Mr Brown - " I am shocked, shocked !"

"I am sorry about what happened."

"I have said all along that when I saw this first I was horrified, I was shocked, I was very angry indeed."

"I think the most important thing is to reassure people that everything is being done to clean up politics in this country."

"I wrote to those people who were affected by it. I expressed very deep regret for what happened."

"The person who was responsible went immediately and has lost his job. And I have ensured that there are new rules so that this cannot happen again."

There are those cynics amongst us - yes indeed, cynicism survives even yet dear reader. There are some who reading the above might feel that the Prime Minister was merely sorry Mr McBryde was caught in flagrante delicto.

Anybody remember that pussy cat Bernard Ingham ? John Biffen was unnatributably described as a "semi-detached" member of the Government. Sure enough, Biffen was dropped at the next reshuffle.

Then, bluff Yorkshire "fowk" have a monopoly on unctuous humbuggary.

7/7 Bombers stunning new London Transport bus CCTV pictures : amazing new evidence : Amazing pictures

Zhen Xing Yang, 25, and his girl friend Xi Zhou, 25, (CiCi to the tabloids) were discovered murdered in their ground floor flat in Newcastle last Saturday.

This remarkable frame from a motion sequence of CCTV on a Newcastle bus , which has no evidential value whatsoever of pretty Xi Zhou catching a bus, will appear in the Daily Mail tomorrow 6 days after the murder to slake the public's thirst for grisly voyeurism.... and boy does this story tick the boxes, pretty girl, Premier football, match fixing, beating the bookies, torture, ritually murdered cats (what sort of beast are we dealing with ?) , Chinese.

Yet of 8,000 hours of CCTV seized by the Met (and seen by no-one else - and for all we know has been trashed) after the 7/7 bombings 3 years ago we have only a smattering of still images.

We will of course get to see those fascinating CCTV pics and motion fillum when the 7/7 inquests are held (with 47 anonymous Plods, SAS, MI5/6/7//8 )..er..eventually. Of course we will. Won't we ?

Northern Wreck's criminal CEO's pay to let you run your fingers through my hair old baldy shag bag's £1 Mn property empire and lucky young son's luck

Guy Basnett (P7 News of the World ) has a fascinating story about slim party loving, gym rat, gorgeous, brunette Amanda Smithson - readers will remember a post about this lady Sunday, June 22, 2008 Summer Lightning , who featured in the long runing saga of Northern Wreck - also a later one on Sunday, December 23, 2007 Applegarth the crook is adulterer as well - while he took his eye off the ball, somebody had their hands on his .

Imagine. We just thought she was the lucky lady from the rent to let, being shagged senseless by fun loving criminal and CEO Adam Applegarth - now 46 (another company asset going down ?) on his trips to Washington . She ...er...retired late 2007 to spend more time with her money and the well endowed shagger.

Now it appears the little vixen, whose slim beautifully toned ,sun kissed, supple, yet sinewy thighs have (so far) not been caressed by Lord Patel, has been shrewdly setting up and lining her little NEST egg - and we just thought she was on the nest!

1. May 2003 she checks in at the exclusive Wills Building in Newcastles trendy area for mistresses for a naughty £139,950 (we revealed this in this post)

2. September 2005 she splashes out on a mews house in the same super secure compound for a modest £193,000.

3. 3 months later December 2005 she pops open her purse for a spacious £187,000 pad on the trendy dockside Luxury apartments complex at Mariners Wharf - NE1 2BJ .
4. 6 days later Father Christmnas must have been busy because she laid out ... £155,000 for a bijou flatette in Otterburn Viallas in upscale Jesmond.
5. Six months later and again she is snapping up a delightful property in West Jesmond for a £150,500 family home (baby on the way maybe?) .

That is an eyewatering £816,500 ! In one 10 month period she spent £677,000 plus solicitors, etc., quite something for a well paid (ish) buy to let lady on £36K per annum less tax/NI/ Union subscriptions/ sexy underwear ... The News of the World says it's worth over £1 Mn now.

Checks on the Land Registry show that the sultry Smithson own all 5 properties (rumour has it she owns another) and unsurprisingly her mortgages are all with Northern Wreck which was run until September last year by her very well endowed mortgage king Adam Applegarth. It is also intersting that these transactions directly covered the period when the criminal CEO was unloading ALL his Northern Rock shares at the top of the market for £2.7Mn - he had sold on Lord Patel's birthday 25th Jan 2006 52,253 shares @ 957p = £500,061.21 and the next day 111,426 shares @ 957p = £1,066,346.82. So where does a girl who lost her job find the money to pay probably £7,000 a month mortgages, plus any capital costs, solicitors, Stamp Duty...??

She wasn't the only lucky one, Adam's son Gregory snapped up for a mere £329,000 a flat just doors away from her Mariners Wharf love pad she had bought just 10 days before !

Yes ... with the help of a Northern Wreck mortgage..

Nor was he the only lucky one - the Sunderland Cricket club whose shirts bear Northern Wreck sponsored logos from Northern Wreck received of £100,000 and agreed a £50,000 unsecured loan months before the crash. They are part of the Ashbrook Club.***

So who is the captain of the NUSC team that fields shagger and crook Adam Applegarth ? Well it's Greg Applegarth, (like his pic girls ? - more here) his son who has that pad handy for his dad's bit on the side. He is also the Northern Universities Students CCC Elite Newcastle representative (is he still a student ?) - you can e-mail him from here also

The News of the World say having taken his £2.2 Mn pension pot and £750K severance pay .." he is under investigation.."



***Ashbrooke is a mature residential area of tree lined avenues, elegant Victorian terraces and discreet mews set in the heart of the City of Sunderland. In the middle of this attractive area lie Ashbrooke Sports Club and Ashbrooke Social Club. Once known as "The Lords of the North" Ashbrooke's Victorian grounds have recently been revitalised ****under an ambitious scheme aimed at improving our facilities for both existing members and potential new members of the Club.

**** C/O Criminal CEO Applegarth and Northern Wreck's generosity ?sunderland.cricketclub@googlemail.com Phone 0191 5284536 if you want to ask.Dr. Grenville Holland is the Hon Treasurer and President of Cricket he also is the Welfare Officier and ensures the club matches the ECB Child Welfare Requirements (?)
Sunderland Cricket Club home to the baldy old crook Adam Applegarth criminal CEO of Nortehrn Wreck .. evidently used to going in on a sticky wicket..



Just pop postcode SR2 7HH into Google Earth or for her Mariners wharf love nest / property investment use NE1 2BJ

Barry George who was "fit up" by Police finally released - a triumph for his sister

Barry George, whose second trial (lasting 7 weeks) for the murder of Jill Dando has hardly been mentioned in the Press was cleared of murder today after wrongly serving eight years in jail.

Today, a jury of eight women and four men , whe were sent out for a verdict on Wednesday afternoon rejected the prosecution case that George was the killer who shot Miss Dando, 37, through the head on her doorstep in Fulham, west London.

Now, after having "fit up" Barry George for a crime he did not commit, the Metropolitan Police face the task of renewing the search for the gunman nine years after the popular Crimewatch presenter was murdered on her doorstep on April 26th 1999.

George is expected to be released and walk free from the Old Bailey today.

Hilary Bradfield, the CPS reviewing lawyer today defended the decision to bring the case against Barry George, saying it was "fit to be put before a jury".

"Mr George now has the right to be regarded as an innocent man, but that does not mean it was wrong to bring the case."

"Our test is always whether there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction - it would be wholly wrong to only bring cases where we were guaranteed a conviction."


Barry George was held in custody awaiting a second trial for the murder of Jill Dando after his successful appeal in November 2007 .

Jill was killed on 26th April 1999. It was almost a year later on April 11th April 2000 that Detective Constable John Gallagher interviewed him.

Over one month later on 25 May 2000, George was arrested on suspicion of murdering the presenter. He has been in prison ever since for a crime he did not commit.

The Finding of LORD JUSTICE LEVESON and THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE SIMON on 15th November 2007 was Para 54. It is impossible to know what weight, if any, the jury attached to the FDR (Firearm Deposit Residue) evidence. It is equally impossible to know what verdict they would have reached had they been told as we were told, by the witnesses who gave evidence before us, that it was just as likely that the single particle of FDR came from some extraneous source as it was that it came from a gun fired by the appellant. The verdict is unsafe. The conviction will be quashed.

Mr Justice Griffith Williams excluded the FDR from the retrial, agreeing that it was inconclusive.

Even faced with this the Police and the CPS had George held in prison for a further nine months.

See also Thursday, June 21, 2007 Where were you when Jill Dando died ?

The result is a tribute to the tireless and unceasing efforts of Barry George's sister Michelle Diskin to reverse the original verdict.

Video "the Real Killers of Jill Dando"



This video is not presented as a the truth about Jill's death.Just one of several modestly plausible theories.

Who were the ,"unidentified group of people hostile to Max Mosley". News of the World and their world of blackmail.

Tony Hatfield casts his expert forensic gaze on the judgement of Justice Eady in the case of Mosley v News of the World which the BBC have kindly provided on line here.

Tony ask the question ..."Did the News of the World really try blackmail to get evidence against Mosley?"

If , as he suggests , you search on the word "blackmail" in the judgement, you will find two sections , paras 82 - 87 when Editor Colin Myler (who BBC4 gave a handsome "Profile" repeated 3 times last week) and chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck were cross examined, that Justice Eady isolates to demonstrate that that is indeed what they did.

In this case the soon to be ex Editor and reporter were blackmailing the highly paid ladies who indulged Max Mosley in his strange fantasies... and who went on to print spurious , misleading and dishonest statements , the ladies were alleged to have made.

Perhaps more intriguing ,is the reason for the activities of the News of the World in the light of what was said (at para 225) ..

In this particular case, the evidence is that the Claimant had received a warning from Lord Stevens that he was being watched by some unidentified group of people hostile to him. This was at the end of February. He had also received a similar tip from Mr Bernie Ecclestone in January. He had taken the matter sufficiently seriously to arrange instruction for himself in spotting or avoiding surveillance.

It is worth noting the ante-penultimate paragraph of the judgement No 234..

It is perhaps worth adding that there is nothing “landmark” about this decision. It is simply the application to rather unusual facts of recently developed but established principles. Nor can it seriously be suggested that the case is likely to inhibit serious investigative journalism into crime or wrongdoing, where the public interest is more genuinely engaged.

The judge must have chuckled as he assembled his statement ... it is not without some droll observations ..

30. It is fair to point out that any parts of the photographs revealing anybody’s private parts are discreetly blocked out – including in one instance by a chequered flag.

65. It was put to the Editor and Mr Thurlbeck that the reason why Woman E was only paid £12,000 after she delivered the video material, despite having been offered £25,000 previously, was that they had been disappointed by the lack of Nazi content – a pertinent question. This was denied and the editor gave the reason that they like to renegotiate downwards, when in a strong bargaining position. They were affected by the credit crunch like everyone else.

One is left wondering what sort of depraved people do like to strut about in Nazi uniforms ....
When they do, there is always, it seems, one of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers ready to print the pictures.

Coroner grounds entire RAF Nimrod Fleet Des Browne another Scots politician , part time Defence Minister ready for a lonely walk in the countryside ?

We brought attention of our readers on Wednesday, May 07, 2008 to the start of the inquest into the deaths of 14 servicemen, who were killed when their RAF Nimrod MR2 XV230 crashed in Afghanistan on 2nd September 2006 is being presided over by Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker - RAF Nimrod MR2 XV230 crash Inquest opens today.

This provided the reader with a brief introduction to the principal problems highlighted in the official RAF crash enquiry. It is worth noting that immediately after the crash all air-to-air refuelling on the Nimrod fleet was suspended and that suspension remains in force. Nimrod was named for the 'mighty hunter' described in the Bible (Genesis X, 8-12) . Nimrods in Afghanistan operate in their Intelligence Surveillance Targeting Acquisition Reconnaissance (ISTAR) role. This will have a crew of 12 or 13 depending on the role and the RAF claim fly for around 9 hours without air-to-air refuelling. The plane is based in the Gulf States and does not operate FROM Afghanistan so much of the time in air is flying to and from work.

This week the BBC reports that a senior engineer from BAE Systems told the inquest that his predecessors, who made the Nimrod some 40 years ago, failed to fit a fire protection system on a key area of risk on the aircraft.

Subsequently BAE's Head of airworthiness Tom McMichael when giving evidence claimed that if the evidence heard was correct, the Nimrod fleet were at the time of the crash and for 37 years been flying in an unairworthy state . The fact that the dry bay was not fitted with a fire-suppressant system meant it should never have been passed fit to fly, he said.

At an "acceptance conference" in August 1968 it had been decided the Nimrod was airworthy.On the 2nd October 1969 the RAF took delivery of its first aircraft, the Maritime Operational Conversion Unit (MOCU - later 236 OCU) at St Mawgan in Cornwall .

As a consequence, yesterday Mr Walker, Assistant Deputy Coroner for Oxfordshire, (whose writ does not extend to the skies over Afghanistan) said he was considering a number of safety recommendations, including the grounding of the entire Nimrod fleet.

Thirty recommendations were made after the 2006 crash report and Des Browne in a letter to Westminster SNP leader Angus Robertson, who represents the Nimrod home base of RAF Kinloss, said that said 21 were being implemented, three considered and six put "on hold" "because they were related to air-to-air refuelling. "

Angus Robinson is quoted by the BBC saying ""The secretary of state has assured MPs that Nimrods are safe, however as he makes clear in his letter not all the necessary changes have been made.

"It must be concluded from Des Browne's letter that current risks to the Nimrod aircraft are not 'as low as is reasonably practicable', and this is not acceptable."

Coroner determines that entire RAF Nimrod fleet should be grounded

Coroner Andrew Walker today , recorded narrative verdicts on the deaths of the airmen .

In summing up he stated that the Nimrod fleet had "never been airworthy". Mr Walker said that opportunities to spot inherent dangers on the 37-year-old plane were missed and that a design fault which led to it exploding went unnoticed.

Mr Walker said in his view the entire Nimrod fleet had "never been airworthy from the first time it was released to service" nearly 40 years ago. The men could not have known this on the day of the crash, he added.

The BBC's Rob Watson said the ruling was "quite extraordinary" and would clearly be embarrassing for the government.

"Clearly his judgement creates a huge problem and embarrassment for the Ministry of Defence, which has declared the aircraft safe and which sees the surveillance plane as vital to the mission in Afghanistan," our defence and security correspondent said.

On BBC4 World at One News , Retired Air Vice Marshal Tony Mason , now a professor at Birmingham University said the coroner's remarks were "well founded" .. and pointed to the unique role of the Nimrod in Afghanistan which can only be partially replaced by unmanned craft (now deployed) , and space satellite observations.

It is worth remembering what Ian Liddell-Grainger MP (Con. Bridhewater) said on Tuesday 17th April 2007 after a visit to Afghanistan .

" .....the wreckage of the RAF Nimrod that came down last September was still in the desert. The plan was to lay a wreath there for those killed in the accident, but the last resting place of this huge aircraft was slap bang in the middle of an effective Taliban firing range. So I had the great honour of laying a wreath at the memorial in the Kandahar base on behalf of the Knight family...."

Replacing Nimrod

Lord Patel discussed at length the problems facing the replacement of Nimrod. Wednesday, January 30, 2008 AirTankers - MOD PFI financing suffers from Ambac credit rating downgrade - will / can the banks agree a financing deal ?

No 1 . Nimrods need re-fuelling - which has had different problems.

In 1996 the RAF were told that they could have 24 converted Airbus A310s re-fuelling tankers. This has now been whittled down to 14 owned by PFI partners - 14 available at any time and the rest with a notice period. The aircraft are to be owned by the private sector partners, who are meant to be able to charter them out whenever available.(See MOD Press release 6/6/07)

Now the Government / PFI funding of a desperately needed new fleet of Airbus tankers for the Royal Air Force - a 27 year 13 Bn projecty has hit the buffers. The AirTanker consortium (Cobham EADS, Rolls-Royce, VT and Thales) - will supply the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) based on the supply of A330-200 aircraft with banks led by Deutsche Bank, the initial £2.5bn expected to raise a combination of bank debt and a bond issue supported by guarantees provided by Ambac.

In January Fitch's Ratings credit re-rating of Ambac below AAA - and maybe followed by further downgradings has made those guarantees unattractive to bond buyers. Spreads on monoline-wrapped bonds have suddenly shot up with market concerns about the ability of the insurers to stand behind their commitments.

That suggests the Government and the AirTanker consortium are likely to revert to the original plan to finance the deal solely through bank debt - involving a higher (and probably variable) interest rate.Discussions continue unresolved.

The Nimrod (MRA.4 ) replacement program is now 8 years overdue and 800Mn over budget and introduction has been delayed delayed until 2010 (at least) . It is worth remembering that these originated in the 1993 ASR420 issued calling for a Replacement Maritime Patrol Aircraft (RPMA) for the RAF, the initial name of Nimrod 2000 was quietly dropped as production delays set in.

A fixed-price contract was awarded in December 1996, under which existing MR Mk 2 aircraft fuselage and empennage structure would be re-lifed and reassembled, with redesigned wings and current technology BR710 turbofan engines. The most controversial decision taken by BAe to reduce costs in their study to determine the design for the MRA4, was to refurbish and reuse the fuselages of a number of old Nimrods for the new aircraft. This contract was determined to have In-Service Date (ISD) of April 2003 in 1999 with "re-baselining talks with BAE a new ISD of March 2005 was agreed.

Fortunately under the Smart Procurement Initiative, the Nimrod MRA4 had been identified as one of the pilot Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) in November 1998, led by Air Commodore Barry Thornton. (It was the same Barry Thornton who was reported saying on BBC 4 news today at 3 pm saying the Nimrod fleet was "safe" to fly.)

It was 2003 when assembly of the first prototype MRA.4 (ZJ516) to be carried out. Unfortunately, when the second set of Airbus-build wings were offered up to the second prototype fuselage, it was found that they didn't fit.

The first prototype MRA.4 took to the air on 26 August 2004 . In September 2004 a round of politically inspired defence cuts sponsored by far sighted Gormless Gordon at the Treasury resulted in the planned order for MRA.4 being reduced from 18 to 'about 12'.

On March 27th the Times reported New maritime reconnaissance and attack aircraft, Nimrod, should be scrapped, MPs say. The Commons Defence Select Committee in their 10th report had just suggested that the new Minister for Defence Equipment and Support [Baroness Taylor of Bolton] needs to look closely at this programme to assess whether it is ever likely to deliver the capability that our Armed Forces require within the timescale needed.” If it doesn't , the MoD should withdraw from this programme, they add. The MPs are concerned that the MoD “does not appear very alarmed” by the rising cost of the programme.



For those who enjoy reading the deviousnes of public oficials put under the cosh to explain cost overruns we recommend the section where the Committee draw their attention to the Nimrod MR4A.

One fascinating bit is when DE&S Chief Operating Officer, Mr Gould explained that Regarding the age of the MRA4 aircraft, Mr Gould told us that most of the aircraft was new, such as the wings, engines and undercarriage. The fuselage was not new. - Indeed it wasn't. It finds it's origin in the original Comet (circa 1950's) upgraded by the brainy boys at (then AVRO) BAE Chadderton who sklapped on a lower fuselage bubble in the early 1980's.

Or enjoy Para 129. " At the end of 2006-07, the Nimrod MRA4 programme had experienced a forecast cost increase of some £687 million, almost 25% greater than the approved cost, and has experienced further cost growth in 2007-08 of some £100 million. Given the huge cost growth seen on this programme, we are concerned that the MoD does not appear very alarmed by the additional cost growth in 2007-08, referring to it as "just a little less than three per cent of the total programme cost". The programme has also experienced further slippage in 2007-08 which now totals 92 months, some 7.5 years. "

Finally ...

"This is a programme that has been beset by one problem after another and neither the MoD nor the contractor appears to be able to get a grip on it. We hope that the new Minister for Defence Equipment and Support will look closely at this programme and consider whether it is ever likely to deliver the capability our Armed Forces require in the timescale needed. If it is not the MoD should withdraw from the programme."

Watch this space.
When (if) the MR4 gets into service it should have a range of over 6000 miles, an endurance of over 15 hours, carry a much wider range of offensive weapons and have a significant ISTAR capability.In service it will add precisely the Network Enabled Capability sought by the MOD and considered essential for the type of conflicts that UK forces are likely to be involved in over the next 3 decades.

Obama wears jeans ! Makes a call on a mobile phone ! Amazing pictures

CNN are giggling like a bunch of 13 year olds because Barack Obama the dragoness slayer, boarded his plane from Downtown Palookaville wearing jeans. O My God !

The bright eyed and bushy tailed readesr may well have noticed in this grab from the world shattering clip that he is also making a mobile telephone call from an aeroplane.

This is a service which has just become available on flights within the USA. No surprises there then.

Those readers with a good memory might remember that there were a slew of people on 9th September 2001 who made mobile phone calls from their "hi-jacked" planes.

It may seem remarkable that it has taken 7 years of technical development to provide this aerial service .... unless of course the story behind every one of those alleged calls on 9/11 was totally fraudulent.

Northern Rock .. Apocalypse (almost) Now

Today at 7.30 am, before the London markets opened the UK Treasury made a most extraordinary and unprecedented announcement. (cue Ride of the Valkyrie)

The guarantees (at the request of thje Directors of Northern Rock plc) have been extended to include :

* all uncollateralised and unsubordinated wholesale deposits and other borrowings which are outside the guarantee arrangements previously announced by HM Treasury;
* all payment obligations of Northern Rock plc under any uncollateralised derivative transactions;
* in respect of all collateralised derivatives, and all wholesale borrowings which are collateralised (including, without limitation, covered bonds of Northern Rock plc), the payment obligations of Northern Rock plc to the extent that those obligations exceed the available proceeds of the realised collateral for the relevant derivative or borrowing; and
* all obligations of Northern Rock plc to make payments on the repurchase of mortgages under the documentation for the "Granite" securitisation programme.

In other words all those items that were excluded in the original gurantee for the company in September.

This extension (it is claimed) meets the "objectives of the Tripartite Authorities of financial stability and the protection of the taxpayer and consumer and for the purposes of Northern Rock plc's credit ratings in respect of the wholesale obligations described above."

Northern Rock plc will pay an appropriate fee for the extension of the guarantee arrangements. Termination will be provided by 3 months notice.

This amounts effectively to Nationalisation as the Bank now gurantees all the companies debts ...totally ...100% ... the complete balnce sheet. As Vincent Cable said on BBC 4" World at One" minutes ago ..."the worst of all possible worlds"

"Prudent" Gordon Brown must of course have been involved in this decision. In front of the Tresury Select Committee (TSC) Lord King said "he didn't want to speculate whether Northern Rock would be nationalised".

Angela Knight of the British Bankers Association told the TSC she didn't think the move "was helpful".

Granite defaults.

Those following this tortuous saga will remember that the "Granite" bonds based on the spurious (if not fraudulent basis) that a trust for the benefit of the NE Downs Syndrome Association administered the bonds issued by NR plc.

They will also remember ..

"See Prospectus Page 6 -" Principal of the offered notes may be repaid earlier than expected if a trigger event or an event of default occurs in respect of these notes."

Well a trigger event did take place .. see SEC filings

"On September 14, 2007, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ("Standard & Poor's") and Fitch Ratings Limited "Fitch") each downgraded Northern Rock's long-term credit ratings from "A+" to "A". On September 17, 2007 and September 19, 2007, respectively, Fitch and Standard & Poor's further downgraded Northern Rock's long-term credit rating from "A" to "A-". The downgrade to "A-" by Fitch constitutes a trigger event under the Funding 2 basis rate swaps entered into in connection with the Granite program, under which Northern Rock acts as Funding 2 basis rate swap provider. For a description of the potential consequences of this trigger event, please see the section entitled "The swap agreements - The Funding 2 basis rate swaps" in the prospectus of Granite Master Issuer plc (the "Company") dated May 17, 2007 and the Funding 2 Basis Rate Swap, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 8-K dated May 23, 2007. Northern Rock (i.e the Directors Ed.) has indicated that it does not currently propose to take any further action following the trigger event, due to the liquidity provided by the standby liquidity arrangements it has recently agreed with the Bank of England, as described in the preceding paragraph. Fitch has stated that it considers these standby liquidity arrangements of sufficient strength and form as to satisfy the substance of their criteria and does not currently propose to take any negative rating action with respect to any notes issued by Granite Master Issuer plc (the "Company"). Additionally, Moody's Investors Services Limited ("Moody's") has placed its "Aa3" long-term rating of Northern Rock on review "direction uncertain." The short-term credit ratings of Northern Rock remain at A-1 by Standard & Poor's, F1 by Fitch and P-1 by Moody's. "

See SEC Filing

September 14th SEC Filing Ref 333-141533

In other words ...well yes Moody's have downgraded etc but..we...we'll ..er..ignore it.

Curiously so did everyone else.

Why ?

Simply because the prospects of liquidating the fund were too awesome to consider.

What happens when a CDO liquidates

This is evident if you read the Wall Street Journal Page C1 yesterday(17th Dec.) by Karen Richards and Carrick Mollenkamp."CDO Battles : Royal Pain Over who gets what" which details the default and liquidation of the "Sagittarius" fund involving Deutsche Bank,acting as TRustes, Bond Insurere MBIA INc , and Investors Wachovia Corp and UBS AG.

On November 6th Sagittarius a mere US%985 Mn Collateralised Debt Obligation (CDO) triggered a default.

Now as a result Deutsche Bank filed on December 3rd to the Court effectively to ask the ocurt to tell them who to pay (As Trustee it is their job to distribute the funds on default). The reason for their action is that Bond insurere MBIA is claiming prior rights and that Deutsche as Trustee should not distribute any "interest or capital" .. hence UBS whose UBS Absolute Return Bond Fund and UBS Global Bond Fund with a mere US$1.2 Mn holdings of the CDO are involved. Wachovia isn't a party to the filing so far but has CDO holdings in Sagittarius.

Now given that there are ( a guess as know one really knows) some US$600 Bn dodgy CDO's out there ... According to the WSJ article JP Morgan reckon that US$40BN to US$50Bn bonds are due to go belly up by the second Quarter of 2008.

A lawyers breakfast of course. You can hear them in their parlours ..."I love the smell of burning CDO's and SIV's in the morning"

At first the Directors of Northern Rock just blindfolded themselves and now they called in Uncle King and Darling to protect them. And Uncle King and Darling have obliged with our money.

At a cost to the UK of US$200 Bn plus if everything goes tits up. Richard Peston .."In a technical sense, it means that the gross exposure of the taxpayer is more than £100bn. Or to put it another way, the public sector is now directly or indirectly funding all of the Rock's mortgage lending."

This is the most calamitous fuck up imagineable, in which a small bunch of frightened men have, in secret thrown away the tax payers money.... in losses which will exceed the current 30 odd billion sterling in the hole.

Prudent ...my arse.

See also Peston BBC

PS. This move has been claimed by others (not the Treasury) to make Northern Wreck saleable. Please note ..."Termination will be provided by 3 months notice" now which "private" buyer is goung to buy on those terms ? Which market lender will provide them with funds on those terms ?

NOw..who is next in the queue at the BOE wicket gate to ask for loan gurantees...A& L , B & B ?





Click to enlarge

"Events, Dear Boy" Part 7 : Gordon Brown admits meeting David Abrahams

At his Press Conference today Gordon Brown declares David Abrahams' money was not lawfully declared and will be returned.

Another fucking review of the system by Mr Whitty, a former high court judge Lord McCluskey and a former Bishop of Oxford.... which would not be necessary if Peter Watt , Matt Carter and Lord Triesman had been honest and obeyed the law.

An offer of money was made from Miss Kidd to his leadership campaign but was refused because they did not know her.

Gordon Brown, " .... is sure he may have met him but has no memory of these issues."

"I knew nothing of these issues which had built up".

He hung out Harriett Harman to dry and explained she can explain how she received proxy donations for her leadership... that will set the Press dogs off on her.

He actually said in answser to questions over whether Harman had broken the law, "my understanding is that is not the case, but it will be for her to answer and her campaign".

"I have confidence that the information that she's giving us is exactly accurate," he added.

Pressed further on the issue, the prime minister added that of course I've got confidence in Harriet Harman.She accepted a donation from a Miss Kidd without knowing what the source, what the agent, was that had brought about a donation," he added.


"Of course I've got confidence in Harriet Harman and she has done as both chairman of the party and leader of the Commons a very good job indeed"

Harriet Harman QC. MP. has confirmed that her campaign for the Labour deputy leadership unknowingly accepted money from a secret donor (Janet Kidd on July 4, 2007) . (Deputy leadership contender Hilary Benn (not a lawyer) also received funds from Abrahams, having turned down an offer to receive it in Janet Kidd's name.)

"We declined to accept the cheque because we felt that if Mr Abrahams wanted to make a donation he could do so in his own name and we returned the cheque," Benn said.

"I was completely unaware that Mr David Abrahams was making donations to the Labour Party nationally via others and that's the full story." he continued.

Apparently Mr Benn was advised by Labour party grandee and OAP (she is 68)Baroness Jay that the money was really from Mr Abrahams and it was sent back.... now if she knew, who else knew ? Baroness Jay of Paddington has told Sky News that she had no idea Mr Abrahams was also making anonymous donations to the Labour Party....of course not.(She was the Ambassador's wife who had a wild fling with Carl Bernstein one of the Watergate duo - did AIPAC contacts warn her off ?)

PS : The Crown Prosecution Service has been called in to give advice.

The CPS, whose job is to decide when prosecutions are brought for suspected breaches of the law, has held talks with the Electoral Commission, the official watchdog over party funding issues.

Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, ....Mr Ruddick, Mrs Kidd, Mr McCarthy and Mr Abrahams could face criminal charges for failing to provide information about donors - which carries a £5,000 fine or a maximum one-year jail sentence.

Mr Watt could also face prosecution because failure by a party to return a donation from an impermissible or unidentifiable source also carries a £5,000 fine or up to one year in prison.

Oh what a tangled web we weave

PS : Northern Echo article on "That" planning application.....here

” project is one of the first to get past a block by the Highways Agency of any further development on the A1.

Because the A1 is over-capacity, the Highways Agency has been using its powers to stall developments, particularly in the north of the region”

Well,well, well. I'll go to the foot of our stairs.

Curiously Northern Rock were involved in a similiar development on the A19 - BBC November 2005

"Work can now begin on a £120m business park on Wearside after the council came up with cash to improve the nearby A19.

The Rainton Bridge Business Park near Sunderland is expected to create between 4,000 and 6,000 jobs over the next seven years.

However, it was put on hold when the Highways Agency requested information on its impact on local trunk roads.

Sunderland Council has now pledged £400,000 towards improving the A19, so giving a green light for the park."

PPS Is Harriett Harman QC. MP the same HH whose hubby is Harriet’s hubby is Jack Dromey who was the Labour Party treasurer who was also kept in the dark about where the money was coming from?

Northern Rock - a Turd by any other name

FT Alphaville have posted the "confidential details " of the BOE memorandum about the sale of Northern Wreck (Codename "Blackbird" AKA Turdus merulus of the Family Turdidae - someone at the BOE with a keen sense of ornithological humour ?)) for prospective buyers.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2007/11/13/8870/project-wing-the-northern-rock-briefing-memorandum/

The document is curious - it says the Wreck expects to have a credit line of £24bn from the taxpayer (AKA BOE) as at 1/1/08 - although by most people's reckoning it stands at £30Bn. today.

The loan rate and other terms, length, termination triggers etc., are not available but ..."any potential purchaser/investor... will need to have discussions with the Bank of England and its advisers before concluding any proposal."


The business is unsaleable without this loan and this is tacitly accepted - in 2010 the Rock will require at least £6bn from ..er..." a Replacement Facility"

3 outlines scenarios are given ... all demanding BOE support and evidence that they just want this mess off the doorstep of Threadneedle Street.

• sale of the whole company; (In two words Im Possible, you could not GIVE the company away)

• sale of the basic physical infrastructure of the business, viz. the branches, IT and call centre, - the loans from the remaining stupid, short siighted retail lenders who haven't even now moved their funds to higher and safer ground.

• sale of above plus those securitised mortgages, and a "run off" of the rest - in which case the Credit Rating agencies are left withj a problem to rate and this could leave to a "trigger" by which the holders can demand their money back. (The Credit Agencies are remaining remarkably silent re the value of "Granite" etc.,

Anyone who still holds shares is a mug.

Northern Rock - sanderson contin ues the stream of lies about the company's funding

Matt Ridley,then chairman Northern Rock told a Parliamentary committee on Oct. 16 it had borrowed about 13 billion pounds.

His replacement as chairman Bryan Sanderson, told The Newcastle Journal newspaper, in an article posted on their website on Thursday November 1st in an interview with Sanderson in which he was quoted as saying: "The debt is not quite 20 billion pounds just yet but it's getting there and it could be as much as 25 billion pounds by February".

On Thursday afternoon November 1st , figures from the Bank of England showed Northern Rock has now borrowed up to 22.8 billion pounds since being offered emergency funds on Sept. 14.

"If a few little things had been different this might never have happened," Sanderson told the Newcastle Journal.

Such as the Board being involved in a criminal conspiracy, preparing and issueing accounts knowing them to be fraudulent, trading whilst insolvent and continuing to lie and provide misleading information to the Stock Market, the Press, the Public, borrowers and lenders.

A week ago we exposed the soraing debt at the BOE, the controversial history of Sanderson at the Alliance and Leicester and called for administrators to be called in.A week later it is evident that sandersonn hasn't a clue what is gouing on and continuing to make misleading and dishionmest statements.

Trade in the shares is a false market and should be stopped without delay.

When Tony Blair lied to the House of Commons - 24th September 2002 - well.... one of the times he did.

Tony Blair (Prime Minister at the time) to Parliament on 24 September 2002:



"I am aware, of course, that people will have to take elements of this on the good faith of our intelligence services, but this is what they are telling me, the British prime minister, and my senior colleagues. The intelligence picture that they paint is one accumulated over the last four years. It is extensive, detailed and authoritative. It concludes that Iraq has chemicaland biological weapons, that Saddam has continued to produce them, that he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population, and that he is actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability."





The truth is that the government started a war on a cooked-up pretext, misled Parliament and a host of inquiries to cover this up and is still covering it up. The war remains a matter of life and death, but the cover-up has grave implications for our democracy... says Chris Ames , the indefatigable author of the http://www.iraqdossier.com/


Find out where his battle for the Truth about the sexed up dossier is up to at the Index of Censorship..."Unfinished business"



The FCO and No 10 ? The Stasi were more open.

Northern Rock Directors are crooks - guilty of preparing false accounts and trading whilst insolvent

Northern Rock shares closed today at 257 p. per share. In the last Financial year they earned 94.6 pence per share - that is a yield of 37%. and a Price / earnings ration of 2.72.

This a company whose CEO claims on the company website that it "remain(s) a well-managed company and continue(s) to be a safe place for your savings, loans and mortgages."

"I want" he says,"to make it emphatically clear to all Northern Rock customers that we are open for business as usual."

This is self evident bollocks. It is a lie.The company is not only insolvent, but it is evident that the last year's accounts are mis-stated and the profits overstated proably by at least £500 MN which is represent the cupboard full of dodgy valueless Financial instruments....

"As announced on 20 August 2007, Northern Rock only has a £75 million direct exposure to the US sub-prime market which is all rated AAA, and a £200 million
exposure to the US CDO market, within which there is indirect exposure to US sub-prime.

We also have £325 million of investments in a number of Structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs)of which £305 million is bank sponsored. Included in the £200 million of CDOs referred to above is a modest exposure of £22 million of SIV Lites."

It is highly likely also, that the mortgage portfolio has a nightmare clutch of overvalued properties, many the product of this spring's manic sales drive to conceal their threadbare balance sheet. Many lent on the most dubious security. It is a fair guess that the total book is wholly unprofitable now and in the near future, however many of our golden duckets King throws at them.

Even now with the somersaulting Governor's pledge of pissing even more money up the walls of the City Bankers Parlours no-one wants even a piece , a sliver, a chip of Northern Rock.

The first impression was, that Adam J. Applegarth, Chief Executive was simply an over promoted, overpaid wanker. He isn't , he is a crook and so are the rest of the Board of Directors who are collectively guilty of preparing and issuing false accounts and trading whilst insolvent.

Far from declaring the company solvent ,the FSA should be getting the bastards disquakified and locked up.

There is undoubtedly a strong case for prosecuting the Bank of England, The FSA and the Treasury as well as the Chancellor of the Exchequer personally for acting as Shadow Directors and making false assurance to shareholders and depositors concerning the affairs of the company - resulting in massive financial losses.


UPDATE 0048 20th Sept

This note by Robert Peston on his BBC Blog has appeared - timed at early 2000hrs BST

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 19:59 The Bank of England has now told me that individual banks can only apply for £1.5bn each under the £10bn facility. It says that Northern Rock would have needed far greater funds - and that if this finance had been provided three weeks ago or so, the liquidity would not have eliminated the Rock's funding difficulties.

It is slightly odd that the Bank should divulge this to me now, because it failed to provide this detail (or any answer at all) when I asked this afternoon whether what it announced today could have provided succour to Northern Rock. So although the Bank of England has changed course in respect of the way it is prepared to tackle the crisis in the money markets, it is sticking to the position that it has no regrets about the way that it provided its initial support to Northern Rock.


If the above statement is correct (and there is no reason to doubt it) It is evident that the situation is a great deal worse than was at first understood. It is also evident that the Bank / FSA / Treasury are not providing information which can affect the share price in the appropriate and legal way.
It is further evidence that the company was insolvent prior to the first announcments made about BOE funding for the company.

The shares must be immediately suspended.The Directors must make a statement on insolvency and Administrators brought in to run the company.

Major General Tim Cross - crucified .. or he fucking well ought to be

Major General Tim Cross,CBE, the most senior British officer involved with Jay Garner and one of his three deputies within the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance is mentioned once in Paul "Call me Jerry" Bremer's " My Year in IRAQ". He appears once in it's pages, on Page 17 his presence is noted at the first meeting of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. He apparently had an impressive history in logistics and He became the first Commander Logistic Support of 3 (UK) Division in preparation for the formation of the Royal Logistic Corps in April 1993.

It was at this meeting (described on Page 19) that "Jerry" told them that he was going to introduce an order on De-Baatification - anathematised by General Janus Jackson - "Jerry" doesn't record that there was a single peep of resistance to the idea.

On Page 20 he records at the end of the meeting..."Some .. at the table looked inspired some faces showed no emotion and a few seemed dubious" Who knows , Tim maybe looked dubious.

In today's Sunday Mirror, sandwiched between a Brazilian call girl's steamy encounter "Our Orgy with Man United Aces" and "Big brother faces Axe" , now retired, Major General Tim Cross follows (and endorses his every word) his retired ex - boss General Janus Jackson in an arse covering article attempting to absolve the blame for the post invasion fiasco on the shoulders of anyone and everyone but him.

" I had lunch with Rumsfeld in Washington before the invasion in 2003 and raised concerns about the need to internationalise the reconstruction of Iraq and work closely with the United Nations."

"I also raised concerns over the numbers of troops available to maintain security and aid reconstruction. He didn't want to hear that message. The US had already convinced themselves that Iraq would emerge reasonably quickly as a stable democracy"

"Anybody who tried to tell them anything that challenged that idea - they simply shut it out. Myself and others were suggesting things simply would not be as easy as that."

"But he ignored my comment. He dismissed it. There is no doubt with hindsight the US post-war plan was fatally flawed - and many of us sensed that at the time."

Ex Major General Tim Cross, General Janus Jackson , Major General Patrick Cordingley, ( who led the Desert Rats in the 1991 Gulf War the Mirror reminds us) , Malcolm Rifkind, Menzies Campbell, William Hague, foreign affairs spokesman for the Conservatives .... it is not sufficient to make the argument - it is necessary to win it.

The British politcial and military leadership signed off, indeed Parliament approved the illegal invasion which millions marched against. They signed up willingly, as brothers in arms with Dubya's gang, they accepted and often promulgated lies. They deceived the public with dossiers - they cannot cast off their responsibilities, conceal their cowardice by now calling the US policies , "intellectually bankrupt" or looking for a handy scapegoat.

This Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy will not wash. The whole illegal military endeavour, the invasion , designed to outflank diplomacy - merely a continuation of a rape that started with sanctions and no-fly zones was a conspiracy.

It was a conspiracy that the military leaders (however unwilling) failed to modify, it was a compact with a flawed and dishonest leadership - across all parties. Mealy mouthed apologies and casuistic explanations re-directing the blame cannot and must not be allowed.

Major General Tim Cross had a choice he could have resigned his commission - he would of course not be enjoying quite the serene and safe financial benefits he might now enjoy (Pension £36,000 p.a plus a nice little earner from Nottingham University) - but at least he could relax, satisfied that he had stood up against the folly of the invasion and all that ensued. That Major General Tim Cross , a specialist in logistics failed to make an impression on Donald Rumsfeld is hardly news - that he was party to the UK Government machine being bullied is a memory of his disservice to it's citizens - he could have stood up to be counted.

He didn't. Now his squalid apology fights for attention with the sordid capers of drink fuelled whores in a 4 hour hour footballers sex orgy - hardly the public arena for a resolute Christian, (like anothor gobby General, - Dannatt, his old boss) who spoke at the Association of Military Christian Fellowships' (AMCF) European conference in 2002.

It makes one wonder how his fee from the Mirror compares with that of 24 year old Brazilian Blonde Bombshell , Juliana Baltrusch.

PS Let's not forget that the desert booted and suited, clean cut, Mr Bremer (call me "Jerry") who of course so carefully laid the plans for the current disaster, destruction of the Army, de-Baatification, looting, incredible Allied corruption etc etc., was of course ex Managing Director of Kissinger Associates

See UPDATE

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Iraqi Post War shambles - Tim Cross the crux that cracked under the strain.

AT&T listen in , read your e-mails, texts, watch you surf the web now they even fucking censor what you hear

Pearl Jam were performing at/on Lollapalooza on Sunday night which was broadcast on AT&T Blue Room live webcast.

Listening fans were dismayed that during the performances of "Daughter" the sung lines "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home." were absent. (This is sung to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall") ... try it.

AT & T agreed there was a cut and the unbelievably named, large breasted, luscious lipped Tiffany Nels of AT&T said they are working the matter out with the band. "We regret the mistake," she explains. "This was not intended and was an unfortunate mistake made by a webcast editor." She went on to explain that AT&T has a policy for any excessive language, and that it was set up because of its all-ages audience... explained further to the Chicago Tribune ;

"We don't have a policy in place to censor," said AT&T's Tiffany Nels. "We have a policy on excessive profanity. This was an honest mistake. There was no censorship intended."

On their website Pearl Jam said

"This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media,"

"AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over thepower that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media."

The band went on to point out hat "most telecommunications companies oppose 'net neutrality' and argue that the public can trust them not to censor."

"If a company that is controlling a Webcast is cutting out bits of our performance -- not based on laws, but on their own preferences and interpretations -- fans have little choice but to watch the censored version," the band said. "What happened to us this weekend was a wake-up call, and it's about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band."

The full version of Pearl Jam's performance of "Daughter" at Lollapalooza will shortly be available on their website. Nels also told the Chicago Tribune that AT&T hopes also to post an unedited version on its Blue Room site archives - "hopes to".

So AT & T are not only content with listening in to your telcoms, reading your e-mail and texts, watching your web browsing for Uncle Sam ... they want to decide what you can fucking hear.

However those with a long memory will remember that it was luscious Tiffany who fronted the responses by AT & T to their changed "privacy" policy in June last year when they "overhauled" their policy which involved dropping any reference to its previous policy, which had said the company "does not access, read, upload or store data contained in or derived from private files without the members' authorization..."

Luscious Tiffany went on to explain at the time ..
"Asked about the missing reference, she then said that it been removed in order to clarify the policy and make it easier for customers to understand and explained the company had been working on the privacy policy update for several months.

"We have never looked at our customers' files, or e-mails, photos or personal information, so this is not an issue. This is simply a matter of streamlining information," Nels said.

AT&T released a statement saying its merger last year with SBC "and the need to integrate the pre-merger companies' two separate privacy policies" led it to update the policy.

It added,

"As spelled out in any privacy policy, we outline our obligation to assist law enforcement and other government agencies responsible for protecting the public welfare, whether it be an individual or the security interests of the entire nation. "

"We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions."

For those without such a long memory we should remind you that the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit in January against AT&T, accusing the company of violating the law and the privacy of its customers "by collaborating with the National Security Agency in its illegal program to wiretap Americans' communications." Accusations of collaboration resurfaced in USA Today story last month stating that AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth provided domestic phone records to the NSA.

An AT&T spokesman (evidently not the gorgeous Tiffany) said at the time the company has never said whether it participated in any such program. Verizon (go here for more) and BellSouth denied providing the phone call records to the agency shortly after the USA Today story was published when they were added to the EFF lawsuit. (Note - Phone call records is what they deny , not access to their routes and facility to wiretap)

Opposition to which is now pointless as Congress have just allowed George to do anything he fucking wants. See Lord Patel July 30th "Having breached FISA the Decider now wants to change the law to suit the spooks - I heard it on the Radio"

Sao Paulo crash, plane and 170+ bodies ...but not at Pentagon , Shanksville on 9/11 - Laws of Physics suspended that day ? Amazing pictures

Bystanders watch as workers lift onto a truck a section of a TAM airlines Airbus A320 that slid off the runway of Congonhas airport at Sao Paulo and slammed into a gas station and cargo terminal July 18, 2007.

Reuters report - Scores of bodies pulled from Brazil plane wreck Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:55 AM. Rescue workers in Brazil pulled burned bodies from smoking wreckage and collapsed buildings on Wednesday after about 200 people were killed in the country's worst air disaster - rescuers wearing masks put bodies in refrigerated trucks bound for the morgue. Dental records and jewelry were being used to identify victims.

By late afternoon, firefighters had found 170 bodies. Three severely injured victims had been rushed to hospital but then died, raising the official toll to 173 - Rescue teams found the cockpit recorder in the wreckage.

Now an Airbus 320 is approximately the size of a Boeing 757 - 200 it smashed into a gas station and there was a blazing petrol driven inferno for a long time, Compare this result with Flight AA77 that smashed (?) into the Pentagon on 9/11.

No bodies, no plane even... compare and contrast the Shanksville crash ... no bodies, no plane even.Go here for comparison pics and detailed analysis

Also fascinating "multiple finds" of the "Black boxes" of Flight 77 at the Pentagon here e.g

At around 3:40 a.m., investigators at the Pentagon recover the two "black boxes" from Flight 77. [Washington Times, 9/14/2001] These boxes are the plane’s flight data recorder and its cockpit voice recorder. [BBC, 9/15/2001] According to Arlington County spokesman Dick Bridges, members of the FBI’s evidence response team found them. [PBS, 9/14/2001; Washington Post, 9/14/2001] But some news reports claim they were found by two Fairfax County firefighters, Carlton Burkhammer and Brian Moravitz, as they combed through debris near the impact site. [Washington Post, 9/19/2001 HYPERLINK "http://www.911digitalarchive.org/crr/documents/1010.pdf"; Newsweek, 9/28/2001] And Allyn Kilsheimer, a structural engineer who helps coordinate the emergency response at the Pentagon, later claims he’d "found the black box," which, he says, he’d "stepped on… by accident." [GW Magazine, 3/2002; Popular Mechanics, 3/2005] According to Dick Bridges, the two recorders are discovered "right where the plane came into the building." [Associated Press, 9/14/2001] But the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Pentagon Building Performance Report, released in 2003, will claim that the flight data recorder was found "nearly 300 ft into the structure." [Mlakar et al., 1/2003, pp. 40 HYPERLINK "http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build03/PDF/b03017.pdf"] Washington FBI agent Christopher Combs says, "Somebody almost threw [the black boxes] away because they didn’t know what they looked like." [Disaster News Network, 10/30/2002] The boxes are taken to the National Transportation Safety Board’s office in Washington, but are reclaimed by the FBI later on in the morning.

See the FBI pic of the sadly damaged Voice recorder - truly amazing picture!

Carbon Offsetting - how everyone in the media is discovering what a fucking fraud it is

Channel 4 have a Dispatches program tonight exposing the fraudulent "carbon offset" bizniz which Lord Patel has been doing for a long time -see all these posts.

It is called The Great Green Smoke Screen Channel 4 News science correspondent Tom Clarke dissects the many 'solutions' to global warming being marketed to onsumers, from tree-planting and carbon offsetting to green energy tariffs, and reveals how attempts to buy our way out of climate crisis may (good weasel word here - don't commit yourself Tom) be making things worse.

He is not the only one.. this is a good place to start ...

"Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power" a product of the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation.Which they call their Development Dialogue 2006:September, no.48 You can download (PDF alert) the whole 350 odd pages or (recommended) 6 seperate chapters.

OR

Better still obtain a free copy by e-mailing Kajsajsa.overgaard@dhf.uu.se or (in Britain only) larrylohmann@gn.apc.org or secretariat@dhf.uu.se or Fax: +46-18-12 20 72

This is how they outline the plot in an arch and quaint fashion but does give you an idea of the content - read and judge for yourself.

Chapter 1 A new fossil fuel crisis/ In which the growing climate crisis is traced mainly to the mining of coal, oil and gas; the dangers to survival and livelihood are outlined; the political nature and implications of the problem explored; and reasonable and unreasonable solutions sketched.

Chapter 2 ‘Made in the USA’ / A short history of carbon trading In which the surprising story is told of how corporations, academics, governments, United Nations agencies and environmentalists united around a neoliberal or ‘market’ approach to climate change emanating from North America.

Chapter 3 Lessons unlearned / In which carbon trading, contrary to slogans about the universal eff ectiveness of markets in dealing with environmental and social problems, is shown to be ill-suited to addressing climate change. The experience of the US in pollution trading is demonstrated to be an argument not for, but rather against, making carbon markets the centrepiece of action on global warming.

Chapter 4 Off sets / The fossil economy’s new arena of conflict In which it is shown how projects designed to compensate’ for continued fossil fuel use are helping to dispossess ordinary people of their land, water, air – and futures.

Chapter 5 Ways forward / In which the claim that ‘there is no alternative’ to carbon trading is dissected and set aside, and emerging alliances for a more democratic and effective climate politics are explored.

Pollution trading the authors have belatedly recognised is a completely new idea, foisted on the world by a small circle of neoliberal institutions in the US. Surprise - Surprise !! Pollution trading’s main appeal is that it promises to save make money for the rich over the short term.

As a pollution control policy, it is sure to fail..... ahem .. in Europe where it HAS been tried ...it has FAILED ... the ETS market closed on Friday at just 12 cents, the lowest ever....having made a lot of traders, lawyers, accountants, banks very rich on the way and many credulous investors much poorer.All credit to media lens for finally realising what twats they have been all these years as the wool has been ever so gently pulled over their eyes... quite how difficult is it to deprive children of their candy ?

Pssssst.... want to stop somebody doing something? - tax and regulate, admittedly it has limited itility eg. European fuel taxes cf USA ... but of course it depends what you do with the taxes you raise.. the European Gubments just piss them up against the wall.

Anyway read the report - 350 pages but it's big type on artfully landscaped pages and the text boxes a la US textbooks makes reading easier ... the Bibliography is excellent. See also ....See also "Obscenity' of carbon trading" by Kevin Smith in the BBC Green Room , he is a researcher with Carbon Trade Watch, a project of the Transnational Institute which studies the impacts of carbon trading on society and the environment.Also by him "Stern Words While in Europe They are trading Hot air" also at (http://www.thepolitician.org/)

"Labour MP Gerry Steinberg described the scheme as a ‘mockery’ and an ‘outrageous waste of public money’.""A massively generous allocation resulted in windfall profits for some of the UK’s most polluting companies, to the collective value of £940 million according to Franck Schuttelar, an analyst at the energy-trading firm Gaselys

.""Waiting yet more years to learn further lessons from the next round of
ineffective emissions trading is a luxury we don’t have."

See also his "Carbon Cop outs" - He is also co-author of The Carbon Neutral Myth: offset indulgences for your climate sins, forthcoming in January 2007.See also Climate Fraud and Carbon Colonialism: The New Trade in Greenhouse Gases (pdf alert)by Heidi Bachram CAPITALISM NATURE SOCIALISM VOLUME 15 NUMBER4 (DECEMBER 2004)
"The changes necessary to avert climate catastrophe are simple enough, namely, a switch away from fossil fuels and to renewable energy like solar and wind, along with a reduction in energy use generally."

You can watch Channel 4 Live on the net anywhere by going here and logging in.

An infuriating program with a few nuggets of information and a lot of footage of the telegenic reporter sitting at a laptop loking puzzled.

It has been said before ... carbon offsets are the equivalent of the mediaeval church selling indulgencies - if you don't know what they are Google it.

There is one effective way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions - and New Zealand have recently introduced it. An energy tax. Not the complete answer, not the only answer but a good start. Carbon trading just fills the wallets of financiers and their lawyers, advisors, consultants, and PR boosters. They found their top shill in the hapless, hopeless, chinless Margaret Beckett who thankfully appears to have gone to that great Caravan in the sky.

UK expels 4 Russian spies - but pretend we don't have any, lies, deception by Foreign Secretary - Press act as Chorus

Brent crude hits US$78.58 up $1.72

On the July 7th Lord Patel posted "Sasha is not quite in his right mind.” - MI6 told their Moscow spy - more fairy tales from the land of Litvinenko, which broke the news that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had instituted criminal proceedings (6/7/07) under the Criminal Code Article 275 (which includes espionage) against Vyacheslav Zharko, a former officer ( 4 yrs experience with rank of Major) of the Russian tax police, throwing (it is said) some more light and probably many more shadows on the Litvinenko affair.

Vyacheslav Zharko admitted he had been recruited by the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) when he voluntarily surrendered in June to the friendly FSB. He claims he was receiving about 2,000 Euros in cash monthly (which apparently he did not declare for tax purposes !) for writing surveys for the British side “fishing out information from various Internet sites.” It was only when he realised what a small fish he was, in a big game he decided to "come clean".

His action in surrendering himself followed on from May 31st news conference given by Andrei Lugovoi, (accused by the UK Crown Prosecution Service on May 22 of murdering former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko) who accused Russia's fugitive, London based tycoon Boris Berezovsky of working for British intelligence. (Pic K.Pravda)

In an interview published by the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily on Saturday 7th July he said that a man calling himself John Callaghan, (who he says was first secretary of the British Embassy in Moscow and is regarded a career intelligence officer) and one called Paul (AKA Antonio Alvaresde Idalgo****, also AKA Pablo Miller, who worked in Tallinnin 1999 (1st Sec. british Embassy and involved in a criminal case opened against Lieut. Col Valery Ojamae, who was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2001 for high treason," - following a spy row in August 1999 in which Russia and Estonia each expelled two diplomats from their countries. ) he also met him variously met him in London, Istanbul, Helsinki and Cyprus.

“The Britons later also confessed to me that they were intelligence officers and John Callaghan told me that he was working under the cover of the Embassy in Moscow and took part in general operations, for instance, had
once photographed secret documents in a restaurant WC,”

....he also named a Ken Philips who he says also worked in Moscow and now he is an intelligence officer in the British Embassy in Istanbul. Apparently these FO johnnies gave him a fancy mobile phone they would use to call him - but which was for receive only purposes.

Amongst his claims Zharkov says the Brits could not eliminate the possibility that the FSB had recruited an agent in the British embassy and “asked me if I could using my connections in security services to track down the ‘mole.” They also asked him to find out if “specific connections of certain non-governmental organisations could come under control of Russian security services.”

Whilst Lord Patel has many and various sources as has, let us say the HM Embassy in Moscow - this story was widely available on the newswires by Novosti

Now apart from a small report in Bahrein and Australia - this story was ignored, although it was a story that made headlined in Russian language newsapers. Do a Google news search, search the BBC ...nada. .. nothing ... zero .. nul point.

Now today bright eyed and bushy tailed our boy Foreign Secretary David Milliband has expelled 4 Russki diplomats (spies in Diplospeak) and looking angry said " a range of issues was under review." This is (apparently) in response to Moscow's refusal to extradite the prime suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the ex (?) KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi, to face trial in the UK for his nurder ...naturally he denies involvement.

The Council of Europe European Convention on Extradition 1957, provides Russian to refuse the extradition of a citizen. Whilst the UK has the right to request that Mr Lugovoi be tried in Russia, but the UK's director of public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald, has already turned down the offer.

Now quite why the Press have not repeated these allegations of Zharkov or tested their truth by asking the Foreign office, Downing Street etc., we leave to the reader to speculate about.

But it sounds like a diplomatic tit-for-tat in which the British public are being misled, misinformed and (as per fucking usual) being sold a lot of bollocks.

"Deepening political crisis between the UK and Russia" Eddie Mayer BBC 4 Radio News at 5.34 BST.

****Identified by Sergei Skripal, a former Russian colonel sentenced August 2006 to 13 years in prison for spying for Britain. (BBC)

State Employed terrists go free

Belfast solicitor and civil rights lawyer and activist Pat Finucane, who regularly was involved in legally representingmembers of the IRA was murdered in 1989. He was shot 14 times in front of his wife and 3 young children after 2 masked men burst into his north Belfast home.

Barrett, a former special branch informer, was jailed for 22 years in 2004 for Finucane's murder. He was released in May last year under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, after a ruling by the sentences review commission, despite alleged (ie. non public) opposition by the Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Hain.

William Stobie, an RUC informer and former UDA quartermaster admitted supplying the guns used in the killing. He was charged with aiding and abetting the murder but walked free after the court case against him collapsed. A few weeks later, Stobie was shot dead by loyalists in December 2001, apparently because they feared he would give evidence against them over the killing.

Former Metropolitan police commissioner Lord Stevens into alleged collusion during the late 1980s and early 1990s in that of 2003, he found that rogue elements within the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British army intelligence helped loyalist paramilitaries to murder Catholics.

The report called Stevens III identified the role of the army's surveillance operations in Northern Ireland. THis was focussed on the ultra secretive Force Research Unit (FRU) (latterly Force Reconaissance Unit). Nine former members of the unit, including its former head Brigadier Gordon Kerr, (now said to be in Iraq running the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) - see pic in his full mess fig of Gordon Highlanders) were questioned, as well as seven police officers and one civilian.

No members of the security services will be charged following the long investigation into the murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, prosecutors revealed today.

Today the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said that, critically, there was not enough evidence to bring prosecutions. In a statement, the PPS cited missing records, problems of time elapsing, the death of potential witnesses and the difficulties of ascertaining "the role and responsibilities that individuals played in specific events".

The statement added: "In addition, the prosecution had to take account of potential abuse of process arguments by the defence that any trial at this stage would be unfair."

So the State Employed terrists get away with it again, and again ...and again.