Gillian Gibbons:Sudanese Stupidity Latest: Fundamentalists Say Shoot Her:Demand Death By Firing Squad ...

Shoot UK teacher, say protesters

Gillian Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation

Thousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot.

As any regular readers of Richard's 'Old Brit' blog are already well aware, we are not in any way, shape or form intolerant, extremist, fundametalist, racist or supremacist zealots, nor have we ever been known to be.

But when we learn of armed extremists taking to the streets and demanding the death of a British or any other nation's demonstrably decent citizen - for any reason at all, (via Sharia law) let alone a particularly simple innocent mistake that has harmed nobody - we say it's time somebody sorted out such a shambolic, scary state of affairs.

And before the loonies, zealots, fundamentalists and extremists begin wasting any more of their time and efforts mailing us, let's get one thing straight.

Whether any armed mobs roaming the streets baying for such unholy, barbaric demands of death are Muslim, Christian, Hindi, Buddhist or even followers of the now fabled Flying Spaghetti Monster, matters not a single iota.

The time has come to tell such wretches, in whatever way(s) it takes, that enough is enough and the end of the road has (almost) already been reached.

If such violently unruly people's own government's internal forces can't or won't even genuinely attempt to install law, order, control or whatever, of mobs (for that's all they are) of bloodthirsty, ignorant, uncivilised criminals -- then some urgent assistance should be offered. And be offered sooner rather than later.

Be such assistance officially sought or not.

Read the BBC's latest re: rapidly and seriously escalting Sudanese situation.

*

Minority Fundy Muslim Madness:Liverpool Schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons Arrested And Held In Sudan ...

*

Shown below is one of we (world famously, liberal) Liverpudlians' own 'scouser' sisters, super-special schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons.

And shown below is a sample of the sheer (as well as serious), stupidity of somebody somewhere in the hierarchy in Sudan who should know better.

Teacher charged over teddy row

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons said she made an "innocent mistake"

A British teacher has been charged in Sudan with insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that charges have been laid against Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool.

She was arrested in Khartoum after allowing her class of primary school pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said he will summon the Sudanese ambassador "as a matter of urgency".

And so he so & so should do - sodding soon.

Some things never seem to change do they? Every single religion has it's share of shorted sighted simpletons, serially set on starting some sort of strife where there's so obviously absolutely no need to.

This time it's the turn of a 'must make a point' PC crazy, minority group of manifestly (misguided) fundamentalist Muslims in Sudan.

Read the rest of this ridiculous report right here.

Then, if it's at all possible for anyone reading here to pass on a personal message from This Old Brit - please pass this to any & all of those who may have helped cause this completely uncalled for crises in Khartoum.

Grow up, for God and Allah's sakes. Grow up and start acting like reasonable, responsible adults.

Have you never heard of 'Scouse-Power'? Of 'Blood Brothers'? Or of our ancient, proud multicultural city's own personal anthem -- "You'll Never Walk Alone"?

We say again, grow up.

And we've saved our final few words for one of Britain's best respected and most widely recognised moderate Muslims, Mohammed Shafiq, who even as we type is actively seeking to ellict some semblence of common sense from the powers that be in Sudan.

Kudos, to you, young Mr Shafiq.

*

27 November 2007

Peter Watt 'Walks' While Gordon Brown Admits Labour Party Donations Were Unlawful

*

Wave bye bye to Peter Watt (below), baby faced whizkid General Secretary of The Labour Party, and up till today seen by many as a still rapidly rising, young New Labour super star.

Brown admits donations 'unlawful'

Mr Brown said the money was not lawfully declared

Gordon Brown has said donations to the Labour Party by a property developer through middlemen were "completely unacceptable" and would be repaid.

He told reporters he had had "no knowledge" of more than £600,000 [$1.2 million approx] of donations from David Abrahams, which could "not be justified".

(snip)

Labour's general secretary Peter Watt resigned on Monday after it emerged that Mr Abrahams donated the money to the party over four years, under three associates' names.

And to think that some are still seeking to persuade the public that governmental 'sleaze' is a thing of the past, eh?

Oh yeah, sure it is.

Please pull the other one pals, it's got bells on.

Asked if he knew Mr Abrahams, Mr Brown said: "I am sure I may have met him but I have no recollection of any conversations about any of these issues.

"I had no knowledge until Saturday night, either of the donations or of the practice which had grown up where they were improperly declared to the Electoral Commission. No knowledge at all."

He said mistakes had been made and changes were needed to ensure Labour imposed "the highest standards in future".

Hmm. So, let's see if we've got this story straight, eh? Mistakes have been made and changes are needed, eh?

Sounds great, Gordon, but we're sorry to have to say that we've heard it all before, Mr Brown. Ever heard of a certain old saying?
"Same old, same old"?

Acting Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said that "an enormous can of worms had been opened up" and the government should have brought in new party funding regulations.

"It's a whole sleazy area; it needs cleaning up because of lack of public confidence, " he said.

Read the rest this report and see a list of names, dates and large amounts of dosh dished out.

*

26 November 2007

British Army Officers Resigning By The Thousands ...

*

What does this headline tell you?

Officers quit army in record numbers

We know for certain what it says to us.

In fact, swap 'says' for 'shouts'.

Better still, on third thoughts, substitute 'shouts' with 'screams'.

So, read some more of the same sort of scandalous shock and awe stuff, and see if starts you shaking (at least a little), in your best winter-wooly-socks and spit & wax polished boots.

THE army has suffered an unprecedented exodus of more than 1,300 officers in the past six months amid anger about government cost-cutting and equipment shortages.

The number quitting is more than double the rate in the previous 12 months and will add to pressure on Gordon Brown about the way his government is funding the armed services.

Many of those who have resigned their commissions are from frontline units. Most are captains or majors with invaluable experience of battle.

(snip)

The new figures, released last week by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), show the criticisms are shared by serving officers.

A total of 1,344 army officers have left in the past six months alone, more than 100% up on last year’s rate and close to three times the figure for 2004-05. Since the Iraq war, the army has lost 5,790 officers, recruiting only 4,500 to replace them.

It now has more than 200 too few majors – a rank in which it was traditionally overstaffed.

Read the rest of this alarming report.

Oops! We almost forgot to mention that we personally know of one particular young officer who recently decided to wrap it all up.

We know him pretty well, too.

He's one of our own young nephews.

(Thanks, Gordon, George and Tone.)

*

25 November 2007

UK's Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams Accuses American Administration ...

*

US is ‘worst’ imperialist: archbishop

So sayeth Britain's top God guy, white Anglo-Saxon protestant (WASP), Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams.

See below for some other strong straight talking stuff from self same Church of England leader cum Primate of all England.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has
said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.

Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”.

(snip)

He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by its misguided sense of its own mission. He poured scorn on the “chosen nation myth of America, meaning that what happens in America is very much at the heart of God’s purpose for humanity”.

(snip)

Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: “We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control. That’s not working.”

Amen to all that, Archbishop.

Read the rest of this Times (of London) report.

N.B. A full (pdf form) text of the Archbishop's interview can also be found at the above link.

As can the (already fast & free flowing) comments from an international assortment of Times' readers -- including, of course, several from America's loony fundy, counterfeit Christian, high & mighty hypocrites' camp.

*

24 November 2007

Australia's General Election Result : John Howard Out and Kevin Rudd In ...

*


To borrow a few words from Australia's national anthem ...

Advance Australia Fair.



As from now it's a case of hello Kevin Rudd (above) new 'left' leader -- and bye-bye John Howard (below) old 'right' (but laughingly labeled Liberal) ex leader.



Read the rest of this report.

And our own last words, already wending their way to our Antipodean amigos down under?

Good on yer, cobbers!

Have a 'tinny' or two of the old 'triple X' on us, mates.

*

23 November 2007

Qinetiq, Carlyle, Brit Ministry of Defence, Poxy Politicians, Sickening Sell Outs and God Alone Knows What Else ...

Here's a quick couple of clips from a piece we published way back in January 2006.

The following shocking story was run by the BBC in December 2002, and it frightened the f*ck out of This Old Brit.

Others with knowledge of the two companies concerned were equally alarmed but alas, few chose to articulate their shared 'scared-shitless' sentiments in such colourful language as he so often does .

You should start by reading below to (quickly), get the general gist of the direction we're going.

US firm (Carlyle) buys stake in UK defence labs

QinetiQ has branched out from defence to modern technology

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has sold a third of its defence research business, Qinetiq, to the US private equity group Carlyle

(snip)

Carlyle will also retain a holding after the listing. The investment group has a 31% stake but 51% control of the voting rights, which it bought for just £42m but are now believed to be worth £340m.

In case anyone ever doubted it, this is yet more evidence of how & why certain 'selected'' conglomerates are constantly booming in the money-in-misery business. And all at the cost of intentionally uncounted innocents' blood.

In fact, it could quite safely be said that never before in the field of human greed, have so many suffered so much for the profits of so few.

In better days under better, more honourable and honest politicians such shameless selfishness was precisely the kind of thing called 'war profiteering'. And rightly so.

Now read the rest of our (18 month old), article: Is Blair Actually Selling The Keys To The United Kingdom --- To Carlyle ?

Next, back to the business in hand (23/11/07), via a remarkable BBC revelation of today. Stick with us - dot connecting's no problem - in fact it's a doddle.

Here's a couple of quotes from said BBC piece.

A battalion of former military bigwigs last night accused Gordon Brown of being tight-fisted on Britain’s defence. Which adds resonance to today’s judgement by the National Audit Office that taxpayers were short-changed in the sale by the Ministry of Defence of a stake in Qinetiq, the technology and defence business.

The charge which sticks against the MoD and the Treasury (which always oversees these deals) is that they made a schoolboy error in the sale-process. They ran an auction and identified the US private equity house, Carlyle, as the preferred bidder

(snip)

Carlyle’s internal rate of return was a staggering 112 per cent per annum. This wasn’t just a vintage deal for Carlyle, it was vintage Krug.

For those who ran Qinetiq, it was Krug in diamond-encrusted, solid gold goblets. The top ten executives in the business made £200 for every £1 of their own cash they invested in the business. Sir John Chisholm, Qinetiq’s chairman, turned £130,000 into £26m; Graham Love, the chief executive, scooped £21m from £110,000

Read the rest of the BBC report right here(Includes comments well worth seeing).

Can anyone else smell the same stomach churning stench here that we can?



Nice work if you can get, eh?

Good jobs AND big bucks for 'the boys'.

22 November 2007

Pervez Musharraf's Pakistan Kicked Out Of Commonwealth ...

*

Well, well, well.

No wonder Pakistan's own personal little Hitler - President General Pervez Musharraf (the mighty midget military dictator), - doesn't seem best pleased.



His the country he's virtually been holding to ransom has just been unceremoniously kicked out of the Commonwealth.

Pakistan barred from Commonwealth

Musharraf has faced international fire over the state of emergency

Pakistan has been suspended from the Commonwealth because of its imposition of emergency rule, the organisation has announced after a meeting in Uganda.

Secretary General Don McKinnon said Pakistan was being suspended "pending restoration of democracy and the rule of law".

Earlier Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president.

Mr McKinnon said the 53-member Commonwealth had reached the decision by consensus.

Read the remainder of the latest relevant report, right here.

You may also like to look at Musharraf's official Pakistan government website.

Then perhaps peruse, purely for the purposes of personal enlightenment, Pakistan's Wikipedia page.

*

21 November 2007

Scott McClennan Speaks Out About Valerie Plame 'Outing' Scandal And A Whitehouse Awash With Liars At All Levels

*

So, we wonder.

Why is everyone so surprised to see Mr Scott McClennan standing up and saying straight out what many millions of us have known since day one anyway?

That the Bush White House is absolutely awash with a load of bloody bare faced liars.

Former press aide blames Bush in CIA leak case

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Former White House Press Secretary

Scott McClellan

says in an upcoming book that he was misled by President George W. Bush and other high officials into misinforming the press about a CIA leak case that fueled debate about the Iraq war.

McClellan says he publicly exonerated former top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby because Bush had called on him to help restore his credibility after the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"There was one problem. It was not true. I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the president himself," McClellan said in an excerpt released on Tuesday.

Read the rest of Reuters' relevant report.

And after reading that be sure to see and hear what (the always uber kudos worthy), Keith Olbermann says - straight out.

Then, take a look at this statement issued just yesterday by the lady at the centre of this particularly controversial scandal, Valerie Plame herself.

If this latest revelation isn't sufficient to finally set some sort of impeachment process in motion, then we have to wonder exactly what the hell it will take.

*

20 November 2007

Bush & Co Begin Blogging For Freedom For Muslims (Yep, you read that right) ...

*

Well, we certainly have to hand it to (ex pat, young Brit), Damian Lanigan for his brilliant bit of blogging for The 'ToryTelegraph' today.

Damian Lanigan? Who the heck is he, we imagine hearing you query. And it seems the powers that be at The Telegraph imagine sort of similarly. Why else would they introduce the man thus?

Damian is a novelist, playwright and TV writer you've probably never heard of. He lives in Brooklyn.

Anyway, enough of our pathetically primitive, attempts at prosy preambling posing.

He's how dear Damian began his blog today.

Blogging for Freedom

Posted by Damian Lanigan on 20 Nov 2007 at 17:28

Tags: America, Blogging, Islam, George W Bush, US, Muslims, US State Department, pro-American blog posts, Islamofascism

So the US State Department is seeking to wean impressionable young Muslims off terrorism by introducing pro-American blog posts.

It's not the worst idea to come out of the current administration (it's up against some pretty stiff competition after all), but one can't help picking up the whiff of desperation.

What?

A whiff of desperation, Damian?

More like a positively unmistakable stench, should you ask us, sunshine.

Nonetheless, laddie, we strongly recommend all our own readers to read your post. Since when we did, Damian, we definitely loved it.

Here's the link.

*

19 November 2007

It's Caption Competition Time Again ...

*

Let's lighten up a little, eh?

Especially seeing as it's quite some time since we held a caption competition.

So wadaya say?

We've given a couple of clues as to the kind of things that tickle our own fancies - see first and last pics.

But we bet our bottom dollar that you've got better ideas.

Then, how about putting some words into the mouths of the others in our rogues' gallery?

















THE END.

Mehdi Shahbazi Dead:Shell & Exxon Price Protestor Pays The Ultimate Personal Price ...

*

Sad to say, another one of the good guys has gone.

Just another no account whistle-blower bites the dust, eh?

Just one extra entirely expendable victim of a big-oil war, eh?

Well, whatever...

May this old Iranian born American, Mr Mehdi Shahbazi rest in perfect peace - since he's certainly earned it.

Gas-station owner dies after fast against oil giants

Liver failure claims the life of Mehdi Shahbazi

By Sharon Noguchi -- Mercury News

Mehdi Shahbazi was a man who championed the consumer and listened to his own counsel as he waged a years-long battle against Exxon Oil and then Shell Oil.

The conflicts cost him his eight service stations - from Salinas to San Jose - his home, his health and his life.

Shahbazi, 65, died Wednesday at Stanford Hospital due to a fast of more than four months to protest the power of oil companies - and as gas prices approach record highs in California.

At his former Marina station - where two years ago he posted a sign that read "Consumers' pain is Big Oil's unearned profit!" - customers have erected a memorial of flowers, cards and signs proclaiming love and appreciation.

Until a court decision last month that gave Shell legal control over his final station, Shahbazi was positive he would prevail, said his nephew, Kaz Ajir of Marina.

But the news devastated him, and his health dramatically declined.

Read the heartrending rest of Mr Shahbazi's sad story.

*

David Miliband Dares To Make Mention Of A (Much) 'Greater Europe' ...

*

We meant to mention this matter a couple of days ago ... but you know how it is ... how time flies when you're having fun.

(Sarcasm ends -- serious business begins.)

EU 'should expand beyond Europe'

[David] Miliband on the EU

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries.

He said enlargement was "our most powerful tool" for extending stability.

David, dear boy, we know.

That's precisely why we've insisted upon saying the same -- so many times in the past.

Read the rest of the BBC's related report.

*

17 November 2007

Para's Commanding Officer, Lt Col Stuart Tootal, Tells The MOD Turds To Shove It ...

When one reads about something as starling as this, one immediately knows for certain that something is seriously amiss.

A war hero Para chief is quitting the Army in disgust over the “appalling” and “shoddy” treatment of troops, it was revealed yesterday.

Lt Col Stuart Tootal, 42, commanding officer of 3 Para, penned a bombshell resignation letter spelling out his reasons for quitting his £70,000-a-year post.

The OBE officer, hotly-tipped to one day head the Army, has highlighted some horrible home truths, regarding today's British Army.





Hit this link to see the shocking sort of stuff he's highlighted.

And good on the man for having big enough balls to blow the bloody whistle on the bums.

If we were wearing the uniform, we'd salute him.

However, we don't need any uniform to say what we want to say.

Shame, shame, shame on the British Ministry of Defence (MOD). Since it seems it's no damned better under Brown than it was under Blair.

The desk bound, Colonel Blimp like bunch of wannabe warriors are still insisting on shitting on our serving soldiers. And no matter how hard they try to spin their (usual) screed, none of us should be so stupid as to swallow it.

The MOD should be ashamed.

*

16 November 2007

America's Woes Won't Stop Worsening: Recession, Depression, Implosion, Complete Collapse Or What?

As Christmas 2007 rappidly approaches it appears that hardly any one is getting fat across the Atlantic any more -- apart from the already infuriatingly fat (by too far), infamously favoured few fat-cats and their completely contemptible close knit clan of crooked cohorts, flunkies, families and friends and their ilk.

Detroit's woes augur ill for US

By Adam Brookes -- BBC News, Detroit

Americans are worried that hard times lie ahead. But in Detroit, Michigan, they have already arrived, with a vengeance.

Michigan, by some calculations, has lost 400,000 jobs in the past seven years. That's in a state whose population is only 10 million.

Detroit is seeing unemployment running at nearly 8%, twice the national average.

The number of homes in the city "foreclosed" - or repossessed by mortgage lenders - is among the highest in the country.

The city's charities are getting busier, a sign of economic distress.

(snip)

"This is ground zero when it comes to poverty," Augie Fernandez says.

"Here we are in the capital of manufacturing and we're just seeing it dissipate away."

Coming soon to a city near you?

"To find myself in a position where I couldn't afford a gallon of milk, I couldn't afford a loaf of bread - it was very humbling," he says.

"For want of a better term it made me feel like a loser, like I wasn't able to provide even the basic things for my family, let alone anything beyond that."

I ask Daniel and Cynthia if they thought of themselves as middle class. They both answer yes. I ask if they still think of themselves as middle class.

"I think we're on the poverty line right now," says Daniel. He wonders if he will be able to hold on to his house.

Read the rest of this very worrying report.



Of course there are still some who can't quite understand what all the fuss is about.

Nor can any among those self same, self serving, self satisfied sobs yet see the writing on the wall.

Which, upon further reflection, may not be all that bad a thing.

Since when the fast approaching, almighty avalanche of shit finally hits the fabled fan they certainly won't see it coming.

And when it does, as it soon surely must, they'll never know what hit them.

*

15 November 2007

US Veterans : Suicide 'Epidemic' Exposed

We've not a lot to say tonight.

We think that as far as this (so sad) subject is concerned, it's best we simply let the facts & figures speak for themselves.

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans

A CBS News Investigation Uncovers A Suicide Rate For Veterans Twice That Of Other Americans

They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about - soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military.

But a five-month CBS News investigation discovered data that shows a startling rate of suicide, what some call a hidden epidemic, Chief Investigative Reporter Armen Keteyian reports exclusively.

(snip)

They survived the hell that's Iraq and then they come home only to lose their life.

(snip)

CBS News did an investigation - asking all 50 states for their suicide data, based on death records, for veterans and non-veterans, dating back to 1995. Forty-five states sent what turned out to be a mountain of information.

And what it revealed was stunning.

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces.

That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.

Please read the rest.

It's the least you can do ... now.


*

Guantanamo - Camp Delta: Official US Military Manual Leak ...

*

Never let it be said we don't give it to you straight - regardless of repercussions - we tell it how it is.

A never-before-seen military manual detailing the day-to-day operations of the U.S. military's Guantánamo Bay detention facility has been leaked to the web, affording a rare inside glimpse into the institution where the United States has imprisoned hundreds of suspected terrorists since 2002.

The 238-page document, "Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures," is dated March 28, 2003. It is unclassified, but designated "For Official Use Only." It hit the web last Wednesday on Wikileaks.org.

The disclosure highlights the internet's usefulness to whistle-blowers in anonymously propagating documents the government and others would rather conceal. The Pentagon has been resisting -- since October 2003 -- a Freedom of Information Act request from the American Civil Liberties Union seeking the very same document.

Read the rest of this report via the "Wired" website.

14 November 2007

Eric Margolis On Pakistan, Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto And More ...

Boy, have we been blinking busy lately.

So tonight we thought we'd take some 'feet up,' time off.

But before we bugger off to bed for a rare early night, we'd like you meet Mr Eric Margolis - a genuine journalist.

If you've recently been puzzled and/or perplexed regarding the (almost revolutionary like), public protests in Pakistan, then Eric Margolis is a man you need to read.

Here's a taste of what he wants us all to know.

I’ve been in regular contact with former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

She calls the situation `grim.’

Obviously, the former female PM is referring to her country's current leader, military dictator General Pervez Musharraf, and his most recent show of megalomaniacal madness.

Here's another tasty teaser to tempt you.

Anyone who still wonders why so many people in the Muslim World hate the west needs look no further than Pakistan, where, in the name of `democracy’ and `counter-terrorism’ Washington and London are stirring a witches brew of dictatorship, intrigue and violence.

Read all of Margolis' extremely enlightening article.

*

13 November 2007

US Still Setting Records:Now It's Sexually Transmitted Diseases ...

If you ask us, this sort of stuff stinks.

U.S. sets record in sexual disease cases

Surprised?

ATLANTA - More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year — the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday. "A new U.S. record," said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Shocked?

Sit tight. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

More bad news: Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a "superbug" version resistant to common antibiotics, federal officials said Tuesday.

Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis — which can deform or kill babies — rose for the first time in 15 years.

Sickened?

So, see some more of this remarkably revealing report.

And several million stupid sods stateside still insist on spouting that universal health care systems suck?

As of course does their pathetic (p)resident and his mangy, mega-malfunctioning maladministration.

Oy, vey! Love a duck!

The mind bloody boggles.

Help!

Is there a brain surgeon in the building reading the blog?



*

Plight Of Britain's Poorest Pensioners ...

Sometimes there are some who say we're anti-American.

You know, some sort of obsessive compulsive US bashers.

But believe us, those who say (or think) that's so, are wrong.

They're dead wrong.

What we completely unashamedly and unapologetically are, is devoutly anti-injustice -- wherever it be evident.

We're nothing more and nothing less.



Here's a couple of pieces of proof.

Today we're giving good old Great Britain a bashing, or rather the top-dog and/or fat-cat Brits (along with their bought & paid for political enablers cum apologists), who damned well deserve to be bashed.

How's this for a couple of horrible headlines?

UK 'worst EU state pension system'

*

Elderly 'can't afford to heat home'

And it's not Gordon Brown alone who needs beating about the head with a bloody big stick in order to be brought to book. His despicable prick of a predecessor Tony Blair, wasn't anywhere near such a 'one off' self serving schmuck as it once was all too easy to (initially), imagine.

Plenty of previous British governments share the blame for bringing about the sad & sorry state so many of our poor, elderly and infirm folk currently find themselves in.

And, all such selfish politicians who we've had to suffer should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

But you know what?

We'll bet a blooming big clock that they're not.



Whenever, however and where ever we can, we should always 'Help The Aged'.

All of us should.

Especially, our politicians.

*

12 November 2007

America's Absolutely Abysmal Infant Death Record; Officially Designated One Of Our Modern World's Worst ...

Whenever we dare to believe we've "seen everything now," we never have to wait too long before being proven wrong.

Witness the following horrific headline we found today.

US among worst in world for infant death

Can you even come close to comprehending that?

In the richest (and supposedly ever so civilized), country in the whole of the modern, developed world?

Already almost seven full years into this the 21st century?

Surely such a shocking, sickening, shameful state of affairs can should (quite safely), be described as nothing less that a sin.

Read on.

The United States ranks near the bottom for infant survival rates among modernized nations.

A Save the Children report last year placed the United States ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia.

For once, further words flaming well fail us.

Read the rest of this report.

Yet another perfectly self evident example of The American Way?.

Eh?

*

11 November 2007

G.W. Bush & Co - Worldwide Warmongers - The Most Popular YouTube Video Ever

Ten thousand thanks to regular reader, commenter, brother Brit and blogger buddy R.J. Adams of Sparrowchat for pointing us toward the most popular 'YouTube' video ever -- anywhere and everywhere.



And still these lying liars get away with it. Even after all this time.

What in the world is the matter with us all?

Our question of course is rhetorical. We wouldn't want any among us standing up, speaking out, being counted and incriminating ourselves, would we?

After all, isn't aiding and abetting criminals to commit crimes a crime in itself?

As we said before - the question posed is purely rhetorical.

So, it's best for all concerned if nobody bothers offering any answers.

Eh?

After all, maybe sometime, somewhere, some of us will stumble upon some sort of soft hearted god who'll forgive us.

Eh?

Btw, don't answer that one either.

Armistice Day 11/11/07 - A Very Special Remembrance Sunday ...

*

Today is Armistice Day.

Today is Remembrance Sunday.

And, today is the birthday of Laurence, the beloved baby brother we finally laid to rest just two short days ago.

Laurence shall not grow old

as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary him

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

we will remember him.

The Royal British Legion website.

10 November 2007

Tony Blair To Convert To Catholic Church ...

*

Yesterday (Friday) we took a day off to attend our beloved baby brother's funeral (and church), and almost missed this menagerie.

Tony Blair is preparing to convert to Roman Catholicism within weeks, it emerged last night.

The news prompted demands from followers of the faith for the former prime minister to renounce his previous support for abortion.

Mr Blair's long-expected switch to the faith of his wife and four children is expected to come at a Mass in the private chapel of Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O'Connor, the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales.

Apparently, Blair informed the (always aggressively ambitious) ex Hitler Youth movement member and current Catholic Pontif, Pope Benedict XVI (often referred to as Ratzi the Nazi) of his conversion intentions earlier this year.

Congratulations, you cretinous couple of counterfeit Christians.

You're more than bloody welcome to one another.

Read the rest of the relevant religio-report.

08 November 2007

United States' Homeless Veterans Scandal;Shame, Shame, Shame ...

United States of America -- Home of the Brave?

HOME?

Huh. Tell that to some marines.

HOME?

Huh. If only, eh?




Can you say sad? Shocking? Sickening? Scandalous? Shameful?

Study: 1 out of 4 homeless are veterans

By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.

In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.

Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

"We're going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous," said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.

Read the rest of today's heartrending report.

Read it and weep.

Then take a look here, too.

You never know, you just might find a way to help - if you genuinely want to help - in some small way or other.



USA?

HOME of the brave?

We very much doubt the guys shown above would agree.

07 November 2007

Russia Set To Scrap (CFE) European Arms Treaty ...

Great job, G.W.B. Thanks a bunch.

Not.

Russia suspends arms treaty

Russia's parliament has voted to suspend Moscow's support for a key treaty limiting the deployment of armed forces along its border with Europe.

The CFE is one of many issues recently putting Moscow at odds with the West.

The Duma approved the bill in the 418-0 vote.

(snip)

THE CFE TREATY

Cornerstone of European security Limits amount of key military equipment in designated area Negotiated by Nato and ex-Warsaw Pact member states Signed in 1990-Came into force in 1992-Revised 1999 version never ratified by Nato

(snip)

Russia sends warning

In the motion, MPs said the CFE treaty "no longer responds to the security interests of the Russian Federation" in light of Nato expansion and other factors in Europe.

(snip)

The CFE was one of the most significant arms control agreements of the Cold War years.

It set strict limits on the number of conventional weapons - battle tanks, combat aircraft, heavy artillery - that the members of the Warsaw Pact and Nato could deploy in European territory stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Urals.

Read the rest of today's BBC report.

What in the world did the world ever do to deserve anyone as dumb as Dubya?

06 November 2007

Special Guest Joseph Nechvatal Writes Re;'The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America' by Peter Dale Scott

Please join with we old codgers today in welcoming a very special guest. None other than renowned and respected international artist/academic, Joseph Nechvatal from America, as he shares with us his (insightful as it is interesting), personal assesment of Canadian author Peter Dale Scott's brilliant new book:

The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America

Published by the University of California Press (just a few weeks ago).

============================================================

I have always been fascinated with trying to see the more subliminal/hidden aspects of our world, so long as they are either based in hard-nosed verified fact; or understood as speculative vision (which may possess a metaphoric validity of its own).

With The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, University of California Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott delivers the preceding. Tightly non-speculative, meticulous and insightful.

Dr. Scott shines the know-glow on a rather extensive and sordid history of U.S. governmental shadow activities; predominantly partial or total cover-ups. Fortunately, in this his magnum opus, he also holds out the promise of an American redemption, so long as the festering boil of turpitude is lanced and drained in the light.

Writing with a touch of the charm of the poet that he is, Dr. Scott has been walking us through this political-historical shadow land for some time now.

The Road to 9/11, which as the title indicates, provides historic origins of the terrorist strikes of September 11th 2001, builds on and extends his prior research into secret intelligence activities as presented in his two past UC Press books; Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America (1993) and Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (1996) (among others) by speaking both about current concerns with the Bush-Cheney administration in relations to the events on 9/11/01 and by going further backwards – scrutinizing secret American governmental activities just after the end of World War II.

It vividly concentrates on Richard Nixon’s failed regime and Tricky Dick’s early forays into threatening constitutional democracy as revealed during the Watergate hearings. He then depicts and examines the activities of Nixon’s successor Gerald Ford, concentrating on his (what would later become neo-con) team of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.

Scott pays close attention to the Rumsfeld-Cheney collaboration under Ronald Reagan’s regime on what is known as the Continuity of Government (COG) strategy: a parallel planning structure in lieu of nuclear war which includes plans for warrantless surveillance, suspension of habeas corpus, and the arrangements for mass detention; proposals which can also be described as plans for a potential military-civilian coup.

By now the narrative of shadow government - what Scott calls “deep politics” (p. 121) – has taken hold and the book begins to read like an airport page-turner; scorching the eyes with tale after tale of intrigue and deception.

But the characters are real (Kissinger, Casey, Brzezinski, Carter, Reagan, the Rockefellers, bin Laden, Clinton, et al) and the events - which rotate around big oil, terrorism, drug trade, arms deals, covert financing and secret security configurations are heavily documented in the copious footnotes (which I equally read with jaw-dropping fascination).

Highlighted are the adventures of multiple intelligence agencies and their involvement with terrorist organizations that they once backed and helped create, including al Qaeda. At this point Scott’s deep political analysis has a kind of Rimbaudian poetics to it, astutely avoiding moral condemnation. He is just letting the deviant facts speak for themselves.

Already there is material here for numerous Hollywood blockbuster films, but 3/4th through this dark narrative thoroughly takes off.

Enter the reckless American empire of George W. Bush and his neo-con administration. With the intelligence of a scholar and the sensitivity of a poet, Scott's description puts forward here evidence that the 9/11 attacks were the zenith of long-standing, but secret, trends that menace the existence of American democracy as an open society.

Additionally, he questions why the U.S. trillion dollar defense system failed to protect on 9/11. He also shows through extensive research that there has been a substantial cover-up of the events on 9/11. Here Scott specifically zooms in on suspicious statements and actions made by Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld; before, during and after September 11th. He focuses our attention specifically on the Continuity of Government plan that was called into action that day, outlining Cheney’s secret communications with Rumsfeld and President Bush before or about 10 AM.

He further critically examines Philip Zelikow’s 9/11 Commission Report, showing specific examples of the report’s systematic and concerted cover-up; partly by its omissions, but also by it’s cherry picking of evidence to create impressions that are authoritatively disputed (such as the contested time of Cheney’s arrival in the crises bunker).

Scott points out a consistent pattern to the cherry picking: which is to minimize Dick Cheney’s responsibility for what happened that day. He carefully dissects Cheney’s orders with respect to a plane approaching Washington, as testified to by then Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. (pp. 199 – 200) As a result, Scott asks whether Cheney on 9/11 was occupied in exploiting the attacks as a means to implement an agenda of constitutional revision which he already had in place.

Peter Dale Scott’s major contribution in this book is not merely to our larger, if darker, understanding of world and U.S. history. It is his knowledge of the contemporary importance of the Rumsfeld-Cheney Continuity of Government plans and their relevance to today’s world.

Scott maintains that this understanding may be the answer to various questions concerning Dick Cheney’s hazy actions that morning. The hair-raising questions explored here, I hope I need not say, are imperative, as many see an obvious drift of the American nation towards constitutional crisis (see Naomi Wolf’s recent book The End of America, for example).

By examining only the verifiable aspects of the suspicions surrounding the catastrophe of 9/11, Peter Dale Scott shows how America's military expansion into the world under the banner of 9/11 has been the result of crucial but surreptitious arrangements made by small cliques reactive to the agendas of privileged affluence; agendas resulting in the disbursement of the communal democratic state.

Irrefutably, this is an imposing and scrupulous examination of how secrecy and terror is used as political weapon when shifting public authority to an unaccountable prosperity class. As such, I could not put it down and highly recommend it.

*

Joseph's web site.

Joseph's blog.

*

05 November 2007

Special Short & Sweet Vanity Post ...

British women check their appearance up to 71 times a day, a new survey has claimed.

London and Newcastle were the second and third most vain cities for women- topped only by xxxxxxxxx, the female vanity capital of Britain.

The online survey of 2,039 people, carried out by beauty make-up, company, Transformulas, ranked cities by how many times a day people looked in the mirror.

Any ideas, anyone?

G'warn, give it a guess.

Ta daaah!

It's ours.

And here's who says so.

*

Charles Prince, Citigroup, Similar Shysters, Sub Prime Mortage Market Scandal, And The Plight Of The Poor Paying The Price Of The Fat-Cat's Profits .

So, wbanker Charles Prince of Citigroup has finally flung in the towel. Big deal.

We await with interest the release of the sordid details of the big pay-off package from which this bandit is bound to benefit personally - even further.

You know, the sort of stuff that's almost akin to reward for rape.

If anyone asked us any questions re;this greedy git, we'd say we believe justice would be best served if this bum were bundled into the back of a cop car and transported post haste to prison.

As the credit crunch continues to bite "families all over the country continue to lose homes in record numbers, stripping families of their wealth and destroying entire neighbourhoods," says Michael Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending, which tracks these issues.

Sub-prime mortgages carry a much higher risk of default by the borrower than other kinds of mortgage lending.

That is because most of them are "balloon" mortgages (technically known as hybrid-adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs), which offer the borrower a fixed-rate loan for two or three years, and then switch to a much higher adjustable rate after that.

Many of them are set to switch in the next two years, leaving borrowers unable to afford the higher payments.

There have already been 1.7 million foreclosure proceedings in the US in the first eight months of 2007, and up to 2 million families are expected to lose their homes over the next two years, according to estimates by the US Congress's Joint Economic Committee.

Read the rest of this piece - and all soon becomes self explanatory.

Then, of course, there's always the self preservationist's sickening 'spin'.

Such as ...

The board of Citigroup paid tribute to Mr Prince, with Alain Belda saying: "We thank Chuck for his unwavering commitment to Citi, its employees and its shareholders."

See some more of the BBC's latest Prince & Co report.

Bottom line? In layman's terms? The bones laid bare? Forgetting the fog of high falootin' financial jargon specifically designed to set regular people's brains swimming?

South sea bubble? Rapid rise & demise of the dot com debacle? Making money out of misery? Fools and their money? Suckers born every minute? The three card trick?

It's all the same sort of shit.



But to the big-bucks-boys and the couldn't give a flying f*ck, fat-cats -- it's all just a bloody big board game.

04 November 2007

Pakistan's Megalomaniac, Military Dictator Musharraf Declares War On Democracy ...

We always wondered how long it would be before this bombastic little bastard brute reverted to terrible type.

Now we're wondering how the the hell the US, UK and others who have so consistently and so shamelessly sided with this sob, are going to clean up his latest cartload of (damned dangerous), crap.

The declaration of emergency rule in Pakistan by President Pervez Musharraf is an embarrassment for the US and British governments, which had been urging him not to take this step.

Both have condemned it. The question now is whether they will have to live with it.

Their hopes of forging an alliance of convenience between General Musharraf and the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto - leading to elections in January - have come to a halt and look like coming to an end.

They are faced with the dilemma of how far to work with the general, while at the same time condemning what he has done.

More on the duplicitous West's latest (self inflicted), deadly dilemma.

And when we say deadly, we do mean deadly.

Dastardly deadly.

Finally, for those with the time and/or inclination, here's the actual text of this twisted twerp's 'Proclamation of Emergency' declaration.

*Oops! We almost entirely omitted mentioning anything about Musharraf's Pakistan's nukes.

03 November 2007

For Those Who Have Forgotten: The Fallujah Massacre - And More ...

What follows is extracted via 'The New Statesman' from Dahr Jamail's new book:

"Beyond the Green Zone: Despatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq"

(Published by Haymarket Books @ £13.99, and will be available from this coming Thursday - 8 November 2007.)

Now, first things first.

Let's get something straight, from the outset ... we make absolutely no apologies if this particular post comes across as any kind of promotion, advertisement and/or endorsement. Quite the contrary.

The fact of the matter is that in this instance, it is our own (quite considerably informed), most UN-humble opinion -- that everyone who can read ... should read this brand new book, especially all genuinely civilised US citizens - regardless of personal political stripes.

The military was maintaining a strict cordon around most of Fallujah. As I could not enter the city, I set out to interview doctors and patients who had fled and were presently working in various hospitals around Baghdad. While visiting Yarmouk Hospital looking for more information about Fallujah, I came across several children from areas south of Baghdad.

One of these was a 12-year-old girl, Fatima Harouz, from Latifiya. She lay dazed in a crowded hospital room, limply waving her bruised arm at the flies. Her shins, shattered by bullets from US soldiers when they fired through the front door of her house, were both covered by casts. Small plastic drainage bags filled with red fluid sat upon her abdomen, where she took shrapnel from another bullet. Her mother told us, "They attacked our home, and there weren't even any resistance fighters in our area."

Victims' testament

Fatima's uncle was shot and killed, his wife had been wounded, and their home was ransacked by soldiers. "Before they left, they killed all our chickens." A doctor who was with us looked at me and asked, "This is the freedom. In their Disneyland are there kids just like this?"

Another young woman, Rana Obeidy, had been walking home in Baghdad with her brother two nights earlier. She assumed the soldiers had shot her and her brother because he was carrying a bottle of soda. She had a chest wound where a bullet had grazed her, but had struck her little brother and killed him.

In another room, a small boy from Fallujah lay on his stomach. Shrapnel from a grenade thrown into his home by a US soldier had entered his body through his back and was implanted near his kidney. An operation had successfully removed the shrapnel, but his father had been killed by what his mother described as "the haphazard shooting of the Americans". The boy, Amin, lay in his bed vacillating between crying with pain and playing with his toy car.

(snip)

This was the first time I had heard a refugee describing the use of white phosphorous incendiary weapons by the US military, fired from artillery into Fallujah. Though it is not technically a banned weapon, it is a violation of the Geneva Conventions to use white phosphorous in an area where civilians may be hit. I heard similar descriptions in the coming days and weeks, both from refugees and doctors who had fled the city.

Several doctors I interviewed had told me they had been instructed by the interim government not to speak to any journalists about the patients they were receiving from Fallujah. A few of them told me they had even been instructed by the Shia-controlled Ministry of Health not to accept patients from Fallujah.

That night I interviewed a spokesman for the Iraq Red Crescent, who told me none of their relief teams had been allowed into Fallujah, and the military said it would be at least two more weeks before any refugees would be allowed back into their city. Collecting information from doctors in the city, he had estimated that at least 800 civilians had been killed so far in the siege.

The second assault on Fallujah was a monument to brutality and atrocity made in the United States of America. Like the Spanish city of Guernica during the 1930s, and Grozny in the 1990s, Fallujah is our monument of excess and overkill.

Read the rest of the relevant New Statesman article, right here.