Rice - explaining torture to 11 year olds ....

Ex - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Jewish elementary school students (she spoke at the school on Sunday before giving a lecture at the ashigton Sixth & I Historic Synagogue) that the Bush administration did not use illegal interrogation tactics. 11 year Misha Lerner, a fourth-grader at the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital,asked Rice what she thought about the Obama administration's remarks on interrogation methods authorized by its predecessors.

A flustered Rice said she didn't want to criticize President Barack Obama. She added that the President assured his administration that "we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally."

"I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country," she said. "Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country."

Last week the Ex Secretary of State told Stanford University students that "we did not torture anyone."

So that's alright then.

Murky waters - Killer Kennedy and Bo

Ted Kennedy, the raddld and diseased donor of the very photogenic Portuguese water dog (Bo - as in Bo Diddly which O'Bomber's dad was pleased to call himself) to the O'Bombers seems highly appropriate.

These curiously web footed animals aided fisherman by driving fish into nets and are supposedly also the St . Bernard of the sea, aiding rescuers, saving lives etc. Apparently their hypo-allerginicity is a fiction.

It is a great pity that Senator Edward Kennedy had not equipped himself with one when , drunk, he drove his pregnant girlfriend, pretty 28 year old Mary Joe Kopechne, off the bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in his 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 on the night of July 18, 1969.

Anyway he wasn't DUI, the inqust was held in secret, the Kopechne family paid off and he got two months suspended for dangerous driving.

As they say, more people died in Ted's Olds than in Abu Ghraib.

An hiatus

Apologies to all readers. A "few days" B & B at the NHS expense has gaian temprarily interupted the usual flawless service.

Watching the Old Boy frae the "Lang Toon" very, very , carefully negotiate some steps in a news item, his odd No 10 Video, his refusal to accept the Truth the evasions, blusters, walking out on the Commons etc.,

Has the old "Demon Drink" been modestly affecting his behaviour ?

Apparently Laphroaig, a malt from the islond of Isla, which tastes like the brackish water in oat bilges liberally laced with TCP is the tipple of choice.

North West Muslim extremist jihadist bombers caused by Global Warming

Lord Patel was listening to BBC World Nws and an item was broadcast "Obesity elps cause Global warming" - apparently if fat bastards ate les hamburgers, there would be less beef catle, less farting cows, less Co2 etc, QED

In a blinding Flash the obvious corollary formed in the air , became real and evident.

1, When did you see a North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bomber wear Wellingtons ?

2, When did you see a North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bomber have or use an umbrella ?

3, When did you see a North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bomber wear swimming shorts ?

3, When did you see a North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bomber applying sun block or sun tan lotion ?

4. The weather forecasts on BBC TV always show the sunshine sweeping from the south as a BROWN front

5. It is hot and dusty in Waziristan,etc.,

6. It is cold and wet in North West England

North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bombersare ACTUALLY CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING - CLIMATE CHANGE.

If it is rainy (or sunny) blame the North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bombers.

Get rid of the North West brownskinned, bearded exremist jihadist bombers. and solve the prolems of GLOBAL WARMING - CLIMATE CHANGE. Immediately.

Condi Rice - she needs a bit of Memory Jogging

Condi Rice says she remembers meeting CIA boss George Tenet but "cannot recall" discussing sanctioning waterboading with him.

A simple solution (in the interests of constitutional accuracy) suggests itself.

Strip her to her pants and bra,manacle her hands, play heavy metal loud for a week, slam her against the wall.

If this doesn't jog her memory then say, hourly sessions of waterboarding - which seems to work with some folks.

You would, after all think that a Secretary of State would recall breaching the Constitution and sanction breaches by US citizens in ignoring Geneva Conventions.

Apparentely she has no problem remebering whole Mozart Sonatas.

Alastair in Wonderland's Budget - the dog that didn't bark

Regular readers will be aware we have followed the massive losses to the HMRC of VAT due to Missing Trader Fraud (MTIC).

This was running at an "estimated" £400 Mn a month (that's £4 Billion a year) for several years.

This is the last mention by Alastair of this black hole in his 2007 Pre-Budget report October 2007

At Page 98 we have ....

5.104 New estimates of Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) fraud, published today,show that the scale of attempted fraud fell by up to £1.5 Bn.in 2006-07, to between £2.25 Bn. and £3.25 Bn. The estimated impact on VAT receipts fell to between £1 Bn. and £2 Bn. These reduced estimates demonstrate the success of the Government’s strategy for tackling MTIC fraud. HMRC will take further steps to apply both criminal and civil sanctions to those who are found to be knowingly involved in fraudulent trading.

But does add .Changes in trade associated with VAT MTIC fraud mean that comparisons of volume and prices (both including and excluding trade associated with VAT MTIC fraud) should be treated with a great deal of caution.

To this you can add as detailed by Mr Murphy of Tax Research at the date of that PBR ...

- 14.2% of VAT is not collected. Current cost (my estimate based on HMRC data) - £13.24 billion

- £400 million of duty on spirits is not collected

- 13% of cigarettes are smuggled - cost £1.65 billion

- 56% of hand rolled tobacco is black market - cost £750 million

- £350 million of diesel duty is evaded in the UK

- 43% of all diesel duty is evaded in Northern Ireland (people cross the border) - cost £210 million

To which he adds .

- 13% of tax due by those subject to self assessment is lost

- 1.2% of PAYE and NI due on small and medium sized payrolls is lost

- About 14% of tax due by small and medium sized companies is lost.

The losses on that lot come to £5 billion - but their data is up to 5 years out of date - amazingly.

I’ve reflected on this data. Extrapolating the average tax lost on direct taxes and those taxes that probably behave like them and applying this to 2007/08 HMRC data then total direct tax losses might be £17.6 billion, VAT might be £13.2 billion and other indirect taxes £4.8 billion - a loss of £35.6 billion.

No wonder when it cam to calculating expected tax take darlin Alastair kept quiet.

.... remember, of the £Billions lost in MITC a mere few million have been recovered, although a few people are cooling their heels at HM pleasure.

Cambodia - the country Henry Kissinger secretly bombed

Atomic Sunrise blog with superb Flikr photostream of Cambodia .. well worth a visit.

See also VOA article on Cambodian Spiders Under Threat - Black, hairy and about the size of your palm, they build their nests in the forests around the small town of Skun (Skuan) North of Pnom Penh. Every day thousands are sold in the town's big spider market.

Fried in garlic and herbs, the spiders are piled high on wooden trays and sold to passing motorists for 50 cents US (Daily Income = $1.)

CPS kicks out Police request to keep North West 12 for lack of any evidence

As anticipated The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have decided there was insufficient (or any evidence) evidence to press charges - or to convince magistrates to allow police to hold the North West 12 any longer.

It appears the one British resident and citizen is therefore free to go his merry way the other 11 are now in UK Border Agency custody and will almost certainly be deported.

However the 11 Pakistani nationals (complete with funny names, funny beards, brown skins and who are Muslims and have quite legal visas and other documentation ) have hit Catch 22 of the Home Office.

The kebab loving Home Secretary whose expenses claims make such exciting reading has considerable powers to deport foreign nationals whose presence is "not conducive to the public good" - and hard criminal evidence neded in a UK court is not needed.

The cases will now end up ith the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which in essence a national security tribunal because it can (and you can be sure will) hear evidence in secret.

Mohammed Ayub, who represents 3 of the North West 11 says : "After 13 days in custody, during which no evidence of any wrongdoing was disclosed, they have now been released without charge."

"Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time. Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists."

At the time of the raids Gordon Brown (Prime Minister) stated :"We have been investigating a major terrorist plot and we have got to act early. Our first concern is always the safety of the public.''

"It is right that we took the urgent action that we did over the course of yesterday.

"We are dealing with a very big terrorist plot. We have been following it for some time.

PS. Lord Carlile of Berriew QC will waste his time , and even more public money looking at the case as part of his ongoing role as independent reviewer of terrorism laws to say that everything was done leally etc, etc., .

President Ahmadinejad - speaking uncomfortable Truths

"Following World War II, they resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering and they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in occupied Palestine. And, in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine. "

What President Ahmadinejad said at the Un Racism (?) Conference in Geneva on 20th April that so upset our Government - and many others.

Have you writen to your MP yet to ask him what is innnacurate about this brief assessment of the success of Zionism ?

Steph's Blog has more of the speech in English. In full on video PressTV

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder - a wasted opportunity and the Climate change mongerers win yet more funds to squander

""Aristotle identified bees as the most hard working of insects, and with one in three mouthfuls (of food ?) coming from insect-pollinated crops, we need to support bees and other pollinators. " is how Hilary Benn announced an " investment" of up to £10 Mn in research on pollinating insects - including honey and bumble bees, butterflies and moths.

Honey bees are dying across the world at a terrifying rate. The apian epidemic started in the United States, where entire populations of honey bees have simply vanished in the phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). At least a quarter of America’s 2.5 million honeybee colonies have been wiped out already . UK funding on honeybee research in 1978 was £180,000.

This "invesment" is a joint initiative from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Defra, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly .

The Press release accompanying this makes some odd, even absurd claims.."These insects are susceptible to a variety of disease and environmental threats, some of which have increased significantly over the last five to ten years. " - well .... yes .... varroa mite and the omni ‐present problem of bacterial brood disease, particularly European Foul Brood (EFB) and American Foul Brood (AFB). Nosema ceranae infection has also been found and is becoming increasingly common. Additional ‘exotic’ threats from the possible arrival in the UK of Small Hive Beetle (SHB) and Tropilaelaps mites have generated further concern for the future of beekeeping.

The Press release then makes the astonishing claim that ..."Climate change, in particular warmer winters and wetter summers, has had a major impact on pollinators." Which is total bollocks and not an argument that would be welcomed by any beekeeper.

What is even more worrying is the fact that "The funding will be made available to research teams across the UK under the Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) partnership." (who ?) ..."Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) is a collaborative partnership involving the UK research councils, business and policy-making organisations and was launched on 18th June 2008. LWEC will invest £1 billion over five years in programmes to address national and international needs arising from the pace, magnitude and extent of climate and other types of environmental change.

So if you want money to investigate colony collapse disorder which was first reported in October 2006 in the US and has spread worldwide since, you had better have an environmental angle to your research or you are fucked. See the LWEC website for more news of the coming apocalypse.

Thoughts on Bee Colony Collapse

Sudden, unexpected collapse of bee colonies is , whilst not global, (Canada, Brazil, US, parts of Europe) is widespread - it's ecnomic consequences for agriculture, especially soft fruit are becoming increasingly severe.

1 A friend exports beeswax from Zambia to the US.

2. An important ingredient of high quality pipstick is beswax.

3. In the US posh ladies are very careful about what they put on (and in) their body orifices and as a result there are strict contrls over the levels of heavy metals allowed in beeswax for cosmetic use - lead, cadmium, chromium.

4. Beeeswax sourced in Europe and the US has unaccceptable levels of heavy metal contamination which is said to be due to the high levels of industrial pollutants which the bees collect in pollen and is concentrated in beeswax exudates.

5. Made in the (realtively ) poluttion free African rural air their beeswax finds a ready market and a premium price.

6. Ladies in Europe are not so lucky, controls are not so stringent and so they can OD on Cadmium as much as they wish.

Whilst there have been many theories about colony collapse there has been little success in finding a cause. see a post here - Saturday, September 08, 2007

Is US "Colony Collapse Disorder" due to the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) and a result of slackening import controls on honeybees ?

The 12,000 members of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA founded 1874) represents 90 % of beekeepers within the UK and have tirelessly lobbied for help on CCD. They point out that at no cost they provide a pollination service to agriculture contributes over £165 million p.a. to the economy

The BBKA point out the stark reality of the gathering storm is evidenced by the 2007 ‐08 winter losses in England which reached a record 30%, almost double that of the previous year.

The end result will be in 5 years some specious clap trap about the loss of a butterflies and the fact that when it rains crop yields decline.

In short. Fuck All.

Andy ..throw shit in the fan and sometimes it comes back to slap you

In autumn 2005, just before the annual Tory Party Conference, Screws editor Andy Coulson ran a front page splash…

TOP TORY, COKE AND THE HOOKER

Illustrated with pictures of angel-faced Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, it claimed that eleven years before, while he was at Oxford, the then flawless Osborne was said, without any convincing corroboration, to have been watched by ‘dominatrix’ hooker, Natalie Rowe, snorting a line of coke. Her boyfriend, an unnamed friend of Osborne’s had gone on to become an addict, the report alleged....

(In an October 2008 story by the screws) Natalie, a hooker allegedly brought in to brighten up Bullingdon Club meetings (never mentioned in the 2005 story), “tells” (author of this drivel) Ms Nuwar ‘I felt an empathy with George because we were both outsiders.’ In the sense that he had been voted into the Bullingdon and she had not?

Which story the Daily mail re-cycle today by that well known scribbler " A Daily Mail Reporter" as I'll name and shame four top Tories, claims prostitute with links to George Obsorne (also Sunday Mirror)

Which is all very amusing because the NOTW editor when the riinal try surfaced was ... Andy Coulson who was appointed the Conservative Party's Director of Communications. Mr Coulson, 39, was of course (apart from sanctioning illegal access to royal telcoms ***) well known for his past stint as editor of The Sun's Bizarre pop gossip column.

Mr Cameron (The Conservative Party Leader) said: "Andy is a hugely experienced journalist. I am delighted that he has agreed to join my team.

"Andy will make a formidable contribution as a senior member of my team in building the most effective strategy and operation to win the next general election. I look forward very much to working with him".

*** Let us not forget that Clive Goodman, 49, of Putney, London, tapped into several hundred royal messages,and he and Glenn Mulcaire, 36, of Sutton, Surrey, were jailed for six months after pleading guilty

More delays before Boeing 787 enters commercial service

American Airlines revealed on Thursday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that their Boeing 787's, ordered for the US's second largest airline, will now arrive a further year late - in the second half of 2013.

The Texas-based company has ordered 42 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, to be delivered between September 2012 and 2019.

Under its contract with Boeing, American isn't obliged to acquire the jets if it and its pilots union can't agree on work rules for the jets or if doesn't confirm its purchase agreement with Boeing at least 18 months before the scheduled delivery date for an aircraft.

Gulf Air orders more 787's

Gulf Air of Bahrain has exercised options to add 8 more Boeing 787s to their earlier order for 16 planes.

This is the first this year for Boeing and gives Boeing a net of four new jetliner orders for the year, after 32 cancellations because of the recession.

Boeing ( one of the great engines of US industry and exports) has been issuing monthly layoff notices after announcing in January it would cut 10,000 jobs this year. Earlier this month Boeing announced it would scale back production of the 777, which is produced at the widebody factory in Everett.

777

Air France (with one of the largest 777 fleets in the world) took delivery last wek of the 777th Boeing 777 airplane. The new Boeing 777-300ER also will be the first to bear a new Air France livery and company brand identity. see pic.

Sami Chakrabarti is like a 29 bus..

Just when you mentin how few Sami Chakrbatis there are about - up pops Ken Linvingstone sasyin gthe demure doe eyed, ex Home Offic lawyre should exaine the case of Ian Tomlinson etc.,

Then like the 29 bus, several Chakrabartis appear.

Apparently Plod seized an obscure Tory MP's computers and set about searching for evidence of the telegenic scarf adjusting,bright eyed feminist who leads Liberty in his e -mails.

No - show.

Which may be of course because Bob Quick (now Ex - terrist in Chief) was typing in the query list and got his vowels in a twist.

Cue : Sami thinks all this raises some "important questions".

Of course it does chuck, but tell us what you think the important questions are.

Hands up those who see the "crumple zone" of dissent adroitly shroudng public dissent and argument about waht Craig Murray calls Ian Tomlinso'smrder.Stepforward the Lady Dame Jane Pauline Baroness Neville Jones, David Davis, and all the the appalling people (Andrew McKinley) in the pay of Lord Ashcroft who support both "Total Politics" the removal of habeus corpus and locking people up without charge for 29 days whist you hunt for evidence.

Ian Tomlinson's death - more inconsistencies revealed, more lies exposed

So Lord Patel's namesake pathologist said Ian Tomlinson died of a heart atttack and this turns out to be wrong - or at least another patholgist (Dr Nat Cary, one of the country’s leading forensic pathologists,)says death was result of internal bleeding.

Ex London Mayor Kenny the Red on Channel 4 says Mr Patel has a history ...Hmmmm

Then he spoils it by suggesting Shami Chakrabarti be brought in to examine the evidence.

Whoop de doo, an ex Home Office lawyer to examine what part ofthe Home Office (police) is up to ? Perhaps not.

The Tomlinson family would be unwise to accept any help from that quarter.

Demand destruction leading to non OPEC oil glut on horizon

Rembrandt at Oil Drum Eurpe has his usual excellent roundup of world oil/liquids production demand - full report here.

is shows how dmeand destruction has started in a big way - excess capcity now will swell with projects coming on line plannedwhen prices were higher."given reasonable expectations of a slow recovery we face a huge glut of oil with capacity several mbd above the 2008 peak and a fairly significant amount not under OPEC control." comments one reader.

1) Conventional crude production - Latest available figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that crude oil production including lease condensates decreased by 1.02 million b/d from December 2008 to January 2009, = total production of crude oil including lease condensates of 71.69 million barrels per day. The all time high production record of crude oil stands at 74.83 million b/d reached in July 2008.

2) Total liquids production - In March 2009 world production of total liquids decreased by 400,000 barrels per day from February according to the latest figures of the International Energy Agency (IEA). resulting in total world liquids production of 83.35 million b/d.

Average global production in 2009 for the first three months of 2009 was 83.9 million b/d. In 2008 and 2007, the averages were 86.59 and 85.41 million b/d respectively. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in their International Petroleum Monthly puts average global 2008 production at 85.46 million b/d and average 2007 production at 84.43 million b/d.

3) OPEC Production - Total crude oil production excluding lease condensates of the OPEC cartel decreased by 230,000 b/d to a level of 27.84 million b/d, from February to March 2009, according to the latest available estimate of the IEA. OPEC natural gas liquids production remained stable from February to March at a level at 4.68 million b/d. Average total liquids production in OPEC countries for the three months ended March 2009 was 33.01 million b/d, versus 36.09 million b/d in 2008, and 35.02 million b/d in 2007.

4) Non-OPEC Production - Total crude oil production including lease condensates of non-OPEC increased by 61,000 b/d from December 2008 to January 2009 to a level of 41.66 million b/d, according to the latest available estimate of the EIA. Average crude oil production of non-OPEC in 2008 was 41.31 million b/d, versus 41.80 million b/d in 2007 and 41.87 million b/d in 2006. Total non-OPEC liquids production decreased by 170,000 b/d to a level of 50.83 million b/d from February to March 2009, according to the latest figures of the IEA. Average total liquids production of non-OPEC for the three months ended March 2009 was 50.89 million b/d.

5) OECD liquids demand - In January 2009 OECD, oil consumption declined by 866,000 b/d from December 2008 according to the latest estimate from JODI, resulting in a total consumption level of 45.84 million b/d, representing a year on year decline of 1.87 million b/d. Average consumption in 2008 was 46.16 million b/d, which is 1.52 million b/d lower than consumption in the same period in 2007.

The physical manifestation in Europe are the loaded mega tankers moored in Lyme Bay, Devon , waiting for the market to rise to dash to Rotterdam.

Mr Brown - " I am shocked, shocked !"

"I am sorry about what happened."

"I have said all along that when I saw this first I was horrified, I was shocked, I was very angry indeed."

"I think the most important thing is to reassure people that everything is being done to clean up politics in this country."

"I wrote to those people who were affected by it. I expressed very deep regret for what happened."

"The person who was responsible went immediately and has lost his job. And I have ensured that there are new rules so that this cannot happen again."

There are those cynics amongst us - yes indeed, cynicism survives even yet dear reader. There are some who reading the above might feel that the Prime Minister was merely sorry Mr McBryde was caught in flagrante delicto.

Anybody remember that pussy cat Bernard Ingham ? John Biffen was unnatributably described as a "semi-detached" member of the Government. Sure enough, Biffen was dropped at the next reshuffle.

Then, bluff Yorkshire "fowk" have a monopoly on unctuous humbuggary.

Those Downing Street e-mails - the complete text

The infamous Downing Street boiler room e-mails raise some puzzling points which do not seem to have been addressed.

1. How were they intercepted .... if directly, it brings shades of the Charlie telcon when he discussed aricles of intimate feminine hygeine with his (current) wife **** ...and even earlier his (then) wifes intimacies with a lover (?) - requiring a technology available to only a few.

2. Apparently Paul Staines is a Cunt received copies (paper / electronically, known or unknown source ?) on Jan 13th - why the wait by this gobby and vicious smut peddler ?

3.Paul Staines is a Cunt is well oiled into the lunatic well fed,well rich, far right - as is Iain Dale the other far righ ist amateur blogiste. Viz the Stateless, homeless Lord Ashcroft .

4. Did their release help to destroy Glamourous Gordon AND (as shit sticks) unsteady the current Cnservative Party leadrship ?

After all Moneybags Wheeler has decamped, maybe with a few of his lunatic friends.Perhaps changes may ring in the dosh they require for an election....

*****
Charles to Camillal: "I want to feel my way along you, all over you and up and down you and in and out. Oh God, I'll just live inside your trousers or something -- it would be much easier."

* Camilla: "What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers? Oh, you're going to come back as a pair of knickers."

* Charles: "Or, God forbid, a Tampax . Just my luck!" Camilla: "You are a complete idiot! Oh, what a wonderful idea."

Watchdog wrong in G20 CCTV claim

George Galloway , Viva Palestina and the curious case of the Charity Commission ....

The full text of a letter from Gerge Galloway to Louise Edwards, Compliance Investigation Unit (London)Charity Commission Direct is available here hich is lenghy and detaled and is best appreciated by reading the full text.

"You first frightened the banks into refusing our attempts to open a bank account. When we finally found a bank which would allow us to open an account you intimidated them into freezing it, I believe exceeding your powers. You then began procuring documents - possibly illegally - about us from the Islamic Bank. As a result of your press briefings about your "concerns" newspapers began to refuse to accept advertisements from us, donors turned away, and the public were encouraged to believe that Viva Palestina was something to be avoided - conjuring-up an undisclosed but lurking suspicion about it."

Read on about the fascinating way the Charity Commission goes about it's business....

"You first frightened the banks into refusing our attempts to open a bank account. When we finally found a bank which would allow us to open an account you intimidated them into freezing it, I believe exceeding your powers. You then began procuring documents - possibly illegally - about us from the Islamic Bank. As a result of your press briefings about your "concerns" newspapers began to refuse to accept advertisements from us, donors turned away, and the public were encouraged to believe that Viva Palestina was something to be avoided - conjuring-up an undisclosed but lurking suspicion about it."

Viva Palestine website here

Harlan Ullman : The Voice of Reason

Harlan Ullman famous for his theories of Shock and Awe and enthusiastic customer of the louche and loose ladies of Madame Palfrey has contributed the UPI.com - Emerging Threats - Outside View: To the shores of Tripoli

Should al-Qaida decide that the oceans provide the means to turn ships into the equivalent of civilian airliners made into bombers on Sept. 11, 2001, one attack would be all that it might take to shut down a major port or impose huge damage. The prospect of a 300,000-deadweight-ton supertanker or container ship hurtling at 30 knots into a major port and then ramming into major structures such as New York City's Battery or the George Washington Bridge is a real nightmare scenario.

And if that ship were carrying 30,000 tons of liquid gas or another product that could be turned into an explosive, such as grain, the result could have the force of the nuclear weapons that demolished Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That would be an attack that surely would surpass Sept. 11 by any means of reckoning.

Now that really will give us all sleepless nights.

For more background on Mr Ullman's activities in Pakistan see post Saturday, December 20, 2008 Whoremonger Harlan Ullman brings more Shock 'n' Awe to Islamabad with Hilary Sinnott.

O'Bomber ....all things to all men

President O'Bomber hosts a traditional second night Seder dinner in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House on Thursday night, April 9, 2009. Some friends and White House employees and their families joined the Obama family. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

The staff of the Pesidents Office in the White House have held seders since at least the Clinton administration of the late 1990s.^[17] O'Bombers decision , announced only on Tuesday meant it was the first time that a sitting president is known to have hosted and observed a seder at the White House. Guests included First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, as well as a dozen staff members and friends along with their families.

A story from AP today - President Barack O'Bomber and his family are heading to church this Easter.

The O'Bombers plan to visit a church on Easter Sunday. However nobody yet knows where, citing security and privacy.

The worlds most powerful man hasn't attended public church services in Washington since taking office. He left his Chicago church last year after his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, caused a controversy with his incendiary rhetoric.

Advisers say O'Bomber is going to be careful which house of God he chooses because reporters will dig into the church's and pastor's history.

Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,
And cry ‘Content’ to that which grieves my heart
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face to all occasions.

-- Gloucester, ‘‘Henry VI’’ -- Shakespeare