Iceland - funds freezing up.

It was 3 years ago when we first posted about Iceland's extravagant economy Wednesday, April 05, 2006 Arctic warms ? Iceland market cools down ?It was the year during which Miss Iceland , Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir reigned as Miss World.

What are the effects .... ?

Iceland, has a freely floating currency, and like the UK and US it's 300,000 folks have borrowed heavily to buy houses. Inward investment has been high as has outward investment (Baugur etc.,) The Icelandic economy expanded a hefty 8% in 2004 and 5.5% in 2005, inflation doubled to 4.5% (ish ... they fiddle their Retail Price Index as much as the US Fed and the UK Treasury does) double their "target" of 2.5%.

Result ? The central bank slams on the brakes, interest rates now a heart stopping 11.5%...other rises rumoured.

Result ? The Icelandic krona has declined 10% ( and falling) and import prices are rising.

Now the Daily Telegraph tells us ...

"As Iceland goes, so go the Baltics, the Balkans, Hungary, Turkey, and perhaps South Africa. All are living far beyond their means, plugging the gaping holes in their accounts with fickle flows of foreign finance. All have let credit grow far above the safe "speed limit", some exceeding 50pc a year."

Iceland's risky high-wire act of the last 5 years has run our of road. Interest rates went up to 15% this week and the krona, has fallen 18pc since mid-March.

The country's all-conquering banks - led by Kaupthing, Glitnir, and Landsbanki - have pushed the asset base of the Icelandic banking system to a world record 8 times GDP, tapping the global capital markets to launch "Viking raids" across Britain, Scandinavia and beyond.

This spigot of easy credit has now been turned off.

The Telegraph lists these Icelandic holdings in the UK...

Icelandic stakes in UK Plc
Baugur (investment company)
Mosaic Fashions, Coast, Karen Millen, Oasis, Odille, Principles, Shoe Studio Group, Warehouse, Whistles, Jane Norman, MK One, All Saints, House of Fraser, Booker, Iceland, Woodward Foodservice, Julian Graves and Whittard of Chelsea, Hamleys, Aurum, Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, Wyevale Garden Centres, Watches of Switzerland, Debenhams, Woolworths, French Connection, Moss Bros

Arev (investment company)
Aspinal of London, Blooming Marvellous, Cruise, Duchamp, Hardy Amies, GHOST, Jones Bootmaker, Limeys, Linens 'n Things, Mountain Warehouse, Unisport

Kaupthing (investment bank)
Singer & Friedlander, Somerfield

FL Group (investment company)
Inspired Gaming Group, House of Fraser (they once owned 30% of Easyjet)

Landsbanki (investment bank)
Icesave
On February 28th Moody's Investors Service downgraded the long-term foreign and local currency deposit ratings of Landsbanki Islands hf ("Landsbanki") to A2 from Aa3 and its bank financial strength rating ("BFSR") to C- from C.

Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson (Icelandic billionaire)
West Ham Football Club Box Label DT

LUKoil revive and seal a deal with Maliki and Talibani for Western Qurna-2 field - Russia writes off US$12 Bn debt to Saddam

We have many times referred to the contacts and connections between our old friend Vagit Alekperov and the Iraqi oil industry. Well just as the major US oilcos are signing "technical" agreements, Vagit calls to tell us he is in Baghdad cutting a deal for reviving the LUKoil's contract for Iraq's Western Qurna-2 field. West Qurna-2 field is one of the biggest in the world with the proven reserves of above 800 million tons of oil (6 billion barrels), according to LUKOIL.

Current estimates he tells us, involve a US $4 billion project with annual earnings from oil production at $21 billion. The Western Qurna-2 field should have been developed under a production sharing contract (PSC), an agreement on which was signed with beastly old Saddam in 1997 but was frozen in 2002.

Vagit tells us he was accompanied by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov and got to see Maliki and Jalal Talibani - which must have pissed off a few folks in the green Zone.

The presence of Saltanov ( a champion chess player) was a help to get a US$12 Bn Iraqi debt written off - which means nothing because they were never, ever going to collect. Clinching the deal was an agrement to make future investments of US$4 Bn. in the Iraqi oil and gas sector.... some of which no doubt "evaporated".

Of course 19% shareholders in LUKoil ConocoPhillips (with Mr Richard Armitage **** the signer of the PNAC and the man who told Mushariff that the US would bomb Pakistan into the stone age unless he behaved, as a Director) should / will receive a 17.5% stake in the Iraqi contract under their strategic partnership agreement with LUKoil.(The contract for production and development of the second stage of West Qurna-2 project was inked March 21, 1997 with LUKOIL having 68 percent in it. Once LUKOIL and ConocoPhillips became the strategic partners in 2004, LUKOIL undertook to transfer 17.5 percent to the U.S. company. )

Russia’s Zarubezhneft and Mashinoimport hold another 3.25 % in the project.

Western Qurna-2 field is unique. Oil lies near the surface , easy and low cost to extract - estimates are of the order of 30 million metric tons of high quality oil.(1 metric ton of crude oil = appr. 7.3 barrels of crude oil ...)

With oil price at US$730 per ton, ( approx US$100 pb) annual earnings from oil sales could easily gross US $21 billion.

Last year, LUKoil produced 96 million metric tons of oil.

**** Richard Armitage is also a director of ManTech International Corp. is an information technology company that does most of its work for the military, intelligence and homeland security agencies about whom Kate has such warm feelings. 95 % of their income comes from contracts with the Defense and Homeland Security departments and U.S. intelligence agencies.

Mantech still show Eugene C. Renzi as Senior EVP (died of cancer February 9, 2008 ) who is the daddy of Arizona Representative Ricky Renzi. newly indicted on, 35 counts of extortion,conspiracy, money laundering and related charges. He was on the House Intelligence Committee until FBI agents descended on his family business.,

Richard Armitage was one of the main architects behind US covert support to the Mujahedin and the "militant Islamic base," both during the Afghan-Soviet war as well as in its aftermath.

PS: Friday - Hit me between the eyes, Doh! For writing off a notional US$12 Bn. the Russians get the best , known, shallowest big oil field left to exploit - the US oilcos (whose tax payers have squandered 100's of US$ Bns) get 2 years "technical" studies. Now that is what in St. Petersburg they call a bargain.

Do a Google News search on Western Qurna-2 field a single hit on a Russian news agency. This afternoon Reuters reported "Iraq field could be worth $7bln to LUKOIL-JPMorgan" but provides no details and simply reports J P Morgan's research note.

This is massive news in the context of the post war development of Iraq - probably the most significant since the illegal invasion. See "22/03/04 Oil is not well in Iraq "I'n'I... "Last week, 15/3/04 - LUKOIL's chief executive Vagit Alekperov met Iraq's Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum who has said that oil companies of different countries should do business in Iraq. According to him, talks with LUKoil were held in December 2003. During their March 11th meeting in Baghdad, they signed a deal to train Iraqi oil industry employees and students. 40 Iraqi students will study in Russia's I.M. Gubkin Oil and Gas University. Their numbers will increase to 100 students in 2005."

New US$150,000 a pop Excalibur artillery shell will stop us being sorry killing Afghan women & children by ...er.. accident / mistake / carelessness

Excalibur XM982 shell ,is "smart "155mm ammunition, developed by Raytheon , BAE Systems and Bofors Defense which they describe as the "next generation" of artillery munitions.



The Excalibur uses inertial and satellite based GPS guidance ( for a 40 Kilometre flight) to execute course corrections through the flight, to achieve pinpoint targeting with an accuracy of 20m’ CEP. Excalibur is considered to be part of the Non-Line-Of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) system.

Raytheon Company a $42.7Mn production contract in June 2007 after it had demonstrated lethality against (presumably ocupied) wheeled and tracked lightly armored military systems, simulated personnel targets and a steel reinforced concrete structure.

Canada's battle group in Kandahar test fired the shell in the desert as did a US Army unit in E Afghanistan. At US$150,000 a pop they didn't say how many had been fired."It lands exactly where you want it to land," said Lt.-Col. Jim Willis, a senior officer in charge of acquiring the munitions for ther Canadian forces. (Standard HE rounds . US$2,000 a pop accuracy +/- 50 metres).

The Canadian Army have just announced that Canadian army gunners in Afghanistan are now cleared to fire GPS-guided artillery shells at Taliban militants - who are not known to travel around in APC's, tanks, armoured vehicles or have concrete and steel defense structures.

It is claimed that it will stop or at best reduce the mounting civilian death toll from air strikes in a war-torn region, where insurgents often hide among the population. A curious argument ...surely the chances of hitting the oddd passing postman on his bike is th same whether you drop precision laser guided or JDAM's or send a sooper dooper US$150,000 shell from 40 Klicks ?

It was 18 months ago, the army announced its intention to buy a handful of the experimental shells to go along with its brand new 155-millimetre M-777 howitzers.

Introducing the weapon to the army's arsenal has been slower than expected because of concerns related to the shell's performance in cold weather and precautions to make sure the GPS signals can't be jammed or scrambled by insurgents.

The system "has counter-measures built in, but obviously I can't get into the details here," said Lt.-Col. Jim Willis, "Aside from the counter-measures, it flies so quickly to a target that the chance of it being jammed is remote."

So firing Ferraris at the lightly armed, highly mobile Taliban is OK then.

See PIcatinny Arsenal report on the Excalibur round here.

Afghan Police Toys'R'Us

Here is a nice news item today from the Combine Joint Task Force in Afghanistan ...

Afghan National Police Officers from Kohe Safi District, Parwan Province visited the village of Jurahati earlier in March and handed out stuffed animals to the children as a goodwill gesture. They also provided prayer rugs to the adults. The toys were donated by Girl Scouts in Maryland and Kiwanis Club Members in New York.

Vumber offers disposable untraceable proxy phone numbers in the US

Here's a nifty idea to prevent phone spammers and provide privacy - only available it appears (so far) in the US.

Vumber.

Vumber has recently introduced a virtual phone number service, providing what they call “secure, disposable two-way” telephone communications.

Simply sign up and choose a Vumber with any area code ( select the area code you want. Project yourself anywhere you want to be, not necessarily where you are) you want. Use the simple and instant online tools to connect it with your home, cell, work or any other phone. (Click to enlarge)

When someone calls: You can a) answer; b) send them to Vumber Mail; c) give them a busy signal; d) tell them the number is out of service; or e) play a custom message you create with the voice mail box included.

You can call from your Vumber, too. Just dial your Vumber, then dial the number yuo want. It’s that easy. Now the control of your identity is in your hands.

Also you can simply, and easily change your Vumber number whenever you want, as many times as you want… and you’re back on track. Bam. 3 minutes and you’re done.

US$4.99 per month (regular US$9.99 but BUY NOW AND GET 30 DAYS FREE AND special US$4.99 per month , negotiated especially for Lord Patel readers) for first Vumber and US$1.99 for each extra Vumber

No word yet on whether it will fool the National Security Agency etc., and 24/7 surveillance c/o your friendly telco. It's unlikely.

Founder Jodd Readick says "We filed a complex technology patent which covers the basis of the Vumber operation. We’ve been told after a significant amount of work that this is may be a landmark patent in the telephony arena and we feel quite comfortable that other people, while they may have various pieces of what we’re doing, won’t be able to offer a total solution for inbound and outbound calling and telephone number management."

Jangl offer a similiar FREE anonymised service for social network freaks users ,some simply text based - Facebook, bebo, match.com, fubar etc., with myspace coming soon. Plentyoffish provides calling facilities.... but BEWARE ..."Jangl Media offers brand managers and advertisers mobile advertising across the most popular social networks and communities. Through mobile advertising, Jangl Media is able to target and reach social web consumers even when they've stepped away from their computer."

Olympic Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay 2008 - join in the fun organised by your local branch of the CIA

The CIA organised and sponsored riots in Lhasa and elsewhere will be erupting in the heart of London as a jolly Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay 2008 on 6th April, when the "Official" torch takes it's 31 mile route through London

Come along for the lighting the Tibetan Freedom Torch, traditional and modern Tibetan music by Phuntsog from JJ Exiled Brothers and Chino, with support of one man band wonder Joe Driscoll.

Argyle Square, London, from 2.30pm (map here)

This is a great opportunity to highlight the CIA / Tibetan cause as the eyes of the world turn to Beijing, and the plight of the ethnic Tibetans who so like to punch the lights out of the occupying Han Chinese (funded by Langley via Free Tibet Movement, Radio Free Asia and National Clandestine Service - formerly the Directorate of Operations) and any passing Muslim.

Join the rally and bring your friends: this is the event at which to demonstrate your support for the much maligned ,misunderstooded and misumderestimated CIA / Tibet and get the world's media to put more pressure on the CIA / China to stick to the Olympic ideals ... and sow the seeds of dissent to get the whole bogus charabang of modern athletics and sport removed from London in 2012. Support the Dalai Lama and his friends in Langley and the training camps forhis zealous followers at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado, in the US.

A cultural event will take place in London on the day including speakers such as the Drapchi nuns, Lhadon Tethong and Team Tibet, MP Norman Baker, and the Tibetan Community Dance Group.

Also, please gather along the official Olympic Committee torch relay route at Richmond Terrace, Whitehall at 1pm.

Bring flags and banners, guns, grenades, RPG's, bazookas, suicide bombers, ricin flour bombs, inflammatory literature! Spot the CIA organisers - crew cuts, shades and curly whirly bits of wire in their ears.

This is a public service announcement on behalf of the Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville-Jones Fan Club and the RUSI Irregulars.

Extra Attraction !! George Galloway will NOT be there.

Read a review of "The CIA's Secret War in Tibet" , Kenneth Conboy and James MorrisonApril 2002 - 320 pages, 24 photographs, 9 maps, 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 - Modern War StudiesCloth ISBN 978-0-7006-1159-1, $34.95 (Amazon) from blurb,"how America's Central Intelligence Agency encouraged Tibet's revolt against China - and eventually came to control its fledgling resistance movement"

"A masterful account of how the CIA sought to play the 'new great game' on the roof of the world."--David F. Rudgers, author of Creating the Secret State: Origins of the Central Intelligence Agency, 1943–1947 (Amazon)

PS : If you don't think the CIA should organise street marches / protests in London please write to your MP.

A petition "CIA-Tibet" ..."We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Take the necessary steps to prevent the Central Intelligence Agency to organise a Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay 2008 on 6th April, when the official Olympic Torch will proceed through London." has been submitted to the No 10 petition site when up and running ,a link will be provided ... until then you will need to do a site search "CIA-Tibet".

They do say .."Delays to individual petitions may occur where there are possible legal issues or questions over the impact of the petition in relation to the Civil Service Code. In a few cases, we have had to seek propriety, ethics and legal advice from appropriate specialists within the Civil Service."

Don't hold yer breath.

Sarko and La Reine .. that secret conversation that the microphone picked up

Phil the Greek, not very sotto voce can be indistinctly heard ... " a carrier or two like the de Gaulle wouldn't go amiss if the Brest shipyard's not that busy...tell him"

Apologist for Metropolitan Police re-appointed for 5 years

The Home Secretary has today announced that Her Majesty(Nick Hardwick was re-appointed by HM The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister and Home Secretary. His appointment runs until 31 January 2013.) has approved the reappointment of Nicholas Hardwick as Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission for a further period of 5 years.

A B&Q van was seen arriving at the IPCC HQ at 90 High Holborn, unloading large quantities of whitewash and removing empty containers marked "de menezes murder enquiry"

The IPCC has also published the results of its latest public confidence survey. 4,000 people were surveyed by BMRB Limited (part of WPP group) and the results compared with the IPCC's last survey in 2004.

64% (62% in 2004) of people had heard of the IPCC
88% (86% in 2004) of those who had heard of the IPCC thought they would be treated fairly if they made a complaint about a police officer to the IPCC
69% (64% in 2004) thought the IPCC was independent of the police
67% (65% in 2004) were very or fairly confident that the IPCC deals with complaints in an impartial way.

Nick was of course the guy who happily sat and twiddled his thumbs whilst Sir Ian Blair ( the lying fucker wot runs the Yard) quite illegally refused to allow the IPCC access to the murder site, evidence, reports, officers involved in the public murder of Mr de Menezes for 6 days whilst CCTV fillums disappeared, event logs were altered / lost, radio communications recordings lost/deleted and eye witnesses "mislaid", and during which time, crucial evidence was altered, probably destroyed and officers "conferred" in writing up their notes.

BAA lawyers have done a remarkable job on Terminal 5 procedures ... BBC report " Utter Chaos" ..."misery building up" ... "big shambles"

34 Cancelled British Airways flights / baggage fuck ups / temporary check in suspension at Heathrow's new £4.3bn shedTerminal 5.

20 years planning the fucking place ... now we want to build at least 6 nuclear power stations.

The Strip starts a rust belt - Las Vegas dreams foreclosed

3700 Associates, LLC , are the developers of the Cosmopolitan Resort Casino, a $3.9 billion condo-hotel complex on the Las Vegas Strip, the largest private development in the United States. It was to be 8 acres of shops, casinos, hotels, condos, and theaters. It could now be a crumbling and rusting testament to the property credit binge, as they have been notified by their primary lender that it is to begin foreclosure proceedings. ("Foreclosure on Las Vegas Casino to Begin" WSJ)

The move by Deutsche Bank AG, the lender on a US$760 million senior loan, comes after the developer, Ian Bruce Eichner, wasn't able to finalize a deal for new financing. Mr. Eichner in late February cut a tentative deal with two of his other lenders, Global Hyatt Corp. and New York hedge fund Marathon Asset Management, for a possible rescue of the grotesque twin-tower project. But Mr Eichner is no stranger to real estate fuck ups and massive losses going back to 1994. which should make fascinating reading for DB executives anxious to see their loan repaid.

A fast paced, non stop deal maker this is how Eichner sold his idea in 2004 - "This will be the very first opportunity for a buyer to own property right on the Strip. They will be able to take an elevator from their condo-hotel unit directly to the casino floor. There's no other development on the Strip that provides condo unit owners that type of 'one-button' accessibility to the casino," said Eichner. Wow.

Mr. Eichner has blamed the project's problems on the credit-market meltdown and a jump in construction costs since building began in 2005. He said buyer interest in the hotel-condo rooms has been strong. He declined to comment on proposals to take over the project.

Related, led by real-estate tycoon Stephen Ross, has teamed with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s W Hotel group and an unidentified casino operator to try to take over the $3.9 billion hotel-condominium and casino project.

In December, Related raised $1.4 billion in debt and equity from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the investment arm of Abu Dhabi and MSD, the investment firm of computer mogul Michael Dell. At the time, Related President Jeff Blau said the company would use the money to snap up distressed projects.

Sounds like a gamble.

Shrillary Rodham , her lesbian palalong Huma Abedin and the Tata connection ..Ford giveaway Jaguar and Range Rover

The lesbian duo Shrillary and Huma Abedin goes back a long way and examination of the Senator's expenses providesa rich hunting ground ... Click to enlarge ... Israel naturally figures highly but the connection with Tata (who have just been given Jaguar / Range Rover by cash strapped Ford on a plate ) goes back a long way ...Ford will pay about $600 million at deal closing to the Jaguar Land Rover pension funds.





The "A" flag on the Google Trends graph was coincident with this Sunday Times smearing operation by the Rupert Murdoch Pooping on Shrillary department 24/11/07.

D1 bio fuels in serious trouble.

There was much excitement, flag waving and children were given a day off school in Liverpool on October 16th last year when glamorous Angela Eagle, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury ( and significantly MP for Wallasey) , opened the D1 £7m bio-diesel refinery , built on the Lubrizol site, at Bromborough which had created 40 jobs.

Designed to produces oils from inedible raw material Jatropha curcas, a crop which D1 are growing in tropical zones , immediately faced compeitition from the tax boondoggling US "dash'n'splash " trade ,giving producers of the so called B 99 biodiesel fuel a US$1 a gallon subsidy. 80% of of US produced biodiesel reaches Europe.

D1 managers took the chance to tackle Angela Eagle about this "double dip" subsidy regime for US producers and the EU subsidy at the pump. She was reported to say at the time (Liverpool Post) “We are currently taking the necessary steps for the issue to be taken up by the European Trade Commissioner under the World Trade Organisation procedures. This is an important new industry and we need to ensure there is free trade and fair competition.”

Now 6 months later CEO Elliott Mannis has announced that the company has started a "consultation" process with it's employees at both its Middlesbrough and Bromborough sites prio to reducing the workforce.

At the same time founder and first Chairman, Karl Watkin, has resigned as a Non-Executive Director of the Company - he owns some 5% of the shares. On March 20th Watkin said he was ``evaluating all options'' including ``an increase or decrease in his interest, and whether or not to make an offer for the company,'' he said in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service today. The Times today note that UBS, the company's biggest shareholder, sold some of its stake.

At the time of his departure Watkin (whose Just2Clicks dot com failed) was highly critical of the City. He said that he had become “increasingly frustrated” over the past year by “the inability of the investment community, governments and NGOs to differentiate D1's strategy from that of the suppliers of palm, soya and rapeseed whose biodiesel products have been well documented as being environmentally unsustainable”. (What also differentiated the company was the ability to hoover up large sums of money and produce zero profits.)

He also complained about the shorting of the stocks which was a feature of illiquid AIM stocks ..."“The majority of companies on AIM have had the stuffing kicked out of them,” he said. “People have been kicking the shit out of the stock.”


See : Tuesday, October 02, 2007 Boondoggling biodiesel - How Uncle Sam subsidises the EU motorist
Wednesday, December 05, 2007 Peter Mandelson makes some slippery remarks about US biofuel boondoggle - fist fight in sight ?

The D1 share price tells the tale.... Down 2.4 p yesterday = 5.4% to 43.5 p

Jim Henson's favourite song - He would have been 72 1/2 years old yesterday

D B Cooper's parachute found ? FBI waste even more money chasing phantasma across the NW

Komo TV of Seattle, Washington State, report that a parachute was recently dug up by the children of a Clark County farmer in the area in SW Washington , said to be a likely landing area for the mysterious D B Cooper on November 24th 1971 (Eve of Thanksgiving) is being examined by the FBI. (View video of story K5 TV) (also abc news video)

FBI agent Larry Carr said after handling the unearthed 'chute, "It's fragile to the touch, and it's obviously been in the ground for some time,"

Children playing outside their home near Amboy found the chute sticking up from the ground this month in an area where their father had been grading a road.

Carr says they pulled on the fabric as much as they could, then cut the parachute's ropes with scissors. They had seen recent media coverage on the D.B. Cooper case and urged their dad to call the FBI.

Until the parachute was recovered, the best evidence in the case was the $5,800 recovered along the Columbia River in 1980. A boy found the decomposing $20 bills in the mountains.

The rest of the money was never found, but the FBI determined the bills were a match to the Cooper crime. However, the finding of this chute throws the authenticity of those bills into question.

"If this is D.B. Cooper's chute, then that whole theory about the finding of the money is gone," said Carr. "Where the money was recovered, there's no way (they were his). There are no tributaries that feed in that direction."

FBI story about D B Cooper here
Where are they Now? No 452. D B Cooper . Amazing Pictures Monday, October 29, 2007

Newsnight Documentaries now produced by Walter Mitty section of the CIA - "Curveball"

We warned you Thursday, March 20, 2008 "Curveball" CIA Psyops operation to discredit Bundesnachrichtendienst to begin over Easter weekend .

Well BBC's gang at Newsnight (In-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines) and the Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville-Jones Fan Club did us proud last night - failing only in not trundling on the Urban Myth at any stage in their re-writing history of the Winebagoes of Death (prop Colin Powell).

Carol Rubra Newsnight producer on her blog said .... "Curveball's been in hiding ever since the war.." well up to a point Lord Copper, living quietly in Germany , protected and paid for by the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) and every so often chatting on a "non-attributable" basis to any journalist who wanted to listen. abc news had his full clear facial image but the BBC excitingly pixellated his face.

But for American readers you will have a treat tomorrow night ..." "Curveball" ....Airing this Friday,March 28, it's the first footage of him since the start of the war in Iraq.It was his fabrications about WMDs that were a key justification for the U.S. entering into the war. In the same edition, Jeremy Paxman will interview Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, about how the CIA could have been so wrong. Newsnight airs onBBC AMERICA, Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ 7:00 p.m. PT"

Garth Ancier, President, BBC Worldwide America (which is a branch of and totally funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth office) brought in Michele Grant (?) so that she can say as Executive Producer of the new show, ...: "Newsnight is one of the very best shows in television journalism - it's fearless. It asks the questions that beg to be asked but rarely are. If you want to get answers, really get answers, to the important questions, understand what happened this week and what mattered, Newsnight is for you."

"It asks the questions that beg to be asked but rarely are" Ho.Ho.Ho.

Few will forget Andrew Gilligan's talking about the "sexing" up of the "dodgy dossier" early in the morning , on the BBC Today programme of May 29 2003.

Few will know that Dr Kelly tried to visit Iraq on 19th May 2003 , he got as far as Kuwait but was prevented from entering Iraq from Kuwait because he ( an employee of the FCO) did not have the "proper documentation."

The now very dead scientist and spook Dr David Kelly (already an informant to both Andrew Gilligan and science editor Susan Watts at the BBC ) packed his bags and (for the 37th and last time) flew off to Iraq on June 5th 2003 expressly to examine , photograph and evaluate what were described as 2 mobile weapons laboratories. Proof if needed of the mobile germ factories that Colin Powell had so eleoquently and precisely detailed in form, shape, design and location. It was a brief visit to that war torn country, even though President Bush on May 2nd had declared "Mission Accomplished ". He returned after /4 days in Iraq on June 11th.

He was dead on July 17th.

On Sunday 15th June the Observer (Peter Beaumont, Antony Barnett and Gaby Hinsliff ) reported that "a British scientist and biological weapons expert, who has examined the trailers in Iraq". The expert said, "They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were - facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons." The article aslo ponted out that the equipment had been originally suplied by a British company, Marconi Command & Control.

It was confirmed in the Hutton Inquiry that Kelly was the source of this quote. Transcript of hearing Section 120 Line 8 et seq....
8 Q. (Mr Knox for Gubment) When would this conversation have taken place? I think the article comes out on 15th June.10

A. ( Peter Beaumont foreign affairs editor The Observer) I think on the Friday, my recollection is on the Friday.

Q. So that is the 13th June? (Dr Kelly returned from Iraq on 11th)

A. I think so. I am not 100 per cent certain but I have a strong recollection it was a Friday.

On Wednesday 9th July the MOD Press Officer Pam Teare made Dr Kelly's name as the source of Gilligan's story available to the press in a carefully contrived guessing game on the 9th July.(Hutton Sect 110 line 5 et seq Mr Knox and Norton-Taylor of the Guradian.)

5 Q. How did the conversation go?
A. I have two names here, I said, and the second one was Kelly and it was confirmed. Yes.
Q. So they said no to the first one, yes to the second?
A. Correct.
Q. And did they say anything else?
A. No.

Dr. Kelly's name was disclosed by the press on the 11th July and on the 16th July he "went for a walk" ... but more likely went to meet someone .. and eventually his nemesis.

The prime minister's official spokesman, Tom Kelly, some short time later described Dr David Kelly as a "Walter Mitty fantasist" - for which No 10 eventually had to publicly apologise.

The following day, Wednesday August 6 th 2003 Dr Kelly's funeral took place.

The most curious feature of this CIA Psy-ops tale is the way the world's press has virtually totally ignored it **** ... see the result of a GoogleNews search under "Curveball".... and the star position for BBC Newsnight's fancy Walter Mitty tale.

There are those who are consequently more firmly of the opinion that the people who murdered Dr Kelly were not too concerned with what he allegedly said to Andrew Gilligan.

The people who murdered Dr. Kelly were scared shitless that he was about to tell the plain, simple, unvarnished truth about the Winnebagoes of Death , with which Colin Powell had so recently enthralled the Security Council, and had acted as a keystone in the arch of argument for the illegal invasion.

As Kissingers lap dog, Paul (call me "Jerry") Bremer was getting into his stride in fucking the Iraqi economy the last thing the victorious invaders wanted was Dr Kelly shooting his mouth off about the bogus story of the anthrax factories and the Winnebagoes of Death.

Dead men tell no tales.

**** Lord Patel hopes this is nothing to do with him having disclosed it before anyone else did.

PS :
Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
When our victory is ultimately won,
It was just those nasty Nazis who persuaded them to fight
And their Beethoven and Bach are really far worse than their bite
Let's be meek to them-
And turn the other cheek to them
And try to bring out their latent sense of fun.
Let's give them full air parity-
And treat the rats with charity,
But don't let's be beastly to the Hun.

Noel Coward see him singing it on You Tube

European Medicines Agency recalls heparin batches in France, Italy and Denmark

Concern is spreading in Europe about the extent of contamination of injectable heparin which has been sourced in China. To date the FDA have identified 19 deaths in the USA 19 patients who have died after taking heparin, apparently from allergic reactions.

London based European Medicines Agency spokesman Martin Harvey-Allchurch said that France, Italy and Denmark have recalled batches of the blood thinner heparin, although no adverse effects have been reported in any of those countries.

In Italy and Denmark, the raw material for heparin has been pulled from the market, while in Germany and France, it's the finished medicine that was removed, Harvey-Allchurch said. The ingredient has been traced to four Chinese manufacturers.

Germany's Rotexmedica GmbH said it recalled ``several batches'' of the blood thinner earlier this month after patients experienced allergic reactions. Switzerland's regulator asked G. Bichsel AG and B. Braun Medical AG last week to remove two heparin products from the Swiss market. German heparin supplies recalled (March 10th)

The EMEA presumes (but does not yet know definitely) that the contaminant in the three countries is over-sulphated chondroitin sulphate, the same substance found in lots of heparin recalled in the US and a deliberately modified form of the popular diet supplement for joint pains, chondroitin sulphate.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Italian company Opocrin SpA. said it bought some ingredients from Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co., in China that turned out to be contaminated.

APP Pharmaceuticals Inc. -- currently the sole supplier of large-dose heparin for surgery and kidney dialysis in the U.S. have also been supplied by the same company,

However APP spokeswoman Maili Bergman said yesterday that Opacrin heparin was sourced from a different slaughterhouse than the source of APP material. APP heparin has consistently tested contaminant-free in its own and in U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing.

Boston.com
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Previous posts on heparin contamination

Shrillary "misspoke" : Bosnian slang Verb - to lie

Exposing Chelsea to all that danger ! ... and Sheryl Crowe as well.

DC Madame's trial ready to cause a stir in Washington

DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey has e-mailed to tell us that her show trial is now scheduled to open on April 7th in the U.S. District Court in Washington.

She tells us she is facing Federal charges of racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy, accused of running a prostitution ring that netted more than $2 million over a 13 year period.

Apparently Senator "Poopy Pants" Vitter is also awaiting notice that he could be prosecuted under the provisions of the Travel Act, which prohibits use of the mail and interstate travel to promote gambling, unlawful distribution of narcotics and prostitution.

"Without doubt, I am in the fight of my life," Palfrey says in her e-mail, "Unfortunately, the Government will not capitulate, nor will I in this extremely bizarre case; one, where no person other than myself -- including all former clients and escorts -- is being charged with any crime here. Technically the Government has been successful in making the charges against me work on paper. As a result, I have no choice-- nor have I ever had any alternative -- but to fight on and clear my name via the facts of the case, particularly since -- if convicted, federal sentencing guidelines allow for a maximum sentence of 55 years imprisonment."

Larry Flint sent some girls from his New Orleans Hustler Club to add some jollity to a Vitter fund raiser.

When asked about the unexpected bosom budies of Vitter's turning up Vitter spokesman Joel DiGrado would only say, "At the event there was great support and fellowship from hundreds of friends and supporters including Gov. Jindal and other statewide leaders. It was also a tremendous fundraising success, raising $429,000."

Watch this space.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority - a stacked deck

Schedule 1 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill refers to Amendments to Schedule 1 to the 1990 Act relating to membership of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

After paragraph 4 (appointment of members) insert— “4A (1) A person (“P”) is disqualified for being appointed as chairman, deputy chairman, or as any other member of the Authority if— a) P is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order,

In other words the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority continues virtually unchanged as the in house self regulatory body which is laughably described as , " the UK's independent regulator overseeing safe and appropriate practice in fertility treatment and embryo research." Anyway after a searching examination of how it works they have decided bankrupts need not apply.

Independent my bottom. It is simply packed with workers in the highly profitable IVF business and their boosters. Half the members are avowedly workers in the field of IVF and human embryology , the remainder are supposed to be lay members ....

For example: The Chairman of the HFA is solicitor Walter Merrick the UK's Financial Ombudsman, ideal independent? Well up to a point. Lord Copper, he and his wife have two children conceived by donor insemination, after having discovered that he was infertile. Together with other families they founded the Donor Conception Network in 1993, a self-help charity that supports parents of donor-conceived children and those contemplating treatment. The network has over 900 members.

Member Clare Brown discovered she had fertility problems in 1978. Over the next eight years, she had three attempts at tubal surgery and four at IVF, all of which failed. In 1985, she was successful in adopting her two children, James and Holly, who are now aged 22 and 21 respectively.

Having been a member of the national infertility support network CHILD for three years, she joined its National Management Committee in 1984, holding the posts of Membership Secretary and Chair until 1989, when she became Executive Director. She was then appointed Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK in 2003 when the charities CHILD and ISSUE merged.

Rebekah Dundas works for the Lottery, ideal independent? She has six years experience of infertility investigations and treatment. In October 2006 her son, Matthew, was born following donor IVF.

Ms Sharmila Nebhrajani is a finance and business professional with extensive experience across a range of sectors in strategy, mergers and acquisitions and business operations. She began her career as a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand. Sharmila studied Physiological Sciences at Oxford. She has maintained a keen interest in science since graduating in 1988 and has been a lay member of the Authority since 1998. She is also member of the Human Tissue Authority.

This last is of interest, as the Human Tissue Authority will merge with the HFEA as a result of the new legislation - which further removes the moral issues from decision making, the handling of embryos a purely technical/clinical/laboratory matter.

This of course ties in with the just announced suggestion for opt out on organ donation - "oh Mrs Smith we just want to do some tissue typing on your very ill husband/son/mother as she has very good kidneys for which we already have a patient".

The proper purpose for the use of human eggs is the production of human babies by humans. Their use for any other purpose is a needless and unwarranted use of living tissue.

IVF along with abortion are the twin agencies which have dehumanised us as parents and brought in their wake many (apparently intractable) social problems.

Want to know more about the HFEA members? Go to their website. Religious voice? One. Lord Harries (retired) Bishop of Oxford the BBC's rent a sermon man, one of the great and the not very good - unelected member of the House of Lords to follow on his membership as a Bishop.

Every decision the HFEA makes is unanimous, there is never a voice of dissent.

Dubai calling ....

There has been an hiatus in internet traffic to/from Dubai for some 48 hours over the blocking of a blogspot http://secretdubai.blogspot.com/. Secret Dubai Diary with it's subscription only The Secret

Now blocked ... but available eslewhere, mildly amusing take on daily life in this bleak outpost of Asian / Filipino slave labour, the wage slaves of the Al Maktoum's and the mad dreams of feelthy rich sheiks.

7/7 "suicide bombers" on CCTV ? .... no such luck, Police dn't want any help in tracing movements of 7/7 culprits .. leaving 56 dead 200 injured...

Here we go again. Crystal clear, sharp CCTV images in colour, published hours after the murder of Jamie Simpson ,manager of a Matalan store, in the Kingsland Shopping Centre, Hackney, East London Saturday 22nd March around 8 pm.

Now why can't we have images of the 7/7 bombers ? Surely the Police want help in tracing the "suicide bombers" ? Did anyone see them ? Did they have accomplices, were they carrying anything else, what were they wearing ... ?

If they can get these image sout so quickly why not the 7/7 images ?

J P Morgan offers Bear Stearns shareholders US$10 - take it or leave it.... " Curveball" surfaces as promised.

So J P Morgan ups what they will pay Bear Stearns shareholders to US$10 a share (Total US$1.2 Bn) - which doesn't even cover the value of the real estate.

So what happens if Joe Lewis and the other shareholders refuse the offer and JPM walk away ?

You heard it here first ... Thursday, March 20, 2008 Curveball" CIA Psyops operation to discredit Bundesnachrichtendienst to begin over Easter weekend

Now it's all over the place abc here, here, here, pics here

Let's extinguish the Olympic flame

In-out,In-out Sarkozy comes to the aid of perfide Albion to promote L'entente cordiale

Nicolas Sarkozy to bolster force in Afghanistan with 1,000 extra troops

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will tell Gordon Brown next week that France plans to send an extra 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to bolster the battle against the Taleban. Senior ministers have told The Times (March 22nd 2008) that Mr Sarkozy wants to underline his commitment to the alliance during his state visit to Britain.

Sarkozy calls for timetable for troop exit from Iraq

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made his first major foreign policy speech since taking office at the Elysee Palace before 180 ambassadors to France (Monday 28th August 2007) said Iraq's road to recovery begins with a clear timetable for the pullout of foreign troops as he outlined an assertive role for France in world hotspots.

Sarkozy recalled that France had opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 "A clear horizon must be defined concerning the withdrawal of foreign troops," Sarkozy said .

Chief Constable Michael Todd, death in the hills and death on the road .. a useful and fascinating analysis

Pic from Freewheeler at Crap Waltham Forest who has a fascinating take on the career of top Met shagger Chief Constable Michael Todd in a lengthy , detailed and well informed rant (The petrolhead's copper) about how his policies have resulted in greater danger on the roads to children and other road users in London and Manchester.

He concludes .....

"Having for years blocked the introduction of speed cameras in Manchester and massively reduced traffic policing, how did Mike Todd choose to get around the city? You guessed – a 4X4. His dangerous and prejudiced style of policing put the most vulnerable – children, cyclists and pedestrians – at risk, but he was not prepared to share those risks himself. Instead he preferred the protection offered by a Range Rover."

It was of course a Range Rover that was left at Lanberis that he was said to have driven from Manchester and left there before he climbed Snowdon in the worst storm for 10 years.

Nobody saw him leave it there, and non-one has been identified as having found him and his half (?) empty gin bottle and his jacket ......

Cyprus talks and Ledra Street opens .... again

Michael Moller the United Nations permanent representative in Nicosia, Michael Moller, hosted a historic meeting in Nicosia on Friday between Demetris Christofias, the newly elected president of the EU and Eurozone member state of Cyprus and Mehmet Ali Talat, the leader of the Turkish community in the Turkish occupied northern part of the Island of Cyprus.

They agreed on a timeline for resuming talks and to open a pedestrian crossing on Ledra Street in Nicosia . Committees and working groups will prepare for talks that would begin in three months.

Hurriyet reports that kicking off the process off will be a meeting at 1300 GMT today ( Monday, March 24th) in the UN offices between Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat's Special Representative for EU and UN talks Ozdil Nami and Greek Cypriot Administration Commissioner Georgios Iacovou and will focus on establishing Working Groups and Technical Committees.

There are reports that retired but influential Turkish Cypriot hardliner Rauf Denktash told Talat this week to demand a "two state" solution for Cyprus in his showdown with Christofias.

British High Commissioner in Nicosia Peter Millett said ina written statement “This is an important first step towards negotiations, which we hope, will lead to the reunification of the island,it is a clear demonstration that the two leaders have the political will to tackle the issues and work for a solution.”

Don't hold your breath

Heparin - B Braun issue nationwide product recall after supplier notifies contaminated suuples

B. Braun Medical Inc. (est.1839) began recalling 23 lots of pre- mixed injectable Heparin Sodium in 5% Dextrose and 0.9% Sodium Chloride injection solution on March 21st , 2008 from the US and Canada. This is a precautionary measure as their supplier, Scientific Protein Laboratories (SPL), disclosed that one lot of Heparin Sodium, USP Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient acquired by B. Braun Medical Inc. had a heparin-like contaminant.

To date, B. Braun Medical Inc. has not received any adverse event reports related to this issue. B Braun recall FDA recall notice

The Law of Unintended consequences Part : 27

The Good old days - stuff cows into feed lots and stuff them with corn ?

OK cows were made to eat gras, corn swells their livers and them susceptible to Eschericiia coli 0157 - harmless to the bovines but deadly in humans , especially children and the elderly. No E. coli vaccine has yet been approved for use in cattle.

Now the ethanol boom has pushed up feed prices and cut feedlot profits.

Cutting costs, the feedlot operators have taken to using distillers grains -- the leftover mush from ethanol fermentation.

Every 56 lb bushel of corn spits out 18 lbs of distillers grains. A ethanol production bumps up - 2.1 Bn gallons in 2002 to an expected 9 billion gallons this year , the dstillers grains end up in cattle feed also hog and poultry feed.

The Coloradoan reports on the problems this distillers grain is causng .

1. Increased susceptibility to E. coli 0157 the USDA recently admitted, this may account for last year's spike in meat recalls. Meatpackers recalled a record 33.4 million pounds of beef last year for possible E. coli contamination, up from just 181,900 pounds in 2006, according to the USDA. The old record of 25.6 million pounds was set in 1997. The 21 recalls last year - the most since 2002 - included one by now-defunct Topps Meat Co. that totaled 21.7 million pounds

2. In making ethanol sulphur is added and high levels of sulfur can cause sulfur toxicity in cattle. It doesn't taint meat,but cattle (and do) suffer neurological damage that causes the animals to ram their heads into the wall, stare up at the sky and, if not treated, die.

Just to put you off your tea, read about the downer cow scandal when workers at Chino based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., were caught on video (Humane Society of the United States ) abusing the enfeebled animals in an attempt to get them stagger to slaughter -- where their flesh would be mixed with that of other cows, and sent to market - the slaughterhouse in question is a major supplier of beef to the National School Lunch Program.

The USDA has imposed FEb 15th 2008 the most massive meat recall in U.S. history on the slaughterhouse, affecting 143 Mn. pounds of frozen beef.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

3. Boosting corn yields leads to mining phosphate rocks, the ethanol process apparently concentrates the phosphorus taken up by corn into distillers grains, where it becomes a pollution problem once it runs through cows' guts.

A 2006 Iowa State University study found that feeding 20 percent or 40 percent distillers grains increased feedlot phosphorous in manure by 60 percent to 120 percent.

This seeps into ground and water, causing eutrophication, algal blooms and dead fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yet more distillers grains are being produced .. and fed to more cows ...

Ethanol producers churned out 10 million tons of distillers grains in 2006 -- which will increase to 16 million tons in 2010 of which 75-80% are being fed to dairy and beef cattle," more E. coli 0157, more cows downed by sulfur sickness, and more dead fish?

Now hush, hush - no use for the waste grains, will put up costs, fucks the enrgy usage equations to justify the whole fucking madness of growing food to fuel cars.

The Des Moines Reguister had an article in January Scientists study possible link between ethanol byproduct and E. coli on the studies underway at the U of Kansas and the U of Nebraska after one study showed study a twofold increase in E. coli levels in cattle fed the waste grains compared with those that ate only corn.

"I'm not about to tell the cattlemen what they are going to feed their cows," the USDA's food-safety czar Richard Raymond said -- after acknowledging that feeding cows distillers grains threatens food safety.

The President of the Iowa Cattlemen's Association, said he pays US$35 a ton for distillers grains, the equivalent of $2.85 a bushel for corn. In his area, corn has been selling for more than $4 a bushel. It takes the equivalent of 70 bushels of corn to fatten a steer. (Some people see distillers grains reaching $6.10 or $6.50 per bushel by the end of 2008. )

There is a plan however - export the problem. 2007 was a record year for distillers grains exports. USDA data shows the U.S. exported 2.36-million metric tons of distillers grains in 2007 -- an increase of 88% on the 1.25-million metric tons exported in 2006 -- and nearly triple 2004 levels.

Want more information ? Distillers Grains Quarterly may provide some answers.

Wasn't there a problem in the UK cow and beef herd when they fed them something unhealthy ?

New reports of MRSA in butchered pork meat for retail sale - this time in Canada

We posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Dutch Consumer research body finds 11% of pork is contaminated with MRSA bacteria about the findings of a study by The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority reported finding that in testing 1293 samples of unheated meat taken in the retail trade (supermarkets, butchers, poulterers, etc.),throughout Holland, 11% were contaminated with the hospital bacteria MRSA.

Canadian Researchers find MRSA in pork meat for retail sale

Canadian researchers found that just under 10 % of sampled pork chops and ground pork recently purchased in four provinces tested positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA

Dr. Scott Weese reported these findings last Wednesday March 20th in a presentation to the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

The bacteria would be destroyed by proper cooking, so Staph food poisoning is not a major concern, said Weese, the pathogens robably simply pass back and forth between people and animals.

People simply handling meat with MRSA on its surface could end up inadvertently "colonizing" themselves. People who carry the bacteria on their skin or in their nostrils are at greater risk of going on to develop a Staph infection, which can range from a hard-to-heal boil to pneumonia to a potentially deadly bloodstream infection.

"My main concern is: if there's MRSA on the surface of a pork chop and someone's handling it and then they touch their nose, could they transmit it from the pork chop to their nose?" noted Weese,from Department of Clinical Studies, at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph.

Where MRSA infections were once mainly acquired in hospital, in recent years increasing rates of infections have been recorded in people who haven't been in hospitals and haven't been taking antibiotics.

The startling rise in so-called community acquired MRSA infections in the United States - a trend that is now being seen in parts of Canada - has led scientists to look for ways to explain the changing pattern of infections.

This is the first confirmed report of MRSA in retail meat in North America .

Scott Weese spoke at the 1st International Conference on MRSA in Animals attended by 65 delegates at the University of Liverpool last year about MRSA in horses. (Also see recent report here about MRSA in cats, dogs and other hoursehold pets)

MRSA in Ohio pigs

The Ohio Environmental Council (OEC)says legislation is necessary to phase out the use of human antibiotics as animal feed additives as concern has risen that hog farms are behind the recent and rapid spread of MRSA.

The OEC plans to "pressure both state and federal officials" for action this year, and calls widespread use of antibiotics on hog farms a rising threat to human health:"Researchers have linked transmission of a new strain of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) to farmers, their families, veterinarians and hospital staff treating farm-infected patients. The heavy use of antibiotics in industrialized livestock operations contributes to the proliferation of anti-biotic resistant bacteria, resulting in 100,000 MRSA infections in the U.S., including 19,000 deaths, according to a 2005 study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."Recognizing that identifying and controlling sources of MRSA is a public health urgency."

The OEC is urging the U.S. Congress and the Food and Drug Administration to study MRSA infections and deaths. As the state level, the OEC is establishing programs to educate policy makers and the public on the need for animal feed distributors to report on their use of antibiotic use in feed products

Action on farm animals as a source of MRSA in humans

It is evident that thespread of MRSA from infected animals by way of butchered meat is a potent pathway for resistant bacteria. It must be a matter of urgency to identify the nature and level of such infections and to detremine a public health policy to deal with it effectively...and fast.

Mike the Mad Biologist has an excellent post about MRSA in pigs in Holland and quotes a study
van Rijen MM, Van Keulen PH, Kluytmans JA. 2008. Increase in a Dutch hospital of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus related to animal farming. Clin Infect Dis. 2008 Jan 15;46(2):261-3.

A Commentator to his blog Pat Gardiner, (blog "Self Sufficiency in Style") evidently well informed states ..."The current problem probably started in England in 1999. There was a mutation in a disease called PMWS and a very nasty epidemic which was hushed up. The pigs were fed massive quantities of antibiotic to get them to the slaughterhouse." she also adds ;

The current MRSA wave of epidemics started here in Norfolk England with a mutation back in 1999 and Britain tried to hush it up, feeding antibiotics to try to control the situation. They continued to export breeding stock and spread the disease.
This gives a reasonably reliable history of PMWS in England
http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/6/production-and-mgmt/1409/effects-of-disease-on-pig-performance-a-review ..."The subsequent emergence of PMWS and epidemic PDNS in 1999 has made the situation much worse and the U.K. pig industry has not yet recovered. In addition enteric disease incidence was aggravated by the ban on certain growth promoters in July 1999 and doubtless will be aggravated still further by a total ban on these products in 2006."

This gives the British government position on testing pigs
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/zoonoses/mrsa.htm who say (amongst a lot else,) "There is no current evidence that food-producing animals form a reservoir of infection in the UK and the organism has not been detected in farmed livestock in the UK. Defra has initiated a study undertaken by the VLA to test Staphylococcus aureus isolates obtained from bovine clinical submissions for MRSA. This project commenced in Autumn 2006 and, to date, 425 samples have been tested, with no MRSA identified. "

... and the ears prick up when Pat Gardiner says ....You have stumbled onto a biggy. I have 7000 documents, gave evidence to the House of Commons and OLAF the serious fraud squad of the EU. I'm not very popular.

Deep shit

So what happens on Tuesday ? Holidays and a vacation from reality is over boys.

The baboons who yank mindlessly at the financial levers face a grim choice.

The big bad boyz on the block, the banks, brokers and bullshit merchants from Bishopsgate to Canary Wharf - the crafty fuckers created and traded fraudulent "securities". The dozy, hedonistic, gullible, credulous losers , who borrowed too much money trying to get rich quick, or trying to live like the millionaires they admire so much on the idiot box in the corner of their heavily hocked hutch.

They can take the high road of moral hazards - let them sink (because sure as hell they are never going to swim against this tide of fiscal imprudence) suffer the consequences of their bad choices. Maybe they could (if they can find a dock big enough) prosecute some of the culpable bankers and corporate executives - starting with that bunch of criminals at Northern Wreck.

OR

Accept the never ending capacity for cowardice , let these losers off the hook, wreck the whole machinery of capital by debasing the medum of exchange.

The Treasury, the FSA, The Bank and their claques in the Press can't face the losses, so for now they've apparently decided to wreck the currency.

3 months ago 67 pence would buy a Euro, today you need 79pence - a devaluation against our major trading partners of 19%.

But these blinkered bankers and their cheerleaders in the press have had a temporary reprieve in the financial markets. This reckless gang of bankers have been able to lick their wounds and lick Lord Kings backside as he promises even more Niagara's of funds to stave off the meltdown.

Much has been made of the "false" rumour that HBOS were in trouble - my god, every scribbler on Threadneeedle Street was blogging, writing columns that these nasty shysters were trying to bring the market down - did anyone ask the dreadful question - was HBOS bust ?

Hell NO. The shock and the recognition that many big institutions, household names, are worse than flat broke and are therefore powerless to conduct normal operations is something that the boneheads in the City cannot, will not, dare face.

Flat broke, means that all those RMBS (Residential Mortgage Backed Securities) are slowly deflating ... that deflation has a quickening pace. The non-payment stage is moving inexorably to defaults and onwards to repossessions on a grand scale.

Even if Lord King with his helicopters drops more money every week £5Bn.. £6 BN... bailing out feckless mortgage holders, the "lie to buy" ...ers, everything will hit the buffers when we have to disassemble who owns what . Diced and scliced, mixed and re-mixed, in a toxic token of debt, shuffled around like a parcel at a party these "securities" off-loaded onto countless dupe "investors" ranging from municipal funds in obscure corners of foreign nations to countless public employee retirement plans.

All secured by the legal systems of Trusts held in those centres of financial probity in the Dutch Antilles, Cayman islands, Virgin Islands, and a little nearer home, the festering pits of money jugglers in Jersey, Gurnsey and the Isle of Man.

What do we do on Tuesday ?

As the margin call is made on the market, as the sucking chest wound absorbs the helicopter funds like the surgical swabs soak up the blood, the flat line buzzer will buzz as the folks in intensive care stare desperately at the flickering screen.

Businesses will shutter, payrolls, empty, families evicted.

There will be a lot of pissed off little people out there who put their faith in banks, big business and and prayed as they filled in their Lotto cards weekly.

This is what it looked like in Boca Raton last week when they couldn't be assured of housing funds ...



I tell you, the speed of this is going to astonish everybody.

UPDATE D Telegraph 24.3.08 Fed's rescue halted a derivatives Chernobyl by Ambrose Evans Pritchard

Spitzer outed by Roger Stone - a man whose political morals are lower than a snake's belly

Roger Stone (website)is a sleaze ball - "Roger Stone, a volunteer adviser with Bob Dole's presidential campaign and onetime chairman for Sen. Arlen (one magic bullet killed Kennedy) Specter's short-lived White House bid, yesterday denied allegations that he visited a sex club with his wife and placed X-rated ads on the Internet and in magazines."

..." The Post quoted Mr. Stone as conceding that the bills for the postings on the Internet site were paid for with his credit card. He told the newspaper the post office box number listed on the Internet site belonged to him, but had been improperly obtained. In June, Mr. Stone was named to the Dole campaign's "Clinton Accountability Team" of surrogates to help make Mr. Dole's case against the Democratic incumbent.

Stone, known for shutting down the 2000 presidential election recount effort in Miami-Dade County, is a longtime Spitzer nemesis whose political experience ranges from the Nixon White House to Al Sharpton's presidential campaign. ... he was the man who brought you the famous Willie Horton TV ad.

Stone got his attorney Paul Rolf Jensen of Costa Mesa, Calif. to write to the FBI on November 19th that Stone learned from ''a social contact in an adult-themed club - Miami Velvet " about Spitzers frolicing with prostitutes... and the killer information that .."Gov. Spitzer did not remove his mid-calf length black socks during the sex act."

The rest is hosiery.