BBC2 Newsnight sued for libel by Hanif Malik over “The BBC’s Children in Need charity and the 7/7 bombers”.

BBC 2 Newsnight had a lead story in August this year “The BBC’s Children in Need charity and the 7/7 bombers”.

Leeds community leader Hanif Malik claims that the BBc2 programme , that through a charitable body he led, he was responsible for fraudulently and improperly diverting money provided by Children in Need for educating disadvantaged children to Islamic extremists.

He has instituted libel proceedings in the High Court against the BBC and is asking for damages of £100,000 from the BBC. (Press Gazette today)

The writ, claims that the Newsnight story also alleged that the money was used to produce radical Islamist propaganda and to give financial support to some of the men later responsible for the terrorist bombings in London on 7 July 2005.

Malik claims that his character and reputation had been seriously damaged, and that he had suffered considerable distress, embarrassment, anxiety, and injury to his feelings. He also wants aggravated damages, saying the allegations were extremely serious and highly damaging, given his high profile in Leeds, and his prominent role in multi-faith and community initiatives before and after the bombings.

He accused the BBC of failing to carry out any proper checks before broadcasting the allegations. he maintains that one of the principal BBC sources is unreliable.

Malik says that the BBC failed to give him any chance to reply to the allegations. Apparently BBC journalist Richard Watson (he received a second Royal Television Society award - this time for his investigation into the Officially infiltrated MI5 /6/ SAS radical Islamist group Al Muhajiroun) left a message saying he would like to ask questions about funding.

Malik said there was nothing to suggest the story concerned Leeds Community School or terrorism, and he saw no reason to respond to the message, and he did not do so.

Neither Watson nor anyone else from the BBC made any attempt to put the allegations to him, he claimed.

Malik argued that there was no urgency to publish the story, and that the BBC had no reason for not carrying out proper checks or giving him a proper opportunity to respond before the story was broadcast.

He is also seeking an injunction banning repetition of the allegations against him.

Richard Watson has his own page on the BBC2 Newsnight website where you can see selections of his reports - curiously omitting “The BBC’s Children in Need charity and the 7/7 bombers”.

The page has some fascinating external links - well it did just now..



The Charity Commission show Hanif Malik is a Trustee of 1043485 -
ISLAMIA EDUCATIONAL TRUST LEEDS - 1081006 FAITH TOGETHER IN LEEDS 11
1110303 THE ORPHAN CHILD Details of Faith Together can be found on the Communities and Local Government website.

Prospect magazine -"Taking sport seriously"
This is not the first time these sort of allegations have been made , when Prospect magazine made similiar claims they published an apology in December 2007 which you can find here ....

HANIF MALIK: AN APOLOGY

In issue 135 we published an article entitled "The Making of a Terrorist" by Shiv Malik. A letter by Martin Gilbertson commenting on certain aspects of this article was published under the title "My brother the bomber 2" in Issue 136. Both the article and the letter made reference to Hanif Malik, a prominent community leader in Beeston and the former director of the Hamara Healthy Living Centre. The article and the letter made a number of serious allegations about Mr Malik. These included allegations in both publications that he promoted the spread of radical Islamist ideas and in the letter that he allocated public funding in a discriminatory way, controlled a gang of Muslim youths known as the "Mullah Boys" and had dishonestly concealed the closeness of his relationship with the 7/7 bombers.

We accept that there is no truth whatever in any of the allegations made. Mr Malik is a respected community leader who has repeatedly expressed his shock at the 7/7 bombings and has been prominent in a number of local multi-faith initiatives. He has never been a supporter of radical Islamism. We are happy to take this opportunity to put the record straight and to apologise unreservedly to Mr Malik for the upset and distress which was caused. We have agreed to pay him substantial damages for libel along with his legal costs. The article and the letter have been removed from our website. (See review of article at Yahya Birt Director of City Circle )

Those not too familiar with the 7/7 story might not remember how Mr Gilbertson - from Blackpool, but a longtime resident of Yorkshire - who was / is a former Hell's Angel and Motorhead roadie and was said to be now working towards a university thesis on the radicalisation of Islam in Leeds.

But it was his IT expertise that was sought out by the men who ran four entwined institutions in Beeston frequented by two of the July 7 bombers - the Iqra Islamic bookshop, the Leeds Community School, the "al-Qaida gym" and the Hamara Youth Access Point (YAP), an offshoot of a mainstream Muslim community centre nearby.... read more about this fascinating man ... Guradian June 24th 2006

Poor Journalism 13th Oct 2005 exposed has some fascinating information about the fascinating journalist Shiv Malik ..

Shiv Malik is a Leeds graduate who has worked on recent articles for the Independent on Sunday and New Statesman. His claims to fame are "outing" Dilpazier Aslam, the Guardian trainee, and also calling a lot of other employers to inform them that they are employing members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. He has also written disparaging articles about other Islamic groups including Young Muslims
and Islamic Society of Britain.

A story in the Independent on 15th July 2005 just after the 7/7 bombings shows that Hanif Malik was recognisable as a community leader / spokesperson.

The BBC are of course a highly reputable, extremely well funded international news organisation who employ lots of MI5 contacts, MI6 contacts, fact checkers, solicitors, Editors, sub-Editors, Researchers, gofers, ladies with clip boards etc., and cannot possibly have made a mistake or been stupid enough to believe these stories. Can they ?

Unless of course they had another agenda?

War on Children : Tools for Urban Living 38

Thanksgiving. Costs up 9% and food producers do really rather well despite higher costs

The American Farm Bureau's 23rd annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $44.61, a $2.35 price increase from last year’s average of $42.26.

Turkey prices are up 8%. Rolls, cranberries, sweet potatoes and even pumpkin pie are more expensive.

The cost of a 16-pound turkey, at $19.09 or roughly $1.19 per pound, reflects an increase of 9 cents per pound, or a total of $1.46 per turkey compared to 2007.

This 6% increase in national average cost reported this year by Farm Bureau for a classic Thanksgiving dinner tracks closely with their quarterly marketbasket food surveys and the federal government’s Consumer Price Index

Higher prices aren't reflected in food producers profits as commodity costs have risen faster than the prices consumers pay, resulting in lower gross margins.

For example Hormel Foods reported on Tuesday . The company blamed higher feed and fuel costs for hurting margins in its Jennie-O Turkey Store segment. Total fiscal fourth-quarter profits fell to 50 cents per share, from 73 cents.

Earnings were also affected by the company's "rabbi trust", which is a vehicle used to defer executive compensation. The name comes from a specific IRS ruling - the IRS determined that .. an irrevocable trust established for a rabbi by the rabbi's congregation was not subject to current income taxation of the assets therein because the assets remained subject to the claims of the congregation's general creditors. In other words a cunning and "tax efficient" way to reward the fat cats that run the shop - inappropiate maybe for a company famous for its pig products.

That didn't stop the good news for stock holders though ..."The annual dividend on the common stock of the corporation was raised to $.76 per share from $.74 per share. " .. the 322nd consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company.

"The two-cent increase follows strong sales for many of the company's new products and the strength of many traditional product lines in 2008," said Jeffrey M. Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, Hormel Foods. "Our focus on innovation continues the drive toward achieving $2 billion in total sales of products created since 2000."

CEO Jeffrey M. Ettinger anticipates "a slow start to fiscal year 2009", but is hopeful that the second half of the year will be stronger. He predicts HRL will earn between $2.15 and $2.25 this fiscal year, which is below the consensus earnings estimate of $2.29 per share. (PE 11.4)

This came after Campbell Soup Company revealed that its gross margins were hurt by higher commodity costs. Gross margins for the company's fiscal first-quarter fell to 40.2%, on an adjusted basis, from 40.8% a year prior.

Sales still rose, however, increasing 3% to $2.25 billion - Russia and China represent approximately 50% of their global soup consumption and they are actively preparing to expand their businesses in both markets in fiscal 2009. A slight increase in volume and a 7% improvement in price and sales allowances caused the revenue growth. This, plus fewer shares in issue showed EPS to total 77 cents, 10% higher than a year ago and a cent above expectations. (WSJ July 2007 ) "In China, 320 billion bowls of soup are consumed each year, compared with 32 billion in Russia and just 14 billion in the U.S.”

See IHT story July 2008 about Campbell's sales successes in China and Russia...."In Russia, the company said, 70 % of the people who try Campbell products buy them again."

The really, really bad news is that commodity price hikes meant Gross margins for the company's fiscal first-quarter fell to 40.2%, on an adjusted basis, from 40.8% a year prior. (PE 10.43)

War on Children : Tools for Urban Living 37

Baby a real pain ? Then mommysesentials has the answer with a baby keeper. Patented, lightweight, easy to use, just needs a wipe with a damp cloth to keep clean.

Apparently they are working on one for teenagers and have plans for a model for grandparents.

Thanksgiving. US Embassy in Kabul is bombed

A suicide car bomb has exploded about 200 yards (The Times says 60 m) outside the main entrance to the U.S. Embassy in an attack against a nearby American convoy. The latest in over 130 suicide bomb attacks this year.

Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi says one person was killed and six wounded in the attack. The city's head of criminal investigations told reporters that four had died in the bombing and Abdullah Fahim, the spokesman of the health ministry, says the attack killed four people and wounded 18 others.

The U.S. Embassy was hosting a Thanksgiving Day footrace, and Americans and other Westerners were entering the embassy compound at the time of the explosion. Today is the last day of the visit by the United Nations security council delegation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (shortly due for election) sharply criticised the international community effort in Afghanistan at a news conference with the secretary general of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

"We haven't accepted the international community so our lives would get worse," he said. "we accepted them so our lives would get better. We can accept some destruction – even some civilian casualties – if we have hope for the future of security and peace... but this fighting can't be the only way forever."

He has also criticized the detention of hundreds of suspects for years without trial at Bagram air base and at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Suicide bomb attack on Italian troops on Saturday

The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a team of Italian soldiers building a bridge in a town near Kabul on Saturday.

Three schoolchildren are among six civilians killed. An Italian soldier was killed and 11 people, including three other Italian troops, were injured in the attack west of Afghanistan's capital.

Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera's correspondent at the scene of the attack, said the children had gathered around the engineers and soldiers as they often gave out sweets and chocolate.

Moshiri said the injured Italians had been working on a bridge "for four days consecutively when this suicide attack took place around 10 [0530 GMT] this morning".

"They were surrounded by local children who were curious about what was going on.

"It's also normal for soldiers or engineers or reconstruction workers to give out sweets and chocolates," she said.

The NATO umbrella that protects the Baltic States

Remarkable what happens in the sky over what we now have learned to call Europe. Air Force Link today tells us of the exploits of the brave Top Guns of the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron who are, says Capt. Andrew Carlson, a 493rd EFS pilot in a , " high standard of readiness and a constant vigil, ready to police the sovereign airspace of the Baltic nations at a moment's notice. "

To perform this NATO air defense mission,(started in 2004) the aircrews expect to be airborne within minutes after lights and sirens indicates an imminent threat; leaving the pilots and maintainers of the 493rd EFS little room for error.

Maintainers and aircrew are on 24-hour standby, awaiting an alert. Once the signal is given, separate crews, consisting of a pilot and three crew chiefs, sprint out to the jets and prepare to launch. The F-15 Eagles are normally in the air within five to 10 minutes. The 493rd deployed F-15s and 130 Airmen on October 2nd 2008.

At the time Lt. Col. Michael King, 493d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander said, "The United States is committed to the air sovereignty of its NATO allies and to ensuring the regional peace and stability for these countries. The 493d EFS is ready to do our part in demonstrating U.S. Air Forces in Europe's continued resolve to provide air defense for the Baltic region."

If weather permits, practice is undertaken daily, allowing them to sharpen their quick response skills.

During these exercises, they practice mock scrambles and one-on-one intercepts. They learn tactics and communication tools to intercept any bogey (sic) , whether a friendly aircraft or a hijacked commercial plane, in the airspace over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Several nations have taken over the duties since 2004.


NATO Air Force Q.R.A. detachments to Šiauliai (Zokniai) aerodrome -Lithuania. Map

30 March 2004 Belgium, Belgian Air Component F-16FA/M Fighting Falcon

1 July 2004 Denmark, Royal Danich Air Force F-16A/M Fighting Falcon

30 October 2004 United Kingdom, Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado F.3

1 January 2005 Norway, Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16A/M Fighting Falcon

30 March 2005 Netherlands, Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16A/M Fighting Falcon

30 June 2005 Germany, Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom 11

12 October 2005 United States Air Force F-16C/J Fighting Falcon

1 January 2006 Poland, Polish Air Force Mig-29A

31 March 2006 Turkey, Turkish Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon

1 August 2006 Spain, Spanish Air Force Mirage F.1M

1 December 2006 Belgium, Belgian Air Component F-16A/M Fighting Falcon

1 April 2007 France, French Air Force Mirage 2000

1 August 2007 Romania, Romanian Air Force Mig-21 Lancer 'C'

1 November 2007 Portugal, Portugese Air Force F-16A/M Fighting Falcon

16 December 2007 Norway, Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16A/M Fighting Falcon

15 March 2008 Poland, Polish Air Force Mig-29A

30 June 2008 Germany, Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom 11

30 September 2008 United States Air Force F-15 Eagle

The German contingent were much embarassed when on September 19th 2005 a Russian Su-27 fighter aircraft that crashed in Lithuania. What began as a curious -- but by all accounts accidental -- air mishap has rapidly spiraled into a heated diplomatic imbroglio between Lithuania and Russia. A Russian Su-27 Flanker pilot en route from Russia proper to the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad reportedly experienced a navigational malfunction and became disoriented. The pilot expended his fuel and ejected safely, leaving the plane's remains smoldering outside the village of Veliouna, 35 miles northwest of the city of Kaunas. Local authorities detained the pilot while Vilnius investigates the incident.

The Su-27 Flanker is a high-performance long-range aircraft equipped with powerful avionics and engines. It has a maximum range of 2,312 miles -- more than enough to get from Russia's Northern Military District to Kaliningrad.

Initial Lithuanian reports suggested that the aircraft's navigational equipment failed, causing the pilot to burn off fuel while trying to get his bearings.

If the plane had full fuel tanks when it left its base in Russia, however, the pilot would have had to have been lost for quite a while to burn off the Flanker's huge fuel reserve. It is possible, if the ferry flight occurred over the Baltic, that the pilot misjudged his left turn, thinking he was flying into Kaliningrad instead of Lithuania. More

Kennedy, the Fed, EO 11110 and simply doubling the money in circulation

Few people know and less remember that on June 4th 1963 President John Kenndy before his brain was air conditioned in Dallas signed an Executive Order :

Executive Order 11110 AMENDMENT OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 10289
AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN FUNCTIONS AFFECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. Executive Order No. 10289 of September 19, 1951, as amended, is hereby further amended-
By adding at the end of paragraph 1 thereof the following subparagraph (j):

(j) The authority vested in the President by paragraph (b) of section 43 of the Act of May 12,1933, as amended (31 U.S.C.821(b)), to issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury not then held for redemption of any outstanding silver certificates, to prescribe the denomination of such silver certificates, and to coin standard silver dollars and subsidiary silver currency for their redemption
and --
Byrevoking subparagraphs (b) and (c) of paragraph 2 thereof.
Sec. 2. The amendments made by this Order shall not affect any act done, or any right accruing or accrued or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil or criminal cause prior to the date of this Order but all such liabilities shall continue and may be enforced as if said amendments had not been made.

John F. Kennedy The White House, June 4, 1963.

It appears that this EO has never been revoked but since Lyndon Johnson took over after Kennedy's asssination has been totally been ignored. A number of "Kennedy bills" were indeed issued with the heading "United States Note" (see pic - note red ink) - but they were quickly withdrawn after Kennedy's death.

One source says .." As a result, more than $4 billion in United States Notes were brought into circulation in $2 and $5 denominations. $10 and $20 United States Notes were never circulated but were being printed by the Treasury Department when Kennedy was assassinated"

This is seen by many students of the curious nature of the Federal Reserve as a swipe at Fed and it's powers... as explained here

The "Federal Reserve System" is a network of 12 central banks to which most national banks belong and to which state chartered banks may belong. Membership rules require investment of stock and minimum reserves.

Privately-owned banks own the stock of the Fed. This was explained in more detail in the case of Lewis v. United States, Federal Reporter, 2nd Series, Vol. 680, Pages 1239, 1241 (1982), where the court said:

Each Federal Reserve Bank is a separate corporation owned by commercial banks in its region. The stock-holding commercial banks elect two thirds of each Bank's nine member board of directors.

Similarly, the Federal Reserve Banks, though heavily regulated, are locally controlled by their member banks - these privately owned banks actually issue money:

The Federal Reserve Act was a law which created Federal Reserve banks to act as agents in maintaining money reserves, issuing money in the form of bank notes, lending money to banks, and supervising banks and is administered by Federal Reserve Board. President Wilson's signed it on December 23, 1913.

This is what he said subsequently ..

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

In 1964, the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Subcommittee on Domestic Finance, (pdf - essential reading) at the second session of the 88th Congress, put out a study entitled Money Facts which contains a good description of what the FED (para 47)is: "The Federal Reserve is a total money-making machine. It can issue money or checks. And it never has a problem of making its checks good because it can obtain the $5 and $10 bills necessary to cover its check simply by asking the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving to print them". Any one person or any closely knit group who has a lot of money has a lot of power. Now imagine a group of people who have the power to create money. Imagine the power these people would have. This is exactly what the privately owned FED is! "

Do read this clear simple analysis of what the Fed is and how it acts.

The Fed moves to buy up debt today

The Fed pledged today ( announcement was released at 8:15 a.m. ET )to purchase up to US$500 Bn. in so-called agency debt as well as up to US$100 Bn. in direct debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the world’s two largest mortgage buyers, and Federal Home Loan Banks. The
Fed also said it would set up a $200 billion program to support consumer and small-business loans. They call this in the bewildering world of credit crunching programs - the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). (Terms & Conditions pdf)

Together, the programs almost match the $864 billion of U.S. currency in circulation, as reported by the Fed in a Nov. 20 statement.

Whilst mortgage rates quote dropped from say 6.5% to as low as 5.25% the biggest drag on house sales in the US is the unsold stock.

In 2005 this stock was equal to 4.5 months sales, in 2007, the supply averaged 8.9 months - it was 10 months in September 2008 and according to the National Association of Realtors said in a Nov. 24 report 10.2 months. In 2007, the supply averaged 8.9 months, almost double the 4.5 months in 2005, the end of a five-year housing boom.

Together, the programs almost match the $864 billion of U.S. currency in circulation, as reported by the Fed in a Nov. 20 statement.




These guys don't fuck about when you cross them ...

Peter Mandelson inserts his sticky fingers into the Woolworths pick'n'mix take over / bankruptcy / insolvency

Lucky old Ardeshir Naghshineh who escaped from Iran in 1979 when the iron democrat Shah Pahlevi was rudely overthrown, with but £2,000 of jewwllery and his lovely wife Clare, the daughter of military historian, Correlli Barnett.

Having seen his 10% stake in Woolworth's become almost worthless and losing him him £5 Mn he will be delighted that "a Minister" from the Ministry of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) - the department so skilfully run by Lord Mandelson of Foy ("We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich." , called John Varley (Downside , Oriel, and solicitor and devout Catholic) , chief executive at Barclays on his ever present Blackberry , as well as the Bank of Ireland's Burdale divison and GMAC, to ask why the banks were pushing the 99-year old pic 'n' mix retailer and purveyor of cheap Chinese made tat for the masses into administration.

Phew !!

Ardeshir Naghshineh, no slouch when £5 Mn. of his ( well probably HBOS actually after a major re-financing of his company Targetflow in 2002) wrote to the retailer’s entire board this afternoon to ask them for one final meeting to discuss a deal.

Meanwhile the BBC is negotiating to buy upWoolies 40 % stake in 2Entertain, the DVD business, for a fugure not unadjacent to £100 Mn. The pension fund is entitled to the first £50 Mn. of any 2 Entertain disposal under an agreement struck between the trustees and the Woolworths board last January which would almost meet the pension fund deficit of 58.2 million pounds as at August 2nd.

At stake of course are the jobs of 30,000 voters and the pensions of 20,000 pensioners which are threatened by a massive shortfall on their pension fund.

Mr Naghshineh (says the Times) declined to comment, but it is understood the Iranian tycoon has found financial backers who could give the company an immediate cash injection.

They also report that Mr Naghshineh is seriously considering the futile gesture of legal action against the board if the company goes into administration. The board meanwhile are anxious to avoid breaking the law by trading whilst insolvent. They are desperately trying to juggle their cash position by not paying suppliers so they can meet the payroll on Friday.

It is interesting at this point to consider a letter John Varley wrote to staff when the bank decided to reject the Queen's shillin' ad take the ones on offer from the Middle East (text Daily Telegraph) which includes the following....

The conversations we had around the Board table over that period were very clear: even in ordinary times, it is important for a business to have the right to determine independently what its strategy should be. And that point is even truer of extraordinary times like these. You don’t want your risk management compromised. You don’t want your strategic options constrained.

It was very clear from the conversations that I had with the UK Government over that weekend that it would, as a shareholder, influence our dividend policy; it would influence our lending policy; and it would become involved in the formulation of strategy. Of course the role of the Board is to protect the interest of shareholders and to create the circumstances in which, over time, we can maximise value on their behalf. And that was what was in the mind of the Board as we came to our decisions: we felt that our ability to do what our shareholders would expect of us would be compromised if Barclays was nationalised.

Perhaps nobody has told Peter that the Government (well not yet anyway) don't own Barclays.

Whilst Barclays have produced a seruies of fraudulent Balance sheets , and declared fat dividends on the basis of non-existent profits we have little sympathy for Mr Varley et al.

Our advice to Mr Varley and his counterparts at BOI and GMAC is to tell the slimy reptile Mandelson to fuck off and take his probing fingers and place them where they might receive a more receptive welcome.

UPDATE : 5.30 GMT - At 6pm Woolworths Board will officially announce they are calling in their advisors, deloittes as administrators this will not inlcude 2 Entertain.

UPDATE & APOLOGY : We regret if we gave the impression that only the unelected Lord Mandelson had been poking his person into the business of Barclays / Woolworths. It now appears from a contact within the IT department of Woolworths that another unelected person -the deeply loathsome and unelectable overweight busybody, shrieking Duchess Shrita Vadera had been active on the e-mail front in sticking her ample form into proceedings.

Copies of the alleged electronic messages are said to be forthcoming ... keep your eyes skinned.

Meanwhile our advice remains the same as that proffered to Varley in the case of Mandelsons limp wristed entreaties - tell them to fuck off. Not the first time of course that she has stuck her nose in ... see Thursday, November 08, 2007 - Northern Rock - full figures revealed - Ugandan babe exposed as busy body and unwanted by Darling

Climate change - another perspective on the historical temperature record

Climate is the continuation of the oceans by other means
Arnd Bernaerts 1992 ***


Watts up with that blog has a first rate analysis by Bill Illis - Adjusting Temperatures for the ENSO and the AMO which he describes ....

" People have noted for a long time that the effect of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) should be accounted for and adjusted for in analyzing temperature trends. The same point has been raised for the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ( not to be confused with not be confused with the North Atlantic Oscillation.) (AMO). Until now, there has not been a robust method of doing so.

This post will outline a simple least squares regression solution to adjusting monthly temperatures for the impact of the ENSO and AMO There is no smoothing of the data, no plugging of the data; this is a simple mathematical calculation."

Basically, a highly successful attempt to account for global temperature records after adjusting for the ocean oscillations ENSO and AMO. His statisticalanalysis which is lengthy and detailed, requires considerable efffort and knowledge to follow, but it clearly shows that after adjusting for the temperature variation caused by ocean oscillations, there is very little "climate change" signature left.

Al Fin who claims to float between North America and Afghanistan provides a perfect, clear and simple explanation of Illis's paper / essay.

The sun drives the ocean oscillations. Ocean oscillations plus water vapour/cloud effects then drive Earth's climate. CO2 has only a marginal effect. The Earth is currently undergoing a cooling phase.

A David L Hagen comments "Can the effects of the Urban Heat Island effect be quantitatively separated from CO2 forcing on temperature trends?" ... which highlights, if nothing else the paucity (or even non-existence) of study / research into another 20th century phenomenom, a further direct effect of burning fossil fuels which seems to have eluded the crazed IPCC bunch of scientists with a political agenda and hungry for research grants.

***
Capt. Dr. Arnd Bernaerts Postfach 730462 22124 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49-40-67580714 E-Mail: arnd1939@yahoo.com

A trained seaman and a master mariner, he was a shipmaster before he became
a lawyer and a doctor of law in the 1970s, with a law office in Hamburg, and an international consultant since the 1980s. see here

Another bloody silly conspiracy theory

This story appeared on Finchannel.com just now ...

According to RIA Novosti, a leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

Professor Igor Panarin (Doctor of political sciences, professor of the Diplomatic Academy Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia.) said in an interview with the daily Izvestia published on Monday:

"The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."

The paper said Panarin's dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year's events.

When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said:

"It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world's financial regulator."

When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said:

"Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia."

Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said:

"A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions."

He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." (Unless of course Sarah Palin, was armed and looking out the window at the time)

On the fate of the U.S. dollar, he said:

"In 2006 a secret agreement was reached between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. on a common Amero currency as a new monetary unit. This could signal preparations to replace the dollar. The one-hundred dollar bills that have flooded the world could be simply frozen. Under the pretext, let's say, that terrorists are forging them and they need to be checked."

When asked how Russia should react to his vision of the future, Panarin said: "Develop the ruble as a regional currency. Create a fully functioning oil exchange, trading in rubles... We must break the strings tying us to the financial Titanic, which in my view will soon sink."

David Belfield / Dawud Salahuddin / Hassan Abdulrahman /Hassan Tantai and the missing Bob Levinson in Iran - is October "surprise" on the way ?

It must have been a bit of a surprise on the afternoon of Friday 21st November when Sean McCormack, Spokesman for the State department started his Press briefing with a statement about the curious tale of ex FBI agent Robert Levinson . (see video here )

The United States continues to call on Iran to cooperate with U.S. authorities on the case of Robert Levinson, an American citizen who has been missing since disappearing from Iran’s Kish Island over nineteen months ago. The U.S. Department of State remains committed to determining Mr. Levinson’s whereabouts, and returning him safely to his family that includes seven children, one grandchild and a second grandchild on the way. The quicker members of the Press saw that this was of course in response to Senator Nelson's remarks on the 20th November to raise a Senate resolution about the mysterious disappearance of Bob Levinson, a businessman who vanished after checking out of his hotel on the resort island of Kish on March 9, 2007.

Bob is / was however no ordinary businesman and is/was an FBI agent who in his retirement was in some way involved in investigating cigarette smuggling. His signature appears in a resort log book, showing that he checked out. His passport has never turned up.

Florida Republican Senator (Bob lives in Coral Springs) also raised his case in the senate on November 20th . (Miami Herald) .

On September 5th Wapo reported that Levinson's trip to Kish island, an Iranian duty-free zone that does not require visas, wqas being investigate by Swiss diplomatic staff, anxious to find a duffle bag - but they had been refused access by the Iranian Governmnt.

Subsequently in December his wife Christine Levinson, accompanied by their 22 year old son, Daniel, visited Iran and met hotel staff and airport workers on Kish Island but obatined no further information.

Since then Iran continues to claim it has no information on the fate of Mr. Levinson and when his wife sought a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was at the United Nations for the U.N. General Assembly he declined to meet with her.

However CNN reported that Levinson met with a Dawud Salahuddin, who is a fugitive from American justice who now lives in Iran, shortly before his disappearance.

Salahuddin -- now known in Iran as Hassan Abdulrahman -- converted to Islam and was given refuge in Iran after admitting in interviews to killing Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former Iranian diplomat under the Shah, in Maryland in 1980.

Salahuddin said Iranian officials in plain clothes detained him to examine his pasport and he was taken away from the room he shared with Levinson to be interrogated about his Iranian passport. He says he was told when he was freed the following day that Bob levinson had returned to Dubai.

Senior US administration officials have told CNN that they think Salahuddin met with Levinson, but do not believe him to be a credible source of information on Levinson's whereabouts.

Which is OK as far as it goes but Salahuddin is actually David Belfield, (born Roanoke Rapids, NC on November 10, 1950.) the disaffected son of a black father and white mother from North Carolina. He paid a postal worker $500 to borrow his Jeep and uniform. The 29-year-old then drove the few miles to the affluent Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former Iranian diplomat and critic of Ayatollah Khomeini, lived and shot him three times in the stomach with a handgun.(Guradian)

As if this is not enough, Belfield turned up agin 21 years later Hassan Tantai, in a false beard in an Iranian film called Kandahar, (Safar-e Ghandehar ("Journey to Kandahar") and, alternatively, The Sun Behind the Moon) directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, head of Iran's most celebrated film-making dynasty.

How so ?

Well in Montgomery County, Doug Gansler, the young state attorney who has been on Belfield's tail since he surfaced momentarily in Istanbul in 1995, to confess to the killing on ABC's 20/20 programme, couldn't quite believe his eyes when he saw David Belfield / Dawud Salahuddin /Hassan Abdulrahman /Hassan Tantai re-play the role of a black American who, like him, joined up to fight the Russians and then returned years later to tend to the women suffering under Mullah Omar's bizarre and cruel interpretation of Sharia law in Afghanistan.

As if that is not enough he seems to have tired of life in Teheran and in 1995 wrote to then US attorney general Janet Reno offering to surrender himself - but on quite novel terms. First, former president Jimmy Carter would have to testify at his trial, and Belfield was to remain free until a verdict was reached. "Even while awaiting possible execution," he wrote, "I would have to retain freedom of movement while, at the same time, waiving any right of appeal." Reno refused the offer. .. perhaps his frequent overseas travels to Arab countries and North Korea may have put him beyond the pale.

But yet he lives on in life and fillum..

In 2006 French born film-maker Jean-Daniel Lafond released a film entitled "American Fugitive: The Truth About Hassan", about Salahuddin. Lafond's film , which involves interviews with Belfield stirred controversy - especially as lafond was said to be a Quebec separatist and had ties to some terrorists. Some reviewers thought it was too sympathetic to Salahuddin. Other reviewers have expressed the opinion that Lafond should not address controversial topics because he is married to the current (Hiaitian by birth), 27th and 1st black Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean.

It couldn't be possible that Dubya is about to spring a surprise detente with Iran - yet another volte face to up stage the new President ?

Help Bob Levinson

All very curious. As FDR sais, "Nothing happens by accident"

Salim Hamdan on way from Guantanamo Bay to Yemen - Bush upstages Obama

In a remarkably swift volt face with the aim of false footing the incoming President who has vowed to close Guantanao Bay the Pentagon / State Department have released Salim Hamdan ( age 40 ish) from Guantanamo Bay - apparently he is already on his way to Yemen and is expected to arrive within 48 hours in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, where he will serve out the rest of his military commission sentence, which is set to expire Dec. 27 (Wapo)

Hamdan, , was captured in Afghanistan at a roadblock in as he tried to flee the country with his family in November 2001, and immediately confessed to working for bin Laden in Afghanistan from 1997 to 2001 - when bin Laden was in the pay of the US. He claimed he was simply paid as a driver and was not part of any plans to wage war on the US.

Hamdan was convicted of aiding al-Qaeda in August and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison and will be serving the remaining 66 days of his sentence at home.

A jury of six US military officers sentenced Hamdan at Guantanamo's first war-crimes trial earlier this year, and at the time he had already served five years and a month at the Cuba facility.

Hamdan was convicted of supporting terrorism but was acquitted by a jury of military officers of providing missiles to al-Qaida and knowing his work would be used for terrorism. He was also cleared of being part of al-Qaeda's conspiracy to attack the United States although military prosecutors who portrayed him as a hardened al-Qaeda warrior. He was the second detainee to face a military commission at Guantanamo Bay and became the second man convicted of terrorism charges under the bogus legal procedures that were used at the military base. (Australian David Hicks was the first)

The decision to extradite Hamdan followed a judge’s rejection of an appeal by prosecutors to extend his sentence by ignoring the five years he had spent in the jail in Cuba as an “enemy combatant”.

The trial (?) also had to face the fact that Hamdan was convicted is that providing material support for terrorism was not an offense triable by military courts at the time Hamdan committed it, an apparent violation of the Constitution's ban on ex post facto laws (assuming that clause applies at Guantanamo). (NYT)

The trial (?) in which he was convicted included secret evidence, hearsay evidence, and evidence obtained through coercive interrogations during which Hamdan had no right to remain silent.

Paradoxically Hamdan's defense attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, *** suggested that Hamdan had offered to help U.S. forces in a significant way soon after he was captured, but U.S. forces failed to exploit the intelligence that Hamdan provided.

Hamdan's attorneys were ready to fight claims that their client could be held indefinitely, a case that probably would have brought Hamdan back to the Supreme Court to challenge his detention. Although Army Maj. Rick Morehouse said Hamdan was on a Detainee Socialization Management Plan , "To avoid linguistic isolation and solitary confinement.''

*** Lt. Cmdr. Mizer filed a brief in Hamdan's Guantánamo military commissions case, alleging that senior White House appointees to the Pentagon are orchestrating war crimes trials to help Republicans in the upcoming 2008 presidential campaign. Mizer argues that the blatant political interference makes it impossible for Hamdan to get a fair trial. (Miami Herald)

See broken Laws broken Lives Blog - Medical Evidence of Torture by the US run by Physicians for Human Rights (report pdf)

Lessons on stimulating the economy from the Dutch Government for Gordon and Alastair - and David and George

Some people might think that the Dutch scheme announced on Friday to stimulate their economy might possibly of interest to the double firsts in the Treasury, Bank of England and even the less well educated - ie those educated at Scottish Universities.

The Dutch government announced a €6 Bn. package of measures : Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said that it is ‘all hands on deck’ as the country moves into a difficult economic period. the Netherlands has the lowest jobless rate in the European Union.

1. This would put a smile on every industrialists face and massively improve compamy liquidity without the need to extend borrowing unduly. The most significant measure in the package is the re-introduction of accelerated write-offs on investments for businesses, which is expected to generate €2 Bn. tax benefits for companies.

2. Ditto : Firms that have to lay-off workers or introduce shorter working hours as a result of the credit crisis to use the unemployment benefit fund to pay employees for up to 24 weeks. Some €200 Mn. is available for this.

3. The government will also make sure that it pays its bills to businesses on time.

4. In an effort to stimulate consumer spending, the lock-up on employees' tax-free savings schemes will be lifted. Under current regulations money invested in this scheme cannot be accessed for four years. You see, all those years of thrift pay off at times like this.

5. Speeding up building procedures to help the construction sector and bringing investments in infrastructure projects forward, this would include the new Delta flood control works.

6. Introducing regional mobility centers to help prevent imminent layoffs.

This aid package is the equivalent of around 1 % of the gross national product and pre-empts a rescue plan currently being prepared by the European Union for all member states.

Fixed penalty fines for seat belts (and probably number plates) which will cover cost of 10,000 Tasers for UK Police

Fixed penalty fines to double for not wearing seat belts in UK and will raise £7 Mn.

It is evident that fixed penalty fines are increasingly seen as a source of much needed revenue - and indeed are fast growing tax - mostly in evidence for parking and motoring offences. AS the fine revenue goes into the Home Office pot it is seen as a source of funds for new POlice expenditure.

Ray Massey in today's Daily Mail has a story, "Fines for motorists who fail to wear seatbelts to double" which confirms a Daily Telegraph story in September that Ministers were "consulting" raising the fixed penalty for non-compliance with seatbelt rules from £30 to £60. See also here.

To justify this surveys are quoted that show 94 % of drivers and 93 % of front-seat passengers wear seat belts, but only 70% of adult back-seat passengers belt up. Also, of the 942 drivers and 490 passengers killed in 2007 a third were not wearing seat belts.

The offence is not endorsable - the offender may well be a passenger. Approximately 235,000 fixed penalty notices were issued in 2006, (@ £30 = £7 Mn. so doubling it could raise a further £7 Mn.) and about 4,000 cases went to court where an offence can attract a fine up to £500.

A similiar "review" is underway to double the fixed penalty fine for the misrepresentation of vehicle registration marks from £30 to £60 in an attempt to crack down on illegal number plate offences - which includes Car number plate spacing , size, font - must be the Charles Wright font and the fixings. Here for more examples .

Jacqui Smith reveals £8Mn. for equipping all 43 UK Police forces with Taser stun guns

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have welcomed the decision to equip all 43 UK Police forces with 10,000 Taser stun guns and to train 30,000 front line police response officers across the country with the new 50,000-volt electric guns at a cost almost eqivalent to the income expected from doubling the fine for fixed penalty tickets for seat belt offences.

This follows a trial in ten forces started in September 2007 : Avon and Somerset, Devon and
Cornwall, Gwent, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, MPS, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales and West Yorkshire. This was monitored by both monitored by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) and ACPO Firearms.

These new toys for the boys were a welcome boost for Taser International Inc., the world’s biggest stun-gun maker, whose shares jumped 32 % in U.S. trading on the announcement of U.K. funding for a record purchase of 10,000 weapons. This, their biggest order ever is somewhere in the neighborhood of US$12 million . (Bloomberg)

US based SNK Outlet sells the The Advanced Taser M-18L .." a powerhouse of stopping power" retail, online at US$540 each - it is legal for cizens to own them in most states apparently...."a quantum leap in stopping power ". Taser warns that its device can cause burns that can become infected. It also says people who are shocked by the weapons can suffer bone fractures, dislocations, ruptures and hernias - Police have sued their employers in the US when they were injured by being "tasered" in training.

Whilst being deployed in the UK on more than 600 occasions in the past year, they were only fired 93 times, ministers said. Apparently the laser RED DOT acts to reduce agression and removes the need to fire the electrodes attached to 15 feet of wire.

The very ever so slightly not Independent Police Complaints Commission in a report published simultaneously found 35 complaints had been made against police using Tasers since they were first introduced in September 2004.

Of the 15 most serious investigated by the IPCC, the majority were about Tasers used in "drive-stun" mode, (also called Taser Touch Torture mode ) where Officers remove the prong cartridge and discharge the weapon directly against a person's body to subdue combative arrestees with a searing jolt of pain. See here

More at Truth not Tasers blog

German spies bomb EU office to frustrate plans for EULEX in Kosovo - trustworthy Albanians involved in double dealing with the BND ? Shirley not ?

The Boy David AKA Foreign Secretary was glad handing the criminals and thugs, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni of Kosovo ( Europe Minister Caroline Flint and DFID Minister Mike Foster were also present to join in shaking their bloody hands) who were in London with President Sejdiu and he was anxious to ;

....applaud the President and Prime Minister's commitment to full deployment of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX). This deployment is a crucial stage in Kosovo's development. Despite their deep concerns about some of the UN proposed transitional arrangements, I am impressed by the clearly-voiced commitment of Kosovo's leaders to take account of the concerns of Kosovo's Serb community. I discussed with them the importance of cooperation with the UN both in the interim phase before EULEX's full deployment, and thereafter, to the benefit of Kosovo as a multi-ethnic nation.

"Kosovo needs to keep building bridges with its neighbours as it moves closer to the EU. Britain will be with Kosovo in its search for security and prosperity, just as we were during the process leading to independence. "

EULEX will be the EU's largest civilian ESDP mission. Its responsibilities include monitoring and mentoring Kosovo's police, judiciary and prosecutors. Head of Mission General Yves de Kermabon aims to reach Initial Operating Capacity, assuming responsibility for the full range of EULEX's mandate, on 2 December.

Which may have something to do with ..... Four days before a bomb attack in Pristina Kosovan leaders rejected a plan (what the Boy David calls their "deep concerns) by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's for the deployment of an EU police and justice mission, EULEX.(Reuters)
German spies bomb EU office in Kosovo

Three men ( named so far as Robert C. (47), Andreas B. (41) und Andreas J. (41) see pic) , who it now transpires are members of Germany's foreign intelligence agency the Bundesnachtrichtendienst (BND)were arrested last Wednesday, in Pristina on suspicion of throwing explosives at the office of the EU Special Representative Peter Feith on Nov. 14 (4 days after the leaders rejected EULEX) . They deny involvement in the blast and claim they were only examining the scene. The explosion shattered windows in the building but no one was hurt.


On Saturday 22nd November a Pristina district court judge ordered them detained for 30 days on terrorism charges that could carry sentences of up to 20 years. AP report that court documents show that the prosecutor, Feti Tunuzliu, alleges that the suspects had intended to disrupt the EU's efforts to deploy its new police mission in Kosovo. Tunuzliu wrote that one of the suspects threw 300 grams (0.6 pounds) of dynamite at the EU offices from a building across the street on Nov. 14 as the two others kept watch. The BBC reported that the 3 men were simply investigating the event when arrested.

The German Foreign Ministry has confirmed that three German citizens have been arrested in Kosovo but declined comment. der Spiegel reports they are BND agents but had not been officially registered with the Kosovo authorities, as required so do not enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Bild today says the BND has ruled out the involvement of any of its employees in the attack on the EU office and have sources who believe it is the work of extremists in Kosovo who oppose the involvement of foreign organizations in their country. The arrest of the Germans is, they conclude, the result of a power struggle within the Kosovo leadership, with the anti-European faction having prevailed over those who wanted to see the three men released.

This diplomatic brouhaha arises when there is increasing tension and concern over the EU police mission in Kosovo. UN peacekeepers have been deployed since NATO bombed the country from 20,000 feet and the original UN mission, UNMIK, is now downsizing and the 2,000 strong EU mission, known as EULEX, is due to take over law enforcement.

However, Serbia, which has not recognized Kosovo, has won concessions on the EU deployment and the current plan proposes leaving the UN to patrol the ethnic Serb enclaves within Kosovo. Pristina rejects this and suspects that the split in policing will lead to a de-facto partition of Kosovo.

All very odd.. and the German Parliamentary Control group (PKG) will be meeting folks from the BND for a chat .. er .. "special meeting" which will no doubt be behind very closed doors.

Thomas Oppermann, chairman of the PKG , Social Democrat, said he could not imagine how the German agents could be involved in an attack on EU offices. "That seems to have been plucked out of the air," he told ARD on Monday. Max Stadler, who represents the opposition FDP on the panel, told the Berliner Zeitung that he wanted the government and the BND to say if the men were indeed intelligence officers.

PS : Lord Patel wishes to make it clear that all Albanian / Kosovan Government Ministers are honest, truthful, trsutworthy and sincere men and that there is no question that BND officers bombed EU officers in Pristina and and apologises if a misleading impression may have be given in the above story. see - Saturday, February 16, 2008 Kosovo - another swamp to get mired in to meet US colonial and imperial ambitions - this time in the Balkans - AGAIN and also Thursday, August 07, 2008 Gangsters settle in in Kosovan Government Thaci promotes Fehim Mujota to Head the Kosovo Security Forces

UPDATE Tuesday Nov 25th Gazette von Antwerpen suggests in a report that the Kosovan (ie Albanian) Mafia have fit up the Duitsers as they don't want anyone (EULEX) interfering in their lucrative people rafficking and drug smuggling.

The NYT report ..."Germany was one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo after it declared independence and it is a major aid donor. “Germany supports E.U. policy in Kosovo, and as such it would make no sense to attack the E.U. building in Pristina,” said Max Stadler, deputy chairman of the parliamentary commission (FDP) supervising the German secret services. "

Which makes sense, but one wonders what the BND guys were up to.

See also Emportal Serbian news agency report ..."Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovicyesterday visited the Visoki Decani Monastery where he stated that Kosovo Serbs cannot accept the Kosovo institutions’ four-item plan regarding the deployment of EULEX in the province. "

Sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the men's employer, Logistic Coordination Assessment Services, which ostensibly advises investors on opportunities in Kosovo, was a BND front company.Also reported by EIN (subscription only)

It seems no-one wants EULEX (except the Boy David) but curiously this is a story which hasn't seen light of day in any UK Press / TV....except us.

UPDATE : 25th Nov Der Spiegel says Kosovo authorities claim to have a film showing the bomb attack- but it hasn't been made public.

Natalie Bracht and her children found in Munich.

Natalie Bracht has been found with her 5 children in Munich , Germany. The children are now in the care of the German authorities.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “We are working with their German counterparts and will be speaking with Natalie in due course.”

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Bentham said: “I am happy that the girls have been found safe and well and I would like to thank the public and the media for their help and assistance in this matter.”

see -- Thursday, June 26, 2008 Natalie Bracht disappears - oh and five kids as well, on the lam for a month and no National Press and also here

Update Tuesday Daily mail report says she was ready to board a bus for Turkey

The Perfect Yorkshire Pudding

One of the eternal mysteries is how you teach peopel about English idioms ... take Yorkshire Pudding, and object sacred to those who dwell in Yorkshire and of mystery to those who don't.

So it was a slow news day (Gubment hadn't taken over any Banks, Woollies still in business, John "Twinkletoes" Sergeant still tripping the light fantastic ...) when the Daily Mail allowed the Royal Society of Chemistry to tell us how to make the perfect pud. Bollocks.

Yorkshire lass, Delia Smith's (see pic) Complete Cookery Course (page 141) has the perfect recipe.

Mix the batter ( "Pullin' the pud" colloq. Yorks.) - 3 oz. sifted plain flour, an egg, 5 oz milk / water and salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron gratin dish (essential) with 2 tbs best beef dripping (from any good butcher Oooop North) wait until it smokes pour in the batter. Put this on a baking sheet, top shelf , 15 / 20 mins at 220 C.

NEVER fails.... and you'll see it rise more than 4 inches.

US Embassy to leave Mayfair for Nine Elms

Norman Baker (Lib Dem MP for Lewes, who believes Dr David Kelly was murdered) has a Question (238996) down today for the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform ...." whether his Department has raised with the US authorities their decision to prevent British firms from bidding for the contract to build a new US embassy in London; what assessment he has made of this decision in terms of compatibility with EU law; and if he will make a statement."

It was on October 2nd that second hand car dealer , Ambassador Robert Tuttle (he donated $200,000 towards Dubya's 2004 re-election his inauguration ceremony)anounced that the US Embassy would be vacating their current premises opened in 1960 and designed by Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect on land currently leased in Grosvenor Square from the aged roue the Duke of Westminster. Rumour has it that approaches to buy the freehold have been brushed off with the reply that the Duke will sell when they restore Manhattan to his family.

Elswhere the justifiably nervous (if not cowardly) US Government has built a series of super-secure embassies, set far back from local residential areas and usually out of town.

The US State Department appointed Cushman & Wakefield ..."Global real estate solutions" .. to start looking for a new location after local resident’s (AKA Grosvenor Square Safety Group ) became restive about the extensive and inconvenient security which disturbed their quiet enjoyment of the Square. It is believed they have their sights on somewhere near MI6's riverside Palace and The US Department of State signed an agreement with Irish developer Ballymore last month to acquire a site in Wandsworth for the construction of a new embassy building.

Whilst the tender from the US State Department says only American architects with “experience in the design of American embassies and other buildings” will be invited to tender for the project, although UK-based branches of American firms will be able to apply - it is understood UK firms will be eligible to work as subcontractors.

The Grosvenor Square Safety Group accused the Metropolitan Police and Westminister Council of a "moral failure" for rejecting Ambassador Tuttle’s demands for the closure of two roads next to the embassy and placed ads in the press.

"A democratic country like the UK cannot adopt a very forward policy in fighting terrorism abroad while at the same time leave its citizens and residents — some of whom are Americans — exposed around top terrorist targets at home," the group said.

A consequence was an absurd £8 bonanza for security consultants and street furniture anoraks as they upgraded the front elevation with 6 ft high blast walls, raised concrete flower beds, moveable bollards, and some stern looking men.

Ambassador Tuttle has a history of unpleasantness and came to blows with Red Ken over the US refusal to pay his Congestion Charge. Red Ken called the US Ambassador a “chiselling little crook.”

Tuttle says the charge (they have run up at least £2.5 Mn so far in arrears) is a form of taxation, and the diplomats and their staff are therefore exempt under Article 23 the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations....."The sending State and the head of the mission shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes in respect of the premises of the mission...."

It might interest Ambassador Tuttle that the FCO is currently employing American architects for new British Embassies in Jakarta [HOK Architects - who also spent 17 years refurbishing the FCO in St. James and have undertaken extensive work on the MOD Main building ] and Rabat [RTKL Architects]...."The project also provides a clubhouse and swimming pool for the staff."

Citigroup - turning dreams into ...er ... nightmares ?

The dealings of Governments with their pals and relations in the banking industry becomes more Alice in Wonderland every day, making it almost impossible to either keep up with announcements (never mind pre-announcements, hints, nudges, winks, tips, leaks, kite flying, and even lying) or to even hazard a guess at what the hell is happening.

Today Wall Street woke up to find that the US Cavalry (AKA the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and FDIC ) had "rescued" Citigroup late Sunday night .. after the Fed, FDIC and Treasury identified a massive US$306B in troubled assets. (Citigroup Press release)

Citigroup will absorb the first US$29B in losses on their balance sheet (as if that matters) meanwhile, while the Cavalry will take on the majority of any further losses. Just to add a note of reality the Market capitalization today is just around US$20 Bn.

Citigroup will also receive a further US$20B capital injection from the Treasury in addition to the TARP $25B (@ 5%) it has already received as part of the broader banking bailout.

This will be done by the Treasury / Government receiving US$7B of preferred stock with an 8% dividend, (strike price will be equal to US$10.61 per share (the 20 day trailing average ending on November 21, 2008 although Citi shares closed at US$3.77 Friday).

So Citi have to pay out US$3.4 billion a year in interest payments to the government alone, (TARP + these new bonds) before shareholders see any profit at all.

A 4 page pdf issued by the Treasury , hastily cobbled together over the weekend provides further and better particulars of this extraordinary bond issue, which includes a restriction on the payment of common stock dividends - "prohibited from paying common stock dividends, in excess of US $.01 per share per quarter, for 3 years without UST consent". This also incorporates an ... "An executive compensation plan, including bonuses, that rewards longterm performance and profitability, with appropriate limitations, must be submitted to, and approved by, the USG".

Even with this huge US$306B portfolio dealt with (of which no details are available) , many think that as Citi holds over US$ 3Trillion in assets (well, what passes for assets in banking parlours these days) there will be more bad news to leak out.

For example the WSJ today says ...

In addition to US$2 trillion in assets Citigroup has on its balance sheet, it has another US$1.23 trillion in entities that aren't reflected there. ..... Despite the unprecedented scope of the rescue plan, it's not clear whether it will be enough to stabilize Citigroup. The roughly US$300 billion pool of assets that are included in the rescue plan represent only a sliver of the company's more than $3 trillion in assets, including its holdings in off-balance-sheet entities...Among the off-balance-sheet assets are US$667 billion in mortgage-related securities.

Don't forget you shareholders who face a lean time , for a long time ... the guys who got you into this place are still in their place....



George Denis Patrick Carlin May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008 RIP

UPDATE : 1600 GMT Citigroup opened at US$ 6.12 and at 11.10 ET were US$ 6.03 +2.26 (up 59.95%) Nov 24

GM's Volt - an electric shocker

General Motors are in serious trouble.

They plan to produce the GM volt towards the end of 2010. This is a 4 door 2,500 pound sedan, described as a plug-in hybrid whose primary source of power is an electric motor. A single charge of the lithium-ion battery,(estimated to cost $10,000 to US$15,000 a car) will provide a range of 40miles.

An integral 1.4 litre, 4 cylinder engine will run a generator that will power the car and recharge the batteries once they are depleted and extend the range to 640 miles.

GM plan sales of 10,000 Volts in the car’s first year, current estimates provided by GM are that the car will retail at US$40,000. Toyota currrently advertise their Prius starting at US$22,000.

Mysteriously Jon Lauckner, G.M. vice president for global program management said at the LA Motor Show. “It’s a huge change in the whole paradigm of where cars have been.”

“We’ve turned into a plug-in society. We’ve got cellphones, PDAs, you name it, that are all plugged in. To a certain extent, it’s not much more complicated conceptually than coming in and plugging in your cellphone.”

So the guys who run this company have plans for a car that will generate US$40 Mn. sales, runs for 40 miles on a charge and will have (given a replacement battery is going to cost US$10,000 plus) virtually no resale value.

The same guys who have run the company for many years, whose shares sell today at US$3.04 and have a market capitalisation of US$1.84 Bn.

The same guys who want Congress to throw them billions to make the payroll till the end of January.

Obama makes transition to Whitehouseboy with ease

Change.gov chronicling the transition tells us that ..."Barack Obama visited Manny's Cafeteria and Deli in Chicago today to pick up two cherry pies and three corned beef sandwiches -- including one for himself and one for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel."

NB : He makes sure he takes the receipt