many children and suggests the "surplus" of children is the direct cause of the problem - cut the suprlus, solve the problem.

He object to selling the children into slavery - not because it would be cruel or simply wrong but no-one would take babies as slaves.

An American back from the Colonies had told him that a child ...

“a most delicious, nourishing and wholesome Food, whether Stewed, Roasted, Baked
or Boyled”

This formed the basis of his idea of breeding children for food.

As a consequence, and considerable discussion we can now suggest that Bill Gates and Gordon Brown spend less time worrying about Malaria which kills only 1 Mn a year worldwide and proceed to lay plans for the imports of live babies - a 380 Airpus could handle a fair load.
Whilst this is somewhat wasteful and importing killed flesh would be better the hygeine standards through the Third (or even 4th) world would probably be unsatisfactory.

1. World population problems if not solved - reduced.
2. Grain production can continue to be diverted to ethanol.
3. Mid west Grain farmers to benefit from subsidies for growing corn for ethanol.
4. Tyson and Pilgim's producers meat packing plants can be kept open - even the Postville plant of Agriprocessors could be kept humming - presumably there is such a thing as a Kosher suckling Kid ?

Archbishop Sentanamu should be forging aheaed with this idea rather than muddled one's about short selling.

Ben and Hank End of the Pier World Show - how does it play in Peoria ?

Whatever results from the deliberations of the US lawmakers this weekend, access to Bloomberg TV has given the viewer (with the time) a ringside seaton one of the centuries major economic tectonic events. Whatver the outcome this is 7+ on the Richter and well over 5 on the Saffir Simpson Hurricane scale.

Flawless sports styler coverage from sharp, savvy commentators, with slick real time graphics , have performed a far better job in explaining what is happeneing than the elected representatives of the people.

...Not that they have been silent.

A major problem is that, apart from the original 700 odd words of the draft Bill the public have no way of determining what is on offer. Ben bernanke and Hank the Bank have been remarkably reticient. For two guys who are supposed to combine both academic savvy of the higherst kind and commercial credentials and expertise that acommanded the highest "compensation" on Wall Street they were totally inartulcate when they came to explain.

1. What the current problem(s) were
2. The extent of these problems
3. The origins of these problems
4. How the very brief plan - handing over 700 VERY VERY BIG ones to Hank to spray around Wall Street - even onto foreign banks (who may, as we have pointed out, by way of trade, helped US citizens defraud the US taxpapyer)

The two relevant Chairmen Senator Chris Dodds head of the House Banking Committee ... and Barney Frank D- Mass, House Financial Services Committee , present the worst of all possible worlds. Whilst wishing to appear sage and reasonable, ratyional even- they haven't a clue. Indeed Dodd now (NOW) says the original plans was unworkable - he might have saved a little heartache and time by saying so from the get go.

He looks used to all nite , or at least late nite sessions, howevre the florid face usggests the only financial concern of those nights was which lobbying firm from wall Street to stiff with the evening's bar bill and entertainment.

Barney Frank looks well past understanding of many financial matters and seems to have mistaken his role as that of the husband faced with his wife'sdemands for the yearly dress allowance.

"US$700 Bn bucks honey that's a lot of money... I mean you ' ve got lotsa dresses in those closets"

"Dresses - you call those dresses?" .... "Even the Charity store stopped taking them months ago"... "Why if my mother knew...."

" But honey you know you got dresses you never wore even ..."

" Wore ... wore ... do you know the price of dry cleaning, the charity store can't afford it ... and they have to clean EVERYTHING now on public health grounds"... "There , there4 have whiskey to calm you down"

" Honey dear haven't you heard of ... AIDS?" ...."Honey these dresses I have ... they are ... no..no... they could be toxic !!!!"

"So honey you see I really need ...NEED those dresses... or else what am I to do?"

This is where Barney pours himself another stiff whiskey and takes out his cheque book. Which his wife just happens to have handy.

However the Ben and Hank End of the Pier World Show is getting booeed and hissed as lawmakers have called in at the golf clubs, Rotary dinners, masonic halls across the land. Wall Street saved but Main street ignored... is how it plays in Peoria and down town Palookaville.

Fed by a savvy TV educated audience from Bloomberg across Fox, BBC, NBC ... and ansty well hocked land is already seeing gas stations that won't take their credit cards, they know how hard it is to reset that home loan. Inflation is steadily working away. Foreclosures are rising and there are no buyers.

All the while the Barney Franks and the Dodds want everyone to hold hands and jump off the bridge together ... but nobody wants to be held responsible when it doesn't work.

As it won't.

It wouldn't work as originally conceived... and after it's been picked over by this bunch of myopic goons nothing is more certain.

The grinding of the economic tectonic plates is well in motion, lubricated by the remains of CDO's, SIV's and a whole alphabet soup of illusory types of money (money = store of value) which has dazzled too many people and politicians for too long.

Economic power is shifting - even yesterday Bloomberg was reporting speculators moving into Singapore dollars - Singapore hosts its First ever Formula One Grand Prix.

Singapore Airlines (SIA), the first to fly the A380, has just taken delivery of their 6th aircraft. In the airline’s latest financial year (ending 31 March 2008) it carried just over 19 million passengers and its average load factor for the year surpassed 80% for the first time. More significantly, it reported record profits of 1.64 billion Singapore Dollars.

VAT fraud - launder £6 Mn get 2 years

Missing Trader Fraud has at it's peak been costing the UK taxpapyer £400Mn a month,for several years. Yesterday the HMRC (who have had up to 1,500 staff on the case at a time) finally succeeded in jailing some of the active UK based participants.

At Worcester Crown Court yesterday as a result of the HMRC Operation "Shoot"

Gerard Michael Forrest (DOB 18.08.1968) of Prince Regent Mews, London, was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Stephen Hancock (DOB 05.03.1958) currently of HM Prison Service and formerly of Grove Farm, Kingsley Road, Cellarhead, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison.

Barbara Moran (DOB 03.08.1956)(Hancock's girlfriend) of Laurel Cottage, Scot Hay Road, Alsangers Bank, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

Shane Matthews (DOB 05.08.69) of Ironside Court, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent and formerly of 6 Partridge Close, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

In all they stole at least £50 Mn. from the taxpapyer by an elaborate VAT MITC fraud

The related Operation Shepherd, resulted in seven men being sent to prison for a total of 39 years for stealing £68 million.

In related Operation Emersed assets to the value of £6 million have been seized under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 - including 4.5 million in a related investigation (Operation Emersed). Confiscation Orders are being secured to reclaim this money for the public purse. These assets inlclude a helicopter, a yacht, two properties including Meaford Hall, Stoke. Performance vehicles - a Ducati, Aston Martin, Ferrari and two Bentleys, Rolex watches and diamonds.

Craig Johnson was the seventh member of the criminal gang to be jailed in connection with a £68 million VAT fraud. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to laundering £6.3 million from the proceeds of crime has been given a two year jail sentence at Birmingham Crown Court.

It is noticeable that recovery of cash and assets is negligible in relation to the size of the theft - total losses the the UK taxpapyer since these crimes commenced is not less than £8 Bn. pounds.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time was the current Prime Minister Mr Gordon Brown.

No sense and only nonsense in Sentamu

It is impossible to believe how stupid and ignorant the publicity hungry Archbishop of York John Sentamu is.

"To a bystander like me, those who made 190 million pounds deliberately underselling the shares of HBOS ... are clearly bank robbers and asset strippers," he said in a speech to international bankers in London on Wednesday evening.

If he wants to turn over the moneychangers tables he should wise up on how short selling operates - those short sellers "borrowed" shares held by "long" holders of HBOS shares - probably inlcluding ones that hold the funds that will pay his much required retirement pension.

Those lenders do not, like Christians, do it out of the goodness of their heart - they charge for it, and any profits so made, swell their coffers whether the short sellers makes a profit or not.

Often these short sellers get caught "short" and the share price rises and they have to buy in a rising market and so lose on the bet they placed .

Just talk to Mr Joseph Lewis who spent over US$700 Mn on shares in Bear Stearns in the last 12 months, about losing money betting against the market - see Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Bear Stearns buy in of 8.1 Mn shares = biggest shareholder is Joseph Lewis - East End boy made good

A criminal Act and a New World Order

Hank's original demand handed through the Bankers window was about 700 words - say US$1 Bn a word.

At the last hearing of Barney Frank's assorted hoodlums we were told this was now 45 pages long - and it's a bet that few Congressmen who are asked to pass it have read it and a very few of them will have understood it.

It's certain the President doesn't understand what is going on judging by his address to a confused and anxious nation / world last night.

Financial assets related to home mortgages have lost value during the house decline, and the banks holding these assets have restricted credit. As a result, our entire economy is in danger.

So I propose that the federal government reduce the risk posed by these troubled assets and supply urgently needed money so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse and resume lending.

This rescue effort is not aimed at preserving any individual company or industry. It is aimed at preserving America's overall economy.

This Act is aimed at preserving the major tier of bankers (now joined by Sacks of Gold and M & S) and their assets by relieving them of questionable and unsaleable "assets".

It will do nothing to ..

1. Reduce foreclosures
3. Revive the US housing market - there is enough unsold stock / on re sale to meet any possible demand in the enxt 2 years.
3. Improve loan conditions for industry staggering under burdens of debt - see as a simple example the case of Pilgrim's Pride
4. Reduce inflation - it will in fact drive infaltion inexorably as interest rates rise.
5. To cut the National debt - and in fact may triple it this year.

What it will do is destroy the value of those wise and prudent investors who hold annuity funds, not only in the US but in Europe. This will create a new class of indigent and poor old people.

This Act if passed is a blatant assualt by the bankers led by their chief henchman Hank the Bank ( Dontcha you just love the pained look on his face when he talks about the immodest pay packets bankers have been enjoying ?).

This does not presage an elemental shift in the tectonics of global economic forces. As Mitsubishi and Samsung and the sovereign wealth funds sink their teeth into Golden Sacks and M & S , their is ..."flooding in like the main" a rising tide of change as the uS economy slides faster under the encroaching tide.

The UK will also slide along, although their housing market is wholly different as the prices are a reflection not only of cheap credit but real scarcity.

The ensuing depression, whether this criminal Act is passed or not will see an eventual slide punctuated by bouts of chaos and a change ... in fact a New World Order.
Not quite the one the guys in Chicago had planned for.

How foreign based banks who help defraud the US public purse are going to plunder more funds c/o Hank the bank.

We reported that the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations released a report on July 15th 2008 saying that UBS’s offshore practices helped American citizens hide an estimated $18 billion in 19,000 accounts from the Internal Revenue Service. see Sunday, July 20, 2008
Massive UBS scheme to help US taxpayers to defraud IRS of tax on at least US$18 Bn.

We had also reported Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Deutsche Bank's role in questionable tax shelters - fire destroys bank and records - LMDC and it's interesting people - explaining how Deutsche Bank arranged "taz Shleters" for US citizens...

In August, KPMG reached a $456 million deferred-prosecution agreement with prosecutors and admitted criminal wrongdoing over four types of shelters, some of them ones that Deutsche Bank worked on. A smaller German bank, HVB, has also settled with prosecutors.

The bank has said in the past that the transactions it arranged for tax shelters were regular and ordinary.Prosecutors are examining how Deutsche Bank helped to make and sell a digital option shelter called Cobra (currency options bring reward alternatives Ho.Ho.Ho.),to more than 1,100 wealthy investors around 1999 and 2000, according to the people who have been briefed on the inquiry.

Now this is all grist to the busy bankers day ... but DB and UBS are banks headquartered in a foreign country, and now they can sell off their septic debt to the US taxpayer, via Mr Paulsen's hastily drafted in "experts" on valuing worthless pieces of shit, called SIV's etc.,

Is this a wise/ sensible way to apply the worker's dollar ?

When Butch and Sundance were robbing banks, it was the banks that were robbed ... now we have a socilaised capitalism where the Banks are sanctioned by law to rob the people ... and any act the US Treasury makes is beyond the law.

A "Modest proposal"

It would be fair and reasonable to assume that the Sage of Omaha has more public trust than the "experts" whom Hank the Bank is about to draft in to squander the US taxpayers billions.

We suggets therefore that the money be handed to Warren immediately, without delay.

The urgency is, Warren is an old guy and he might die before the weekend.

It is impossible to predict what he will do with the money but US$5 Bn of his shareholders funds in Sacks of Gold worked wonders so heaven knows how US$700 (and rising) might be applied.

Failing that ..... we start feeding babies to the Hogs in, starting with eirther Alabama or Kentucky.

PS : Or maybe the chicken Farmers could be approached first ....Chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) warned it expects a significant Q4 loss, and said it may go into default with its lenders unless they waive or amend its current debt covenant. PPC has been hurt by surging grain and energy costs, weak pricing and demand for chicken, and by its debt load following a 2006 $1B purchase of Gold Kist who had debts of US$144 Mn.

The company announced idling processing facilities in Clinton, Arkansas and another in Bossier City, Louisiana and long term layoffs of 2,300 staff on 11th August.Shares fell 38% Wednesday and slid a further 40% today - now trading at US$3.51. (52 week high US$36)

Clint Rivers, president and chief executive officer in July said Market breast prices averaged about US$1.33 per pound, Rivers said. Market prices should be at least US$2.15 for the industry to break even.

The company also reported in a (now) bitter sweet report at the end of July, that they had sold 7.5 million shares of its common stock for $177 million (US$23 per share - ish) to underwriter Lehman Brothers Inc., to provide the company with more funds. The market price May / June was around US$25.

Maybe, looking at those chickens coming off the PP production line we could cut out the farmer/meat packer and suitably packed distribute processed babies direct - disemblowelled of course, who want's all those mucky intrenal bits?

Why there is a huge push for recruitment in UK Armed Forces

Official MOD figures show that 315 were wounded in action and 1,583 personnel medically evacuated from Iraq between 1 January 2006 and 31 August 2008 and a further 453 wounded in action and 1,302 personnel medically evacuated from Afghanistan between 1 January 2006 and 31 August 2008.

A lot of damaged lives and families.

What do we do if Hank resigns ? ... or even threatens to?

The speed and range of developments in international finance take some keeping up with. e.g Crude futures rose US$25 per barrel,(24.3%)before the NY Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday - US$130 + (it closed out at US$123) and no one expects it to drop today.

Congress and the Senate are clucking about the demands Hank Paulson is making - ie litle short of financial Dictatorship. He want the till stuffed full of US$700 Bn and he wants the keys and he wants protection from the law courts . Forever.

Barney Franks (Chairman of the Financial Services Committee) who looks like an unmade bed and has a grasp of international finance equivalent to Ted Steven's understanding of the internal workings of the Internet.To think this intellectual Titan can decide on what/what not to do gives no comfort in this quarter.

Faced with anxious self important people like Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Franks, who want controls on short selling, oversight (with all it's delays) on his actions, Hank Paulson could well decide to tell them go Fuck themselves.

Hank is 63, immensely wealthy, can readily get another job, is no doubt going to be replaced whoever wins the Presidential election.

Why does he want the hassle ?

Hank was very up beat and confident over the weekend - exuding steely charm as he circulated through the TV studios and saying basically ...Hey folks it's Hank's way or NO way.

Just imagine ....what would happen if Hank resigned ... or even threatened to resign ?

He really knows the shit the market is in ...According to page 20 the Goldman Sachs 10-Q regulatory filing for the first quarter of 2006:

During the three months ended February 2006 and February 2005, the firm securitised $19.25bn and $15.24bn, respectively, of financial assets, including $18.15bn and $14.43bn, respectively, of residential mortgage loans and securities.

2 pages later ... exposures to Variable Interest Entities “which primarily issue mortgage-backed and other asset backed securites and collateralised debt obligations” included $22bn of CDOs, $2.9bn of “asset repackagings and credit-linked notes” and $6.5bn of “mortgage-backed and other asset-backed” securities.

Just remember Hank (Wall Street's highest paid Exec) was also hauling dowen big potatoes for this...$18.7 million cash bonus (none of those fancy share options for Hank the Bank)for half a year of work as the Chairman & CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group for 7 years, just before joining George Bush as Treasury Secretary

Perhaps more significantly on the day he left ..."Goldman filed with regulators last Thursday for a sale of Mr. Paulson's 3.23 million common shares, worth $491.6 million based on that day's closing price."

Meanwhile his cronies on the Street have magically got their Get out of Jail card by putting on their magic Cloaks and becoming regulated Banks ! With one bound they are free!

Update on Shoes waiting to drop (UK section)

Already we note that the crazy restrictions placed on short selling have been extended to GM and Ford creating a false market in their shares. This will simply build up expectations of a fall ....they wouldn't demand a stop on s/s unles there really WAS / IS a problem.

Apparently their addition to the list of over 800 financial companies relates to their crdit arms. Ford owns Ford Credit outright, and GM qualified through its 49% stake in GMAC and its mortgage unit ResCap.

This also reflects on Bradford and Bingley Bank (which we have been following here) their Mr Crawshaw (now suffering from stomach Cramps) who very cleverly bought up to a maximum of £12bn worth of mortgages from GMAC-RFC (the US's 11th largest mortgage lender) .

Those home loans (now turning sour big style) were to be bought in quarterly tranches, worth a minimum of £350m per quarter, until the end of 2009.

Five tranches are now left to buy, by the hugely loss making bank - so they are committed to spending a further £1.75bn to fulfil their legally enforceable side of the bargain.

GM shares dropped 11.7% yesterday.

B & B shares are trading at a near lifetime low of 26p on the expectations that the FSA can find someone who will pick up this poisoned chalice.... an increasingly unlikely propsect as the company has been hawked around the City for weeks. The shareholders who are the Banks who supported the recent share issue will be happy to take the loss if they go into administration and be done with it.

Nobody amongst them ,evidently has the heart to pick up this pile of sepsis.

Anybody who has failed to heed the call already, who has funds with B&B Bank are advised to get round there sharpish and withdraw anything they may have. Relying on prompt receipt of their funds via a Government inspired / sponsored guarantee is hopelessly optimistic.

Waiting for the next shoe to drop....

The US Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for July 2008 released last week has gone fairly unremarked today .

Data published yesterday showed total net purchases of U.S. long-term equities dropped to US$6.1Bn. vs. US$53.4Bn the previous month.
The figures for April - July show a deckining interest in overseas buyers in US dollar denominated assets - Net Long-Term Securities Transactions
April US$ 116.1 Bn May US$ 83.2 Mn.Bn. June US$53.4Bn. July US$ 6.1 Bn.The major problem is of course that buyers of uquties are uncertyain about values - The domino effect is in play. EVERY insurance company, brokerage, financial institution, REIT, pension fund, money market fund, bond fund, annuity fund, hedge fund, etc is holding derivatives.

This is the problem.

Know one knows the the market value of the derivatives they hold and second, those that have foreclosures, bankruptcies, etc, are producing less income. The net effect is that assets are less than face value and income is less than planned fior. Together they are a double edged sword affecting both capital and income stream.

It is this bottleneck that Paulson's proposed legislation will allegedly unblock

Paulson's Bill initial text is here.

Treasury officials now propose buying what they term troubled assets, the Bill is rather vague (see below) . In its latest guidance on the bad-debt fund, the Treasury said firms that are headquartered outside the U.S. will now be eligible for assistance.

The troubled assets are described ...

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.--The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.

Which can be read to mean anything (and probably will) from a strauight domestic mortgage through to a handwritten IOU.

The most remarkable thing about the roposed Bill (which appears to have received no mention so far) are the powers Paulson seeks for himself ...

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency

We need to see the Final Bill , but with these unquestionable powers - limited only by a fund value of US$900Bn. to draw on, it is tantamount to a financial dictatorship. Funny way to describe the workings of the Market.

Will this affect the financial prestidigitators ? The money jugglers, the fund managers, the back room boffins who built , named, re-defined debt as an asset and then sold it ? Many. Many times over ?

No, they will move on to pastures new, they have been through junk loans, S & P, dot,com boom and bust, there are fresher fields and newer pastures , fresher mugs to screw, -nanotech, infotech, biotech and cleantech to name but a few.

The thermodynamic laws of financial affairs have kicked in and the market entropy has kicked in, big style but there are plenty of opportunities waiting. Those out of work bond /CDO /SUV /SIV /SUV salesmen have a smile on the their face, like Bill Loman they have a shine on their shoes.

Just wait for the next wave, the next shoe to drop when GM and Ford come to Washington with the begging bowl .. when Boeing who have a monster strike brewing and can't get the Dreamliner aloft , who have half lost the Air Force tanker deal start knocking on the Treasury door....



Incidentally Boeing's biggest customer , who has US$19 Bn of orders with Boeing is International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) a wholly owned subsidiary of troubled AIG. Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy, is looking to buy it out of AIG... but needs the money ..say US$8Bn.

ILFC has orders with Boeing for 102 commercial jets, 74 of which are 787 Dreamliners.

Now how would you like to fund a buy out of a company from an ailing insurance giant who have already run out of money, whose biggest supplier has problems and whose customers are the world's airlines .. who are decreasing in number daily....

MORAL

Wealth creation. Without it, you are fucked as a nation.

Just between ourselves.....

In reviewing the current and ever changing financial markets it is difficult not to bring to mind the remark of John Maynard Keynes when he was askedin 1932 if there were any precedent for what had happened to the world’s economy. He replied , "Yes, it lasted four hundred years and was called the Dark Ages."

Wealth cannot be spread before it is created. The increasingly academic views that previal have confused the notion of the figures attached to the Gross National product with national wealth.

Certainly in the UK, but also in the US a larger and larger share of what is calculated and called the Gross National Product is the product , not of labour, of industry, of endeavour but of actuarial artifice.

We have sat back comfortably transferring wealth making activities either by despatching them overseas, or inviting investment within our shores.

Academics believe that industrious Asia needs the consumer markets of the EU and the US to sustain their burgeoning growth. The fail - or worse still - refuse to see the immense markets building up for them at home.

We neglect the immense sophistciation , combined with prodigious human energy and effort that
now produces the sophisticated tools of modern living. The ubiquitous mobile phones and hand held devices, lap tops, are the product of growing , highly educated, inventive and industrious nations.

They are also a market for good precision engineering - for example China is undertaking amassive upgrade to their railway system.

Tienjin - Peking is a 2 hour drive. The new 35o Km per hour Commuter train undertakes the 115km (72 miles) journey takes 25 minutes and trains run every 3 minutes for 180 services per working day on the 600 seat trains - for which each seat is bookable..

French engineering company Systra provided project management services in combination with the China Academy of Railway Sciences . The US$1.6 Bn rpoject started with the construction of 100 Kms of concrete viaduct using pre-cast concrete sections for speed, and uses techniques supplied in a technology transfer agreement with German engineering company Max Bogel.

Siemens CRH 3 high-speed trains based on technology first used in Deustches Bahn's ICE 3s have been supplied incorporating new technology based on Velaro units which entered service with RENFE in Spain in 2006.

MORAL

Deutches Bahn own what was British Rail Freight see Monday, July 02, 2007 Krauts undertake railway robbery in daylight - CPNI examines it's arsehole , A private Spanish company own British Airports Authority (although this may be dismantled).

It is worth noting that Bank Santander who own Abbey have finally been given approval to buy Alliance and Leicester on the same day that Alastair Darling threw caution and common sense to the winds and allowed Lloyds TSB to takeover HSOB over a weekend without any concern about competition rules.

So a Spanish bank now provides some 30% of UK mortgages.

Just a small reminder that other forces within the EU are doing quite nicely thank you.

Here's a couple they prepared earlier

"Where once more-marginal applicants would simply have been denied credit, lenders are now able to quite efficiently judge the risk posed by individual applicants and to price that risk appropriately. These improvements have led to rapid growth in subprime mortgage lending; indeed, today subprime mortgages account for roughly 10 percent of the number of all mortgages outstanding, up from just 1 or 2 percent in the early 1990s......

.......we must conclude that innovation and structural change in the financial services industry have been critical in providing expanded access to credit for the vast majority of consumers, including those of limited means.This fact underscores the importance of our roles as policymakers, researchers, bankers, and consumer advocates in fostering constructive innovation that is both responsive to market demand and beneficial to consumers. "

Alan Greenspan
Federal Reserve System’s Fourth Annual Community Affairs Research Conference, Washington, D.C. April 8, 2005


“Clearly, the U.S. economy is going through a very difficult period. Much necessary economic and financial adjustment has already taken place, and monetary and fiscal policies are in train that should support a return to growth in the second half of this year and next year.”

“I remain confident in our economy's long-term prospects,”

Ben Bernanke
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman - Testimony to Congress 3-4-08

Schlock'n'oooerrrr

It is a comforting paradox that the clever artifice of Yorkshireman Damien Hirst ** in getting the gullible arrivistes to shell out £110Mn. plus for his trinkets and baubles as the Financial world implodes.

These sales to the mega -rich act as a counterpoint to the signs of distress showing in sales merely to the rich or wealthy. Half of the German / Bentley workforce of 3,500 are on a three-day week, whilst night shifts have been abandoned at the (now Indian owned) Range Rover plant.

Jaguar has been cutting back production levels as demand hs dropped dramatically in the UK and the US.

UK August car registrations were the lowest since August 1966 and were down 18.6% to 63,225 compared to last August.

UK jobless claims jumped by 32,500 to 905,000 - the worst in more than 15 years. Unemployment (the officical highly fiddled figure heavily understates the actual level) inched up 0.1% to 2.8%.

** Damien lives in some splendour in a Gloucester mansion for which installation of the UK's second biggest Photovoltaic Panel system (PVA) is nearing completion . He is investing up to £1.5Mn on a 310kw 1,800 sq. metre solar power system. This system is so large that it will account for almost 2% of the UK's installed solar power. Poer will pricipally be for the hosue and studies, warehouses - it's unclear if any power will the feed the National Grid and also feed back some income.

Due to ....

..re-location beyond the reach of Inspector Knacker there may be an hiatus in proceedings.

May we indulge your patience.

Abnormal service may be resumed.

NHS Direct has exciting new balloon - re-brandedNHS is due !! Hold back the crowds of grateful patients.. staff, consultants, car park wheel clampers

.... and you wonder where all those taxes go ? Well here's a little something they prepared earlier you might have missed in your busy day.

On 22nd July 2008 , Sheila Mitchell, the Department of Health's director of marketing, said the health service was ‘changing hugely'. She added that as the brand now covered a multitude of services, it was time to reassess it.

The announcement follows the unveiling of a fresh brand identity for NHS Direct. Thompson Brand Partners, the Leeds based brand communications agency, created the symbol following a strategic review.

The agency was appointed in January 2008 after a four-way pitch managed by the Central Office of Information's (COI) Publications team.

The blue balloon will now be used as part of NHS Direct's press and outdoor advertising, which runs throughout the summer. It will show the blue balloon in a series of real life situations; snapshots of our normal daily lives.

The campaign positions NHS Direct as being everywhere - whatever your health worries, wherever you are, you can reach them, they are there for you, they can help. ... the campaign intends to show that NHS Direct is everywhere ... now isn't there something faintly Biblical about that message ? Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.... let's hope our many ethnic / religious minorities don't find anything wrong with THAT message.

The supporting message is:

For life's little health emergencies
For help making the right choices
For health advice, right now
For reassurance, 24 hours a day

Thompson Brand Partners has introduced a blue balloon to the logo, as well as the line ‘We're here'. It will be used as part of a press and outdoor ad campaign to position NHS Direct as a fully accessible service.

Ian Thompson, Creative Directorat Thompson Brand Partners, added:

"A balloon is the perfect carrier for our message, it is optimistic, honest and approachable. Above all, a blue balloon is simple and iconic and works to get across our message that NHS Direct is everywhere."

They also go BANG !!!

Just in case you feel this is a fantasy here is the NHS Direct meeting minutes... approving the unknown expenditure

For meta analysis of the comprehensive nature of re-organisation that predicates this change and re-organisation please see Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine "A surrealistic mega-analysis of redisorganization theories " http://jrsm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/98/12/563 with thanks to the Jobbing Doctor

Regrettably we cannot furnish you with such a balloon (or even a picture of one) with or without the web address in the same font size as the telephone number.

Except if you access the NHS Direct website the front page does have this fine picture...


We trust you will agree this is all money very well spent. We couldn't find any others on the site ,even surprisingly on how to use a condom

How to make a Supermarket label wine - anywhere in the world

Ever puzzled why all those £7.99 - special offer this week £4.99 wines at Tesco / Sainsbury / Waitrose wines all taste alike ? Why that Chardonnay or Shiraz tastes the same whatever the name on the bottle, Hardy's , Stowells, Jacobs Creek, Lindemann ?

It's very simple ... they all use bog standard grape juice and give Mauri a call. Mauri who ?

Associated British Foods is a huge diversified international food, ingredients and retail group with sales of £6.8 billion and 85,000 employees in 43 countries.

The ingredients section has two organisations, AB Mauri and ABF Ingredients.

Mauri Yeast Australia manufactures active dried yeast and provides integrated fermentation solutions for the global wine and beverage market. One of the popular brands that many winemakers have come to associate with is maurivin™ active dried wine yeast.

Due to its ability to enhance varietal aroma, flavour and colour, Maurivin B is recommended for red varieties such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Pinotage, Grenache and Pinot Noir.

Maurivin B is highly recommended when wanting to lower a wine’s ethanol content, as the case may be when fermenting high brix musts and juices. Maurivin B is popular also with winemakers wanting to reduce L-malic acid levels during primary fermentation.

For example they will sell you a dried yeasts strain - Maurivin B - this is a medium vigour yeast with the capacity to consume high quantities of malic acid during primary fermentation .

You can view all the varieties available here

AWRI 796
Isolated from South Africa, this strain ( AWRI relates to - The Australian Wine Research Institute ) is used extensively for its ability to allow the full expression of varietal fruit and good palate structure. Popular for varietal red wines such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Merlot and varietal white wines such as Chardonnay, Semillon and Riesling.

If you want a simple guide to how these dried varietal yeasts enable Aistralian winemakers to provide those Jacobs Creek and Hardys plummy Shiraz wines try this fascinating article
Yeast contributes to Shiraz aroma and flavour - Anthony Heinrich Technical Sales Manager Maurivin Yeast, AB Mauri anthony.heinrich@abmauri.com.au
Thomas Walsh School of Science, Food and Horticulture,University of Western Sydney, Australia. Geoff Skurray School of Science, Food and Horticulture
University of Western Sydney, Australia

This chart will help you select the yeast to give you the spicey / blackberry / plummy taste you want you want

You can also use their expertise based on the grape variety you use ...

Choose your Grape - say ... Cabernet Sauvignon

This worldwide red varietal is known for its distinctive blackcurrant flavour with hints of mint and menthol. Cabernet Sauvignon also handles oak with relative ease, displaying cedar and pencil shaving-like aromas after barrel, along with excellent tannin structure.
The following are the yeasts we (AB Mauri) recommend for best results with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes:
AWRI 796
AWRI 1503
BP 725
Maurivin B
PDM
Sauvignon L3
UCD 522

Wood chips with everything

Like to add the flavour of oak barrels to your wine ? Easy peasy just use wood shavings .. everyone does it .. the French Government allowed vintners in France to do it from April 2006. " Wood chips can be added to wines to give them an oak flavor without using expensive wooden barrels. Such cost-cutting tactics are already common across the rest of the winemaking world, including Australia and the Americas. " . It had already been authorized for use by the European Community.

Wood chips are available in several types of oak (French, Hungarian, American), in several "toasts" and sizes ranging from sawdust to 1/2 in cubes.

We have to make wine for consumers, not wine that producers dream of," Bernard Pomel, the author of a wine report commissioned by the ministry, told le Figaro newspaper.

Sulphites / Sulphur Dioxide

This is labelled as a content on wines in the EU - it's use is universal. It is best known to most as the food additive 220 or 202 or chemically as SO2. Although it is naturally produced in small amounts by wine yeast during alcoholic fermentation, most of the SO2 found in wines has been put there by the winemaker. It is added at most stages of the white winemaking process, from crushing through to bottling. It is used less liberally during red winemaking, but with an almost mandatory addition being made following the completion of the malolactic fermentation of these wines. SO2 is added in the form of a powder, or is directly fed into the wine as a gas from a dosing gun.

Sulfur dioxide plays two important roles. Firstly, it is an anti-microbial agent, and as such is used to help curtail the growth of undesirable fault producing yeasts and bacteria. Secondly, it acts as an antioxidant, safeguarding the wine's fruit integrity and protecting it against browning.

One less known but important property of SO2, is its ability to bind with acetaldehyde. This compound has an unpleasant smell of bruised apple or rank sherry, and is produced when wines undergo some oxidation. When the SO2 and acetaldehyde molecules bind to each other, the resultant substance is odourless. The SO2 effectively strips the wine of its oxidative character.

Channel 4 Dispatches had Jane Moore with unfeasibly large breasts in a tight white blouse two sizes too small explaining very coyly without naming names what muck is in your wine . Their page is showing an error. You can watch the programme for 1 week. Free catch up here

Bone up on Italian wines - and their intricate labelling structure at this excellent website here ...eg

Italian wines are distinguished with the following labels in increasing quality order:
Vini da tavola
Vino da tavola (VDT)
Vino da tavola con indicazione geografica tipica (IGT)
Vini di qualità prodotti in regione determinata (VQPRD)
Vino a denominazione di origine controllata (DOC)
Vino a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG)

Place names are based on Italy's wine laws. Within these laws, there are three main categories: DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, roughly translated: protected place name)

DOCG (Denominatzione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, roughly, guaranteed place name)

IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica, typical place name.).

The DOC designation is given to over three hundred Italian wine growing areas. This designation governs such things as area of production, permissible grape varietals, maximum yield of grapes per acre, minimum alcohol content, aging requirement, and such vineyard practices as pruning and trellising. In addition, to be eligible for a DOC designation, wines must pass a taste test and a chemical analysis. DOCG has a stricter set of guidelines than DOC.
IGT wines must also meet geographic and grape varietals requirements, but the standards are less stringent for this designation. There are about 120 IGT areas in Italy.

Grape varietals are also found on Italian wine labels. Italy's unique climate suits grapes that are not often produced in other areas. Grapes such as Chianti's Sangiovese, Barolo's Nebbiolo, Corvina, and Arneis are most commonly found in Italy.

Some words found on labels indicate the type of wine produced, such as spumante (sparkling,) chiaretto (rose,) bianco (white,) dolce (sweet,) secco (dry,) or rosso (red.) Other words have to do with the winery: vigna or vigneto (vineyard,) tenuta (estate,) or produttore (producer.)

Labels can be forged of course. They often are.

If you want to read Jancis Robinson OBE , rave about Robert Mondavi, Woodbridge Chardonnay 2006 California on her personal website 16 Sep 2008 ... this is (read what she says very carefully) " almost certainly the most widely available wine I have ever made wine of the week." If you click on the Find this wine link you will see stockists all over the US and UK plus Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong and all over Europe. I just hope everyone gets the same blend as I have tasted (twice now) in the UK.

It’s cheapest in the US. Brits have to cough up about £7 for it chez Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Thresher, Waitrose and www.everywine.co.uk, the online outfit that tries to offer every single wine on sale in the UK.

It may not be wine as you know it - it may be a carefully made chemical cocktail- but, if it gets you there.........

Martin O'Hagan's murder to be cleared up ? Murky world of LVF / UVF / Police assassinations may be uncovered

The name of Martin O'Hagan, hardly rings any bells these days. He was an unconventional Northern Ireland journalist who had been an IRA activist and twice been imprisoned.

He was interned in 1971 and spent more than a year in the Official IRA compound at Long Kesh. After he was freed in 1973, he was jailed for seven years for transporting guns, and was released in 1978.

Martin O'Hagan was shot dead in Lurgan, Co Armagh, aged 51,on September 28, 2001.

He was a principal source for material used in Channel 4's 1991 Dispatches documentary, The Committee. This exposed what we now know is without any doubt , that there was an Ulster Central Co-ordinating Committee, a group of loyalists and security forces members who conspired to carry out sectarian assassinations.

The RUC and mainstream loyalist paramilitaries derided such a concept as the result of fevered journalistic imagination.O'Hagan had been paid ... therefore he was incapable of delivering the Truth. The programme led to a prolonged series of prosecutions and libel cases, some of which remain unresolved.

Channel 4 was fined £75,000 and made to pay huge legal costs for failing to supply the RUC with information about the allegations in the programme. The Guradian has a good Biography at the time of his death here.

Martin O'Hagan's murder was "claimed" by the Red Hand Defenders a nom de guerre used by the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

We now know from the activities of the Police Ombudsman that the Police did indeed collude with paid assassins to kill, run guns, drugs and benefit from the proceeds of crime. BBC ONline Jan 22nd 2007 "NI police colluded with killers "

On 6th April 2008 the Sunday World (Documents here) published the name of Robin "Billy" King (who lived/s in Lurgan and ran the LVF) as the killer and asked pointedly why the PSNI had not arrested and charged him with the murder. In the same issue the newspaper ran a story on the unveiling of a plaque in memory to Martin at Belfast's Linenhall Library.

Today BBC Online report..."Four men are to appear in court charged in connection with the murder of journalist Martin O'Hagan.

Two men are charged with his murder, one with attempting to pervert the course of justice and the fourth is charged with assisting offenders. "
See excellent Amnesty story

UPDATE Monday afternoon : The Retrospective Murder Review Team is headed by Supt Alan Skelton and Dt Chief Brian Murphy. Their brief includes re-examining many unsolved paramilitary-related killings, including that of Martin O'Hagan.

Skelton and Murphy reopened the O'Hagan murder file last year.

Today 28-year old Neil Hyde of Princetown Avenue, and Nigel William Leckey,of Bowens Lane who is 43, both from Lurgan, Co Armagh, were charged with murdering the Sunday World reporter who was shot dead near his home in Lurgan 7 years ago. Leckey was also charged with possession of ammunition.

They were remanded in custody to appear again by a video link at Craigavon on 10th October.

A third defendant charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice was also remanded in custody until the same date.

A fourth person charged with facilitating the concealment, and or the disposal of a motor car used in the attack was granted bail to appear again at Craigavon on 10 October.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that one of those arrested has turned Queen's evidence as his family has been taken into protective custody.

However the man who pulled the trigger and is Prime Suspect Mumber 1, Robin "Billy" King , now a born again Christian, who has recently had a nice holiday in Mexico, runs a car business AKA drugs running outfit in the Netherlands and has criminal associates in Eire has done a runner from Lurgan and the PSNI cannot find him.

THis has to be a good case of a Monday being a good day to bury bad news.

Scenes you see very infrequently . . .

Uncle Sam to provide needy Israel with 1,000 GBU-38 Bunker Busting Bombs - useful in Gaza .. apparently

The US hasn't run out of money just yet, well it hadn't by September 9th, which is the date of the note Condi Rice sent us and only received by pigeon post in the last hour.

Sufficient money survives to spend US$77Mn on about 1,000 bunker busters (GBU-39's to the expert bunker buster bomb experts - The GBU-39 can be used in adverse weather conditions and has a standoff range of more than 60 nautical miles due to pop-out wings - which makes it sound moe like a pantie liner) to the nation that tops US aid table - impoverished Israel.... and maybe a few pairs of Condi's favourite Ferragamo slip ons.

These handy weapons of awesome destruction could be used apparently against underground arsenals in Lebanon or Gaza.... but not say expert bunker buster bomb experts to even tickle the Iranian nuclear program.

The experts said they doubted, however, that the bombs could be used to deliver a crippling blow against Iran's nuclear program.Yiftah "Bunker Buster" Shapir, a from Tel Aviv's Institute of National Security Studies and Bunker Busting says improbably , possible targets would include "Katyusha launchers in Lebanon or Qassam (rocket) launchers in Gaza, armoured SUV's , motor bikes, prams, kettles."

These high precision weapons Condi explains in her note to us, cause les, ... far less collateral damage than heavier munitions, because they are so accurate.

Well, hey that's a relief.

Old Yiftah "Bunker Buster" Shapir says "this bomb is going to be the general-purpose bomb of the next generation." A view re-inforced by his military comrade in arms Shlomo "Bunker Buster" Brom, who was Israel's former chief of strategic planning, who says that in his retirement he has noted noted an increasing tendency to place weapons underground.Typical of Arabs no doubt, hiding their weapons.

Brom says Israel has also asked for 150 mounting carriages, 30 guided test vehicles and two instructors to train the air force in loading the bombs on aircraft.

The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world. The 113 kg. bomb has the same penetration capabilities as a normal 900 kg. bomb, although it has only 22.7 kg. of explosives. At just 1.75 meters long, its small size increases the number of bombs an aircraft can carry and the number of targets it can attack in a sortie.... and at US$77,000 a touch must be one of the most fucking expensive as well.

Brom said that when they ceaselessly bombed Lebanon for 22 days whilst the West watched they realised ," one of our problems had been that they put many of the rocket launchers in bunkers and fortifications underground ." ..." So we used cluster bombs" ...See PS.

They even... hey you won't believe how shifty these Arabs are.. they even had a bunker where that bastard Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah,hid and he survived .... but he has been in hiding since the war.


Except when he keeps appearing to cheering crowds in public.

But don't worry says Condi, this is just to keep the Iran pot on the boil and try to distract headlines from the fucking disaster being played out with what'sleft of your pension plan in downtown Manhattan right now (pic).

PS : AP report September 3rd 2008 "A Belgian sapper with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon was killed Wednesday while clearing unexploded ordnance from Israel's 2006 war with Shiite militant group Hezbollah, UN and Belgian officials said." He died on the spot.

"A member of the UNIFIL demining unit was killed by an explosion on Wednesday during an inspection and demining operation in the village of Aitaroun in the Marjayoun region," said Yasmina Bouzayane, spokeswoman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon."

HPV - armed and dangerous. Another alarming NHS advertisement

This ad appeared on Page 8 of the Guradian Body & Soul Section on Saturday 13th September (and no doubt elsewhere) it is designed, published, and promoted to support the rushed campaign to vaccinate the cohort of 12 to 13 year old school girls (Year 8) in England. (Click to enlarge text is reversed out of brick wall Guradian printing and half page size ad)

It is misleading. The bold copy line , "Armed for life" , whilst partially explained away in the reversed out text..."will help protect women for life" is untrue. "The new HPV vaccine , which protects against cervical cancer" is again untrue ...it provides partial protection only, and none against genital warts which the competing vaccine, Gardasil does.

The vaccine chosen, Cervarix ® supplied by Gaxo Smith Kline , a British company, affords limited protection for an unknown period (certainly not for life and probably for no more than 10 years - but we won't know how successul it is for many years) against strains (HPV 16 & 18) of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which are now considered to cuase some 70% of cervical cancers.

Whilst HPV is principally transmitted during vaginal intercourse, it can also be transmitted by other complicated routes anally, orally (however configured) , in same sex activity and on sex toys.

At a direct cost for the 3 stage vaccine of approximately £250 per girl, the total cost for the UK's 300,000 Year 8 girls (not boys) will this year be in the region of £60 Mn. plus administration, staffing, advertising etc., It must be remebered the Cervical smear policy will continue to detect cervical cancer in women - a service not available to women younger than 25.

A cute tattoo is featured which provides what might be considered as a novel way of lightening an otherwise pretty grim sbject for 12/13 yera old girls to handle - and is guaranteed to upset some parents. The schoolgirl receiving the vaccination can of course decide themselves to provide consent, parental consent is not required. .. Indeed the information on consent is very confusing... "It is your choice whether to have the vaccine or not ........ If you are in school, and aged under 16, your parent, or carer, is being asked to sign the consent form. Parental agreement is always advised, although it is not always necessary. If you are aged 16 or over it is important you sign and return the form yourself.

There is a website www.nhs.uk/HPV or you can call a helpline 0845 602 3303....@ 5p per minute plus. .. although the website confusingly directs you to a FREEphone number !

The hasty use of this vaccine for mass vaccination is ill considered, and amounts to a vast and needless experiment on our youth, principally for the commercial benefit of GSK. The choice of the British made vaccine which provides less protection than the US Gardasil ® vaccine looks highly suspicious and prompted by commercial motives.

On Friday, January 19, 2007 in a post Hooked ? .... or Horrified ? we brought readers attention to an NHS ad to promote the (then) current "get Unhooked" anti-smoking campaign in a nationwide £8Mn promotion. The ads attracted 774 complaints for the campaign created by Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy which ran across television, poster, national press and magazines, and online. The most complained of advertisement of 2007 - see Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Hooked ...Line and Sinker by the Advertising Standards Authority

If you agree and think the ad is misleading you can complain to the Advertising Standards Authority here .

For more information look at previous posts going back a long time here you can also look here www.nhs.uk/HPV ...evidently aimed at parents not children "the safest way to protect your child" due to regional differences (explained in the very, very small 5pt type on the ads) the ON Line ad has different sections for Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland.

Why ?

Well, the Scottish part of the website has a Glossary - it covers Consent..."Consent is a formal term for giving permission or agreeing to something." but not condoms ... that's because the Holy Roman Catholic Church has asked them not to mention condoms in the literature.... although condoms do raise their ugly head in at least one section. see post - Sunday, August 17, 2008 Vaccination of schoolgirls for HPV using Cervarix ® should be stopped. NOW

Whilst the website is large and has a great deal of information , nowhere does it mention Gardasil ®, the extra protection it affords, the greater experience in use, or the fact it has been available for use in the UK for nearly 12 months privately.

PS : The Department of Health 25th February 2008 appointed Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO to handle the ad campaign for the introduction of the new HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccination programme - across TV, radio, press, digital and PR. . (3 way pitch including CHI & Partners and WCRS)

The Department of Health On May 6th appointed Consolidated to manage a PR campaign to raise awareness of the new HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccination programme ..

PPS : NHS don't seem to learn or they have terrific loyalty, Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy are still doing anti smoking ads, this time NHS - Smoking, Don't Keep it in The Family http://www.visit4info.com/advert/NHS-Smoking-Dont-Keep-it-in-The-Family-NHS/60022

Lehman - let's not forget the good times...

Forbes - December 1th 2007 Lehman Brothers reported total compensation of $9.5 billion for 2007 , a 9.5 % increase over last year, and bonuses of $5.7 billion. CEO Richard Fuld Jr. received a $35 million stock bonus. According to Forbes, Fuld’s five-year compensation total, excluding this latest bonus, is nearly $312 million.
Five other top executives at Lehman received a total of $58 million in stock, according to separate filings. President Joe Gregory was awarded $29 million and Vice Chairman Thomas Russo was given $9 million.

Times Online - December 14, 2006

Lehman Brothers in $8.7 billion bonus payout
Tom Bawden, New York

Lehman Brothers said it would pay its average member of staff $335,441 (£170,933) this year as it reported a record fourth-quarter profit of $1.0 billion, capping its most profitable year ever.
The US investment bank is paying its 25,936 staff a total of $8.7 billion in salary, bonuses and other benefits for 2006 on the back of a 23 % rise in net income to a record $4.0 billion.

Mind you those shares won't be worth a lot in the morning.

Not forgetting this lady who reached the door marked Exit just in time ...

Air Force LInk back reporting Air Power summaries - Nangalam get special treatment

Air Force Link reported 74 missionsover Afghanistan on 13th September 51 missions on 12 th September and 81 on 11th September ...they did of course bomb our allies in Iraq who are all subdued now but nonetheless on the three days reported 131 close support missions were flown - missions were also reported on 7th/8th/9th and 10th of September. This was totally proportionate .e.g Sept 9th - Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs dropped general purpose 500-pound bombs, guided bomb unit-12s and fired cannon rounds onto anti-Afghan fighting forces using small arms fire from a building in the vicinity of Nangalam

The on-scene joint terminal attack controllera declared the missions were successful in every single case reported in detail . Indeed in years of reading reports we have yet to see a "close support mission" where JTAC reported an unsuccessful one.

The excerpt at the top of this post is from a blog From cow pastures to Ksosovo with a post dated earlier this year Sunday March 9th 2008 ... it continues " The reason that we conduct the Nangalam patrol so often is to become familiar with the locals and to make the locals of the village more comfortable with us,” said Staff Sgt, David Dzwick, 30, of Traverse City, Mich., a squad leader with 1st Platoon.

In order to monitor traffic in the village of Nangalam, and make sure that the enemy is not making the village their home, Soldiers of 1st Platoon enrolled the local shop owners and villagers into the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment System to make sure that they are not wanted by the local police or government. "...."The Afghans of the village recognize these Soldiers and greet them warmly by welcoming them into their shops and cooperating in every way possible when asked to help. "
Perhaps there is a disconnect here ... ? One minute glad handing the next bombing the shit out of them ?

There is a well illustrated article by embedded journos Sebastian Junger with pics by Tim Hetherington of the 173rd Airborne in action in this area in Vanity Fair October 2008

Lehman left to sink

Who next AIG ? WaMu ? See FT

Sir Ronald Flanagan, GBE, QPM, Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom and the Omagh atrocity

Sir Ronald Flanagan, GBE, QPM, is the Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom excluding Scotland. Flanagan was previously the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland since its creation in 2001 to 2002, and had been Chief Constable of its predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) until 2001.

On Saturday 15 August 1998 a terrorist bomb exploded in Omagh killing 29 people and two unborn children. It was the worst single terrorist incident since the start of “The Troubles” in 1969.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) immediately established an Omagh Bomb Investigation Team. The Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan gave a strong commitment to see that “no stone would be left unturned until we bring these people to justice”.

Nuala O'Loan the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland made a statement on her investigation of matters relating to the Omagh Bomb on August 15, 1998


Para 18 Page 10 :

The Chief Constable welcomed the Police Ombudsman’s investigation and assured it full co-operation. During the course of this investigation, it is of considerable concern that some critical information was not provided in the initial disclosures that were made to the Police Ombudsman’s Investigators.

At senior management level the response to this enquiry has been defensive and at times unco-operative.

Special Branch and the Chief Constable were reluctant to grant access to their material to Police Ombudsman’s Investigators and failed to inform those Investigators of a computer system where intelligence, vital to the investigation, was held.

There was a failure to reveal intelligence, which led to a request on 21 September 2001 fordirect access to intelligence systems in order that the Police Ombudsman could have confidence that all relevant material was made available to Police Ombudsman’s Investigators.

A hiatus in the investigation then occurred while the Chief Constable then considered this request.The Chief Constable did not agree to this request until 9 October 2001 and access was not achieved until 17 October 2001 when computers were made available for Police Ombudsman’s Investigators.

Unbelievably the lying fucker, Sir Ronald Flanagan, GBE, QPM, is STILL the Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom .

Anybody in public life who fails to call for his immediate removal from office is colluding in the cover up of the true authors of the Omagh atrocity.

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