What do we do if Hank resigns ? ... or even threatens to?

The speed and range of developments in international finance take some keeping up with. e.g Crude futures rose US$25 per barrel,(24.3%)before the NY Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday - US$130 + (it closed out at US$123) and no one expects it to drop today.

Congress and the Senate are clucking about the demands Hank Paulson is making - ie litle short of financial Dictatorship. He want the till stuffed full of US$700 Bn and he wants the keys and he wants protection from the law courts . Forever.

Barney Franks (Chairman of the Financial Services Committee) who looks like an unmade bed and has a grasp of international finance equivalent to Ted Steven's understanding of the internal workings of the Internet.To think this intellectual Titan can decide on what/what not to do gives no comfort in this quarter.

Faced with anxious self important people like Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Franks, who want controls on short selling, oversight (with all it's delays) on his actions, Hank Paulson could well decide to tell them go Fuck themselves.

Hank is 63, immensely wealthy, can readily get another job, is no doubt going to be replaced whoever wins the Presidential election.

Why does he want the hassle ?

Hank was very up beat and confident over the weekend - exuding steely charm as he circulated through the TV studios and saying basically ...Hey folks it's Hank's way or NO way.

Just imagine ....what would happen if Hank resigned ... or even threatened to resign ?

He really knows the shit the market is in ...According to page 20 the Goldman Sachs 10-Q regulatory filing for the first quarter of 2006:

During the three months ended February 2006 and February 2005, the firm securitised $19.25bn and $15.24bn, respectively, of financial assets, including $18.15bn and $14.43bn, respectively, of residential mortgage loans and securities.

2 pages later ... exposures to Variable Interest Entities “which primarily issue mortgage-backed and other asset backed securites and collateralised debt obligations” included $22bn of CDOs, $2.9bn of “asset repackagings and credit-linked notes” and $6.5bn of “mortgage-backed and other asset-backed” securities.

Just remember Hank (Wall Street's highest paid Exec) was also hauling dowen big potatoes for this...$18.7 million cash bonus (none of those fancy share options for Hank the Bank)for half a year of work as the Chairman & CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group for 7 years, just before joining George Bush as Treasury Secretary

Perhaps more significantly on the day he left ..."Goldman filed with regulators last Thursday for a sale of Mr. Paulson's 3.23 million common shares, worth $491.6 million based on that day's closing price."

Meanwhile his cronies on the Street have magically got their Get out of Jail card by putting on their magic Cloaks and becoming regulated Banks ! With one bound they are free!

Update on Shoes waiting to drop (UK section)

Already we note that the crazy restrictions placed on short selling have been extended to GM and Ford creating a false market in their shares. This will simply build up expectations of a fall ....they wouldn't demand a stop on s/s unles there really WAS / IS a problem.

Apparently their addition to the list of over 800 financial companies relates to their crdit arms. Ford owns Ford Credit outright, and GM qualified through its 49% stake in GMAC and its mortgage unit ResCap.

This also reflects on Bradford and Bingley Bank (which we have been following here) their Mr Crawshaw (now suffering from stomach Cramps) who very cleverly bought up to a maximum of £12bn worth of mortgages from GMAC-RFC (the US's 11th largest mortgage lender) .

Those home loans (now turning sour big style) were to be bought in quarterly tranches, worth a minimum of £350m per quarter, until the end of 2009.

Five tranches are now left to buy, by the hugely loss making bank - so they are committed to spending a further £1.75bn to fulfil their legally enforceable side of the bargain.

GM shares dropped 11.7% yesterday.

B & B shares are trading at a near lifetime low of 26p on the expectations that the FSA can find someone who will pick up this poisoned chalice.... an increasingly unlikely propsect as the company has been hawked around the City for weeks. The shareholders who are the Banks who supported the recent share issue will be happy to take the loss if they go into administration and be done with it.

Nobody amongst them ,evidently has the heart to pick up this pile of sepsis.

Anybody who has failed to heed the call already, who has funds with B&B Bank are advised to get round there sharpish and withdraw anything they may have. Relying on prompt receipt of their funds via a Government inspired / sponsored guarantee is hopelessly optimistic.

Waiting for the next shoe to drop....

The US Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for July 2008 released last week has gone fairly unremarked today .

Data published yesterday showed total net purchases of U.S. long-term equities dropped to US$6.1Bn. vs. US$53.4Bn the previous month.
The figures for April - July show a deckining interest in overseas buyers in US dollar denominated assets - Net Long-Term Securities Transactions
April US$ 116.1 Bn May US$ 83.2 Mn.Bn. June US$53.4Bn. July US$ 6.1 Bn.The major problem is of course that buyers of uquties are uncertyain about values - The domino effect is in play. EVERY insurance company, brokerage, financial institution, REIT, pension fund, money market fund, bond fund, annuity fund, hedge fund, etc is holding derivatives.

This is the problem.

Know one knows the the market value of the derivatives they hold and second, those that have foreclosures, bankruptcies, etc, are producing less income. The net effect is that assets are less than face value and income is less than planned fior. Together they are a double edged sword affecting both capital and income stream.

It is this bottleneck that Paulson's proposed legislation will allegedly unblock

Paulson's Bill initial text is here.

Treasury officials now propose buying what they term troubled assets, the Bill is rather vague (see below) . In its latest guidance on the bad-debt fund, the Treasury said firms that are headquartered outside the U.S. will now be eligible for assistance.

The troubled assets are described ...

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.--The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.

Which can be read to mean anything (and probably will) from a strauight domestic mortgage through to a handwritten IOU.

The most remarkable thing about the roposed Bill (which appears to have received no mention so far) are the powers Paulson seeks for himself ...

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency

We need to see the Final Bill , but with these unquestionable powers - limited only by a fund value of US$900Bn. to draw on, it is tantamount to a financial dictatorship. Funny way to describe the workings of the Market.

Will this affect the financial prestidigitators ? The money jugglers, the fund managers, the back room boffins who built , named, re-defined debt as an asset and then sold it ? Many. Many times over ?

No, they will move on to pastures new, they have been through junk loans, S & P, dot,com boom and bust, there are fresher fields and newer pastures , fresher mugs to screw, -nanotech, infotech, biotech and cleantech to name but a few.

The thermodynamic laws of financial affairs have kicked in and the market entropy has kicked in, big style but there are plenty of opportunities waiting. Those out of work bond /CDO /SUV /SIV /SUV salesmen have a smile on the their face, like Bill Loman they have a shine on their shoes.

Just wait for the next wave, the next shoe to drop when GM and Ford come to Washington with the begging bowl .. when Boeing who have a monster strike brewing and can't get the Dreamliner aloft , who have half lost the Air Force tanker deal start knocking on the Treasury door....



Incidentally Boeing's biggest customer , who has US$19 Bn of orders with Boeing is International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) a wholly owned subsidiary of troubled AIG. Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy, is looking to buy it out of AIG... but needs the money ..say US$8Bn.

ILFC has orders with Boeing for 102 commercial jets, 74 of which are 787 Dreamliners.

Now how would you like to fund a buy out of a company from an ailing insurance giant who have already run out of money, whose biggest supplier has problems and whose customers are the world's airlines .. who are decreasing in number daily....

MORAL

Wealth creation. Without it, you are fucked as a nation.

Just between ourselves.....

In reviewing the current and ever changing financial markets it is difficult not to bring to mind the remark of John Maynard Keynes when he was askedin 1932 if there were any precedent for what had happened to the world’s economy. He replied , "Yes, it lasted four hundred years and was called the Dark Ages."

Wealth cannot be spread before it is created. The increasingly academic views that previal have confused the notion of the figures attached to the Gross National product with national wealth.

Certainly in the UK, but also in the US a larger and larger share of what is calculated and called the Gross National Product is the product , not of labour, of industry, of endeavour but of actuarial artifice.

We have sat back comfortably transferring wealth making activities either by despatching them overseas, or inviting investment within our shores.

Academics believe that industrious Asia needs the consumer markets of the EU and the US to sustain their burgeoning growth. The fail - or worse still - refuse to see the immense markets building up for them at home.

We neglect the immense sophistciation , combined with prodigious human energy and effort that
now produces the sophisticated tools of modern living. The ubiquitous mobile phones and hand held devices, lap tops, are the product of growing , highly educated, inventive and industrious nations.

They are also a market for good precision engineering - for example China is undertaking amassive upgrade to their railway system.

Tienjin - Peking is a 2 hour drive. The new 35o Km per hour Commuter train undertakes the 115km (72 miles) journey takes 25 minutes and trains run every 3 minutes for 180 services per working day on the 600 seat trains - for which each seat is bookable..

French engineering company Systra provided project management services in combination with the China Academy of Railway Sciences . The US$1.6 Bn rpoject started with the construction of 100 Kms of concrete viaduct using pre-cast concrete sections for speed, and uses techniques supplied in a technology transfer agreement with German engineering company Max Bogel.

Siemens CRH 3 high-speed trains based on technology first used in Deustches Bahn's ICE 3s have been supplied incorporating new technology based on Velaro units which entered service with RENFE in Spain in 2006.

MORAL

Deutches Bahn own what was British Rail Freight see Monday, July 02, 2007 Krauts undertake railway robbery in daylight - CPNI examines it's arsehole , A private Spanish company own British Airports Authority (although this may be dismantled).

It is worth noting that Bank Santander who own Abbey have finally been given approval to buy Alliance and Leicester on the same day that Alastair Darling threw caution and common sense to the winds and allowed Lloyds TSB to takeover HSOB over a weekend without any concern about competition rules.

So a Spanish bank now provides some 30% of UK mortgages.

Just a small reminder that other forces within the EU are doing quite nicely thank you.

Here's a couple they prepared earlier

"Where once more-marginal applicants would simply have been denied credit, lenders are now able to quite efficiently judge the risk posed by individual applicants and to price that risk appropriately. These improvements have led to rapid growth in subprime mortgage lending; indeed, today subprime mortgages account for roughly 10 percent of the number of all mortgages outstanding, up from just 1 or 2 percent in the early 1990s......

.......we must conclude that innovation and structural change in the financial services industry have been critical in providing expanded access to credit for the vast majority of consumers, including those of limited means.This fact underscores the importance of our roles as policymakers, researchers, bankers, and consumer advocates in fostering constructive innovation that is both responsive to market demand and beneficial to consumers. "

Alan Greenspan
Federal Reserve System’s Fourth Annual Community Affairs Research Conference, Washington, D.C. April 8, 2005


“Clearly, the U.S. economy is going through a very difficult period. Much necessary economic and financial adjustment has already taken place, and monetary and fiscal policies are in train that should support a return to growth in the second half of this year and next year.”

“I remain confident in our economy's long-term prospects,”

Ben Bernanke
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman - Testimony to Congress 3-4-08

Schlock'n'oooerrrr

It is a comforting paradox that the clever artifice of Yorkshireman Damien Hirst ** in getting the gullible arrivistes to shell out £110Mn. plus for his trinkets and baubles as the Financial world implodes.

These sales to the mega -rich act as a counterpoint to the signs of distress showing in sales merely to the rich or wealthy. Half of the German / Bentley workforce of 3,500 are on a three-day week, whilst night shifts have been abandoned at the (now Indian owned) Range Rover plant.

Jaguar has been cutting back production levels as demand hs dropped dramatically in the UK and the US.

UK August car registrations were the lowest since August 1966 and were down 18.6% to 63,225 compared to last August.

UK jobless claims jumped by 32,500 to 905,000 - the worst in more than 15 years. Unemployment (the officical highly fiddled figure heavily understates the actual level) inched up 0.1% to 2.8%.

** Damien lives in some splendour in a Gloucester mansion for which installation of the UK's second biggest Photovoltaic Panel system (PVA) is nearing completion . He is investing up to £1.5Mn on a 310kw 1,800 sq. metre solar power system. This system is so large that it will account for almost 2% of the UK's installed solar power. Poer will pricipally be for the hosue and studies, warehouses - it's unclear if any power will the feed the National Grid and also feed back some income.

Due to ....

..re-location beyond the reach of Inspector Knacker there may be an hiatus in proceedings.

May we indulge your patience.

Abnormal service may be resumed.

NHS Direct has exciting new balloon - re-brandedNHS is due !! Hold back the crowds of grateful patients.. staff, consultants, car park wheel clampers

.... and you wonder where all those taxes go ? Well here's a little something they prepared earlier you might have missed in your busy day.

On 22nd July 2008 , Sheila Mitchell, the Department of Health's director of marketing, said the health service was ‘changing hugely'. She added that as the brand now covered a multitude of services, it was time to reassess it.

The announcement follows the unveiling of a fresh brand identity for NHS Direct. Thompson Brand Partners, the Leeds based brand communications agency, created the symbol following a strategic review.

The agency was appointed in January 2008 after a four-way pitch managed by the Central Office of Information's (COI) Publications team.

The blue balloon will now be used as part of NHS Direct's press and outdoor advertising, which runs throughout the summer. It will show the blue balloon in a series of real life situations; snapshots of our normal daily lives.

The campaign positions NHS Direct as being everywhere - whatever your health worries, wherever you are, you can reach them, they are there for you, they can help. ... the campaign intends to show that NHS Direct is everywhere ... now isn't there something faintly Biblical about that message ? Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.... let's hope our many ethnic / religious minorities don't find anything wrong with THAT message.

The supporting message is:

For life's little health emergencies
For help making the right choices
For health advice, right now
For reassurance, 24 hours a day

Thompson Brand Partners has introduced a blue balloon to the logo, as well as the line ‘We're here'. It will be used as part of a press and outdoor ad campaign to position NHS Direct as a fully accessible service.

Ian Thompson, Creative Directorat Thompson Brand Partners, added:

"A balloon is the perfect carrier for our message, it is optimistic, honest and approachable. Above all, a blue balloon is simple and iconic and works to get across our message that NHS Direct is everywhere."

They also go BANG !!!

Just in case you feel this is a fantasy here is the NHS Direct meeting minutes... approving the unknown expenditure

For meta analysis of the comprehensive nature of re-organisation that predicates this change and re-organisation please see Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine "A surrealistic mega-analysis of redisorganization theories " http://jrsm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/98/12/563 with thanks to the Jobbing Doctor

Regrettably we cannot furnish you with such a balloon (or even a picture of one) with or without the web address in the same font size as the telephone number.

Except if you access the NHS Direct website the front page does have this fine picture...


We trust you will agree this is all money very well spent. We couldn't find any others on the site ,even surprisingly on how to use a condom

How to make a Supermarket label wine - anywhere in the world

Ever puzzled why all those £7.99 - special offer this week £4.99 wines at Tesco / Sainsbury / Waitrose wines all taste alike ? Why that Chardonnay or Shiraz tastes the same whatever the name on the bottle, Hardy's , Stowells, Jacobs Creek, Lindemann ?

It's very simple ... they all use bog standard grape juice and give Mauri a call. Mauri who ?

Associated British Foods is a huge diversified international food, ingredients and retail group with sales of £6.8 billion and 85,000 employees in 43 countries.

The ingredients section has two organisations, AB Mauri and ABF Ingredients.

Mauri Yeast Australia manufactures active dried yeast and provides integrated fermentation solutions for the global wine and beverage market. One of the popular brands that many winemakers have come to associate with is maurivin™ active dried wine yeast.

Due to its ability to enhance varietal aroma, flavour and colour, Maurivin B is recommended for red varieties such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Pinotage, Grenache and Pinot Noir.

Maurivin B is highly recommended when wanting to lower a wine’s ethanol content, as the case may be when fermenting high brix musts and juices. Maurivin B is popular also with winemakers wanting to reduce L-malic acid levels during primary fermentation.

For example they will sell you a dried yeasts strain - Maurivin B - this is a medium vigour yeast with the capacity to consume high quantities of malic acid during primary fermentation .

You can view all the varieties available here

AWRI 796
Isolated from South Africa, this strain ( AWRI relates to - The Australian Wine Research Institute ) is used extensively for its ability to allow the full expression of varietal fruit and good palate structure. Popular for varietal red wines such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Merlot and varietal white wines such as Chardonnay, Semillon and Riesling.

If you want a simple guide to how these dried varietal yeasts enable Aistralian winemakers to provide those Jacobs Creek and Hardys plummy Shiraz wines try this fascinating article
Yeast contributes to Shiraz aroma and flavour - Anthony Heinrich Technical Sales Manager Maurivin Yeast, AB Mauri anthony.heinrich@abmauri.com.au
Thomas Walsh School of Science, Food and Horticulture,University of Western Sydney, Australia. Geoff Skurray School of Science, Food and Horticulture
University of Western Sydney, Australia

This chart will help you select the yeast to give you the spicey / blackberry / plummy taste you want you want

You can also use their expertise based on the grape variety you use ...

Choose your Grape - say ... Cabernet Sauvignon

This worldwide red varietal is known for its distinctive blackcurrant flavour with hints of mint and menthol. Cabernet Sauvignon also handles oak with relative ease, displaying cedar and pencil shaving-like aromas after barrel, along with excellent tannin structure.
The following are the yeasts we (AB Mauri) recommend for best results with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes:
AWRI 796
AWRI 1503
BP 725
Maurivin B
PDM
Sauvignon L3
UCD 522

Wood chips with everything

Like to add the flavour of oak barrels to your wine ? Easy peasy just use wood shavings .. everyone does it .. the French Government allowed vintners in France to do it from April 2006. " Wood chips can be added to wines to give them an oak flavor without using expensive wooden barrels. Such cost-cutting tactics are already common across the rest of the winemaking world, including Australia and the Americas. " . It had already been authorized for use by the European Community.

Wood chips are available in several types of oak (French, Hungarian, American), in several "toasts" and sizes ranging from sawdust to 1/2 in cubes.

We have to make wine for consumers, not wine that producers dream of," Bernard Pomel, the author of a wine report commissioned by the ministry, told le Figaro newspaper.

Sulphites / Sulphur Dioxide

This is labelled as a content on wines in the EU - it's use is universal. It is best known to most as the food additive 220 or 202 or chemically as SO2. Although it is naturally produced in small amounts by wine yeast during alcoholic fermentation, most of the SO2 found in wines has been put there by the winemaker. It is added at most stages of the white winemaking process, from crushing through to bottling. It is used less liberally during red winemaking, but with an almost mandatory addition being made following the completion of the malolactic fermentation of these wines. SO2 is added in the form of a powder, or is directly fed into the wine as a gas from a dosing gun.

Sulfur dioxide plays two important roles. Firstly, it is an anti-microbial agent, and as such is used to help curtail the growth of undesirable fault producing yeasts and bacteria. Secondly, it acts as an antioxidant, safeguarding the wine's fruit integrity and protecting it against browning.

One less known but important property of SO2, is its ability to bind with acetaldehyde. This compound has an unpleasant smell of bruised apple or rank sherry, and is produced when wines undergo some oxidation. When the SO2 and acetaldehyde molecules bind to each other, the resultant substance is odourless. The SO2 effectively strips the wine of its oxidative character.

Channel 4 Dispatches had Jane Moore with unfeasibly large breasts in a tight white blouse two sizes too small explaining very coyly without naming names what muck is in your wine . Their page is showing an error. You can watch the programme for 1 week. Free catch up here

Bone up on Italian wines - and their intricate labelling structure at this excellent website here ...eg

Italian wines are distinguished with the following labels in increasing quality order:
Vini da tavola
Vino da tavola (VDT)
Vino da tavola con indicazione geografica tipica (IGT)
Vini di qualità prodotti in regione determinata (VQPRD)
Vino a denominazione di origine controllata (DOC)
Vino a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG)

Place names are based on Italy's wine laws. Within these laws, there are three main categories: DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, roughly translated: protected place name)

DOCG (Denominatzione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, roughly, guaranteed place name)

IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica, typical place name.).

The DOC designation is given to over three hundred Italian wine growing areas. This designation governs such things as area of production, permissible grape varietals, maximum yield of grapes per acre, minimum alcohol content, aging requirement, and such vineyard practices as pruning and trellising. In addition, to be eligible for a DOC designation, wines must pass a taste test and a chemical analysis. DOCG has a stricter set of guidelines than DOC.
IGT wines must also meet geographic and grape varietals requirements, but the standards are less stringent for this designation. There are about 120 IGT areas in Italy.

Grape varietals are also found on Italian wine labels. Italy's unique climate suits grapes that are not often produced in other areas. Grapes such as Chianti's Sangiovese, Barolo's Nebbiolo, Corvina, and Arneis are most commonly found in Italy.

Some words found on labels indicate the type of wine produced, such as spumante (sparkling,) chiaretto (rose,) bianco (white,) dolce (sweet,) secco (dry,) or rosso (red.) Other words have to do with the winery: vigna or vigneto (vineyard,) tenuta (estate,) or produttore (producer.)

Labels can be forged of course. They often are.

If you want to read Jancis Robinson OBE , rave about Robert Mondavi, Woodbridge Chardonnay 2006 California on her personal website 16 Sep 2008 ... this is (read what she says very carefully) " almost certainly the most widely available wine I have ever made wine of the week." If you click on the Find this wine link you will see stockists all over the US and UK plus Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong and all over Europe. I just hope everyone gets the same blend as I have tasted (twice now) in the UK.

It’s cheapest in the US. Brits have to cough up about £7 for it chez Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Thresher, Waitrose and www.everywine.co.uk, the online outfit that tries to offer every single wine on sale in the UK.

It may not be wine as you know it - it may be a carefully made chemical cocktail- but, if it gets you there.........

Martin O'Hagan's murder to be cleared up ? Murky world of LVF / UVF / Police assassinations may be uncovered

The name of Martin O'Hagan, hardly rings any bells these days. He was an unconventional Northern Ireland journalist who had been an IRA activist and twice been imprisoned.

He was interned in 1971 and spent more than a year in the Official IRA compound at Long Kesh. After he was freed in 1973, he was jailed for seven years for transporting guns, and was released in 1978.

Martin O'Hagan was shot dead in Lurgan, Co Armagh, aged 51,on September 28, 2001.

He was a principal source for material used in Channel 4's 1991 Dispatches documentary, The Committee. This exposed what we now know is without any doubt , that there was an Ulster Central Co-ordinating Committee, a group of loyalists and security forces members who conspired to carry out sectarian assassinations.

The RUC and mainstream loyalist paramilitaries derided such a concept as the result of fevered journalistic imagination.O'Hagan had been paid ... therefore he was incapable of delivering the Truth. The programme led to a prolonged series of prosecutions and libel cases, some of which remain unresolved.

Channel 4 was fined £75,000 and made to pay huge legal costs for failing to supply the RUC with information about the allegations in the programme. The Guradian has a good Biography at the time of his death here.

Martin O'Hagan's murder was "claimed" by the Red Hand Defenders a nom de guerre used by the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

We now know from the activities of the Police Ombudsman that the Police did indeed collude with paid assassins to kill, run guns, drugs and benefit from the proceeds of crime. BBC ONline Jan 22nd 2007 "NI police colluded with killers "

On 6th April 2008 the Sunday World (Documents here) published the name of Robin "Billy" King (who lived/s in Lurgan and ran the LVF) as the killer and asked pointedly why the PSNI had not arrested and charged him with the murder. In the same issue the newspaper ran a story on the unveiling of a plaque in memory to Martin at Belfast's Linenhall Library.

Today BBC Online report..."Four men are to appear in court charged in connection with the murder of journalist Martin O'Hagan.

Two men are charged with his murder, one with attempting to pervert the course of justice and the fourth is charged with assisting offenders. "
See excellent Amnesty story

UPDATE Monday afternoon : The Retrospective Murder Review Team is headed by Supt Alan Skelton and Dt Chief Brian Murphy. Their brief includes re-examining many unsolved paramilitary-related killings, including that of Martin O'Hagan.

Skelton and Murphy reopened the O'Hagan murder file last year.

Today 28-year old Neil Hyde of Princetown Avenue, and Nigel William Leckey,of Bowens Lane who is 43, both from Lurgan, Co Armagh, were charged with murdering the Sunday World reporter who was shot dead near his home in Lurgan 7 years ago. Leckey was also charged with possession of ammunition.

They were remanded in custody to appear again by a video link at Craigavon on 10th October.

A third defendant charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice was also remanded in custody until the same date.

A fourth person charged with facilitating the concealment, and or the disposal of a motor car used in the attack was granted bail to appear again at Craigavon on 10 October.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that one of those arrested has turned Queen's evidence as his family has been taken into protective custody.

However the man who pulled the trigger and is Prime Suspect Mumber 1, Robin "Billy" King , now a born again Christian, who has recently had a nice holiday in Mexico, runs a car business AKA drugs running outfit in the Netherlands and has criminal associates in Eire has done a runner from Lurgan and the PSNI cannot find him.

THis has to be a good case of a Monday being a good day to bury bad news.

Scenes you see very infrequently . . .

Uncle Sam to provide needy Israel with 1,000 GBU-38 Bunker Busting Bombs - useful in Gaza .. apparently

The US hasn't run out of money just yet, well it hadn't by September 9th, which is the date of the note Condi Rice sent us and only received by pigeon post in the last hour.

Sufficient money survives to spend US$77Mn on about 1,000 bunker busters (GBU-39's to the expert bunker buster bomb experts - The GBU-39 can be used in adverse weather conditions and has a standoff range of more than 60 nautical miles due to pop-out wings - which makes it sound moe like a pantie liner) to the nation that tops US aid table - impoverished Israel.... and maybe a few pairs of Condi's favourite Ferragamo slip ons.

These handy weapons of awesome destruction could be used apparently against underground arsenals in Lebanon or Gaza.... but not say expert bunker buster bomb experts to even tickle the Iranian nuclear program.

The experts said they doubted, however, that the bombs could be used to deliver a crippling blow against Iran's nuclear program.Yiftah "Bunker Buster" Shapir, a from Tel Aviv's Institute of National Security Studies and Bunker Busting says improbably , possible targets would include "Katyusha launchers in Lebanon or Qassam (rocket) launchers in Gaza, armoured SUV's , motor bikes, prams, kettles."

These high precision weapons Condi explains in her note to us, cause les, ... far less collateral damage than heavier munitions, because they are so accurate.

Well, hey that's a relief.

Old Yiftah "Bunker Buster" Shapir says "this bomb is going to be the general-purpose bomb of the next generation." A view re-inforced by his military comrade in arms Shlomo "Bunker Buster" Brom, who was Israel's former chief of strategic planning, who says that in his retirement he has noted noted an increasing tendency to place weapons underground.Typical of Arabs no doubt, hiding their weapons.

Brom says Israel has also asked for 150 mounting carriages, 30 guided test vehicles and two instructors to train the air force in loading the bombs on aircraft.

The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world. The 113 kg. bomb has the same penetration capabilities as a normal 900 kg. bomb, although it has only 22.7 kg. of explosives. At just 1.75 meters long, its small size increases the number of bombs an aircraft can carry and the number of targets it can attack in a sortie.... and at US$77,000 a touch must be one of the most fucking expensive as well.

Brom said that when they ceaselessly bombed Lebanon for 22 days whilst the West watched they realised ," one of our problems had been that they put many of the rocket launchers in bunkers and fortifications underground ." ..." So we used cluster bombs" ...See PS.

They even... hey you won't believe how shifty these Arabs are.. they even had a bunker where that bastard Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah,hid and he survived .... but he has been in hiding since the war.


Except when he keeps appearing to cheering crowds in public.

But don't worry says Condi, this is just to keep the Iran pot on the boil and try to distract headlines from the fucking disaster being played out with what'sleft of your pension plan in downtown Manhattan right now (pic).

PS : AP report September 3rd 2008 "A Belgian sapper with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon was killed Wednesday while clearing unexploded ordnance from Israel's 2006 war with Shiite militant group Hezbollah, UN and Belgian officials said." He died on the spot.

"A member of the UNIFIL demining unit was killed by an explosion on Wednesday during an inspection and demining operation in the village of Aitaroun in the Marjayoun region," said Yasmina Bouzayane, spokeswoman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon."

HPV - armed and dangerous. Another alarming NHS advertisement

This ad appeared on Page 8 of the Guradian Body & Soul Section on Saturday 13th September (and no doubt elsewhere) it is designed, published, and promoted to support the rushed campaign to vaccinate the cohort of 12 to 13 year old school girls (Year 8) in England. (Click to enlarge text is reversed out of brick wall Guradian printing and half page size ad)

It is misleading. The bold copy line , "Armed for life" , whilst partially explained away in the reversed out text..."will help protect women for life" is untrue. "The new HPV vaccine , which protects against cervical cancer" is again untrue ...it provides partial protection only, and none against genital warts which the competing vaccine, Gardasil does.

The vaccine chosen, Cervarix ® supplied by Gaxo Smith Kline , a British company, affords limited protection for an unknown period (certainly not for life and probably for no more than 10 years - but we won't know how successul it is for many years) against strains (HPV 16 & 18) of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which are now considered to cuase some 70% of cervical cancers.

Whilst HPV is principally transmitted during vaginal intercourse, it can also be transmitted by other complicated routes anally, orally (however configured) , in same sex activity and on sex toys.

At a direct cost for the 3 stage vaccine of approximately £250 per girl, the total cost for the UK's 300,000 Year 8 girls (not boys) will this year be in the region of £60 Mn. plus administration, staffing, advertising etc., It must be remebered the Cervical smear policy will continue to detect cervical cancer in women - a service not available to women younger than 25.

A cute tattoo is featured which provides what might be considered as a novel way of lightening an otherwise pretty grim sbject for 12/13 yera old girls to handle - and is guaranteed to upset some parents. The schoolgirl receiving the vaccination can of course decide themselves to provide consent, parental consent is not required. .. Indeed the information on consent is very confusing... "It is your choice whether to have the vaccine or not ........ If you are in school, and aged under 16, your parent, or carer, is being asked to sign the consent form. Parental agreement is always advised, although it is not always necessary. If you are aged 16 or over it is important you sign and return the form yourself.

There is a website www.nhs.uk/HPV or you can call a helpline 0845 602 3303....@ 5p per minute plus. .. although the website confusingly directs you to a FREEphone number !

The hasty use of this vaccine for mass vaccination is ill considered, and amounts to a vast and needless experiment on our youth, principally for the commercial benefit of GSK. The choice of the British made vaccine which provides less protection than the US Gardasil ® vaccine looks highly suspicious and prompted by commercial motives.

On Friday, January 19, 2007 in a post Hooked ? .... or Horrified ? we brought readers attention to an NHS ad to promote the (then) current "get Unhooked" anti-smoking campaign in a nationwide £8Mn promotion. The ads attracted 774 complaints for the campaign created by Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy which ran across television, poster, national press and magazines, and online. The most complained of advertisement of 2007 - see Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Hooked ...Line and Sinker by the Advertising Standards Authority

If you agree and think the ad is misleading you can complain to the Advertising Standards Authority here .

For more information look at previous posts going back a long time here you can also look here www.nhs.uk/HPV ...evidently aimed at parents not children "the safest way to protect your child" due to regional differences (explained in the very, very small 5pt type on the ads) the ON Line ad has different sections for Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland.

Why ?

Well, the Scottish part of the website has a Glossary - it covers Consent..."Consent is a formal term for giving permission or agreeing to something." but not condoms ... that's because the Holy Roman Catholic Church has asked them not to mention condoms in the literature.... although condoms do raise their ugly head in at least one section. see post - Sunday, August 17, 2008 Vaccination of schoolgirls for HPV using Cervarix ® should be stopped. NOW

Whilst the website is large and has a great deal of information , nowhere does it mention Gardasil ®, the extra protection it affords, the greater experience in use, or the fact it has been available for use in the UK for nearly 12 months privately.

PS : The Department of Health 25th February 2008 appointed Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO to handle the ad campaign for the introduction of the new HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccination programme - across TV, radio, press, digital and PR. . (3 way pitch including CHI & Partners and WCRS)

The Department of Health On May 6th appointed Consolidated to manage a PR campaign to raise awareness of the new HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccination programme ..

PPS : NHS don't seem to learn or they have terrific loyalty, Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy are still doing anti smoking ads, this time NHS - Smoking, Don't Keep it in The Family http://www.visit4info.com/advert/NHS-Smoking-Dont-Keep-it-in-The-Family-NHS/60022

Lehman - let's not forget the good times...

Forbes - December 1th 2007 Lehman Brothers reported total compensation of $9.5 billion for 2007 , a 9.5 % increase over last year, and bonuses of $5.7 billion. CEO Richard Fuld Jr. received a $35 million stock bonus. According to Forbes, Fuld’s five-year compensation total, excluding this latest bonus, is nearly $312 million.
Five other top executives at Lehman received a total of $58 million in stock, according to separate filings. President Joe Gregory was awarded $29 million and Vice Chairman Thomas Russo was given $9 million.

Times Online - December 14, 2006

Lehman Brothers in $8.7 billion bonus payout
Tom Bawden, New York

Lehman Brothers said it would pay its average member of staff $335,441 (£170,933) this year as it reported a record fourth-quarter profit of $1.0 billion, capping its most profitable year ever.
The US investment bank is paying its 25,936 staff a total of $8.7 billion in salary, bonuses and other benefits for 2006 on the back of a 23 % rise in net income to a record $4.0 billion.

Mind you those shares won't be worth a lot in the morning.

Not forgetting this lady who reached the door marked Exit just in time ...

Air Force LInk back reporting Air Power summaries - Nangalam get special treatment

Air Force Link reported 74 missionsover Afghanistan on 13th September 51 missions on 12 th September and 81 on 11th September ...they did of course bomb our allies in Iraq who are all subdued now but nonetheless on the three days reported 131 close support missions were flown - missions were also reported on 7th/8th/9th and 10th of September. This was totally proportionate .e.g Sept 9th - Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs dropped general purpose 500-pound bombs, guided bomb unit-12s and fired cannon rounds onto anti-Afghan fighting forces using small arms fire from a building in the vicinity of Nangalam

The on-scene joint terminal attack controllera declared the missions were successful in every single case reported in detail . Indeed in years of reading reports we have yet to see a "close support mission" where JTAC reported an unsuccessful one.

The excerpt at the top of this post is from a blog From cow pastures to Ksosovo with a post dated earlier this year Sunday March 9th 2008 ... it continues " The reason that we conduct the Nangalam patrol so often is to become familiar with the locals and to make the locals of the village more comfortable with us,” said Staff Sgt, David Dzwick, 30, of Traverse City, Mich., a squad leader with 1st Platoon.

In order to monitor traffic in the village of Nangalam, and make sure that the enemy is not making the village their home, Soldiers of 1st Platoon enrolled the local shop owners and villagers into the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment System to make sure that they are not wanted by the local police or government. "...."The Afghans of the village recognize these Soldiers and greet them warmly by welcoming them into their shops and cooperating in every way possible when asked to help. "
Perhaps there is a disconnect here ... ? One minute glad handing the next bombing the shit out of them ?

There is a well illustrated article by embedded journos Sebastian Junger with pics by Tim Hetherington of the 173rd Airborne in action in this area in Vanity Fair October 2008

Lehman left to sink

Who next AIG ? WaMu ? See FT

Sir Ronald Flanagan, GBE, QPM, Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom and the Omagh atrocity

Sir Ronald Flanagan, GBE, QPM, is the Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom excluding Scotland. Flanagan was previously the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland since its creation in 2001 to 2002, and had been Chief Constable of its predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) until 2001.

On Saturday 15 August 1998 a terrorist bomb exploded in Omagh killing 29 people and two unborn children. It was the worst single terrorist incident since the start of “The Troubles” in 1969.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) immediately established an Omagh Bomb Investigation Team. The Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan gave a strong commitment to see that “no stone would be left unturned until we bring these people to justice”.

Nuala O'Loan the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland made a statement on her investigation of matters relating to the Omagh Bomb on August 15, 1998


Para 18 Page 10 :

The Chief Constable welcomed the Police Ombudsman’s investigation and assured it full co-operation. During the course of this investigation, it is of considerable concern that some critical information was not provided in the initial disclosures that were made to the Police Ombudsman’s Investigators.

At senior management level the response to this enquiry has been defensive and at times unco-operative.

Special Branch and the Chief Constable were reluctant to grant access to their material to Police Ombudsman’s Investigators and failed to inform those Investigators of a computer system where intelligence, vital to the investigation, was held.

There was a failure to reveal intelligence, which led to a request on 21 September 2001 fordirect access to intelligence systems in order that the Police Ombudsman could have confidence that all relevant material was made available to Police Ombudsman’s Investigators.

A hiatus in the investigation then occurred while the Chief Constable then considered this request.The Chief Constable did not agree to this request until 9 October 2001 and access was not achieved until 17 October 2001 when computers were made available for Police Ombudsman’s Investigators.

Unbelievably the lying fucker, Sir Ronald Flanagan, GBE, QPM, is STILL the Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom .

Anybody in public life who fails to call for his immediate removal from office is colluding in the cover up of the true authors of the Omagh atrocity.

More >>
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Better than sex - fish nibbling dead skin off your toes

Fish Pedicure US$35 for 15 minutes and US$50 for 30 minutes! - 8643 Richmond Highway Alexandria, VA 22309 Map & Directions Phone:(703) 799-3708

More than 6,000 customers have tried the treatment since the salon began offering it five months ago, according to owner John Ho. The salon says it's the first in the United States to offer the service. Video

Can Lightning strike 5 times asks Carl Lewis - questions Bolt and Campbell-Brown's results

47 year old Carl Lewis star of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with four gold medals, told Sports Illustrated: "I'm proud of America right now because we have the best random and most comprehensive drug-testing programme. " (Although in 1988 for the US Finals for the Seoul Olympics he tested positive for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine – all banned stimulants ...her ...ws..er.. taking a cold remedy)

"Countries like Jamaica do not have a random programme, so they can go months without being tested."

In a thinly veiled remark about Usain Bolt's stunning triple successes at the Beijing Olympics epressed his cation over Bolt's success "When people ask me about Bolt I say he could be the greatest athlete of all time.But to run 10.03 seconds one year and 9.69 the next, if you don't question that in a sport with the reputation it has right now, you're a fool. Period."

"No-one is accusing Bolt, but don't live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect. How dare anybody feel that there shouldn't be scrutiny, especially in our sport?"

"Let's be real. Let me go through the list: Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin, Tim Montgomery, Tyson Gay and the two Jamaicans. Six people have run under 9.80 legally, three have tested positive, and one had a year out," Lewis said.

Lewis also cast doubts on the failure of Veronica Campbell-Brown's failure to make the 100 metres team for the recent Olympics.

"Veronica Campbell-Brown lives in the United States and has been transparent and consistent," Lewis said.

"She won the Worlds last year in the 100 metres and this year can't even make the Jamaican team. Are you going to tell me that shouldn't be questioned?"

Dr Herb Elliott, the Jamaican team doctor who is also a member of the IAAF anti-doping commission, hit back saying: "They still think we don't know anything down in Jamaica.
"I am the person who tests in Jamaica, and I tested Bolt 15 times between last November and December."

"People forget that I was the first one to speak out about Ben [Johnson], and I got crucified," Lewis said. "A year later, I was a prophet. The athletes have to say, 'No, this isn't right.' They know who's on it. They need to step up." Seems to us here at Patel Towers that Mr Lewis is not saying this without sound jsutification and not without a little inside knowledge.

Meanwhile New Scientist reports that Hans Eriksen of the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, has run calculations that show that is sain hadn't slowed he could have run 9.55 seconds in the 100 metres.

Logar Governor Abdullah Wardak killed by remote bomb or suicide bomber

Things are getting serious as winter approaches in the Afghan hills and the Taliban are steppping up their assaults. 2 men on a hill top set off a remote controlled device in the vehicle of Abdullah Wardak, the governor of Logar province in Paghman, about 12 miles west of Kabul.

Gen. Zalmay Khan, a police commander of the Kabul province reports that the explosion happened , only 500 yards from Wardak's house as he headed in a 3 car convoy to Parliament. The blast killed him and 2 bodyguards and a driver. Gen. Zalmay Khan, a police commander in Kabul province.

Two men were seen to scarper and detonating wires were found - surely a bit odd for a remote device in amoving vehicle ?

Another version of the killing is supplied by Logar police chief Ghulam Mustafa Mohseni who is reported to have said said Wardak had been killed in a suicide attack. "The governor was leaving his house for the office," Mohseni told Reuters by telephone from Logar.

"The suicide bomber was waiting near his residence. As the governor came out with his driver, he was targeted and killed."

Wardak, a former Cabinet member, was in charge of Logar, the province directly south of Kabul. Afghanistan has 34 provinces, each headed by a provincial governor.

Wardak served as a commander for one of the armed mujahadeen factions that helped US-led troops overthrow the hardline Islamist Taliban government in late 2001.He appears to have had the confidence of ISAF and worked with a local Czech contingent.

He is the second governor killed in recent years. Here he is with the Czech PRT who are building a Comprehensive Health Clinic in Pole Alam District The cremony took place April 1st 2008.

Wardak had the unpleasant task on August 13th of announcing the death of, "Three foreign women employees of IRC (International Rescue Committee) and their local driver (who) were killed in this ambush by the opposition forces,""They were travelling in a car towards Kabul," said Abdullah Wardak, the governor of Logar province south of Kabul where the incident took place.

More ISAF deaths

ISAF also report another death so far unidentified, when insurgents fired on a patrol. No other details were released.

An ambush on a NATO supply convoy left 10 militants and five Afghan security guards dead. Taliban militants attacked a convoy hauling supplies for the NATO forces in the western Farah province, said Rohullah Amin, the provincial governor.

The ambush sparked a fierce battle between the attackers and guards from a private security company that was escorting the convoy, Amin said, adding that the firefight left 10 militants and five Afghan security guards dead.

He said three other security guards were presumed to have been kidnapped by the militants, who fled the area after the reinforcements were deployed.

ISAF extending a comprehensive health clinic in Lowgar province 24th April 2008

Uncle Sam formalises bombing and rocket attacks on Pakistan ... insufficient numbers of civilians killed so far

Regardless of the solemn agreements entered into by the USA the US military struck inside the sovereign territory of Pakistan today, allegedly hitting at an an al Qaeda-linked group called Al Badar (Al Badr) , allegedly run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. This is in the badlands the tribal region which is simply referred to as "ilaka ghair" or the land of the lawless. Home for 3 million people, mostly Pashtun tribes. More concerned at killing each other than Uncle Sam's footsoldiers of democracy.

The village of Tol Khel on the outskirts of Miramshah, the administrative seat of North Waziristan was hit by missiles fired from predator UAV drones . D Tel Saturday 13/9/08"The pre-dawn strike destroyed the house and 12 people were killed," the official said, adding that another 14 people were wounded. "

AFP report that 12 members of Al Badar have been reported killed and 14 were reported wounded in the attack.

The Al Badar group is claimed to be a Kashmiri terrorist group supported by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and has training camps in the Manshera area of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan, Kotli and Muzaffarabad," . This information arrives via the South East Asia Terrorism Portal who say Kashmiri terrorist groups have flocked to the Northwest Frontier Province, which is only a section of the 2,600 kilometer Afghan-Pakistan border .

Hekmatyar, a hero of the resistance to the Russkis is said to operate under the banner of Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and to have close links to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, as well as the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's military intelligence agency.... and probably the Boy SCouts of America.

South Waziristan is a killing ground for US forces currently ;

1. August 13th Taliban commanders Abdul Rehman and Islam Wazir, three Turkmen, and "several Arab fighters" were said to be killed and reports "indicated" up to 25 "terrorists" killed in the attack.

2. A total of 8 airstikes and raids in North and South Waziristan have been undertaken since Aug. 31. Five of the strikes have been aimed at compounds in North Waziristan. Four of them were operated by the Haqqani Network.

3 On September 8th US forces fired a clutch of missiles ati the town of Danda Darpa Khel aiming for the Manba Ulom madrassa and an adjacent home. Several members of the Haqqani family were reportedly killed in the strike.

The Manba Ulom madrassa was established by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a mujahideen commander who is closely allied to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. The madrassa was used in the 1980s to train mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Baitullah Mehsud, head of the Pakistani Taliban and the alleged brains (one of the many) behind the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is also supposed to hang his AK 47 on a tree somewhere near here.

The Haqqanis (Father and Son) are closely allied with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and have close links with the Inter-Services Intelligence. The Haqqanis run a form of informal government in North Waziristan and conduct military and suicide operations in eastern Afghanistan. Siraj Haqqani, Jalaluddin's son, has close ties (it is said) to Osama bin Laden and is one of the most wanted terrorist commanders in Afghanistan. See pic above Jalaluddin Haqqan foreground, and son Nazruddin.

All this of course is a total and complete reversal of what Kim Howells was up to a couple of years ago - Sunday, September 10, 2006 Kim Howells is both mad and ignorant ... Taliban triumphant
British Minister hails Pak-Taliban deal in Waziristan Sept 9th 2006 ZeeNews

"The peace deal between the Pakistan government and pro-Taliban militants which it is claimed will end 5 years of unrest in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan is a "great step forward" and could be a "future model" for insurgency-ridden Kabul,Foreign Minister Kim Howells told reporters during his visit to Peshawar yesterday."

Pakistan protests about UAV rocket attacks

All this plays badly in whatever is the Pakistani equivalent of Peoria. The Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and Minister of Defense Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar both said the country would do what is needed to defend itself from outside attacks.(AFP report) Pakistan closed the vital and extremely busy Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan to NATO traffic on Sept. 6th. Some 60% of Westerm ISAF / NATO supplies pass through this route.

It was opened the following day.

The bulk of NATO's supplies arrive by sea at Karachi, move overland, north to Peshawar, and head west to the Torkham crossing into Afghanistan and then on to Kabul. The rest of the supplies pass through the Chaman border crossing point in Baluchistan or arrive via air.

In a secret (but not THAT secret) Memorandum / Executive order the outgoing
President George Bush is said to have authorized the increased air and ground strikes inside Pakistan with the express intention of rooting out al Qaeda and Taliban forces. There have been 15 cross-border strikes in Pakistan this year alone, compared to just 10 in 2006 and 2007 combined.

US intelligence officials claim that The Taliban, al Qaeda, and allied terrorist groups (whoever they may be) have established 157 training camps and more than 400 support locations in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has called for a new strategy in Afghanistan to deny militants bases across the border in Pakistan.(BBC Online)

On July 23, Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani and his cabinet were told that more than 8,000 foreign fighters were operating in the tribal areas.

From the Long War Journal which is effectively the CIA mouthpiece is is a recent list of US attacks on Pakistan territory.

US attacks inside Pakistan in 2008:

• US hits compound in North Waziristan,Sept. 12, 2008
• US targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, Sept. 8, 2008
• US airstrike killed five al Qaeda operatives in North Waziristan, Sept. 5, 2008
• Report: US airstrike kills four in North Waziristan, Sept. 4, 2008
• Pakistanis claim US helicopter-borne forces assaulted village in South Waziristan, Sept. 3, 2008 - this was suposed to involve the Task Force 88, the hunter-killer teams assigned to take down al Qaeda and the Taliban's command structure.
• US hits al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan, Aug. 31, 2008
• Five killed in al Qaeda safe house strike in South Waziristan, Aug. 31, 2008
• Al Qaeda safe house targeted in South Waziristan strike, Aug. 20, 2008
• Cross-border strike targets one of the Taliban's 157 training camps in Pakistan's northwest, Aug. 13, 2008
• Six killed in strike in South Waziristan, July 28, 2008
• Senior Algerian al Qaeda operative killed in May 14 strike inside Pakistan, May 24, 2008
• Missile strike kills 20 in South Waziristan, March 16, 2008
• Unprecedented Coalition strike nails the Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, March 13, 2008
• Missile strike on al Qaeda meeting in South Waziristan kills 13, Feb. 28, 2008
• Senior al Qaeda leader Abu Laith al Libi killed in North Waziristan, Jan. 31, 2008

These reports, written in Langley VA tend to omit that civilians, women, children are maimed, burnt, killed, houses blown away - domestic animals killed.

Claimed kills of "bad guys" include 3 "senior al Qaeda operatives " in this year's strikes. Two Canadians of Arab origin were killed in a strike in strike in South Waziristan last weekend.
Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's bomb expert and weapons of mass destruction chief, was killed South Waziristan on July 28 which is odd because he was previously killed in a a U.S. airstrike on a Pakistani border village in January 2006.

The US Rewards for Justice Program had a $5 million bounty out for the capture of Khabab. Three other Egyptians were killed in the strike. Abu Mohammad Ibrahim bin Abi al Faraj al Masri, a religious leader, and Abdul Wahhab al Masri and Abu Islam al Masri.

They were all killed during a targeted strike on an al Qaeda safe house in the village of Zeralita in the Azam Warsak region of South Waziristan on July 28th .

Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda's external operations chief, was killed in Bajaur on May 14th, he was one of the most wanted terrorists due to his experience, seniority, and expertise with bomb making, chemicals, and poisons.

Abu Laith al Libi, a senior commander in Afghanistan and the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, was killed in North Waziristan on Jan. 28. (CNN report) see pic.

Siobhain McDonagh Labour MP for Mitcham & Morden was an Assistant Goverment Whip until she opened her

Fun loving blonde Siobhain McDonagh Labour MP for Mitcham & Morden was an Assistant Goverment Whip ( since 28 June 2007 when Gordon was "elected") until she opened her pretty mouth and called for a challenge to Gordon Brown as party leader. She believes you should be loyal, straightforward and stick by your values.

Siobhain is the sister of Baroness McDonagh of Mitcham and Morden who was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1998 and 2001 and she is ultra loyal never once having challenged the Government since 1997 when she dislodged Angela Rumbold.

A great correspondent she spent more on stationery and pstage than anyother MP and as a result a cap of £7,000 per MPper year was installed in 2007.

She wants a leadership contest - and is prepared to put her head above the parapet. She doesn't expect her views to be a surprise to many people. She says there is a huge number of MP's who want a leadership election. She won't knock Gordon Brown.

She thinks GB is a good man whith thebest intentions but being Prime Minister is a very hard job and doesn't thinkshe could do the job.

This garbage taken from he interview on BBC4 News on pm at about 5.30 pm is what passes for being loyal, straightforward and sticking by your values. So she stands by Graham Stringer and Charles Clarke as wanting to defenstrate Gordon but is still unprepared to detail his failings.

Apparently she is honest and straightforward with uncompromising views.

The international credit crunch is no laughing matter says Emily Thornbury , bone headed Member of Parliament for Islington South & Finsbury and thinks Gordon is doing a good job.

Every year Emily sends Christmas cards to constituents who have been in touch with her. Here you can see the different cards that Emily has sent to constituents each year.

German banks tie up the Teutonic bridal suites and the greasy dago gets a boody nose for interfering ...Lehman slides into bankruptcy

More consolidation in continental banking as Commerzbank and Dresdener Bank have been happily sharing the same bed and shower arrangements since last month.

Now Deutsche Bank, the biggest bank in Germany with 14 mn customers is setting it's sites on a mega deal to take a 29.75% lump of Postbank, Germany's biggest retail bank with 14.4 million customers and a ravaged stock price and a fall in value from to €7 billion from €10 billion earlier in the year.

Deutsche and Postbank have been seen dining in the finest restuarants and holding hands discreetly and their eyes have been meeting over the lightly underdone lamb cutlets and may soon result in the exchange of room keys, before they pass the word to Daddy at Deutsche Post.... say Lord Patel's moles in the discreet hostelries in Bonn.

Lord Patel's data collection and surveillance systems have been told by the Bonn insiders, where every house is connected to Mozart, he ate there, tied his shoes, here, cuckolded the poor old man there, ate choclate cake here... and they have been telling the The General-Anzeiger newspaper in Bonn where Postbank is based,that a nice chunk will secure an option to also buy the remaining Postbank shares owned by Deutsche Post, which holds 50 percent plus one share in the bank.

The venerated and generally truthful newspaper says that Deutsche Bank's supervisory board have seen the romabtic liasons and have given their blessing to an exchange of body fluids.

Deutsche Bank has been under increasing pressure to agree the Postbank deal in recent weeks after Commerzbank made its move on Dresdner, which kick-started a new round of long-overdue consolidation in Germany's fragmented banking sector.

Handelsblatt reported that the 29.75 % stake in Postbank would cost Deutsche around €2.1 billion.

Then the nasty Spaniards have upset the wedding plans. Spanish Lothario,Banco Santander SA, Spain's biggest bank, has offered to buy up Deutsche Postbank AG in one gulp to expand in Europe's biggest economy.

Lord Patel's moles in Bonn savouring their sachetorter have heard in the last hour that Deutsche Post's supervisory board agreed to sell a 29.75% stake in its Deutsche Postbank unit to Deutsche Bank for a eye goggling modest €2.8 billion putting a total value of about €11/12 on Postbank ...... and you keep the greasy dagos out the door.

Deutsche Bank has said Deutsche Post had also given it an option to acquire another 18 percent of Postbank at a price of 55 euro ($76.63) a share. That option could be exercised from a year to three years after the acquisition of the initial stake closes.

Furthermore, Deutsche Post has granted Deutsche Bank a right of first refusal for the remaining Postbank shares, a move that guarantees Deutsche Bank has the first shot at becoming the bank's majority stakeholder. PostBank Press release xdetails the need for the regulators to approve.

Sounds like a done deal from the public bar of the Dog and Duck..

Lehman's death throes watched calmly by Paulson

Meanwhile in New York Lehman's shares have fallen even more, to below US$4.00 and the bank has a Market Cap of only US$5 Bn (they wrote off US%5.6 Bn in Q3) - Bank of America (Market cap US$147 Bn) is being touted as a white Knight but Paulson says no Government funds are available. You really can't have any sympathy with the bankers who lave been throwing the omen off the seldge as the wolves circled ,Erin Callan (Lehman Brothers), Zoe Cruz (Morgan Stanley), and Sallie Krawcheck (Citi) - hence the "Glass Cliff".. in short , they are set up for failure ... see Carly Fiorina (Hewlett Packard), Kate Swan (W.H. Smith) and Patricia Russo (Alcatel-Lucent) were all appointed to top positions at a time of "tumbling share prices."

It raised $4 billion selling preferred stock. In June, it raised another $2 billion in preferred shares, at much harsher terms, and $4 billion by selling common shares at $28. ...and the Market Cap is less than US$5 BN ..... the black hole is New York not at CERN in Switzerand.

It is increasingly looking, says Erin in a hasty phone call that Paulson is calling the moral hazard card and Lehman will slide into bankruptcy.... unless someone does something, CEO Fulda's (he earned US$40 Mn last year) hasty plan to . “accomplish a significant de-risking of our balance sheet,” in part by putting risky assets into a new company it would spin off to shareholders next year -- well next year might to be reachable from here she tells us.

A busy weekend is ahead as Lehman's flogs off their 55 % stake in Neuberger Berman, their prized asset management business and the bottom feeders have been churning the water Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Hellman & Friedman, Bain Capital, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ,Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman LLC , General Atlantic LLC, J. C. Flowers, Blackstone Group, and Apollo Management all named in the Press . have until tonight to seal a deal.

This sale has been on the stocks for weeks and values of US$5 -6 Bn. have been placed on the company ... a pretty girl called Mrs Schwartzman says that Stephen wants this one. Seeing he picked up $4.78 billion in compensation for 2007 she must be a happy lady anyway. Nice payday when you consider the market cap of The Blackstone Group L.P. is only US$4.16 billion today lass than half what it was when IPO'd So Stephen coulf buy back the bit of the company he sold off with the profit he made on the sell off.

Getting your lipstick around this dipstick ....

Dontcha just love the way the web let's loose the creative urge ...which we can all enjoy ! This is from the excellent Progressive Alaska Blog ... who has much more tumbling out every hour.