Danish exports booming despite cartoon brouhaha in ME

UNITED STATES

Danish exports are booming - Last year, products worth more than DKK 33bn (US$ 5.2 Bn) headed to US - 25% up on the 2004 , according to the Trade Council of Denmark reported in daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende today, faster than sales within the EU.

Products shipped included oil, windmills (grew 170% in one year) , agricultural goods and medicine. Pharmaceuticals accounted for DKK 9bn (US$ 1.8 Bn) last year, with companies like Novo Nordisk and Lundbeck leading the sales drive. Sales of oil to the US, meanwhile, grew by 75 % last year.

'Exports of agricultural products fell by six percent in 2005,' the Trade Council of Denmark reported. "Mainly due to reductions in exports of meat and meat products, which fell by 21 percent."

Significantly Danish firms had a big increase in the number of subsidiaries established in the US. The subsidiaries' combined sales exceeded twice that of export wares, according to the Trade Council of Denmark.

CHINA

Copenhagen based Carlsberg ( Probably the best Website in the World ) is involved in 20 breweries primarily in western China – joint ventures as well as wholly owned companies.

The total yearly beer consumption in the provinces, where Carlsberg is involved in brewing activities, is about 12 million hectolitres. (Less now that Gazza no longer plays in the Chinese Footie League) Together with its Chinese partners Carlsberg holds a total market share of close to 63%.

Carlsberg is moreover the only international brewer with significant presence in the western part of China, which geographically constitutes about 1/3 of China and has more than 100 million inhabitants. (Graphic shows why you should drink Carlsberg rather than milk or OJ !)

Ningxia:

Carlsberg has to day signed a joint venture agreement with Ningxia Nongken Enterprise Group Co. Ltd ("Nongken") to establish a greenfield brewery located in the Ningxia Autonomous Region in western China. Carlsberg will own 70% of the joint venture. The new brewery will have a capacity of up to 1 million hl. Until the new brewery is in operation by the end of 2006 the beer will be supplied from Nongken's existing brewery who produce the Xixia beer brand.

Xinjiang:

In September 2004 Carlsberg acquired initially 34.5% of Wusu Brewery in Xinjiang. In early 2005, Carlsberg and our local , Blue Sword, initiated a major restructuring of the brewing sector in Xinjiang. The overall purpose of this restructuring was to consolidate the 11 breweries in Xinjiang owned by Wusu Brewery (5) and Xinjiang Brewery Group (6).

The legal restructuring is now completed. Consequently Carlsberg now owns 50% of the combined Wusu/Xinjiang Brewing Group , which has a combined market share of 90%. The other 50% of the combined brewing group is owned by Xinjiang Hops, a company listed on the Shanghai stock exchange.

"Beer consumption in W. China is still significantly below the national average; in certain provinces, less then 1/4 of the national average. This combined with the central government's desire to develop W. China both financially and in all other areas and to catch up with the rest of China, means that the potential for increase of beer consumption in this region is very significant. This combined with the opportunity Carlsberg has had to buy into leading breweries in all the provinces, where Carlsberg is present, means that we have established a very solid base for growing our business in China considerably," says Jesper B. Madsen, VP for Carlsberg Asia.

Map of Carlsberg's presence in China and drawing of planned greenfield brewery in Ningxia can be seen here.

DeLay De-Frocked

DeLay Is Quitting Race and House, Officials Report

NYT By CARL HULSE Published: April 4, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 3 — Representative Tom DeLay, the relentless Texan who helped lead House Republicans to power but became ensnared in a corruption scandal, has decided to leave Congress, House officials said Monday night.

Let's hope Scanlon, Rudy and (born again orthodox Jew) Abramoff get the bastard slammed up.

NEWS UPDATE 5/4/06

De Lay provided a videotaped report ...excerpt

"So today, I am announcing my intention to resign my seat in the House. I will make that resignation effective sometime before mid-June, but largely dependent on the congressional calendar. I plan to begin focusing on the next phase of my life as a private citizen....

I have no fear whatsoever about any investigation into me or my personal or professional activities.

As one of my colleagues in the House leadership astutely observed a while back, the wheels of justice turn much more slowly than the wheels of allegation.

I will be quite content to be judged when the passage of time has provided both all of the facts and a greater sense of perspective than is possible for most today."

Sounds full of remorse .. I'll just brush away a tear.

SOCA the UK's FBI ?

The Police Act 1997 established the National Criminal Intelligence Service NCIS and set out its functions.

On 9th February, 2004 the government announced its intention to create, by 2006, a Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) that will incorporate NCIS, the National Crime Squad and elements of HM Customs and Excise and the UK Immigration Service.David Blunkett the philandering Home Office Minister produced a White Paper, 'One Step Ahead: A 21st Century Strategy to Defeat Organised Criminals' (29 March 2004) which contained further details about the proposed Serious Organised Crime Agency.

At the time the Home Secretary said ...

"Modern crime bosses are sophisticated, organised and determined. No group of defendants is more adept at exploiting our legal safeguards for their own ends. The strategy I am setting out will reduce the harm organised crime causes on our streets and make the UK one of the most difficult environments in the world for organised criminals to operate."

The MI 5 website gives more detail about the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), the National Crime Squad (NCS), the investigative and intelligence work of HM Revenue and Customs on serious drug trafficking and the recovery of related criminal assets, and the Home Office's responsibilities for dealing with organised immigration crime.


Serious Organised Crime Agency

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 came into force on 11 April 2005. A Home Office press release summarises the main provisions of the Act, which establishes SOCA and sets out its constitution, functions, general powers and its relationship with Ministers.

SOCA became operational on 3 April 2006. MI 5 has a close working relationship with the new Agency, which is headed by a former Director General of the Security Service, Sir Stephen Lander. who joined the Secret Services in 1975 and became Director General in 1996, serving in that capacity until his retirement from the Service in 2002.(see pic(C) MI5)

The agency is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by, but operationally independent from, the Home Office. It is funded by central government, with a provisional budget for 2006/7 of £457m, of which £416m funds on-going resources and £41m is capital investment. It has around 5,000 officers, who co-operate closely with the police, intelligence agencies, the Assets Recovery Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, foreign police forces and others. It has ben likened to the nationwide Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US.

It is led by a Board with 11 members. The non-executive Chair of the Board, responsible for the overall approach of SOCA, is Sir Stephen Lander. The other non-executive members of the Board are

Stephen Barrett,International Chair, Corporate
Finance at KPMG;

Elizabeth France is the Telecommunications
Ombudsman, and was formerly the Information
Commissioner;

Ken Jarrold is former Chief Executive of County
Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority
and also former Chair of the Drugs Action Team for Durham

Janet Paraskeva, is a strong advocate for gay and lesbian rights in the United Kingdom. She intends to take advantage of the Civil Partnerships Act to 'marry' her partner of more than a decade, whom she will only refer to as 'Mary'. She prefers not to give Mary's surname and will only say that 'she works in education'. Paraskeva has two children from a previous marriage.

She was appointed as the First Civil Service Commissioner on January 1, 2006.

On February 2006 Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell appointed Janet Paraskeva as head of the new Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD), to serve in a four year term
General Sir Roger Wheeler.

General Sir Roger Wheeler , Knight Grand Cross of the Bath , CBE was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1997 and 2000. Sir Roger is the current 'Constable of the Tower of London'. He is also a Non-Executive Director in Aegis Defence Services headed by the controversial soldier of fortune, Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Spicer OBE. Aegis are curently recipients of a major security contract (£350 Mn (ish)) in Iraq and are undertaking an internal enquiry into a video allegedly showing the shooting up of civilian vehicles by their staff - which hasn't yet reported.(D Telegraph story 27/11/2005)

Day-to-day leadership is provided by the Director General, Bill Hughes, who is able to designate SOCA officers as having the powers of a police constable, a customs officer, or an immigration officer. The other executive members of the board are David Bolt, Malcolm Cornberg, Paul Evans and Trevor Pearce.

Bill Hughes was formerly Director General of the National Crime Squad, until its merger with SOCA.

He began his career in the police force with the Thames Valley Police in 1975, rising to become Assistant Chief Constable in the West Yorkshire Police, then Deputy Chief Constable with the Hertfordshire Constabulary. He joined the National Crime Squad in 2000.

He is the UK Head of Delegation at European Police Chiefs Task Force and Chairman of the G8 Lyon Group on law enforcement.

The Board has decided that around 40% of its effort should be devoted to combatting drug trafficking, 25% to tackling organised immigration crime, around 10% to fraud, 15% on other organised crime and the remaining 10% on supporting other law enforcement agencies. (effectively the same as NICS)

The Terrorism Act 2006, the Identity Cards Act and the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act all received royal assent on March 30th, becoming law.More details at Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/new-acts

Home Secretary Charles Clarke is quoted on the site saying ......

'I am extremely pleased that three crucial pieces of legislation for my department have today reached the statute books. I have always made clear that there is a balance to be struck between the rights and freedoms of individuals and the security of all our citizens.

'This new legislation together will allow us to uphold our democratic right to freedom of speech and to free movement within the United Kingdom, as well as encouraging managed migration which will benefit the UK economy. At the same time, it will strengthen our ability to keep our borders secure, tackle illegal working and to go about our day to day business safely and secure in the knowledge that people are who they say they are.'

(The Home Office Website is (suprisingly in view of the above approved by the Plain English Campaign)

See also Soca Annual plan 2006/7 (PDF Alert)

The Diplomatic Duos fans - both of them....

The US Department of State report of the Blackburn Town Hall meeting with the Press on Saturday 1st April 2006 can be read here it contains an entertaining instruction from Jack Straw to the assembled hacks..

FOREIGN SECRETARY STRAW: ...... Let me just say this, that I hope that one of the things that is reported from this morning is the fact that the crowd of people to turn up in support of Secretary Rice's visit here was at least as large as those in front of the town hall who were opposed to her views and mine in respect of Iraq. And that was a really quite remarkable event that there was that crowd. It was entirely spontaneous. It's very unusual to get people to turn up to show that they agree, in this case, with the purpose of our visit.

This is a complete and utter fucking lie - here is a photograph of the only supporters, God Bless them... who did turn up and show their evident and patriotic support - and much abuse they got for their efforts as well ... although the crowd was generally light hearted endlessly singing "We don't want Rice we want chapattis" as they waited in the rain.

Dutifully the Press obliged the Foreign Secretary .... which is very oddd because they obediently filed out of th Town Hall by a side entrance straight onto the Press claque bus without appearing in front of the Town Hall - some photographers did appear but Lord Patel has not been able to discover any photographs of the massive and highly vocal crowd in front of the Blackburn Town Hall.

Lord Patel timed the scuttling duo and it took 23 seconds from Town Hall door to bomb proof Range Rover and photographs show it was almost impossible to see either of the diplomatic duo behind a 15 strong flying wedge of burly men.... poor show for a such a "crowd" of loyal and enhtusiastic supporters.

The bottom line is of course that the whole North West PR BS trip was a shambles ... followed on in Iraq where they arrived in torrential rain and instead as Condi said being "choppered in" went down "Dynamite alley". ... Condi at her "Drive by Diplomacy" yet again. See here State Department Press release when in Baghdad...

QUESTION: The last time when you were in Iraq you flew in on a helicopter and today -- and at that time you said that you were really looking forward to the moment when you would be able to drive, take the airport road --

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the rain was a little daunting, actually. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Did it meet all your expectations that you had expressed (inaudible) in going that route? And (inaudible) first of all, were you a little disappointed that it took so long? It seemed a little chaotic, quite frankly.

SECRETARY RICE: What seemed chaotic?

QUESTION: The ride.

QUESTION: There was a lot of --

SECRETARY RICE: Oh --

QUESTION: -- the traffic was very --

SECRETARY RICE: Oh yeah. Well, yeah. (Laughter.) I didn't worry about it. I mean, I was busily talking to Zal (US Ambassador) and William, (British Ambassador), and Jack Straw in the car about, you know, what we were going to do and what we were going to see, and I didn't think much about it. I think they did a great job. You know, we would normally chopper in. The weather was terrible. We had to drive in.... a security nightmare with those 4 in one vehicle.

Any way now in a snnappy black trouser suit with Hussar style fastenings and shiny patent leather Jimmy Choos, she was seen striding into No 10 Downing Street (sans the For. Sec.) about an hour ago having acheived absolutely nothing in Baghdad ... except missing seeing Mr Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army and skipping over the letter to Shia spiritual leader Mr Sistani from the President which lies unopened and unanswered on his desk. (See USSD above Press release) (Pic NYT Rice and Talabani admire the roses)

We've occupied the country ... what do we do now ?

Israel elections Labour lose one seat Arab parties gain one

In an unexpected move Arab Israeli parties had demanded a recount of ballots in some Arab dominated towns.The results from five polling stations were logged incorrectly, a press release by the Central Election Commission said.

The United Arab List will now have 4 seats, giving Arab parties a total of 10 seats, and reduce Lanour's seats by one to 19.

On Sunday, Israel's president On Sunday, Israel's president began meetings with the main political parties on who should form a government following the general election.The President will name a leader to put together the next ruling coalition.Only 63.2 percent of Israel's roughly 5 million eligible voters cast ballots.

This revised result may make it more difficult for Olmert to form a coalition as he would not be able to rely on centre-left Jewish parties alone for a majority in the parliament.

However Olmert , a 60-year-old lawyer and former Jerusalem mayor,is currently not anticipated to have any problems in forming a coalition government, which it is expected is going to take up to six weeks.


FINAL REVISED RESULTS of ISRAELI ELECYION as of 3/4//06

1. Kadima: 29 seats, centrist (?)

2. Labour: 19 seats, centre-left

3. Shas: 12 seats, ultra-Orthodox
4. Pensioners: 7 seats, single-issue led by man who ran US spy Pollard
5. Torah Judaism: 6 seats, ultra-Orthodox
6. Meretz: 5 seats, left-wing

7. Israel Beitenu: 11 seats, Russian emigres, far-far-far-far-right

Avigdor Lieberman, a gravel-voiced settler, originally from Moldovia,Lieberman's plans to re-draw Israel's borders along ethnic lines. He proposes a new frontier between Israel and Palestine, forcing some 500,000 Arabs, who are now citizens of Israel, inside the Palestinian territories. Lieberman brushes aside the charges leveled against him of ethnic cleansing. "I’m pragmatic, that’s all," retorts Lieberman, a wide-faced man with a cropped beard, whose party, Yisrael Beiteinu ("Israel, Our Home"), won 11 seats, mainly from Israel’s 900,000 Russian immigrants. "I don’t believe in co-existence," he says. "We can be neighbors, but we can’t live in one home."

8. Likud: 12 seats, right-wing
9. Arab parties: 10 seats

GM The bottom feeders go fishing

NEW YORK :
General Motors Corporation Last: 21.27+0.21+1.00% 4:15am 04/03/2006

GM Have today confirmed plans to sell a 51% stake in its GMAC unit for $14 billion to a team of private equity firms led by Cerberus Capital Management. GM plans to close the sale in the fourth quarter. The auto giant expects $10 billion in cash at the closing and $4 billion over the next three years.

Named after a three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell, Cerberus Capital Management's investment strategy is to keep companies from flaming out. Holdings include a 49% stake in Japanese bank Aozora, US tech firm and supplier of enterprise software SSA Global Technologies, and cable operator Galaxy Cable. The firm often injects capital into retail ventures -- extinct music retailer Wherehouse Entertainment was a former investment, as was beleaguered Hong Kong fashion house Esprit de Corp (now known as Esprit Holdings More recently, subsidiary Riley Property acquired real estate services firm LNR Property,l and Cerberus paid about $2.3 billion for MeadWestvaco's paper business, forming NewPage Corporation.

Sounds like a desperate throw letting in the bottom feeders ..... especially with the problems of strikes and supply problems at Delphi threatening.

UPDATE MONDAY 3/4/06 13.00 GMT

G.M. to Sell Majority Stake in Finance Unit
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and MICHELINE MAYNARD NYT (subscription) April 3, 2006

....Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors of Japan said it was in talks to buy some of G.M.'s shares in Isuzu, another Japanese auto company, for $340 million.

G.M. estimates its liability from the Delphi bankruptcy will be from $5.5 Bn. to $12 Bn., (!!!! - hefty margin of error there) which means the proceeds of the GMAC sale may not be enough to cover it.

Two weeks ago, G.M. said it would offer all 113,000 of its workers and 13,000 Delphi workers up to $140,000 if they would leave the company, but it has not estimated precisely what that would cost. (Steering blind ?)

Delphi said last week that it expected G.M. to offer incentives of $50,000 to its U.A.W. members on acceptaance of a significant pay cut. Otherwise, Delphi would impose wages of $12.50 an hour. If Delphi were to do so, the U.A.W. warned, it could face a strike that could shut down G.M. and lead to its own bankruptcy filing.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services placed G.M. on credit watch with negative implications last week, meaning that its debt rating could be cut even deeper into junk. The move came after G.M. disclosed that it might have trouble tapping a line of credit and might have to renegotiate its terms.


... A group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is also understood to have negotiated to buy GMAC.

UPDATE APRIL 4th 2006 The Independent

Quoted today is Deutsche Bank's Rod Lache who was among the analysts expressing scepticism at the Cerberus deal.

He said it could "wind up being another strategic error", since it cuts in half the cash coming in from GM's most profitable business. Mr Lache said: "A sale could also ultimately turn into another large-scale value transfer to the United Auto Workers union, since a larger cash position reduces the UAW's need to make additional concessions." (and no doubt hold out for more money).

He added: "The bottom line is that we believe GM deciding to cede control of this strategic business reveals how perilous GM's situation has become."

NYT finds Condi hits a bum note in NW

Rice Finds British Muslims Want to Give Her an Earful

By JOEL BRINKLEY New York Times Published: April 2, 2006

BLACKBURN, England, April 1 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced more protests and public embarrassment here on Saturday that have turned a trip meant to be a friendly follow-up to an American trip by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw into a two-day run through a raucous, mishap-ridden gantlet.

She was heckled by protesters and faced criticism from Muslim leaders hand-selected to meet with her by the Foreign Office during a visit here.

Although the names of the 21 Muslim leaders had been made public, several of them requested that their names not be published or broadcast, for fear of repercussions. Five who agreed to be interviewed clearly feared they might be viewed as traitors.

Pic by AP from BBC Online site taken in Baghdad ...now Alice is outta the way, see that sparkle in her eys Jacky ??? Good sleep on Air Force II ?

LATE NEWS LA TIMES

Protests Continue for Rice in Britain
From the Associated Press April, 2 2006 (and syndicated across US)

BLACKBURN, England — A second day of loud antiwar protests greeted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday, and the top U.S. diplomat heard more subtle pleas for peace and tolerance from Christian and Muslim leaders in this multiethnic but divided northern town.



So Jacky says (according to his obedient servants at BBC Online don' forget BBC World Service is a department of his Foreign Office) "They should have asked me, I could have done a much better job," (drumming up opposition) ... well here are the two deluded souls waving their Union Jack in support of Jack and his Whore on Terra .... where the fuck were the rest of his and Condi's supporters in this "divided town" ???

Mind you looking at the pictures on BBC TV news of Jacky with his flak jacket and shyly hiding his tin hat exiting Air Force II at Baghdad in the pissing rain ( so much helicopters were grounded and they went by road to the Green Zone), they got as much support there judging by the stony faces of Mr Jafaare et al. Well said Jack Boy, we are not pressurising them , but well, "we have spilt blood and treasure to get where we are" , he says etc., ... Well Fuck me Jacky and Condi, the Iraqi's have spilt a bit of blood, buried many many thousands of bodies and had a lot of treasure stolen to get where we are as well ... not an argument that goes down well in these parts. Hardly FO diplomatic speak you dumb bastard.

Christ knows what he / she sees in her / him.

Jack gives Condi another surprise !!!!

Here was I saying Jacky could "give a girl a good time - a weekend in wet and windy Blackburn" - then WOW!! he jets her off to endless sand and sunshine in ..... er war torn Baghdad. (Beware the Palestine Hotel Jacky, any sleep (not much of that eh jacky) may be interrupoted by the US Abrams M1's lobbing the odd shell at the Journo's camped in there(see FOOTNOTE).

Anyway just to remind his bride for the weekend of the sunny delights in the North Wst, here is another picture of the folks "who swelled the crowd of protesters" ... (see BBC Online for details... and horly News on BBC4, TV etc.,).

Of course it will be be a working visit, Jack having left his wife Alice behind. They are both intent it appears in having a stern word to these sulky Democrats in Iraq, who having been elected don't seem to have fully read Chapter 2 "How to form a Gubment" in Dubyas book HOW TO IMPOSE DEMOCRACY IN WAR TIME.

No doubt the most powerful woman in the world will also bring up the question of over representation of women in the Iraqi Gubment, as she is so keen on women's rights - except it appears when talking to the front men for the Mad Mullahs. Whatever happens looks like Mr Jafaare and Mr Talibani might be joining the dole queie next week if they don't buck their ideas about forming a Gubment.... anyone for the Oil Ministry Mr Ahmed Chalabi ?

Mind you Jack may no not be so stupid, now that Tony is back in town to many failing Whitehall computer systems crashing, those annoying Parliamentary questions about Crapita PLC (Turnover up from £112 Mn to £1.4Bn under Labour), Lordy Lord Sainsbury mixing up giving or lending £2 MN (sort of mistake any chap might make), and the air thick with the sound of knives being sharpened.

If you are collecting pics of the worlds most powerful woman look here

FOOTNOTE

April 8th, 2003 – Al Jazeera reported, "Al-Jazeera office is located in a residential area and there is no way that the attack was a mistake." said Yasser Abu Hilalah, Al-Jazeera correspondent. They were both standing on the roof getting ready for a live broadcast amid intensifying bombardment of the city when the building was hit by two missiles. Shortly afterwards, US warplanes returned to hit the neighbouring Abu Dhabi TV offices.

April 8th, 2003 – Reuters reports,

"A U.S. tank fired on a Baghdad hotel packed with foreign journalists on Tuesday, killing two cameramen, one from Reuters, the other from Spanish television."

Lebanese-born Samia Nakhoul, Reuters' Gulf bureau chief based in Dubai, and Iraqi photographer Faleh Kheiber also suffered facial and head wounds and concussion.

....... Just in case you thought Lord Patel was jesting - moi ? jeste ? Quelle horreur !!!

More at previous post re Dubya joking to TB about bombing Al Jaz to be found here

Condi in call for Women's Rights to Muslims worldwide ?

Still reeling from the BBC reports about the crowd of 200 "swelled by wellwishers" - well 2 at most, I was looking for a more dashing pic of Condi and found this when she met Putin earlier this year.

Then I thought of her and the First Lady telling the Seirra Leonians about Women's Rights.... Hmmmm ... Condi (according to the TIME reporter on the BBC) " went out" amongst the Muslims to confront them.

Well ..... which Muslims (even less confronted) she met is still unknown , and she didn't go out and meet them, they were carefully selected and invited to meet her and Jacky in the Town Hall. Pound to a pinch of snuff there wasn't a lady amongst them... did she stoutly call for Women's Rights, and did Jacky Straw her drooling lapdog echo her call ?

Well no mention in the Press / TV coverage so far .... an opportunity missed ... or avoided ?

Armitage PNAC signatory joins one of world's biggest oilco's as Director

Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State t Colin Powell (March 2001 - Nov 2004 resigned one day after Powell) and signatory of the Project for the New American Century, has been under scrutiny in connection with the trial of ex-vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, over the leak of a CIA operative's name to the press. He is said to be the first person to discuss the identity of CIA official Valerie Plame with reporters, and is expected to testify in the perjury trial. Bob Woodward is "alleged" to have been the journalist he talked to.

A court filing suggests Libby's team may try to pin blame on the State Department for the leak of Plame's identity to the public after her husband. U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

Powell and Armitage resisted the administration's push to invade Iraq more than other senior officials and left their posts after President Bush's 2004 reelection.

Armitage ran an international consulting company before joining Powell in the Bush administration in 2001.

His name popped up on Friday 30th March 2006,in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in which ConocoPhillips said its board was expanded from 15 to 18 members as a result of its $33.9 billion acquisition of natural gas producer Burlington Resources.

In addition to Armitage, (Ex Navy, Viet Vet, international consultant and powerlifter) who becomes a Class I director effective immediately, the company said its board also elected Burlington's former President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Bobby Shackouls to the board, as well as William Wade, Jr., who was on the board of Burlington (and is retired Chairman of Atlantic Richfield Oil Co).

ConocoPhillips earlier on Friday said it had closed the acquisition. Burlington shareholders will receive $46.50 in cash and 0.7214 shares of ConocoPhillips common stock for each Burlington share. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips operates in more than 40 countries. The company has approximately 35,600 employees worldwide and assets of $107 billion.

Full list of ConocoPhillips Board with biogs here including J. Stapleton Roy Managing Director of Kissinger Associates, Inc. (position previously held by Paul Bremer of Baghdad)

Pic Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov with Armitage (on right) .Copyright US Gubment

Scanlon, Abramoff now Rudy spill the beans .... De Lay next for a plea ?

Tony Rudy 39. former deputy chief of staff and press secretary to US Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), (USA v. Rudy, 06cr82, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) and renowned Amhurst graduate and bare knuckle Republican operator pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy Friday 31st March 2006.

Rudy admitted to working with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff , among other people, to corrupt public officials and defraud clients while he was employed by DeLay and later while a partner in the now defunct (shutdown January 9, 2006) Washington lobbying firm Alexander Strategy Group.

The plea deal contains no allegations of wrongdoing by DeLay, but court documents do state that Rudy was involved in planning a golf trip to Scotland for Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) and members of his staff. Rudy's plea also includes a promise to cooperate in further investigations of bribery and lobbying fraud. In exchange, prosecutors will not further charge Rudy or his wife.

Rudy ( who resigned as DeLay's deputy chief of staff in 2001 before working with Abramoff) faces up to 5 years in prison, but could receive much less depending upon his help with the investigation, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle told Rudy at a court hearing in Washington. (pic Rudy leaving Court)

Susan Schmidt and James Grimaldi of The Washington Post November 26th 2005 reported that investigators are looking into whether Rudy aided Abramoff's lobbying clients while he was working on the Hill, ... and are reviewing payments from Abramoff clients and associates to Liberty Consulting, a political firm founded by Rudy's wife, Lisa. The Washington Post reported that Rudy, while on DeLay's staff, helped scuttle a bill opposed by eLottery Inc., an Abramoff client, and that Abramoff had eLottery pay a foundation $25,000 ( a Seattle-based Orthodox Jewish foundation, Toward Tradition, headed by a friend of Abramoff, Lapin) that then paid fees to Rudy's wife to hire Liberty Consulting,"

The Magazine Publishers of America also paid the Seattle-based Orthodox Jewish foundation, Toward Tradition, that then paid fees to Rudy's wife. "I can confirm that based on direction from Preston Gates, the MPA did make a $25,000 contribution to Toward Tradition in 2000," said MPA spokesman Howard J. Rubenstein.The Postal Service were intending to raise postal costs by 15% and the MPA spent £ 10Mn campaigning against it, using Preston Gates - they succeeded when the postal rise was much less.

Rudy is claimed (without any evidence) to be on the ground at the time of one of the most historic episodes of the 2000 battle for the White House -- the now-legendary "Brooks Brothers Riot" at the Miami-Dade County polling headquarters.

This was when dozens of "local protesters," actually mostly Republican House aides from Washington, chanted "Stop the fraud!" and "Let us in!" when the local election board tried to move the re-counting from an open conference room to a smaller space. For more see Wapo Jan 24th 2005 this is a must see story.

Michael Scanlon, a former DeLay press secretary who later became a lobbying partner with Abramoff, pleaded guilty to bribing public officials in November.

Busy couple Mr & Mrs Rudy. According to the Wall Street Journal Rudy made nearly 500 stock trades from his Capitol Hill computer in 1999 and 2000 and profited handsomely from the day trading.

According to a document filed in court yesterday, Rudy admitted accepting gifts from Abramoff and associates, including $86,000 in payments to his wife's firm, Liberty Consulting, as well as "tickets to sporting events, meals, golf and golf trips."

Rudy was known on the Hill as the "impelmenter" overseeing "members high maintenance" operation, an elaborate concierge service, making sure GOP lawmakers had private cars and meals during late-night votes. Rudy told a Washington Post reporter that it made sense to shuttle lawmakers to a five-car hospitality train from Philadelphia's First Union Center. "The whole purpose of this is to treat members of Congress as kings and queens," he said.

"Rudy was a practical, no-nonsense aide who made sure the De Lays's Republican political vision became reality." an insider is reported saying.

So now we know why (partly) Abramoff is singing like a canary.

Tom De Lay must be sleeping badly these days.

Lord Patel of the Internet gets in the Rogue's Gallery...again.

They didn't seem to respond too well to blown kisses ... obviously got me down as a wrong 'un.

Notice the two officers (one recording voice and one video) with red tabs are not displaying (as required) any numbers.(Click on pic to enlarge)

The excellent BBC gallery of pictures here None of Lord Patel !

The BBC ONline report says of JS .."Mr Straw described crowds of supporters outside as "remarkable" and dismissed the number of demonstrators as "not large".

By not large one imagines that he means , well that many die violently in Baghdad every week. The innumerate BBC head counter arrived at 200 people - a number confortably exceeded by the number of Police present.

Bloomberg report astonishing news of her meeting with the Press in Blackburn Town Hall..." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. will no longer give explicit support to governments that are not elected, suggesting that spreading democracy now takes priority over maintaining political stability.

``The past 60 years of trying to buy stability at the expense of democracy is now gone,'' Rice said at a press conference in Blackburn, England, that was televised by the British Broadcasting Corp...... so that is the end of cosying up to General Musharrif of Pakistan the Military Dictator, who amended the Constitution that he can introduce any law he wishes and Parliament nor the legal process can later alter it..... Kuwait, Saudi, Emirates, Jordan .... those havens of Democracy and Women's Rights.

...............oooooops silly us, it is April Fool's Day. (The Daily Torygraph blog by Anton La Guardia "Chasing Condoleeza Rice "had a very weak schoolboy April Fool about Jack calling her Condom Rice ...

POSTSCRIPT SUNDAY 2/4

Reviewing my pics of the day I note that these unnumbered and unsmiling Plods actually blocked taking pics of Condi and Jacky getting in their bomb proof, gas guzzling Range Rover - that is the bus contaniing the Press / TV claque in the background, .... meanwhile the VIP's roared off past the two supporters waving their single Union Jack.

No mention in the Press about their visit to the Liverpool Maritime Museum ... after all she had been to the Air Museum at BAE Warton to see the 18 yr old brand new, instant military antique, Typhoon with a bag of concrete instead of a machine gun .... enough of museums maybe, as Jacky whisked her off to the Sands of Araby ??????

Probably the most stomach wrenching weekend Press piece of hagiography was Condimania By Elizabeth Day (Filed: 02/04/2006) Sunday Torygraph

"The Dean of Blackburn is a holy man and, as such, is not generally touched by earthly desires. He has serious misgivings about the Iraq war. He is a sensible, mild-mannered sort of fellow, not given to unnecessary exaggeration. But that was yesterday. That was BC. Before Condoleezza.

Oh, I thought she was charming," says the Very Rev Christopher Armstrong, reflecting on his hour-long meeting with the US Secretary of State in Blackburn Cathedral. He pauses. A playful half-smile curls his lips. His eyes glaze over slightly and gaze into the middle distance. It is as if he is recalling a particularly pleasing experience, such as winning the egg-and-spoon race at his primary school.

Condoleezza Rice left men powerless in her wake

"She looks nice, she's interesting, she's very aware, very concerned, and she can handle the protesters so well. She knows other people's opinions are important and she values them." (We'll skip over that earlier observation about the Dean..."not given to unnecessary exaggeration")

A few hours earlier, Mr Armstrong had been declaiming the war in Iraq in forceful tones in front of the nation's media. Now, he appears to have undergone a quasi-religious conversion. But you can't blame him. This, it seems, is quite simply the Condi effect."

Pass the sick bag Alice ......

If you have the stomach to read the article by Miss Day, you will see she managed to speak to two people who approved of her visit, and missed speaking to a single one of the thousands giving voice to a very vocal opposition.

Condi " Give Peace a fucking chance ! "

Condi and her beau stepped briskly down the steps of the Town Hall, Blackburn with a very brief wave and kept close to the wall and railings (thigmatropic response as the zoologists describe the scuttling style of the woodlouse) surrounded by 15 burly well dressed thugs men who looked like what the zoologists call, bulls in a china shop. (CR is just to the right of the Plods with the cameras by the tree, with JS behind)

In seconds they were in the cars and roared off in convoy with Police outriders to the Liverpool Maritime Museum (yawn) and then Liverpool Airport (ooops John Lennon International Airport) ... no doubt as Air Force II bore here off to sunny Washington she was quietly cursing the umpteenth time she heard JL's "Imagine" and it's much repated refrain "Give peace a chance".

All in all we can rejoice that her trip was such a fuck up, shunned from a photo op at the mosque by the Muslim community ... having to look at the aircraft museum with the "instant antique" Typhoon fighter (?) plane 18 years in the making ... a pesky child at Pleckgate school (even after her slippy back entrance manouevres with Jacky) singing "Give Peace a Chance endlessly"... she missed the footie with Blackburn game moved to Monday by Sky TV .... a silent audience who sat on their hands at the Chatham House speech ... that black woman insulting her at ther Phil ... more crowds yelling abuse..."War criminal" ... Jim Naughtie giving her a mildly hard time on Today's TODAY program (not what the BBC had promised). ... and then 4,000 people at a zillion decibels, hurling abuse and telling her to Fuck off back to the USA - in the midle of Blackburn Jack's own patch!!!! (Where were his supporters ?) . ... plus almost endless rain, clouds and that sweaty Kack following her like a bloody lapdog everywhere agreeing with everything she said.

Oh! by the way today it was a smart 2 piece tailored charcoal grey suit, although I haven't checked that with the BBC Fashionistas yet.

Probably most disappointed were the shoe stalls on Blackburn Market who missed the chance to sell her a nice comfy pair of slippers, or some good walking shoes.

Even worse than the cobblers and tripe scutchers, must be Jacky, poor lad, dreams of No 10 shattered, what a sad fuck he must feel ... imagine him fondling his silk Blackburn No 10 shirt he managed to snaffle, alone with a bottle of Chivas Regal ... what's this, a loaded Revolver and a handwritten note .... "WE will miss you...Tony".

Crowds out to support the war criminals etc.,

Lest the BBC 4 News at 2.00 clock today "... the crowd of 3,000 was swelled by supporters" slightly overstate the number of supporters of the war criminals here they are ... literally yards away ( and 10 minutes before she appeared) from where Condi and the man who shares her mini bar got into their bomb proof Range Rover.(click on all pics to enlarge)

The lady with the flag was interviewed by BBC Five Live and this ended up on BBC Online .....

"Judith Hodgkinson, 35, from Blackburn, who was among the supporters, said: "I think it is a major coup for Blackburn that she (Ms Rice) is here.

"She's a very powerful woman and she makes very important decisions. To me it's astonishing to have a person like that in a town like Blackburn."

Mrs Hodgkinson's view contrasted with protesters who booed Ms Rice and branded her a "war criminal".

Pictures are worth a 1,000 words ?



The two highly trained POLICE horses seen here reared and skittered and knocked down an elderly lady (who had absolutely nothing do do with the demonstration - no bones broken but badly shocked. No paramilitaries attended but the Police ladies were VERY sympathetic and found her a chair from M & S .. eventually.

Note the 2 sharpshooters (?) on top of BHS (immediately above the blue bhs sign).




















Of course it wasn't just the Press / TV and the public taking pictures, P C PLod has now got even MORE pictures of Lord Patel of the Universe. What DO they do with these fillums ... play them on Drunk night in the canteen ?

War criminals in Liverpool

Blairwatch has 2 excellent photo albums one of the visit of leading war criminals to the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts here (see pic) and one of the evening march from Paddy's Wigwam

The BBC have cleared up one major problem concerning many people. The US war criminal Rice was wearing a 2 piece tailored suit which they finally agreed was to be described as "dusky plum". Glad that's been cleared up. No Ferragamo pumps though just plain old Jimmy Choos.

See you in Blackburn!

Where is April Glaspie ?

Where is April Glaspie when you need her ? April Glaspie you will remember was the last US Ambassador in Baghdad (before the illegal invasion and the installation of a series of puppet regimes). She met Saddam Hussein and told him as he was sending his armoured battalions south to invade Kuwait that the US really "takes no position". The verbatim record shows ... "U.S. Ambassador Glaspie - We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America."


Well a lot of blood has been spilled on the floor since then and we have heard nothing from her ... apparently that day she couldn't get through to the State Department and so took the rap quietly moved on....first going to a lowly job at United Nations then Consul General in Cape Town, then she retired in 2002.

April was the first US woman Ambassador to an Arab country and much respected. Wouldn't it be nice to hear what she has to say about Iraq today ?

Charlie Sheen has 9/11 Website (so does Condi)

Charlie Sheen's Bravo Charlie website is here whilst we are listing websites the Times (Rupes No 1 UK Rag) has listed www.condiwatch.co.uk giving deatils of all the North West protests - Blackburn, Bangor Steet 9-10 tomorrow for the march on the Town Hall. Be there!

Don't miss the BBC collection of 24 photographs from the Liverpool march here

Condileezza Rice at prayer in Liverpool Cathedral

School protest against Condi / Straw seen worldwide

School children and parents demonstrate against Rice's visit Friday at Pleckgate High School in Blackburn, England. (USA Today)



Reuters says Rice's trip is expected to be heavy on photo opportunities and light on discussion, as was Straw's trip to the American south in October.



Christopher Furlong, Getty Images / Reuters

Straw / Rice visit reaches climax

At Ewood Park, home of Blackburn Rovers ( anatural location for discussion of the philosophy of war etc.,) war criminal Condileezza Rice attempted to explain to a handpicked and carefully scrutinised party ...."I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them I'm sure," Rice told an audience "gathered" by the British foreign policy think tank Chatham House. "But when you look back in history, what will be judged will be, did you make the right strategic decisions."

She said she remains firmly convinced that it was the right strategic decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq three years ago, and that it required an invasion to do it.

Saddam "wasn't going anywhere without military intervention," she said.

Meanwhile Jack was snapped gleefully drooling and fondling her brand new slinky silky vest ... does he, as a fan of Blackburn Rovers envisage any David Mellor style romps ? ... a case of get yer kit off Condi !!! ???? ("careful Jacky don't want to leave any DNA on it ... know whaddimean, nudge, nudge , wink, wank!" remember what Slick Willy told you.)

"Fuck it!" says, Jack the lad ... let's get to the Adephi as soon as ....I've had enough of these wailing Asians.

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool)