7/7 The Street Theatre continues. Plod swoops.

Thursday's are always busy days at Manchester Airport. What remains of the PIA Fleet that is allowed to use UK airports takes of for Karachi - no cheap flights to Pak these days pal ! Mr Ryan could make a few bob if he started a flight to Islamabad. (Video of the new PIA Boeing 777-300ER landing at Manchester here)

It was even busier today as Plod (Unarmed (?)) West Yorkshire Police Counter Terrorism Unit and Scotland Yards finest Counter terrists led by Sgt Clark the Sphincter of the Yard) quietly arrested 2 men and lifted another in Leeds and sped them off to Paddington Green cop shop to discuss the 7/7 bombings ....

"We need to know who else, apart from the bombers, knew what they were planning. Did anyone encourage them? Did anyone help them with money, or accommodation?"

.... a Scotland Yard spokesman told the BBC. The men were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Which of course is what the lunaticha conspiracy theorists d said from June 8th 2005 (yes that long ago) but which Plod has been reluctant to admit or even consider.

This is Operation Theseus in full swing - the meme of airports still threading through this very public tale of derring do, forensic skill and relentless determination to clock up Plod's overtime. Any way the PIA 777 (any clue there Sarge ?) 30 ER , Flight 423 only in service since December lifted off at 4.32 on schedule taking all but 2 of their passengers off on time. See pic.

5 houses, and probably more are being investigated in the Beeston area of Leeds (see pics) guarded by unar,ed Gorgons and an array of spotty Police Community Support Officers - any evidence of the masterminds behind it having cleared their tracks and moved on a long, long time ago. A flat and a separate business premises are also being searched in East London.

"As we have said previously, we are determined to follow the evidence wherever it takes us to identify any other person who may have been involved, in any way, in the terrorist attacks."

... says Plod. Except where it involves looking at the fact that the 4 "bombers" didn't have a fucking clue that the bags they were carrying on 7/7 were bombs.

Theseus - slew the Minotaur with his bare hands .... that's why the officers doing the arrests in the full glare of Manchester Terminal 2 Passengers were unarmed. Although the boys who walk around with guns all day frightening the passengers must have taken time off to watch.

Bush and the Al Quaeda Recruting Office - unanswered Questions about groups of powerful Israelis

Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock) the courteous man who was so famously polite to Dr David Kelly (Dcsd) is asking some apparently odd Parliamentary questions of the fragrant Margaret, Secretary of State for Carvanners & Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. He apparently wants to know, " for what reason the practice by retiring ambassadors of sending valedictory telegrams has ceased."

Furthermore he asks, " would she place in the Library a copy of the valedictory telegram sent by Ambassador Sir Ivor Roberts KCMG on the conclusion of his ambassadorship to Italy and his retirement from the diplomatic service".

Few will forget that on September 14th 2004 the (Liverpool born , Oxford educated) career diplomat (now Master of Trinity, Oxford) Sir Ivor caused a knee tremble in Roman diplomatic circles when he was reported to have said to a closed conference of British and Italian diplomats who were gooofing off about who would win the upcoming Presidential elections :

" George W. Bush is the best recruiting sergeant for al Qaeda. If there is anyone ready to celebrate his eventual re-election, it is al Qaeda."

A curious view (if true) for a diplomatic representative of the Junior party in the Coalition of Lickspittles. The British Foreign Office quickly fired off a response saying that the comments "do not represent British government policy," and that the event , a British-Italian think-tank on terrorism, (guests included Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong, and Neil Kinnock), was covered by the so-called Chatham House Rules, which means that anything said by delegates should remain off the record.

Roberts, was attending what was clearly announced as an off-the-record meeting in Tuscany. Off the record, translated into Italian as ufficioso or perhaps loosely as sotto voce, may mean something different , as Ambassador Roberts was quick to point out ..."these remarks as reported do not reflect my personal views."

Leaving one to wonder where Corriere della Sera learned of the remarks and whose views they did represent.... Or indeed why Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of the conservative Il Foglio newspaper and the man closest to the pulse on Dubya's arsehole (former "adviser "to arch diplomat , and jointly in the dock presently with Mr Jowell) Silvio Berlusconi, had cancelled attendance at an Embassy dinner a couple of days later, observing in the pages of his right wing rag that ..

"The dinner unfortunately would be a complete waste of time and a grotesque hypocrisy, I would rather sup with the French ambassador, who loyally represents his government in Rome."

Curiously the Scotsman at the time (21/9/04) reported that the Corriere reporter, Moncia Guerzoni, added that Sir Ivor also said that the Bush administration was "conditioned and pressured by groups of powerful Israelis".

What is known is that sometime after this event and Sir Ivor's departure for Oxford, the Foreign Office (Observer 24th September 2006) abandoned the centuries-old tradition of allowing departing diplomats to speak their minds.... by issuing valedictory telegrams.

What on earth can the ordure agitating Mr Andrew McKinley MP be up to ?

Perhaps Pendennis in the Observer Feb 11th 2007 was making a useful point about crooked Italians, Prime Ministers, their love affairs , Tony Blair and the utility of fluent Ambassadors and their polyglot wives ? High table at Trinity must have taken on a C.P. Snowesque role of academic scheming of late perhaps ?

Watch this space.

Gambling on unlikely events - it simply isn't cricket

Who would bet on Ireland to beat Pakistan? Well, a good friend in Islamad tells us that some people did and not on Pakistan 8-1 against ( a source not a million miles from fast-bowler Sarfraz Nawaz claims that SA resident , coach Bob Woolmer had been murdered as part of a match-fixing plot). No wonder there is suspicion by the Jamaican Police about the unexpected death of an apprehensive cricket coach. "Did Bob know too much about the Bookies?" is the headline today in the Times of India today. (pic Bob with Hansie Cronje in happier times)

A former Pakistan Cricket Board official recently revealed that the deceased coach's forthcoming book, ‘Discovering Cricket’ may have exposed the cricketer-bookie nexus in Pakistan, India, and South Africa which has been known to exist for a long time and would cover and disclose fresh details about the Hansie Cronje match-fixing row. Bob was of course the coach of the South African team touring India at the time it all blew up. Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer were almost inseparable during Bob's stint as South African coach during the mid-1990s and always said he couldn't believe that Hans would have fixed matches.

'I believed that Cronje never fixed any match’ is the headline of a story in the Times online today with extracts from his forthcoming book ... even though Hansie admitted he had been dishonest to Ali Bacher, managing director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. Mohammad Azharuddin introduced him to the match-fixer M. K. Gupta on South Africa's previous tour of India, in 1996, Cronje then got under the spell of Sanjeev Chawla. Cronje unsuccessfully approached Pieter Strydom to underperform - he didn't strike lucky even before the Second Test when he asked Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Klusener if they were interested in throwing the game for money. They put it down as another of Hansie's practical jokes. In the final one-day game at Nagpur that he struck lucky, getting Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams to play to plan for $US15,000 apiece. Gibbs was supposed to be out for less than 20 and Williams to concede more than 50.

It emerged that he told Chawla he needed $US25,000 for each player, so guaranteeing himself a $US20,000 cut, Cronje's greed was compliant with his guilt.

Granted immunity from prosecution, Cronje told the King Commission he took US$140,000 from bookmakers, including $US110,000 from Gupta for information on team selection, daily forecasts and when he would declare against India at Cape Town in January 1997 but denied ever fixing the actual result of a match. He also admitted telling the South African team, before the Mohinder Amarnath benefit game at Mumbai in December 1996, that there was $US200,000 (some sources said $250,000) on the table if they played badly. The team actually debated whether to accept the money before rejecting it; no one reported the matter to the authorities. Some of them were said to believe that the offer of a bribe reflected South Africa's coming of age in international cricket.

Cronje met Chawla in Durban and left his hotel room with some $US15,000 tucked in a mobile-phone container. That sealed his fate. Justice King didn't believe believed they had ben told the full story, but enough was known for Cronje to receive a life ban from all cricketing activities. Cronje was later banned for life and eventually died in a plane crash (aged 32) in South Africa on June 1st 2002 when a light plane with three people crashed in the Outeniqua Mountains in bad weather, near his home town of George in the Western Cape.

Apparently the book has details directly from a meeting on April 18th 2005 with the Delhi Police Commissioner KK Paul who was the a deputy commissioner of the Delhi police, who had taped South African captain Hansie Cronje's telephone conversation with a bookie (Sanjeev Chawla) seeking to allegedly "fix" a One-day International during that series.

Historically Pakistani cricketers are known to have had contacts with match bookies and an involvement with match-fixing scandals in the past. Some of these cricketers even had to pay for their links with bookies.

Pakistan's former captain Saleem Malik,Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1988, (pic above) who played for Essex, was the 1st cricket player to be banned from all cricket for match-fixing, when an enquiry in 2000 under Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum found him guilty of trying to bribe Shane Warne and Mark Waugh and Tim May to lose the Karachi Test of 1994-95 (they testified he did) . Australia lost the Test by one wicket. "Saleem Malik was one of the favourite players," the Judge said, "and if I wasn't 100% sure, I wouldn't have punished him.

Paradoxically although not finding them guilty several players also had to pay substantial fines ....Mushtaq Ahmad, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq (currently , well today at least the captain) Akram Raza, and Saeed Anwar .The Judge also cast suspicion over Wasim Akram (and fined him) ..

"This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehman changed his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion."

Ata-ur-Rehman 31 when suspended and now 43 (see pic) , the star pace bowler was also banned for life for being involved in match-fixing but was later allowed back into the fold by the ICC to return to the game in May 2007.

The Accountability Board at the time compiled a list of bookies and made public their names. These included Pappu, Haneef Caddie, Zafar alias Jo Jo, Saleem alias Koki, Chaudhry Khalid, and Mian Kok all men of the highest distinction and probity.

Pakistani lost to Bangladesh during the 1999 World Cup amidst cries of match fixing but nothing substantial was ever proved.

In the latest instance, the Pakistan-Ireland game at the 2007 World Cup has also raised many eyebrows.

Meanwhile Khwaja Arif Pappu (Tariq Aziz, President Pervez Musharraf’s aide is a big pal where they are often seen together at Lahore Race Club where Aziz is President on a Sunday), from Lahore, a man never far from the centre of the storm over Pakistani cricket and match fixing is enjoying the West Indian sunshine. There is no (or well, very little, if any, possibly) truth that he has any connection with with gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Pappu is a much misunderstood man and was an income-tax officer when Aziz served in the country’s Central Board of Revenue. He was later dismissed (totally unreasonably ) for corruption.... mishandling paper-clips etc.,

Pappu is also said to have close contacts with South Africa.

In a bizarre news item it is said that crowds chanted on Sunday, outside Pakistani captain Inzamamul Haque’s Multan residence and chanted slogans of "Death to Woolmer, Death to Inzamam". The crowds also burnt effigies of the coach and pictures of the captain and demanded that Woolmer and captain Inzamam ul-Haq be arrested on their return to the country

"Inzi" was of course cleared of ball tampering in the Pak v England Test - August 17-21, 2006 at the Oval.

There are some very interesting details that could come out of this story ... but don't bet on it.

UPDATE Thursday 3.00 pm GMT
Rohan Powell of Jamaica Radio says the Police will report Bob Woolmer was killed by strangulation - refuses to give sources. His wife Gill doesn't rule out murder.

UPDATE 20:00 GMT Channel 4 say they have been told that a murder enquiry is to start and the POlice are to make an announcement @ approx midnight GMT. A Florida based pathologist claims (or is reported to claim) that Bob Woolmer's neck was broken and he was bruised.

Bob W's wife Gill, now living in South Africa was interviewed on CHannle 4 and said murder could not be ruled out.. and seemed remarkably relaxed about the possibility.

UPDATE Midnight - Jamaican police looking for a murderer or murderers - Police statement in full here . Everyone saying what a great guy Bob was, but he just happened to spend a lot of time with folks who swung cricket matches.

Watch this space

Enfucell Oy's SoftBattery™ - a solution for a problem

Imagine a lightweight, paper thin (less than 1mm) , disposable yet environmentally friendly battery that provides stable, 15. volt 15 milliamp source operating from -25C to +60C that can be supplied on a roll of film which can be overprinted.... and which continue workinf if bent or crumpled.

A solution maybe that is looking for a problem ... it will for example power a singing greetings card non -stop for 30 days .... and not frighten postal X ray machine operators.

This is the SoftBattery™ ,the brain child of Dr, Xia-Chang Zhang of Enfucell Oy , a company with only 15 employees, based at the Innopoli building (pic) in Otaniemi Science Park in Espoo, Finland. CEO Jaakko Happonen, a chemist heads , 3 Chinese graduates of Helsinki University, one Algerian and one Dutch engineer in this polyglot hive of innovation.

After Zhang graduated in China as a biochemical engineer he arrived in Finland to work with Professor Aarne Halme, on galvanic cell technology - what we normally call batteries .. and obtained a Phd from Helsinki University of Technology and became a Finnish citizen 10 years ago. He met his Chinese wife who works for the financial department of Nokia and they are now settled firmly in Finland and have 2 children.

So far, Enfucell has operated on financing from national research funding, provided mainly by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), and the Aloitusrahasto Vera fund.

TEKES expect the batteries will prove to be a major technological breakthrough and granted an unsecured loan of EUR 400,000 to the company in January but expect private funding to follow after the World Economic Forum in Davos named it one of its technology pioneers.

3 main product areas are currently being developed :

1. Cosmetics

Active transdermal therapies by the use of ionthophoretic devices - by the application of a small current - for example , the diffusion of pharmaceutical drugs becomes significantly more effective. Patient compliance and quality of life are improved. Also, drugs that are not robust to transport via the gut have a better chance of systemic success if delivered across the skin.

The small size ( and facility to design specific shapes) , and flexibility, make SoftBatteries™ an ideal power source for transdermal drug delivery, lifting the use of ionthophoretic applications to an previously unknown level of userfriendliness.

The company are currently working in close collaboration with a major cosmetic company to produce cosmetic patches.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary ALZA have an E-Trans device (pic)which they describe as delivering drugs both locally and systemically by using low-level electrical energy to actively transport drugs through intact skin. E-TRANS® technology may be ideal for treating disorders characterized by episodic or sporadic symptom onset and for drugs requiring precise delivery in high transdermal doses.

Whilst this is the same sizein area of contact as ALZA's D-TRANS® patches it is obviously heavy (200 gms plus) , and moderately bulky, it has been used successfully for fentanyl analgesic delivery for the management of postoperative pain in adults following major gynecological or orthopedic surgery.

2. Logistics

Passive RFID tags are a well established tracking technology but Enfucell see potential in SoftBattery™ is in the design of semi-active and active logistic tags and they are working with RFID producers on both the full integration of the battery technology into the tag and the simple hooking up of individual batteries to the tag.

The SoftBattery™ is produced using silk screen printing and ideally combines with current RFID label production technologies.

Products with active or semit active RFID are available are available from companies such as European Antennae and Axcess especially for vehicle identification in road toll tracking and Axcess International. These tend to be larger palm type devices and provide a signal which can typically extend hundreds of feet and take their power source from on board the vehicle.

The ability to provide a low cost , disposable active device obviously has a place in short shelf life product tracking, especially in the food industry where low temperatures can affect passive tagging.

3. Paper products

Greetings cards have been designed for the playing of simple tunes for many years, the low environmental load these devices offer and the ease with which they can be introduced as roll fed adhesive products obviously makes them attractive. Greetings cards in the US alone an annual US$7.5 Bn. business dominated by Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark, with 50% of the market, and Cleveland-based American Greetings, with 35%.

Just as "scratch and sniff " has been introduced in glossy women's magazines for cosmetic products, maybe they could be introduced to provide sound samples in magazines, product catalogues etc.,

They may also be used to drive LED based paper like devices as well such as those from Plastic Logic or as they call them "flexible active-matrix displays" (learn more at the Flex-Idis seminar Kings College Cambridge 29th March 2007) See pic and read CBS news today, FT 14th May 2007, Time Magazine Feb 8th 2007, New Scientist 25th Jan 2007.

This is a must know technology.

Rob Mulford : "Have you been to jail for justice? Then you're a friend of mine"

Stacey Fritz at No Nukes North in Fairbanks ,Alaska, sends a report of Rob Mulford . Rob has been inspired by Lt. Ehren Watada -the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful war and occupation in Iraq who said,

"As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must refuse that order."

Well Rob, who has had his in and outs on trespass with the local gendarmerie in Fairbanks, decided to to petition the government for a redress of grievance (i.e. the illegal, immoral war on Iraq).

So armed with a copy of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights to show to the officers the authority that gave him a right to be on public property "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." (First Amendment) --------------- he was arrested approximately 1:30pm March 13th ( Temp: About -30F, Ptly Cloudy Skies) for entering the doorway just inside the Federal Building in Fairbanks. The security officer said Rob was trespassing. The guard stated this because he Rob had been charged with trespass before.

You can imagine the rest ... but follow the story with pictures here and if you want send an e-mail in support to Rob mulford.rob@gmail.com After 24 hours he was released on bail of US$250.

Here's a damn fine song Anne Feeney wrote to commemorate Rob Mulford's attempt to redress a grievance in the US of A.

Was it Cesar Chavez or Rosa Parks that day?
Some say Dr. King or Ghandi
Set them on their way
No matter who your mentors are
It's pretty plain to see
That if you've been to jail for justice
You're in good company

Have you been to jail for justice?
I want to shake your hand
'Cause sitting in and laying down
Are ways to take a stand
Have you sung a song for freedom
Or marched that picket line?
Have you been to jail for justice?
Then you're a friend of mine

You law abiding citizens
Come listen to this song
Laws are made by people
And people can be wrong
Once unions were against the law
But slavery was fine
Women were denied the vote
While children worked the mine
The more you study history
The less you can deny it
A rotten law stays on the books
'til folks with guts defy it!

Have you been to jail for justice?
I want to shake your hand
'Cause sitting in and laying down
Are ways to take a stand
Have you sung a song for freedom
Or marched that picket line?
Have you been to jail for justice?
Then you're a friend of mine

Well the law is supposed to serve us
And so are the police
When the system fails
It's up to us to speak our piece
We must be ever vigilant
For justice to prevail
So get courage from your convictions
Let 'em haul you off to jail!

Have you been to jail for justice?
I want to shake your hand
'Cause sitting in and laying down
Are ways to take a stand
Have you sung a song for freedom
Or marched that picket line?
Have you been to jail for justice?
Then you're a friend of mine
Have you been to jail for justice
Have you been to jail for justice
Have you been to jail for justice
Then you're a friend of mine

House loans UP, Cost of Living UP, Interest Rates UP

The Fed OMC meets now - Lord Patel predicted a rate rise of 1/4% a month ago, and expected the UK to follow suit - in the UK the CPI jumped 0.7% on the month and 4.6% (it was 2.8% a year ago today) on the year, a 15 year record, as mortgage interest payments, energy bills, soared. In the markets British government bonds and interest rate futures fell in expectation that the bank will raise interest rates to at least 5.5%.

Despite this, more money was handed out in home loans last month (£24.6Bn.) than in any February since records began, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

CML Director General Michael Coogan says that we still expect gross lending to reach around £360 billion this year. (2006 £345 Bn. 2005 £ 288 Bn. )

Minutes from the Bank of England's March policy meeting will be released tommorrow at 0930 GMT so the tea leave soothsayers can drool over them - save the trouble , read Lord Patel.

UK MOD announce scrapping of "Dumb" cluster bombs ... don't worry we are keeping the "Smart" ones

The MOD in the UK has stockpiles today of :

755 RBL cluster bomb dispensers each has 147 sub munitions (bomblets) Total = 111,000

43,200 MLRS M25 (not to be confused with guided MLRS which is being deployed to Afghanistan ) rockets, each rocket has 644 sub munitions, equals 27,820,800 sub munitions - that's one for every other person in the UK (ish)

Minister of Defence , ashen faced, Des Browne has announced today that they are all to be scrapped. Which in an Answer to Parliamentary Question on Cluster Munitions by Adam Ingram, Hansard, Column 504W, February 1, 2007 we were told would be phased out. These are so called "dumb" cluster bombs - the one's left are "smarter" and are supposed to self-destruct on a timer... he declined to say how many of those we hold. .... The UK purchased 59,364 L20A1 DPICM projectiles between 1996 and 2004. The L20A1 projectiles, 2,100 of which were used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq contain an M85 grenade, (Qty unknown) these were manufactured by BAE Systems Royal Ordnance under license from Israel Military Industries, tests showed a failure rate of bomblets of 2.3%.

He is keen however to make clear that remaining cluster munitions as with all our weapons will continue to be regulated by rules of engagement and internal scrutiny procedures designed to adhere to international law and reflect humanitarian values.

Lord "Alf" Dubs, a man who refelct the finest humanitarian values, introduced the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill [HL] on 23 Nov 2006 : Column 431 Hansard which was read and ignored. The bill would prohibit the use, development, production, acquisition, possession, and transfer of cluster munitions. The bill’s definition of cluster munition excludes containers with sensor fuzed submunitions “which autonomously detect and engage military targets and which self-destruct, self-deactivate or self neutralise.”

(Alf is a remarkable man, and a sincere humanist. he was born in Prague, (then in Czechoskovakia,) he was (unknowingly) one of 669 Czech, mainly Jewish children saved by English stockbroker (now Sir) Nicholas Winton (then 29) on the Kindertransport. to be joined in London by his mother the day before the war broke out. Which he was only to discover late in life when a relative saw his name on an Esther Rantzen TV programme.)

The Handicap International charity said civilians accounted for 98% of cluster-bomb casualties.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere (pic) called for a conference when the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) failed in November 2006 to agree on a mandate and convened the Norwegian Initiative Conference which was was held in Oslo , 22/23rd February.

The Norwegian Armed Forces have utilised two kinds of "smart" cargo ammunition: DM 642 and DM 662. 155 mm artillery Howitzers deliver both types. There are respectively 63 and 49 bomblets in each type of shell.

Tests showed a failure rate if at least 1% and they have withdrawn their use until an international agreement has been made on the use of such munitions.

Finland has decided to continue to use them, there tests have shown a failure rate of 0.2%.

The Human Rights Watch report on Cluster Weapons makes fascinating reading ....

Cluster munitions are particularly ubiquitous in the stores of US ground forces. According to the DOD report, the Army has about 638.3 million cluster submunitions (88 percent of the total inventory) and the Marine Corps has about 53.3 million (7 percent). The report states, “Cannon and rocket artillery cluster munitions comprise over 80% of Army fire support capability,” and they “comprise the bulk of the Marine Corps artillery munitions.”²⁹⁴ The Air Force stockpiles about 22.2 million air-delivered cluster bombs (3 percent of the cluster inventory) and the Navy about 14.7 million (2 percent).

Of the 728 million submunitions, only 30,990 have self-destruct devices (.00004 percent).²⁹⁵The DOD report cites failure rates of 2 to 6 percent for most of the submunitions, based on lot acceptance testing and stockpile reliability testing. Previous DOD documents have indicated much higher failure rates for the most common submunitions.²⁹⁶ Organizations involved in unexploded ordnance clearance in various countries also cite higher failure rates.

294 - Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, “Report to Congress: Cluster Munitions,” p. 2-3.

295 - These are CBU-97 and CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons (SFW) held by the Air Force and Navy. The Army’s SADARM cluster munitions, which are similar to SFW, are not included in the DOD report.

296 - See Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Department of Defense, “Unexploded Ordnance Report,” undated, table 2-3, p. 5. Transmitted to the US Congress on February 29, 2000.

The Israeli contribution to the manufacture (and use) of these weapons that are so lethal to civilians is quite fascinating.... Read it.

The Air War goes on , and on, and on , and on .....

March 10-16: The week in airpower - USAF

289 close air support missions were flown in support of the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan troops. Coalition aircraft flew 325 close air support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom..... how 2,000 lb. precision guided bombs win hearts and minds, improve girl's education, reconstruction (?)....

That's 600 a week (ish) about average for the last 2 years - slowed down a bit after Fort Falcon went up, ... there was shortage of bombs.

According to the U.S. Air Force, 14,910 precision-guided weapons were dropped in the first month of the war in 2003. Of these, 2982 were expected to land off-target. But what really happened? The Pentagon calculates civilian casualties, but refuses to disclose that number....a small reminder USAF ran out of key precision guided cruise missiles--the CALCM--during the Kosovo campaign.

Perlos - Moving out and Moving on

Perlos, The Finnish manufacturer of plastic components of mobile telephones and other consumer electroinc equipment , is closing all manufacturing in Finland in September and 1,104 Perlos employees will lose their jobs. Only 200 staff will be left in Finland in technical support and marketing, at the Vantaa head offices, Ylöjärvi, and Turku. The shutdown will cost Eur 35-40 Mn.

Perlos currently has 3 factories in China - 2 in Beijing and 1 in Guangzhou, it also manufactures injection moulds in Shenzhen.

Perlos is currently building a new plant in Guangzhou, as well as a new factory in Chennai, in India. At the end of 2006 it employed a total of 7,612 people in Asia.

Perlos has a plants in Komarom, Hungary, and a product planning centre in the Swedish city of Lund. At the end of 2006 it employed a total of 4,207 in Europe including those in Finland.

Perlos has factories in Reynosa, Mexico, and Manaus, Brazil. At the end of 2006, it employed 1,123 people in North and South America.

This dramatic action is a direct consequence of seeing turnover in Q4 2006 slump from Eur 200 Mn. in 2005 to Euro 140 Mn. in 2006 with profits halved from Eur 21.2 Mn in 2005 but with non -recurring losses of closure and operating loss for the year of Euro 11/12 Mn.

This exemplifies the breathtaking speed of industrial change said Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen ..

"when producers of components tend to move more quickly than before to where their main customers are located, no matter how much Finnish authorities try to improve the conditions of their operations at home."

Object lessons galore here for the Globalisers in Gubment.. the pic ? That's from the Careers section of the Perlos website.

Stones for the IOW

Mick called me to tell me that The Rolling Stones last played in a UK festival at Knebworth on 21st August 1976...19 years ago!

The good news he tells me is that they are now booked to Headline at Sea close Park, Isle of Wight on Sunday 10th June supported by Keane, The Fratellis frae Glasgae (pic), James Morrison and Paolo Nutini - who supported them last year in Vienna and Sheffield Arena. (Already sold out)

Mick is also looking to finish their summer touring with his first visit to Russia to play St Petersburg in August at a date and place to be fixed, especially since the date was cancelled last year.

Were they going to play Sympathy for the Devil I enquired .. You know



I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a generals rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleeezed to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah ......



"Sure." He said

Neste Oil and StoraEnso in joint Finnish forest products bio-fuel venture

Finnish wood products and an integrated paper, packaging company Stora Enso and oil refiners Neste Oil have agreed to build Finland's first factory in Varkaus , SE Finland to wood into bio fuel.

Neste are currently commissioning their 1st biofuel plant to produce 170,000 t/a of NExBTL Renewable Diesel, from vegetable oil and animal fat at its Porvoo refinery in Finland ... a 2nd similar plant is also under construction. The original plant has been delayed due to a fire and will be on line in April - total cost are in the region of Euro 200Mn.

The company have scrapped plans for a Plant in a joint bio-fuel venture with Total at Dunkirk with but are negotiating to open a biofuel plant in Vienna with OMV, Austria's largest public company.

Using felling scraps, small trees, and stumps , the wood-based biomass will first be converted into crude biodiesel, it will then go to the Neste Oil refinery in Porvoo, for refining .

The Euro 14 Mn. Varkaus plant , due to start up in 2008, will also produce heat and electricity for use locally and also use a process developed by Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) for converting the bio-mass. They have been testing a pilot plant in a 4 year Government funded project. The in house plant will use the Fischer-Tropsch process to produce crude biodiesel from gas which will equal the energy needed to heat 4,300 homes and cut local carbon dioxide emissions significantly.

Whilst Neste Oil has developed expertise in developing biofuels on plant oils and animal fats CEO Risto Rinne sees the need to use a non food raw material . Varkaus was selected as the first plant as it has has a million cubic metres of biomass within a radius of 80 Km., and three times that in a radius of 120 kilometres."

Stora Enso sees huge potential for the process in Finland and envisage 3 such plants could be built in connection with Stora Enso sites in Finland, and believe a total of 6 plants could be set up within Finland.... with the opportunity to also export the process.

VAT Carousel fraud to be tackled by new Accounting procedures

The Government have obtained permission for de-rogation for a new VAT accounting system (introduced into last years Finance Act) from the EU for handling of two categories of goods, mobile telephones and computer chips/microprocessors/central processing units which have been involved in massive Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) fraud.

This so called 'reverse charge' system will help prevent fraud by reversing the standard accounting system for VAT used in the UK.

With this new system , which will apply from July 1st the supplier of the specified goods does not account for the VAT on their sales when selling to other VAT-registered businesses.

The purchaser of the goods will be responsible for payment and accounting of the VAT.
Provided that the purchaser has correctly done so, they can recover this VAT in the normal way.

This means that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not put in a position where it may have to make repayments of VAT where the corresponding tax on the sale has not been paid to it - it also places a massive burden and extra costs on legitimate traders of these items and disrupts their cash flow.

Self evidently, dishonest traders - alerted by the lengthy delay caused by the EU in introducing this system, will already have switched to other high value, low weight and volume items to perpetuate the fraud.

The HMRC claims the level of trading associated with attempted fraud has fallen significantly in recent months - it has been running for over 3 years at the level of £400 Mn. a month. They claim (rather disingenuously) "statistics published by the ONS, using estimates produced by HMRC, show that the trend of reduced levels of trading associated with MTIC fraud is continuing, with a substantial reduction in recent months."

Although their last pronouncment on producing the January 2007 Trade Statistics was alittle confusing

"Following a change in the pattern of trading associated with Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) fraud, identified by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, interpretation of the breakdown between EU and non-EU trade is more difficult. Originally, most carousel chains only involved EU member states. More recently, some carousel chains have included non-EU countries, for example, Dubai and Switzerland. However, the import adjustment is applied only to EU imports as the goods return to the UK via the EU - but it is this part of the trading chain that is not recorded."

Which might sound to some folks that the devious crooks have already made the necessary re-arrangements... if not they will migrate again to other areas of criminality .......

........ Stephen Crisp, 49, had hidden 52.49 kilos of cocaine and 5.7 kilos of heroin (calculated at 100% purity) in 81 brown taped packages under the bunk on the passenger side of his German registered lorry which were discovered at Folkestone last August. The drugs were said to have an estimated street value of £2.7 million. He got 20 years at Canturbury Crown Court on Friday.

UPDATE Budget 22nd March 2007

Reverse Accounting has been extended to Sat Nav equipment.

Sally Clark : Coroners inquest result delayed for tests

The Guradian has a PA story that the HM Coroner for Essex & Thurrock , former barrister Caroline Beasley-Murray ( She held the inquest into the death of Stuart Lubbock in Lionel Barrymore's swimming pool) who is holding the inquest into the death of Sally Clark has been told that further tests are needed to establish why she died. It appeared she died of natural causes, but further medical tests were needed to establish a definitive cause of death.

The body had been found by a friend at the family home in Hatfield Peverel, Essex, said by the Evening Standard to be her 8 year old son's nanny. Two pathologists carried out post-mortem tests today, one , Home Office pathologist Nat Cary - had been instructed by the Clark family.

Elsewhere disordered and confused minds rail relentlessly against Prof. Meadow and any other pediatrician who suggests that mothers injure and kill their children in the face of evidence that they do. Despite the fact that Prof. Meadow's unchallenged statistical nonsense at the trial had little, if any affect, on the decision of the Jury at the trial and none at all on the Judges at the 2 subsequent Appeals.

Two failures were the cause of Sally Clark's wretched 3 years in prison, that of her highly paid but wholly incompetent legal team and the inability of Dr Williams firstly when asked in the trial to tell the truth, and secondly when he failed to show up to explain himself.

NB The £20 MN 3 year long case of the torture and murder of Baha Mousa in Basra by the British Army , for which the Crown prosecution case was led by Julian Bevan QC (Sally's brief in the trial and 1st Appeal). The result it appears will be that the one person , who pleaded guilty, will probably face a fine of £200. A triumph of the law.

Defending ? Prosecuting ? Want to lose ? Call For Bevan QC of Cloth Court the cloth headed advocate. Lord Goldsmith of Iraq & BAE knew what he was doing , prosecute to keep the public happy - lose to keep the Army happy.

Everyone's a winner Babe !

Kurdistan Government to explain their view about the Draft Oil Law in London

The Kurdistan Regional Government is the de facto Governing body in Northern Iraq, as such they played a part in agreeing to the Iraqi draft oil law agreed in February.

The KRG published both Engish and Arabic copies of the law which they describe as authorised. KRG Natural Resources Minister Dr. Ashti Hawrami.

“Old and inaccurate translations of this vital draft law have been circulating in the media in recent weeks. By publishing the original Arabic and the authoritative English translation together, we hope to make the picture clearer for potential investors in Iraq.”

Dr. Hawrami represents the KRG on the Oil and Energy Committee.English version Arabic Version PDF alert !

The draft law has many companion laws and annexes, which have not been fully revealed and now the KRG are holding a seminar on Thursday 22nd March to provide some explanation of the law and how it is expected to work. This will last from 10.30 until 2.00 and include a short lunch.

KRG Minister for Natural Resources and a KRG Spokesman will present a brief account of the main points in the draft oil law and the annexes, in addition to a longer presentation of the main ideas expected to be in the draft revenue sharing law. (which is of course, the bit they all get excited about ...naturally)

There will also be a chance to examine model contracts, guidelines, and business opportunities in the Kurdistan Region and to ask questions.

You can invite yourself by applying to spokesman@krg.org but need to have a direct interest either through the media , energy industry, lawyers or diplomat or academic with interests in the region.

The picture shows Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region, meeting King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Riyadh. This was shortly after Iraq reopened its embassy in Riyadh on February 14th , which had been shut since December 1990, just before the 1st Gulf War got under way.

Scrambled Eggs

EU egg marketing rules require eggs to be stamped in the country of production with a country code (GB for Britain etc) and ,their method of production // 3 for battery caged eggs, 2 for barn eggs , 1 for free-range, 0 for organic.

In November last year it was found that to meet demand for a more natural product eggs were being imported to meet soaring UK retail demand and some were by fraudulent marking being "passed off" as home grown free range eggs .

It now appears that that for at least 5 years some 250,000 eggs have been arriving in Britain from Europe each week and that a company wholesaling these eggs, helpfully called Heart of England Eggs, Hill Top Poultry Farm ,Warbage Lane, Dodford, Bromsgrove 61 9BL has been central to a plot to pass off these imported eggs as home grown free range or organic (@ £1.00 a dozen higher retail price) .... which were, it appears from battery cage hens.

Twin brothers Alan and Keith Owen and his wife Carol are apparently on police bail "helping the Police with their enquiries".

Some of these eggs found their way to Deans Food, the country's largest egg producer (10 Mn a week) , which sells eggs on to the major supermarkets... who are naturally anxious to re-assure the shopper that no such eggs ever hit their shelves.

Investigators at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are hoping to crack the case, if you can help contact Defra Investigation Services on 0117 959-3111.

A case of definition

Of course what free range means can be a little tricky, for example, producers within the 12 mile limit of the Norfolk Turkey bred avian flu outbreak, were, by an order signed by Minister Geoff Rooker allowed to sell their product as free range although their birds had to be kept safely locked up because of the avian flu regulations. This de-rogation lasts 12 weeks until May 4th. The majority of flocks caught up in this regulatory tangle supply Deans.

Finns out in front

Lover Boy Matti Vanhanen's Centre Party has won the country's general election by the slimmest of margins and he will continue in the office of Prime Minister. After 99% of votes have been counted oficial results show The Centre Party took 23.1% of the vote, the Conservative National Coalition led by 35-year-old Jyrki Katainengained 22.2% and the Social Democrats led by Finance Minister Eero Heinaluoma.21.5%.

Now the full results are available opposition the moderate Conservative, National Coalition Party under Jyrki Katainen gained 10 seats and narrowly fell short of becoming the largest party in the country...these were gained at the expense of the Centre Party and the Social Democrats - both lost ground, with the SDP shedding eight seats and the Centrists four - it is hard to envisage the new government being anything but a centre-right coalition. The good news for the PM is that there is a record number of lady MP's, 42 % ! 84 women and 116 men - there are 72 new MP's and 33 are women. 70 per cent of all MPs are married and the number of singles decreased from over 25 % to 19 %.

Down Under the new Flying Finn, Kimi Raikkonen easily followed in Michael Schumacher's tracks at Ferrari, easily winning the first F1 Grand prix of the year in Melbourne. Pic of Kimi with his 25 year old wife Jenni Dahlman "Miss Scandinavia" - one Finn it appears the PM has kept his hands off.

Russian Roulette in the Middle East - Putin stirs up the hornet's nest

Lord Patel revealed the establishment of LUKSAR the Lukoil Saudi Arabia Energy company 80% owned by LUKOIL in March 2004 when my old friend Vagit signed the 40 year deal with Ali al-Naimi, who acting on behalf of the government.

This you will remember was after he signed a deal on March 11th 2004 in Baghdad to train Iraqi oil industry employees and students. 40 Iraqi students will study in Russia's I.M. Gubkin Oil and Gas University... which ,despite all the problems today still going.

Anyway Vagit tells me that he was back in Saudi last month, this time with President Putin (the 1st ever visit by a Russian leader) and stirring the ordure for Washington as usual, during the visit he signed a co-operation agreement with Qatar Petroleum's chairman Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah covering possible participation in oil and gas projects including GTL, LNG and petrochemicals ventures.

Whilst that was going on Putin was offering Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz nuclear power stations , military helicopters, to build rocket propelled grenade (RPG) factories, provide sophisticated anti-aircraft systems-the Carapace (Pantsyr), TOR M1 and Strelets. To top all that he offered the Saudis expanded satellite launches and an opportunity to join the Russian satellite navigation system, GLONASS.

Diplomatic gossip says there is a "verbal understanding" on the sale of about 150 Russian T-90 battle tanks to Saudi Arabia, which is seeking to diversify its defence systems.Tests were carried out on the T-90 in Saudi Arabia last year to determine the tank's suitability for harsh desert conditions, and Russia is also looking to sell Mi-17 helicopters.

Gas OPEC - the first steps

He also hinted about future logistical co-operation involving LNG supply swaps for each country's global gas customers. This is what anxious observers in the US call a new OPEC - and they don't like it. At present there is a loose association called the Gas Exporting Country Forum (GECF). This was founded in 2001 by Algeria, Iran and Russia also includes Libya, Qatar, Oman the UAE, Egypt, Bolivia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela as well as Norway as an observer.

Of course anything that keeps up prices for oil and gas rich Russia is a good thing - also the implied anti British and anti U.S. presence in the Middle East by playing to anti-Western sentiment in the "street" and among the elites plays well. Mr. Putin also solidified the high profile diplomatic stance of ther new kremlin, emphasizing their differences with Washington.

To date this group has not attempted to control prices - which would require a change in a market which involves large, lengthy (40years in some) contracts. With LNG demand growing at 12% a year thins may change.

Anyway when the gas exporting countries meeting in Doha in April they will have the development of an OPEC-like group. This is anidea being forcefully put forward by Iran's oil minister Kazem Vazeri-Hamaneh and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni has called for Russia and other natural gas producers to establish a gas cartel. Iran is looking for new customers in Europe and Swiss traders have been buying heavily to supply customers in Italy and eslewhere via Turkey.

Fellow Muslim state Malaysia's independent power developer SKS agreed a $16 billion, 25-year programme to exploit the Ferdos and Golshan offshore gas fields in south-eastern Iran with the the National Iranian Oil Company in January. ...a dn a Pakistan / Iran pipleine project is nearing agreement - despite pressure from Washington.

LUKoil developments in Rub Al-Khali

Anyway, Vagit says LUKSAR is still on target with development of the 30,000 sq. mile block in the northern part of the Rub Al-Khali (Empty Quarter) south of the giant Al-Ghawar oil field. The Rub' Al-Khali is the biggest active sand sea in the world (between 500,00 and 600,00 km² - roughly the size of France).

Lukoil say that 15 months ago the first exploration well was spudded in the central area of the block and they expect to invest $2 billion to exploit the deposits found there and expect commercial production of gas and condensate by 2014.

Saudi Aramco will have the right to buy all the gas produced at $22.7 per 1,000 cubic metres if annual production reaches an agreed level. The next stage of development involves building pipelines and other infrastructure development

Gazprom's were kept busy on the trip and their engineering subsidiary Stroytransgaz had talks with Saudi Oger on possible collaboration for energy and water pipeline work in the Kingdom.

Vagit told me that , 'Lukoil views the Middle East as a region of high priority. The Saudi project perfectly fits in the company's development strategy and matches all economic and competitive criteria the company applies to projects.'

He went quiet when asked about Iraq and simply said he hopes to restore oil extraction rights agreed before Saddam's downfall in 1997 to the vast West Qurna-2 oilfield (industry estimates 15 Mn barrels). Talk in St Petersburg is of $4 billion being invested in the field through to 2020.

Meanwhile Vagit is having a very close look at Oman's promising Khazzan and Makarem gas fields which the Sultanate wants to develop...he also has been having a chat with Abdullah Nasser Hawaileel of some outfit called Dana gas who had a wildly oversunscribed IPO in 2005 in Abu Dhabi.

Algerian Salafist rebels adopt Al Quaeda role - bombings kill foreign workers

Mind you, Vagit reminds me , there are problems in dealing in these zones, a Russian engineer, 3 Ukrainians and three Algerians were killed and five other people wounded in the bomb attack on their bus on March 5th at Hayoun, near Ain Defla in southern Algeria.The bus was carrying employees of tStroytransgaz , who were laying gas mains between Ain Defla, in the region of Medea, and Tiaret, 340 kilometers southwest of Algiers.

The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) has, since last September, taken on the name of Osama bin Laden's terror network for North Africa and they claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We dedicate this modest conquest to our Muslim brothers in Chechnya ... victims of the criminal (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," it said in the statement posted on an Islamist site often used by Al-Qaeda.

In December one person was killed and nine injured in an attack on a bus carrying staff of the Brown and Root Condor (BRC) company, a subsidiary of the Algerian Sonatrach oil company and Halliburton.

And all this, even when Putin to establish his credentials in the Muslim world had brought along with him to Saudi , Mintimir Shaimiyev, the Muslim head of the predominantly Muslim republic of Tatarstan. Tickled pink with this gesture, King Abdullah had responded in kind, and awarded Shaimiyev the King Faisal award for service to Islam, praising Putin as , "a statesman, a man of peace, and a man of justice" despite Putin's brutal treatment of the Chechen Muslims.

Russia and Algeria, recently signed an agrement to coordinate investment and marketing and the transfer of technology - then they get their buses and workers bombed . No wonder Vagit sighed and headed for the casino.

Look out - the Russkis are back . Back in business.

Sally Clark - "Family Friend" , John Batt - the first of Job's comforters

Solicitor John Batt, author, family "friend" of Sally Clark could not wait to run to Rupe's Rag the News of the World to help Neville Thurlbeck write his EXCLUSIVE ......

TRAGIC cot death mum Sally Clark drank herself to death as she tried to drown out the pain of being wrongly jailed for murdering her two baby boys.

The 42-year-old solicitor was found dead at her home on Friday following a massive heart attack brought on by years of boozing to blot out the horror of losing both tots to cot death.

Her devoted husband Stephen was away on business.

Speaking exclusively to the News of the World, Sally's closest family friend John Batt revealed: "She was drinking to console herself and to ease the pain of her grief. It was no secret she had an alcohol problem."

You can read more of this unseemly guff peddled by Batt and Sue Stapely (Quiller Consultants T: 020 7233 9444 M: 07885 798833 ) and relentless charcater assassination of Professor Meqadow, if you wish ... pass the sick bag Alice.

May she find some peace, away from "close family friends".

In another of Rupe's Rags, the Sunday Times they report ...

“I am furious,” said Mike Mackey, Clark’s solicitor. “Eight years on from her conviction, people are still going to prison for murders they didn’t commit where infant deaths occur that can’t be explained by medical science.”

Perhaps if he and her brief Julian Bevan QC (who never met his client before thrial) had done a better job at the trial she would never have been found guilty, the jury split 10-2 so not everyone thought she was guilty.

Remember there were 2 appeals and at the first in which the services of the gilded Julian Bevan QC were retained and had ample opportunity to re-visit the evidence, the Appeal Court Judges said , "If there had been no error in relation to statistics at the trial, we are satisfied that the jury would still have convicted on each count." The Court of Appeal judge Lord Henry, said the point was of "minimal significance", adding that the combined weight of medical and circumstantial evidence against Mrs Clark made her conviction safe.

It was the evidence of the blood tests on Harry that Dr Williams concealed (plus his detremined absence to explain himself) that Sally Clark was finally acquitted - the principal argument - which formed the first paragarphs of the case brought at the 2nd (and successful) Appeal by Claire Montgomery.

Elsewhere in the same paper the columnist Minette Marrin says incorrectly, " Her trial turned on whether two such deaths could possibly be a coincidence. " it did not, it turned on what she calls

"incompetence, arrogance, inattention to detail, more than a whiff of cronyism, and above all a glaring lack of common sense. ".

.. not of medical witnesses, but the lawyers she paid to defend her , who made such a botch of the case.

This doesn't stop her stoking up the fires the fashionable feminists are stoking under Professor Meadow.

Geoffrey Wansell in the Independent spreads further myths.

"In the wake of her conviction, the jubilant Cheshire Police had suggested, privately, in media briefings, that Sally had a "small drinking problem" and "didn't want to sacrifice her glamorous lifestyle for children" - and the world believed that whispering campaign. What utter, felonious, irresponsible nonsense."

That is "felonious, irresponsible nonsense". Sally Clark's problems with alcohol had been deliberately suppressed in court, (and hence unknown to the jury) bya shabby agreement of both the prosecution and defence with the collusion of the Judge, the quid pro quo being that no character witnesses were allowed. (What did the jury make of a successful lawyer, educated, who didn't or maybe couldn't produce a single characater witness, friend, lawyer, employer, neighbour, healthcare worker, doctor ?) Her treatment for alcohol problems was exposed at the end of the trial by the Prosecution in open court and the Judge declared in passing sentence to have taken into accounts psychiatric reports and her problems with alcohol going back to 1996.

Speculation in the press was extensive and lurid both by police involved in the case and others, usually anonymously and it was not restricted to Sally Clark alone.

In the book of the trial by John Batt ,"Stolen Inoccence", he tells of Det. Insp. John Gardner, who led the investigation, who said he was pleased with the verdicts and hoped that Clark could finally come to accept responsibility for what she had done. It had been the most difficult of tasks, he said, to confront a parent and accuse her of killing her own children. “Most people believe it is an unbelievable act. It is harder to accept when you have a woman who has advantages in life.”

Mr Gardner said of Clark's husband:

“I don't know how much he knows, how much he suspects, or whether he has almost turned a blind eye to what has gone on.”

NB Curiously Marilyn Stowe, the Leeds solicitor who volunteered her services and obtained the medical notes from Macclesfield Hospital on both babies which eventually led to the acquittal of Sally Clark never rates a mention.

NB2 Catch Septic Isle in a necessary and very topical post about the treatment of women in prison and the happily hypocritical Dail Mail.

NB3 Monday mid -day "family friend" John Batt is still at it, revealing Sally Clark's alcoholism and the lonely circumstances of her death, whilst her husband Stepehn was away in France on business. .. this time in the Evening Standard

Finn has a fling

Finland had a record warm December yet last week as an incredible frost set in with temperatures of -25 to -35, national electricity consumption rose to the highest level ever of 15,000 Megawatts.

Probably because everyone in Finland had the bedside light on reading Pääministerin morsian (Prime Minister's Bride) by divorcee mother of two Susan Kuronen (pic left), the kiss 'n' tell memoirs of Prime Minister Matti Vanharen's (now ex) girlfriend.

After the father of two's marriage split up, he met her in IKEA (he helped her lift something heavy off a shelf) and had a 9 month fling.

The book tells of their steamy passions - complete with all their texts which the Finish Data protection Athorities didn't cut.....

Kurosen kirjaprojekti herättää kiinnostusta myös ulkomailla. Venäjän uutistoimistot julkaisivat referaatteja kirjan sisällöstä ja myös Ruotsissa aihe nousi laajalti esille. Iltapäivälehti Expressen kertoi lauantaina aukeaman laajuisessa jutussaan Matti Vanhasen ja Susan Kurosen petipuuhista sekä kirjan aiheuttamasta kohusta. Ojalan mukaan myös valtakunnan turvallisuus ja siihen liittyvät näkökulmat kiinnostavat ulkomaillakin.

Famously it ended when he sent her a text message...

But it hasn't dented the success of the Prime Minister's Centre Party

SDP on Suomen suosituin puolue 23,5 prosentin kannatusosuudella tuoreimman puolueiden kannatusmittauksen mukaan (Suomen Gallup, HS 25.2). Puolueen puheenjohtaja Eero Heinäluoma ei kuitenkaan tunnu saavan puolueensa menestyksestä itselleen minkäänlaista nostetta. Iltalehden pääministerikyselyn valossa SDP:n äänestäjätkin ovat jo hylkäämässä hänet.

...and has boosted his own popularity - even if in a land of drunks the 52 year old Lothario is a rabid teetotaller serving only non-alcoholic drinks to visitors. New laws have forbidden the sale of alcohol before 9 am and all alcohol must be labelled with a warning.

Things are looking good according to the latest polls ....

Edellisessä kyselyssä SDP:tä eduskuntavaaleissa äänestävistä vastaajista 48 prosenttia ilmoitti pääministerisuosikikseen Heinäluoman. Nyt enää 34 prosenttia demariäänestäjistä luotti häneen, ja lähes puolet (45 prosenttia) näkisi pääministerin tuolilla mieluummin keskustan Matti Vanhasen.

Anyway Verhanen's fame has spread, because Jacques Chirac called him the "sexiest man in the world ", early last year when he was chairing the EU, (and it appears, also doing the 2 backed beast with the Pääministerin fuckbuddy ).

Anyway, like all good things it came to an end and he ended it with a text message to her

....Kansa tahtoo närkästyä lisää Kurosesta ja media antaa.

Bit abrupt don't you think?

Well she did and here is a video on You Tube by Ubercull that explains it all in graphic(!) detail.

The Finns vote today and everyone expects another in the endless series of coalitions with Matti back in office. (Heinäluoman is the Social Democrat PM candidate)

My close friend glamorous socialite, MEP Eija-Riita Korhola tells me however that The PM is now making the 2 backed beast again, this time with Green MP Merikukka Forsius 35, ex wife (1 year - which produced Dan) of Hjaliis "Harry" Harkimo owner of the Helsinki Jokers ice hocket team. (Apparently Merikukka is the Finnish name for "sea Anemone" this is her pic)

Few will forget of course his overnight dalliance with Ex Miss Finland , MP of his own Centre party , Tanja Saarela at a party conference in Tampere.(Pic in jeans top right)... all a "misunderstanding" if memory serves me right.

Anyone remember another diffident, bespectacled Prime Minister who fucked one of his MP's ?... but she wasn't in the same league as these Pääministerin fuckbuddies... like ..say...Lady Amos