Force protection, BAE and IMG cash in at the Pentagon on the MRAP program - Al Q and Taliban help support US engineering industry with home made IED's

Force Protection, Inc. (Nasdaq:FRPT) share price (see chart from their website) has fallen back from nearly US$31 to US$23.46 at market close today, as other suppliers are taking more of the ultra protected vehicle market that the military are crying out for in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However in the new release of orders from the Pentagon as part of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) and other armored vehicle programmes FP received a $221 million contract (their 4th) for 455 vehicles bringing the total number of vehicles from FP ordered by the pentagon to 1,800. Good news for the shareholders to hear at their AGM on the 21st June 2007.

The order due for completion by end of 2008 is for ;

395 Category I Cougar 4X4
60 Category II Cougar 6X6 vehicles

FP say they expect more orders to sustain the rate of production of these armoured Mack trucks to meet a demand expected to exceed 400 vehicles per month by February 2008. Busy, busy, busy .... but where are the profits ?

Recent Department of Defense estimates project a potential MRAP vehicle requirement of more than 18,000 vehicles, worth an approximate $20 billion.

Under a parallel program the Army has placed contracts with ;

1. Textron Marine and Land Systems for 369 additional M1117 ASV 's for delivery next year due to a backup of orders with a value of US$220.5 Mn. More than 750 ASVs have been deployed in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) in support of combat missions.

2. BAE Systems for 44 RG-31 Mk 5 armoured cars for the US Army to be produced by OMG in South Africa - scheduled for delivery within 4 – 5 months.

U.S. forces have previously ordered or received 448 RG-31 vehicles, including 265 Mk5s for the U.S. Army and Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and 24 Mk5s for the U.S. Marine Corps under the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program.

3. International Military and Government LLC (IMG) received a third delivery order worth $8 million for additional 16 Category II (CAT II) MRAP vehicles, to be delivered by February 2008. The previous order awarded to International covered about 1,000 Category I vehicles.

Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev - Where are they now Pt 432

Kim Howells, Foreign Office Minister said last July when Israel invaded Lebanon allegedly in hot pursuit of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and their captors;

"I very much hope that the Americans understand what's happening to Lebanon. "The destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children and so many people. These have not been surgical strikes. It's very difficult, I think, to understand the kind of military tactics that have been used.

"You know, if they're chasing Hezbollah, then go for Hezbollah. You don't go for the entire Lebanese nation."

He then turned his face the other way round and proceeded to explain that a demand for an immediate ceasefire would be a "meaningless gesture". Which Tony Blair's official spokesman at the time said the Prime Minister would "not be unhappy about [Mr Howell's] comments at all".

Equally callous and unconcerned about the attacks on the civilians of a sovereign state (killing eventually nearly 1,000 unarmed civilians) Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said the right of Israel to defend itself was "clear" and calls for an unconditional Israeli ceasefire were "futile" unless rocket attacks on it stopped and captured soldiers were returned.

Kim Howells, Foreign Office Minister and Rentagob for State Terrism (Overseas section) said today ;

"Today marks one year since Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants. Likewise, the fate of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured from Israel by Hizballah on 12 July 2006, remains unknown. Our thoughts are with these men's families, as they continue to deal with the daily uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones.

"We condemn the release of the today's audio tape (Listen here - Hebrew - Trans in Eng, at bottom of post) of Gilad Shalit which can only add to the anguish of his family. "We call for the immediate, unconditional and safe release of all three men. Violence only serves to further increase the tension and frustrate efforts to find a lasting peace."

..and so say all of us ...... meanwhile we'll stand by silently while Israel sends rockets into Gaza, and the USAF / RAF bomb the women and children of Afghanistan and Iraq - you know it makes sense. Meanwhile we will also remain doggedly silent about the imprisonment of elected Hamas representatives held along with thousands of other Palestinian prisoners.

Last year the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (the man who who led the Oslo process) emboldened by US/UK support threatened Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that Israel will strike out at him if harm comes to the Israel Defense Forces soldiers kidnapped by militants, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday.

During a particularly tense and hasty meeting held in Gaza, Abbas told Haniyeh that Israel would also strike out at his fellow Hamas members Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud a-Zahar and Interior Minister Said Sayam if anything happens to Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Both Ministers were eventually forced out of office in the Mecca agreement brokered by the Saudis, in which Hamas would give up important ministries such as finance, interior, and foreign affairs to Fatah - a conference at which the US was present but kept a very, very low profile. Abbas was as good his word as the Israeli/ US puppet.

Palestinian sources estimate that Israel currently holds $700 million in frozen revenues (Remeber ! The US has also been pressing world banks not to recognize the signature of the Palestinian finance minister). Israeli sources estimate the sum at $562 million, after the deduction of Palestinian debts owed to Israel. Haaretz report today that the cabinet approved on Sunday the partial transfer of the tax revenues, the exact amount would be discussed at a summit with Abbas in Sharm el-Sheikh today.

Avigdor Leibermann of the Yisrael Beiteinu party was naturally one of the 2 Cabinet members who voted against the proposal and said on Israeli Army Radio that, "The new Fatah-led government has no intention... of arresting a single terror operative,"

That leaves 2 course of action probable ;

1. In an unlikely move, convinced that Abbas is too weak to do anything, they release the Fatah strongman, Marwan Barghouti, from his Israeli jail.

2. Abbas dissolves the Palestinian Authority and returns power to the Israelis, who remain legally and practically responsible for the areas they occupied in 1967.

ETERNAL FOOTNOTE FROM A REGULAR FIXTURE ON BBC DISCUSSION PROGRAMMES

Unsurprisingly Melanie Phillips on her Blog is outraged at how the BBC has been grotesquely twisting its reporting on Gaza in order to blame the crisis on Israel. She expostulates ...

So let’s get this right: when Israel is in occupation, it is blamed. When it is not in occupation, it is blamed. And above all, when it is the victim of genocidal assault, it is blamed for being the cause of regional instability.

Couldn't have phrased it better sweetie.

Translation of the recorded Message from Gilad Shalit:

'I am the soldier Gilad, son of Noam Shalit, who was captured by Izz el-Din al-Qassam [the armed wing of Hamas ]. Mom and Dad, sister and brother, my friends in the IDF - I send you my love and I miss you all. It has been a whole year in prison, and still my health is deteriorating. I am in need of prolonged hospitalization.

I am sorry for the Israeli government's and IDF's lack of interest in me and their rejection of the demands of Izz el-Din al-Qassam . It is clear that they must accept their demands if they want me to be released from prison, especially since I was part of a military operation under military instruction and not a drug dealer.***

And just as I have parents, a mother and a father, the Palestinian prisoners also have mothers and fathers - and their children must be returned to them. I have great confidence in my government that they will focus more on my issue and accept the demands of my captors. Corporal Gilad Shalit.'

*** A direct reference to a businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was abducted by Hizbullah and released as part of a prisoner exchange deal in February 2004, and subsequently admitted that he had entered Lebanon to conduct a drug deal.

Pic at top of Post - IDF blowing up the tunnels in the sand (?) which the dastardly Palestinians crept through to invade Israel, snatch the unsuspecting Gilad sat in an armoured vehicle and return with him to Gaza. See all of this remarkable operation at You Tube

The release of businessman and drug dealer Elhanan Tannenbaum

EADS announce progress with SHARC rotary wing UAV at Paris Air Show 2007

Military Air Systems is an integrated Business Unit of EADS Defence & Security (DS - 23,000 employees - Eur 5.9 Bn sales 2006), they not only displayed a mock up of the SHARC UAV (pic) at the Paris Air Show 2007 but announced it's flight test programme had successfully started.

This is a compact, 2.5 m long, 0.7 m high and 1.2 m high vehicle with an all up weight of 190 KG (incl. + - 60 Kg surveillance kit). It is an unconvential unmanned coaxial dual-rotor helicopter and is equipped with a redundant flight control unit, a laser altimeter and control and data links. There are no hydraulic componenents and the dual rotors are controlled by electrical actuators.

EADS are moving to developing a modular or mix 'n' match setup which they also displayed as a 1:10 model of a new MALE UAV concept. The aircraft is configured as a main module, which includes the airframe, twin engines avionics, controls and tail section, with optional wing sets

1 High aspect ratio
2 Low aspect ratio

Payloads would be modular, providing SAR, MPR and EO systems.

Communications can be by

1. Forward satellite section
2. Where sufficient replaced with a line of sight module



The proposed modular design in SHARC of the avionics is a step along the road to integration of a whole range of different mission equipment. Tests on electro-optical and infrared sensors are part of the overall flight campaign. In addition, SHARC can also accommodate a compact synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system.

EADS claims that within the SHARC package they can readily configure systems for military / naval / coastal requirements for unmanned reconnaissance and surveillance as well as aerial target designation and damage control missions, but can also be used for industrial / border monitoring.

Ideally designed for ship based use the dual rotor configuration ( mutually torque-compensating counterrotating rotors make a compensating tail rotor superfluous) has a claimed 30% list at equal wait with conventional helicopters with tail boom designs - providing heavier sensor payload greater attitude stability and comparable flight performance with easier / safer autonomous deck landings.

EADS also showed the latest generation of the lightweight EADS SCORPIO of which over 1,000 are in use for short duration, low level surveillance land based use.

Not to be confused with the Saab SHARC (Swedish Highly Advanced Research Configuration) the forerunner of the Saab armed Combat UAV (CUAV).

Stop The War March, Sunday 23rd June Manchester

This is the Bridgewater Hall where the biggest Jobs Fair in Gubment for 10 years ,was being held as we marched. Not a single MP joined the March - John McDonald MP sent his best wishes, The Beast of Bolsover , Dennis Skinner MP was caught scurrying past and didn't take kindly to a request to join in. His pension calls louder than Freedom.

Respect MP and enjoying late fatherhood George Galloway as ever sent his apologies for not appearing.

The march of some 20,000 was very sensitively shepherded by the GMP who made sure on-one got away - and there were no problems, no-one arrested and everybody was polite and very, very helpful.


The head of the march strode boldly and with determination in the Manchester rain.


The children were happy, noisy and ... well kids.



Moazzem Begg spoke forcefully and with passion - here he was interviewed by Al Jazeerah - the media presence was low. Speaking to one BBC crew they explained everyone was off at Glastonbury - they weren't they they explained because you "had to have some influence for that ticket".


Several parents of Military Families Against the War (MFAW) spoke - this was founding member (with Reg Keys) Rose Gentle mother of Gordon Gentle, a 19 year old from Pollok who was killed while serving in Iraq. She contested the East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow seat in the 2005 General Election against Armed Forces minister Adam Ingram.
Marches have become the principal expression of impotent rage against a corrupt political process. Where is the unreconstructed left - the march lost some focus as many had an agenda other than the Iraq War...NHS workers, Government workers worried about jobs, Remploy workers (There's a fucking scandal), globalists, every splinter group of revolutionary / Leninist / Marxist / Spartists / Comunists.

Paradoxically there were few groups (the odd individuals) expressing their solidarity with Palestine , moderate, modest Muslims.

Some drummers drumming lay on the road and stopped the march which Plod dealt with very softly, re-directed everyone and coralled the happy marchers who seemed to represent nothing more than ..er...well...drumming and being a fucking nuisance to Plod. probably the only people who trudged home in the rain feeling satisfied.
Click on images to enlarge

California Christian Pro - Zionist / Muslim Hate group UAC meet in Cape Pendleton US Marines base

The United American Committee - "working for a safer, better tomorrow" - was founded by Jesse Petrilla promoting awareness of threats to Homeland Security, primarily focusing on Islamic extremism in America. To see them in action watch the counter march they held "We stand with Israel" and addressed by gung-ho Christian Pamela Hall (pic) celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 6 Day war here.

Or read about Jesse's recent (June 6th) trip to Kosovo and Bosnia "I saw a rogue and wild west region with very little self built infrastructure, and vast amounts of foreign money flowing in from Saudi Arabia and other nations hell bent on exporting their extremist ideals. " ...

" a situation which may chillingly parallel future events in America if we do not take action to prevent them today."

The UAC will be holding their monthly strategy meeting at Camp Pendleton in Southern California tomorrow, Monday the 25th of June. Those outside of California who can not attend, please feel free to email them ( info@initedamericancommittee.org) your suggestions on ideas for future campaigns which the UAC may engage in to confront the threat from radical Islam.

Time: 7:00 PM - North end of the Camp Pendleton Marine Base: San Onofre Community Center

Easy to find: Exit the I-5 at the Basilone Road Exit, the first exit south of San Clemente.
Turn left and proceed over Freeway to MCB Camp Pendleton entrance gate.
Once on base, proceed on main road about one block to the first road to the right.
Turn right. Proceed one short block to stop sign. Turn right into parking lot.

Community Center is at far (North) end of the parking lot, a large building with portico.

Those who do not have a base DOD sticker will need to stop at the Pass Office at the entrance to the base and pick up a Temporary Guest Pass. Driver must show Driver's License, Proof of Insurance, and Vehicle Registration. Tell them you are going to the "SOCC" (San Onofre Community Center). Allow an extra 6-10 minutes to get the pass.

Pic. Jose Petrilla on a fact finding visit to the Golan heights

Pedal power with an electric performance .....

NO road Tax, Insurance, Licence and street legal ?

Sakura (Cherry in Japanese) are a range of electricity assisted pedal cycles made in China. Priced between £500 and £700 the will speed the 80Kg rider (must be over 14 years old in UK) some 15-20 miles on a single charge to the 36 volt 14 amp SLA battery at a current cost of about 6p - at a dizzy maximum of 15 mph.

Fully charging the battery (Approx £69) takes about 8 hours, but you can only do this some 250 times which puts the cost per journey up to about 33p. Ideally you need one charging whilst you whizz down to Waitrose.

Should be ideal for lawyers buzzing round London with all those griefs briefs.

The picture shows a Sakura Shopper seen today in Manchester, it weighs 39Kg, sufficiently heavy to discourage any pedalling, or carrying up steps.

The importers have retailers nationwide, this one was supplied by Valley Scooters in Bolton Tel: 01204 532 183 Email ihammond@supanet.com and the proud geek riding it was impressed by the lack of requirement for a helmet and low running cost. Try also SR cycles.

You can read an Evening Standard review from November 2006 here.

Powerbyke and Izip make a similar range.

Update - a Canadian contact speaks glowingly of the Bion X bike, only available so far in North America.

Lockerbie - "one of the most disgraceful miscarriages of justice in history" becomes more evident

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was fit up and wrongly convicted in 2001 of the murder of 270 people arising from the bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scottland on 21 December 1988.

In accordance with its statutory obligations the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. will report at 12:00 midday on 28 June 2007 in a brief summary for the media its main findings .

The Commission’s statement of reasons for its decision in the case (expected to send it back for re-trial for eventual acquittal , which in this case extends to over 800 pages and will be accompanied by numerous volumes of appendices . It will not be made public.

Copies of the summary will be available on the Commission’s website, www.sccrc.org.uk and from its offices at 17 Renfield Street, Glasgow UK.

Jim Swire, whose daughter died in the disaster and tireless campaigner for the truth, said:

"Scottish justice obviously played a leading part in one of the most disgraceful miscarriages of justice in history. The Americans played their role in the investigation and influenced the prosecution."

We still will not know who committed the crime which if it had occurred as planned over the Atlantic , would be a distant memory.

Consortium News has a contemporary report on the judges 26,000-word Opinion of the Court by By William Blum, Lockerbie Ruling Revisited June 29, 2007 (Original article posted Feb. 5, 2001).

Which makes you wonder how he was ever found guilty.

"The three Scottish judges cannot have relished returning to the United Kingdom after finding both defendants innocent of the murder of 270 people, largely from the U.K. and the United States. Not to mention having to face dozens of hysterical victims' family members in the courtroom.

As with any horrendous crime, there's a desire for someone to be punished. That's an especially strong sentiment when a defendant is from an unpopular racial or ethnic group, in this case, a Libyan. The three judges also knew the desires of the White House and Downing Street as to the outcome."

Lesley Molseed - DNA samples found in Wetherby - a litle bit of history

A report from the Rochdale Observer of 5/2/03 provides an interesting insight into the forthcoming case against Ronald Castree for the murder of Lesley Molseed.

Detective Chief Superintendent Max Mclean, was appointed to head the investigation after Stefan Kisko had been acquitted.(He led the enquiry on the 2001 race Riots in Bradford and appeared on Crimewatch in a fruitless appeal in the still unsolved case of the 19-year-old Bradford prostitute Becky Hall in 2001, he said "he was dismayed by public indifference.")

He said: "I asked the forensic team if they had any material left from the original murder investigation. We uncovered a semen sample and from this we managed to acquire a DNA profile." (Presumably this was due to the introduction in the late 90's of the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) based profiling to replace the less sensitive and slower RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) analysis) . Apparently the sample was recovered from a criminal evidence laboratory in Wetherby, Yorkshire.

"...pioneering new techniques to test semen recovered at the scene" had provided a DNA profile and had proved to be effective in dismissing convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett - the man named in a 1997 book as the murderer.

The Rochdale Observer went on to explain that the West Yorkshire Police are launching a major appeal in a bid to finally trap her killer and bring him to justice after 27 years and that this appeal featured on the BBC Crimewatch programme on the day of the report ... and solicited people to convey any suspicions they may have to the Police .....

Mr Mclean urged Rochdale's townsfolk to come forward with names of people they suspect murdered Lesley.

"It may be that someone has harboured a suspicion for 27 years that a friend, relative, or acquaintance could have killed this little girl. We now have the ability, through the development of scientific methods to eliminate these people once and for all. It is an extremely simple procedure, which involves us taking a mouth swab. We have already eliminated 300 people and are continuing to work through our list of suspects."

Mr Mclean even wants the name of suspects who are now dead.

"It could be a husband, boyfriend, partner, or brother. There are simple scientific tests we can undertake to determine whether they are responsible for her death. I want to stress to people that it is impossible for Stefan Kiszko to have been involved in this crime. Get the image out of your mind. He was not the killer."

A contact telephone number was provided for the incident room at Halifax police station.

Which is all very curious, because we know that 3 West Yorkshire Police officers were charged with destroying evidence - amongst that evidence was semen - which would have eliminated Stefan Kisko because he had a medical condition that prevented him producing semen.

No doubt this sample the forensic team "uncovered" will be the subject of considerable interest when the trial of Ronald Castree starts in Bradford on October 22nd and which is expected to last 9 weeks. It is after all essential that a chain of custody documents must accompany all specimens at all times for legal cases. These documents should maintain the chronological history of the evidence and include all pertinent identity information.... it would be extremely unhelpful if this was not available and provable in court.

Castree is being defended by Jonathan Rose QC who co-wrote “Innocents” – The definitive account of the case of Stefan Kiszko, which was published in 1997 by Fourth Estate Ltd

(link)For more information about the case and how in 1994 DCI Richard (Dick) Holland, CS Dibb and forensic scientist Doctor Ronald Outteridge were formally charged with suppressing evidence in 1994. It was alleged they had destroyed the forensic evidenceand also withheld statements from the defence, which proved the whereabouts of Stefan on the day of the murder.

DNA and the UK Forensic Service

The latest available figures show that UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) contain 3.4 million people, over 585,000 of them taken from children aged under 16 and over 50,000 profiles from samples taken from the crime scene - it is the largest such database in the world.

Comparisons are not made of whole DNA profiles but most Forensic Laboratories, now use a standardised SGM Plus (Second Generation Multiplex) system. This system, comprising 11 loci (discrete areas of DNA - D3 (D3S1358), VWA (HUMVWF31/A), D16 (D16S539), D2 (D2S1338), D8 (D8S1179), D21 (D21S11), D18 (D18S51), D19 (D19S433), THO (HUMTHO1), FGA (HUMFIBRA), includes a gender marker (AMELX, - which is surprisingly a gene that controls the development of tooth enamel Amelogenin) and is said to have has a discrimination power of greater than 1 in 1,000 million. SGM Plus encompasses four Interpol loci. These core loci are used by most European countries to facilitate the possible exchange of information between jurisdictions. So far INTERPOL, the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), GITAD (Grupo Iberoamericano de Trabajo en Análisis de DNA) and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) use this system although there is a move by the US manufacturers of the system Promega to move to 15 locii for improved sensitivity.

In England and Wales, the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 allowed DNA to be retained from people charged with an offence, even if they were subsequently acquitted. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 later allowed DNA to be taken on arrest, rather than on charge. Since April 2004, when this law came into force, anyone arrested in England and Wales on suspicion of involvement in any recordable offence (all except the most minor offences) has their DNA sample taken and permanently stored in the NDNAD; officially the UK National Criminal Intelligence DNA Database , whether or not they are subsequently charged or convicted. In practice both the collection and permanent retention of DNA is now routine for all people arrested and taken to a police station in England or Wales, from the age of ten, and removal is being restricted to ‘exceptional’ cases. Link to report about Europe wide standardisation and intelligence / information sharing.

If interested GeneWatch UK is a not-for-profit group that monitors developments in genetic technologies and has many concerns about the Police National DNA Database. This is another interesting site about the accuracy of DNA profiling in the UK by the Police / Forensic Service.

George meets his Waterloo

Truthdig via Max Garthoff

"Dodgy Dossier" authorship disclosures reveal lies told to Hutton and Butler enquiries by Sir John Scarlett and others.

Lord Patel reported on March 3rd 2007, how Chris Ames had worked diligently to produce the "Iraq Dossier" which is a website ....

" dedicated to telling the truth about the British government's September 2002 dossier Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction - that it was, after all, "sexed-up" by the government's spin doctors. "

Ames goes on in exquisite, clear, authoritative detail how the true authorship of the "dodgy dossier" was other than that claimed at both the Hutton and Butler whitewashes enquiries.

"Although the government still insists that the dossier was the work of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and/or its chairman Sir John Scarlett,(pic of Sir John) the truth is that four government spin doctors were on the inside of the drafting process. The took part in the actual drafting the dossier and the oversight meetings. It has now been established that one of them - John Williams of the Foreign Office - produced the first full draft. The claim that the JIC wrote and approved the dossier is a fabrication."

A small footnote and confirmation can be found in a story - "Iraq dossier penned by ex-Standard reporter" on Jun 21 2007 at ic-Kent newspapers online in an "Exclusive report" by Mark Dearn.

Tory MP for Billericay John Baron publicly named ex-Standard reporter John Williams as the man responsible for one version of the 50-page dossier, and not intelligence chiefs, as had been previously thought.

Mr Baron said Mr Williams, then director of news at the Foreign Office, wrote a draft which was then sent on to Sir John Scarlett, chairman of the joint intelligence committee, who wrote the final version the day after.... resulting in this .. a pic from Day 1 of the invasion.

However, Foreign Office apparatchik and Margaret Beckett's rubbing rag, media "Rentagob" Kim Howells says the dossier was not based on the Williams draft, which he claims was "already redundant".

Mr Baron said his evidence showed "spin doctors" worked on the dossier and that it was "sexed up", contradicting the findings of the Hutton and Butler inquiries. (i.e in plain language exposing the lies)

Mr Williams worked at the Medway Standard from 1973 to 1977, working under editor Gerald Hinks. He did his professional training at the newspaper.

After leaving the newspaper, then known as the Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham News, Mr Williams went on to be political correspondent at the London Evening Standard, and then political editor at the Daily Mirror before becoming the Foreign Office's director of communications in 2001. He now runs his own company, West One Communications.

The Foreign Office are noticeably reluctant to disclose Mr Williams "draft" dossier so that we may make a reasonable comparison of the contents of both - which only confirms the view that it's publication would confirm the claims of Chris Ames and John Baron. - and many others.

No doubt further discreditable revelations will appear as Blair heads off to the horizon - it would certainly interesting if the (now ex) Attorney General and lying Scouse bastard, Lord Goldstone decided to reveal exactly what advice he gave about the legality of the Iraq invasion and why, and why exactly the BAE corruption enquiries were so brutally terminated.

Perth's combined wind energy / Desalination plants , the greatest greenest civil engineering projects ever, anywhere.

Perth ,Western Australia is a growing city of over 1.7 Mn people (annual growth 3%), this oceanside paradise it sits not only on the Swan River (named after the native Black swans) , but on fast dwindling aquifers whose decline has been accelerated by a massive growth in demand by a shift to a hotter, drier shift climate.

The dry winter of 2001 and drier 2002 summer was the worst drought period on record - in 2005, it was confirmed that in the eight years from 1997 stream flows had dropped by a third to an annual average of 115GL/yr from 161GL/yr over the previous 23 years (1974–1997).

It was evident that short term cuts on sprinkler usage, greater groundwater allocation (three bores into the Yarragadee aquifer deep below Perth's northern suburbs and a further nine into the shallower aquifer at Mirrabooka) and A$142 MN spent on more storage was only a stopgap measure even with expenditure of $142m to further augment supply capacity with dams and resevoirs in Samson Brook and Wokalup Creek. ( Perth and South West dams total capacity is 688 gigalitres - they currently(today) hold 140.16 gigalitres, 20.4% of their total capacity.)

Although these measures added some 40GL/yr to the City's integrated water supply system supplying a user base over 2.5 million square kilometres, it was evident that a longer term, 50 year 'Security through Diversity' strategy would need to be adopted. Demand growth calculations showed that by 2010, around 107GL/year of new water will be needed to meet the rising demands of a growing population.

As a result the City fathers and the state owned Western Australia Water Corp. with remarkable foresight, planned, designed, and built a wind farm north of the City, to supply electricity for a massive coastal seawater desalination plant located at Kwinana, 25km south of the city (see Google Earth view) - the capital costs were A$350 Mn and with running costs of A$19 Mn a year . The direct cost of water delivered is A$1.16 per 1,000 litres (Kl).

With an in initial capacity of 140,000m³ and planned expansion to 250,000m³/day, it is the biggest of it's kind in the world and will ultimately supply 17% of the Perth coastal areas needs - some 45 GL/yr.

Drawing water from the Cockburn Sound the Perth Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant (SWRO) extracts water with an input salinity of 35,000mg/l to 37,000mg/l at 16°C to 24°C (0.02% of the water in the sound being removed per day).

This is initially filtered by the pre-treatement plant then is forced through the spiral wound membrane elements of the Reverse Osmosis treatment trains. This product water is treated with lime, chloride and fluoride, stored and then blended with water from other sources before being pumped into the the municipal integrated supply system.
The filter backwash and concentrate stream is returned to the sound and because the the Cockburn Sound is an area of environmental sensitivity the effluent is strictly monitored and has to meet stringent conditions have been imposed on TDS, temperature, DO and the sediment habitat in the vicinity.The concentrate outflow is about 7% salt, so the the discharge nozzles are designed to act as diffusers, to ensure that salinity falls to less than 4% within 50m of the discharge point.

Electricity for the desalination plant – which has an overall 24MW requirement and a production demand of 4.0kWh/kl to 6.0kWh/kl – comes from the new 80MW Emu Downs Wind Farm, which consists of 48 wind turbines located 30km east of Cervantes about a 3 hour drive north of the City. Developed by Stanwell Corporation, a power generation corporation owned by Queensland Government and Western Australia's Griffin Energy, this facility commenced operation in 2006.

Sydney, another seaside Australian city is expected to commission a plant even larger than Perth's in the next few months and now Perth expects to have built another one by 2011..

Perth was also examining exploiting the The South West Yarragadee aquifer as a water source which was resisted fiercely under their banner :

"The forests and wetlands of the South West Region may die
so Perth's lawn may live."

Their website is a model for ecological activists and well worth a visit.

"Perth's water crisis is not one of lack of supply but one of lack of imagination on behalf of short-sighted politicians and policy makers. The realisation that the continual search for water for unsustainable landscapes is a dead end resulting in a move towards collapse of ecosystems and economies."

The Friends of Yarragadee have obtained some respite and politicians have seen sense, because on May 16th 2007 West Australian Premier Alan Carpenter announced that a second seawater desalination plant powered by renewable energy would be Western Australia's next major water source. The Premier said ;

"The internationally acclaimed wind-powered Kwinana seawater desalination plant has demonstrated that large quantities of water from an unlimited ocean supply can be provided using a clean and green process," ...

"I have asked the Water Corporation to immediately start developing the State's second major seawater desalination plant."

The proposed second combined wind energy / desalination plant is at a Water Corporation wastewater treatment near Binningup - will provide at least 45 gigalitres of water a year which could increase to 100 gigalitres. The capital cost will be A$640 million with a further A$315 million piping / connection costs.

Last week's State Budget allocated $750 million over the next four years for a new water source. An additional $205 million will be allocated in the 2011-12 financial year. Some of the cost will also be met by a A$30 rise in household water bills in 2008-2009 on top of the A$28 rise announced for 20078/8 in the Budget. The new plant is expected to produce water at A$1.90 a kilolitre (qv A$1.16 for Kwinana. Plant operation will require approximately 20 full time employees.

"We can no longer rely on traditional, seasonal climate patterns and rainfall," the Premier said.

As this decision to can the Yarragadee Aquifer development, was due to come on stream in 2009, there are concerns by some vote hungry pols that the winters of 2009/10 could see supply problems and (hot damn) lawn sprinkler restrictions. There are also more individually expressed concerns claiming that better water management may be the key to Perth's water supply.

These are the current mandatory restrictions on water usage in Sydney - Minimum fines for offences A$220.

• Hand-held hosing of lawns and gardens and drip irrigation is now allowed only on Wednesdays and Sundays before 10 am and after 4 pm
• No other watering systems or sprinklers are to be used at any time
• A permit from Sydney Water is required to fill new or renovated pools bigger than 10,000 litres
• No hosing of hard surfaces including vehicles at any time
• No hoses or taps to be left running unattended, except when filling pools or containers
• Fire hoses must only be used for fire fighting purposes – not for cleaning.

Australia's best export

Tina Arena


“Chains” from her debut album “Don’t Ask” (Sony 1995) . "Don´t Ask" sold 1.3 million copies world wide and sold 10x Platinum in Australia. "Chains" also topped the charts in the UK (#4) and across the rest of Europe, picking up numerous awards in the process.

BA 609 at Le Bourget, smaller brother to Osprey V22 - bit cheaper too

Bell Helicopter (part of Textron) and Agusta (part of Finnmeccanica) joined forces in the Bell Agusta Aerospace Company (BAAC) to produce the worlds first civil tiltrotor passenger aircraft - because of the UK engineer GKN's joint ownership of Agusta Westland they have a 22.5% interest in BAAC. (Pic Der Spiegel)

The BA 609 Tiltrotor was providing displays by ship 001 at le Bourget this week of this 6/9 seater composite 300mph pressurised plane witha 25,000 ft. ceiling . The BA609 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney of Canada PT6C-67A turboshaft engines which have a maximum continuous power of 1,940hp each. The tiltrotor can cruise at 509km/hr with a range of 1,389km or 1,852km with auxiliary fuel tanks. It can land/take off in restricted city centre spaces in helicopter mode and fly as a fast turboprop and mode transformation takes less than one minute.

Assembled alongside the Osprey V22 at Amarillo, after their maiden flight in Texas on March 8th 2003 (the first flight with transition to full airplane mode, reaching a speed of 190kt (219mph) took place in November 2006) . The second test aircraft made its maiden flight in November 2006

The test program so far (June 1 2007) program has logged 137 flights and 159 flight hours on ship 001, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and 14 flights and 14 flight hours on ship 002 in Cameri, Italy. The flight envelope reached 310 ktas, 25,000 feet and 35 knots in rearward and sideward flight. The longest single flight was 1.7 hours. In vertical takeoff mode, the BA609 demonstrated climb rates of 2,650 fpm and in airplane mode, 2,900 fpm.

Certification for the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (now expected 2010 with customer deliveries 2 months later) will involve Part 25 certification for large aircraft, Part 27 for helicopters and new regulations specifically for the tiltrotor.

Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan has the contract to build all of the production fuselages for the BA609 and a production line will also be built at Agusta plant in Italy. Various cabin configurations for executive, military, cargo and medical use are available and there is the possibility of a hoist.



They have an order book of 70 planes (the first two years production) at approximately US$10 Mn each. ( A V22 is costing the US taxpayer ..er...approx US$160Mn a pop) AgustaWestland insists it already has an undisclosed government customer, and the U.S. Marines have expressed interest in acquiring the aircraft for training purposes.

Where were you when Jill Dando died ?

"Dead on Time: How and Why Barry George executed Jill Dando", published in 2002 by John McVicar the ex-con crime cracker is a readable, accessible book (but with a totally bizarre and barmy thesis) about the very public murder of TV celebrity Jill Dando.

It was published shortly before the appeal by Barry George who had been convicted of murdering her was judged ( [2002] EWCA Crim 1923) by The Hon. Mr Justice Gage in the Crown Court - the transcript of which is available on the Support Barry George website which supports his current appeal.

This judgement provides a brief authoritative and excellent account of the murder, the police investigation, an examination of the evidence provided against Barry George and the reasons for the dismissal.

First attracted by McVicar's book attracted on the "New In" shelf at the library, bound in a blindingly bright yellow cover, reminiscent of the early Gollancz hardbacks, and bolstered the recollections of the author's criminal past and the celebrity of the victim, Lord Patel was tempted and borrowed it - he would not recommend anyone buy it to read it.

Only vaguely aware of the court case, the book provided a decent ( unique and it appears a fairly accurate ) view of the case by someone who sat in Court No1 at the Old Bailey throughout the trial.

Beyond that the book is an insane farrago of nonsense invented by McVicar . According to him the sensible, sexy yet homely girl from Lord Archer's home town having bought two Dover soles in the fish shop at the end of her Fulham street, came face to face with - not a Serbian ( "Serbs tend to rape, not kill women"), not her neighbour who heard the scream but not the gun, but ...

Well McVicar had teamed up with the notorious "Benjie" or Benjamin Pell, an elusive and shadowy denizen of Fleet Street who excelled in rummaging through dustbins for the odd trifle to sell to Sunday Tabloid editors on a slow newsday.

Anyway Benjie fires up Johnny that Barry George (once married to a Japanese girl Itsuko Toide, - a marriage she described to the Daily Mirror " I married a monster" as “violent and terrifying” explaining how George would frequently attack and rape her - it lasted from 1989 until the couple’s divorce in 1994 ) who liked to call himself Barry Bulsara (the real name of Freddy Mercury) and pretend to be Freddy Mercury's cousin, obsessed with "Queen" lyrics, fascinated with Ninjas and Nin jitsu the ancient art of Japanese assassination ( a relic art before pistols were invented and involving lots of dashing about, kicking, slashing and wearing exotic robes...but let it pass).

Wedding these themes, it appears that Jill was friendly with Cliff Richard - who slighted Freddie Mercury by accepting the lead role in "Time" and Barry George was his avenger and his friend Dando's nemesis - after throwing in Zoroastrianism, a bullet crimped in the shape of a imperial chrysanthemum, the film Highlander, the number 39, the Japanese transliteration of 'Dan-do' and the colour yellow - hence the colour of the book cover.

Anyway in the real world...

On 26th April 1999 at about 11.30 am returning to her flat at 29 Gowan Avenue, Fulham after a night spent with her boy friend and fiancee (they were due to marry on September 25th that year), unseen by anyone, Jill Dando 37, was killed by a single bullet fired from an unsilenced pistol that had been pressed firmly against the left side of her head when fired. A fired bullet and casing (Remington) were recovered by the police from the vicinity of the doorstep. She was pronounced dead at 13.05 in Charing Cross Hospital. The BBC mourning department went into overdrive.

Barry George, who lived ten minutes / half a mile, from her flat was first drawn to the attention of the police two days after the murder( by staff of both Hammersmith and Fulham Action for Disability (HAFAD) and Traffic Cars) but it was almost a year later, on 11 April 2000, that the police spoke to him as a witness. (This was after a static camera had been set up outside his flat, and a a team of 50 officers from "Operation Oxborough" began a covert surveillance operation).He was arrested for this murder on 25 May 2000 and charged on 29 May 2000.The trial Judge concluded that in terms of an investigation of this magnitude the delay was small.

Evidently the case against George was founded on his having an obsessive interest in Jill Dando (and other celebrities - he had photographs in his flat of women on TV that he had taken). We now know that Emily Maitlis who lived near Jill Dando at the time of her murder, had a stalker who sent 100's of letters, Julia Somerville and Sarah Lockett have also ben approached and harrassed in this way. There is no evidence that Barry George stalked or harassed any woman, sent letters, approached or contacted Jill Dando in any way - in other words he didn't appear to fit the stereotypical male stalker of pretty TV presenters who have been caught, found guilty and imprisoned.

The forthcoming appeal which the Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the to the Court of Appeal is said to rest upon the unreliability of the The Firearm Discharge Residue Evidence ("FDR"). Barry george's lawyers also have new medical evidence about hiss mental problems and new witnesses, who were not heard at the original trial, who may provide an explanation for why a particle of gunshot residue was found on George's coat.

The Commission's decision is contained (as required by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995) in a Statement of Reasons (SoR) - this is over 100 pages and is supported by more
than 1,500 pages of separate reports, statements and other documents.The Crown Prosecution Service can decide whether to resist the appeal or not - so far they have made no public comment.

Using a forensic sticky tape from inside the internal right pocket of a coat of Barry George's examined over one year after the crime, revealed a small particle 11.5 microns in size. (= 11 .5 millionths of a metre or approx 1/2 one thousandth of an inch) Two particles, which matched one another, had been found in the victim's hair near the wound, and on her raincoat. They were FDR and contained aluminium, lead and barium.

The expert's evidence was that, when a gun is fired there is a discharge of 'percussion primer cap' ("CAP") residue, and propellant residue. CAP residue does not degrade. There are about five common manufacturers of CAP containing three basic chemical compounds; barium, lead and antimony to which aluminium is often added. Remingtons was one of the makers. The micron sized particle contained three of the basic chemical compounds in the CAP, as had the cartridge used to kill the victim.

The defence's forensic expert Dr Lloyd's claimed the particle was so small, that to rely on it, one year after the killing, was "incredible". Its size "cast doubts on where it came from"- it could be the result of casual contamination.

The case is very reminiscent of the Stephen Kisko case where someone with noticeable personality traits (Kisko collected car numbers, George, photographed women and led a disordered life, had a petit mal and a cleft palate.

George (unknown to the jury had been convicted for indecent assault in 1982 and of attempted rape in 1983. He had also been arrested in 1983 for trespassing on the property of Diana, Princess of Wales. he had been found armed with two knives, rope, combat paraphernalia and a gas mask) became the focus of Police enquiries and under pressure for a result, corners were cut and forensic procedures not properly followed and were flawed - eye - witnesses met after identification parades and swapped notes, forensic handling was not totally correct.

We now know that the sole evidence that could possibly have linked Barry George to the crime the 11.5 micron metallic scrap residue from an inside pocket of a coat cannot be relied upon.

Orlando Pownall (Snr Treasury Council) for the prosecution , said on the 2nd day of the trial;

"It is no coincidence that this defendant happens to have a particle in the inside pocket of his coat ... this aspect of the case provides compelling evidence of his guilt."

Which leaves PC Plod ( Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell) with the uncomfortable fact that if Barry George is acquitted and he did not murder Jill Dando, there is some person(s) out there who did.

Fred Thompson President of the US 2008-12 visits the Lady Dame Jane Neville Jones Fan Club

"Disruptions in energy supplies, sharp price increases and thuggish behavior by energy suppliers are threats to all democracies with growing economies."

Fred Thompson the Republican Presidential (nearly) candidate was in London yesterdayat the invitation of the Policy Exchange, home territory of the Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville Jones Fan club. He met Conservative leader the Boy David Cameron and Lady Thatcher, whose estranged grandchildren of her terrorist funding son live in America.

Policy Exchange was the venue for a speech for journalists "Building a Transatlantic Alliance for Tomorrow". (Click for video and transcript of the speech - Video of his views on abortion, cell stem research here)

Wit and Wisdom of Fred at the Policy Exchange....

I’ve thought that America needed a weekly question and answer period between the President and Congress. But in the past few months I’ve decided it isn’t such a good idea.

Evidently a man of deep thought our Fred.

Rupe's rag of record, the Times gives him a glowing report after he was interviewed by Gerard Baker (United States Editor and an Assistant Editor of The Times.) - billed as an exclusive - well at least, his first with a non-US news organization, - excluding the ones he gave in Israel when he met Olmerde and Tzipi recently.

He told The Times that "his presidential bid would be based on his belief that Americans wanted change and that he was uniquely placed to provide it."

“I think they perceive the reality and the reality is that perhaps this is the occasion where the man meets the times..." he continued rather modestly.

Apparently he was strongly critical of the conduct of the Iraq war, (who isn't these days ?) and said America would proceed with a greater “dose of realism” in the future, whatever that means.

Nevertheless the original decision to launch an illegal invasion based on a tissue of lies was OK and “just” and claims that the US was right to try to promote democracy around the world.

No mention of him meeting Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Menzies Cambell or any other leading political figures.

Reuters report Fred was 1% ahead of Guiliani in a Rasmussen poll of Republican Presidential hopefuls over last weekend.

Osprey off to Iraq ...again.

The Marine Corps is trying to acquire an adequate stock of spare parts to have on hand when the first Marine squadron flying the V-22 Osprey deploys to Iraq this fall.

Marine Corps Col. Matt Mulhern, who has the unenviable task of oversight for the Albatross Osprey V22 widowmaker , whilst hanging out in the Press Bar at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget explained that the Marines are trying to anticipate which parts will suffer the most wear and tear. Fatalistically he explained , "Something will pop up that we didn't know about." You bet.

Bell Helicopter and the Boeing Co., ( 6,000 people in Fort Worth and 1,000 more in Amarillo depend on this program) who spent so long and so much money making this unarmed aircraft which carries 24 combat troops or internal payload of 20,000 lbs (qv Chinook = 25,000 lbs) and external payload of 15,000 lbs (qv Chinook = 25,000 lbs) want to build up supplies of key parts and components, (you bet they do) such as rotor blades and engines that will "inevitably" be worn down by the sand in Iraq.

VMM-263 Squadron, based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., the first squadron will go operational in Iraq with the flying coffin "later this year" - which is what they said last spring. Pic is of two marines using the sling without covering fire - a curious picture as the rotors do not appear to be rotating.

Each V-22 squadron will have 10 aircraft but will be staffed for 12 aircraft.

Amazingly there are reports that the Pentagon is now negotiating with Bell and Boeing for a five-year order for 167 more Ospreys for about $10 billion, plus the cost of engines (roughly $2 million each), even though it has not yet seen active service.

High oil prices / Nigerian strikes and Delta militants - International help required ?

At 10.40 am in London, benchmark Brent crude contracts for August delivery were down 29 cents at US$ 71.55 per barrel (it hit hit a ten-month high of US$72.25 on Monday) . New York crude contracts for July delivery, which expires today, were down 27 cents at US$ 68.83 per barrel. Whilst the market is awaiting US reserve figures for gas there are rising concerns about today's general strike called in Nigeria.

The strike - said to test the will of the new president Umaru Yar'Adua relates to a series of fiscal measures pushed though in the last days of the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, who stepped down last month.

The price of petrol was increased from 65 naira (51 US cents - 25 pence) a litre to 75...The government has now reportedly offered to reduce this to 70 naira (55 cents). This measure was designed to reduce domestic demand as Nigeria has to import fuel because the refineries cannot cope and are badly run down.

This “indefinite strike” is scheduled to start today and includes both major union groups in the country. Whilst this is a major concern recent attacks in the Niger Delta may signify more serious concerns over supplies.

Gunmen overran an ENI oilfield pumping station on Sunday and the company said 27 people were being held hostage at the facility, which normally produces about 40,000 barrels per day of oil.

U.S. oil company Chevron has cut its Nigerian oil output by 42,000 bpd after an invasion at a flow station by armed youths, a company spokesman said on Monday.

It is reported that some 756,000 bpd, or 25%, of the country's output (which generates 90% of the country's income) is shut because of militant attacks. Before the election which brought Mr Yar'Adua to power, the militants stepped up their violence, although there was a lull during the actual voting.

The attacks resumed shortly after the polls with more kidnappings and bombing of oil pipelines, leading to a 25% cut in production and ultimately the current spiking in global oil prices.

The BBC Online report that Benjamin Akande, who is a native Nigerian but is now a US-based academic expert on Nigeria (***?) told them:

"The truth of the matter is that Nigeria may need outside help to deal with this situation. The US, the EU, or the AU could come into this conversation and help resolve this issue," Mr Akande suggested.

Watch Mr Akande, Dean of Business Management , Webster University, St Louis talk about gas prices on Fox TV here.