Jewish Lobby ? Nonsense .... Coglioni

Ex-Mossad Chief Calls For World War After London Attack / Rules of conflict for a world war, By Efraim Halevi The Jeruslaem Post 7/7/05.

No longer available on their website but available at Information Clearing House here and Prison Planet here and Infowars here.

"The multiple, simultaneous explosions that took place today on the London transportation system were the work of perpetrators who had an operational capacity of considerable scope. They have come a long way since the two attacks of the year 1998 against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam, and the aircraft actions of September 11, 2001.

There was careful planning, intelligence gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop at nothing and will persevere as long as he exists as a fighting terrorist force.

We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won...." a must read. Bazra here wonders how he wrote the article without foreknowledge of the 7/7 explosion outside 77 Tavistock Place. Also doubts expressed here

By a curious coincidence Efraim Halev was at school (Hackney Downs) with Lord Levy, Tony Blair's Middle East "special envoy".... and fund raiser extraordinaire.

Daily Torygraph offering heavily discounted copies of Halevi's recent biography "Man in the Shadows" here

Law v Justice. Guantánamo farce continues

On February 6, 2004, the Department of Defense issued charges against Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul, a native of Yemen, one of the six men designated by President Bush in July 2003 as eligible for trial by military commission under the President's Military Order of November 13, 2001.

A military commission preliminary hearing began the week of August 23, 2004. But commission hearings were halted in November 2004 after a district judge ruled they violate U.S. and international law. An appeals court decision in July 2005 overturned that ruling, clearing the way for this week's resumption.

Military documents summing up the charges against Bahlul allege that Osama bin Laden commissioned him to make a propaganda video glorifying the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen and to collect news feeds showing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. In his first appearance before the military commission, in August 2004, Bahlul admitted being a member of al Qaeda and asked to represent himself or to be represented by a Yemeni.

"People of the entire globe should know I testify that I am from al Qaeda," Bahlul said in court in 2004.

Al Bahlul is represented by Army reservist Maj. Tom Fleener. In July 2005, John D. Altenburg Jr., appointing authority for the Defense Department's Office of Military Commissions, ruled that Bahlul may not represent himself. Under military commissions rules, detailed military defense counsel must represent all defendants. Further, private defense attorneys are required to be U.S. citizens and possess a secret security clearance. Detainees are also allowed to have foreign legal consultants.

Maj. Tom Fleener told the presiding officer Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his appointees set rules that violate President George W. Bush's order to hold fair trials for prisoners charged with terrorism in the Guantanamo tribunals.

"We can't help it that the secretary of defense and his delegees (sic) have messed this thing up, but they have,"

"If the rules don't provide for a full and fair trial, then they violate the president's order."

Fleener attempted persuade the presiding officer, Col. Peter Brownback, to let al Bahlul act as his own attorney on charges of conspiring to attack civilians and destroy property.

The Pentagon has set Tribunal rules set that require the defendants to have U.S. military lawyers who are authorized to see secret evidence that the accused may not see. Pentagon officials have refused defense requests to allow self-representation, which Fleener called a fundamental right in nearly every court on Earth.

Bahlul refuses to cooperate with any lawyer appointed by the U.S. military. He has demanded to act as his own attorney or to have a Yemeni lawyer, and declared a boycott when the request was denied during a March hearing. He did not attend his hearing on Friday 7th April 2006 at Guantanamo Bay.

Fleener said Bahlul cannot get a fair trial unless the rules change. "As the world looks at this system, it's going to have no legitimacy whatsoever," he said. Fleener has been quoted saying the tribunals are a ..."wholly illegitimate process".

In his January 12, 2006 diary entry Human Rights First observer Avi Cover (link above) quoted Fleener: "For four years they wouldn't let detainees have lawyers; now they're shoving one down his throat."

Defense lawyers have questioned whether another rule violated Bush's order by changing the role of the presiding officer. The president's order said tribunal members would all serve as triers of law and fact, giving each of the four to seven panel members a dual role as judge and juror.

Subsequent Pentagon rules made the presiding officer the authority to decide legal issues, making him the judge. The presiding officers have had 3 pretrial hearings at Guantanamo since January without the other tribunal members present. Defense lawyers have questioned whether these constituted proper hearings.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge to their legitimacy last month and is expected to rule by the end of June on whether the trials can proceed.

After 4 years detention only 10 of the 500 Guantanamo detainees "the worst of the worst" have been charged with conspiring to commit terrorism and four had pretrial hearings this week at the base. The defendants would face life in prison if convicted.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan brushed aside rising condemnations of the brutal force-feeding of hunger strikers:

"We know that these are dangerous terrorists being kept at Guantánamo Bay. They are people determined to harm innocent civilians."

Seton Hall (New Jersey) School of Law produced a report entitled "Report on Guantánamo Detainees," it profiles 517 of the prisoners at Gitmo entirely based on "analysis of Department of Defense data." (Village Voice) Nat Hentoff report.

"Only 5 % of the detainees were captured by United States forces. [A total of] 86 % of the detainees were arrested by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States custody. This 86 percent of the detainees captured by Pakistan or the Northern Alliance were turned over to the United States at a time at which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected enemies."

"These are people who would gnaw through hydraulic lines at the back of a C-17 to bring it down," Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said as the first 20 shackled prisoners arrived in Cuba on Jan. 11, 2002.

Are you all listening ?

The Armed Forces and Electronics Communications & Electronics Association are holding A classified symposium (Top Secret/SI/TK) entitled Spring Intelligence Symposium on the theme "Lessons Learned: Building a New National Intelligence Partnership" @ the Defense Intelligence Analysis Center, Bolling AFB Washington, DC if you want to go contact Phil Jordan Phone: 703) 631-6219 or E-Mail jordan@afcea.org.

There are 26 pages of members , from Accenture (Andersen Consulting before it fell apart) to Zero Manufacturing who make snazzy aluminum, foam filled cases for fancy electronic gear.

One such outfit who will be showing some of their stuff will be Narus.

Who say on their website "Narus secures the health and profitability of Services over IP." What they don't say is that they help the US Government (and maybe many others) to snoop on telephone calls and Internet data lines.

Narus is derived from the Latin word "gnarus," which means (appropriately) "all knowing."

Founder Ori Cohen worked VDOnet, an Israeli video streaming software company. Cohen, a 33-year-old Israeli immigrant discovered that ISPs were reluctant to deploy streaming video products, because there was no way to bill the customers.

Cohen saw an opportunity, and he left to start Narus in about 1996.Want to know what Narus standard billing software can do? It can find out how much time you spent on the network, how many E-mails you sent, how long you played online video games, how many files you uploaded or downloaded and what web sites you accessed. "The idea is that a guy who sends only E-mails shouldn't be billed as much as the guy who is streaming video off the Internet,"

"It is not just billing, it is much more than billing," says President Mark Stone. Too right Mark.


Truthout has a story about a whistleblower, Mark Klein, a retired AT&T communications technician, who tells how a secret room was set up at AT & T where he worked in San Fransisco and also in Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego. The rooms contained fiber optic cables from the secret room which were tapping into the Worldnet (AT&T's internet service) circuits by splitting off a portion of the light signal."

The split circuits appear to have included traffic from peering links connecting to other internet backbone providers, meaning that AT&T was also diverting traffic routed from its network to or from other domestic and international providers. This setup also included using data-mining equipment called a Narus STA 6400, "known to be used particularly by government intelligence agencies because of its ability to sift through large amounts of data looking for pre - programmed targets."

Which will all come as a great surprise to the Internet community !

Ben Rockwood's website will tell you more ...v. interesting.

Another place to look here

Rentagob Howells ... Poppy Day will be early this year...

Foreign Office Minister, accident probe, Welsh windbag Kim Howells, in an interview with BBC Radio Four's Today programme, visiting Afghanistan ahead of the UK assuming control of operations from the US next month in Helmund , said that he expected that poppy cultivation in the country could even be higher again this year following recent record harvests after the overthrow of the Taliban regime.

"I don't think it has got worse," the minister said, adding that Britain, which is lead G8 country with responsibility for combating drugs in Afghanistan, was "learning much."

"We don't know how much opium and harvest was produced" under the Taliban regime, he insisted. The country was "completely lawless" and no one could find out, he said.... as distinct from now when the country is "completely lawless".

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said earlier this year that the eradication of Afghanistan's poppy fields would be a much longer process than first thought.... which is surprising because his Kandahar based brother Ahmed Wali Karzai is heavily involved in the business.... and helped finance Hamid's election.

The admission of a further bumper crop came as the Ministry of Interior's counter narcotics forces conducted their first ever drugs raid into Zaranj, capital of Nimruz Province, on the border with Iran.

"Whilst other forces are attacking the big opium dealers in Helmand, (ie the real heavy lifting) in Nimruz we are attacking other parts of the opium snake that is trying to poison the nation of Afghanistan," the spokesman said.

Howells was visiting British civilians and troops in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan the centre of opium and heroin production in Afghanistan.

Defense Minister John Reid told the Commons that he would "not hide" the "difficulties and risks of this deployment". A former Foreign Office adviser, now a consultant in the United States, described Reid's comments as "delusional". He said: "Reid makes it sounds as though Afghanistan is a unified, well-policed, controlled country that is facing some imminent terrorist threat or a return of the Taliban. Someone should tell him there is no unified or controlled Afghanistan .... and someone should tell him the Taliban never really left.

Richard Haass, George Bush's head of policy planning in his first term, he also co-ordinated policy on the future of Afghanistan and knows both the Iraq and Afghanistan policies inside out, being an architect and adviser on both.

"A barely functioning Iraq, with a weak central government and highly autonomous regions, such as a secular Kurdish-dominated north; a religious, Shi'ite-dominated south, a Sunni-dominated west; and a demographically mixed and unsettled centre that takes in Baghdad." Haass said: "Think of it as a version of today's Afghanistan - minus the poppy fields."


The 6000 ill equipped British troops (taxpayer cost £1Bn.), at the end of a very long and stretched supply chain, with a dangerous and and ill defined war against the opium trade , whilst a fully stretched US force elsewhere tries to keep the peace, contains a much wider significance than John Reid might care to admit.Yorkshire Ranter has some well informed information about aerial support etc.,

LATE GOOD NEWS IN THE WAR ON TERROR

Delivering his address on the GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR at the Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte in North Carolina, Bush commended President Pervez Musharraf for making a choice to side with the international community in the fight against terrorism in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. “Colin Powell did a wonderful job of talking to President Musharraf in a very respectful and dignified way,” he said.

Musharraf is of course a military dictator who declared himself President after a military coup and amended the Constitution so that he could make any law, and the courts and Parliament cannot change any such law.

Which is why perhaps the President went on to say there had been 4 attempts on President Mushariff's .... and maybe this is why he holding him back from following his example.

Good to have such friends.

Summary Justice c/o Rupert Murdoch's employees

"Your World with Neil Cavuto" offers news and insight on Wall Street and other market activities, while wrapping up the business news of the day and airs on Rupe's Fox Channel at 4.pm ET.

David Asman substituted for Neil Cavuto on March 28, 2006 .... he headed for a break .... "If America had tortured Zacarias Moussaoui when they caught him in August of 2001, would 9/11 have been prevented?"

Then again.... "Well, could 9/11 have been avoided if we had tortured Zacarias Moussaoui? After all, he was caught in August of 2001...lying to investigators so the evil plot could move forward."

After a break, Asman opened the segment - featuring Fox employee and Reagan-era Irangate crook who famously lied to Congress (and sold US arms to US / Israeli foe Iran) , Oliver North - with this:

"Well, the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui continued today. Moussaoui stunning the court yesterday when he testified he was supposed to pilot a plane on 9/11 and ram it into the White House. Moussaoui was arrested August 16, 2001, just about a month before the September 11 attacks. He's now admitted to lying about his involvement in 9/11 so the attacks could go forward. So, would 9/11 have been prevented if we had simply tortured Moussaoui to get the truth out of him?

Baby faced Asman asked North what he thought and North said: "Torture no," but "let's just you and I agree on the term 'harsh interrogation methods'." For example, you say, "If you don't answer me, I'm going to take you out and shoot you."

Perhaps they should stop pussyfooting about with lawyers and try this on the AIPAC spies, "Our" Kenny Lay, Tom DeLay, and all jack's "friends" in Congress, Karl Rove, Libby, Miller, Cheney, Condi, Blair ... Bush.

Newshounds we watch FOX so you don't have to

A town called Horsens

When Madonna fans across Europe buy T-shirts at her concerts this summer, they might wonder about the tour programme: London, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Horsens.

Horsens?

A small (Pop 60,000) mid-Jutland town 1 hours drive south of Arhus, is now a fixed spot on the international music promotion circus. From 250 fans for an intimate Bob Dylan 6 years ago a string of world-class names have followed: Robbie Williams, David Bowie, R.E.M., Elton John, "Sir" Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker....

On June 8th the Stones "A Bigger Bang" show, 3 weeks later on 24th June it's Madonna.

Horsens was famous for the local state prison and little else. Frank Panduro, the director of the town's New Theatre believed he and the town could do better.

He got the local bosses and bigwigs and made a pitch, as a result they pitched in with DKK 1m (EUR 130,000) in sponsor funds.

After the Dylan concert, doors began to open.

Orla Kjeld Bothe, who financed the New Theatre and sits on its board, recalled how the windsurfing and surfboard-selling Panduro made a strong impression. Panduro earns respect. From the theatre's accountant, Kaj Atzen, who tips his hat and calls Panduro a 'passionate soul who can't be stopped' to the ticket sales agent who considers him 'a big teddy bear'.... and no censorship (it is Denmark ... no anti muslim cartoons however !!) so you will be able to hear "A Dangerous Beauty" from the Stones about the Abu Ghraib tortures banned in the US of A Superbowl

Now I have discovered the Stones will be censored in Shanghai and won't play 40 year old hits "Brown Sugar" and "Let's spend the night together", I have 2 plane tickets, hotel and concert "ALL AREAS" passes to give away .... it makes Horsens. Meanwhile here are some bootleg backstage pics of Mick and Keef up to no good at the last concert in Horsens.(Do not download pics)

Katrina refugees with a happy story ...

Three months ago, after their car was stolen and with no real prospects in Las Vegas, the Todoras were prepared to retreat back to Louisiana .......

Blues singer Sarah Todora, foreground, poses for a photo with her father Phil, rear, at a plush condo in Turnberry Place in Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 29, 2006. Todora, an unassuming 18-year-old with a Louisiana drawl, has landed a gig at the Sahara hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip and a US$6mn condo for US$6 for six months from an anonymous benefactor...

read on ... a story to jerk a tear and warm any heart if you believe in the American Dream.

You can book your ticketsto see Todora at the Casbah lounge, Sahara Hotel here

Sweet moves by the US & UK in the Middle East

Brazil and Syria and US proceed with sugar refinery project

Resulting from a visit in December 2003 by the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the Middle East,the American company Cargill's ( US$6Bn.TO one of the largest agricultural combines in the world) subsidiary Cargill's Africa subsidiary (40%) in partnership with Brazilian company Cristalsev (10 % plus technical expertise), plus 3 Syrian companies, Assaf Invest, Sugar Invest and Sugar Mezzanine, are set to build a US$150 Mn , 1 Mn tonnes per year sugar refinery in Jandar 30 kmt south of the city of Homs, in Syria. This has interesting political repurcussions in the region.

UK-based corporate finance firm, International Investment Trust, has acted as financial adviser to the project.The curious American Wellington Group is also involved in the project.

The raw sugar will be supplied by Brazil, by Cristalsev, responsible for the sales of sugar from nine mills from the state of São Paulo,worth US$ 200 million, according to forecasts by the Brazilian minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, when the project was announced.

Land is available and though a start was expected early this year a start date has not yet been finalised.

The demand for sugar is the Middle East is high and rising , between Jan-Nov 2005 Brazil had sugar sales to the region of US$1.2 Bn 22% up on the previous year (US$983Mn)

Syria has a small sugar beet industry and prouces some sugar in bulk. The intention is the plant will distribute finished product to Jordan and Lebanon.

In January Brazil forecast a record cane harvest up 5.7% of 440 Mn. tonnes (417 Mn). Of this, 220 Mn. tonnes will produce 27 Mn. tonnes of sugar. Another 177.9 Mn.tonnes will produce 17 billion litres of alcohol, and the remaining 40 Mn. tonnes will be used for cachaça (spirit typical of Brazil), rapadura (a sweet), seeds and animal food.

Cargill's involvement is related to the thorny problem of Turkey's sugar politics not unrelated to EU entry, itself a viper's nest of financial and industrial interests / subsidies etc.,

Cargill's production in Turkey is restricted to 100,000 tons because of quotas. Having invested $90 million in Turkey, Cargill is unable to use its capacity to the fullest because of the country's sugar beet lobby.

Cargill's new investment is also of interest to Turkey's sugar politics. Experts report that Syria is a major source country for sugar smuggled into Turkey. When Syrian sugar production is increased, it will mean that sugar smuggled into Turkey will also rise. Cargill's production in Turkey is restricted to 100,000 tons because of quotas. Having invested $90 million in Turkey, Cargill is unable to use its capacity to the fullest because of the country's sugar beet lobby.

Fifteen percent of the sugar produced in Turkey is produced privately, the largest share belonging to Cargill (when they took over Cerestar worldwide), and the remaining 85 percent by state-owned Türkşeker Fabrikaları and six privatized partially state-owned sugar factories using sugar beet.(Cargill are involved in hazel nuts as well - 80% of the world's traded crop is harvested in Turkey).

It is claimed that Syria is a major source country for sugar smuggled into Turkey. When Syrian sugar production is increased, the same critics say that sugar smuggling into Turkey will also rise.

UK & Israel proceed with sugar refinery project

Elsewhere in the ME ( In a deal shrouded in secrecy since it was signed in September 2005 ) Tate & Lyle will acquire 65 per cent equity in a new Israeli company, the net assets of which will be £ 8.1m. for a sugar refinery to be designed by Tate & Lyle Process Technology, Tate & Lyles specialist engineering division. Israel’s Gadot Biochemicals will own the remaining 35 percent.

EU sugar reforms, which come into effect on 1 July 2006, and says Stanley Musesengwa, Tate & Lyle chief operating officer. "This investment is another example of how we are reacting positively to changes to the European sugar regime."

"It will enable us to continue serving our customers effectively by replacing our existing European Union exports to Israel."

The EU currently exports 4.5 million tons of sugars a year, including 400,000 tons to Israel. The new regulations will reduce EU sugar exports to 1.3 million tons a year (and costly taxpayer subsidies) . Last October, the price of sugar was less than $300 in the international market. Now it is over $500 per ton. (25 yr high in Feb 2006)Pakistan is experiencing severe shortages and soaring internal prices and more are forecast an inevitable consequence of EU crop reductions and diversion of cane crop to ethanol production as the oil price rises.

Tate and Lyle have a Turkish office, but as their website points out, it doesn't deal with Israel. "(Sales for Middle East (except Israel),Adana Organize sanayi Bolgesi,Yakapinar Adana 01350, Turkey t. +90 (0) 322 355 4077 f. +90 (0) 322 355 4093. " (Was this the reason for the secrecy ?)

Pic ? here's a clue ... Textile polymer ingredient Bio-PDO produced by DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts and used by DuPont to produce Sorona® polymer. Sorona® polymers are stain and chlorine resistant with great 'stretch and recovery' and are exceptionally soft to the touch. Fibre made of DuPont™ Sorona® polymer is used in a wide range of textile applications from swimwear to carpets.

Another Guantanamo "conspirator" appears in "Court"

Binyam Muhammad (a/k/a/ Talha a1 Kini, a/k/a Foaud Zouaoui, a/k/a/ Taha a1 Nigeri a/k/a John Samuel) one of ten Guantanamo Bay prisoners to be charged is represented by Clive Stafford Smith who acts for more than 30 other Guantanamo detainees as the legal director of Reprieve, a British human rights organization..Charge Sheet here PDF Alert - which involves charges of conspiracy.

According to a written account read by Smith, Muhammad was born in Ethiopia, and moved to Britain when he was 15. Three siblings went to the United States and eventually became naturalized citizens. He claimed that as a practicing Muslim he went to Afghanistan to kick a drug habit, and thought he could do so if he got away from London.He called the charges a "con" and claimed they still couldn't spell his name correctly.

He also wanted to see the Taliban Islamic regime in Afghanistan with his own eyes, he said. (It was whilst he was in Afghanistan it is claimed he attended a1 Qaida's a1 Farouq training camp, where he received training in light weapons such as the Kalishnikov, Simonov, PKA, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and crew-served weapons and also met Usama-bin-Laden who told the group "something big is going to happen in the future" and to "get ready" or words to that effect..it is also claimed when he was being trained in Kabul he met "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.(!!)

He was captured in April 2002 in Karachi, Pakistan, whilst returning to London. The circumstances of which are odd. On or about April 4,2002, Binyam Muhammad and Jose Padilla (who were alleged to be plotting to make a "dirty bomb" and had been given US$16,000 to get to the US and undertake the task) were both detained at passport control at the airport in Karachi (Binyam Muhammad for a forged passport and Jose Padilla due to visa violations),but were released the next morning. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad arranged to get Binyam Muhammad a different forged passport while Jose Padilla continued on to Chicago, Illinois. On or about April 10,2002, Binyarn (sic) Muhammad was arrested at an airport in Karachi, Pakistan attempting to get back to London using a forged passport.

Three months later, he was transferred by the United States to Morocco.Muhammad said he landed at an airfield he believed was near Rabat, the Moroccan capital, and was driven for about a half-hour before being taken into a house behind a metal fence. An English-speaking woman who claimed to be Canadian but he thought was American, calling herself Sarah was often present when he was interrogated.

His torturers applied sleep deprivation, beat him and sliced Muhammad's penis with a scalpel, according to the detainee's account.

"They cut all over my private parts. One of them said it would be better just to cut it off, as I would only breed terrorists," Smith quoted Muhammad as saying.

Muhammad said that while he was handcuffed, his jailers put headphones on him.

"They played hip-hop and rock music, very loud," Muhammad said. "I remember they played Meatloaf and Aerosmith over and over. I hated that. They also played Tupac. ... When I became a Muslim, I had tried to get away from this.

In January 2004 Muhammad was sent back to Afghanistan, held in a CIA Kabul jail for five months and, in May 2004, moved to Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. He was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in September 2004.

The United States alleges Muhammad conspired with Abu Zubaydah, an al-Qaida commander, and Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, to cause explosions at apartment buildings and gas stations in the United States. Muhammad has denied knowing Padilla and says he is innocent.

During his incarceration at Bagram last year, Muhammad claimed, he was forced to sign a false confession he did not write.

"The story was something like this: First, Jose Padilla and I were meant to have good connections, because we both spoke English. We were meant to have been hanging out together," Muhammad said, according to Smith's notes of their meeting. "By the time I was in Bagram, I was telling them whatever they wanted to hear."

Stafford Smith said. "I would like some answers from the U.S. as to where they got this evidence, because I am confident we will find all this evidence was exacted at the tip of a razor blade."

Tom DeLay puts faith in Christ

"Sides are being chosen, and the future of man hangs in the balance! The enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not won, and if we put our trust in Christ they never will. ... It is for us then to do as our heroes have always done and put our faith in the perfect redeeming love of Jesus Christ."

Tom DeLay Conference "The War on Christians" March 20th 2006.

I put mine in Scanlon, Rudy and Jack.

SkyTote UAV - USAF now flying Model Planes for the Big Boyz

Scientists at the Air Vehicles Directorate have announced testing of yet another unmanned air vehicle, which "may" become an operational reality for the "warfighter". Basically another toy for the boys.

SkyTote is an unmanned aerial cargo delivery vehicle. The proprotor consists of two propeller blades that rotate in opposite directions and allow SkyTote to take off and land vertically, like a helicopter, and then shift to horizontal flight, like a fixed wing aircraft. This capability allows SkyTote to take off and land from confined areas while being able to fly faster than a helicopter could during flight. SkyTote will benefit the warfighter by delivering cargo to dangerous locations without jeopardizing a human pilot’s safety.

Researchers claim SkyTote will become a safe, inexpensive and reliable choice for assessing bomb damage and conducting resupply missions or emergency troop evacuations.

During the initial design phase, the vehicle was redesigned from the original 2-foot to an 8-foot wing span vehicle to make it more realistic and usable for customers.

The current test vehicle will carry a 50-pound payload within 150 nautical miles.

The power unit is a rotary Wankel engine (invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons patented 1929) made by UAV Engines Ltd in the UK which follows on from developments by Norton,famous for post war motor cycle racers. This results in a more compact engine, low weight,reduced mechanical friction and lower fuel consumption and greater operating range.

EADS / Airbus problems as shareholders cash in their chips?

French German Airbus manufacturer European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) has had 6 significant items to ponder this week.

1. They have been edged out of the Thales / Alcatel alliance in consolidating French space technology industries.Alcatel website.

2. At the same time, two of the main shareholders in EADS, DaimlerChrysler autos and Lagardere publishing, said that they would reduce their holdings.Both selling 7.5% shareholdings.

3. Today BAe who have been partners since 1978 announced they want to sell their 20% stake as discussed here recently.BBC Online.

4. The A350, its rival to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is meeting criticism recent industry reports suggest the A350's intended fuel efficiency is so poor it needs a complete redesign. Meanwhile, provisional orders are being put on hold and estimates of sales drastically scaled back.

Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng said in an interview today (7/4//2006) in Zurich, "Having gone to the trouble of designing a new tail, and introducing a lot of new composites, and everything else, they might as well go the whole way and design a whole new fuselage as well instead of using something old." Chew said his airline will decide on whether to buy as many as 80 new aircraft at a board meeting next month.

"We still have an open mind," Chew said today.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of International Lease Finance Corp., the world's largest aircraft lessor said in March should spend $8 billion to $10 billion more to redesign its A350 airliner to compete with Boeing's 787.he says they need to decide on needs to decide on a redesign before the Farnborough, England, air show in July.

5. Only last week, Emirates delayed a $4.2bn order for 20 Airbus large jets, the A340-600, to give Airbus time to develop a better version.

6. Testing the wings of the A380 to destruction has shown that the wing fails within 95% of the US FAA 1.5 wing loading limit - although the results are still not clear they could dig their heels in and refuse landings in the US. Airbus executive vice president of engineering Alain Garcia deemed the test a success, and was quoted as saying, "This is within 3 percent of the 1.5 target, which shows the accuracy of the finite element model." The wing was deflected more than 24 ft/7.4m when the break occurred. (remeber the banning of Concorde supersonic overflights in the US ?). ( Emergency evacuation trials passed with flying colours however)

BAE chief executive Mike Turner , who acquired United Defense Industries, the US maker of Bradley armored personnel carriers, for $3.97 billion dollars, in March last year said: "We believe that now is the right time for us to divest our Airbus shareholding to allow us to concentrate on our core transatlantic defense and aerospace strategy." BAE won orders worth US$ 1.13 Bn. from the US Army to re-manufacture and upgrade more than 500 Bradley combat vehicles in June 2005.

Airbus booked record firm orders exceeding 1,000 passenger planes in 2005, taking 51.0 percent of the world market and beating arch-rival Boeing for the fifth year running.

All this is excellent news for Boeing , for two reasons...

1. It puts BAe into play for a take over by Boeing or other US defence companies.(Remember BAe are not part of the Euro consortium developing the Combat Unmanned Aerial vehicle CUAV nEUROne)

2. It makes life more difficult for Airbus who have been causing them lots of problems in the last few years.

Boeing will however maintain their PR assault ...



On June 13th 2005 Ambassador Linnet Deily, U.S. Representative to the WTO complained ...

"Over its 35-year history, Airbus has benefited from massive amounts of EU member State and EC subsidies that have enabled the company to create a full product line of aircraft and gain more than a 50 percent share of large civil aircraft sales. Every major Airbus aircraft model was financed, in whole or in part, with government subsidies taking the form of "launch aid" – that is, financing with no or low rates of interest, and repayment tied to, and entirely dependent on, sales of the financed aircraft. Moreover, if a particular model does not sell well, Airbus does not have to repay the financing. The Airbus A380 “super jumbo” alone received approximately $3.7 billion in launch aid subsidies from France, Germany, Spain, and the UK."

Also BBC report about N Wales subsidies for training.

The UK share of the A380 launch was £780m, of which £530m went direct to BAE. So if BAe sell up that is UK taxpayers investment thrown away. EADS’ shares have enjoyed a more than fivefold increase from the low of €6.50 in March 2003 to a peak two weeks ago of €35.13. As one BBC radio commentator said on the World News last night, "BAe are taking the money and running".

Wouldn't it be a surprise that a la Kuwait buying BP when it went public , Dubai financiers leapt in to take up BAe's share ?

Pic Iran Air use Airbus - not for nuclear bombing however. The Shah of course bought Boeing...and so have El Al...so far!

Plame. Libby hits fan with raw sewage

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis Libby Jr., testified that he was authorized by President Bush, through Mr. Cheney, in July 2003 to disclose key parts of what until then was a classified prewar National Intelligence Estimate (N.I.E) on Iraq, according to a new court filing.

Mr. Libby testified, the prosecutors said, that he was "specifically authorized in advance of the meeting to disclose the key judgments of the classified N.I.E. to Miller on that occasion because it was thought that the N.I.E. was 'pretty definitive' against what Ambassador Wilson had said and that the vice president thought that it was 'very important' for the key judgments of the N.I.E. to come out."

This means (if true - and hey that's a big IF - if you really know what "IF" means) that Mr. Bush, who has long criticized leaks of secret information as a threat to national security, may have played a direct role in authorizing disclosure of the intelligence report on Iraq.

"We're not commenting on any ongoing legal proceedings," said Scott McClellan, Mr. Bush's press secretary, NYT reports today .Previously having said Sept. 29, 2003. “If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.”

For example he was reported by CNN Wed. Feb 11th 2004 ...

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of."

"I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job.

"I want to know the truth," the president continued. "Leaks of classified information are bad things."

He added that he did not know of "anybody in my administration who leaked classified information."

Bush said he has told his administration to cooperate fully with the investigation and asked anyone with knowledge of the case to come forward.

Consortium News has some commentary on events today ...

"Also deserving an explanation is the curious trip that Fitzgerald reportedly made to the office of Bush’s personal criminal attorney, James Sharp, on the morning of Oct. 28, 2005, just before announcing the indictment of Libby on charges of obstruction, perjury and false statements. [NYT, Oct. 29, 2005]

It’s unclear why Fitzgerald would take time out of his very busy schedule that day to visit Bush’s personal lawyer unless Fitzgerald had to pass on sensitive information about Bush’s status in the investigation. Possibilities range from telling Bush that he would not be named in the Libby indictment to saying he had become an investigative target.

Attorney Sharp accompanied Bush on June 24, 2004, when the President was questioned about the Plame case"

Daily Telegraph - The Jewish Lobby at work ...again

Iran has missiles to carry nuclear warheads claims Con Coughlin in today's Daily Telegraph.

Aided by a graphic remarkably like the one in the AJC ad in the Financial Times on Wednesday demonstrating the mythical range of yet to be developed mythical missiles (and boosted by the State Broadcasting Corporation aka BBC yesterday) he says Iran has successfully developed ballistic missiles with the capability to carry nuclear warheads. Enlarged map click here.

"Military expert analysis " of recent firings of the antique N Korean (German WWII V2 derivative) Rodong (range 800 miles) concludes The Shahab-3 is a modified version of North Korea's Nodong missile which itself is based on the old Soviet-made Scud.

The Nodong, which Iran "secretly" acquired from North Korea in the mid-1990s, is designed to carry a conventional warhead. But Iranian engineers have been working for several years to adapt the Shahab-3 (Tech. spec. Here)to carry nuclear weapons says CC. Instead of the single cone normally attached to this type of missile, the new Shahab has three cones, or a triconic, warhead. A triconic warhead allows the missile to accommodate a nuclear device and this type of warhead is normally found only in nuclear weapons. (Yes and they are very, very heavy - hence the size of US ICBM's - Ultimately, a total of 500 x 3 stage single RV Minuteman IIIs will be the USA's ICBM deterrent force through 2020, each 60 feet long weighing a total of 16 tons with a range of 6,000 miles (all downgraded from 3 unit MIRV nuclear heads)

According to the new research, the Iranian warhead is designed to carry a spherical nuclear weapon that would be detonated 2,000 feet above the ground, similar to the Hiroshima bomb.

"This is a major breakthrough for the Iranians," CC claims a senior US official said. "They have been trying to do this for years and now they have succeeded. It is a very disturbing development."

He admits that US defence officials believe that Iran is several years away from acquiring nuclear weapons, but says it is believed that the warhead could hold a version of the nuclear bomb Pakistan is known to have developed.

In 2003 the Iranians concluded another secret deal with North Korea to buy the Taepo Dong 2 missile, which has a range of 2,200 miles and would enable Iran to hit targets in mainland Europe ..... which it would if this multi stage missile worked and had a throw weight of more than a few pounds.

Earlier this week The Revolutionary Guards have been holding their maneuvers code-named the "Great Prophet" . The Iranians announced that they had successfully test-fired a new missile, the Fajr-3, which has the capability to evade radar systems and carry multiple warheads.

This report has been said by senior DOD military figures as a gross exaggeration ..." the missile used in Friday's Iranian test was only a Shahab-2, (pic hauled by a Benz lorry) the Iranian designation for the old short range Scud-C missile, which has a range of only 310 miles. "It was not a new missile as (the) Iranian press reported,"

Analyst Uzi Rubin is reported as saying the Iranian description of the Fajr-3 sounded very much like the new Russian Iskander-3 missile, except for the independent targeting, which the Iskander-3 does not have. In 2003 it was reported that North Korea (DPRK)was importing this missile from Russia via Syria. Israel has Arrow and PAC-3 anti-missile missiles that at least partially neutralize such a threat.

Israel is probably less concerned about the Iskandar than the Russian SA-18 surface to surface missile which Syria is said to have .

Western analysts are equally skeptical about the Iranian claim to have developed a remarkable new underwater torpedo-missile with aircraft carrier-killing capabilities that can travel at four times the speed of current fast torpedoes - the Kowsar

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "It's possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and technology."

But "the Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities," he said.

StrategyPage.com reported that the weapon was most likely a version of the Russian-built VA-111 Shkval rocket-torpedo. The Shkval is fast, "the Russians have not had any success convincing the world's navy that their rocket propelled torpedo is a real threat," the Web site says.

"The attacking sub has to get relatively close (within 4.2 miles) to use it. Modern anti-submarine tactics focus on preventing subs from getting that close. For that reason, the Russians themselves tout the VA-111 Shkval torpedo as a specialized anti-submarine weapon for Russian subs being stalked by other subs,"

In all this one must remember that after the AIPAC spying scandal the Israeli's are conscious about Pentagon concerns about Israel supplying China with hi-tech defence systems and equipment.

Now why would the DT want to talk up this onon-existent threat to Western Europe .. the Jewish Lobby at work again ? ... Hmmm.. Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitism etc.,

Readers of the Torygraph with a good memory might recall a story By Anton La Guardia from last year ...

"Israel admitted yesterday that it is buying 500 "bunker-buster" bombs, which could be used to hit Iran's nuclear facilities, as Teheran paraded ballistic missiles as a warning against attack.

The BLU-109 bombs, which can penetrate more than 7ft of reinforced concrete, are among "smart" munitions being sold to Israel under America's military aid programme."

What would they want those for ?

Nursultan Nazarbayev embraces Mother Russia ... and Putin

Russian state-controlled media, including the RTR television channel and Radio Mayak, report Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s recent three-day visit to Moscow as a potential turning point in Putin’s struggle for control of the Caspian Basin’s oil and gas reserves.

This followed a trip to Tashkent on March 22nd to meet President Karimov where Nursultan Nazarbayev’s speech was broadcasted by Uzbek National TV-Channel on March 22,..."“I know that you defended peace of 26 million Uzbekistanis in Andijan too...We know it very well, and now, in order to defend state security in the whole world, such measures are taken......We know it very well, and now, in order to defend state security in the whole world, such measures are taken he said addressing Islam Karimov., who has of course chased the US forces out of Uzbekistan after the criticism of the Andijan massacre.

The visit resulted in an agreement to vastly expand Kazakhstan’s oil exports via Russia, along with Astana’s (Astana is the new (1998) capital of Kazakhstan) endorsement of a Moscow-led Eurasian economic union. These announcements are seen by Russian leaders as a major geopolitical victory…over the US and it’s allies in the struggle for energy resources. Consequently this raises questions about Kazakhstan’s participation in the US-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

After a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 4, Nazarbayev stated that the volume of Kazakhstani oil transported via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route would rise to 67 million metric tons from its present level of 28 million tons. The 1,500 Km long CPC route connects the oil fields of Western Kazakhstan to the Russian port of Novorossiysk. Russia has claimed (probably correctly) the route, which began operations in 2003, has been deliberately underutilized, reportedly causing significant losses. Provided that Kazakhstan follows through on its commitment, the CPC pipeline could begin to operate at near capacity.

"We can jointly determine the rules of the game in the Eurasian space," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Nazarbayev as saying. "Of course, Russia will play a leading role" in the budding Eurasian Union.

Nazarbayev said on Russian TV that the agreement on the CPC "means that in the next seven or eight years the increase in oil production in Kazakhstan will be backed by transportation possibilities," He added that Kazakhstan and Russia would jointly develop three off-shore oil fields, which the Kazakhstani leader identified as Kurmangazy, Khvalynsky and Tsentralnoye.

The opening of the US-backed ( Clinton was a great supporter, BP wasn’t until taken over by Amoco) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in 2005 broke an effective Russian pipeline monopoly linking the Caspian Basin to Western markets. The CPC route is the chief Russian competitor to BTC which was designed to bring oil and gas South not North to Russia.

It is claimed that heavy Kazakhstani participation in BTC is needed to make that export route viable. Astana has repeatedly said it will ship oil via BTC, but no deals have been negotiated ... so far.

On April 4, Putin said that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would soon sign framework agreements to for joint economic efforts. Vagit Alekperov, the CEO of LUKoil, which has invested roughly $3 billion in Kazakhstan in recent years, wants to develop new joint projects, including an expansion of the CPC pipeline.(Pic 2002 NN & Dubya in happier times)

Russian-Kazakhstani trade in 2005 reached nearly US $10 billion, a 35 percent increase over 2004. After this the third meeting by Putin and Nazarbayev this year they have agreed to double trade from current levels .

The leaders also made agreements on defense and security involving reduction sin costs of Russian bases and size of military firing ranges in Kazakhstan (Sary-Shagan, Emba, and Priozersk) as well as an agreement on the Kazsat launch at Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan which is scheduled for June 8 and which President Putin will attend. The Kazakhstan Kazsat satellite is designed to provide TV broadcast and communications for Central Asia and the central part of Russia.

The Russian Vneshekonombank and the Eurasian Group headed by Kazakh millionaires Mashkevich, Shodiyev, and Ibragimov also had talks about joint projects.

Those who read the runes on these things saw significance that Nazarbayev's entourage on the visit included Timur Kulibayev, his son-in-law, now VP of Samruk a recently established major holding company , Timur is on the national Golf Team and is known in golfing circles as the "Lion King".(see pic)

Samruk

Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Singapore in autumn of 2003 and met the leader of their State Holding company (STN) who is Mrs Lee Syan Lee wife, of the President, who is the son of founder of modern Singapore Lee Kuan Yu.

A year after the official visit, Singapore established joint venture between the national company "Kazakhstan Engineering" and "Singapore Technologies Engineering" . STN President Таn Pheng Hok and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Danial Akhmetov signed an agreement in Ferb 2005. The range of interests of the Joint venture include electronics, oil and gas production and shipbuilding, and reconstruction of the armed forces of Kazakhstan."

In December 2004 Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the order to the government to form a state holding which will unite the largest national companies with the help of international consulting company McKinsey & Co this is Samruk.


Kazakhstan

Total area: 1,049,149.53 sq miles (2,717,300 sq km)
Land area: 1,030,809.78 sq miles (2,669800 sq km)
Comparative area:
- Ninth largest in the world, equivalent to the size of Western Europe.
- Five times the size of France.
Boundaries: Total 7,459 miles (12,012 km). The Republic of Kazakhstan shares its longest borders with Russia, 4,251 miles (6,846 km) and China, 951 miles (1,533 km), as well as with Uzbekistan 1,369 miles (2,203 km), Kyrgyzstan, 653 miles (1,051 km), and Turkmenistan, 235 miles (379 km). It also borders 1,183 miles (1,894 km) of the Caspian Sea.
Population: 15,1 million
Ethnic Diversity:
Kazakh 51.8%, Russian 31.4%, Ukrainian 4.4%, Tatar 1.7%, German 1.6%. There are over 100 other nationalities.

Removing all its nuclear warheads by 1996, Kazakhstan became the first state in history to complete voluntary disarmament.

RESPECT! VIP man rejoices as Rupe is rejected

Lawyers acting for Rupes rag NOW declined to petition the Court of Appeal to overturn yesterday’s comprehensive judgment refusing an injunction against publication of photographs of him.

Respect MP George Galloway today branded News of the World employee Mazher Mahmood, aka the fake sheikh, a liar challenging the NOW to publish the tapes of their meeting after Mahmood supplied a written submission to the High Court denying GG version of the meeting.

“Investigations into Mahmood are continuing. I will be seeking an adjournment debate in Parliament on standards in the British media. I’m also charging Mahmood with perjury over his submission to the High Court on Wednesday. The matter does not end here,” says George.

Well, you can go to the "Respect" site ( A political Party) and see one photograph repeated, once with the title Mazer Mahmood, once as The Fake Sheik .... of course you could have Googled Mazer Mahmood under images for the last four years at least and found the same photograph. The above may be MM apparently he put lots of people in prison as MM claims to have done (the hairy one)

Let's hope our dear Queen didn't choke on her cornflakes when this pic dropped out of her mail ... mind you her mind was on the Gee Gees not GG ... probably picking the winner in the Grand National ... mind you the fragrant and beautifully coloured co-ordinated Lady Scotland fouled up (as Norman Tebbitt discovered) and you can no longer be hanged for Treason here anymore but you can be in Ireland (But not in Portugal). See here. "The lunatics HAVE finally taken over the Asylum"

BBC "sells" AJC "Fake News"

I raised the "fake news" on the BBC "World at One" half hour mid-day news program yesterday 6th April 2006 about the full page ad in that day's Financial Times and an interview by Beeb journo Mark Latey (?) with a representative (?) from the advertisers the American Jewish Council (AJC).(Click for PDF of ad shown here)

The AJC is a huge organisation with lots of money, rich and powerful friends, with world wide high level support ... Visitors to their forthcoming 100th AGM include President Bush, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

They are very adept at spreading their message which they claim on their website . "Using the latest technologies in our advocacy work – airwaves, films, internet – and translating AJC research and statements into other languages, AJC stands out as a global Jewish organization."

It is evident that the over riding concern of the AJC is to identify Iran as enemy of the Israeli state - and of everyone else. An objective shared with many other such organisations.

Indeed No 1 item on the List of topics for the AGM is ..

What should we worry about next?
Iran: Growing danger to the region
and the world

With lectures and discussion lead by ..

Iran: Growing Danger to the Region and
the World
Efraim Halevi, (Who went to the same school at the same time as Tony's pal Lord Levy, his "special Mid-East envoy) Director, Israel’s Mossad
(1998-2003)
R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary of State (Condi's sidekick - big chance she will make a "surprise" show as AIPAC Pin up girl)

The lead news item on their site is ...

Stop Iran's Nuclear Arms Drive
Israel Defense Minister Tells AJC Iran is Number One Threat

March 21, 2006 – Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the American Jewish Committee today .......

”The moment Iran will have nuclear capability it will be a different world,” he said.

“Iran will continue to support terrorism activities, and be a leader of the Axis of Evil, all under a nuclear umbrella.” He emphasized that Iran’s desire to develop nuclear weapons threatens many countries, not just Israel, and without American and European action, and UN sanctions, it will be difficult to stop Iran.

The Lead item in a list of the ways mebers can help punches home the message...

Time is running short: only a few years remain for preventing a nuclear Iran – and possibly less. Iran already has the missiles to deliver such weapons across the Middle East and beyond ...... Please call upon Congress to pass legislation now that could help stop a nuclear Iran before it is too late.

It is easy therefore to see how the ad in Wednesday's Financial Times ... fits into a sophisticated global media campaign. So how did the discussion about this misleading and deceitful ad with just a representative from the AJC, no balance, no serious discussion, become a BBC news item ? Is this the Jewsih Lobby at work ???

You might well ask ... I shall be asking Helen Boaden who is responsible for BBC News output.... you can as well, e - mail her desk ... helen.boaden@bbc.co.uk .. to learn how this "selling" the news is done go here

Thanks to Stef for help.

Miss USA circus comes into town

Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas reaches out to grab the flag of Miss South Carolina USA Lacie Lybrand during a scrimmage football game with some pageant contestants and some of the Ravens

The Miss USA pageant is calling Baltimore again, 2nd year running... and excitement is rising ...

"The judges are going to have a big job on their hands trying to figure out which one of these ladies is worthy of being Miss USA," said Dennis Castleman, assistant secretary for tourism, film and the arts, in Maryland's Department of Business Economic Development.

The pageant has also added a third emcee to the telecast. Carson Kressley, of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, will act as "color commentator" to the show's two hosts, Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell and Drew Lachey, of Dancing with the Stars fame.

Make sure you have enough Kleenex in.

Terrism, Plod pounces. Clash of Cultures ???

Alerted by a suspicious taxi driver terrist Plods halted the London-bound flight at Durham Tees Valley Airport in England and then boarded it, to arrest Harraj Mann, 24. He was released after 3 hours questioning and missed his flight.

The taxi drivers concern was prompted because Mann had been singing along to The Clash's 1979 anthem "London Calling" , especially the lines "Now war is declared -- and battle come down" and "meltdown expected."

Mann said the driver let him plug in his MP3 player to the Taxi's sound system and he had been playing The Clash, Procol Harum, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles for the driver.

"He didn't like Led Zeppelin or The Clash", Mann told the Daily Mirror. (Reuters report)

"Can't be too careful ,,, Sir ... now then , move along"

" .... First they came for the Clash fans.... "

NEWS UPDATE 7/4/06

Plod pounces on Punk SMSer

Further to the Clash fan hustled by Plod at Durham Airport, I have been reminded of a story at the Techie online Register By Lucy Sherriff of 3rd June 2004

An Orange tech worker, father of two, Mike Devine who played in a Clash "tribute" band was arrested at his office in Bristol when a text message he sent was intercepted and traced back to his phone.

Special Branch officers slapped the cuffs on Mike and took him away for questioning, but he was not charged or arrested.

Devine, had sent a message containing lyrics from The Clash's Tommy Gun to his lead singer Reg Shaw who had forgotten the words to the song.

"How about this for Tommy Gun? OK - SO LET'S AGREE ABOUT THE PRICE AND MAKE IT ONE JET AIRLINER AND TEN PRISONERS"

Plod claims the message went to someone else who alerted the Police (not the band of that name) about the content.

The police questioned Devine about his phone, and asked about texts sent texts at the end of April. They showed him a print out of the text and asked him to confirm that he had sent it. "I said, 'That's the lyrics from Tommy Gun. I'm in a tribute band'," Devine said.Plod reportedly looked puzzled.

Plod accepted the explanation not before suggesting to Devine that he be careful about where he sent such messages in future.

Google the above Clash text (43,900 items) and you will find many more related stories including BBC Online who add the final line..."A spokesman from GCHQ in Cheltenham refused to comment."

I say it again "...first they came for the Clash fans, the tribute bands ...."

Berlusconi reaches for the Hearts and Minds

Nur al Cubicle in a characteristically learned post identifies the new voice of dissent on the Italian Street, Berlusconi has remarked in his infantile fashion that people who don't vote for him are coglione - assholes. (Although I thought a Coglione d'oro meant Golden Balls)

A result is a Website claiming I am an Asshole Io Sono Un Coglione website (in Italian)

Corriere della Sera also have a photogallery of young attractive Italian (?) ladies bearing the slogan and looking very jolly.

PS Just in case the lawyers are reading - coglione is NOT a reference to David Mills AKA Mr Tessa Jowell - or indeed any of his spaghetti munching friends.