"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” "


Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009


""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."


Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009

Saturday, June 02, 2007

The Gadsden Flag - a very brief history

At the time of the French and Indian War, Benjamin Franklin published this famous woodcut of a snake cut into eight sections. It represented the colonies, with New England joined together as the head and South Carolina as the tail, following the form of the coast. Under the snake was the message "Join, or Die." This became the first political cartoon published in an American newspaper.

The seal from a 1778 $20 bill from Georgia. The financial backing for these bills was property seized from loyalists. The French motto reads "Nemo me impune lacesset," i.e. "No one will provoke me with impunity." - the Scottish motto as used when in Scotland by the mother of the Prince of Wales, toyboy of the coughing Camilla who was apparently de-flowered by some chinless bounder, (as yet it appears un-horsewhipped) as a 17 year old at her debutante's ball in 1965 at the start of a career to match any pub dart board ... well read all about it in the Daily Mail today.

By 1775, the snake symbol wasn't just being printed in newspapers. It was appearing all over the colonies: on uniform buttons, on paper money, and of course, on banners and flags.

The snake symbol changed by shape and specias quite a bit during its rapid and widespread adoption. It wasn't cut up into pieces anymore. And it was usually shown as an American timber rattlesnake, not a generic serpent.

It eventually morphed into the Gadsden Flag designed (?) by Colonel Christopher Gadsden for the earliest US navy vessels.

See more about the fascinating history of this flag and it's modern usage here in an informtive, authoritative and entertaining article by Chris Whitten - http://www.gadsden.info/history.html

Navy Gear will sell you the flag as above for $9.99 and other associated redneck crap to make you look a real areshole on your 900 bhp bass boat.

Including George VIths Skull and Bones Flag ....

President to speak on NPR Radio Monday - Don't miss it

Mr Hersey Kyota The Ambassador of the Republic of Palau, (he's been there 10 years this November) those tireless supporters of Israel at the UN, kindly writes to us to explain that President Tommy E. Remengesau will be interviewed on NPR Radio's "All things Considered" Show on Monday, June 4th. Specific details may be available at NPR's website at http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=2. The interview will also be re-aired several times during the month of June.

Readers may share this opportunity live in the USA but far flung listeners with an interest in quite why a Micronesian Island Group so assiduously supports every vote at the UN for Israel may possibly be disclosed in this interview. For example when the UN approved a resolution on a 150-6 vote demanding Israel dismantle its West Bank Wall (the most important resolution of the General Assembly since the adoption of U.N. Security Council 242 November 22, 1967 ), Palau was one of 4 countries (, Australia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau) that joined the U.S. and Israel in opposition. Official biographies explain that "Ambassador Kyota’s interests include fishing, reading, playing baseball, basketball, chess and video games."

There is no need to provide an RSVP but should you wish to contact the Embassy you might wish to call The First Secretary Mr Wayne Wong - Tel 202-452-6814 or FAX 202-452-6281 or E - MAIL info@palauembassy.com

An interesting article here on their US born permanent representative at the UN Stuart Beck, a Manhattan television company executive. It may be a comic opera state but it's really not so fucking funny.

The real function of these islands is to act as a target for rockets from Kodiak AL and Vandenburg Missile Base AL - An anti-missile interceptor launched from Vandenberg AFB will attempt to intercept a mock warhead launched from Kodiak, Alaska later this year - possibly August . This test is very similar to the test conducted on September 1st 2006 when the test was delayed from December-January to allow for software changes and upgrades to the interceptor. The test was attempted on May 25th 2007 , with a scheduled flight test of the long range missile defense system by the Missile Defense Agency but was aborted not completed and designated a "no test" when the target, launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, failed to reach the defended area, and the Ground-Based Interceptor, which would . should have come from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. was not launched.

Pic : Rocket leaving Vandenburg heading down towards Micronesia where US craft are based to collect the bits.

Urban truths exposed on Media Lens

Dear Mark Urban,

I have followed the discussion of your role as an embedded reporter with the US Army currently taking place through Media Lens; but I have also watched many of your reports over the years. I am afraid that I think it is you who are looking at things through the dense filter of ideology, and approaching, in your bland acceptance of US policy, a sorry form of fundamentalism. The Army Officer's rebuke to you is nothing short of common sense, and echoes the thoughts and convictions of many many people, who cannot be dismissed as sorry fundamentalists. I am 79 years old, have been politically aware all my adult life, and, although many of the actions of Western powers since the 39-45 war have in themselves been reprehensible, nothing in my view matches the cynicism and criminal self-interest now being displayed in the Iraq conflict. Invade a country murderously, whatever the motive, and all sorts of consequential murders will ensue. Practically every sentence you utter in your "impartial" reporting is biased towards a regime that should, in any decent world, be subject to the procedures of the International Court of Justice. I am appalled by your response to Media Lens in support of power politics at its most disgraceful, though carried out with a smugness that defies all sane assessment. But it goes beyond that. A country, a government and its people that is more outraged by the kidnapping of five of its fellows (whose motive for being in Iraq is also highly dubious) than by the thousands and thousands of deaths the Iraqis are having to cope with, can hardly claim to be in the ranks of the civilised. Disgust at it is not a sufficient emotion.

Not being mad, foolish, inexperienced, naive, deluded, unrealistic etc etc., I believe you are the one who should look into his motives and world viewpoint and maybe move to a more honourable job.

R G Gregory

We don't know who R G Gregory is , but he has contributed to a brief coverage of the untiring work of Mark Urban , the smug, BBC Newsnight puppet , a recreation of "Man @ C & A" who distorts the truth for the BBC as required to save the delicious arses of the Brigade of Guards whenever called upon - quite what, in this context of his work, "embedded" means we leave to the reader.

This is stolen from Media Lens (correcting for the distorted view of the corporate media - but don't take the piss out of the boys David) who are welcome to send a demand for Copyright - we know that there is out there a large and growing fan club for Mr Urban, they will no doubt appreciate R G Gregory's penetrating observations. The picture is a rare one of our dear Mark dressed to penetrate ... the ...er massive success of the Coalition forces.


GLOSSARY

Urban Myth - Anything said on Newsnight (BBC2 late night Gubment propaganda show) by Mark Urban member of the exclusive BBC raised eyebrow club (Prop. Jeremy Paxman) and who knows fucking everything about terrism, and fucking everyone who chases terrists. Knows a great deal about the internal workings of the Guardsmen.

Monbiot devisor of the Calculus presents the Monbiot Demon Rule on BBC Radio 4 "Any Questions"

It is a reflexive response from a lifetime of listening which combines probably with a deep personal sense of poor self worth mixed with a monastic wish for self flagellation that Lord Patel insists all staff listen to the weekly edition of the BBC 4 "Any Questions" program and the odious, repeated and otiose interjections of David Dimblebore (or is it the other one ?).

Probably if strapped to an ECG, the news that intellectually challenged ex MP Peter Tatchell had been worked over by the thugs of OGPU or NKVD or FSU (FRU even) whilst marching unwisely around Moscow this week, demanding liberation of homosexuals from the repressive state organs of Mr Putin and been reduced to a semi - vegetative state (difficult to tell with this type of agitateur who approaches each and every "issue" with an open mouth and a closed mind) meaning he couldn't as advertised attend.

That potential ECG would have registered a tremor on the appropriate Richter scale of something like 9, when it was announced that George Monbiot, the incessant yapping lap dog of Metropolitan muttering classes had been hastily pulled (like Becks for England at the last minute) into the team.

Sure enough the twin Aunt Sallies of "climate change" and "Crusader George Bush" were propped up and the other George like the Saint he would paint himself, sallied forth... comparing Trofim Lysenko to George Bush.

Now to compare the war criminals and gangsters like Stalin and George , nation's leaders, one who fixed elections and the other who simply ignored them is perhaps reasonable. It doesn't advance many arguments however. But George has heard of a man who does.

Trofim Lysenko Трофи́м Дени́сович Лысе́нко was a hard working , diligent scientist of ex peasant stock (social mobility existed in regal Russia even though they had few Grammar Schools, if any), he developed and introduced wheat crops that could by seed treatment (Vernalisation) could be autumn sowed, extending their range of cultivation and yield, amongst many other crop improvements. Benefits that still persist throughout the world of temerate agriculture as a direct result of his pioneering and basic crop research.

He was a supporter of the French 18th century biologist Lamarck, and his theories on evolution .... more as an antidote to Darwinism, a stance which Stalin was happy to support (and admire - a rare commodity in Satlin's Russia) - just as many millions in George's Empire believe in "Intelligent Design" - and not a few in Tony's Academies.

Lamarck's theories were regularly ridiculed in a Victorian world attuned by T H Huxley to Darwinsm - much as Clarence Mitchell sells Madeleine to the mawkish masses today - he was if you wish to use a modern metaphor , Charlie Darwin's Max Clifford. As today a shorthand had to be produced, a "sound bite". Science to be understood by the multitude, had to be reproduced to simplistic terms - and the term was, "acquired characteristics" and much was the guffawing at pictures of Giraffes with long necks who had grown Lamarck surmised, in a world before Mendel, Crick and Watson, Jacques Monod and AG Darnell, by stretching their necks to reach higher and higher uneaten tree leaves, a characteristic they passed on in their "germ" to their offspring.

Such was the position up until the 1960's when Monbiot was struggling to understand the principles of biology, or to put it in a way he would understand, Lamarck bad, Lysenko bad, Darwin Good. It was only in the early post war world that the nature of the genome began to be understood and a few brave souls, Prof. Blower at Manchester University, Prof (?) Maynard Smith at London, began to understand that the genetic map was not a fixed and immoveable plan but was susceptible to continuous change both in construction an effect. (What we have learnt to call genetic expression - we have of course also learnt that Darwin should have called his book "Origins of Species") This was of course the period when scientists such as J D Bernal,(author of "The Social Function of Science" and the 3 Volume History of Science that James Burke plagiarised for his excellent TV series "Connections). Lancelot Hogben, and Needham and later medawar were, through contact with the Soviets to make such great changes (drien to some extent by Popperianism) in the understanding of the philosophy and history of science.

Today the science of "developmental genetics" the role of mdRNA and other transpositional elements is understood that we now realise that Lamarck was nearly right, Lysenko perhaps even righter and the post war geneticists struggling with those tantalisng saliva glands of Drosophila melanogaster even righter still.

So Trofim Lysenko was in many respects a remarkable and worthy scientists who did a great deal to improve agriculture and the understanding of the operation of what we now call the genome.

Lysenko was of course the obedient (and latterly the willing) tool of the Soviet State, of Stalin , but curiously was never a member of the Communist Party up to his death in 1976 - we first hear of him from a dissident Medvedev, who retailed the gosip of Popovsky the scheming of Vavilov, the dirty work of Beria. Of course Lysenko invented results and told lies about the cropping and productivity of his work, was boastful, - he would probably have have been killed if he hadn't. Well might Monbiot have had impressed upon his childish and childlike brain that LYSENKO WAS BAD.

This demonisation of Lysenko of course would go uncriticised, unchecked in most polite, even impolite scientific company, after all, incuriosity is an "inherited charactersitic" of newspaper journalists and politicians. The audience lapped it up and cheered porky george to the roof. Mr McNulty the willing henchman and bootlicker of Johnny "Hammer of the English" Reid at the Home Offjeering at President George's ideas (which none of has yet seen but will certainly preclude (Thank God) ideas of a global carbon market) he will present at the G8 conference next week. Remember of course that George VI's objections are probably more to do with the fact that the USA cannot control such an international market than of any inherent ineffeciency in that market to produce the desired end of lowered carbon dioxide emissions. To George VIth , The World Bank is a GOOD THING so long as it's run by a Yanqui, even if he is a dreadfully corrupt lying, goat and war criminal. NOTE the only difference with Zoelleck the "Enforcer" at the StateDepartmentto make sure Condi did as she was told is that we know he is a war criminal, nobodu is sure yet whether he supped in the salons of Madame Palfrey.

The only thing that will work says this polymath, architect of the rising Police State, anxious to star in the other George's company is a world carbon market. So blissfully ignorant is he of what goes down on he street, it is difficult to beleive he would know how to buy even a bag of tomatoes from Camden Market - and certainly never understand Lysenko's early experiments on tomato breeding which he lied so fabulously about to Vavilov and friends. He certainly has no understanding of the murky goings on at that squalid casino at the end of Threadneedle Street as Harold Macmillan called the Stock Market. No doubt Lord Cohen friend, confidante and financier of the Chanceller nee Prime Minister who has made the odd bob in that market will put him right when he slides effortlessly into the seat to be vacated by the midget Karaoke King,and representative at the Court of King Tony for Israel, My glittering Lord Levy (still out on bail by the way).

The incurious press simply forget that the closing price per tonne of carbon (a EuropeanTrading Unit - ETU) on Friday was Euro 0.30 and just over 12 months ago was trading at Euros 16. They also omit the truth that for all the millions (of tons and pounds / Euros) traded, for all the brokers, lawyers, traders, not a single less ton of carbon dioxide was produced in the whole of Europe last year and in fact by official EU calculations (which are probably accurate to plus/minus 20%) increased.

Just to re-iterate. The Monbiot Calculus = think of a number, make it bigger.

The Monbiot Demon Rule = think of a foreigner, Ridicule, mock, demonise, shout him down.

There. feeling better now. Switch off the ECG. Panic attack over.

Race Riot in Whitehall 14/7/07 - nicely cooking

Odins girl88 on her(?) curious website "Idid it for the lulz" http://odinsgirl88.blogspot.com/ on Friday, 1 June 2007 points to two very curious videos posted by SalafiUK who registered as a You Tube contributor on 29th May. (“I did it for the lulz”. This usually refers to deliberate trolling behavior intended to harass Internet users for the amusement of others....said to derive from the much used acronym LOL for "laugh out loud" - hence "lulz" has the triumphant cry of the schadenfreudist, revelling in the misfortune of others.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nFnR6bUGCvo

Upon which she comments :

"Some enterprising muslim has bodged up a video to advertise the forthcoming "Muslims against British Oppression" march aka "Please don't lock us up for having child porn and bomb making equipment" march.....Please flag it and report as hate speech. Thanks."
To the casual viewer this decently made short video might be seen as a short direct call to action for the "Muslims Rise Against British Oppression Demonstration": Outside 10 Downing St Fri 15th June 2.30pm - 5pm

There is also another video from the same mysterious source ;



If these fillums represent the propaganda of the Muslim jihad then my name's Osama Bin Laden.

Quite whose propaganda they DO represent and quite why jihadist watchers like odins gal 88 spot them so quickly ... well the Sphincter of the Yard may have more information...maybe even the Lady Dame Jane Patricia Neville Jones Fan Club at the RUSI - who are incidentally well placed just off Whitehall to watch it all go down.

It might interest readers in the unreal world on Planet Earth that today is the anniversary of the landing of the first lunar lander in the NASA Surveyor program, Surveyor 1, 41 years ago today which took and transmitted to Earth 11,237 images - the first ever from another obect in space.

Friday, June 01, 2007

The Death of Civilisation - led it appears by Ronald Plasterk, Dutch Minister of Education, Science and Culture

In the dying minutes of the Dutch, "The Big Donorshow" it was revealed to the gawping and brain dead couch potatoes watching, that this much publicised and criticised "reality television show", in which a supposedly dying woman had to pick one of 3 eager and terminally ill "contestants" to whom she would donate a kidney, was revealed as an cheap and nasty publicity stunt (the term used by the programme makers was "an elaborate hoax ") .

It simply demonstrates the intellectual nullity of the morons who make "reality television", the gullibility of the bovine and credulous masses who feed on this pap and the incurious and dishonest journalists who willingly broadcast this supposed entertainment.

Dutch Minister of Education, Science and Culture Ronald Plasterk hailed the show as a "fantastic stunt" and an intelligent way to draw attention to the shortage of donor organs.

If this is the way that Governments have to educate and inform ,it suggests that the educational system is producing a sub class of people to whom rational debate, and honest discussion is beyond their ability.

It will of course help to generate even more anxiety amongst those who need organs and upon whom the amoral and dishonest medical services prey and profit.

Presumably public hangings where contestants compete to pull the lever are in the works.

It was only on the 22nd February that Ronald Plasterk succeeded Maria van der Hoeven as Minister of Education, Science and Culture who advocated Intelligent design to be taught in Dutch Schools He is a highly regarded developmental geneticist with with a string of academic posts and is a Professor at Utrecht University leading a team who are doing leading work in studying microRNA's.

He has a column in the Dutch paper de Volkskrant who report with some jubilation this stupidity. "Het BNN programma de Grote Donor Show is een promotiestunt om meer donoren te werven." - the BNN programme "The Great Donor Show" is a promotion stunt more bring in organ donors.

Simply apalling...acting as a fine counterpoint to the mawkishness and emotional kitsch of the McCann Caravanserai.

Alan Johnston Video - Free Abu Qatada - Free Alan Johnston

This has to be good news - from the al-Ekhlaas website... although there will be people in the Dame Jane Pauline Neville Jones Fan Club bemerding their trousers at what he has to say and apportioning blame, for Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan - this will agitate the ordure in the Corridors of Power.The BBC report that in a statement, the Foreign Office said: "We condemn the release of videos like this, which can only add to the distress of Alan Johnston's family and friends." Elsewhere on the complete tape which is not yet available the Army of Islam demand the release of Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-born Islamic cleric who is suspected of close links to al-Qaeda and is currently held by the UK government as a threat to national security. Also see abc news report






When the video was recorded is unclear, but he looks healthy, and not drugged, beaten up and his mind and voice/eyes are clear.













Another version of the Alan Johnston video is available on You Tube here

Gardasil HPV Cervical cancer vaccine - adverse reactions and 3 recorded deaths in US

Judicial Watch, The US public interest group Judicial Watch released documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the recently introduced vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil developed by CSL Ltd of Australia and marketed under licence by Merck (MRK:NYSE). Merck is reported to have acheived sales of US$365 million for Gardasil in Q1 / 2007 - in the US a course of three shots, costs approxiamtely US$120 a dose.. Judicial Watch filed its request on May 9, 2007, and received the adverse event reports from the FDA on May 15, 2007.

3 deaths were related to the vaccine.

1. A physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after rceiving the Gardasil vaccine.”

2. Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.

Of the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) by May 11th there were 371 serious reactions.

Of the 42 women who receiving the vaccine whilst pregnant, 18 of them experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.

Manufacturers Merck & Co. warn the public about potential pain, fever, nausea, dizziness and itching after receiving the vaccine. These are not uncommon side effects to receiving vaccines, more serious side effects reported include paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton is reported to view the matter with deep concedern and is quoted as saying ...“The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors,” ..... “Any state or local government now beset by Merck’s lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports. It looks as if an unproven vaccine with dangerous side effects is being pushed as a miracle drug.”

About 10,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S. in 2006 and nearly 4,000 died from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. Bloomberg reported on 30/5/07 that GlaxoSmithKline Plc's competing product, Cervarix cervical cancer vaccine won't get priority review from U.S. regulators - a priority reviews may be given to products that serve an unmet need or represent significant improvements over currently available therapies. Glaxo is also awaiting a decision from the European Medicines Agency on the application it filed for Cervarix in Europe in March 2006. Financial analysts who are interested in the field (well money anyway) claim that Glaxo could be looking at the potential to generate US$1.5 billion a year by 2010 rising to US$5 billion.

Lord Patel has posted previously about the development, approval and the intense marketing of the vaccine, in what appears indecent haste, especially in schools - see especially the controversial Women in Government (WIG) campaign in Texas.

Anyone contemplating a course wuld be well advised to consult their doctor and the following two reports......

Click here for the Gardasil Related Deaths Reported to VAERS / May 11, 2007

Click here for the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) Reports / May 11, 2007

UPDATE

Meanwhile - literally hot off the Press .......

The Lancet (subscription only but Summary on Lord Patel's registration here) has published results today show that Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine, GARDASIL [Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Recombinant Vaccine] was 100 % effective in preventing high-grade vulvar and vaginal dysplasias caused by HPV types 16 and 18, 2 types that are strongly associated with these diseases.

The 100 % protection was observed in women who were not infected with HPV types targeted by the vaccine -- 6, 11, 16 and 18 -- at the start of the study and through one month after receiving the third dose. Data published in The Lancet represent an additional year of follow up since data were presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of GARDASIL.

All three studies were double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized studies and were conducted at 157 sites in 24 countries. More than 18,000 women participated in three trials and were between the ages of 16 to 26 at the time of enrolment. They received three doses of either GARDASIL or placebo at day one, month two and month six. The combined analysis evaluated the impact of GARDASIL on the incidence of high-grade vulvar and vaginal pre-cancers (VIN 2/3 and VaIN 2/3), common precursors to vulvar and vaginal cancers in younger women, caused by HPV types 16 and 18.

In the per-protocol population of this combined analysis, GARDASIL was 100 percent effective in preventing HPV 16- and 18-related VIN 2/3 and VaIN 2/3 in women who were not exposed to the relevant HPV types until at least one month after completing the vaccination series; no cases were observed in the vaccine group (n=7,811) compared to 15 cases in the placebo group (n=7,785).

In clinical studies for GARDASIL, vaccine-related adverse experiences that were observed at a frequency of at least 1.0 percent among recipients of GARDASIL and also greater than those observed among recipients of placebo, respectively, were pain (83.9 percent vs. 75.4 percent), swelling (25.4 percent vs. 15.8 percent), erythema (24.6 percent vs. 18.4 percent), fever (10.3 percent vs. 8.6 percent), nausea (4.2 percent vs. 4.1 percent), pruritis (3.1 percent vs. 2.8 percent) and dizziness (2.8 percent vs. 2.6 percent). Presumably, in absence of report no deaths recorded.

This is an interesting website which is opposed to Gardasil vaccination in Europe. It appears to be called LancetRecommendsCompulsoryVaccinationsForChildren - which refers to a Lancet editorial October 2006 which said Europe should take its lead from the US state of Michigan, which passed a bill on September 21 ruling that all 11 to 12-year-old sixth grade schoolgirls should be vaccinated.

PS : It may be said of course that vaccinating females does not preclude males passing the virus about, so there is a good argument, endorsed naturally by Merck and Glaxo that mlaes should be vaccinated as well.

Ther are a large number of blogs reporting / discussing the Lancet report Google Blogsearch

McCanns arrive in Rome Madrid



Daily Telegraph today : The McCanns .... plan to make trips to Berlin, Amsterdam and Morocco in the next week. Since the McCanns started visiting cities in Europe, the Find Madeleine fund has received a significant boost, the Madeleine website shows £581,813.01. is the balance on the current account i.e > US$1 Million

UPDATE

Someone at the BBC spent 15 minutes 27 seconds from 4.52 this afternoon rootling around here looking at all reports on Clarence Mitchell ... is a message finally getting through ?

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Presidents speak

"We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. . . . It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

Pres. Abraham Lincoln (letter to his friend Colonel William F Elkins , 1864 Nov
21 - almost a year to the day after his Address at Gettysburg - "Government of the people, by the people for the people ...).

Source : Page 954 of Abraham Lincoln: A New Portrait, (Vol. 2) by Emanuel Hertz (Horace Liveright Inc, 1931, NY).... Lord Patel first came across it in The Iron Heel by Jack London see post September 2006

"We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people."


(Speech aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003, under the "Mission Accomplished" banner by George W Bush President of the United States)

Pic : William F Elkins.

The Asparagus Wars - Germany 0 England 5

There is nothing makes Lord Patel salivate more than the prospect of fresh asparagus from the Vale of Evesham, steamed to a point of indefineable but sensuous scrunchiness lathered with a simple melted butter sauce. Ideally served, as is customary in this neck of the woods by provocatively clothed peasant girls individually on silver skewers with crisp freshly baked wholemeal soda bread.

Nothing compares with this springtime delight - certainly not the Peruvian, waxy thin sprue that Tesco try to smuggle in during the winter - waves of Eastern Europeans of course ensure that the prices are kept stunningly low.... but not for the Germans.

These curious people ... like the Austrians blanch their asparagus in tunnels and even celebrate with festivals the creamy white phallic boiled mushy stems. In Germany, white asparagus, or weisser spargel, signifies the beginning of spring. From about mid-April to June, rural festivals emerge to honor the vegetable and restaurants even come out with special asparagus menus. It is served not only as a side dish but also as a main entrée, especially during the spring. ... but this year prices are sky high and shortges abound ... in the shops and market stalls but not in the fields.

Why ?

The stout Poles are over here populating our Worcester fields but ... if the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, is to be beleived there's a severe shortage of POlish seasonal laborers and up to 15 percent of the asparagus harvest will be left to rot in the fields. In 2005, there were almost 220,000 foreign harvest helpers in Germany. This year there are just 178,000.

Donner und Blitzen ... this may also carry on all summer leaving unpicked soft fruit, apples, even in the vineyards on the Rhine!

The President of Lower Saxony asparagus farmers, Dietrich Paul laments to Bild am Sonntag ...""We are missing up to a third of our seasonal laborers,"

The problem, is a 2006 employment law which sought to limit the use of seasonal workers from abroad and to increase the number of unemployed Germans working in German fields. Ho.Ho.Ho.

In earlier years 90% of agricultural workers bringing home the harvest would be from Poland, Romania, Slovakia and other eastern European countries - new regulation demand this should be cut to 80 %.

This unwillingness to admit more waves of gastarbeiten from the East has meant they aim for the UK , Holland and Spain where labour markets are free and open - Germany has just extended its restrictions until 2009 and seasonal laborers can only stay in Germany for 4 months each year.

Germany has an unemployment rate of 9.1% but the highly educated work force don't want to grub around picking asparagus and cauliflowers.

XIth Asparagus Symposium 2005 - more than you ever wanted to know about growing Asparagus with lots of pictures of people looking at asparagus.

UK Housing Prices soaring ...and ...er ... plunging ..er simultaneously

The "World's Greatest Newspaper " disagrees.

All this is based on the Land Registry report figures for April which was published yesterday and Lord Patel remarked on here. Lies ... damn lies ....

...the McCann circus continues ("an effective campaign" gushes aged new born father John Humphries on BBC 4 "Today Programme" today) to roll on in a wave of overly sensitive kitsch taking in the Holy Father "blessing" a picture on camera, for the salivating world press - including the "World's Greatest newspaper" owned and very much edited and run by slimy pornographer Labour Party funder, Richard Desmond. Read Simon Jenkins Guradian March 18th 2007 and the first rate Steph's Blog.

The uncropped Associated Press Pool photo .... see comments ... well spotted ..good old Clarence Mitchell hard at work on the left slightly obscured by the Holy Father



Comment from Anonymous

"See that photo of the McCanns - Google Image Mccann & Pope & check the non-cropped photos. Who is the person thrusting the photo in front of his Popeness?

You've guessed it - Clarence Mitchell"

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Baghdad is a smashed city

Baghdad is a smashed city / Dahr Jamail / Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Atlantic Free Press

Below is an email I have just received from my close friend and translator Abu Talat....

Habibi…

Baghdad is a SMASHED city… no roads to drive on… most of them are closed off by concrete obstacles with concertina wire. In addition, the presence of the Iraqi military, who cover their faces with black masks and hold their guns in such a way that when you see them you will definitely be afraid that they will shoot you.

The shops in most of the area I went to see are closed. I asked one of the shop owners I know, 55-year-old Abu Fadhil, since I heard that his shop was robbed. I found his door closed and locked and he was nowhere to be found.

Later, on my way to Sadr City, I found that two of the three roads which lead all the way from south to north Baghdad are either partially or totally closed in some places. You still remember the highways in Baghdad… well now most of them are closed, or at least fenced off with obstacles, yet they say there is some progress in the security situation inside the city! Everyday two or three cars explode across Baghdad, killing big numbers of civilians.

When I returned to my neighborhood of al-Adhamiya, I couldn’t get in unless the soldiers checked my ID and my car, even though the guards are from the same neighborhood and they know me personally. But they had to check it to ensure that no car bombs might happen. Nevertheless, daily mortars shell my neighborhood and those are out of control, despite this concrete wall placed by the Americans which now surrounds our neighborhood. Despite all that they do, they cannot bring security to our small neighborhood.

Needless to say, Baghdad has been changed into THE CITY OF GARBAGE. You can find it everywhere. You can smell the stench of dead bodies wherever you go.

Talking of electricity, there is now only one hour daily. That’s it. From where we’re staying in the city center, in Bab al-Muadham, I can see from the balcony that people sleep nearly naked on their rooftops because it is so hot and there is no electricity to run fans or air conditioners. Thank God that there are two large generators that maintain electricity in our building.

Everyday by 2-3 pm the buildings where we are staying are closed so that no one can leave or enter. That way it is kept secure, and this is how it remains until the next morning.

As far as my family life in this condition, we are as though we are in jail from 2-3 pm until the second morning where the doors are opened at 7 am.

My son goes to the hospital to work, but for the last two days he finds it without any running water. [His son works in Baghdad Medical City, the largest hospital in Iraq] For the last 2 weeks, as he told me, the hospital has been without any air conditioning and almost without patients, although it’s the biggest hospital in Iraq.

My son's wife, who is also a doctor, has to go to another hospital just to try to assist since there is a drastic lack of Gynecologists. She stays in her hospital for three days continuously before my son picks her up with his car on the fourth day to bring her home, in order to insure her safety so she doesn’t have to take a bus or taxi.

As for my daughter, she has not passed out the doorway of this apartment where we are staying for the last week except for one time for some work she had to accomplish.

My wife left here only once, when she went to her job (which she has been on leave from since we left to Syria) in order to apply for a full year vacation. Thank God she got it.

As for me, I found my car ruined, so I had to repair it. For that I called the mechanic to come to my home and repair it, since I couldn’t take the car to him since all the mechanics shops are closed and there is no place to have a car repaired. All of those shops are totally closed.

When I saw the mechanic he said, “We cannot live anymore, and there is no job we can find.”

Dahr, this short letter gives you just a glance of the current situation in Baghdad. With the next letter I will tell you some more.


Can someone explain the continuing silence of politicians, community leaders, religious leaders to the plight of the Iraqi's - we have endless news of kidnapped Soldiers of Misfortune but nothing about the collapse of a civilised nation.

Why is there silence ? Is there no-one with a conscience ... and a voice ?

Pic

A boy sits in the rubble of his destroyed home the day after the May 29th truck bombing of the Mosque and Husseiniyah in al-Amil (southwest Baghdad). Bodies are still being dug from the collapsed buildings and according to hospital spokesemen the death count from the attack is still rising as seriously wounded people brought to hospitals yesterday die of their wounds.

USAF continue to bomb Iraqi residential areas and kill civilians destroy Mosques


“The only thing these sand niggers understand is force and I’m about to introduce them to it.” - Senior American Officer to General Trainor and Michael Gordon, authors of : Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

From Gorillas Guides today

"Three armed men who were riding in a car who attempted to attack a green zone government patrol west of Mosul were killed when the force responded with return fire. (مقتل ثلاثة مسلحين فى اشتباكات غرب الموصل ) Two police officers were killed and three others were injured by an explosive device that targeted their patrol the city of Sharqat (80 km south of Mosul). A body of an unkonwn person who had been tortured and shot was recovered. (مقتل واصابة خمسة من الشرطة بإنفجار عبوة في الشرقاط ) U.S. aircraft bombarded the al-Islah al-Ziraaie neighborhood, southwest of Mosul, on Monday night, seriously wounding a woman and three men,” Brig. Abdul-Kareem al-Juburi, director of the Ninewa police command’s operations room said in a statement. (الطائرات الامريكية تقصف حيا سكنيا وتجرح اربعة مدنيين في الموصل )"

Kavkaz centre ( from the Amirs of the Caucasian Mujahideen )

"U.S. warplanes pounded a residential area in Mosul wounding four civilians, a puppet police official in Ninewa province said.

U.S. aircraft bombarded the al-Islah al-Ziraaie neighborhood, southwest of Mosul, on Monday night, seriously wounding a woman and three men," Brig. Abdul-Kareem al-Juburi, director of the Ninewa police command's operations room, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Tuesday.

The attack also caused severe damage to a number of residential buildings, Juburi added.

The source said the U.S. attack was likely waged on the suspicion that there were gunmen present inside one of the houses in the area."





"Do you still want to Fuck with us ?" the voice of the Liberators.

UK Housing as a store of wealth- unbeatable over 5 years

The Land Registry's House Price Index is the most accurate independent house price index available. It uses Land Registry's data set of completed sales making it the only index to be based on actual price paid.

They figures for April have been published today
Current index 218.8
Average price £179,935
Monthly change 0.6%
Annual change 9.1%

Greater London and Brighton and Hove are the areas with the highest annual price change both with an increase of 15.6 %.

Where Lord Patel lives the index has risen from April 2002 to April 2007 from 121.4 to 239.8 a rise of almost 100% and the average price has risen from £63,700 to £126,800.

This is the FTSE 100 Index over the same period ;



PS The US dollar has dropped from @1.32 to @1.99 per pound Sterling in the last 6 years.

Madeleine, the Media and the Money - still a mystery

Tony Hatfield has further observations on the McCann Caravanserai and the mysterious role of Clarence "CIO/FCO Mr Fixit for the Press" Mitchell and who is picking up the tab for the "use" of Sir Philip Green's Lear Jet to whisk everyone from Faro to take a picture of Madeleine for the Holy Father - one wonders whether he will ask them to sign it.

The "official website" now records that the "balance on 30/05/07, the fund account current (sic) stands at £374,352.75." with 142 million hits as of 2.00 am.

To remind you of the listed objects of the fund ;

3. The objects of the Foundation are:
3.1.1 To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;
3.1.2 To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and
3.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
3.2 If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.

It may seem churlish but the definitions of "the Foundation" and "Madeleine's family" seem gloriously imprecise - of course the whole thing is predicated on the belief that Madeleine has been abducted - which whilst a working hypothesis, may not necessarily be correct.

The Incredible shrinking distance for Journalists to travel froma tapas bar to the Mccann's apartment.

The Daily Mail today (30/5) Page 3 reports in the middle of a full page of 18 column inches, by Paul Harris and Sam Greenhill sipping their pina coladas in Priaia da Luz with 3 pictures and a half page above the fold picture on the front page - "Madeleine took the soft toy ....when her parents tucked her up ...before going out for dinner 40 yards away" ... 120 feet in old money... the rest of the story rubbishes the forensic efforts of the Portuguese police and again fingers "British chief suspect Robert Murat".

Guradian 4/5/07

"Portuguese police were today searching for Madeline McCann who disappeared from the family's rented apartment while her parents Gerry and Katie dined at a tapas restaurant 200 yards away."

Reuters / Yahoo 25/5/07 Timeline

"The girl goes missing from her bedroom between 9:30 and 10 p.m. while her parents Kate and Gerry are dining just 100 yards away at the Mark Warner Ocean Club holiday resort in Praia da Luz."

Meanwhile read the extraordinary case of a man who walked free from court yesterday in Swindon after admitting attempting to abduct a 7 month old baby whilst drunk.

Pic from the Mark Warner site page for Childcare - which appears excellent and is described as Award winning but doesn't say what award and when - read and judge for yourself.

Vanity Blair scrabbles for the reflected glory with ex-IRA funding pariah

Libya’s Sirte Basin is the largest oilfield in Africa, holding 22 per cent of the continent’s 300bn barrels of reserves. Loosening diplomatic relations have enabled BP to enable Tony Blair on his world farewell Tour to announce a US$900 mn gas investment.

Halliburton have continued trading for many years through various offshore registered entities and companies like Eni and Repsol have been operating quietly for many years.

Mr G, never a man to miss an opportunity and the longest serving head of an African nation - bulwark of Mugabe, extracts substantial taxes and royalties which make investments there only modestly profitable. he himself owns Brussels based Tamoil which was acquired by Oilinvest, Libya's foreign oil investment arm, in 1988. It refines, markets and sells the country's oil, and has around 3,000 petrol stations in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain, with a further 150 in Africa (and has underinvested for years) . Quite who owns it currently is still somwhat a mystery as Vagit Alekperov's LUKoil has been after it, and Carlyle the secretive republican old boys retirement fund is said to have paid €3bn (£2bn). Bn for it in September. Famously they sponsor Juventus where Mr G's son had such a distinguished footballing career. (Fuller post in December 2006 on Tamoil / Carlyle here)

Faced with Mr Putin putting BP's balls through the wringer and faced the threat (BBC) of losing its TNK/BP licence to exploit one of its main Russian assets, the Kovykta gas field (enough reserves to supply the entire world's gas needs for almost a year) and needs to find new reserves ASAP. The shine is rapidly wearing off the Wunderkind Brown's legacy at the top of BP - no wonder he is seeking solace in the slim waisted Brazilian ex catamite of dog lover Peter "Randy Mandy" Mandelson.

Wolfowitz - when the spit won't polish

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Wolfowitz the Incontinent

Wayne Madsen retails a thoroughly scatalogical story that could only appeal to the likes of Mark Oaten, about World Bank robber "Clyde" Wolfowitz. Rep. Walter Jones NC. suggests he should be offered the job of Mayor of Baghdad and Wayne suggests a cautious approval tinged with an eye witness anecdote of a previous visit that the war criminal had to that ocean of tranquility.

Insurgents launched a successful rocket attack (BBC) on the 18 story Rashid Hotel , near Saddam's Zoo, and his magnificent Palace, on October 26, 2003 (were they called insurgents way back then ?) when the disgraced banker was on a 3 day visit, but was a mere US Deputy Defence Secretary.

To celebrate the start of Ramadan 8 rockets were fired at this most heavily guarded residence from a trailer containing a rocket launcher, disguised as a generator, (pic) about 400 metres (1,312 feet) from the hotel. Setting off a timing device they fled leaving the rockets to launch at the hotel a few minutes later. A U.S. Army Colonel was killed in the 6:10 am attack and 15 other people were injured, including 11 Americans and one Briton.

The dispenser of Democracy was getting ready in his 12 th floor room for breakfast and had apparently not finished girding his loins or completed his..er ..toilet when the rockets hit the 11th floor...

A British journalist contacted Wayne to tell him that he witnessed the lupine neo-con , "shaken and in tears, running through the hotel lobby in his underpants with a blanket thrown over his head. The journalist also clearly saw that the seat of Wolfowitz's underpants were soiled with a very visible stain."

Bemerded pants and combing spit through his hair .... an indelible image.

As Shaha Reza was at the time on secondment from the World Bank helping the Coalition in Baghdad one wonders exactly what her sleeping arrangements were at the time .... no no ...that way madness lies.

She was of course working with Liz Cheney - Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs - on some outfit said to represent the United States government in the Middle East, not too well qualified but hey—she's Vice President Cheney's daughter, and that hepls getting 6 figure salaried high ranking official despite no regional experience, no Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, or other locally relevant language, and no relevant education - which is why Shaha was brought in - because she may be Wolfie's ex - mistress but she is by all accounts a smart cookie... but not THAT smart of she share's that cunt's bed.

Liz of course did very little and her role was to help
David Denehy, a longtime democracy specialist at the International Republican Institute, to spend the department of State's money fomenting trouble amongst rich Iranian expats in San Francisco and the Iranian American diaspora and its satellite media outlets, which are beamed into Tehran from Dubai - a (sore) point of discussion when I'm in a Dinner Jacket was there 2 weeks ago.

It is of interest to note that David Denehey went to Iraq to work for Paul "call me Jerry" Bremer as the deputy director of the CPA’s Office of Democracy and Governance and would have crossed paths with Wolfie and his mistress at the time of the hotel bombing. He must have a made a huge influence on Paul "call me Jerry" Bremner because his name and office appear nowhere in his book "My Year in Iraq".

As much as $50 million of the funds went to the Voice of America for Persian-language broadcasts. The State Department has also sent 15 foreign service officers to countries neighboring Iran and to capitals with large Iranian exile populations to serve as "Iran watchers."

At the Pentagon, the new Iranian directorate was been set up inside its policy shop, which previously housed the Office of Special Plans or the infamous "stovepipe".(Laura Rozen LA Times May 19th 2006)

Liz Cheney left some time last year to have her next baby and the joy of nappies for the fifth time - maybe Shaha Riza could pass on a few hints about cowards who shit their pants.

Caravana de la Risa European Tour , Germany this week, London next ...


On March 28 in Hamburg, up to 5,000 anti-globalization protesters marched against a summit of Asian and European foreign ministers ( ASEM) - a foretaste of the G8 summit at Heiligendamm - June 14th Whitehall ? (just outside Royal United Service Institute - HQ of the Lady Dame Jane Neville Jones ) Der Spiegel have a slideshow of pictures which would warm the cockles of John "the Hammer of the English" Reid and the Fatty Falconer Judicial Roadshow.... Hit song of the Moment "Habeus Corpus .. should be a corpse "..


Watch out for these friends of Laura Norder ... especially if the one with the "bomb" vest he tries to sell you a wrap.

The introduction of new 'stop and question' counter-terrorism powers would set back community-police relations 30 years, Len Duvall, chair man of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said today.


PS Why do all Clowns have fuzzy yellow hair ? - The first one was Coco the Clone.

Clarence Mitchell the journo with the right CV

Tony Hatfield has been worrying away about the role of Clarence Mitchell in acting on the behalf of the McCann family (quite where the brothers and sisters uncles and aunts begin and end is a little unclear) and e-mailed the Central Office of Information, to try and find out more about the former BBC employee who is so much in the limelight.

Having received a reply which is described as confidential and copyright etc., he is happy to divulge what they had to say - Clarence Mitchell is on secondment to the Foreign Office (from the COI) for the specific purpose of "handling media relations related to the Madeleine McCann "disappearance" [ note not abduction - points out Tony] in Portugal".

Any further enquiries must be directed to the FCO - a not unfamiliar Sir Humphrey style exercise in not answering the question whilst at the same time elegantly passing the buck and closing off further enquiries.... and adding the merest soupcon of delay.

So (says Tony) this is the upshot. The British taxpayer seems to be paying for a media consultant to a private company with no charitable status and over £300,000 quid in the bank.

Meanwhile in the unreal world the circus will move on , flying to Rome this afternoon from Faro on a 12-seater Gulfstream jet owned by the businessman Sir Philip Green .

The current account balance on the McCann fund displayed on the "official" website still resolutely stays at £313,091.17.

Digging through BBC archives it was interesting to note that after Michael Hutchance died by apparently committing suicide in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Sydney, Australia ten years ago - who was on hand to deal with his grieving widow and child ... ?

"Paula Yates, his partner and mother of his 16-month-old child is now in Sydney, finalising details of the funeral. From there, Clarence Mitchell reports: "
Just the man for the job, evidently.

UPDATE 30th May 2007

Tony Hatfield has further observations on the McCann Caravanserai and the mysterious role of Clarence "CIO/FCO Mr Fixit for the Press" Mitchell and who is picking up the tab for the "use" of Sir Philip Green's Lear Jet to whisk everyone from Faro to take a picture of Madeleine for the Holy Father - one wonders whether he will ask them to sign it.

The "official website" now records that the "balance on 30/05/07, the fund account current (sic) stands at £374,352.75." with 142 million hits as of 2.00 am.

To remind you of the listed objects of the fund ;

3. The objects of the Foundation are:
3.1.1 To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;
3.1.2 To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and
3.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
3.2 If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.

It may seem churlish but the definitions of "the Foundation" and "Madeleine's family" seem gloriously imprecise - of course the whole thing is predicated on the belief that Madeleine has been abducted - which whilst a working hypothesis, may not necessarily be correct.

Meanwhile read the extraordinary case of a man who walked free from court yesterday in Swindon after admitting attempting to abduct a 7 month old baby whilst drunk.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Dopey Cyclists finally blow open drug ridden European cycling circus


It seems extraordinary that one of the biggest doping scandals in international sport hasn't been mentioned in the UK Press although BBC Online gave it a mention. Allegations that doping is endemic in professional cycling across Europe persists and have damaged the sport's image. Until now the cyclists, their doctors and trainers have maintained a code of silence a cyclists omerta.

Last Thursday 24th May Eric Zabel, still an active rider who rides for Milram and Rolf Aldag, were support riders for the Telekom team when its star riders Bjarne Riis in 1996 and Jan Ullrich in 1997 won the Tour de France faced a nationally televised news conference organised by T-Mobile at their HQ in Bonn.

Zabel, and Aldag (sporting director of the T-Mobile team, previously known as Telekom) both admitted that they took the blood-boosting drug EPO. Both said they were ashamed of their actions and apologized.

Zabel broke into tears during his confession and said he only took the drug in the first week of the 1996 Tour and did not repeat because he had some side effects. He said he has been riding clean since. .

Zabel, 36, one of Germany's top riders and has had 192 victories winning the Milan-San Remo classic 4 times, with 12 stage wins in the Tour de France and took the points green jersey 6 times. He was also a silver medallist in the 2006 World Championships.

Aldag confessed that ...."I started doping with EPO before the 1995 Tour ..... "I doped because I could. For me, and probably for many others, EPO was this miracle drug." Aldag said he first obtained EPO from team worker d'Hont and later from "Freiburg," - the University of Freiburg clinic that employed Telekom team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich.

This all started when former Telekom's Belgian massage therapist Jef d'Hont earlier this month said that two doctors gave EPO to some of the team's top riders, including Riis and Ullrich. he worked for Team telekom from 1992 to 1996 at Team Telekom. In an article published in DER SPIEGEL, he had described how doping has been commonplace in the sport for more than 40 years

Bert Dietz went on national television on Monday and acknowledged taking EPO, which enhances endurance by boosting the level of oxygen-rich blood cells in the system claiming he was introduced to Schmid and Heinrich.

Schmid and Heinrich released separate statements to the media late Wednesday confirming their involvement with doping in the 1990s while they were working for Telekom. Both were promptly sacked by the clinic on Thursday.

Ullrich (43) retired in February this year denying he had ever used doping and is head of the Team CSC (Computer Science Corp. US$7 MN backers) . However Riis confessed at a news conference in Copenhagen on Friday:"I have taken doping. I have taken EPO. I have made errors and I would like to apologize." He said that he used EPO, a blood booster, from 1993 to 1998 and added that he had also used cortisone and human growth hormone, without specifying when.

"First of all, I'm doing this to keep the focus on the work we are doing today that keeps cycling in the right perspective. The massive steps we have taken to fight doping and the ways in which we have secured that the team rests on the right and proper foundations. "Second of all, I'm doing this to get rid of the endless discussions about things that are truly in the past and that I personally have put behind a long time ago. I don't want my personal past to overshadow that work and brilliant effort that Team CSC is doing today."

For 2007 Team CSC have taken on Dr Rasmus Damsgaard who will oversee out of competition tests, which will be run in addition to the normal battery of UCI/WADA sanctioned out of competition plus regular in-competition programmes. Apart from monitoring for an unusual (or positive) once-off reading, those samples taken on the team's behalf will also enable a longitudinal record to be gathered. This profile will help define the normal parameters for each rider, with any sudden change likely to result in further investigation.

Asked if he would yield the Tour title, Riis said, "My jersey is at home in a cardboard box. They are welcome to come and get it. I have my memories for myself."

Ullrich's lawyer, Peter-Michael Diestel, said there won't be any new statements from his client, who is under a criminal investigation in Bonn on fraud charges - he then resigned.

Schmid and Heinrich released separate statements to the media late Wednesday confirming their involvement with doping in the 1990s while they were working for Telekom. Schmid said he never gave any drugs to riders without their knowledge.

Heinrich also confirmed he'd been involved in doping.

"I took part in the doping of riders in the course of my work as a sports doctor," he said.

Both were fired by the clinic Thursday.

In Denmark, Brian Holm, a former member of the Telekom team in the 1990s, confirmed that he also had taken EPO.

Christian Henn, now a sporting director with the Gerolsteiner team, also admitted using EPO earlier this week and another former Telekom rider, Udo Boelts, confessed late on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Wiesenhof, a second-tier team, faced an uncertain future after losing its title sponsor.

Meanwhile 2 major doping scandals also involve 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis and Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso both of whom resolutely deny any wrongdoing. The Floyd Landis arbitration hearing in Malibu into Landis's two-year ban for dopingwas treated to remarkable claims of sexual abuse and proven blackmai by Landi's agent.

Faced with a 21-month suspension for doping, Basso (who was sacked by Riis's Team CSC on the eve of the Tour de France 2006) may be ready to cooperate with the Italian authorities and tell all.

Deutsche Telekom is of course 32% owned by the German Government and so senior politicians have waded in - being hugely embarassed by these seedy and irrefutable disclosures.Chancellor Angela Merkel found time whilst planning the G8 Summit to appear on TV and call a rigorous investigation. "There has evidently been systematic and continued manipulation of unimaginable proportions in professional cycling," the chancellor said. "The confessions and investigations undertaken so far aren't sufficient to clean the sport up." All "doping sinners" now had the opportunity to come clean and help the sport to start again, she said.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble busy rounding up left wing rabble who may distract world leaders at Heilingerdam said he was "appalled that there has been lying and deceit on this scale." (So unusual in german politics) He has set up a task force to check whether taxpayers' money had been misused in the process and would push hard for a rapid passage through parliament of a new anti-doping-law - that was handily already drafted. The law permits house searches and telephone tapping in doping investigations as well as lenient treatment for people who come forward to testify.

"My big fear is now that the doping revelations won't stay confined to cycling," said Schäuble.

The Forsa institute say a survey they undertook showed that 59% of Germans agree with the proposal that there isn't a performance sport in which doping doesn't happen.

What next ? Linford Christie, oldest champion of the Olympic 100m, winning gold at 32 in Barcelona going to 'fess up ?

(C) Very Seriously Disorganised Criminals 2002/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 - copy anything you wish