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Snow ..

you're looking forward to it, already

One of our Robots ..

is missing !!

The State (appears to) taketh away

and keepeth .. .. and keepeth !

The Surveillance Society

"Here's lookin' at you, kid !"

Expenditure Up

but Income Down

Fire Brigade costs

go up in flames

Tribute to Forces' sacrifice		Update of Afghan casualties
Financial Report		Last week's movements & prices

For a variety of past National stories, use this link

For stories from the 2010 General Election, use this link

However, Richard Seager, a meteorologist with the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, US and other scientists report that the severe snowfall in North America and Northern Europe in the winter of 2009-2010 was an example of hard to predict weather events, not a change in climate.

In the winter of 2009/10 much of Northern Europe experienced heavy snow, with temperatures at the lowest they had been for nearly 30 years _ remember ?
In the States, Washington DC and other parts of America's "Mid-Atlantic states" recorded record snowfalls.

• By analysing 60 years of snowfall measurements and satellite data, researchers conclude that the weather conditions were caused by an unusual combination of an El Nino event and the rare occurrence of a strongly negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

• Data from tree rings have shown that these same conditions caused by the same combination of weather systems happened over 200 years ago in the winter of 1783 - 1784 in both Northern Europe and North America.
  Previous conclusions were that the extreme winter in 1783/84 was caused by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano.

Stating that this was "a once in a Century event", he concluded with a statement proving that scientists have not lost their sense of humour ..
"Weather will continue to be weather."

_____________________________________

____________________________________

Oh the weather outside is frightful, 
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

More than .. "One of our Robots is missing !"

MQ-8 Fire-Scout

A software error, combined with "an unfortunate user action", led to a US military robot helicopter - developed from a manned version and capable of carrying a fearsome arsenal of weapons - straying into restricted airspace near Washington DC recently.

An MQ-8 "Fire Scout" robo-chopper, carrying out a test flight from the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, “lost link and proceeded 23 miles north/northwest into restricted airspace,” on August 2.

The statement from US Navy captain Tim Dunigan  added that “the operator team shifted to another ground control station, restoring link and successfully commanding the vehicle to recover at Webster Field”.

Aviation Week quotes Rear Admiral William Shannon as attributing the problem to a "software logic flaw".

• The second of Asimov's laws of robotics says that “a robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, unless that order will endanger humans”.
Fine in theory. But what happens when those instructions are corrupted?

Robot planes and choppers lacking instructions from their human masters will normally circle where they are when comms. go down, and control is almost always restored shortly thereafter - as in fact happened with the rogue Fire Scout. The difference here is that the MQ-8 failed to follow its built-in failure protocol, instead continuing on course.

MQ-9 Reaper

In another incident, ground operators failed to regain control over a rogue MQ-9 Reaper "hunter killer" robo-plane above Afghanistan , which had again failed to follow safety protocols. In that case, the errant droid-craft had to be shot down by a manned US fighter to prevent it crossing the border and violating a neighbouring country's airspace.

   Data protection and surveillance:
Out of the frying pan ..  ?

The Sunday Times newspaper stated that the government was reducing grant-funding for speed cameras. This was given the thumbs-up by the paper which reported that many motorists saw such cameras as a tax first, and a life-saver second.

The report omitted to say that the speed camera removal policy is likely to result in the installation of more “average speed cameras” which depend on Automated Number Plate Reading (ANPR) technology – such as feature in speed restrictions caused by roadworks.

They record your car number plate and the time it takes to pass between two cameras. If your vehicle takes below a pre-calculated time difference, you must have been speeding; hey presto, a nice letter inviting a “contribution to the Exchequer” arrives in the post the following week. 
With an infrared light source ANPR cameras can be used 24/7.

Personal data can be cross-checked in real-time against databases, including_ 
..   the Police National Computer, 
..   the DVLA databases, 
..   Insurance Company databases,
..   uninsured drivers lists, & 
..   police intelligence records, both locally and regionally, 
to identify vehicles of interest. 
If a registration plate is flagged up on a database, the system alerts the operator with both a visual and audible signal and providing details of which database has triggered a hit. The ANPR operator could then call for officers to intercept the vehicle and question the driver.

The police already have more than 10,000 ANPR cameras and “forces in England and Wales are passing up to 14 million 'reads' per day from automatic number-plate recognition cameras to a national database”.
In addition, “6,600 ANPR units run by the Highways Agency and Traffic master are used to calculate the speed of traffic over sections of road”.

• According to a Devon and Cornwall Police document (pdf), the police can use recorded ANPR records for any general police inquiry for 90 days but after that access is restricted.
• The normal retention period of ANPR data on camera hits is two years 
• This might increase to five years when sent to the National ANPR data centre, which currently holds over 7.6 billion read records.
• If there is a “hit” with another police database, six-year retention is allowed.
• Security Service access to these personal data at the ANPR data centre can be assumed to be on demand, and one can also assume the use of sophisticated searching tools to extract intelligence.

It is a prime example of the previous government’s 'state-surveillance' use of databases  which is subject to very little oversight. 
The wide national security exemption (S.28) effectively excludes oversight from the Information Commissioner, and the Surveillance Commissioner has no remit because overt use of ANPR (or any related database) is not covert or directed surveillance as defined by RIPA.

So specific surveillance of an accident black spot by a speed camera (which only captures the image of speeding cars breaking the law) is replaced by general surveillance of every and all vehicles passing the cameras (where records of date, time, driver details, location are all retained for possibly up to five years).

Still think that this is an "improvement" ?

    Statistics on the "Surveillance Society" ..

1. The UK has 20% of all the CCTV cameras in the world  ..

2. Basingstoke has more CCTV cameras than New York City  ..

Given that these facts are true (they were broadcast on TV last week) we have some questions to consider _

1. If they ARE successful .. as the Home Office and ACPO say they are .. why are the crime statistics not substantially lower ?

2. Do the good Burghers of Basingstoke think that they are safer living in the UK than they would be in the "Big Apple" ?

3. If CCTV IS successful .. can you imagine how bad things would have been without them ?

     "I say, I say, I say .. "

      "Yes, what is it that you say ?"
"How many homes does an ex-Prime Minister need ?"
      "I've no idea; pray tell me, 
       how many homes does an ex-Prime Minister need ?"
"NINE .. at the last count !"

Apparently, Cherie and Kathryn Blair have just bought a London three-bedroom maisonette - valued at £975,000 - so it's not your average Wyre Forest maisonette - for CASH !

This makes £15,000 000 that they've spent on property .. so now they have the tough decision of just where to rest their busy little heads at night.

And this when Tony's £4,600,000 down on income .. thanks to the donation of his 'Advance' publishers payment to the Royal British Legion.

    "I do not believe it .. ..  !"

"What usually happens is rather than admit a mistake they (civil servants) throw more money at it and try to save the phenomenon”

This is the explanation by John McDonnell MP (Chairman, Fire Brigades Union parliamentary group) for the MILLIONS OF POUNDS which are being wasted on unused fire engines and unoccupied new control centres - all part of a revamp of the fire service.

Nine new regional control rooms have been built as part of a £423m project to "regionalise" the service - but these centres are now standing empty, at a cost of £1m rent a month, because of problems with their computers.

Worse still .. .. some of them may not now be needed ! 
DC / NC's coalition government has decided not to proceed with the policy of 'regionalisation'.

Nine regional centres have been built as part of plans to replace 46 local fire control rooms in England (with an original budget of £70m) and create a national interlinked service that could direct fire brigades to the scenes of large emergencies more easily.
The planned nine regional centres and the 46 local fire and rescue service control rooms to be regionalised:

East of England - Essex, Norfolk, Cambridge and Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Luton and Suffolk.
East Midlands - Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire.
London - London Fire Brigade
North East - Durham and Darlington, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland and Northumberland.
North West - Cumbria, Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
South East - Hampshire, Royal Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey and West Sussex.
South West - Devon and Somerset, Dorset, Avon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
West Midlands - Staffordshire, West Midlands, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester and Warwickshire.
Yorkshire and Humberside - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside and North Yorkshire

THE CONCEPT

Defence contractor EADS (Airbus, Eurocopter, Satelites, Defence Security  and Space) was hired in 2007 to install the computer systems in the centres, as well as in 1,400 fire stations and 3,400 fire engines, providing an interlinked response service .. An Excellent Idea.

EADS recommended that the project could be carried out using fewer regional centres - BUT the project had "birth pangs" - and the nine centres have now been standing empty for up to three years - with monthly rental for the empty buildings costing taxpayers £1m a month.
They will not all be in use until 2013, sending the programme more than £350m over budget.

AND THEN .. ..

And then, some brigades in the UK are selling unused, brand new fire engines !

Central Scotland fire brigade - having bought two combined aerial rescue pumps (Carp engines) in 2008 at £400,000 each, now find that they are too heavy for UK roads.
So they're back on the market, second-hand but un-used, at a bargain price of just under 300,000 euros (£246,000) each.

Humberside fire brigade spent almost £60,000 converting its Carp engine back to a single rescue platform fire engine - but does not know when it can afford to bring it into service

South Yorkshire brought four Carps in 2008, then sent them to the Netherlands for £600,000 worth of remedial work but - the company has  gone into administration and the vehicles are 'stuck' abroad in a mire of legal wrangling.

Could you believe it ? _Ed

Questions remain un-answered

Father James Chesney .. believed to have been
"Quarter-master and director of operations of the south-Derry Provisional IRA".

• 7.1  The bombing of Claudy, N.I., on 31 July 1972 was an atrocity .. for which .. no terrorist group has ever admitted responsibility.
• 7.3  Intelligence, which the RUC obtained in the weeks and months following the Claudy bombings, presented significant investigative opportunities, which were not pursued in relation to Father James Chesney’s alleged involvement in the atrocity.
• 7.4  Rather than act on these opportunities a senior RUC Officer sought the Government’s assistance in December 1972, through their engagement with senior figures of the Catholic Church, to ‘render harmless a dangerous priest'. 
  In view of the considerable Intelligence available to the RUC in respect of Father Chesney the Police Ombudsman has concluded that this was wrong and compromised the investigation.
• 7.8  The Police Ombudsman acknowledges that key individuals identified in this report have not had the opportunity to explain or defend their decisions or actions as they are deceased.

The investigations by some detectives of Fr. Chesney were frustrated at a meeting between Northern Ireland Secretary William Whitelaw and the leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Conway, at which it was agreed that the priest would be moved to a parish in Donegal (just over the border, in the Irish Republic) from where he "regularly travelled across the border".

When Chief Constable, Sir Graham Shillington, was made aware of this decision, he is quoted as saying that he would "prefer a move to Tipperary" (some 200 miles south of the border).

"Father Chesney vehemently denied involvement in any kind of IRA activity to me on two occasions, in 1974, not long after I was appointed Bishop of Derry, and again in 1977. He also denied such involvement earlier to my predecessor, Bishop Neil Farren."
His Lordship, The Most Rev. Dr. Edward Daly, D.D.
Lord Bishop Emeritus of Derry
- even though the police had a huge file of intelligence information linking him to terrorism (with little hard evidence).

Claudy, N.I.
Scene of three car bombs & the deaths of nine people
(inc. 5 who were catholic, and three children)
_______________________________

Perhaps, as Pope Benedict XVI begins his four day visit to the UK_

.. a public open-air Mass at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow on 16th Sept. 
.. an open air prayer vigil in London's Hyde Park on Saturday 18th Sept.
.. a public open-air Mass in Birmingham's Cofton Park on Sunday 19th Sept.
       as part of the Beatification process of John Henry Newman

he might care to make a definitive statement on the current "hot-potato" for the Catholic church (and deflect attention from some of its other problems - at the Oratory and wider a-field) ?

And, for your next Question .. .. "Pass !"

There is actually a website called notgoingtouniversity, which says deciding against higher education can be a difficult, although correct, decision for young people.

"There is an awful lot of pressure to go to university, which is why the drop-out rate is so high. The one-size-fits-all approach is not working and we're there to show there are other perfectly valid routes."
Communications Director - Sarah Clover.

Annual performance indicators from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (2007).show  7.4% of young undergraduates left university after just one year on their course - while some who do graduate struggle to find work in the current economic climate.

"University is a life-changing, long-term investment that has benefits both for the individual and society generally. It helps individuals hone their thinking and analytical skills, gives them confidence, and the ability to re-skill as life changes."
A spokesperson for Universities UK.

"Further education and on-the-job training are of vital importance, which is why this government is investing in further education and has provided 50,000 extra high quality apprenticeships."
Universities and Science Minister David Willetts.

But the University and College Union (UCU) has warned that students who have failed to get into HE (higher education), may take the apprenticeships and college places currently available to 16-year-olds (FE) - resulting in fewer places remaining available for the less qualified - just as the NEET* figures are falling.

*NEET is an acronym for the government classification for people currently -
  "Not in Education, Employment or Training". 
It was first used in the United Kingdom but its use has spread to other countries, including Japan, China, and South Korea.

______________________________

"You're A Star !"           well .. a quarter of you are !

One in 12 A-level exam courses (8%) has been allowed to award the new A* grade - which some 27% of entrants gained. The overall pass rate rose for the 28th year.
The grade was brought in to challenge the brightest students, give them a chance to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge - and to help universities choose the best students.

_______________________________

GCSE results                 well .. a fifth of you are !

More than half a million students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to receive their GCSE results.
Last year, 67% of entries gained A*-C grades (the highest % figure attained).
More than one in five entries attained an A or A* grade, with girls continuing their lead over boys in all but mathematics.

_______________________________

As a 'historical footnote' .. examinations used to be marked in a completely different way.
All papers were assessed and given a mark (often out of 100). 
When all the marks from all the candidates were available, they were placed on a graph and the pre-agreed percentages for each grade were superimposed on the graph (eg, 8% of candidates were to get 'A') then the mark which 8% had surpassed would be read-off on the scale. This process continued for all other grades.
The % of candidates to fail was also pre-selected (eg, 30%). This could be obtained by applying the same process to the bottom of the graph.

This system imposed a "rigueur" thought to be missing today .. but failed to allow politicians to be able to manipulate the number of candidates getting better and better marks .. (all because of their party policies, of course !)

Nowadays ? .. .. Your guess is as good as mine !

Trials have begun in the North-East of a three-digit telephone number for those needing non-emergency medical care.

Nottingham, Lincolnshire and Luton will follow NHS County Durham and Darlington Primary Care Trusts to try-out the free '111' number which will act as an alternative to '999.'

This will not replace NHS Direct initially but, if successful, it will be made available nationwide.

Calling 111 will provide access to health advice and information about local services (such as out-of-hours GPs, walk-in centres, emergency dentists and 24-hour pharmacies) and will take the pressure off '999' calls, half of which do not need an emergency response. Those calling '111' with an emergency will be put through to the '999' service so that an ambulance can be dispatched.

"The introduction of the NHS '111' service in County Durham and Darlington is an important part of our regional vision to improve access to urgent healthcare for local people. By better understanding what people really need from different local services, '111' will enable the commissioning of more effective and productive health care. Most importantly it will help improve efficiency across the whole health care system by reducing unnecessary waste and making sure people get access to the right service, first time."
Professor Stephen Singleton, medical director of NHS North East

"We welcome the pilots and would like them to raise awareness and educate the public on when to call 111 or 999. However, we are concerned this new phone number means the public have to make life or death decisions about whether their situation is a medical emergency."
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association

"It is essential that we improve access to, and understanding about, urgent care services, which includes out-of-hours care. At present, too many people are confused about who to contact and how to do so."
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

"Happy Birthday" Al Megrahi ..
from the 259 passengers and crew of Pan Am Flight 103, 
and eleven residents of Lockerbie

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi ( عبد الباسط محمد علي المقرحي‎, ) 
- born 1 April 1952 - educated in Cardiff - the former Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli, Libya's capital, and head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (in 1988) - has been discharged from hospital in Libya to live at home with his family - one year after his release from Greenock Prison after serving 8½ years of a recommended 20 year term.

Let us not forget that the on-line petition delivered to the Scottish Parliament (which might have had profound political influence in Scotland at the time) asked .."that Megrahi be allowed to spend his 'very limited' remaining time at his home 
in Glasgow with his family and loved ones."

 It did NOT ask for his repatriation.

Reviewing the case, members of Holyrood's Justice Committee stated that_

• Scottish Prison Service guidelines were not followed in the decision to release Megrahi, 

• that the medical evidence presented was flimsy, &

• that four cancer specialists had refused to back up the opinion of the (one) prison doctor - that Megrahi would be dead within 3 months.

In June 2010, an attempt to have his medical condition and discharge recommendations made public was rejected by the Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion OBE.

___________________________________

How ironic that the Libyan Airlines web-site carries this notice_

Dangerous Goods & Prohibited Imports
For security and safety reason passengers are not allowed to carry the following items in their checked-in or carry-on baggage.

• Explosives, weapons, fireworks and flares.
• Briefcases and security type cases with alarm devices installed; or those incorporating lithium batteries and/or pyrotechnic material.
• Gases (filterable, non-filterable, deeply refrigerated and poisonous) such as camping gas and aerosols.
• Flammable liquids such as lighter fuels, paints and thinner.
• Flammable solids, such as matches and articles, which are easily ignited; substances liable to spontaneous combustion, substances, which on contact with water emit Flammable gas.
• Oxidizing substances (such as bleaching powder and peroxides)
• Poisonous (toxic) and infectious substances.
• Radioactive material.
• Corrosives (such as mercury which may be contained in thermometers, acids, alkalis and wet-cell batteries);
• Disabling devices such as mace, pepper spray, etc.
• Import of alcohol and drugs
• Obscene literature
• Pork and pork products
• Libyan antiquities

"The Party's Over .. it's time to call-it-a-day .. "

Ahh well.  One hundred days, and .. .. the "honeymoon" is over.

Doesn't time fly .. ..  (when you're enjoying yourself) .. .. ?

Soon be time to think about a General Election .. .. !

____________________________________

-Artist: Nat King Cole
-Words by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and Music by Jule Styne
-introduced by Judy Holliday in her last film "Bells Are Ringing" (1956)
-charted by Doris Day at US #63 in 1957

"The party's over .. it's time to call it a day
They've burst your pretty balloon and taken the moon away
It's time to wind up the masquerade, just make your mind up, the piper must be paid"

BP has 'Good News' .. and 'Bad News' ..

The 'Good News'..

• Almost half of the US areas in the Gulf of Mexico 'closed' to commercial fishing by their government have been re-opened

• A further area called 'Grand Isle', nr. Louisiana, has also been 'opened' for fishing

• The well has been plugged successfully with a combination of heavy fluids and concrete

The 'Bad News'..

• Admiral 'Thad' Allen, head of the Incident Command Centre, is insisting that BP continue to drill the 'relief' well (one mile underwater, then two miles underground, to within 30 feet of the exploded well)

• BP questions whether this is still necessary

• There is a (small) risk of this second drilling also releasing oil "into troubled waters"

_________________________________

'Thad' is a retired United States Coast Guard admiral who made his reputation directing the federal response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region between September 2005 and January 2006.

"Possibly .. the worst advert in the world ?"

Radio 'Talksport' may not be a station to which we all automatically tune but .. apart from Talk and Sport, one thing you will no longer hear is .. an advert for an anti-terrorist hotline which urges listeners to report suspected terrorists !

The Advertising Standards Authority have ruled it could cause "serious offence" to the law-abiding - after receiving complaints from listeners.

The ad lists "suspicious" behaviour to look out for _

• quiet neighbours   (!)
• valuing privacy         (!!)
• paying by cash              (!!!)
• keeping curtains drawn       (!!!!) 
• living on a bus route                 (!!!!!)  ..

"This may mean nothing but together it could all add up to you having suspicions."

10 complainants said it could be offensive to law-abiding citizens and the others felt it could encourage people to harass or victimise their neighbours and/or it was appealing to people's fear

The campaign by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) was intended to promote a confidential anti-terrorist hotline which, according to the Press Gazette, is 0800 XXXXXX (!) 
The Press Association and several national newspapers fail to carry any mention of the 'hotline' number in their coverage of the ASA decision. What a successful campaign that has proved to be !

"The man at the end of the street doesn't talk to his neighbours much, because he likes to keep himself to himself. 
He pays with cash because he doesn't have a bank card, and he keeps his curtains closed because his house is on a bus route."
"If you suspect it, report it."

Well; eighteen "good men* and true" DID make a report .. they reported an ad. which they suspected was offensive.
[We know they're 'men' since Talksport describes itself as "the station for men .. who like to talk sport" _Ed]

Interestingly enough .. the Talksport website carries no reference to their broadcasting frequencies, or whether they are to be found on AM or FM !
So how were we supposed to hear the ad. in the first place ?

Sure, we should obey the rules .. 
.. but .. which rules ? 

Julie Spence (55), the out-going (and out-spoken) head of Cambridgeshire police (who has claimed that much of police time is spent on “social work”), has 'saved the best 'til last', saying that "drivers consider speeding as acceptable and change their minds only if they lose a child in a road accident".

Speed Limits in Germany
[50 kph = 31 mph]
[100 kph = 62 mph]
[130 kph = 81 mph]

Never the "shy and retiring" type, she stated that ..“Speeding is middle-class anti-social behaviour,” but went on to mix her road-safety message with attacks on the Coaliton Government .. being critical of their scrapping of Labour’s 'Policing Pledge' .. "like new lions going into a pride and killing off all the young” — in this case “anything that has a Labour tag”.

Wow .. .. !_Ed

What she fails to make clear is the somewhat random yet arbitrary setting of the Speed Limits themselves.

Speed limits in Sweden
[70 kph = 44 mph]
[110 kph = 68 mph]

The 70 mph National Speed Limit was introduced as a temporary measure in December 1965 - often blamed on Barbara Castle but actually enacted by Tom Fraser - and confirmed as a permanent limit in 1967 by (non-driver) Barbara. Not forgetting that the average family car of the time could only just exceed 70 mph.

Lower limits were imposed on all roads in 1973, again as a temporary measure, due to the fuel crisis caused by the Arab/Israeli war. 
When the war was over, the limits stayed.
Only in 1955 were speed limits raised - with the Road Traffic Act 1930's speed limit of 20 mph on all heavy goods vehicles on all roads being raised to 30 mph.

Speed Limits in Poland
[60 kph = 37 mph]
[90 kph = 56 mph]

For those interested in such things - or driving abroad, visit_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country.
Note that many countries have lower speed limits for motorcycles than cars (!)

"Here's your 'Starter' .. for Ten .. !"

Here are some questions, posed by the recent publicity engendered by The Hague war-crimes trial of Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (b.28 Jan.1948) the 22nd President of Liberia (serving from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003).

1. Are you surprised by 'super-model' Naomi Campbell's ignorance .. ?
   a) of Charles Taylor's reputation .. for embezzlement ..  
   b) as a trained guerilla fighter .. 
   c) as the leader of the ultra-violent National Patriotic Front of Liberia..
   d) as a man accused of 'war crimes' and 'crimes against humanity' through his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War ..
   

2. Can you remember the name of the Capital of Liberia ?
   Monrovia
   

3. Can you name Naomi's first (famous) boy-friend ?
   Mike Tyson
   

4. Are you astonished that former actress Mia Farrow is considered "influential" in African diplomatic circles ?
   Former wife of Orchestral Conductor and jazz pianist André Previn - and of film director 'Woody' Allen
   

5. Would you recognise uncut diamonds in a hotel corridor at 3:00am after a 'heavy' party ?
   Probably not
   

6. What was the (saintly) Nelson Mandela up-to in such 'eclectic' company ?
   Better not ask
   

7. Why was Saint Nelson beatified ?
   a) he was also a guerilla fighter
   b) he "did his bird" and was released
   c) he was married to Winnie for thirty-nine years (1957-1996)
   

8. When did the War-Crimes trial start ?
   i) originally indicted on 3 March 2003 on 17 counts
   ii) indictment amended 16 March 2006 to 11 counts
   iii) initial appearance before the court on 3 April 2006, he entered a plea of not guilty
   iv) trial opened 4 June 2007 with Taylor boycotting the proceedings
   v) defense obtained a postponement of the trial until 7 January 2008
   vi) prosecution finished presenting its evidence against Taylor and closed its case on 27 February 2009
   vii) defense began in July 2009
   viii) Taylor testified in his own defense from July through November 2009
   ix) prosecutors' cross-examinations are ongoing ..
   

9. Is Naomi likely to receive similar gifts from the current President of Liberia ?
   No.
   President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, of Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, and the only elected, female, head-of-state of any African country, is unlikely to have her head turned by Naomi's style of beauty.

____________________________________

      The supermodel's former agent Carole White has told the war-crimes trial that Ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor DID give Naomi Campbell diamonds after a 1997 dinner in South Africa. She said that Taylor had promised the model the diamonds during the meal the previous evening.

Taylor and Campbell had been "mildly flirtatious" with each other during the evening and Taylor told the supermodel during dinner that he would send some men to give her diamonds.

"We were sitting around this lounge area at about 10 o'clock at night and we were waiting for these men to arrive. She was in communication with them by phone - most likely by text. Someone was informing her that the car was nearly there. She opened them and showed them to me. They were quite disappointing because they weren't shiny."

On Monday, US actress Mia Farrow, had testified that Campbell had been "very excited" about the diamonds.
"The guys came in and they sat down in the lounge and we sat opposite them... they then took out a quite scruffy paper and they handed it to Miss Campbell and said 'these are the diamonds'."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please raise your glasses .. 

In the closest that America has come to a "royal" wedding, the daughter of former US President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe, III) and current Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton has married her long-term boyfriend at a lavish ceremony at the 'Astor Courts' estate on the Hudson River in New York State.

The couple have known each other since they were teenagers in Washington and both attended Stanford University, although they now share Mr. Mezvinsky's ($4m) apartment on 5th Avenue, from where he commutes to manage hedge fund, 'G3 Capital'.

While bride (30) Chelsea Victoria Clinton's background as a a Methodist Christian is well-known, Marc Mezvinsky (32) is of Jewish parentage - son of former US House of Representatives Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky of Pennsylvania and former Congressman Ed. Mezvinsky of Iowa - both of whom are long-term friends of the Clintons.

Under a "no-fly zone" along the Hudson valley and with nearby roads closed, guests such as television star, Oprah Winfrey, film director Steven Spielberg, Hollywood actors Tom Hanks and Ted Danson, and singer Barbra Streisand were (reportedly) among the 500 guests.

Now we know that weddings, though lovely, can be fraught times .. and the "BIG" question remains .. .. 
"Did they invite 'HER BOSS' ?"
.. .. because fellow Democrat, and fellow President, Barak Obama (and Michelle) were conspicuous by their absence .. .. !

Or worse still .. did they get an invite .. and not accept ?

Still, the 'power couple' issued an statement (what else would 'power couples' do?) saying_
"We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family. On behalf of the newlyweds, we want to give special thanks to the people of Rhinebeck for welcoming us and to everyone for their well-wishes on this special (£1.9m) day."

So, let's not forget to toast the 'Happy Couple'.

Here's a good question .. .. 

Carillon Beach

And here's a good question for Barak - which, by-the-way, means 'lightning' ..
(or 'Barry' as he was called when a youngster) ..

"Where's the Oil ?"

• Virtually no oil has been released from the BP well into the Gulf since the new cap was closed on 15 July
• Skimming crews report only tiny quantities of oil out at sea
• On-shore, there will be a pullback of clean-up crews from the beaches
• Booms will remain in-place across the shores all the way from Florida to Louisiana - as a precaution

"You don't need people walking up and down in Hazmat suits," 
says Incoming BP chief executive Bob Dudley.

     And now that Barak, himself, has had to acknowledge that things are not as bad as he and his officials painted them .. .. 

• "The long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end" _ President Obama: 
• "The majority has been captured, burned off or evaporated." _ 
  US Government Report
• "It was unlikely beaches along the Gulf of Mexico would be covered by surfacing oil in the future." _ White House energy-adviser 

SO, HOW MUCH LEAKED ? 

Although those "opposed" to BP make much of the figure of an estimated 4.9m barrels of oil leaking into the waters of the Gulf during 87 days, it must be remembered that the Gulf of Mexico is an enormously big body of water.

Using that international unit of measurement .. "an Olympic-sized Swimming Pool" ..
the quantity of oil that is involved is the equivalent of ONE GRAM of oil (an eye droplet) being added to the swimming pool !
This is less contamination than an average swimming pool receives every day from the people swimming in it (from hair-treatments, make-up and natural skin oils being washed-off).

What to say to a US Senate enquiry 

"The UK confirms, categorically, that they will not provide witnesses to attend US proceedings."

This is, after all, exactly the response which "we" received from America when our Coroner requested that US Air Force service personnel attend the Inquest held on the "friendly-fire" death of one of our soldiers .. Iraq. 2003.

In an attack by two US A-10 Thunderbolt anti-tank aircraft, 24.8 miles north of Basra,  two Scimitar light reconnaissance tanks manned by the Household Cavalry were destroyed, injuring three UK soldiers and killing Lance/Cpl Hull. 
The US pilots had apparently failed to recognise that the tanks were a British make, with special orange paint coalition-identification aids, and even a large Union flag on another machine in the five-vehicle convoy.

The State flag of Hawaii (so there's no reason for not recognising the Union flag)

After the incident, an official spokesman said .. "These people (pilots) immediately understood that it was a terrible, terrible mistake, and they felt immediate remorse of what happened."
The cockpit recorders quote the pilots as saying ..
"We're in jail dude!" .. .. .. "Goddam it. F*** me dead!" (weeping)
"God F***ing S*** !"
which is more realistic.

Surely the Senators will understand that .. "Fair's Fair .. ?"

A most inappropriately named company ?

Dr. Daniel Ubani
Struck off the medical register in the UK, but still free to work in Germany

'Take Care Now', a company providing out-of-hours care, who employed a doctor who 'unlawfully killed' a pensioner with a dose of the painkiller diamorphine 10 times too strong, had "systematic" failings, Dame Jo Williams has said.
The Care Quality Commission chairman has stated: 
"Take Care Now failed on many fronts. The lessons of its failure must resonate across the health service."

In many cases, weekend and night GP cover is provided by private firms.

* The firm originated form Suffolk Doctors on Call (SDOC), a not-for-profit co-operative of GPs established in 1994
* TCN was formed as the commercial wing of SDOC in 2005, following changes to out-of-hours care
* The firm won contracts with five NHS trusts to provide weekend and night cover for GPs_
       NHS Cambridge,      NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney, 
       NHS South West Essex,   NHS Suffolk,       and 
       NHS Worcestershire
* Following the death of Mr. David Gray, the firm had its contract with the NHS terminated
* Its services were taken over by a larger company called Harmoni

What were their failings ?

* The now-defunct firm was criticised for failing to review its working practices 
* They did not react to warnings on standards
* They failed to investigate and learn from two previous cases of diamorphine overdoses prior to a patient's death
* Staffing levels were 'potentially unsafe'
* There was no guidance to local health managers of the importance of good monitoring and of information sharing
* There was no requirement for out-of-hours care companies to be registered with the CQC (Mandatory from 2012)

The German medical authorities have indicated an intention to bring Dr. Ubani before disciplinary hearings.

Dr. Taylor and Health Concern vindicated

"Plans to downgrade A&E services are based on flawed evidence" say doctors working in accident and emergency departments.

The College of Emergency Medicine says investment in separate walk-in and urgent care centres is misguided and wasteful and that it is wrong to assume that most patients coming to A&E can be seen elsewhere.

The future of many A&E units has come under scrutiny as health trusts seek to concentrate some highly specialised care in fewer hospitals - purely on a 'cost-efficiency' basis.

The College of Emergency Medicine says many plans are based on an assumption that is "simply untrue" - namely that 60% of people coming to A&E have relatively minor problems that could be sorted out elsewhere, for example in minor injuries units or polyclinics.
The college's president, Dr John Heyworth, says the 60% figure is "fiction".
"It is a mantra which has driven strategy for a number of years, but our evidence from the college of emergency medicine and other evidence from recent research has confirmed that it's nowhere near 60%.
We need to strengthen our emergency departments and if we want to consider different strategies they must only be on the basis of robust, reliable clinically-led evidence - and at the moment that's not applying in many places."

The BBC quotes "Health campaigners" fighting plans to scale-down or close A&E units as welcoming the manifesto.

John Lister from Health Emergency said that ministers should heed the advice of the "real experts" in emergency medicine; and that "..for far too long policies have been driven not by these clinicians but by evidence-free assertions by health service bureaucrats or management consultants who have claimed that up to 60% of A&E caseload could be switched to primary care. 
Policies based on false assumptions had wasted management time and diverted attention away from the proper ways to improve A&E departments."
He called for an inquiry into where the 60% figure had come from in the first place.

Dr Andrew Hobart, from the British Medical Association's Emergency Medicine Committee, agreed that the assumptions behind the re-organisations of urgent and emergency care were "fundamentally flawed".

"I hear that this web-site is being read regularly by visitors from Moscow !
Greetings to every visitor ~ whether from Wyre Forest, or across the globe."
Richard Taylor.

Don't Kill Someone !

Instead .."Make A Difference"

The number of British military personnel killed on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 stands at 332, after the deaths of

L/Cpl. Bancroft, Jordan, 25

Burnley

21/08/10

1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

Sapper Foster, Darren, 20

Carlisle

13/08/10

21 Engineer Regiment Group

Rifleman Kulung, Remand, 27

Basaha,  Nepal

13/08/10

1st Battalion  The Mercian Regiment - Tobruk Company

Sapper Gurung, Ishwor, 21

Pokhara   Nepal

13/08/10

21 Engineer Regiment Group - Queen's Gurkha Engineers

Lt. Sanderson,  John Charles, 29

Oklahoma   U.S.A.

11/08/10

1st Battalion  The Mercian Regiment

Marine Brown, Adam, 25

Frimley

01/08/10

Alpha company, 40 Commando,

Lance Sergeant McCallum, Dale Alanzo, 31

Hanover,   Jamaica

01/08/10

1st Battalion Scots Guards,  Fire Support Group

__________________________

May we recommend this BBC "Wall of Pictures" of UK fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan

Link to 
The Royal British Legion (2008)
Registered Charity No 219279. 
199 Borough High Street, London SE1 1AA, Telephone +44 (0)20 3207 2100
_______________________________________

Help for Heroes

Registered Charity number 1120920
Steynings House, Summerlock Approach, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP2 7RJ
Current running total of donations _ £25.539,000
______________________________________

The stated aim of the invasion is ..
"..to find Osama bin Laden and other high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and put them on trial, to destroy the whole organization of Al-Qaeda, and to remove the Taliban regime which supported and gave safe harbour to Al-Qaeda."
George W Bush

The United States' Bush Doctrine states that, as policy, it will not distinguish between terrorist organizations and nations or governments that harbour them." 

______________________________

The following quotation has been drawn to our attention .. equally significant during the Afghanistan conflict .. which originated at a dinner-party at Marl Bank, Little Malvern, hosted by Sir Edward Elgar, in the company of George Bernard Shaw and 'Lawrence of Arabia' ..

"Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. 
It is their war, and you are there to help them, ...
... not to win it for them." 
T.E. Lawrence

---

     The past week's 'MONEY MATTERS'

Markets

The FTSE100 - over the week

FTSE100

..

Rose 6.28

..

5201.56

Main trades_

Biggest riser

..

Cable & Wireless

..

66.15p   <+ 6 %

Biggest faller

..

Tullow Oil

..

1211p    >- 4 %

And in the US_

DOW-Jones Index

..

Fell 101.69

..

10090.86

Commodities

Tullow Oil, having bought out co-investor Heritage, have had the Uganda government seize a key oil field at Lake Albert - for 'non-payment' of a Hertiage tax bill of £183m.
RBS has ended its sponsorship of the Open Golf tournament.
Gordon Ramsay Holdings International doubled its 2008 losses to £8.3m - and wrote off several new American food investments.
Spanish airline Iberia - due to merge with BA - saw revenues grow 3% with international business travel increase.

Over the week.

Gold

..

Rose  < $  9.00

..

$1233.00

Brent Crude

..

Rose  < $  1.03

..

$    75.34

Currencies

Little volatility this week _

£1 buys ...

[Last week's prices]

$ 1.55.28 US

=

static

1.55.32

$ 1.63.20 CAN

<

rose ¾ cent

1.62.58

$ 1.72.73 AUS

>

down 1 cent

1.73.81

$ 2.18.47  NZ

<

up 1¾ cents

2.16.69

€ 1.21.68 EURO

>

down ½ cent

1.22.22

The Pound is rising against the Peru Nuevo Sol - PEN

£1 buys 4.3451

Yearly high 4.91040

Yearly low 3.93300

---

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