TV Evangelist John Hagee Wants War With Iran, and He Wants It Now!

TV Evangelist John Hagee Wants War With Iran, and He Wants It Now!

by Bill Barnwell at Lew Rockwell.com

You don't think the right wing fruit and nutcakes who believe in the rapture have any clout , any influence .. well go and read this from Bill Barnwell ....

The Rev. John Hagee is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio Texas, where he has 18,000 followers right in his congregation. He has a global television ministry and has written scores of prophecy books over the years. John Hagee is perhaps the most powerful and influential Christian Zionist figure in America.....

If left up to Hagee, there would be a military strike against Iran today. Since last summer, Hagee has been practically foaming at the mouth for a new war with Iran. Why? Because he thinks it is the rest of the world’s job to fight Israel’s wars and because he thinks such a showdown is a piece of the puzzle in regards to Bible prophecy. To Hagee, there is no middle ground on this issue. God told Abraham he would "bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" (Gen. 12:3). That means if YOU aren’t on board with wars that might be in Israel’s interest, but not in the United States’, then YOU will be cursed by God. At least according to Hagee.

To see just how bellicose, belligerent, and militaristic Hagee is, watch his speech at the AIPAC Washington conference ( You Tube) Behind his thundering prose and love for the Jewish people is a militaristic and even fanatical mindset that is hoping and praying for the world to fall apart. After all, Jesus can’t come back unless it does, but all is well since Christians before the "rapture" will escape the worst of it. ... Read more

The You Tube Videos of the frightening speech Hagee gave to AIPAC are Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

These folks whooping and hollering had just been listening patiently to the leaders of the US political establishment explaining hwy they should bomb Iran .. or at least leave " no options off the table" ... these people are frightening.

Of course if you want to joinhis Ministry here are "7 solid reasons in the Bible why Christians should support Israel."

The Heat is on the Street .... smash AIPAC

US Congresswoman Barbara Lee (9th CA) when the House voted for the passage of the Iraq Accountability Act, which is a a supplemental appropriations bill that contains a clear end date for the war in Iraq spoke out after refusing to vote for it .....

"......it is clear that the President has staked his legacy on an unnecessary war that his administration has botched at every turn. By refusing to take responsibility for their failed policy in Iraq, the administration has effectively forced Congress to intervene to bring it to a responsible end.

“ I ...opposed this war from the beginning, I have voted against every single penny for this war and found myself today in the difficult position of having to choose between voting against funding for the war or for establishing timelines to end it.

“While as a matter of conscience I cast my vote against the funding, I hope that this passage of this bill marks the beginning of the end of the Iraq war, but the real fight still lies ahead. Congress will continue to have to confront the issue of this war and occupation, and I am committed to continuing to push to fully fund the safe withdrawal of our troops from Iraq at the earliest practicable date and for timelines for withdrawal that are backed up by the appropriations power that the Constitution grants to Congress.”

She has to be applauded but the only practicable date is TODAY.

But the NYT today "But Who’s Against the Next War?" by David Rieff, considering the support (or otherwise) for dealing with Iran ...

"Earlier this year, Vice President Cheney insisted that the administration had not “taken any options off the table” as Iran continued to defy United Nations calls for it to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"Senator Clinton used virtually the same formulation as Vice President Cheney. When dealing with Iran, she insisted, “no option can be taken off the table.”

"Speaking to a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a lobbying group, on March 2, Senator Obama said pretty much the same: the Iranian regime was “a threat to all of us,” and “we should take no option, including military action, off the table.” John Edwards has been even more categorical. In a January speech in Israel, he said, “Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to have nuclear weapons.” And he added, “We need to keep all options on the table.”

Bipartisan Support for U.S.-Israel Relationship says the headline at the AIPAC website crowing that Half the Senate and half of the House were on hand for the AIPAC Policy Conference's Gala Banquet- Bombé Surprise a la Ahmenidijad (with optional cluster bomb sprinkles) was the very popular dessert.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) addressed the event. The next morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) addressed the conference then VP Cheney and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reaffirmed the U.S.-Israel relationship in back-to-back addresses during AIPAC's annual Policy Conference. Vice President Cheney stated the United States would remain "unflinching and steadfast" in its support of the Jewish state. Foreign Minister Livni said that Israelis across the political spectrum "speak with one voice" regarding the Jewish state's ties to America. "We, the people of Israel, cherish this friendship," Livni said.

Find another Lobby Group for an overseas country, for ... anything, that can assemble those speakers and Gala Banquet eaters... oops there is no Zionist Lobby.

Spearmint Rhino . Sleazy lawyers, lap dancing and the VAT man - Taxing self abuse

Tax lawyers are lower than snake's belly and they managed in the High Court on Friday to prevent the notorious London based Spearmint Rhino Gentleman's Club dancing in your lap club from paying Value Added Tax (VAT) on it's dancers (?) earnings. David Milne QC representing Spearmint Rhino argued (succesfully) that the club should not pay because it was the dancer and not the club that provided the services.

This puts the burden for paying on the lap dancers to pay VAT, but if self employed they will have to earn £60,000 a year before they can be VAT registered traders.

Sleazoid Milne QC made the unlikely and comical comparison of lap dancers with concession shops at Airports. Buy a coffee, a camera or a condom at the last minute at Heathrow and you pay the shop not BAA.

Retailers paid for the "privilege of trading in the lucrative departure area" just as the dancers pay for the use of booths at the clubs. Which is total and utter bollocks, retailers at a BAA airport simply pay a rent, fixed in advance under a legal written contract, they maintainn paper records of all their receipts, prepare accounts....

The original ruling was made on the basis that the dancers were the agents of Spearmint Rhino because of the degree of control the club has over them through their Dance Performance Licences. (You Tube Video here) Adult stuff.

Plainly dancers in your lap are employees, and are also covered by HSE and other employment legislation (Sex, Equality etc., pension rights ).... unless they have detailed , agreed in advance, legal contracts, which is hardly the stock in trade of the nameless prickteasers .. (Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Ward described the club's aim in an earlier case as "to tease and not to satisfy" - a man with some experience it seems.) more likely illegal Albanians and Bulgarians under the watchful eye of a pimp... although SR claim "To audition and work at Spearmint Rhino you must provide identification and a current proof of address in the UK." yeah , sure. They also add..

Dancers are considered Independent Contractors by both Spearmint Rhino and the Inland Revenue. As a Spearmint Rhino dancer, you will be liable for any and all taxation payments thereof.

SR claimed Dance Performance Licences requires the dancers to try to maximise sales and entertainment; pay damages to the club if they miss a session that they have booked and are subject to a code of conduct governing their contact with the clients.

So you are also paying VAT (remember this when you stuff the knickers with your grubby fivers of a bored Post Graduate student trying to pay the rent.Ho.Ho.Ho.) for a lap dancer, but you won't pay VAT say on children's clothing, food, repairs to Listed Buildings, books, newspapers, pharmaceuticals....

...and since Wednesday after the Chancellor sat down and revealed details of his new Remote Gambling Duty of 15%, you will NOT pay VAT on any gambling you may do on the Internet with a UK based "Remote Gambling " company.

One of the most insane, unreasonable tax reliefs one can imagine.

Meanwhile as HMRC are worrying themselves about how much the retreived banknotes and IOU's from the pudenda of dancers in your lap, £400Mn. a month is disapperaing in Carousel fraud. Onbe might wonder just how many visits it required the HMRC enforcement staff to investigate exactly how the clubs operate - strictly undercovers you understand.

The Daily Mail :Tony Blair - Guilty by Association

The Daily Mail and it's snivelling Sunday stable companion Mail on Sunday are disgusting newspapers. The smell or ordure from their stable reeks, no more than the body odour probably of the people with no conscience or morals who write and edit this bilge.

Today under a screaming headline with the suggestive sub heading, "Lord Levy said 'Not now Tony' and went......."

Mr and Mrs Coventry, like many people with lots of money and a keen social conscience were happy to pay £1,000 for the tickets to a New Labour fund raiser at the London Hilton when asked by Jane Hogarth, who claimed she was head of "public relations and fundraising" (?) for the Party. He is a blameless former travel agent from the Wirral, she a beautiful, talented and very hardworking film actress.

They are also - not that they brag about it, NOT in the search for a peerage because they are the Count and Countess of Rozel.

"Lord Levy introduced us to Mr Blair. We talked about his vision for the future and he praised America's strong leadership." explained Courtney Coventry.(see pic)

The discussion then turned to children. He said he wished he could spend more time with his. Courtney, evidently at ease having found a subject of common interest sympathised with Tony, "I said it must be hard being PM and raising children."

The following day they found they couldn't refuse when Lord Levy pestered them with an invitation to tea on the terrace at the House of Lords, they couldn't refuse his apparent oily charm when offered a long escorted tour of Tony Blair's home at historic 10 Downing Street.

Fortunately Lord Levy was rumbled by the Count and his wife and no more funds will be lining the coffers of New Labour from the Rozel fortunes - you don't pull the jersey over Courtney's eyes that easily my friends!

Lord Levy

In case the people who write this bilge don't know it, Lord Levy has ....

1. Been interviewed by the Metropolitan Police several times
2. He has been released on Police Bail
3. His name has been dragged through the mud for selling Coronets for Cash
4. In another sporting scandal he is said to have "lost" at game of tennis with the Prime Minister to gain favour.
5. He was at school in Hackney with the Head of Mossad
6. His is known as Lord "Stand & Deliver"
7. More that we dare not disclose ...yet

..and these scribblers, filling their pens in the sewers of Fleet Street, drinking vitriol, spewing bile, suggest preposterously and without foundation, that this creature has the ear of the prime Minister, that he can arrange Tea on the Terrace, a private visit round historic No 10 Downing Street ... what utter filth.

Whilst Tony Blair may have his faults ....... his teeth are a bit dodgy, his hair is receding and he is not getting any slimmer these days .. and his choice of ties .. when he wears one! To associate his name with this bouffant haired, stack heeled, karaoke singing midget, with his gaudily ringed fingers in so many pies.... is outrageous.

Of course the Daily Mail knows all about Guilt by Association. Throw enough mud and hope it sticks eh! Rupert Murdoch! We know your game.

Feast your eyes again on the glamorous Courtney Coventry the Countess of Rozel.

Canadian, US fighters conduct joint training 'ooop North

The North American Aerospace Defence Command - NORAD (who performed so well on 9/11 in defending the nation - you know "Deter - Detect - Defend") conduct regular training with its regional support units/ This enables them to maintain and validate procedures and readiness levels for response in emergency situations. NORAD airborne early warning assets and air-to-air refuelling tankers play important roles in safe-guarding the sovereignty of U.S. and Canadian airspace. (It says here) The commander of NORAD is responsible for land, aerospace and sea defenses of the United States. He commands United States forces that operate within the United States in support of civil authorities.

Canadian and US aircraft supporting NORAD are to conduct joint training in the Canadian North early next week. They will practice conducting joint long-range detection missions in the region of Whitehorse, Yukon. These missions test the ability of NORAD that enable detection and identification of unknown aircraft.

Maj.-Gen. Charlie Bouchard, Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD HQ is really excited at the prospect ..." As a bi-national command, we train to ensure the defence of North America” he said when asked.

These war games will involve lengthy preparation (check the fuel, battery, kick the tyres) of Canadian CF-18 Hornets and a CC-130T Hercules air-to-air refuelling tanker, US F-15 Eagles, a KC-135 refuelling tanker (only one) , and an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.

Let's hope it isn't one of those pesky exercises that got in the fucking way when North America was really under threat. Check, what is VP Cheney doing next week ? If he's in hospital again democracy will be safe for a bit longer.

Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr. (pic) became the 20th commander of NORAD Friday, taking over from Adm. Timothy J. Keating, who is scheduled to assume command of U.S. Pacific Command March 26 in Hawaii. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates awarded Keating the Defense Distinguished Service Medal before presiding over the USNORTHCOM change of command at Petersen Air Force Base, Colo. Renuart had been appointed to defence Secretary Gates's staff as a senior military assistant in August -Pic is of 3 war criminals who threaten Homeland Security March 23rd 2003 - 2 down, only one to go.

Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Rick Hillier awarded Keating the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross and said ...

"No two sovereign nations in the world, except for Canada and the United States, have such a unique command structure,.... has enhanced the security of both our countries."

During Keating's tenure, NORAD and USNORTHCOM began the process of integrating into a single command center "to serve two nations better," Hillier said. "We fully support that ... and our shoulder is behind anything that gives us efficacy and efficiency whilst continuing to give us a powerful and positive effect."

Gen. Renuart said....

"We consider our shared and peaceful border a perfect metaphor for the relationship of two distinct yet joined partners," he said, adding that NORAD and USNORTHCOM share an "ever-progressive" and "continually evolving" relationship with Mexico. The collaboration ... with both these nations really does reinforce the security of our homeland,"

Gen. Renuart told the Senate Senate Armed Services Committee on March 9th at his confirmation hearing ...

"If confirmed, I’ll join the men and women of NORAD and NORTHCOM in dedicating ourselves to the defense of the homeland,” he said. “We’ll work closely with our federal and state partners, our interagency partners, the National Guard, and the countries of Canada and Mexico, with whom we maintain a close relationship.”

General Renuart has strong interest and Background in the use of UAV's for strategic reconnaissance"UAV's such as Predator and Global Hawk" he says, "have become such an important tool for our decision makers -- operational battlefield decision makers and strategic decision makers"

So..if you see one over your house...

At the handing over ceremony General Renuart didn't get any medals, judging by the pic he has more than enough already.More than many DPRK general's we have known.

Woolmer Murder Mystery : Plod keeps plodding : Amazing Pictures

News of the World 25th March 2007

Former Metropolitan Police officer Mark Shields, who is now the island's Deputy Commissioner, said:"There is a strong possibility that the person, or persons, who committed the crime have already left Jamaica. "

..... A coroner on the Caribbean island said that the inquest, with a jury, will be held "as soon as is practical".

UPDATE Sunday 25th 5.00 pm GMT

BBC report on Radio 4 News and ONline that after one week the Video fillum from the CCTV cameras on Floor 16 have been received by the Police - these are "delicate" and are being converted to digital format. Let's hope that ;

1. The Fillums haven't been accidentally damaged
2. That an adequate record of ownership for evidential purposes is available
3. The tapes haven't been accidentally over written
4. The conversion process does damage the original tape
5. The camera (s ?) was / were working correctly

One has to say the breathtaking speed of securing the murder scene, the evidence, people who may be involved or eyewitnesses is remarkable.... no chance of this one running into the sand Sarge.... Hats off to Former Metropolitan Police officer Mark Shields.

What's the betting that he gets a result in Pakistan, Jamaica, India or maybe no result at all... there's a guy in Karachi who will give you great odds he has several Indian passports K 650098 dated July 30, 1975, Mumbai. M 110522 dated November 13, 1978, Mumbai. P 537849 dated July 30, 1979, Mumbai. R 841697 dated November 26, 1981, Mumbai. V 57865 dated January 3, 1983, Mumbai. A 333602 dated June 4, 1985, Mumbai. A 501801 dated July 26, 1985, Mumbai.F 823692 dated September 2, 1989, Mumbai.

A Pakistani Passport G 866537 dated August 12, 1991, Rawalpindi,
A UAE passport (No.-A717288) in August, 1985
A Yemeni (No.-F823692) in September, 1989.

He probably has many many more.

Interpol issued a note about him with 2 Pakistani addresses in Karachi and hints at his 'possible'hideout at NU 37, 30th Street, Defence Housing Authority. The second one is mentioned as White House, near Saudi Mosque, Clifton Road.

Interpol now recognises Dawood as part of the worldwide terror syndicate of Osama bin Laden whose Al-Qaida is lead member of the 17-member World Jihad Council.

The note from Interpol, was sent on April 4th 2006 to all 184-member countries asking them to freeze the D-company CEO's assets, place a travel ban and arms embargo as "Dawood is the subject of UN's anti-terrorism sanctions."

False Passports / World Cup / Interpol

Interpol Law enforcement officers in the Caribbean have identified scores of stolen and lost travel documents since technical solutions developed by Interpol were deployed at airports and seaports in the nine host countries of the Cricket World Cup. (They have a database of 12 million recorded stolen travel documents that were reported lost in the last 3 years)

One hit occurred on 16 March at Barbados Intl. airport , immigration officers using the MIND / FIND software to search Interpol’s database identified a Nigerian man who claimed to have been naturalized in Venezuela was traveling on a stolen Venezuelan passport.The man was arrested upon landing in Guyana. His intention was to travel on to Brazil and Venezuela.

Interpol worked with the host countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago – to expedite the installation of MIND/FIND before the tournament. The border-protection system currently in place is among the most advanced in the world.

An Interpol Major Event Support Team (IMEST) is on the ground in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to assist officers from host countries’ NCBs and international liaison officers at the Regional Intelligence Fusion Center.

Woolmer Murder Mystery - Plod plods : Amazing pictures

"Now Ireland has her madness and her weather still"
W H Auden Muse des Beaux Arts

Lord Patel had reason to employ a private detective. He chose an ex Greater Manchester cop with excellent Masonic credentials - he had retired from the force after having returned from UK Home Office secondment the Caribbean to interdict drug supplies using the island as an entrepot port on the way from South America to the USA and Europe.

He told Lord Patel how he arrived and discovered a history from his predecessor of missed arrests, arrivals too late to catch the the smugglers red handed, unexplained losses of evidence, documents ..

Bright eyed and bushy tailed he set to work and soon the captures soared and a few boat drivers and low lifes were cooling their heels. London were thrilled.

Interrupted one day , some 6 months into his 2 year contract, by a phone call from a man with a direct manner, but courteous and with a distinctively South American voice, he was pleased to be congratulated on his success. His surprise caller then went on to detail his wife and children, the schools they went to, their cars, their routes to school, trips to the beach.

"What did you do ?" asked Lord Patel inocccently.
"Well, what would you do?" he said.

So 18 months later having done what Lord Patel would have done, he returned to the UK, with a sorry tale of missed arrests, arrivals too late to catch the the smugglers red handed, unexplained losses of evidence, documents ..

All of which makes one wonder about Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields in Jamaica, (Shields of the Yard) from the Met., 6' 6", square jawed and masonic in outlook who took 5 days to discover Bob Woolmer had been strangled to death.

“We’ve been speaking to the doctors and we think it is either stress or a heart attack,” Russell Woolmer, his elder son, said on Wednesday. “There was a lot of stress in his job and it may have been stress that caused it.”

The Times reports today (Saturday) (pic AFP date 19/4/07)...

" .....a struggle of such violence that, when he finally lay lifeless on the white-tiled bathroom floor, the walls were splattered high and wide with vomit, his body was surrounded by pools of blood and excrement, and a bone in his neck had snapped."

"Last night Jamaican police were focusing closely on a possible match-fixing connection." says Tim Reid in Kingston for Rupe's Rag the Times .... TODAY. You have to hand it to those Scene of Crime (SOCO's) in Jamaica they don't jump to conclusions.

"Mr Shields said that results from an examination of tissue and fluid samples removed from his body had yet to be delivered to police, refusing to be more specific, " looks like the pathologists don't jump to conclusions either.

Another report just in says ...2 hotel maids from the 16th Floor, have been sent on holiday and have been told by Police not to talk to anyone about what they have seen.

Readers will recall Lord Patel remarked early in the week, upon the proximity to sunny Jamaica of bookie Khwaja Arif Pappu who is a man who has frequent contact with gangster Dawood Ibrahim... and the clearly organised mobs in Multan, burning effigies of Woolmer and Imzi and calling for their death.

Dawood Ibrahim

Tricky customer yer Mr Dawood Ibrahim - Wikipedia will give you a life, but don't believe too much. Anyway he may be 5' 4'' tall and have a "mole on his left eyebrow" and that he is also "involved in extortion, forgery and cheating".

His early life is fuzzy and he has been connected to the Mumbai underworld don Karim Lala in his early years with the mob. Taking over he is claimed to run multi-billion dollar vice empire covering prostitution, gambling and drugs.

He has been blamed for the Mumbai bombingsd in 1993, when 257 people died and over 700 others were wounded. The bombings were believed to be carried out in revenge for the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in riots in 1992 blamed on the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party.

He also runs Bollywood - nobody has refused an invitation to star in one of his fillums.

His Bollywood connections were on open display when he was seen on television sitting with a number of leading stars and watching international cricket matches in the Gulf city of Sharjah in the 90's - but no photographs seem to have survived.

If this were not enough he is also a (according to the FBI / CIA / MI6 and THE Lady dame Pauline Neville Fan Club) a leading light behind Al Quaeda. What is certain is that he was certainly behind the massive VAT carousel fraud which caused Dubai's £200 MN jump in exports to the UK in 2006 starting in May.

Javed Miandad

The former Pakistani cricket captain is remarkably close to Dawood Ibrahim. Simply his son, Oxford educated Junaid Miandad married Mahrukh Ibrahim in Karachi / Dubai in July 2005 (BBC) It was the cause of comment that the President pervez Mushariff snubbed the wedding party - through whom he had connections through his deputy Aziz, a frequent companion of Dawood at the racetrack.

For those anxious for deatil which can be relied upon , the marriage proposal was first mooted in December 2004 by Dawood's wife, Mehajabeen alias Zubeena Zareen, to the Mrs Miandad. "We Muslims believe that marriages are made in Heaven and we don't challenge destiny" Mr M was to say later. An offer she found impossible to refuse and it was swiftly followed by a low profile engagement ceremony in Karachi.. The engagement was not made public since Dawood Ibrahim is not meant to be residing on Pakistani soil after being declared a globally designated terrorist.

This liason was certainly fated because the 2 families have had close connections for decades. Mr D had invested (laundered) a huge chunk of his black money in the business and industrial ventures of the filthy rich Sehgals of Karachi, good old Javed Miandad's in laws.

The Sehgals strongly refute having been involved in any business deal with Dawood .. naturally .
Dawood's underworld connects and business ventures are extensive, and he sublets his name in Pakistan, Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, to franchises in the fields of drug trafficking and gambling dens.

Dawood got involved in match-fixing over a decade ago, and had many Pakistani cricket players were on his pay rolls , who earned and gambled huge sums of money.

His interest in cricket apparently remains undiminished and after his glamorous appearances in Sharjah one-dayers when he had top Indian actors and actresses at his beck and call, Dawood now calls the shots in Pakistan.

With Dawood's backing Miandad was able to survive as captain of the Pakistan cricket team for a long time despite facing tough opposition from other players and his being named in several match-fixing scams. The committee headed by Justice Qayyum, had established a direct link between Dawood and many of the Pakistani players.... but of course did fuck all about it.

Javed Miandad - gave evidence and was asked why he quit the job abruptly before the World Cup after guiding the team to victory in Sharjah. He then claimed that during Pakistan's second match against England, he got a call from someone (whom he did not , or did not want to want to name), who told him the game was fixed and that Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Azhar Mehmood, Salim Malik and Inzamam-ul Haq had taken money to throw the match.

Miandad told Qayyum, that "he was so angry he forced Akram to talk to the man immediately."

Akram, in his evidence before Qayyum, admitted he did talk to someone called Dawood Ibrahim on the phone and was told the match was fixed. Miandad asked Akram to make the players take an oath on the Koran, but Akram did not do so because it was not available at the ground.

Miandad has deposed that he was furious at the team during the break as England, who were struggling at 40 for five wickets and had scored 206. He also said before he realised what was happening, five Pakistan batsmen were out and the team was bowled out for 144 runs in the 35th over.

Passions run high in Asian cricket and amongst it's followers... there is a All India Anti-Terrorist Front and when the Miandads and the Dawood marriage was to happen they sought a ban on the entry of Javed Miandad

"If ever Miandad enters India, the Front will take its own course of action to stop him. The Front warns the Indian Government that Miandad should never be allowed to enter into India,"

It might also be worth remembering that when Woolmer was brought in 3 prominent Pakistani cricketers objected ... Javed Miandad,(married into the Mr D clan) Imran Khan, (“What could be the motives for killing Bob Woolmer? he said to Reuters) and Sarfaraz Nawaz. (who was claiming on Monday it was a Mafia backed murder, part of a match-fixing plot)

The Times ... again ... "Yesterday police were studying CCTV footage of the corridor leading to Woolmer’s room in an attempt to learn who killed him and why. Mark Shields, Deputy Commissioner of the Jamaica police and a former Scotland Yard detective, conceded to The Times that it was proving inconclusive."

.. but maybe they have some good pictures of a murder by Police in Stockwell tube station perhaps.

Anyway, they have taken the DNA samples from the Pakistan team and they are free to escape return to Pakistan... let's just hope they don't lose them, or get them contaminated, or mix them up.

The ICC, and the Boycotts, and the Aggers, like to present the image of a clean game for the paying public .... but to choose at random, West Indian swashbuckling and electrifying batsman Marlon Samuels was key to the West Indies' fortunes at the World Cup.

He was recorded talking to an Indian bookmaker who was already under surveillance for his links to a renowned Indian gangster ... well , well, well it was Dawood Ibrahim.

Transcripts show Samuels revealing details of the make-up of the West Indian team, including that he was to be bowling in the "17th or 18th" over of a one-day match against India in the city of Nagpur.

Samuels, was allowed to play (by the ICC !) in the World Cup and he vehemently denies ''match-fixing'' .... the Windies unexpectedly beat Pakistan.

A notorious gangster, Bab - loo Srivastava, has appeared on one of the many Indian TV channels on Thursday and said Dawood Ibrahim, was behind Woolmers's murder. "The Pakistan-Ireland match must have been fixed," Srivastava said. "The D-Company (Ibrahim’s gang) may have lots of money at stake. Woolmer may have got an inkling of the fixing and hence he was killed."

Now Lord Patel is founder of Sceptics Anonymous, " he may not know much about cricket but he knows when something is not right". Woolmer was there, and knew a lot of what went on during the match fixing scandal in which Hansie Cronje was nailed and named and shamed his colleagues. The King Commission never called him ..... yet his team were taking bribes amounting into 100's of thousands of US$'s

Fixed fixtures, bent batsmen, ball tamperers, they seem to dog his tracks ...

.. and now we have the "painstaking patience" of Shields of the Yard.....

A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,
Loitered about that vacancy; a bird
Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:
That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,
Were axioms to him, who’d never heard
Of any world where promises were kept
Or one could weep because another wept.

September 1, 1939
W H Auden

Harmless Flutterers Part 2 : Brown takes the Bookies for a ride

Currently the UK Gubment raises revenue from gambling by 6 different duties (taxes by another name)

1. General Betting Duty applies to bets made with bookmakers, betting exchanges and the Tote.
2. Pool Betting Duty applies to the football pools and fantasy football competitions.
3. Gaming Duty applies to casino games played on licenced premises.
4. Amusement Machine License Duty taxes dutiable amusement and gaming machines.
5. Bingo Duty applies to commercial bingo.
6. Lottery Duty is paid by the National Lottery.

Anyone resident in the UK can access, and play, so called Remote Gaming. This involves dealing with overseas based operators and basically refers to the activities of Internet / Web based organisations - which US residents cannot legally do due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Lightly regulated (if at all) they are based in such exotic locationsd as Kahnawake, Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Netherland Antilles, but also in EU countries such as Gibralter, Malta and Cyprus. (Chart shows language / sex / age of internet gamblers)

The Gambling Act 2005 (which does not cover NI) will make it legal for a remote gaming operator to locate in Great Britain, and be regulated under UK jurisdiction, for the first time. This reflects the obsession by Mrs Tessa Jowell's Department for Culture, Media and Sport to extend the scope and accessibility of gambling to UK residents. There are incidentally 5 such gambling organisation registered in the Isle of Man where they pay a licence of £35,000 and then tax that is paid on gross gaming yield in 3 bands 1.5% on £20 million, 0.5% on £20-£40 Mn and 0.1% over £40 Mn.

For some extraordinary and no doubt historical reason gambling is regulated under the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements Order 1985 in Northern Ireland.

Faced with the prospect of remote gambling being located in the UK the nose picking Chancellor (Brown the Bogyman) was faced with the potential to rake in more money and saw there were three avenues to participating in this new group of potential taxpayers.

A: Do nothing. Ho.Ho.Ho.
B: Extend the scope of the existing gaming duty regime to capture remote gaming activity on the net receipts (payments received minus winnings paid out).
C: Create a new duty of excise known as ‘remote gaming duty’ on the net receipts (payments received minus winnings paid out).

He decided on the third option and the primary legislation for Remote Gaming Duty was planned (after "consultation" with the "industry" to be contained within the Finance Bill 2007.

Well it was ,and the gamblers of the world were united in their grief when Gordon did 2 things.

1. He set the Remote Gaming Duty in line with land-based bookmakers and bingo firms at 15 %. The major bettors had been gambling on rates of 2/3% as promised by Mrs Tess Jowell and her legions of demented supporters.

2. Having upset the Remote Gamblers he also hit the smaller casino operators and scrapped the lowest Gaming Duty rate for the smallest casinos and created a new, higher, 50 % tax band for the most profitable ones

Internet gambling firms looking to locate back to Britain from tax havens such as Gibraltar and Cyprus were dismayed at the 15% tax rate... but Remote gambling will not be liable for VAT - which seems a curious concession, sitting alongside fod and children's clothes.

Some had predicted Remote Gaming Duty would be as low as 2 or 3 percent after having listened too closely to Mrs Tessa Jowell and her demented advisers. Oddly, the Daily Torygraph (the Punters Friend) had been peddling "unsourced" stories on Friday February 23rd, that the duty would be in the range of 2/3 %.

"The Remote Gaming Duty has been set breathtakingly high, it will do nothing to attract the existing offshore industry onshore and it may indeed have the contrary effect,"

BDO Stoy Hayward tax principal Martin Dane is quoted in the Scotsman. Well thank the Lord for that.“This sounds the death knell for the Government’s aspiration to be the world leader in regulated remote gaming.” he added. Good.

There is a body called the Remote Gambling Association and it has a chairman called John Coates, not happy man ....."With the additional VAT and corporation tax for most companies, it would be almost impossible for a UK-based operation to compete with offshore businesses, especially those located in other EU jurisdictions," (seeming it appears to have missed the VAT concession - but who says gamblers have to be honest ?)

"This decision means that the UK has effectively turned its back on the industry," he added. Clive Hawkswood, its chief executive, said the Government "has missed a real opportunity to lead the way in terms of international regulatory standards".Good.

Having upset the Remote Gamblers he also hit the smaller casino operators and scrapped the lowest tax rate for the smallest casinos and created a new, higher, 50 % tax band for the most profitable ones - which will send the Las Vegas style gamblers back to their pocket calculators , to do their sums again. Last year the Treasury take on gambling duties from casinos was £175 Mn. Next year Treasury hopes to raise an extra £35 million a year from the increase in gaming duty from current casinos and increase of 20%.

An immediate consequence was, Rank warned , that the changes would wipe 20 percent off the annual profits of its casinos... for example its Grosvenor Casinos, - Gross Profit £39.5 million pounds in 2006, would fall by 8 million pounds a year as a result of the higher taxes. Rank's shares slumped more than 8 percent ... 240p to 212 at the weekend. See chart (Yahoo). They have 33 UK casinos and 130 UK Bingo clubs - profits 2006, £44Mn. on TO of £560Mn. with 24,323 employees - down 1,000 on the year.

The level of Remote Gaming Duty will also scupper talks that Ladbroke have been having to acquire 888.com "The Worlds No 1 Onlone Casino and Poker Room", to hit the ground running for a UK based businesse.

No doubt another consequence will be a distinct froideur between Mrs Tessa Jowell and her chums in the gambling "industry" - and, one might reasonably guess that Presbyterian, son of the Manse, Gordon won't be welcome to those fabulous "swinging parties" the Jowell's were / are, renowned for, at their modest country mansion.

Gordon also managed to upset the fragrant party loving Lady Cobham and mistress of David Mellor, chairman of the British Casino Association, who said the Budget changes would cost operators GBP100 million over three years - which is exactly in line with Treasury expectations. Evidently she didn't appreciate what such a sterling job her members were doing according to Gordon .."“to ensure that this vibrant and expanding sector continues to make a fair contribution to tax receipts”.. no doubt she can relax and enjoy the benefits of being a Director with her Mellors of Partridge Fine Arts, of New Bond Street, once purveyors of fine Antiques to Queen Mary ... and there is an ane auld tale , .... Partridges going for a song.

Should you want to see Brown the Bogyman pickin' his nose and chewin' it try this on You Tube ugghhh!!

Or visit 888,com and ...

21/7 Bombers - Kamlish..What did he know and when did he know it.... who is Mr Asiedu Marquaye Abubakari ??

Stephen Kamlish QC (Tooks Chambers - Prop. M Mansfield)was a counsel to the Stephen Lawrence family, and represented Dr. Harold Shipman. He is acting on behalf of Manfo Kwaku Asiedu 33, who appears to be separating himself physically (he is now sat elsewhere in the dock) andlegally by providing evidence that is unhelpful to his co- defendents in the 21/7 bombing case at the Old Bailey.

Encouraged by his brief, Kamlish, Asiedu said that Muktar Said Ibrahim 29, wanted to carry out something "bigger and better than 7/7".

Stephen Kamlish QC said he had documentary evidence proving Mr Ibrahim, Khan and Tanweer were all in Pakistan at the same time. he asked Ibrahim who he describes as the "emir" of the plot...

"Has there been any discussion between you and them on how to make effective bombs to start a bombing campaign in this country, the first of which was 7/7, the second of which was going to be 21/7?" he asked - which suggests that he is acting more for the prosecution than the defence.

Ibrahim replied: "No."

He then went on to say

"The only two occasions on which the authorities in this country had ever come across an improvised explosive device made from hydrogen peroxide and an organic substance was the 7th of July and the 21st of July."

"Yes," Mr Ibrahim replied.

Which is very curious because there has never been any evidence produced from the scene of the crimes on the tubes or the bus in Tavistock Square that the devices used were based on peroxide based explosives.

There has been much talk of such devices and a lot of hocus pocus, including photographs of devices allegedly found in the boot of a car (which car seems very unclear) at Luton Station - evidence which surfaced curiously in America and not from the Metropolitan Police... and about which Sgt Clark the Sphincter of the Yard remains curiously and resolutely silent.

Curiously Clifford Todd, principal forensic investigator, head of the Forensic Explosives Laboratory in Kent was in charge of dealing with the unknown explosive material (found in the bags on the trains and bus). When first alerted to the four scenes of crime he said there was very little scientific evidence to go on he explained to the court on 8th March 2007.

"Uppermost in our minds were the events of July 7. At that time we were reasonably sure that hydrogen peroxide and organic fuels were concerned in that case. "It looked as though it might be similar, but we had no actual evidence." The forensic specialist, who has 20 years of experience, said he had never come across hydrogen peroxide-based bombs before. BBC 9th March 2007

Clifford Todd, principal forensic investigator, head of the Forensic Explosives Laboratory in Kent with 20 years experience was "reasonably sure that hydrogen peroxide and organic fuels were concerned in that case" ... "he had never come across hydrogen peroxide-based bombs before."

So will someone ask Mr Ibrahim;

1. Where he obtained the evidence that the 7/7 bombs were "improvised explosive device(s) made from hydrogen peroxide and an organic substance"

2. Who provided it to him.

3. When it was provided to him.

Because it appears,he knows something that the Metropolitan Police and Mr Todd don't know... . The kicker is of course, given that Ibrahim agreed with Kamlish's proposition, that HE also knew that the 7/7 bombs were peroxide based.

A point that the highly trained, Rolls Royce mind of Mr Kamlish QC, passed over... and the same with Ibrahim's sleeping brief Mr Carter-Stephenson QC (he acted for an acquitted defendent in the hilarious "Ricin" but no "ricin" plot / laboratory case).

Curious man Mr Manfo Kwaku Asiedu - a man described in court as of "no fixed abode" but who was at the time of arrest living with Yassin Omar. At whose flat MR Asiedu has helpfully explained there was a booby trap bomb which would set London alight.

The prosecution say he came to the UK in 2003 from Ghana on a passport in the name of George Nanak Marquaye ... but they say he may also be Sumaila Abubakari but his nationality is unclear - looks a handy man for the prosecution to know all about.

Oddly there IS a Mr. Kwaku Asiedu Manfo, who is the the son of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Dr K.K. Manfo, in Ghana, who lives in London who is mightily embarassed at the use of his name as it appears somehow the bogus Mr Manfo Kwaku Asiedu has appropriated it and used it to secure a parking permit in Finchley. He lives in a hostel and appears to have mislaid his passport.

The Hydrogen Peroxide was purchased by Asiedu (accompanied and caught on CCTV (one that worked) with Ibrahim, at Sally's Hair and Beauty Supplies in Finchley, which he visited 4 times and bought hundreds of litres of the fluid hair bleach)

All very, very odd.... Perhaps someone should ask Mr Todd back to tell us all exactly what the 7/7 bombs (all of them) were made of.

Very, very odd.

This information about the exchanges in court today, came from BBC 2 Newsnight tonight and the Guradian story , the background from previous BBC / Press stories in UK / Ghana etc wher not linked.,.

A revised system for harmful Drug classification

Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse -The Lancet 2007; 369:1047-1053 23rd March 2007
Prof David Nutt , Leslie A King PhD , William Saulsbury & Prof Colin Blakemore

The capacity of humans to harm themselves with self medicated drugs, legal or illegal is remarkable. In response their use is regulated by a byzantine system that is somewhat like Topsy .. it er ... just growed.

Harmful drugs are now regulated in the UK and eslewhere according to statutory classification systems that purport to relate to the perceived harms and risks of each drug. It is evident that the system in use is not systematic. It is not evidence based. It is illogical and irrational.

e.g Evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. Para 83

On the matter of why psilocin, one of the hallucinogenic compounds found in magic mushrooms, was in Class A, Sir Michael told us: "it is there because it is there […] there have been very few publications on psilocin. It has hardly been investigated at all"

Drug misuse is a major social, legal, and public-health problem and it places a huge burden on cash, resources and manpower. In the UK this is estimated at £10-16 Bn a year.

Current methods to counter drug misuse are;

1. Interdiction of supply (Police / Customs / NHS monitoring)
2. Education - although it is not directly the responsibility or function of any department of State - much of it is done by private charities.
3. Treatment - which is handled by a mix of NHS, Social Services, prisons, and private charities.

Currently all illegal drugs are classified under the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971 A, B, and C— intended to indicate the dangers of each drug, class A being the most harmful and class C the least. The consequences of this affect both the determining of the legal penalties for importation, supply, and possession, but the degree of police / prison effort targeted at restricting its use.

Elsewhere drug classification systems are used that purport to be structured according to the relative risks and dangers of illicit drugs. The process of classification is unclear ill-defined, opaque, and apparently arbitrary.

The authors have attempted to arrive at a novel, logical, consistent ascending/descending classification for the most frequently used drugs in Western Society.

First they identify 3 principal factors -

Physical Harm

Damage to organs or systems— effect on physiological functions—eg, respiratory and cardiac—is a major determinant of physical harm. The mrthod of administration is relevant intravenous use —eg, heroin—carry a high risk of causing sudden death from respiratory depression. Tobacco and alcohol cause illness and death as a result of chronic long term use. Long-term cigarette smoking reduces life expectancy, on average, by 10 years. Tobacco and alcohol together account for about 90% of all drug-related deaths in the UK.

Dependence

The pleasure induced by drugs has essentially 2 components - the initial, rapid effect (the rush) and the euphoria that follows this, often extending over several hours (the high). The rush's intesity is directly realted to the speed the drug hits the brain - hence the street response to formulate drugs in ways that allow them to be injected intravenously or smoked - so the hit only takes 30 seconds. The nasal mucosa provides an amazing rapid response for cocaine. Medically many drugs are supplied as anal suppositories as the rectum is rich in blood vessels and provides fast uptake (often used for Valium) - there doesn't appear to be any such formulations in use ...yet.

Social effects

Intoxication, however induced damages the person, their ability to work, their family and has widespread effects and costs borne by health care, social care, and police.

Drug use leads to accidental damage to the user, to others, and to property directly or indirectly by driving motor vehicles, using machinery. Addiction leads to criminal activity to fund the habit and has secondaru effects on family life, nutrition and ability to work.

Use of drugs causes immense health-care costs. Tobacco is estimated to cause up to 40% of all hospital illness and 60% of drug-related fatalities. Alcohol is involved in over half of all visits to accident and emergency departments and orthopaedic admissions.

Intravenous use of drugs helps also spread needle borne diseases, HIV, MDRTB, and Hepatitis with further consequences and costs for society.

Designing the system

Assessment of harm

The authors designed a straightforward2 dimensional matrix with 12 risk factors - created by dividing each of the three major categories of harm into four subgroups, described above. A four-point scale, with 0 being no risk, 1 some, 2 moderate, and 3 extreme risk is 4 .

Experts were then asked to score the drugs surveyed and a remarkably coherent view was reached, which although to a degree subjective and arbitrary was undertaken by a standard route. The average of the results obtained is given.

The results show that the current system in use in the UK is not consistent - as the authors conclude -

"The results of this study do not provide justification for the sharp A, B, or C divisions of the current classifications in the UK Misuse of Drugs Act. Distinct categorisation is, of course, convenient for setting of priorities for policing, education, and social support, as well as to determine sentencing for possession or dealing. But neither the rank ordering of drugs nor their segregation into groups in the Misuse of Drugs Act classification is supported by the more complete assessment of harm described here."

There three charts provided, that are the most useful way to understand their method and results.

1 Mean harm scores for 20 substances

2. Mean independent group scores in each of the three categories of harm, for 20 substances, ranked by their overall score, and mean scores for each of the three subscales
3. The 20 substances assessed, showing their current status under the Misuse of Drugs Act
Other organisations (eg, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (A) and the CAM committee of the Dutch government(B) are currently exploring other risk assessment systems, some of which are also numerically based.

Let us hope that this will lead to a more rational understanding of the problems drug use, both legal and illegal, and bring to the discussion of public policy and the associated plans for dealing with it, by the law, health, prison and educational systems.

(A) EMCDDA. Guidelines for the risk assessment of new synthetic drugs. Luxembourg: EMCDDA, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1999.

(B) van Amsterdam JDC, Best W, Opperhuizen A, de Wolff FA. Evaluation of a procedure to assess the adverse effects of illicit drugs. Regul Pharmacol Toxicol 2004; 39: 1-4.

This paper was prepared as Appendix 10 to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. Drug classification: making a hash of it? Fifth Report of Session 2005–06, 2006 (see also here Nick at the Scientist Activist)

US housing stocks 20% higher than 1 year ago - coitus interruptus - a messy way to go

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) report Total US home sales were at 6.94 million-unit per year rate in February 2006 and has dropped to 6.69 Mn, this year.

US Housing stock rose to 3.7 mn ( 3.0 Mn in Feb 206) existing homes for sale equivalent to a supply of 6.7 months sales . Current inventory is way down from October's record of 3.86 Mn.

The 5 year nationwide housing boom expanded home - ownership to a record number of U.S. households - a record 69.3 % of U.S. households are home owners. Now the defaulters are kicking in , failing uber optimistic subprime mortgage companies are going bust or being sold at deep discounts.....and those unsold houses keep stacking up. 3 Mn. 12 months ago, 3.75 Mn. today.

Reality Bite No 1-From July 1989 to January 1991 new house home sales slumped 45% and about 1.1 Mn. jobs or 1% of all U.S. jobs were lost.
Subprime lenders :
Ameriquest Mortgage Co. in Irvine
California; Ownit Mortgage Solutions LLC
WMC Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of General Electric Co., in Woodland Hills, California Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. in Middletown, Connecticut
Fremont General Corp (U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. stopped them making loans 2 weeks ago)
..... have between them slimmed payrolls by more than 5,600 workers in the past year and many more are going daily.

It is now increasingly accepted that the aggressive sub prime market is going to see foreclosures between 1.5 Mn and 2.00 Mn in the next 18n months. The main causes ;

1. Borrowers didn't have to provide tax returns or other evidence of income
2. Finance exceeded 100 % or more of the home's value
3. Adjustable-rate mortgages with artificially low introductory “teaser” rates
4. "Option” payment plans that allowed borrowers to defer interest
5. Fraud by purchasers who misrepresented themselves or their finances to a lender - often buyers "flipping" sales to generate capital returns.
6. Re-mortgaging , so folks could treat their house as an ATM - buy that boat, take that break, pay for the bride's dress etc., (variation on point 2 above) Cry of "this one's on the House!"

Reality Bite No 2- Outstanding mortgage debt has increased by $9.5 trillion in the past 4 years

Securitisation and Credit Derivatives

Of course the debt starts with Mr & Mrs John Doe - it leads to a long trail of what the Wall Street Money Jugglers called credit derivatives and a strange beast called collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs.

Apparently it all began many years ago when a smart guy called Lewis Ranieri, was working as an investment banker at the old Salomon Brothers. His BIG idea was to buy mortgages from bank lenders, bundling them up and issuing bonds.

The bonds were "secured" on property - monthly payments from homeowners was used to pay interest on the bonds, and, hey presto!, when the bonds matured the principal was repaid once all the mortgages had been paid down or refinanced.

Great idea and it worked well, but like all good ideas it got copied and now those parcels of mortgages, sliced'n'diced up into parcels (or collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs) of AAA down to -ZZZZ and sold on, and on, offering higher yields and greater risk all along the way. (The other trick was to call these things asset-backed securities AKA ABS's made the people who handled these things..well..happy, if not secure)

Great idea, but like all great ideas it was based on certain market assumptions - the principal assumption was based on an ignorance that the sub-prime market was set to explode - for a really good explanation go here to Sudden Debt how Mr & Mrs John Doe's mortgage fed the flames kindled by the Financial Engineers in the back orifices of Wall / Threadneedle Street.

The reason this market has exploded was simple ... there was no other way to keep the market afloat while everyone was seeing the purchasing power of their (frozen) pay cut as the twin deficits soared and latterly as the Fed stepped up and doubled interest rates.

The result ? Predictable and predicted -from bubble creation to bubble popping .. it has imply been just another one way funnel to channel wealth to the elite It has been intentional ... those in the know made out like bandits - the trick now the market is well and truly fucked ... is coitus interruptus - just judging the right time to pull out.

The kicker is ... this bust coincides with the biggest and costliest fuck up in US Foreign Policy. This bust isn't like 1991 - then the US had won the Cold War and went on to win the Gulf War.
Now it's hard to find anything the United States is in the process of winning.

The good news is that Dubya is safe (asassinations / impeachment excluded ) for another 2 years... just keep your eyes on the Bond auctions and the Euro/Dollar/Sterling rates.




UPDATE

Nouriel Roubin @ RGE Monior has a succesion of recent and worthy articles about the sub-prime fall-out....

“I Am Shocked, Shocked to Find that Abusive Lending, Fraud, Predatory Lending Fueled the Subprime Disaster!”

"Effectively measured subprime, near prime and dangerous lending was close to 50% of mortgage originations in 2005-2006"

"From the Subprime Mortgage Carnage to the Coming Subprime Credit Cards and Subprime Auto Loans Meltdown "

" .....already serious signs of contagion to other credit spreads (CDS spreads on major brokers being now near junk, CDX, Itraxx, CMBX, swap spreads all significantly up); and increases in all sorts of measures of market volatility and risk aversion."

"Who is to Blame for the Mortgage Carnage and Coming Financial Disaster? Unregulated Free Market Fundamentalism Zealotry"

"The bubble party is over. It will be a bumpy ride from now on for global financial markets and for the US and global economy.

Harmless fluttering ?

MANSION (Gibraltar) Limited, Europort Complex, Gibraltar, reg. no. 90318, registered with the Registrar of Companies of Gibraltar located at 315 Main Street, Gibraltar.

MANSION is licensed, headquartered, and operating in the British dependent territory of Gibraltar.

Imagine. Ireland is about to celebrate St. Patrick's day and they are playing world class Pakistan and the bets simply pour in ..... after all they lost (unexpectedly) to the Windies ....?

Mrs Jowell, (whose (ex?) husband is facing serious fraud charges currently with Tony Balir's great friend ex Prime Minister Senor Berlusconi) is evidently keen that the UK citizen can gamble 24 hours a day. The City, gamblers to a man, see no reason why Internet gambling cannot float on the market where a Man's word is his Bond ....... may perhaps just be pausing for thought about just where unbridled global gambling takes us ... BTW gambling is illegal in Islamic Pakistan.

General Bantz Craddock of EUROCOM Validates his posture : Amazing Pictures

No day isn't complete without Toni Fabuloso brightening my morning by ripping out the spiffing yarns from The Stars and Stripes for my perusal. Today is therefore brighter already for having been alerted to the fact that my favourite military hero, Bantz Craddock - late of SOUTHCOM is now EUROCOM.

Bantz ran SOUTHCOM (South America and the Caribbean) from the safety of Florida - mind you there are more accredited terrists in Florida than probly anywhere else in the world - but, thankfully, all in the pay of Uncle Sam.

Now , most of the time, Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock of the U.S. European Command, the U.S. military’s top general in Europee (since December) hangs around Brussels, but he was over last week in Washington telling the House Armed Services Committee what he and the boys got up to over in Europe.

“We try to shape the environment for the future. And that’s by engagement, that’s by theater security cooperation — not assistance, but we cooperate. We send our forces and they cooperate and train and exercise with partner nations.

“Our ability to do that now is limited because we don’t have the forces available since they are in the rotation to the other [missions],” he said.

Which as far as Toni can translate means , if you want help in military missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran , North Korea, taiwan, well sir, you are SOL.

Craddock, who took over command of EUROCOM in December, went on to explain that coalition-building was one of the military’s top priorities, (judging by the success of the Coalition of the Unwilling in Iraq and the Coalition of Nervous NATO and the Unwilling in Afghanistan - it's something they need to work on - real fast) but its ability to do military-to-military events in Europe and Africa has ... er .... waned.

2 months in the saddle and he had a sobering message for the armchair warriors of the House Armed Services Committee...

“Gennulmen , I will tell you that I reviewed all of the engagement opportunities over the last two years, the exercises that we do, and asked for a listing of everything we had to cancel and why. And it was surprising in its volume.

“In other words, there was more there than I expected.”

Which was enough to set the Committe back on it's heels. Then .... then his batman stepped up to the plate (as it were) with even worse news...

A Navy-led exercise called Adriatic Phiblex in the Adriatic Sea and the Army-led Victory Strike in Poland were among recent cancellations. Partner-unit engagements, troop exchanges and social opportunities also have diminished, according to a EUCOM spokesman speaking on background.

Take note Gennulmen , "social opportunities"... diminished. We may be over there, we may be overpaid, we may be oversexed but damn it all, social opportunities are diminished - wasn't like this in Palm Beach. No Sir!!!

Then as Toni breathlessly pointed out... the military mind in Excelsis, instantly seized the sitrep (Situation report)...

Craddock called the U.S. Europe-based troops — many of whom have been deployed numerous times to Iraq and Afghanistan — “an incredibly talented, veteran force.”

But he added that if they were somewhere else, they couldn’t help out in Europe or Africa should trouble arise.

That's right Gennulmen, even in this technological age .... dammit ... our guys cain't be in 2 places at the same time. Stands to reason.

Cannily Craddock , the Calculating military genius, encapsulated in the crisp way the military have, and do so readily, - giving the broad picture - the revealing review - the tour d'horizon...

Transformation plans in place (Plan B : Get outta Europe) demand reduction of forces from 62,000 three years ago to about 28,000, by 2012.The Air Force and Navy (The guys with the planes and boats) also have made "adjustments" to their forces in Europe.

“Let’s validate the posture,” Craddock said, “because it may well be that our ability to support the national military strategy and the plan we made in 2002 with the numbers of forces may need adjustment.”

"Let's validate the posture Fabuloso ",I said ... she shot me a glance.