Senator Vitter on Marriage, God, and an apology and an intriguing story from Salon

STOP PRESS 10/7/07 3.00 EST
Daily Kos Sun Oct 24, 2004 at 09:59:09 PM PDT

"The irony is that Vitter dropped out of that governor's race last year because of an affair with a prostitute and has an illegitimate child with another woman. No big scoop -- this is all out in the open and well-known in the state, yet Vitter is still running on a "family values" platform and obviously getting away with it."

Read more here how this Catholic churchman campaigned for Family values

Senator Vitter on being found with his pants down ;

"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way"

Feral Cat got his hands on the first draft ...

This was a very serious screw up on my part as I got caught. Next time I will be more careful sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter said in the statement. “Several years ago, I switched to a more discrete “massage service” asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of concern for my political career respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with my new more discrete “massage service” God and them. But I certainly hope this nonsense will fool everybody offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.”

By the way he gets a 100% rating by Dr Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition on Marriage

There is a super picture on Flikr of Mr Guiliani and Mr Vitter as Vitter endorses Guiliani in the South - full details on the Guiliani blog. Have a look before it gets pulled

It appears however according to a Salon expose 29/10/2004 this was not his first experience of hookers .... "There is a house in New Orleans"

"Vitter grew up in a well-to-do family in New Orleans. After graduating from Harvard University, he attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship and earned a law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. He served in the Louisiana House from 1991 to 1999...

"As Vitter geared up in 2002 to run for governor, his bitter race against Treen came back to haunt him. A Treen supporter, local Republican Party official Vincent Bruno, blurted out on a radio show that he believed Vitter had once had an extramarital affair.



The Louisiana Weekly newspaper followed up. Bruno told the paper that the young woman had contacted the Treen campaign in 1999 because she was upset that Vitter was portraying himself as a family-values conservative and trotting out his wife and children for campaign photo ops. Bruno, who declined to comment for this story, and John Treen interviewed the woman, who said she had worked under the name "Leah."

But after nearly a year of regular paid assignations with Vitter, the lawmaker asked her to divulge her real name, according to Treen, citing the account he said she gave him. Her name was Wendy Cortez, Treen said. (Pic is Mr Giuliani and SEn. Vitter and his wife Wendy March 12th 2007 - how long will Vitter nahg around as Southern Campaign Chairman ?)

She said Vitter's response was electric. "He said, 'Oh, my God! I can't see you anymore," John Treen told me, citing the woman's account to him and noting that Vitter's wife is also named Wendy. And Wendy Vitter does not appear to be the indulgent type.

Asked by an interviewer in 2000 whether she could forgive her husband if she learned he'd had an extramarital affair, as Hillary Clinton and Bob Livingston's wife had done, Wendy Vitter told the Times-Picayune: "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."

Vitter, Bruno and others interviewed the alleged prostitute several times in 1999. She also met with a respected local television reporter, Richard Angelico, the Louisiana Weekly said. But Angelico declined to run with the story after she would not agree to go on camera, the paper said. Vitter denied the allegations. But shortly before the Louisiana Weekly was set to publish its story, he dropped out of the governor's race, saying he needed to deal with marital problems. "Our [marriage] counseling sessions have ... led us to the rather obvious conclusion that it's not time to run for governor," Vitter said at the time.

Chris Tidmore, the author of the Louisiana Weekly story, said he interviewed the alleged prostitute by telephone and reviewed the notes of her sessions with Treen and Bruno before publishing his story. He said she had moved away from New Orleans and is now living under an assumed name. Salon could not locate her.

Amid Vitter's denials and the reluctance of his accuser to go public, no newspapers in Louisiana reported on the allegations. And, when Sen. Breaux announced his retirement last December, Vitter jumped into the race to succeed the conservative Democrat. The far-right and confrontational Vitter was the opposite of Breaux, who had been a consensus-builder in Washington with close relationships with Republican...."

There is more on this story 29th December 2003 in the Louisiana Weekly here

Right Hand Thief has some fascinating detail at the same time about Vitter, marriage, temper tantrums etc.,

Washington Post have now picked up the story as has the Guradian which prints the AP story. Fox News now have the story. ....etc

Lawmaker?s number on escort list (MSNBC.com: U.S. News)

Phone number links senator to escort service (HoustonChronicle.com -- Politics)

Senator Nipped By "D.C. Madam" Scandal (Politics: CBSNews.com)

Senator Nipped By "D.C. Madam" Scandal (US News: CBSNews.com)

Senator Nipped By D.C. Madam Scandal (Breaking News: CBSNews.com)

Senator's number on escort service list (USATODAY.com Washington - Top Stories)

Senator apologizes about escort calls (The Seattle Times: Politics)

Senator Admits Use of an Escort Service (NYT : Washington)

Jean Palfrey Telephone records available for Download - FREE - NOW !!!

Why the Records are Being Publically (sic) Released

I have reason to believe the disk - containing a full set of the telephone records for the 13 year operational history of "Pamela Martin & Associates" - already has been pirated. Despite our very best intentions to maintain control of the information, our efforts seemingly have been for naught. Click the link above, there are ten files.

If your computer does not have a "pkunzip.exe" file to open these records, then you need to download a free version from PKWare.

Happy Hunting

Meanwhile if you want to know more about the exotic Montgomery Sibley, Madame Jeane's lawyer (?) who sued the US Government twice for treason ... try this.

First one down the wire is

Senator's Number on Escort Service List
Jul 9, 10:31 PM (ET)

This statement was e-maile to the New orleans AP Bureau on Monday night -

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. David Vitter, R-La., apologized Monday night for "a very serious sin in my past" after his telephone number appeared among those associated with an escort service operated by the so-called "D.C. Madam."
Vitter's spokesman, Joel Digrado, confirmed the statement in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press.
"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in the statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Vitter campaigned on the Sanctity of marriage ;

Vitter Statement on Protecting the Sanctity of Marriage

“This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history, and our two U.S. Senators won’t do anything about it.

We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts’s values. I am the only Senate Candidate to coauthor the Federal Marriage Amendment; the only one fighting for its passage. I am the only candidate proposing changes to the senate rules to stop liberal obstructionists from preventing an up or down vote on issues like this, judges, energy, and on and on.” stated David Vitter.

So we have a Senator on the stump being a sanctimonious humbug - well things have changed around Washington

See also Fresno Bee

Rupe's right hand woman and hand relief gets spiked in Oz

Evidently one of the disadvantages of being a media baron is having to be married to a woman.

As Lord (soon to be ex Lord) Black of Crossharbour (a dingy stop on the Docklands Light Railway) and his fragrant bitch of a wife, Lady Black AKA Barbara Amiel, whose sexual proclivities make Catherine the Great look like nun, meet their nemesis in a Chicago court ....

Rupe's young fragrant wife with slim small lissome hands, has had her news profile spiked in unusual circumstances just as he bids for the Wall Street Journal...

..more

Muktar Saed Ibrahim - Guilty 21/7 of conspiracy to murder with non exploding flour power bomb - the Luton connection

Originally published by Lord Patel Saturday, July 30, 2005
How very odd! Joining the dots in Luton ?

Royston and Buntingford Mercury 29 July 2005

Muktar Saed Ibrahim, also known as Muktar Mohammed Saed, 27, was named by police in connection with the attempted attack on the No 26 bus in Hackney, East London, last Thursday.

In 1996 he was jailed for a series of street robberies (he was then 18), including one in Melbourn Street, Luton in May 1995 (Melbourn is a village outside Royston), and may also have been involved in incidents in Stevenage, Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City.

The Mercury learnt that the alleged would-be bomber was part of a gang who appeared at Luton Crown Court in February 1996 and pleaded guilty to several charges.

It is believed that when Ibrahim appeared in court with two of his accomplices he had already received a three-year prison sentence from a court in north London for similar offences.
At Luton, he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted robbery, one charge of robbery and another count of handling stolen goods.

He got one year, two years and another two years respectively to run concurrently, but in addition to the previous sentence.

Jermayne Lindsay died in the worst of the (alleged) 7/7 suicide attacks -- a subway bomb that killed at least 26 people between King's Cross and Russell Square stations. Former schoolfriends of Lindsay, who grew up in Rawthorpe, Huddersfield, said that he visited Afghanistan four years ago and returned to Britain as a hardline Muslim. The police are known to have been looking losely at Lindsay’s connections in the Luton area.

Abdullah Shaheed Jamal when he converted to Islam at the same time as his mother when he was sixteen, it is said he may have may have been the most senior of the four bombers.There are reports (unconfirmed) that Lindsay / Jamal was tracked by federal authorities to the United States in 2000. His mother had been living in Cleveland, Ohio, in the late 1990s.For the last six months he was living with his partner in a small rented semi-detached house in Aylesbury. Jermaine Lindsay's partner Samantha Lewthwaite, 22, mother of his one-year-old son, is expecting her second baby very soon.

It is known that the three other bombers travelled from West Yorkshire to London via Luton in a hire car. After they detonated their devices to deadly effect, further bombs were found at Luton station in Jamal's red Fiat car.

One officer said that Lindsay appeared to have links with criminal activity in the town.

Luton has also been a hotbed of radical Islamist activity for several years, with extremist groups such as al-Muhajiroun having an influence over young Muslims there.

Last year several arrests were made in Luton in connection with another anti-terrorist operation in August 2004 when 13 arrests were made across the country. Details cannot be reported because it is the subject of a forthcoming criminal trial.

Lindsays bank became suspicious before the 7/7 attacks and hired a private firm to examine his finances, said detective Noel Hogan, managing director of Hogan and Co. Intl. Hogan said one of the purchases he examined was a large amount of perfume (said to be £900). He said the company contacted police once Lindsay's name was publicly linked to the attacks.

Charges for conspiring to cause explosions were dropped at the end of the trial leaving the charge of conspiracy to murder. - a distinction that the BBC (and probably many other MSM news media) seem to have either forgotten to remind the reader, or seek to suppress.

Channel 4 have obligingly managed to combine the banner heading of the 21/7 and 7/7 bombers - just in case you missed the connection.(click pic to enlarge)

UK Counter Terrorism cock ups - Official : Interpol.

On Friday, November 04, 2005 " Secret Service spread terror message" we posted details of Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble addressing the Counter-terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council on Interpol’s work.He claimed then that there were 10 to 15 million stolen passports in use around the world at the present time

"If member countries treated stolen passports like citizens treat their stolen credit cards, then we would have many, many fewer terrorists and organized criminals in the world than we currently do,"

At the time Noble said 87 countries are using an Interpol database on stolen passports - that has now risen to 108 with some 70 countries remaining undecided to join.

Since it's creation in 2002The Interpol database carries information about 11,000 suspected terrorists and seven million stolen passports - which is only routinely used by a 17 countries countries to check visa applications and passports on entry of visitors / immigrants.

On the BBC4 Today programme, this morning, Noble was interviewed by James Naughtie and he claims that the USA and the UK do not access this database although there are no technical reasons preventing them. (BBC ONline report timed 8.08 BST today) They handle some 50 odd requests from the UK per month on a random basis.

Switzerland for example checks 300,000 visitors per month and get 100 hits and France by comparison makes 700,000 checks. CARICOM countries, the EU-style organisation for the small Caribbean states, uses it 80,000 times a month - Lord Patel detailed how it was used during the recent Cricket World Cup during the Woolmer mystery murder / suicide / natural death saga.

Noble also told the Sunday Telegraph "We have the passport numbers, fingerprints and photos of more than 11,000 suspected terrorists on our database. But the UK does not check it against immigrants coming into the country or foreign nationals it has arrested.

"The guys detained last week could be wanted, arrested or convicted anywhere in the world and the UK would not know."

He told the Guradian - "Mr Noble said that Gordon Brown's promise last week to share a list of potential terrorists with other countries had yet to materialize. British citizens might be surprised to find that this watch list announced by your prime minister last week has not been sent to Interpol,"

A spokeswoman for the Home Office last night declined to discuss Mr Noble's accusations says the Scotsman ?/strong>today.

Almost daily we are confronted with the stupidity, incompetence, bone hededness of the Counter terrorism efforts , surely it is time there was a huge shaek up of senior peronnel - starting with that lard arse, Sphincter of the Yard, Commander Peter Clarke.

So far the failures of the authorities are equally matched by the apparent lack of professionalism of the alleged terrists - which is not a balance we can continue to rely on. As Admiral West early in his career lost some defence documents because he breached the rules - one has little confidence in his abilities.

Presumably at some time the real professional terrorists instead of the State organised false flaggers will get their act together....

Other reports Evening Standard Sunday Telegraph BBC Online Guradian Scotsman
Channel 4

Glasgow Traffic Accident with Jeep - Absence of armed Police explained

For the many people who expressed surprise at the sequence of events at Glasgae last weekend ... this might help.

Associated Press report / Bloomberg / 8/7/07 8.16 BST

" .....Meanwhile, authorities acknowledged no armed police were on duty at Glasgow airport June 30 when two men crashed a Jeep Cherokee laden with gas cylinders and gasoline into the main terminal.

"Armed officers are only deployed to the airport when the national threat level requires it," a Strathclyde police spokesman said on condition of anonymity because department policy barred him from speaking for attribution.

Britain's terrorism threat level was "severe" at the time of the attack - the second-highest level, which means an attack is highly likely. It remains at that level.

It is up to individual police forces to decide how to deal with the threat level, a Home Office spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

Most police throughout Britain do not carry firearms out of the philosophy that arming police makes criminals feel justified in carrying weapons. However, all forces have specially trained firearms teams ready for rapid deployment.

The two men arrested following the Glasgow attack were overpowered by an unarmed officer, an off-duty policeman and members of the public. Armed police have been on duty at the airport since the attack.

All we need now is to be told that the Fire engines didn't have any foam .."because we don't usually get vehicle fires at the front door sir ...etc., "

Adm. Sir Alan West, the former navy chief the newly appointed security minister says the fight against "domestic militancy" (?) will take 15 years .... well that's no fucking surprise at this rate.

Fear naught though ..."John Smeaton, an airport worker, was praised in the Commons yesterday as the "one-man scourge of international terrorism".

1st Boeing Dreamliner due for rollout today at Everett

There will be more than 200 journalists ready to watch the newly painted Boeing 787 Dreamliner roll into the factory bay in Everett today . Although it hasn't been without it's problems. This picture is exclusive to Lord Patel of the first plane entering the paint shop c/o Randy Tinseth of Boeing (VP Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle) - regrettably he had to turn down the invite to be there.

Production crews are getting ready to beam the event via satellite in nine different languages.

Link here for details of the major gobal suppliers ranging from the Rolls Royce Trent engines to the Japanese manufactured composite body structures made by Fuji and Mitsubishi and the world beating UK Ultra Electronics system of LED heating for de-icing.

If you'd like to watch the roll-out live, tune to NorthWest Cable News and KING5.com this Sunday at 3 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time ) The special "787 Dreamliner Premiere" will include live reports from Paine Field in Everett and Qwest Field in Seattle, giving viewers a front-row seat of the Dreamliner's world debut.

Boeing will be webcasting it slightly later - The 787 Premiere will be carried live and in nine different languages on Sunday, July 8, at 3:30 p.m. PDT or 10:30 p.m. GMT via satellite and Webcast. To view the Webcast, viewers may log on to http://www.boeing.com/index.html or http://www.newairplane.com/.

Details for global Satellite broadcasts available here

News of the World maps out our world of Al Quaeda Terror cells - is no-one safe - why oh why ?

Not yet available on Sat Nav... Schoolboys with guns flood Essex and Wales sets fire to Jeeps not holiday cottages... Don't laugh mother, your daughter may be inside one ...

Where are they Now ? Shriti Vadera, shy unassuming Brown adviser gets the chop Title and sidelined new job

For many years Shriti Vadera , a Ugandan Asian beauty, (comparisons have been made with Shilpa Setti) who left Somerville with some sort of degree in PPE was an obscure but devoted and hard working member of investment bankers Warburg Dillon Read.

Apparently her work on advsing privatisation - especially with the South African Governement, equipped her as an expert in structuring public private partnerships. Then in April 1999 her big chance came when she was appointed as a special adviser to Gordon Brown and became a member of the Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers.
It was in this role she was involved with the privatisation of Qinetiq and the London Underground - in which the FT reported that as the Treasury's central point of contact between officials and the City, she was reported to be adamant that control of the Tube should not stay in public hands.
Lewis Moonie (Who he? Ed.) was a Defence Minister in 2001 (he famously told the BBC overall battle plan in Iraq is proceeding as it was designed.) -when he announced that, what was the old defence and research establishment (DRE) would be re-created as QinetiQ - a UK company in which the MOD would retain a special "Golden Share" - 2 years later US Private Equity firm Carlyle Group (who employed John Major at the time) acquired a 33.8% share in the company for £42m. Prior to stock market flotation, ownership was split between the MoD (56%), Carlyle Group (31%) and staff (13%) - in which the current Chairman Sir John Chisholm who was then CEO held a whopping slice.

newly very rich, Sir John replaced our old friend Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville Jones (AKA Baroness Newsnight) as Chairman in September 2005.

Initially the public who owned this wonderful outfit were told the benficient US based Carlyle Group was expected to invest for three to five years, after which a stock exchange float would take place.

With an intital price of 200p per share the company IPO'd on 10th Ffebruary 2006 - an intital market value of some £1.3 BN and Carlyle a capital gain of some 780%( BBC - John reid defends this rip-off)

Qinetiq were lucky to retain the services late last year of ex CIA Director George Tenet as an independent non-executive director.

Quite what the role of Shriti was in all this is not publicly known , although the National Audit Office did run a rule over the transactions and nothing further has been said.

It was however the horrid bungling by Stephen Byers (now where is HE now ?) who strangled Railtrack (privatised under a Tory administration) and forced the company into administration that the charmless Ms Vadera's name first became public .

Pre - trail disclosures of company documents including minutes of meetings attended by ex investment banker Ms Vadera and a number of embarrassing (and apparently mis-typed and badly written) e-mails written by her. Dismissing the interests of small private shareholders of Railtrack, many of them old-age pensioners whose savings were invested in the company, as "grannies" who might, in the collapse of their company, "lose their blouses" which is indeed what happened. (see FT)

She also dismissed the privatised passenger train operating companies as "thinly-capitalised equity profiteers of the worst kind" which was also very accurate.

Now that Gordon is called prime Minister this harridan had to be found a job and she has been appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for International Development - as she isn't a Parliamentary lady (with little prospect of becoming one by the elected route) Gordon has awarded her a Baronetcy to sit alongside Baroness Neville James of Newsnight... and it it is rumoured Lord Mandelson of Matelot Villas.

In the Sunday Times today Simon Jenkins (one of the Directors of the Millennium fiasco it must be remembered) reports that this elevation to the peerage results not only from the fact that no permanent secretary could stand her but he tells us, that Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary refused point blank to allow," to cross the threshold of No 10 as a policy enforcer."

Quite what the Department for International Development and there clients will make of her will no doubt be the subject of much discussion in the months to come.

She told the Times of India when appointed ..""I am proud of DFID's (Department for International Development) track record and international leadership in the battle against poverty around the world.

I am looking forward to working with DFID Secretary of State Douglas Alexander (another bloody Scot) to carry on the government 's mission to help lift millions of people out of poverty," said Vadera, who is (described as) a "political and a hardcore bureaucrat."... and ..."described in the corridors of power as "Gordon's representative on earth" and is known as a forceful official who often takes a higher profile in meetings than ministers due to her expertise and political common sense". Reports that she will be eating Mr Alexander for breakfast are somewhat premature ... but then are probably (or will soon be) accurate.

This link will take you to a fascinating presentation Shriti gave to Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in January 2004 where they speak of her in ..well ... they speak about her. (there is also her Powerpoint presentation and audio file)

Overdue Update 9/7/07 - Other members of what are called by the Black Community by the ...er... the Black Community - the self important, pompous and vainglorious Baroness Patricia Scotland QC moved over as Attorney General while the very glamorous adn beautifull, very, very good friend of Tony Blair, Baroness Valerie Amos, who was Leader of the Lords, left government to assume another non-elective office as the EU representative to the African Union.

“Sasha is not quite in his right mind.” - MI6 told their Moscow spy - more fairy tales from the land of Litvinenko

The news that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) yesterday instituted criminal proceedings (6/7/07) under the Criminal Code Article 275 (which includes espionage) against Vyacheslav Zharko, a former officer ( 4 yrs experience with rank of Major) of the Russian tax police, throws some more light and probably many more shadows on the Litvinenko affair.

Vyacheslav Zharko admitted he had been recruited by the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) when he voluntarily surrendered in June to the friendly FSB. He claims he was receiving about 2,000 Euros in cash monthly (which apparently he did not declare for tax purposes !) for writing surveys for the British side “fishing out information from various Internet sites.” It was only when he realised what a small fish he was, in a big game he decided to "come clean". It also followed on from May 31st news conference given by Andrei Lugovoi, (accused by the UK Crown Prosecution Service on May 22 of murdering former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko) who accused Russia's fugitive, London based tycoon Boris Berezovsky of working for British intelligence. (Pic K.Pravda)

The state caim that he was really used by British intelligence...

“The Federal Security Service checked the statement of Russian citizen Zharko on the circumstances of his cooperation with British intelligence. The examination helped to get sufficient data showing that in the period from 2003 to 2007 officers of MI6 recruited him and then used as an agent during espionage actions to the detriment of external security of the Russian Federation,”

Zharko admits that his controllers planned to collect information about a number of officers of Russian security services with the aim of recruting them..

“At a meeting with British officers they asked me to collect information about personnel of Russian security services that might be useful for Britons for recruitment,”

In an interview published by the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily on Saturday he said that a man calling himself John Callaghan, (who he says was first secretary of the British Embassy in Moscow and is regarded a career intelligence officer) and one called Paul met him in London, Istanbul, Helsinki and Cyprus.

“The Britons later also confessed to me that they were intelligence
officers and John Callaghan told me that he was working under the cover of the
embassy in Moscow and took part in general operations, for instance, had once
photographed secret documents in a restaurant WC,”

....he also named a Ken Philips who he says also worked in Moscow and now he is an intelligence officer in the British Embassy in Istanbul. Apparently these FO johnnies gave him a fancy mobile phone they would use to call him - but which was for receive only purposes.

Amongst his claims Zharkov says the Brits could not eliminate the possibility that the FSB had recruited an agent in the British embassy and “asked me if I could using my connections in security services to track down the ‘mole.” They also asked him to find out if “specific connections of certain non-governmental organisations could come under control of Russian security services.”

Intriguingly Zharko claims that British intelligence were working on cojunction with Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Litvinenko, whose death he says was caused by his undertaking “some personal experiments.”

His implication is that Litvinenko had been distanced from BB , his salary cut, and the Brits were starting to cold shoulder him ... and he desperately needed ..."money at all costs".

He also has a personal theory that through the Chechens and Zakayev that Sasha could have ,

"come in contact with dealers engaged in the contraband of radioactive
materials and get a fatal dose either accidentally or not.”

The Brits it seems were well aware of Sasha and his relationship with the exiled oligarchs and in early 2000 told Zharko “Sasha is not quite in his right mind.”

It would be wise to recall that Litvinenko is claimed to have been poisoned with radioactive Polonium-210, - but (unremarkably in this wilderness of mirrors) no official autopsy report has so far been made publicly available. Tricky one for our tyro Foriegn Secretary to deal with .. probably best ignore it.

see Novosti

Pic above - the strikingly beautiful but slighlty radioactive widow Litvinenko.

Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky honoured - massive Moscow airport / airbase / research centre named for him

The Russian scientist and engineer Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky Николай Егорович Жуковский(1841-1921) was one of the founders of hyrdo and aerodynamics and a key figure in the history of science - and much overlooked. A village grew up named after him on the outskirts of Moscow where eventually a massive test facility / airstrip was developed which has always been designated as Ramenskoye Airfield and where the Aerodynamic Institute was established in 1904 and later in 1918 the Central AeroHydroDynamics Institute (Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т (ЦАГИ), ) TsAGI - the first time a scientific institution combined basic studies, applied research, structural design, pilot production and testing of aircraft. (TsAGI, under Russian Federation Government Decree No. 247 of March 29, 1994, was conferred the status of the State Research Center and today claims to be the largest scientific research center in the world).

Zhukovsy was the first engineer not only to describe mathematically, the principles of aerodynamic lift but also define the essential profile required - rounded nose or leading edge, the need for double surfaces so the foil had a finite thickness , cambered, curved or straight, and a sharp tail edge. Which he then demonstrated in the first wind tunnel built in Russia.

Ramenskoye has figured greatly in all forms of Russian aircraft / air vehicle development and US / NATO intelligence community designated this facility as Ramenskoye, which is used in the intelligence designation of new aircraft such as "RAM-K", "RAM-J" etc.,

Now Gazeta reports that the massive facility with a 5 Kilometre airstrip will now be officially called Zhukovsky in his honour. .. which may mean the renaming of the famous MAKS airshows held there ...including a contract for the launch of five German radar intelligence satellites (signed in 2002) , produced by OHB-System AG, on top of Russian Kosmos-3M boosters - the second of which SAR-Lupe - 2 was launched successfully from Plesetsk cosmodrome at 23:38, Moscow time, on Monday following on the ist one launched on December 19th 206.

Pic is the 2 rouble piece struck in his honour at St Petersburg in 1997 on his 150th Birthday. A party he did not attend.

UK Pigeon Racing banned .... again

Defra announced on the 16th March 2007, to the surprise of many and the astonishment of the pigeon racing fraternity, that races originating in Coninental Europe could be resumed.

Restrictions had been in place for some time (2 seasons) because of concerns about Avian flu and had also previously been stopped for long periods because of Foot and Mouth. See post by Lord Patel "Ban removed on Pigeon Racing"

Grateful but amazed that restrictions had been lifted so soon after the Bernard Matthews Suffolk bou-ha-ha, the 120,000 flyers set to, and arranged very quickly a summer schedule - a monster task in logistics, regardless of adjusting training schedules, breeding programs etc.,

Imagine their surprise then that yesterday afternoon Chief Veterinary Officer, Debby Reynolds, at DEfRA announced ;

"...a ban on all international pigeon racing from continental mainland
Europe (including the Channel Islands) to the UK.

The ban is being introduced with immediate effect, as a precautionary
measure, following the recent finding of H5N1 in wild birds in France. It will
not affect domestic pigeon racing activity within the UK which is permitted to
continue. "

Continental races take place at weekends with birds despatched on Friday to return Saturday / Sunday - depending on location. That means 30,000 - 50,000 pigeons on road transporters crossing the Channel on a Friday afternoon - evening.

Playing ducks and drakes with the regulations naturally incurs costs and displeasure - pigeon racers would have been content that racing continued to be banned - they after all have a special interest as they own huge flocks nationally of great value.

As we speak Lord Patel's loft manager is steadying his nerves with several brown ales. Pic is of one of Lord Patel's chicks earlier this year - destined for great things in 3 years time.

QC not AQ responsible for Glasgae terra by Paki doctors

Published in November 2006 this Rumpole tale is remarkably prescient, and acerbic on the question of terror laws - is John Mortimer a member of the Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neveille Jones Fan Club - NO he's a Member at The Garrick...impossible.

Defending a mind-numbingly dull theft charge, Rumpole finds that the new terrorist laws have hamstrung his beloved courts. Meanwhile, a Pakistani doctor has been imprisoned without charge or trial under suspicion of aiding al Qaeda in its plans for a terrorist attack. With the doctor's wife begging him to help her husband, the Great Defender is determined to bring the case before a jury.

Horrified to learn that the accused doesn't even know what he's charged with, he determines to insist upon a fair trial for the Pakistani doctor. But battling against the new legislation, and the slippery Home Secretary, proves a tricky task. And when She Who Must Be Obeyed starts locking herself in the box room, 'minding her own business', Rumpole finds himself losing the plot, clueless about the goings on, even in his own mansion flat.

Is the Anglophile doctor really an Al Qaeda agent? Will Rumpole discover Hilda's secret before it's too late? Will the Timson family ever forgive him for defending a 'terrorist'? Featuring exclusive extracts from the memoirs of She Who Must Be Obeyed, and packed with John Mortimer's wickedly funny satire and compulsive plot-twists, "Rumpole and the Reign of Terror" sees the great defender return to the Old Bailey in a case that challenges the very notion of modern justice.

Order from Amazon today

Armed police patrol railway station to reassure travellers

By Jonny Muir Peterborough Evening Telegraph

In a move to " increase security and improve their visible presence " armed police patrolled Petrborough's railway station to "reassure the public" following the attempted car bombs in London and at Glasgow Airport last week.

Which is all very odd when you search in vain for any armed police at the site of the Glasgow Airport fireworks.

Jeane Palfrey puts up her telephone List (for sale ?) on her website - her Podcast link

STOP PRESS Monday 9th July - Telephone Records NOW available FREE - Link

Jeane Palfrey's website has just posted that anyone can apply for her telephone records, released by Judge Kessler yesterday. Her e-mail address is mbsibleydjp@civilforfeiture.com

Reuters has a story today, "Accused D.C. "madam" offers phone records to media" in which they say that she is makinga pre-c0ndition requiring recipients of the phone records to comply with several conditions, including one stipulating that the numbers not be published, traded or sold to third parties.

They must also agree not to disclose the identity of any woman who worked for Palfrey's business without first obtaining the woman's permission.

How soon before the MSM get stuck into this story ? The Miami Herald already has a story

''It is my patriotic duty to release these records,'' Palfrey told the New York Daily News.

But Palfrey, who faces federal racketeering charges for running what she insists was a legitimate escort service, said she will give only ''coded'' copies of the list to ''responsible'' reporters, bloggers or private detectives who promise not to put them on the Internet.

Palfrey expects to unveil up to 100 customers who risked national security, ''violated the public trust'' or were hypocritical consumers of her company's prurient services.

''These are the real power movers and shakers in Washington,'' she said.

``The rest of them I hope to leave the hell alone. I don't want to destroy the lives of the other 9,900 clients or the lives of the girls.

Raw Story picks up on an interview with the Vallejo Times, Palfrey (who live in Vallejo CA) said she would make the 46 pounds of Sprint phone records available to any member of the media, including bloggers.

"A couple dozen to 100 or so" of the 10,000 names listed in the records are high profile names, said Palfrey.

With the injunction lifted, it appears Palfrey can now "distribute the records en masse to as many responsible journalists, press, media, bloggers in this country," as she has promised.

ABC News obtained a partial list from Palfrey and her publicity shy lawyer Montgomery Sibley in May, but in the 11th hour decided not to release them, instead only airing a bland interview with Palfrey.

Palfrey told the Vallejo Times

"Within 24 hours the whole thing was whitewashed," They had names to name and
they didn't name them. Who knows who got to them -- I think the powers that be
at Disney (ABC's parent company) were exerting pressure on them to kill the
story and they killed it at the last minute."

"I kind of think it will be like deciphering the Da Vinci Code," said Palfrey, in an exclusive (and very lengthy) Times-Herald interview at a local coffee shop with Matthias Gafni published on July 1st before the records were released.

In the interview, Palfrey declined to discuss her former business or whether it involved prostitution.

"Does it really matter at this point? I think there are bigger fish to fry here," she said.

How did she know the records weighed in at the much quoted 46lbs? Shipping them through the Benicia UPS store to her attorney in Washington Palfrey said the UPS clerk told her how much they weighed:

"46 pounds."

You don't get detail like that in the MSM or even Time Magazine with all their "fact" checkers.

Interesting insight into activities of Montgomery Sibley here at Suzi Q

Wall Street Journal Law Blog have an up to date review of the court appointed attorney for Jeane Palfry, Preston Burton (posted as registration is required)

July 5, 2007, 1:39 pm
Orrick’s Preston Burton: From Monica to the D.C. Madam Posted by Peter Lattman
A decade ago, Orrick’s Preston Burton represented Monica Lewinsky in the investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr and in the impeachment proceedings before the U.S. Senate. Today, he’s representing Deborah Jeane Palfrey, a woman accused of operating a call-girl ring inside the Beltway. Palfrey says she was running an adult fantasy business and her escorts were not engaged in prostitution.

How did he come to represent Palfrey, whom the media has labeled the D.C. Madam? “Several weeks ago, I was minding my own business on a Friday, and Judge Gladys Kessler called me up and asked me if I was willing to take a court appointment in that case,” Burton told Corporate Crime Reporter. “And after checking with the powers that be here at Orrick, who were all very supportive, I agreed to do it. And we are in the midst of that right now.” (Click here for a Law Blog post on her colorful civil attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley.)

The CCR spoke with Burton about his more-mainstream clients — alleged white-collar criminals. He told them that when it comes to corporate criminal investigations, he bemoans the “free the corporation, blame the individual” dynamic he’s witnessed the past few years. But now, instead of companies throwing their employees under the bus to resolve a government probe, Burton sees a shift.

“Now you have some companies who are not immediately rolling over and waiving the attorney-client privilege,” he told the CCR. “You are seeing some subtle signs of companies standing behind their people more than they were four or five years ago, when there was a rush to locate the rogue employees, throw them under the bus, distance themselves, and try and dust yourself off and start all over again.”

...and Finally and Very Bestest of all ...

Jeane interviewed in a Podcast (53 mins 24 s) with Columbia Indymedia on June 24th which you can listen to here (Thanks Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman!) - if interested in this fascinating case you must listen to this.

Although Ms. Palfrey was charged under R.I.C.O. statutes, she was not charged with tax evasion - there were no "co-conspirators" charged along with her. In 13 years of business, she had no girls arrested and no tax audits. She reported her income, filed her taxes and all of her employees received a 1099 each year - who also paid taxes - for 13 years straight, never once questioned.

It takes two or more to make a conspiracy ... prostitution is not illegal , it is not a Federal crime. Yet nowhere have Federal Attorneys ever prosecuted for prostitution - so Jane asks, why me ?..and why only me ?

One thing is for certain sure .. Brian Ross and his producer Rhonda Schwartz of ABC/Disney have a lot of questions to answer for the results of their "exclusive" seven weeks of investigations.

UPDATE

Washington Post have the story

Alleged Madam Can Distribute Records

By LUBNA TAKRURI The Associated Press Friday, July 6, 2007; 12:42 AM

WASHINGTON -- A woman accused of running a prostitution ring in the nation's capital is free to distribute thousands of pages of phone records after a federal judge lifted a restraining order on Thursday. ..... it tells you nothing you don't know if you have got this far.

Do not miss the Podcast - Listen NOW

Russian newspaper Gazeta
....has a fascinating view on the story - calling Madame Jean's girls "priestesses of love" ...

Juggling your credit cards

If you live in the US of A , and the rise in interest rates has hit you in you credit card....

Help is at hand with a site devoted to identify how you can choose a credit card and take part in what the Bank for International settlements calls ..."extraordinary opportunities to expand personal debt. "

As the intention of the site is to flog you a credit card, beware .. it does say on the site ..

© 2000-2007, Nationwide Card Services, Inc. Publishing or distributing content without the expressed written consent of Nationwide Card Services,Inc. and/or our partners is prohibited.

If you want to enjoy the "Enjoy the prestige of Platinum with no up front fees" pay 14.9% APR and an Annual fee of US£45 ...go ahead.

Can't understand why interest rates are rising ? here is a hint .... how many Euros your dollar will buy.



..or in plain English the 10-year U.S. T-Note (Treasury Bills) gained 39 basis point during the second quarter of 2007.

But don't worry your pretty little head about it ... it's not your fault.

"Alan Greenspan played a major role in the housing boondoggle. On February 26, 2004, he said, "American consumers might benefit if lenders provide greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed rate mortgage. To the degree that households are driven by fears of payment shocks but willing to manage their own interest-rate risks, the traditional fixed-rate mortgage may be an expensive method of financing a home."

Presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) last week said:

"From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the burst of the dot.com bubble; every economic downturn suffered by the country over the
last 80 years can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and artificial "boom" followed by recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts".

The Burnley barm pot BNP bombers re-trial continues ....

Pendle Today provides a run down of the re run....

The wife of Robert Cottage (49) said her husband's involvement with the BNP had made him "really radical" and destroyed their marriage. "He just lost the plot,he started acting really strange," Kerena Cottage (29) told a jury at Manchester
Crown Court.

She said: "He thinks there's a war going to happen with the culture, the Asian culture and the white culture and Tony Blair and President Bush are scheming against people."

The authorities were alerted to the alleged plot after Mrs Cottage blew the whistle. She told her social worker she was scared they were going to test the chemical bombs in countryside near Preston.

Mrs Cottage said she understood the chemicals were intended to harm the government or anyone who came unannounced to their home.

Don't expect any surprises until the jury report - an acquittal is in prospect for these sad deluded people who don't appear to have reached even the provisional Wing of the NHS standards in bomb making.

Jeane Palfrey has gag on phone list removed by Judge Kessler

STOP PRESS - Records now available Free 9/7/07 Link
EVEN LATER STOP PRESS 9/7/07 First name off the Blocks republican Senator Vitter of laid back easy livin' Louisiana - big on marriage and Mr Giuilianis representative in Da Deep South.Go here

Washington Madame Jeane Palfrey (whose satisfied (?) clients include Veep (and War criminal) Cheney and Harlan "Shock and Awe" Ullman , Randall Tobias, Dick Ford ) who counted leading lights of Washington political / military circles amongst her clients sent an e - mail today to Citizens For Legitimate Government


'HELLO… Judge Kessler (see pic)has lifted the injunction on the phone records.' From Judge Kessler's Order: (see heading above)

"Defendant in this case possesses a list of telephone numbers (the "List") that has generated much controversy and speculation.

The Government has twice applied to this Court ex parte for Temporary Retraining Orders ("TROs") preventing Defendant from selling the List or from distributing copies for free.


The Court granted those applications, in order to preserve the status quo, and, therefore, held a hearing to give Defendant an opportunity to respond.


Upon consideration of the pleadings,the applicable statutes and case law, and the oral argument, the Court concludes the Defendant's request to quash the TROs should be granted."


I asked Jeane Palfrey for a comment: "I am very, very grateful to Judge Kessler,**** (President of the National Association of Women Judges from 1983 to 1984) for lifting the injunction." –Sincerely, Jeane

"On August 17, 2006, Judge Kessler issued a final verdict finding that the tobacco companies had engaged in massive wrongdoing and violated civilracketeering (RICO) laws by lying for decades about the health risks oftheir products and their marketing to children. As one of her remedies,Judge Kessler prohibited the tobacco companies from continuing to usedeceptive terms like "light" and "low-tar." The tobacco companies subsequently asked her to allow them to continue using these misleadingterms outside the United States, essentially a request to continue todeceive their international customers. Today, Judge Kessler decisively andappropriately rejected this absurd request that could only come from an industry that survives on deception."

Statement of William V. Corr Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids March 16th 2007

I like the sound of Judge Kessler.

The Brad Blog has what appears to be informed comment and have spoken to the lady since Judge Kessler announced her decision about the phone records.Commentators provide some fascinating remarks on potential/possible / actual users of Jeane Palfrey's whores - and the capacity for blackmail.

If the logs become available one site . The Renegade Movement has posted a White House telephone Directory for comparisons to be made.


The story even gets a mention in Russian Newspaper Gazeta where Lady Dame Jeane Palfrey the Washington Madam's girls are called "priestesses of love". Amazing pictures !

Flour Power jury still out

Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, north London, Yassin Omar, 26, of New Southgate, north London, Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address (he's the one who Met sharpshooters put 13 bullets into / through the head of a Brazilian electrician at Stockwell tube in a case of mistaken identity on 22/7) , Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, west London, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 34, of no fixed address, and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London are on trial at Woolwich Crown Court and the jury commence their 6th day of consideration of the verdicts today.

6 men were accused of taking part in a plot to carry out a series of suicide bombings on the London transport system two weeks after 7/7. Charges for causing explosions have been dropped but they remain charged with conspiracy to murder.

All six defendants deny conspiracy to murder;

4 claim the hydrogen peroxide and chapatti flour rucksack devices were a hoax
1 claims they were real bombs but that he was duped
1 denies having anything to do with the alleged conspiracy.

See folks killed in Air Strike - new video out - Contact "2 through the heart and 1 through the mind" at OIF Baghdad - Len waits your call

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070704-15
July 4, 2007
MND-B aircrews thwart rocket attack on IZ
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division-Baghdad attack helicopter crews engaged a group of terrorists attempting to fire a rocket toward the International Zone at approximately 10 p.m. July 2 in eastern Baghdad.

Apache crews from 1st “Attack” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, were conducting aerial reconnaissance when they spotted terrorists emplacing a rocket in the eastern Baghdad Sadr City District aimed toward the International Zone. The Apache crews gained positive identification of 10-15 terrorists who dispersed as the Apache crews closed in on their position.

The Apache crews got clearance to fire from the ground unit and engaged a van and two sedans in which the terrorists fled the site. The crews also fired on the rocket system. The engagement resulted in three enemy vehicles and a rocket system destroyed.

NOTE – Video ‘B-Roll’ depicting this engagement in Sadr City July 2 is available upon request from the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) by calling (678) 421-6604.

For more information about this advisory, contact SGM Len Harris, by email len.harris@mnd-b.army.mil This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

- The video begins with insurgents gathered around a rocket tube pointed at the International Zone in a location just north of Sadr City, where recent indirect fire attacks have originated. The video then shows the rocket, aimed at the IZ. After emplacing the rocket system, insurgent get into a van and begin driving away from the location. Coalition Force attack aviation assets engage the van, destroying it.

- In the next sequence, attack aviation assets re-engage the rocket system, destroying it. The rocket can be seen “cooking off.”

- Two other vehicles, sedans, were engaged and destroyed in the next sequence.
-30-
FOR QUERIES, CONTACT MULT-NATIONAL DIVISION - BAGHDAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MNDB_PAO_CIC@MND-B.ARMY.MILThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it OR BY PHONE AT COMMERCIAL (914) 822-8174 OR IRAQNA 011-964-890-192-4674.

UPDATE 5/7/07

Chuckee ( see comments) has introduced us to 3rdID8487 who joined You Tube March 15, 2007 - he describes himself ....

News and video from the men and women of our military! I am former 3rd Infantry Division, 981st MP Co myself and love our men and women of the military. I have started this channel as a tribute to them and their mission.
What you will see here are military videos released to the public but not seen on media outlets. Videos from various sources at DOD and other official sites.

Consequently you can view / get your rocks off on the 2 videos described above here described as - MND-B Aircrews Thwart Rocket Attack on IZ

If you use Blinkx (recommended here ) and search on the above tag you will find OPn ero has posted it here on Live Leak and military spot has posted it on Google Video here
and it is also available embedded in his/her website here http://www.militaryspot.com/videos/iraq11.htm
along with lots more of the same sort of stuff that the ex military seem to enjoy. Nothing like the smell of some dead sand niggers in the morning ...

Lotsa donut munchers about it seems Chuckee...we prefer Bath Olivers.