With the exception of a few eccentric outliers who wrongly think that you can run a national economy in the same way you manage a household budget both Republicans and Democrats are in broad agreement that America's debt ceiling needs to be raised and that increase needs to be off-set by a package of spending cuts and tax increases. Although there is still some friction over exactly what spending needs to be cut and exactly which tax loopholes need to be closed the main sticking point is over how much the debt ceiling needs to be raised by and by extension how long that increase will last for.
The Republicans want an increase of around $900billion which the US Treasury estimates will last until early 2012. The Democrats want an increase of around $2.5trillion which the Treasury estimates will last until early 2013. On a purely technical level this is a complete non-argument because in terms of national economic policy anything under 5 years counts as short term and anything under a year is not worth consideration. So only raising the debt ceiling for six months won't give the financial markets the stability they're looking for meaning that the effect would be the same as if the ceiling wasn't raised at all. Unfortunately neither political party are worried about that aspect and are instead trying to use the issue to gain an advantage at the 2012 Presidential election.
I think this is more likely to backfire on the Republicans then the Democrats because the US economy is not suddenly going to get better because the debt ceiling's been raised. That means that at the time of the 2012 election economic growth is still going to be quite flat and things are going to look and feel pretty much as they do now. This gives the Republicans the perfect opportunity to campaign on the economy and Obama's competence (or lack thereof) as leader. However if the debt ceiling argument comes up again before then the Republicans risk getting their hands dirty and making it look like the economic problems are their fault and the only failure in Obama's leadership is its inability to overcome irrational Republican stubbornness.
That said I do like the idea of doing the tax aspect now but doing the spending aspect in two tranches. One now and the second in about six months time. That will allow for progress to be checked and refinements made if required all within the stability provided by having the debt ceiling already raised until 2013.
Sunday 31 July 2011
Operation Oil Theft: Month 5, Week 2, Day 1.
This past week in Libya fighting on the ground has all but stopped. The rebels appear to have secured Brega and there have been some isolated clashes between rebel and government forces in the villages around Nalut on the Tunisian border in the foot hills of the Nafusa mountains. NATO bombing continues of course.
On Sunday (24/7/11) British aircraft attacked the Qaddafi compound in Tripoli for the second night in a row. The military justification given for these attacks is that they were an attempt to destroy the defensive walls around the compound in an effort to make it easier for rebels to storm it. The problem is that none of the residents of Tripoli want to storm the compound and the closest rebel units are stuck some 125 miles (200km) outside of Tripoli so the walls will be rebuilt long before they arrive.
On Monday (25/7/11) Britain joined France in suggesting that Qaddafi could remain in Libya if he agreed to give up power although I think that was more aimed at me then Qaddafi. By Wednesday (27/7/11) Britain had clearly changed it's mind and expelled the remaining Libyan government diplomats from Britain. Coming just five days after the terror attacks in Norway Britain had been hoping to present this to the world as a necessary step to protect Britain from Libyan terrorism. Due to the Norway plan going a bit wrong Britain instead presented the move as showing their continuing commitment to the rebels and a necessary step to allow the rebels Transitional National Council (TNC) to access frozen Libyan government assets. The reality though is that since mid-February there have been daily protests by the rebels and Qaddafi supporters outside the Libyan Embassy in London. Britain is now starting to run out of the money needed to police these demonstrations so closed the Embassy in the hope that the protests would stop. That means that rather then showing it's support for the rebels and it's commitment to overthrowing Qaddafi the decision to expel the diplomats shows that Britain is running out of both the will and the resources needed to continue the conflict.
On Thursday (28/7/11) the military commander of rebel forces, Abdel Fatah Younis was killed. By the rebels themselves. Although accounts of exactly what happened to him vary it seems a faction of the rebels accused Younis of being a Qaddafi spy and took him prisoner. He was then either shot and killed on his way to interrogation or was shot and killed during interrogation which doesn't say much about the way the rebels treat their prisoners. It also highlights perfectly the problems that Libya will face if and when Qaddafi is overthrown. Far from being an organised single group the rebels are in fact a ramshackle coalition of competing tribal, religious, social and political factions unified only by their desire to overthrow Qaddafi. Should Qaddafi go then that unifying factor will be gone and the rebel coalition will most likely collapse into a variety of warring factions.
In fact the killing of Younis highlights this problem so perfectly I think Britain might have had a hand in his death in order to promote discussion within the NATO-led coalition about what's going to happen in a post-Qaddafi Libya. Of course this is not being done out of any concern for the Libyan people you understand. It's just that if Britain were to back the wrong faction then they won't get any of Libya's oil which will leave them both looking stupid and seriously out of pocket for the entire operation.
From the Libyan government's perspective the killing of Younis only serves to prove that under the rebels Libya won't be the land of milk and honey that some people still think it will be. So the Libyan state broadcaster has been extensively covering the incident. On Friday (29/7/11) this prompted Britain to try and take the Libyan state broadcaster off the air by bombing several satellite relay stations. This effort failed and the Libyan state broadcaster is still available both inside Libya and internationally.
On Sunday (24/7/11) British aircraft attacked the Qaddafi compound in Tripoli for the second night in a row. The military justification given for these attacks is that they were an attempt to destroy the defensive walls around the compound in an effort to make it easier for rebels to storm it. The problem is that none of the residents of Tripoli want to storm the compound and the closest rebel units are stuck some 125 miles (200km) outside of Tripoli so the walls will be rebuilt long before they arrive.
On Monday (25/7/11) Britain joined France in suggesting that Qaddafi could remain in Libya if he agreed to give up power although I think that was more aimed at me then Qaddafi. By Wednesday (27/7/11) Britain had clearly changed it's mind and expelled the remaining Libyan government diplomats from Britain. Coming just five days after the terror attacks in Norway Britain had been hoping to present this to the world as a necessary step to protect Britain from Libyan terrorism. Due to the Norway plan going a bit wrong Britain instead presented the move as showing their continuing commitment to the rebels and a necessary step to allow the rebels Transitional National Council (TNC) to access frozen Libyan government assets. The reality though is that since mid-February there have been daily protests by the rebels and Qaddafi supporters outside the Libyan Embassy in London. Britain is now starting to run out of the money needed to police these demonstrations so closed the Embassy in the hope that the protests would stop. That means that rather then showing it's support for the rebels and it's commitment to overthrowing Qaddafi the decision to expel the diplomats shows that Britain is running out of both the will and the resources needed to continue the conflict.
On Thursday (28/7/11) the military commander of rebel forces, Abdel Fatah Younis was killed. By the rebels themselves. Although accounts of exactly what happened to him vary it seems a faction of the rebels accused Younis of being a Qaddafi spy and took him prisoner. He was then either shot and killed on his way to interrogation or was shot and killed during interrogation which doesn't say much about the way the rebels treat their prisoners. It also highlights perfectly the problems that Libya will face if and when Qaddafi is overthrown. Far from being an organised single group the rebels are in fact a ramshackle coalition of competing tribal, religious, social and political factions unified only by their desire to overthrow Qaddafi. Should Qaddafi go then that unifying factor will be gone and the rebel coalition will most likely collapse into a variety of warring factions.
In fact the killing of Younis highlights this problem so perfectly I think Britain might have had a hand in his death in order to promote discussion within the NATO-led coalition about what's going to happen in a post-Qaddafi Libya. Of course this is not being done out of any concern for the Libyan people you understand. It's just that if Britain were to back the wrong faction then they won't get any of Libya's oil which will leave them both looking stupid and seriously out of pocket for the entire operation.
From the Libyan government's perspective the killing of Younis only serves to prove that under the rebels Libya won't be the land of milk and honey that some people still think it will be. So the Libyan state broadcaster has been extensively covering the incident. On Friday (29/7/11) this prompted Britain to try and take the Libyan state broadcaster off the air by bombing several satellite relay stations. This effort failed and the Libyan state broadcaster is still available both inside Libya and internationally.
Saturday 30 July 2011
America's Debt Crisis.
In the United States Democrats and Republicans are still trying to reach an agreement to raise the nations debt ceiling in order to allow the government to pay it's bills and avoid defaulting on it's national debt. Within the business a lot of people not only think that this is a huge bluff designed to raise the tension before a last minute deal is dramatically announced they've also started openly saying so.
I hope that is the case because if a deal is not reached the best case scenario is that America will have to default on part of it's debt and lose it's triple A credit rating. This will drive up the cost of borrowing across the economy from government bonds down to mortgages and small business loans. As a result America's economic recovery will be slowed dramatically extending the current slump for the next 5-10 years. The worst case scenario is that America has to default on all it's debt causing the global economy to implode like it did in 2008 meaning that it's time for Americans to start stocking up on canned goods and shotgun shells.
Obviously if Obama wants me to fix the entire thing for him I'm at least going to need some sort of hand held device so I can actually read the proposals on the table. However from the reporting of the proposals I have read it's clear that America needs to raise it's debt ceiling for at least another year. This extra borrowing needs to be off-set by a package of spending cuts and tax increases with $3 of spending cut for every $1 raised through tax. That means the Democrats will have to accept the cuts to Medicaid/care that the Republicans want. It also means that the Republicans will have to accept the end to the Bush tax cuts and other loopholes that the Democrats want because those tax loopholes will not affect the average American no matter how big their ego is.
The important thing though is that a deal is done because a debt default is something that will bring down the whole country rather then the President. This is something the Tea Party will learn once they've had the opportunity to gain some experience. As for bringing down the President I'm actually beginning to think that might be a good idea because the fact everyone's still talking about Medicaid/care after Obama spent his first year in office on health care reform proves that he's still not quite up to the job.
I hope that is the case because if a deal is not reached the best case scenario is that America will have to default on part of it's debt and lose it's triple A credit rating. This will drive up the cost of borrowing across the economy from government bonds down to mortgages and small business loans. As a result America's economic recovery will be slowed dramatically extending the current slump for the next 5-10 years. The worst case scenario is that America has to default on all it's debt causing the global economy to implode like it did in 2008 meaning that it's time for Americans to start stocking up on canned goods and shotgun shells.
Obviously if Obama wants me to fix the entire thing for him I'm at least going to need some sort of hand held device so I can actually read the proposals on the table. However from the reporting of the proposals I have read it's clear that America needs to raise it's debt ceiling for at least another year. This extra borrowing needs to be off-set by a package of spending cuts and tax increases with $3 of spending cut for every $1 raised through tax. That means the Democrats will have to accept the cuts to Medicaid/care that the Republicans want. It also means that the Republicans will have to accept the end to the Bush tax cuts and other loopholes that the Democrats want because those tax loopholes will not affect the average American no matter how big their ego is.
The important thing though is that a deal is done because a debt default is something that will bring down the whole country rather then the President. This is something the Tea Party will learn once they've had the opportunity to gain some experience. As for bringing down the President I'm actually beginning to think that might be a good idea because the fact everyone's still talking about Medicaid/care after Obama spent his first year in office on health care reform proves that he's still not quite up to the job.
Friday 29 July 2011
Grandmother Latest.
At around 10:40 the Occupational Therapist (OT) or "Jess"made her home visit to assess my grandmother's house. During this visit she informed my father that my grandmother would be discharged on Monday (1/8/11). The thing to remember about Jess is that she is a "locum." The word locum is NHS code for "temporary worker that no-one in the NHS would employ on a permanent basis." On Monday she will be starting work at the Kensington & Chelsea Hospital which deals with properly rich patients.
After I explained to him that I had an appointment with my doctor at around 17:00 on Monday my father went up to Croydon University Hospital to visit my grandmother about 15:00. In the three and a half hours he spent there my father not only managed to re-negotiate my grandmother's discharge to Tuesday (2/8/11) but also managed to give my grandmother the letter from Buckingham Palace addressed to "Councillor Leyson Harries and Family." She opened it and, after checking with the nursing staff, read it and discovered it to contain a simple postcard before sending it back to me. So I am now going to attempt to post photographs of the front of the envelope (ef), the back of the envelope (eb), the front of the postcard (pcf) and the back of the postcard;
Assuming that the above has gone horribly wrong then;
ef shows a white envelope bearing the Royal Crest (EIIR below a crown), the Buckingham Palace postmark (dated 27/7/11) and a second class (franked) stamp all in red ink. Below that in black ink it shows the address to "Councillor Leyson Harries and Family" above a postal address with the (incorrect) postal code CR4 7WZ.
eb shows the same white envelope bearing an italic "W" below a stylised crown.
pcf shows a stock photograph of William and Catherine on their wedding day taken by Hugo Burnard.
pcb shows the name of the photographer along with the text;
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were immensely touched that you should take the trouble to write as you did on the occasion of their Wedding and have been overwhelmed by the kind letters and cards that they have received. It really was most thoughtful of you and Their Royal Highnesses wish to send you their warmest thanks and best wishes."
I only mention this because it reminded me that Zara (Royal) Phillips is marrying Mike (Commoner) Tyndell tomorrow. Then next weekend I've got a big gay lesbian wedding where one of the brides will be bringing a surprise visitor form one of the Scandinavian countries but I'm definitely not stressed. However if my grandmother were suddenly to die in the night I would like the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accept the above documents as conclusive proof that it was the House of Windsor in Wardroom with the postcard. They won't though.
Anyway Amy WineHouse. Not only a Camden based singer but a list of my priorities in my university days. If I have to be the one to call it I would say "death by natural causes." If you consider alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction, cocaine addiction, crack cocaine addiction, heroin addiction and emphysema to be natural causes.
F*ck it. It might be the first time Dr Freddy Patel gets to write "pre-existing coronary artery disease leading to cardiac arrest" on a death certificate and actually tell the truth.
So it was about 22:40 I started writing this post and about 23:34 when I finished.
After I explained to him that I had an appointment with my doctor at around 17:00 on Monday my father went up to Croydon University Hospital to visit my grandmother about 15:00. In the three and a half hours he spent there my father not only managed to re-negotiate my grandmother's discharge to Tuesday (2/8/11) but also managed to give my grandmother the letter from Buckingham Palace addressed to "Councillor Leyson Harries and Family." She opened it and, after checking with the nursing staff, read it and discovered it to contain a simple postcard before sending it back to me. So I am now going to attempt to post photographs of the front of the envelope (ef), the back of the envelope (eb), the front of the postcard (pcf) and the back of the postcard;
Assuming that the above has gone horribly wrong then;
ef shows a white envelope bearing the Royal Crest (EIIR below a crown), the Buckingham Palace postmark (dated 27/7/11) and a second class (franked) stamp all in red ink. Below that in black ink it shows the address to "Councillor Leyson Harries and Family" above a postal address with the (incorrect) postal code CR4 7WZ.
eb shows the same white envelope bearing an italic "W" below a stylised crown.
pcf shows a stock photograph of William and Catherine on their wedding day taken by Hugo Burnard.
pcb shows the name of the photographer along with the text;
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were immensely touched that you should take the trouble to write as you did on the occasion of their Wedding and have been overwhelmed by the kind letters and cards that they have received. It really was most thoughtful of you and Their Royal Highnesses wish to send you their warmest thanks and best wishes."
I only mention this because it reminded me that Zara (Royal) Phillips is marrying Mike (Commoner) Tyndell tomorrow. Then next weekend I've got a big gay lesbian wedding where one of the brides will be bringing a surprise visitor form one of the Scandinavian countries but I'm definitely not stressed. However if my grandmother were suddenly to die in the night I would like the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accept the above documents as conclusive proof that it was the House of Windsor in Wardroom with the postcard. They won't though.
Anyway Amy WineHouse. Not only a Camden based singer but a list of my priorities in my university days. If I have to be the one to call it I would say "death by natural causes." If you consider alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction, cocaine addiction, crack cocaine addiction, heroin addiction and emphysema to be natural causes.
F*ck it. It might be the first time Dr Freddy Patel gets to write "pre-existing coronary artery disease leading to cardiac arrest" on a death certificate and actually tell the truth.
So it was about 22:40 I started writing this post and about 23:34 when I finished.
Israel, 9/11 and Norway.
Across the Muslim world and beyond there is a widely held but mistaken belief that the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States on September 11th 2001 were an Israeli false flag operation. In the intervening years the main way that this belief has been challenged is by pointing out that no-one would be prepared to kill so many people in a false flag attack on a friendly nation.
By carrying out the twin terrorist attacks on Norway last Friday Britain was hoping to send the message that, in 2011, it is prepared to kill a high number of people in a false flag attack on a friendly nation. The idea being that this would make more Muslims believe that the 9/11 attacks were the work of Israel. This is of course on top of the planned narrative that would have seen Muslims wrongly blamed for the Norway attacks for several days only for it to be revealed that there are many people in Europe who hate Muslims. So the idea was to inflame tensions across the Muslim world ahead of September's vote at the United Nations over Palestinian statehood and increase anti-Jewish feeling in the future.
As for the Israeli side of the conflict Breivik's attack on Utoya island took place at a rally of a political youth movement and saw a military looking Aryan man slaughtering a high concentration of people at a camp in the forests of northern Europe. These are all images that bring to mind the Holocaust of the second world war and cause upset and anger to Israelis and Jews across the world. This is of course would have been on top of having to deal with increased levels of upset and anger on the part of Israel's Muslim neighbours. So by carrying out the attacks Britain was also trying to inflame Israeli anger ahead of the UN vote. Within Israel they had help in the form of Tzipi Livni's Kadima Party who got party supporters to stage Tahrir square style street protests in Tel Aviv throughout last weekend.
This of course raises all sorts of questions about what prior knowledge Israel had of the Norway attacks and how did they find out. From what I can gather Britain did formally tell the Kadima Party at least that they were going to do something big, somewhere in Europe during last weekend. I should stress though that there is a world of difference between having prior knowledge that something is going to happen and being able to stop it. For example I know that tonight the sun will dip below the horizon and the sky will turn dark. However the only thing I can do is plan to close the curtains.
By carrying out the twin terrorist attacks on Norway last Friday Britain was hoping to send the message that, in 2011, it is prepared to kill a high number of people in a false flag attack on a friendly nation. The idea being that this would make more Muslims believe that the 9/11 attacks were the work of Israel. This is of course on top of the planned narrative that would have seen Muslims wrongly blamed for the Norway attacks for several days only for it to be revealed that there are many people in Europe who hate Muslims. So the idea was to inflame tensions across the Muslim world ahead of September's vote at the United Nations over Palestinian statehood and increase anti-Jewish feeling in the future.
As for the Israeli side of the conflict Breivik's attack on Utoya island took place at a rally of a political youth movement and saw a military looking Aryan man slaughtering a high concentration of people at a camp in the forests of northern Europe. These are all images that bring to mind the Holocaust of the second world war and cause upset and anger to Israelis and Jews across the world. This is of course would have been on top of having to deal with increased levels of upset and anger on the part of Israel's Muslim neighbours. So by carrying out the attacks Britain was also trying to inflame Israeli anger ahead of the UN vote. Within Israel they had help in the form of Tzipi Livni's Kadima Party who got party supporters to stage Tahrir square style street protests in Tel Aviv throughout last weekend.
This of course raises all sorts of questions about what prior knowledge Israel had of the Norway attacks and how did they find out. From what I can gather Britain did formally tell the Kadima Party at least that they were going to do something big, somewhere in Europe during last weekend. I should stress though that there is a world of difference between having prior knowledge that something is going to happen and being able to stop it. For example I know that tonight the sun will dip below the horizon and the sky will turn dark. However the only thing I can do is plan to close the curtains.
My Grandmother's Stil in Hospital.
Her latest ward round with the consultant and the multi-disciplinary care team is taking place about now (11:00 - 12:00 on 29/7/11). My father and I are unable to attend because we are waiting for an Occupational Therapist (OT) to make a home visit to assess me grandmother's home ahead of her planned discharge on Wednesday (3/8/11).
This means that the Primary Care Trust (PCT)/Local health authority are still adamant that the enhanced care package is the route they want to go down. Today's report by the government's co-operation and competition panel on the NHS which criticises some PCT's for "delaying operations" is central government's way of putting pressure on the PCT to speed up the enhanced care package operation.
Also today my grandmother's address received a letter from the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace. Although we haven't opened it we're guessing that it is a acknowledgement of the card my grandmother sent the Royal couple to congratulate them on their wedding of April 29th. The problem is that it is addressed to Councilman Leyson Harries and Family who is my grandmother's father (my great-grandfather). This is not the name on the card my grandmother sent and is not going to help convince my grandmother that she is no longer living on a farm in Wales. So it's the Crown's way of saying "Yeah we're doing this. What you going to do about it."
This means that the Primary Care Trust (PCT)/Local health authority are still adamant that the enhanced care package is the route they want to go down. Today's report by the government's co-operation and competition panel on the NHS which criticises some PCT's for "delaying operations" is central government's way of putting pressure on the PCT to speed up the enhanced care package operation.
Also today my grandmother's address received a letter from the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace. Although we haven't opened it we're guessing that it is a acknowledgement of the card my grandmother sent the Royal couple to congratulate them on their wedding of April 29th. The problem is that it is addressed to Councilman Leyson Harries and Family who is my grandmother's father (my great-grandfather). This is not the name on the card my grandmother sent and is not going to help convince my grandmother that she is no longer living on a farm in Wales. So it's the Crown's way of saying "Yeah we're doing this. What you going to do about it."
Thursday 28 July 2011
Phone Hacking's Back.
Just as the Norwegian terrorist attacks were starting to get seriously embarrassing for Britain there's been a new development in the News of the World (NotW) phone hacking scandal. Today (28/7/11) it has been revealed that the private investigator employed by NotW hacked into the telephone of a woman called Sara Payne.
In 2000 Sara Payne's 8 year old daughter Sarah Payne was murdered by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting. This prompted the NotW to campaign for and win the so-called "Sarah's Law" which allows parents to go to the police and check if someone - like a new neighbour - is on the sex offenders register of paedophiles and sex offenders. In a sickening publicity stunt the then Labour government appointed Sara Payne to a paid government advisers role.
Due to having no qualification other then having had her daughter murdered Sara Payne didn't exactly give value for money in her government advisor role and Sarah's law does make it very difficult for Britain's stable of pet paedophiles to operate discreetly. So this latest development is to promote discussion about those to issues. I just thought I'd mention that in case anyone got confused and thought it was being done out of concern for Sara Payne.
In 2000 Sara Payne's 8 year old daughter Sarah Payne was murdered by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting. This prompted the NotW to campaign for and win the so-called "Sarah's Law" which allows parents to go to the police and check if someone - like a new neighbour - is on the sex offenders register of paedophiles and sex offenders. In a sickening publicity stunt the then Labour government appointed Sara Payne to a paid government advisers role.
Due to having no qualification other then having had her daughter murdered Sara Payne didn't exactly give value for money in her government advisor role and Sarah's law does make it very difficult for Britain's stable of pet paedophiles to operate discreetly. So this latest development is to promote discussion about those to issues. I just thought I'd mention that in case anyone got confused and thought it was being done out of concern for Sara Payne.
London Olympics - 1 Year to Go.
The opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics in London will begin at 19:00 on July 27th 2012. That means that yesterday was exactly one year before the start of the games. Britain marked the event by holding a pre-Olympics party in Trafalgar square where the medals were unveiled for the first time. It also provided an opportunity for the International Olympic Committee to come to Britain to inspect how preparations were progressing.
Apart from the obvious things like making sure the venues are being constructed on schedule and the transport plan is up and running a large part of these preparations was checking that the security plan is in place. So over the last couple of days Britain has seen the arrest of Republican dissident terrorists over the killing of the Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr and the arrests of computer hackers associated with the LulzSec network. Of course the hope was that the twin terror attacks in Norway would promote discussion about Islamic terrorism, Qaddafi funded Islamic terrorism and far-right groups like the English Defence League (EDL).
Apart from the obvious things like making sure the venues are being constructed on schedule and the transport plan is up and running a large part of these preparations was checking that the security plan is in place. So over the last couple of days Britain has seen the arrest of Republican dissident terrorists over the killing of the Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr and the arrests of computer hackers associated with the LulzSec network. Of course the hope was that the twin terror attacks in Norway would promote discussion about Islamic terrorism, Qaddafi funded Islamic terrorism and far-right groups like the English Defence League (EDL).
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Wouldn't it be Amazing if
right now (22:41 on 26/7/11) I could come up with a post that both explains and solves the American debt crisis?
Unfortunately due to local dicking about I had to spend over two and a half hours today in a hospital so I decided that something needed to be cut.
Unfortunately due to local dicking about I had to spend over two and a half hours today in a hospital so I decided that something needed to be cut.
Norway's Latest Problem.
By courageously and professional capturing Anders Behring Breivik alive the Norwegian police solved many of the problems created by last Friday's twin terrorist attacks. However by doing so they created another problem - what to do with him now?
Unlike the British or American legal systems which are still focused on allowing the state to extract revenge on the criminal the Norwegian legal system is much more liberal and forward thinking. They much more tend to see criminals as damaged people who need to be removed from society for a short while so they can be repaired. As a result they have prisons that would put many hotels to shame and incredibly low rates of re-offending but the maximum anyone can be sent to prison for - even for 76 counts of murder is around 20 years. The problem is that Breivik is not a normal criminal who has not committed a normal crime. So it is unlikely that he will ever be rehabilitated and will probably have to be removed from society for the rest of his natural life. This is not an option that is available to the Norwegian courts.
By way of a solution the prosecution have suggested that Breivik could instead be tried for crimes against humanity. This would actually work because while what Breivik has done doesn't fit the legal definition of "genocide" he most certainly could be tried for either "extermination" or "inhumane acts designed to inflict terror" and there's nothing that says that these offences must be committed by a member of a recognised military force during a time of war. In fact I believe they were written to say the exact opposite. The only problems are that the maximum sentence is still only 30 years meaning that Breivik would be released when he's 62 and it's still up for debate whether or not the Norwegian authorities could continue to question him once he's been charged.
An alternative solution proposed by the defence is that Breivik is found to be insane and committed to a mental institution rather then being put on trial and sent to prison. Although I'll need to check the specifics for the situation in Norway I suspect that this will keep him removed from society for the rest of his natural life and allow the authorities to question him for as long as they need too. The only problem is that although I haven't sat down and spoken to him I don't think that Breivik is insane as defined by Britain's M'Naughten rules of 1846 unless it is ruled that his political beliefs are a disease of the mind. I think that would be a very worrying precedent to set and not how Norway wants to respond to this atrocity.
The third solution proposed by me is that Breivik be declared a Prisoner of War (POW) which would remove him entirely from Norway's civilian legal system. This will allow the authorities to question him for as long as he is in detention and allow him to be detained until the war ends. As the war Breivik himself has declared is against the ideas of multiculturalism and Islam this pretty much guarantees that he won't ever be released from prison. The only problem is that I'm not sure if you can declare someone as a POW unless they have been identified as a member of a recognised armed force. However I'm sure you could declare him to be a non-uniformed combatant and then decide to treat him as a POW. The other problem is that by recognising Breivik as a legitimate soldier in a legitimate war there's a risk that he could become a martyr who encourages those who share his repellent beliefs. However only being entitled to occasional visits from the Red Cross/Crescent I think he'll be something of a silent martyr.
Anyway it's 20:34 on Tuesday July 26th. I'm back from the pub and everything is Ok although - as you may have noticed - I'm reading from a pre-prepared script.
Unlike the British or American legal systems which are still focused on allowing the state to extract revenge on the criminal the Norwegian legal system is much more liberal and forward thinking. They much more tend to see criminals as damaged people who need to be removed from society for a short while so they can be repaired. As a result they have prisons that would put many hotels to shame and incredibly low rates of re-offending but the maximum anyone can be sent to prison for - even for 76 counts of murder is around 20 years. The problem is that Breivik is not a normal criminal who has not committed a normal crime. So it is unlikely that he will ever be rehabilitated and will probably have to be removed from society for the rest of his natural life. This is not an option that is available to the Norwegian courts.
By way of a solution the prosecution have suggested that Breivik could instead be tried for crimes against humanity. This would actually work because while what Breivik has done doesn't fit the legal definition of "genocide" he most certainly could be tried for either "extermination" or "inhumane acts designed to inflict terror" and there's nothing that says that these offences must be committed by a member of a recognised military force during a time of war. In fact I believe they were written to say the exact opposite. The only problems are that the maximum sentence is still only 30 years meaning that Breivik would be released when he's 62 and it's still up for debate whether or not the Norwegian authorities could continue to question him once he's been charged.
An alternative solution proposed by the defence is that Breivik is found to be insane and committed to a mental institution rather then being put on trial and sent to prison. Although I'll need to check the specifics for the situation in Norway I suspect that this will keep him removed from society for the rest of his natural life and allow the authorities to question him for as long as they need too. The only problem is that although I haven't sat down and spoken to him I don't think that Breivik is insane as defined by Britain's M'Naughten rules of 1846 unless it is ruled that his political beliefs are a disease of the mind. I think that would be a very worrying precedent to set and not how Norway wants to respond to this atrocity.
The third solution proposed by me is that Breivik be declared a Prisoner of War (POW) which would remove him entirely from Norway's civilian legal system. This will allow the authorities to question him for as long as he is in detention and allow him to be detained until the war ends. As the war Breivik himself has declared is against the ideas of multiculturalism and Islam this pretty much guarantees that he won't ever be released from prison. The only problem is that I'm not sure if you can declare someone as a POW unless they have been identified as a member of a recognised armed force. However I'm sure you could declare him to be a non-uniformed combatant and then decide to treat him as a POW. The other problem is that by recognising Breivik as a legitimate soldier in a legitimate war there's a risk that he could become a martyr who encourages those who share his repellent beliefs. However only being entitled to occasional visits from the Red Cross/Crescent I think he'll be something of a silent martyr.
Anyway it's 20:34 on Tuesday July 26th. I'm back from the pub and everything is Ok although - as you may have noticed - I'm reading from a pre-prepared script.
Now That's Just Rude.
I did go up to see my grandmother's senior house officer (SHO) at 15:00. The problem was that the SHO didn't turn up and we were left talking to Occupational Therapist (OT) who seemed intent on selling us an expanded care package. Before we got too far it to that conversation I politely reminded her that we'd come in to speak a doctor. Before I had the chance to explain that I wanted to ask questions that from my time working with OT's I knew she wouldn't be able to answer she accused me of being aggressive and threatening and asked me to leave to room.
She did however carry on the conversation with my father and is recommending a care package of five hours per day, seven days a week at £15 per hour so a total of £525 per week. It was such a sales patter they're even prepared to sign us up for a 1 month free trial.
After making myself a polite but large and immovable object at the nurses station I did eventually get to speak to the SHO about 16:15. The key points are;
She did however carry on the conversation with my father and is recommending a care package of five hours per day, seven days a week at £15 per hour so a total of £525 per week. It was such a sales patter they're even prepared to sign us up for a 1 month free trial.
After making myself a polite but large and immovable object at the nurses station I did eventually get to speak to the SHO about 16:15. The key points are;
- All blood an urine tests are negative for infection.
- The Buprenorphine patch was removed on Friday (22/7/11) which corresponds with the improvement of mental status.
- Both MRI's show evidence of age related degeneration but absolutely no evidence of vascular dementia or any other form of dementia.
- They are adamantly sticking to the vascular dementia diagnosis and are refusing to request a psychiatric consult.
Do You Ever Feel Unwelcome?
At 11:00 today (26/7/11) I went up to the hospital to speak to my grandmother's consultant - Dr Tan - as he finished ward rounds. Today though ward rounds dragged on until 12:00 by which time the doctor had to rush off to a meeting. His senior house officers has promised to speak to me though if I come back at around 15:00. I'm still considering that offer because quite frankly it's the consultant who makes the decisions. Unfortunately that little episode makes it quite difficult for what I'm about to say next not sound like a threat.
Britain's economic growth figures for the second quarter of 2011 (April, May, June) have been released today. Growth in Q4 of 2010 was (-0.5%) and in Q1 of 2011 it was 0.5% giving an average of 0% growth over the two quarters. The Q2 figure released today shows growth of 0.2%. Although this wasn't as bad as some people had predicted it's still half the growth shown in Q1 and means the British economy is still bouncing along the bottom neither in recession or growing in any meaningful way. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) who prepared the figures are blaming the dip on one off factors like the Japanese tsunami and the extra public holiday in April. So it's been quite funny watching a succession of British politicans and civil servants trying to talk about the growth figures without using the phrase; "The Royal wedding killed the economy."
Britain's economic growth figures for the second quarter of 2011 (April, May, June) have been released today. Growth in Q4 of 2010 was (-0.5%) and in Q1 of 2011 it was 0.5% giving an average of 0% growth over the two quarters. The Q2 figure released today shows growth of 0.2%. Although this wasn't as bad as some people had predicted it's still half the growth shown in Q1 and means the British economy is still bouncing along the bottom neither in recession or growing in any meaningful way. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) who prepared the figures are blaming the dip on one off factors like the Japanese tsunami and the extra public holiday in April. So it's been quite funny watching a succession of British politicans and civil servants trying to talk about the growth figures without using the phrase; "The Royal wedding killed the economy."
Monday 25 July 2011
I'm Sorry to Nag But.
Today (25/7/11) the G20 chaired by France held an emergency summit in Rome, Italy to find the best way to tackle the east Africa food crisis and the famine in Somalia. The United Nations (UN) used the summit to appeal to donors for US$1.6bn to tackle the crisis.
Meanwhile the situation in Somalia has not been helped by the fact that a spokesman claiming to represent the al-Shabaab group issued a statement on Friday (22/7/11) declaring that there was no famine in Somalia and international aid groups would continue to be banned from the country as the whole thing was politically motivated. Assuming that the spokesman really does speak for al-Shabaab (in Somalia you never can tell) I have to say that I agree with him - up to a point.
For decades western governments, especially Britain and the USA have used international aid groups to gather intelligence on or simply tear apart many African nations, especially Somalia to use their populations as scientific test subjects, steal their natural resources or simply to battle Islam. The east Africa food crisis is a prime example of this with Britain deliberately making the situation seem slightly worse then it is to trigger a UN-wide discussion on many things including it's own role in the UN post-Libya. What's different about the situation in Somalia though is that years of fighting and foreign interference has left the population of Somalia more vulnerable to the shortage or rainfall and crop failures that are affecting the entire region. So I believe that there is a famine in Somalia and I also believe that the other nations in the UN are using it as an opportunity to kick back against nations like Britain who really don't care how bad the situation gets. This effort from the UN has already forced the USA to lift it's ban on supplying aid to areas controlled by al-Shabaab.
Therefore al-Shabaab really need to establish a channel of communication with the UN to negotiate a mutually agreeable way for food aid to be delivered. After all if al-Shabaab continue trying to tell starving people that there is no famine it will back fire on them badly. This is especially true because the USA is already planning to use the famine to undercut al-Shabaab's authority by simply parachuting aid into the country.
So in summary; The situation in Somalia is very bad with some 3.2 million people facing death by starvation. The UN are trying to solve this problem but face a difficult and dangerous job. One thing that would really help is for them to get the funds they need. So if you have any spare cash feel free to donate it too;
The UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
or
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
Meanwhile the situation in Somalia has not been helped by the fact that a spokesman claiming to represent the al-Shabaab group issued a statement on Friday (22/7/11) declaring that there was no famine in Somalia and international aid groups would continue to be banned from the country as the whole thing was politically motivated. Assuming that the spokesman really does speak for al-Shabaab (in Somalia you never can tell) I have to say that I agree with him - up to a point.
For decades western governments, especially Britain and the USA have used international aid groups to gather intelligence on or simply tear apart many African nations, especially Somalia to use their populations as scientific test subjects, steal their natural resources or simply to battle Islam. The east Africa food crisis is a prime example of this with Britain deliberately making the situation seem slightly worse then it is to trigger a UN-wide discussion on many things including it's own role in the UN post-Libya. What's different about the situation in Somalia though is that years of fighting and foreign interference has left the population of Somalia more vulnerable to the shortage or rainfall and crop failures that are affecting the entire region. So I believe that there is a famine in Somalia and I also believe that the other nations in the UN are using it as an opportunity to kick back against nations like Britain who really don't care how bad the situation gets. This effort from the UN has already forced the USA to lift it's ban on supplying aid to areas controlled by al-Shabaab.
Therefore al-Shabaab really need to establish a channel of communication with the UN to negotiate a mutually agreeable way for food aid to be delivered. After all if al-Shabaab continue trying to tell starving people that there is no famine it will back fire on them badly. This is especially true because the USA is already planning to use the famine to undercut al-Shabaab's authority by simply parachuting aid into the country.
So in summary; The situation in Somalia is very bad with some 3.2 million people facing death by starvation. The UN are trying to solve this problem but face a difficult and dangerous job. One thing that would really help is for them to get the funds they need. So if you have any spare cash feel free to donate it too;
The UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
or
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
Wow My Head Hurts.
In Norway today (25/7/11) the police have revised the death toll from Friday's twin terrorist attacks down from 93 to 76 - 68 on Utoya island and 8 in the Oslo bomb blast. Although this mistake must have been horrific for the families of the victims and the missing it serves to underline just how much pressure the Norwegian authorities have been under these last few days. After all many of those killed were either serving members of Norway's government or their children.
In Britain the reasonably respected anti-fascist group Searchlight announced that they can find no significant links between the Norwegian gunman, Anders Breivik and Britain's English Defence League (EDL). I couldn't agree with them more because the EDL are normally so disorganised that they can barely organise a trip to the pub let alone an attack on this scale. The reason why Breivik made so much of his links to the EDL in his 1500 page manifesto and indeed why he published such a long manifesto in the first place was to put even more pressure on the police by forcing them to chase down false leads when they should of being looking for the people who were really giving Breivik his orders.
Also today Breivik made his first appearance in court in a session that was held behind closed doors. This has caused some controversy in Norway because it goes against everything their democracy stands for. I think it was right to make an exception in this exceptional case though because Breivik himself accepted the facts of the case and his arrest but still refused to plead guilty. That suggests that he sees himself as a soldier in some sort of holy war who shouldn't be tried under civilian law so I don't see why he should have a civilian trial imposed upon him. Besides even though today's hearing was held behind closed doors he still used it as an opportunity to grandstand and threaten that there were two more terror cells ready to carry on his work. I wouldn't worry about that too much though because once the reality of his situation starts to dawn on him I expect Breivik will be making lots more extremely wild and unfounded threats.
In Britain the reasonably respected anti-fascist group Searchlight announced that they can find no significant links between the Norwegian gunman, Anders Breivik and Britain's English Defence League (EDL). I couldn't agree with them more because the EDL are normally so disorganised that they can barely organise a trip to the pub let alone an attack on this scale. The reason why Breivik made so much of his links to the EDL in his 1500 page manifesto and indeed why he published such a long manifesto in the first place was to put even more pressure on the police by forcing them to chase down false leads when they should of being looking for the people who were really giving Breivik his orders.
Also today Breivik made his first appearance in court in a session that was held behind closed doors. This has caused some controversy in Norway because it goes against everything their democracy stands for. I think it was right to make an exception in this exceptional case though because Breivik himself accepted the facts of the case and his arrest but still refused to plead guilty. That suggests that he sees himself as a soldier in some sort of holy war who shouldn't be tried under civilian law so I don't see why he should have a civilian trial imposed upon him. Besides even though today's hearing was held behind closed doors he still used it as an opportunity to grandstand and threaten that there were two more terror cells ready to carry on his work. I wouldn't worry about that too much though because once the reality of his situation starts to dawn on him I expect Breivik will be making lots more extremely wild and unfounded threats.
More On My Grandmother.
For the last three days my father has been putting pressure on me to visit my grandmother is hospital. This is so my interactions with her can be studied by the surrounding medical professionals. Today (26/7/11) I relented and made a quick visit between 17:30 and supper which is served at 18:00. This was just enough time to do a quick assessment.
Although she is my calmer my grandmother is still holding beliefs which are factually not true. She lives on a farm in Wales for example. When questioned about these beliefs or alternatives are suggested. For example that the address might be slightly different she refuses to even entertain the idea and becomes aggressive. So she's showing clear evidence of traumatic psychosis then which requires a psychiatric assessment to confirm.
However her doctors are flatly refusing to do this and are still pushing the dementia diagnosis despite all the evidence to the contrary. I should be meeting with the consultant tomorrow and it will be interesting to see where we will go from here because they can't discharge or transfer her until her condition improves and her condition won't improve until they call in a psych consult to diagnose and treat it.
Although she is my calmer my grandmother is still holding beliefs which are factually not true. She lives on a farm in Wales for example. When questioned about these beliefs or alternatives are suggested. For example that the address might be slightly different she refuses to even entertain the idea and becomes aggressive. So she's showing clear evidence of traumatic psychosis then which requires a psychiatric assessment to confirm.
However her doctors are flatly refusing to do this and are still pushing the dementia diagnosis despite all the evidence to the contrary. I should be meeting with the consultant tomorrow and it will be interesting to see where we will go from here because they can't discharge or transfer her until her condition improves and her condition won't improve until they call in a psych consult to diagnose and treat it.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Latest.
If you're unfamiliar with the story Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who was forced to resign early after being arrested and charged with the rape of a hotel chamber maid in New York, USA. Then his defence team set about attacking his accusers credibility and the prosecution took the unusual step of announcing that their case is weak. The latest development is that his accuser has waived her right to anonymity to give an in depth interview with the American ABC news network. So think it's fair to say that this case has already been so heavily politicised that I can talk about it freely without affecting the trial.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a serial rapist and sex offender. In his native France he has been accused of rape several times but those accusations were hushed up through a mixture of bribery and intimidation. In New York he has been accused of two further sexual assaults and has been arrested at least once for solicitation - offering money to a prostitute for sex. However because he was the head of the IMF the police and prosecutors in New York were forced to drop the charges.
Shortly before this latest rape Strauss-Kahn had made it clear that he intended to step down as the head of the IMF in the coming months. So with everyone's blood up following the killing of Osama bin Laden when this rape occurred the police and prosecutors in New York saw no reason to protect him any further. The problem was that the matter then went all the way up the chain of command to President Obama who realised that Strauss-Kahn's arrest would destroy the election chances of the French Socialist Part who are allied to Obama's Democrat Party.
So now the Federal government are forcing the prosecutors to throw the case in order to allow Strauss-Kahn to return to France. As they know this is morally wrong they are trying to disguise this fact by dressing it up in many, many different clothes.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a serial rapist and sex offender. In his native France he has been accused of rape several times but those accusations were hushed up through a mixture of bribery and intimidation. In New York he has been accused of two further sexual assaults and has been arrested at least once for solicitation - offering money to a prostitute for sex. However because he was the head of the IMF the police and prosecutors in New York were forced to drop the charges.
Shortly before this latest rape Strauss-Kahn had made it clear that he intended to step down as the head of the IMF in the coming months. So with everyone's blood up following the killing of Osama bin Laden when this rape occurred the police and prosecutors in New York saw no reason to protect him any further. The problem was that the matter then went all the way up the chain of command to President Obama who realised that Strauss-Kahn's arrest would destroy the election chances of the French Socialist Part who are allied to Obama's Democrat Party.
So now the Federal government are forcing the prosecutors to throw the case in order to allow Strauss-Kahn to return to France. As they know this is morally wrong they are trying to disguise this fact by dressing it up in many, many different clothes.
Sunday 24 July 2011
WikiLeaks
Tomorrow (25/7/11) the blond haired, blue-eyed Norwegian terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik will make his first court appearance charged with at least 93 counts of murder along with various firearms and explosives charges. I won't embarrass myself by trying to post pictures but it's fair to say that Breivik looks a lot like Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks website.
If you're unfamiliar with the WikiLeaks story it's a website that allows people to anonymously and therefore securely leak documents. In 2010 it made public thousands of documents relating to the war in Iraq, thousands of documents relating to the NATO operation in Afghanistan and thousands of American diplomatic cables. This made some NATO members angry so Sweden used it's unique and controversial rape laws to issue a warrant to question Assange who was living in Britain at the time. Then Britain arrested Assange with a view to ultimately extradite him to the US. There he will cause no end of trouble for the Obama administration which is already viewed as a communist dictatorship that hates America by groups like the Tea Party. If the Obama administration doesn't prosecute Assange it will be viewed as not punishing an enemy of America. If it does prosecute Assange it will have to first overturn or go around the first amendment to the US constitution which guarantees the right to free speech. The Obama administration is currently deadlocked with the Republican Congress over attempts to avoid an American debt default. They have about 9 days left.
Assange's appeal against his extradition to Sweden is currently being considered by a British court. So by forcing Sweden's neighbour Norway to put an Assange lookalike on trial Britain is trying to find out if Norway supports the Assange plan and if they don't what action can be taken to change their mind.
As for the Breivik hearing tommorrow I expect it to be a very short affair because he doesn't need to speak to prove that he is being humanely treated and be remanded in custody. This discussion automatically brings up a memories of Ghalid Shilat which has the same emotional effect on younger Israelis as images of a military looking Aryan slaughtering children in a camp in northern Europe has on older Israelis and they're still trying to pick Amy Winehouse out of the walls.
As for my 1500 page manifesto on why Breivik doesn't even have the right to a trial let alone a speedy trial it's pretty much done. However I don't think it is right to publish it up on the Internet at this time and that's actually an argument I've had with Julian Assange.
Or to put it another way, are you having fun yet Norway?
If you're unfamiliar with the WikiLeaks story it's a website that allows people to anonymously and therefore securely leak documents. In 2010 it made public thousands of documents relating to the war in Iraq, thousands of documents relating to the NATO operation in Afghanistan and thousands of American diplomatic cables. This made some NATO members angry so Sweden used it's unique and controversial rape laws to issue a warrant to question Assange who was living in Britain at the time. Then Britain arrested Assange with a view to ultimately extradite him to the US. There he will cause no end of trouble for the Obama administration which is already viewed as a communist dictatorship that hates America by groups like the Tea Party. If the Obama administration doesn't prosecute Assange it will be viewed as not punishing an enemy of America. If it does prosecute Assange it will have to first overturn or go around the first amendment to the US constitution which guarantees the right to free speech. The Obama administration is currently deadlocked with the Republican Congress over attempts to avoid an American debt default. They have about 9 days left.
Assange's appeal against his extradition to Sweden is currently being considered by a British court. So by forcing Sweden's neighbour Norway to put an Assange lookalike on trial Britain is trying to find out if Norway supports the Assange plan and if they don't what action can be taken to change their mind.
As for the Breivik hearing tommorrow I expect it to be a very short affair because he doesn't need to speak to prove that he is being humanely treated and be remanded in custody. This discussion automatically brings up a memories of Ghalid Shilat which has the same emotional effect on younger Israelis as images of a military looking Aryan slaughtering children in a camp in northern Europe has on older Israelis and they're still trying to pick Amy Winehouse out of the walls.
As for my 1500 page manifesto on why Breivik doesn't even have the right to a trial let alone a speedy trial it's pretty much done. However I don't think it is right to publish it up on the Internet at this time and that's actually an argument I've had with Julian Assange.
Or to put it another way, are you having fun yet Norway?
Operation Oil Theft: Month 5, Week 1, Day 1.
In the two days since my previous post on the subject not much has happened in Libya.
On Saturday (23/7/11) NATO (read British) aircraft carried out another intense night time air raid on Qaddafi's compound in Tripoli. As it is extremely unlikely that Qaddafi was in the compound at the time and the compound has been bombed close to a hundred times since the start of the air campaign this latest attack was of limited military value. Instead it was a symbolic attack designed to send two messages. Firstly it was designed to send the message to Qaddafi and the Libyan people that the international coalition is still holding together and they're not going away anytime soon.
Secondly it was designed to send a message to Norway and the international community about Friday's (22/7/11) twin terrorist attacks. In the original plan the blond, blue eyed gunman, Ander Breivik, was supposed to have used his disguise as a policeman to flee from the scene while everyone was too busy looking for an Arab/Muslim terrorist. This would have led to two to three days of confusion and wild speculation while the Norwegian authorities tried to identify the attacker under extreme pressure. By throwing Qaddafi's name into the confusion Britain was hoping to convince everyone that he was behind the attacks forcing the Norwegian government to reverse it's decision to withdraw from the NATO operation at the end of August.
Elsewhere in Libya it still appears that the rebels have been unable to re-take an undefended Brega. The problem they're facing is that as part of their defence of the town government extensively rigged the town with booby traps and other improvised explosive devices (IED's). So the situation the rebels have been facing in Brega is remarkably similar to the situation the Norwegian police faced when they arrived on Utoya island only with fewer corpses.
On Saturday (23/7/11) NATO (read British) aircraft carried out another intense night time air raid on Qaddafi's compound in Tripoli. As it is extremely unlikely that Qaddafi was in the compound at the time and the compound has been bombed close to a hundred times since the start of the air campaign this latest attack was of limited military value. Instead it was a symbolic attack designed to send two messages. Firstly it was designed to send the message to Qaddafi and the Libyan people that the international coalition is still holding together and they're not going away anytime soon.
Secondly it was designed to send a message to Norway and the international community about Friday's (22/7/11) twin terrorist attacks. In the original plan the blond, blue eyed gunman, Ander Breivik, was supposed to have used his disguise as a policeman to flee from the scene while everyone was too busy looking for an Arab/Muslim terrorist. This would have led to two to three days of confusion and wild speculation while the Norwegian authorities tried to identify the attacker under extreme pressure. By throwing Qaddafi's name into the confusion Britain was hoping to convince everyone that he was behind the attacks forcing the Norwegian government to reverse it's decision to withdraw from the NATO operation at the end of August.
Elsewhere in Libya it still appears that the rebels have been unable to re-take an undefended Brega. The problem they're facing is that as part of their defence of the town government extensively rigged the town with booby traps and other improvised explosive devices (IED's). So the situation the rebels have been facing in Brega is remarkably similar to the situation the Norwegian police faced when they arrived on Utoya island only with fewer corpses.
Saturday 23 July 2011
Amy Winehouse is Dead.
It's 18:00 on 23/7/11 and the British police have announced that British singer and world renowned drug addict Amy Winehouse has been found dead in her north London home aged just 27.
Although this doesn't really come as much of a surprise it will spawn dozens of conspiracy theories that she was killed to increase the tension that the Norwegian authorities helped to dispel by arresting a live suspect for yesterday's attacks. Unfortunately the truth will probably never known because if she was killed it would have been through a drugs overdose and she may well have done that too herself.
Although this doesn't really come as much of a surprise it will spawn dozens of conspiracy theories that she was killed to increase the tension that the Norwegian authorities helped to dispel by arresting a live suspect for yesterday's attacks. Unfortunately the truth will probably never known because if she was killed it would have been through a drugs overdose and she may well have done that too herself.
Friday 22 July 2011
Right I've Seen Enough.
Although a fuller post will appear at a more appropriate time at 22:57 on 22/7/11 I'm calling the Norway bomb and shooting as a British attack on Norway as part of the ongoing dispute over north sea oil along with 99 other reasons
As for the latest from the incident the death toll has risen to a confirmed 11. Police have arrested a white male at the scene of the Utoeya island shooting. The Oslo bomb has been confirmed as a car bomb which would suggest the use of a military grade explosive.
As for the latest from the incident the death toll has risen to a confirmed 11. Police have arrested a white male at the scene of the Utoeya island shooting. The Oslo bomb has been confirmed as a car bomb which would suggest the use of a military grade explosive.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 5, Day 1.
I'll keep this brief because there are a lot of other things going on today (22/7/11). Besides Month 5 begins on Sunday (24/7/11).
This week in Libya the Nafusa mountains front line has remained static with the rebels unable to advance on Libyan government positions. On the Misrata front line the rebels have maintained their narrow breakout corridor and are extending it towards Zilten at a rate of around 1.2 miles (2km) per day. However they are sustaining heavy casualties of around 20 per day and the casualty rate is expected to rise and the rate of advance is expected to slow as the rebels approach Zilten and will have to go house to house to clear the town. On the Ajdabiya/Brega front line the rebels spent the early part of the week claiming that they were about to re-take Brega in record time. What actually happened is that on Sunday (17/7/11) Libyan government forces withdrew from Brega to Ras Lanuf. As of Thursday (21/7/11) the rebels have so far been unable to secure the town.
Even in light of these small gains by the rebels their Transitional National Council (TNC) is still only able to exert control over around 12% of the country. This is very similar to the situation in Somalia and why most nations outside of the 25 member International Contact Group have disregarded last Friday's (15/7/11) declaration by the contact group that the TNC are the legitimate government of Libya.
This week in Libya the Nafusa mountains front line has remained static with the rebels unable to advance on Libyan government positions. On the Misrata front line the rebels have maintained their narrow breakout corridor and are extending it towards Zilten at a rate of around 1.2 miles (2km) per day. However they are sustaining heavy casualties of around 20 per day and the casualty rate is expected to rise and the rate of advance is expected to slow as the rebels approach Zilten and will have to go house to house to clear the town. On the Ajdabiya/Brega front line the rebels spent the early part of the week claiming that they were about to re-take Brega in record time. What actually happened is that on Sunday (17/7/11) Libyan government forces withdrew from Brega to Ras Lanuf. As of Thursday (21/7/11) the rebels have so far been unable to secure the town.
Even in light of these small gains by the rebels their Transitional National Council (TNC) is still only able to exert control over around 12% of the country. This is very similar to the situation in Somalia and why most nations outside of the 25 member International Contact Group have disregarded last Friday's (15/7/11) declaration by the contact group that the TNC are the legitimate government of Libya.
Grandmother Update.
After preforming pretty much every test imaginable including an MRI the doctors ran out of reasons for keeping my grandmother in the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU). So yesterday (21/7/11) she was moved to one of the wards where she is under the care of a Dr Tan with an n. Last night she was so disruptive she had to be moved to a private room so no-one's even considering discharge until Monday (25/7/11). Between now and then they're going to preform another MRI and possibly remove her from the buprenorphine patch to do a rapid detox.
Crucially though they are flatly refusing to order a psych consult and are instead trying to keep things informal. This is being done in a deluded belief that they can somehow escape liability over the whole attempted murder/perverting the course of justice thing. I can only assume that this confidence comes from the idea that having my grandmother and father in such close contact with medical professionals will help them with their research. It won't because my grandmother and father have been in close contact with medical professionals for much of the last 5 years including a stay on that very same ward so there's nothing to be seen that hasn't been seen a hundred times before.
Edited to add @16:25 on 22/7/11: While I was at the hospital a very large truck style bomb exploded in Oslo, Norway's capital blowing out windows across a wide area and killing at least two. As reports are only just emerging it is far too soon to speculate. However as the scene seems reminiscent of the IRA's 1993 bombing of Bishopsgate in London an I've been out buying glass to repair the windows that were smashed during my grandmother's little explosion on Tuesday I would say that Islamic terrorism is about third on my list of suspects but that might change over time.
Crucially though they are flatly refusing to order a psych consult and are instead trying to keep things informal. This is being done in a deluded belief that they can somehow escape liability over the whole attempted murder/perverting the course of justice thing. I can only assume that this confidence comes from the idea that having my grandmother and father in such close contact with medical professionals will help them with their research. It won't because my grandmother and father have been in close contact with medical professionals for much of the last 5 years including a stay on that very same ward so there's nothing to be seen that hasn't been seen a hundred times before.
Edited to add @16:25 on 22/7/11: While I was at the hospital a very large truck style bomb exploded in Oslo, Norway's capital blowing out windows across a wide area and killing at least two. As reports are only just emerging it is far too soon to speculate. However as the scene seems reminiscent of the IRA's 1993 bombing of Bishopsgate in London an I've been out buying glass to repair the windows that were smashed during my grandmother's little explosion on Tuesday I would say that Islamic terrorism is about third on my list of suspects but that might change over time.
Thursday 21 July 2011
Famine in Somalia
On July 20th 2011 the United Nations (UN) declared a famine in southern Somalia. Amongst people who know what it means the word "famine" is not used lightly and this is the first famine that has been declared in Africa since 1991. Sadly though it is no surprise that a famine has been declared in Somalia.
If you've seen the film "Blackhawk Down" you may know that the United Sates military were forced to intervene in Somalia in the early 1990's. What you might not know is that this operation was launched to provide security for the UN as they tried to provide food aid to the victims of Africa's last famine. This mission failed and since then Britain has been doing everything in it's power to make the situation worse by trying to impose a government that few people in Somalia want and using aid charities as a cover to supply various armed groups who want to fight that government. In the immediate term this has been done to secure smuggling routes that control the flow of so-called blood diamonds and other minerals out of the nasty civil war that is currently ongoing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the longer term Britain hopes to divide Somalia into three easy to control sections with Somaliland in the north, central Somalia in the middle and southern Somalia in the area south of the Bakool region around the capital Mogadishu.
Obviously amid all this fighting and geo-political scheming normal life in Somalia has become all but impossible leading to most of the population of around 7 million either being in famine or at the point of famine for most of the last twenty years. The situation was made much worse in early 2010 when al-Shabaab - who are the closest thing Somalia's got to a popular government - banned aid charities from the country due to the fact they were deliberately supplying groups who were fighting al-Shabaab. This prompted the United States to proscribe al-Shabaab as a terrorist group making it illegal for American aid agencies or American funded aid agencies like the UN to operate in Somalia. As a result no-one has been able to get an accurate picture of the humanitarian situation in Somalia since May 2010.
What's happened recently to trigger the famine declaration is that the East Africa Food Crisis http://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2011/07/east-africa-food-crisis.html has caused a large flood of refugees to cross from Somalia into neighbouring countries such as Kenya. Under pressure from the UN this has prompted al-Shabaab to lift their ban on aid charities and given the UN the confidence to re-enter Somalia and assess the situation.
Within days the UN found around 3.7 million Somalis to be without access to the basic essentials for life such as food and water, more then 30% of children to be suffering from acute malnutrition and that this malnutrition was causing more then six people per 10,000 to die every day. This left the UN with little choice other then to declare a famine and ask for US$300 million to sort out the mess.
That huge task is not going to be made any easier by the fact the current UN Co-ordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Somalia is a Brit called Mark Bowden who seems more intent in causing trouble then making the situation any better. As Mr Bowden shares my family name I have to point out that he in no way speaks for me and the co-incidence is probably best ignored. Sadly I also have to warn people against donating money to Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) East Africa appeal because you would do more to help if you simply took your money and set fire to it rather then giving it to them.
However if you do have spare cash and you want to help the people of Somalia and East Africa you should donate too;
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
or the UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
If you've seen the film "Blackhawk Down" you may know that the United Sates military were forced to intervene in Somalia in the early 1990's. What you might not know is that this operation was launched to provide security for the UN as they tried to provide food aid to the victims of Africa's last famine. This mission failed and since then Britain has been doing everything in it's power to make the situation worse by trying to impose a government that few people in Somalia want and using aid charities as a cover to supply various armed groups who want to fight that government. In the immediate term this has been done to secure smuggling routes that control the flow of so-called blood diamonds and other minerals out of the nasty civil war that is currently ongoing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the longer term Britain hopes to divide Somalia into three easy to control sections with Somaliland in the north, central Somalia in the middle and southern Somalia in the area south of the Bakool region around the capital Mogadishu.
Obviously amid all this fighting and geo-political scheming normal life in Somalia has become all but impossible leading to most of the population of around 7 million either being in famine or at the point of famine for most of the last twenty years. The situation was made much worse in early 2010 when al-Shabaab - who are the closest thing Somalia's got to a popular government - banned aid charities from the country due to the fact they were deliberately supplying groups who were fighting al-Shabaab. This prompted the United States to proscribe al-Shabaab as a terrorist group making it illegal for American aid agencies or American funded aid agencies like the UN to operate in Somalia. As a result no-one has been able to get an accurate picture of the humanitarian situation in Somalia since May 2010.
What's happened recently to trigger the famine declaration is that the East Africa Food Crisis http://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2011/07/east-africa-food-crisis.html has caused a large flood of refugees to cross from Somalia into neighbouring countries such as Kenya. Under pressure from the UN this has prompted al-Shabaab to lift their ban on aid charities and given the UN the confidence to re-enter Somalia and assess the situation.
Within days the UN found around 3.7 million Somalis to be without access to the basic essentials for life such as food and water, more then 30% of children to be suffering from acute malnutrition and that this malnutrition was causing more then six people per 10,000 to die every day. This left the UN with little choice other then to declare a famine and ask for US$300 million to sort out the mess.
That huge task is not going to be made any easier by the fact the current UN Co-ordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Somalia is a Brit called Mark Bowden who seems more intent in causing trouble then making the situation any better. As Mr Bowden shares my family name I have to point out that he in no way speaks for me and the co-incidence is probably best ignored. Sadly I also have to warn people against donating money to Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) East Africa appeal because you would do more to help if you simply took your money and set fire to it rather then giving it to them.
However if you do have spare cash and you want to help the people of Somalia and East Africa you should donate too;
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
or the UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
Outstanding.
It's 23:51 on 21/7/11 and I have returned from Brighton. I would like to impress you all now with a magnificent article about the Somalia famine that I wrote on the train back.
Unfortunately just as that train had pulled out of Preston Park there was a tannoy announcement calling for the conductor to contact the train driver which is normally a sign that a serious incident has occurred on the train. Then three bruised and battered businessmen emerged from the carriage behind me to reveal that the serious incident was a white woman in her forties who after cursing god and all his saints decided to fight anyone and anything that got in her way.
This left me trying to give a tutorial to three random businessmen on how to deal with mad women who want to fight the world and just won't listen to reason. So I moved up the train which had by now halted at Hassocks to take a look at the harridan in question and decided that she was genuinely mad and was just waiting for the police to turn up to detain her under the mental health act. After sending a text message and having a sandwich I was all ready to get stuck in when the train driver decided that because she was being adequately restrained by the station staff he could move off and try to make up some of the 30 minute delay.
Or to put it another way; God I love Brighton.
Unfortunately just as that train had pulled out of Preston Park there was a tannoy announcement calling for the conductor to contact the train driver which is normally a sign that a serious incident has occurred on the train. Then three bruised and battered businessmen emerged from the carriage behind me to reveal that the serious incident was a white woman in her forties who after cursing god and all his saints decided to fight anyone and anything that got in her way.
This left me trying to give a tutorial to three random businessmen on how to deal with mad women who want to fight the world and just won't listen to reason. So I moved up the train which had by now halted at Hassocks to take a look at the harridan in question and decided that she was genuinely mad and was just waiting for the police to turn up to detain her under the mental health act. After sending a text message and having a sandwich I was all ready to get stuck in when the train driver decided that because she was being adequately restrained by the station staff he could move off and try to make up some of the 30 minute delay.
Or to put it another way; God I love Brighton.
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Now There's a Pretty Sight.
After weeks of losses stock markets across Europe have today (20/7/11) finished up. A small part of the reason for this is that the Brits have been given a bloody nose and they're generally considered to be a threat to economic prosperity. The main reason though is the three day European Union leaders summit that will end tomorrow (21/7/11). Although no-one is expecting this meeting to end in an agreement the noises coming out suggest that EU leaders are approaching the point where they will properly tackle the Eurozone's Sovereign debt crisis. As you may have noticed from his appearance in House of Commons Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron was not invited to this meeting.
Also today there was an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the issues surrounding climate change. Britain were most certainly invited to this meeting in much the same way the Commons select committee invited Rupert Murdoch to appear in front of them.
Serbia has also approved the extradition of Goran Hadzic to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. This gives the ICC no choice other then to handle a case of forced transfer of ethnic groups while Britain carries out the Dale Farm gypsy eviction in Essex. Britain has responded by announcing that the former leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hannigfield has been denied permission to appeal against his conviction for expenses fraud. The Dale Farm eviction is still on though.
I am also aware that the United Nations have declared a full famine in Somalia. However I still need some time to do some research and find the right words to discuss this very complex and serious situation in more detail without making it worse. I will try and do that tomorrow before I go down to Brighton for the usual routine of discussing vital matters of state. The local health authority could of course use my absence to force my grandmother's discharge but unless there's a dramatic and rapid improvement in her mental state that's not very likely.
Also today there was an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the issues surrounding climate change. Britain were most certainly invited to this meeting in much the same way the Commons select committee invited Rupert Murdoch to appear in front of them.
Serbia has also approved the extradition of Goran Hadzic to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. This gives the ICC no choice other then to handle a case of forced transfer of ethnic groups while Britain carries out the Dale Farm gypsy eviction in Essex. Britain has responded by announcing that the former leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hannigfield has been denied permission to appeal against his conviction for expenses fraud. The Dale Farm eviction is still on though.
I am also aware that the United Nations have declared a full famine in Somalia. However I still need some time to do some research and find the right words to discuss this very complex and serious situation in more detail without making it worse. I will try and do that tomorrow before I go down to Brighton for the usual routine of discussing vital matters of state. The local health authority could of course use my absence to force my grandmother's discharge but unless there's a dramatic and rapid improvement in her mental state that's not very likely.
They're Still Pushing.
My grandmother is currently under the care of a Dr Saadat which is remarkably similar to the ex-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat although the doctor's got three A's rather then two.
This morning (20/7/11) Dr Saadat telephoned my father and invited him in but made no attempt to contact me. I did turn up with my father at around 12:00 and we were promptly kept waiting for an hour and a half. Although all the blood and urine tests came back negative my grandmother's altered mental state is still being blamed on a urine infection rather then drug abuse. However they are doing the dance of keeping her in for a few days while the infection clears. She has not been transferred to elderly care though because it doesn't just share staff with my mother's department it shares office space.
This morning (20/7/11) Dr Saadat telephoned my father and invited him in but made no attempt to contact me. I did turn up with my father at around 12:00 and we were promptly kept waiting for an hour and a half. Although all the blood and urine tests came back negative my grandmother's altered mental state is still being blamed on a urine infection rather then drug abuse. However they are doing the dance of keeping her in for a few days while the infection clears. She has not been transferred to elderly care though because it doesn't just share staff with my mother's department it shares office space.
Tuesday 19 July 2011
I'm Calling Time.
It's 00:48 on July 291th 2011 and my fahter's been in bed for halt an hour. So I shoulkd join him tomrrow
If In Doubt Phone Your Mother.
Of course my soon to be lesbian ex-mother is also a managing team leader of the physiotherapy department at Mayday/Croydon University Hospital. As they occasionally share staff with the elderly care wards I thought it was only fair that at around 23:20 I sent her a text message.
I explained that my grandmother had been admitted with police help after refusing food and water for several days and has been admitted overnight. Considering that she's played this game many, many times before with my sister of various eating disorders (Milly Dowler) I only thought she should be warned that her ex husband will be knocking around work for a couple of days yet.
At around 23:35 I received a call from a very nice Irish man who had lots of specific questions about my grandmother but very few specific answers so I dismissed him as a blaggard. This was probably a mistake because about two minutes later he phoned my father and turned out to be the admitting doctor from elderly care who asked very specific questions about the drugs my grandmother was on (Buprenorphine 5 micrograms/hour per hour transdermal patch) and how much her house was worth.
So anyway I think the point I made to my mother was that I'll be up for hours yet but it's an early start tomorrow so I'll be leaving my phone on in case there's any gossip.
I explained that my grandmother had been admitted with police help after refusing food and water for several days and has been admitted overnight. Considering that she's played this game many, many times before with my sister of various eating disorders (Milly Dowler) I only thought she should be warned that her ex husband will be knocking around work for a couple of days yet.
At around 23:35 I received a call from a very nice Irish man who had lots of specific questions about my grandmother but very few specific answers so I dismissed him as a blaggard. This was probably a mistake because about two minutes later he phoned my father and turned out to be the admitting doctor from elderly care who asked very specific questions about the drugs my grandmother was on (Buprenorphine 5 micrograms/hour per hour transdermal patch) and how much her house was worth.
So anyway I think the point I made to my mother was that I'll be up for hours yet but it's an early start tomorrow so I'll be leaving my phone on in case there's any gossip.
Yeah Hospitals Are Really Boring.
My father and I went to check on my grandmother at about 20:20. Due to an irritating mix up her doctor then spent about an hour trying to call me and my father at home while we were sitting about 20 paces away from him.
When we did finally made contact the doctor flatly refused to refer her for psychiatric assessment. He did though decided to admit her for assessment my the elderly care team. My father will be on the phone to them first thing tomorrow morning for a progress report.
So allow me to save everyone some time and stress. My grandmother will be admitted to hospital for observation until at least 16:00 on Friday July 22nd. Then the elderly care team will assess her as suffering from a chronic morphine addiction and put her on a six week residential rehab program. After all if the Brits want to pay to put her on the smack they can most certainly pay to get her off the smack.
When we did finally made contact the doctor flatly refused to refer her for psychiatric assessment. He did though decided to admit her for assessment my the elderly care team. My father will be on the phone to them first thing tomorrow morning for a progress report.
So allow me to save everyone some time and stress. My grandmother will be admitted to hospital for observation until at least 16:00 on Friday July 22nd. Then the elderly care team will assess her as suffering from a chronic morphine addiction and put her on a six week residential rehab program. After all if the Brits want to pay to put her on the smack they can most certainly pay to get her off the smack.
I Think I'm In Love.
I've been to the pub, it happens.
Specifically I was rather taken with the oriental young lady who sat directly behind Rupert and James Murdoch in the first part of their select committee hearing. I was trying to work out if she was Chinese or Japanese when that damned protester tried slamming a plastic plate covered in shaving foam into Rupert Murdoch's face. When that happened she confirmed what everybody already knew - that she's British and either a member of MI5 or intelligence aware police. Personally I think she was ordered to sit between the Murdochs in every shot to give the entirely false impression to the viewing public that the Murdochs are backed by the Chinese. A thought brought to you by a guilty mind if there ever was one.
Now I'm sorry if any of that sounds harsh but the thing about a 72 hour section/mental health hold is that they normally last for about 72 hours. We visited my grandmother at Mayday/Croydon University hospital at around 18:00 to find a technician politely listening while trying to preform a EKG. We then went to the pub for dinner at around 18:30. It is now 19:46 and we'll return to the hospital at about 20:20 by which time the doctor will have had time to assess that EKG and consider the next stage of the process.
Specifically I was rather taken with the oriental young lady who sat directly behind Rupert and James Murdoch in the first part of their select committee hearing. I was trying to work out if she was Chinese or Japanese when that damned protester tried slamming a plastic plate covered in shaving foam into Rupert Murdoch's face. When that happened she confirmed what everybody already knew - that she's British and either a member of MI5 or intelligence aware police. Personally I think she was ordered to sit between the Murdochs in every shot to give the entirely false impression to the viewing public that the Murdochs are backed by the Chinese. A thought brought to you by a guilty mind if there ever was one.
Now I'm sorry if any of that sounds harsh but the thing about a 72 hour section/mental health hold is that they normally last for about 72 hours. We visited my grandmother at Mayday/Croydon University hospital at around 18:00 to find a technician politely listening while trying to preform a EKG. We then went to the pub for dinner at around 18:30. It is now 19:46 and we'll return to the hospital at about 20:20 by which time the doctor will have had time to assess that EKG and consider the next stage of the process.
The Yanks are not Happy.
Today (19/7/11) my grandmother has been in a confused and aggressive mood. After discovering that shouting and banging her walking stick would not get a response she tried smashing up the car. Once challenged she became violent biting me a couple of times amongst other things. This forced my father and I to restrain her in a wheelchair with with a lap belt. She then smashed one of her windows with a brick. At this point my father finally relented and called the doctor. The doctor immediately advised him to call an ambulance.
When the ambulance arrived at around 14:15 the crew was presented with a woman with altered mental status who'd been refusing food and water for several days, smashed up her own and other peoples property, used violence against others, threatened to cut herself with broken glass and was refusing medical treatment. So they should have immediately detained her under the mental health act as she posed a threat to herself and others. However the tried to avoid doing this for the best part of an hour before finally contacting the police who detained my grandmother under the mental health act and transported her to the local hospital where the "section" will have to be confirmed by a psychiatrist.
They're going to try very hard to avoid doing that because once she's been detained under the mental health act the local health authority will be unable to release her until they've diagnosed and treated her drug problem and they will have to pay for her care while they're making that decision.
Edited to add @ 17:29 on19/7/11;
"What were they expecting a tear stained letter?"
Sorry for forgetting at the time but it's been a busy do so I've not been at my best. While I'll cover it in more detail when I get time if you've seen the protester who attacked Rupert Murdoch causing the select committee hearing to be suspended he's an obvious Labourite protester acting to give all parties time to read this blog and keep up with the script.
When the ambulance arrived at around 14:15 the crew was presented with a woman with altered mental status who'd been refusing food and water for several days, smashed up her own and other peoples property, used violence against others, threatened to cut herself with broken glass and was refusing medical treatment. So they should have immediately detained her under the mental health act as she posed a threat to herself and others. However the tried to avoid doing this for the best part of an hour before finally contacting the police who detained my grandmother under the mental health act and transported her to the local hospital where the "section" will have to be confirmed by a psychiatrist.
They're going to try very hard to avoid doing that because once she's been detained under the mental health act the local health authority will be unable to release her until they've diagnosed and treated her drug problem and they will have to pay for her care while they're making that decision.
Edited to add @ 17:29 on19/7/11;
"What were they expecting a tear stained letter?"
Sorry for forgetting at the time but it's been a busy do so I've not been at my best. While I'll cover it in more detail when I get time if you've seen the protester who attacked Rupert Murdoch causing the select committee hearing to be suspended he's an obvious Labourite protester acting to give all parties time to read this blog and keep up with the script.
Can You Feel the Excitement,
Because it's nearly showtime!
Later today (19/7/11) Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks will appear in front of the Parliamentary select committee for culture, media and sport to answer questions about the phone hacking scandal. As the select committee only really has the power to call people before it and ask them questions this is likely to be more circus then serious. However lots of people will be watching to see how the Murdochs and Ms Brooks answer the MP's questions. If it was me I would just answer every question with the simple phrase;
"On my solicitors advice I respectfully decline to answer that question at this time."
That's because this phrase is the only safe way to answer questions from the British police after the scandal over the 1993 Stephen Lawrence murder was exploited to remove the right to silence (5th amendment to the US constitution basically). That scandal was also exploited to do away with the principle of Double Jeopardy which prevents the state from prosecuting the same person for the same crime over and over again no matter how many times they're found to be innocent. Curiously though after all those changes and 18 years still no-one has been brought to justice for the murder. Not even all those corrupt police officers to helped to cover it up.
Anyway I hope today is all you want it to be because I'll be using the time to do something productive like going to the supermarket.
Later today (19/7/11) Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks will appear in front of the Parliamentary select committee for culture, media and sport to answer questions about the phone hacking scandal. As the select committee only really has the power to call people before it and ask them questions this is likely to be more circus then serious. However lots of people will be watching to see how the Murdochs and Ms Brooks answer the MP's questions. If it was me I would just answer every question with the simple phrase;
"On my solicitors advice I respectfully decline to answer that question at this time."
That's because this phrase is the only safe way to answer questions from the British police after the scandal over the 1993 Stephen Lawrence murder was exploited to remove the right to silence (5th amendment to the US constitution basically). That scandal was also exploited to do away with the principle of Double Jeopardy which prevents the state from prosecuting the same person for the same crime over and over again no matter how many times they're found to be innocent. Curiously though after all those changes and 18 years still no-one has been brought to justice for the murder. Not even all those corrupt police officers to helped to cover it up.
Anyway I hope today is all you want it to be because I'll be using the time to do something productive like going to the supermarket.
Monday 18 July 2011
Thick and Fast.
That's probably the best way to describe how events in the phone hacking scandal are unfolding at the moment. The most recent development came at around 19:00 when it was publicly announced that former News of the World showbiz reporter, Sean Hoare had been found dead at his home in Watford although he was actually discovered by Hertfordshire police about 12 hours previously. Britain is now trying to portray Mr Hoare as a whistle blower who played a major role in uncovering the phone hacking scandal. What they're less keen to have known is that Mr Hoare was also a morbidly obese middle aged man who'd been sacked by the News of the World due to a serious and unresolved drink and drug problem.
So what I think we're looking at here is a fat man dying only for Britain to overplay his role in uncovering the phone hacking scandal in the hope of starting rumours that he'd been the victim of a Dr David Kelly style assisted suicide. This is because Britain is now very seriously concerned about it's role at the United Nations post-Libya. Like a lot of people they think that if the United States were to remove it's patronage then Britain would be very swiftly removed from the Security Council and possibly the entire organisation.
For their part the United States Justices Department have today (18/7/11) let it be known that they are liaising with Britain's Serious Fraud Office over the phone hacking scandal. As the US Justice Department would have access to the recordings of telephone conversations which allegedly show senior figures within the British government and the Notting Hill Housing Trust (NHHT) colluding to arrange the Langdale Road murder of July 1st you would think this liaison would lead to a very interesting conversation. It won't. The US Justice Department are just using the two issues to once again pressurise the British legal system to allow the use of so called intercept evidence in the trials of Islamic terrorist suspects.
So nearly ten years after the 9/11 attacks the US security services still haven't regained their sense of perspective which sort means that Osama bin Laden is still winning and he's been dead for three months.
So what I think we're looking at here is a fat man dying only for Britain to overplay his role in uncovering the phone hacking scandal in the hope of starting rumours that he'd been the victim of a Dr David Kelly style assisted suicide. This is because Britain is now very seriously concerned about it's role at the United Nations post-Libya. Like a lot of people they think that if the United States were to remove it's patronage then Britain would be very swiftly removed from the Security Council and possibly the entire organisation.
For their part the United States Justices Department have today (18/7/11) let it be known that they are liaising with Britain's Serious Fraud Office over the phone hacking scandal. As the US Justice Department would have access to the recordings of telephone conversations which allegedly show senior figures within the British government and the Notting Hill Housing Trust (NHHT) colluding to arrange the Langdale Road murder of July 1st you would think this liaison would lead to a very interesting conversation. It won't. The US Justice Department are just using the two issues to once again pressurise the British legal system to allow the use of so called intercept evidence in the trials of Islamic terrorist suspects.
So nearly ten years after the 9/11 attacks the US security services still haven't regained their sense of perspective which sort means that Osama bin Laden is still winning and he's been dead for three months.
You Couldn't Make it Up.
Today (18/7/11) one of several assistant commissioners of London's Metropolitan Police, John Yates resigned over the phone hacking scandal. This is only worth a mention because it has led to the promotion of Cressida Dick. You might remember this name because Ms Dick was the ranking officer who mistakenly identified Jean Charles De Menezes as a suicide bomber and ordered him shot and killed at Stockwell Underground Station in 2005. She is perhaps one of the most aptly named police officers in the entire force.
Also today the leader of the opposition, the Home Secretary, the shadow Home Secretary and the Mayor of London all made speeches giving their reaction to yesterday's resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson. This is only worth noting because not one of them mentioned that Sir Stephenson has been suffering from cancer for about a year so his resignation was really on health grounds rather then anything to do with the phone hacking scandal. He is to be replaced by Sir Tom Godwin who was the acting commissioner who over saw the pre-Royal wedding crackdown while Sir Stephenson was on leave receiving medical treatment.
I should also point out that on Saturday (16/7/11) apart from shouting for help my grandmother also spent about eight hours banging her walking stick against the ground. Funnily enough she woke up the next day to find that her hand was all bruised and swollen. As this type of bruising normally lasts for 3-5 days it was still there today so my father sent for a doctor to examine her. As usual the doctor chose to ignore the obvious and diagnosed the bruising as being the result of an invisible insect bite and blamed her altered mental state on a urinary infection but did concede that this would require a urine test to confirm. So today my father and the doctor spent about an hour literally discussing the best way to take the piss.
Also today the leader of the opposition, the Home Secretary, the shadow Home Secretary and the Mayor of London all made speeches giving their reaction to yesterday's resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson. This is only worth noting because not one of them mentioned that Sir Stephenson has been suffering from cancer for about a year so his resignation was really on health grounds rather then anything to do with the phone hacking scandal. He is to be replaced by Sir Tom Godwin who was the acting commissioner who over saw the pre-Royal wedding crackdown while Sir Stephenson was on leave receiving medical treatment.
I should also point out that on Saturday (16/7/11) apart from shouting for help my grandmother also spent about eight hours banging her walking stick against the ground. Funnily enough she woke up the next day to find that her hand was all bruised and swollen. As this type of bruising normally lasts for 3-5 days it was still there today so my father sent for a doctor to examine her. As usual the doctor chose to ignore the obvious and diagnosed the bruising as being the result of an invisible insect bite and blamed her altered mental state on a urinary infection but did concede that this would require a urine test to confirm. So today my father and the doctor spent about an hour literally discussing the best way to take the piss.
Sunday 17 July 2011
Yep Still Trivial.
At around midday today (17/7/11) Rebekah Brooks was arrested over the phone hacking scandal. This seems to be a deliberate attempt to make sure that Ms Brooks has no choice other then to appear cagey and evasive when she answers questions in front of Parliamentary select committee on Tuesday (19/7/11).
Then about five minutes before the kick off of the women's football world cup final the commissioner of London's Metropolitan police, Sir Paul Stephenson resigned over the scandal. Apart from the fact that the referee in the world cup final is also a German policewoman this is worth a mention because it is an attempt to convince all the young lefties who took part in the student riots of last winter and the older lefties who took part in the print union strike of the mid-1980's that the campaign is working and they should continue to support it. I'm not sure if this will work though because the older lefties at least should know that police commissioners come and go but the office rarely changes. Mind you both the students and the print unions both lost their respective battles so it might work.
Elsewhere it has been announced and then denied that the ex-President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak has fallen into a coma whilst in hospital where he has been treated for months following a heart attack. Mubarak is meant to appear in front of a court in two weeks so obviously a lot of people think he's trying to use the health excuse to get out of the prosecution. What I think he's trying to do is remind the Egyptian people that when he resigned he felt he'd entered into an agreement with them that in return for his resignation they would allow him a dignified retirement and the Egyptian people now appear to be going back on that deal. Obviously it's not my country or my revolution but I think that at the very least his trial should wait until after September and all this Palestine nonsense is out of the way.
As for the football for what is essentially an amateur competition it was actually quite a good game. The USA went ahead after 69 minutes then Japan drew level in the 81st minute forcing the match into extra time. After 104 minutes the USA went ahead for a second time but Japan equalised again in the 117th minute forcing it into a penalty shoot out which Japan won 3-1 meaning that Japan win the World Cup for the first time ever. Personally I'm celebrating with a good measure of Black Bush Whiskey mainly because no-one makes a Black Blair Whiskey.
Then about five minutes before the kick off of the women's football world cup final the commissioner of London's Metropolitan police, Sir Paul Stephenson resigned over the scandal. Apart from the fact that the referee in the world cup final is also a German policewoman this is worth a mention because it is an attempt to convince all the young lefties who took part in the student riots of last winter and the older lefties who took part in the print union strike of the mid-1980's that the campaign is working and they should continue to support it. I'm not sure if this will work though because the older lefties at least should know that police commissioners come and go but the office rarely changes. Mind you both the students and the print unions both lost their respective battles so it might work.
Elsewhere it has been announced and then denied that the ex-President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak has fallen into a coma whilst in hospital where he has been treated for months following a heart attack. Mubarak is meant to appear in front of a court in two weeks so obviously a lot of people think he's trying to use the health excuse to get out of the prosecution. What I think he's trying to do is remind the Egyptian people that when he resigned he felt he'd entered into an agreement with them that in return for his resignation they would allow him a dignified retirement and the Egyptian people now appear to be going back on that deal. Obviously it's not my country or my revolution but I think that at the very least his trial should wait until after September and all this Palestine nonsense is out of the way.
As for the football for what is essentially an amateur competition it was actually quite a good game. The USA went ahead after 69 minutes then Japan drew level in the 81st minute forcing the match into extra time. After 104 minutes the USA went ahead for a second time but Japan equalised again in the 117th minute forcing it into a penalty shoot out which Japan won 3-1 meaning that Japan win the World Cup for the first time ever. Personally I'm celebrating with a good measure of Black Bush Whiskey mainly because no-one makes a Black Blair Whiskey.
Is Brown Back in Hiding Then?
I know it's Sunday and I know that the phone hacking scandal is pretty trivial but I've got five minutes while I'm doing laundry so;
On Monday (11/7/11) the Guardian newspaper published a story claiming that two News International newspapers - the Times and the Sun - illegally accessed ex-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's financial, legal and medical records to publish a story about his son, Frazer being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. This prompted Brown to appear in Parliament for pretty much the first time since the 2010 General Election to make an impassioned speech about the immense emotional distress News International had caused him by crossing into the criminal underworld to breach his infant son's privacy.
The only problem is that the Guardian story was a complete pack of lies and they have already published a retraction and apologised to News International. Gordon Brown however has neither apologised to News International nor apologised for misleading Parliament. Instead he's trying to keep the lie going for as long as possible by reporting the matter to the police although he is being very careful not to repeat the allegation in a forum where he could be sued for libel.
It also seems that the phone hacking scandal is spreading to America which seems like a mistake to me. I understand why the Obama administration has an axe to grind with Fox News but I'm surprised anyone else is touching the story because being two weeks away from a debt default I would say that America has swallowed all the British poison it can take right now.
On Monday (11/7/11) the Guardian newspaper published a story claiming that two News International newspapers - the Times and the Sun - illegally accessed ex-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's financial, legal and medical records to publish a story about his son, Frazer being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. This prompted Brown to appear in Parliament for pretty much the first time since the 2010 General Election to make an impassioned speech about the immense emotional distress News International had caused him by crossing into the criminal underworld to breach his infant son's privacy.
The only problem is that the Guardian story was a complete pack of lies and they have already published a retraction and apologised to News International. Gordon Brown however has neither apologised to News International nor apologised for misleading Parliament. Instead he's trying to keep the lie going for as long as possible by reporting the matter to the police although he is being very careful not to repeat the allegation in a forum where he could be sued for libel.
It also seems that the phone hacking scandal is spreading to America which seems like a mistake to me. I understand why the Obama administration has an axe to grind with Fox News but I'm surprised anyone else is touching the story because being two weeks away from a debt default I would say that America has swallowed all the British poison it can take right now.
Saturday 16 July 2011
Ok Quite Funny.
For most of today (16/7/11) my grandmother has been standing in the garden screaming for help at the top of her voice. Obviously we can't actually hear her from inside the house but I'd thought I'd mention it because a drug addled old lady screaming for help does rather sum up Britain's position at the moment.
I should also point out that my grandmother's death is now no longer to be used as the trigger for Israel's big war. In fact that war now seems less likely now that Obama seems to have decided that most of this summers violence will be taking place in the United States instead. Considering his first obligation is to American citizens I think that decisions going to have to go down as a mistake.
I should also point out that my grandmother's death is now no longer to be used as the trigger for Israel's big war. In fact that war now seems less likely now that Obama seems to have decided that most of this summers violence will be taking place in the United States instead. Considering his first obligation is to American citizens I think that decisions going to have to go down as a mistake.
Friday 15 July 2011
I Come Bearing Depressing News.
It's 22:44 on Friday July 15th 2011 and I'm not nearly drunk enough.
Slightly more importantly then that pretty much as I was writing my previous post the Libya Contact Group met in Turkey. With the backing of the United States they formally recognised the Libyan rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) as the official government of Libya. In this instance the word "government" is hugely important because it gives the TNC control of Libya's Sovereign Wealth Fund. Or it will do just as soon as the war ends because until then the TNC are represented by Qatar. Now I'll accept that I'm a little drunk but if I sobered up a bit I'm sure I'd find the time to prove that Qatar have already done rather a good job of taking the money promised to the Libyan rebels and then pissing it straight up a wall.
Now as for the first problem I'm confident that it can be solved by drinking that vodka miniature I brought last Thursday. As for the second problem I'm pretty sure I explained it in more detail in my previous post.
Slightly more importantly then that pretty much as I was writing my previous post the Libya Contact Group met in Turkey. With the backing of the United States they formally recognised the Libyan rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) as the official government of Libya. In this instance the word "government" is hugely important because it gives the TNC control of Libya's Sovereign Wealth Fund. Or it will do just as soon as the war ends because until then the TNC are represented by Qatar. Now I'll accept that I'm a little drunk but if I sobered up a bit I'm sure I'd find the time to prove that Qatar have already done rather a good job of taking the money promised to the Libyan rebels and then pissing it straight up a wall.
Now as for the first problem I'm confident that it can be solved by drinking that vodka miniature I brought last Thursday. As for the second problem I'm pretty sure I explained it in more detail in my previous post.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 4, Day 1.
It has been another quiet week in Libya. The rebels have managed to hold on to the narrow 12 mile (20km) corridor they opened up on the Misrata front line last week. However the rebels were unable to hold on to the town of Gharain on the Nafusa mountains front line and were pushed back the full 6 miles (10km) they'd gained by a Libyan government counter offensive on Wednesday (13/7/11). On the Ajdabiya/Brega front line the rebels have been talking about mounting a big offensive to take Brega for a couple of days now but the line remains static while we wait to see if that attack will materialise.
On the diplomatic front on Wednesday the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg all recognised the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people. By contrast over the course of this week the Libyan government applied for permission to send a delegation to Israel and were given it. Although this meeting has yet to take place and when it does it will be more about opening a link rather then reaching a conclusion it highlights that rather then being behind the Libyan rebellion Israel is actually one of the few nations prepared to continue relatively normal diplomatic relations with Qaddafi. This is what prompted the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy to call for the NATO operation against Libya to end on Tuesday (12/7/11) because he thinks that France will require Israeli approval to replace Britain as Americas link to Europe.
With the actual fighting in something of a quiet period I should take the opportunity to talk more about the issue of Libya's frozen assets which sort of got overlooked in the early part of the conflict. Apart from authorising the NATO operation when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed resolution 1973(2011) it also ordered that all Libyan assets be seized by the government in the country in which they're held and Britain, France and Italy have all suggested that these seized assets are given to the rebels to help fund their military campaign.
Apart from raising the worrying prospect of a foreign government taking money from one private company and giving it to another private company this creates a big problem because despite what the western propaganda would have you believe Qaddafi hasn't really plundered Libya's wealth to fund lavish lifestyles for himself and his family. Instead he placed most of it into something called a Sovereign Wealth Fund. One thing that Libya's Sovereign Wealth Fund does is fund the Libyan Investment Portfolio (LAP) which since 2006 has invested heavily in mobile telecommunications infrastructure across Africa. Starting with an initial investment of US$5billion LAP's GreeN mobile phone network now either operates outright or is in partnership with local operators in; Zambia (Zamtel), Uganda (UTL), Rwanda (Rwandtel), Niger (Sahelcom), Cote D'Ivorie (Oricel), Sierra Leone (Ambitel), Togo (GreeN) and South Sudan (Gemtel). Before the war it was planning to expand into Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo but already has over 4 million customers across the continent.
This is important because the spread of mobile phone use across Africa has driven the continents biggest development revolution over the past decade with some economists estimating that for every 1 in 10 Africans using a mobile phone GDP goes up by as much as 1.2%. This is because for as long as anyone can remember the big development challenge in Africa is the lack of infrastructure meaning that there aren't really any roads, no electricity grid, no postal, service, no TV, no newspapers and no banks. As a result rather then having sort of national populations many African countries have small, isolated communities who aren't really that aware of each other existence. That meant that farmers and fishermen weren't able to find out where to go to sell their produce for the best price, corrupt governments and foreign corporations were able to do whatever they liked with impunity and good governments weren't able to keep their people informed about things like floods, droughts and health threats like HIV/AIDS.
The spread of mobile phones and especially the mobile Internet has changed all that with all these people suddenly able to talk to each other and the world. As a result Africans have been better able to hold their governments to account and African businesses have been able to start operating on the global stage selling their goods on the global market and researching foreign companies that have been trying to rip them off. It has also created a boom industry in software development with African entrepreneurs now leading the world in things like eWallet technology and technology that allows payments to be made by text message to name but a few.
Unfortunately the decision to freeze Libyan assets has also frozen the assets of many of the mobile phone networks that are making all this possible. So apart from the damage that it's doing to Libya itself the longer the war against Libya goes on for the more damage it will do to the continent as a whole while people in the developed world are once again being asked to donate money to save people in east Africa from starvation.
On the diplomatic front on Wednesday the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg all recognised the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people. By contrast over the course of this week the Libyan government applied for permission to send a delegation to Israel and were given it. Although this meeting has yet to take place and when it does it will be more about opening a link rather then reaching a conclusion it highlights that rather then being behind the Libyan rebellion Israel is actually one of the few nations prepared to continue relatively normal diplomatic relations with Qaddafi. This is what prompted the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy to call for the NATO operation against Libya to end on Tuesday (12/7/11) because he thinks that France will require Israeli approval to replace Britain as Americas link to Europe.
With the actual fighting in something of a quiet period I should take the opportunity to talk more about the issue of Libya's frozen assets which sort of got overlooked in the early part of the conflict. Apart from authorising the NATO operation when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed resolution 1973(2011) it also ordered that all Libyan assets be seized by the government in the country in which they're held and Britain, France and Italy have all suggested that these seized assets are given to the rebels to help fund their military campaign.
Apart from raising the worrying prospect of a foreign government taking money from one private company and giving it to another private company this creates a big problem because despite what the western propaganda would have you believe Qaddafi hasn't really plundered Libya's wealth to fund lavish lifestyles for himself and his family. Instead he placed most of it into something called a Sovereign Wealth Fund. One thing that Libya's Sovereign Wealth Fund does is fund the Libyan Investment Portfolio (LAP) which since 2006 has invested heavily in mobile telecommunications infrastructure across Africa. Starting with an initial investment of US$5billion LAP's GreeN mobile phone network now either operates outright or is in partnership with local operators in; Zambia (Zamtel), Uganda (UTL), Rwanda (Rwandtel), Niger (Sahelcom), Cote D'Ivorie (Oricel), Sierra Leone (Ambitel), Togo (GreeN) and South Sudan (Gemtel). Before the war it was planning to expand into Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo but already has over 4 million customers across the continent.
This is important because the spread of mobile phone use across Africa has driven the continents biggest development revolution over the past decade with some economists estimating that for every 1 in 10 Africans using a mobile phone GDP goes up by as much as 1.2%. This is because for as long as anyone can remember the big development challenge in Africa is the lack of infrastructure meaning that there aren't really any roads, no electricity grid, no postal, service, no TV, no newspapers and no banks. As a result rather then having sort of national populations many African countries have small, isolated communities who aren't really that aware of each other existence. That meant that farmers and fishermen weren't able to find out where to go to sell their produce for the best price, corrupt governments and foreign corporations were able to do whatever they liked with impunity and good governments weren't able to keep their people informed about things like floods, droughts and health threats like HIV/AIDS.
The spread of mobile phones and especially the mobile Internet has changed all that with all these people suddenly able to talk to each other and the world. As a result Africans have been better able to hold their governments to account and African businesses have been able to start operating on the global stage selling their goods on the global market and researching foreign companies that have been trying to rip them off. It has also created a boom industry in software development with African entrepreneurs now leading the world in things like eWallet technology and technology that allows payments to be made by text message to name but a few.
Unfortunately the decision to freeze Libyan assets has also frozen the assets of many of the mobile phone networks that are making all this possible. So apart from the damage that it's doing to Libya itself the longer the war against Libya goes on for the more damage it will do to the continent as a whole while people in the developed world are once again being asked to donate money to save people in east Africa from starvation.
Thursday 14 July 2011
Just For The Record.
Nero actually played the bagpipes on account of the fiddle not actually being invented until about 1300 years after his death. Or to put it another way today (14/7/11) has been something of a trivial day in which I got my haircut, picked up a few things at the supermarket and cleaned the bathroom. So as far as I'm concerned any of today's announcements of pronouncements about the phone hacking scandal are nothing but idle gossip.
The only thing I should mention is that my grandmother's hallucinations are continuing and being made much by my father who's doing things like insisting she calls my mobile phone at around 16:20. Pretending all this is some big and unexpected crisis my father decided to ambush me with this over dinner. So I simply and calmly explained to him that if a patient is suffering from drug induced hallucinations and you're not prepared to take them off the drugs that are causing the hallucinations there's not really anything that can be said or done. After that conversation ended as quickly as it had started (around 19:20) my father then went and telephone some of my grandmother's relatives in Wales. Although this conversation lasted about 20 minutes it could be summed up in four simple words; "The plan has failed." So I find it hard to believe that the Brits are still managing to convince anyone that this is anything other then a kill mission.
The only thing I should mention is that my grandmother's hallucinations are continuing and being made much by my father who's doing things like insisting she calls my mobile phone at around 16:20. Pretending all this is some big and unexpected crisis my father decided to ambush me with this over dinner. So I simply and calmly explained to him that if a patient is suffering from drug induced hallucinations and you're not prepared to take them off the drugs that are causing the hallucinations there's not really anything that can be said or done. After that conversation ended as quickly as it had started (around 19:20) my father then went and telephone some of my grandmother's relatives in Wales. Although this conversation lasted about 20 minutes it could be summed up in four simple words; "The plan has failed." So I find it hard to believe that the Brits are still managing to convince anyone that this is anything other then a kill mission.
Called the Court Again.
I know it's a drag but seven weeks really is more then enough time for Croydon Magistrates Court to list the case and send out a summons especially as that delay has given the accused the impression they can carry on as normal. Anyway the court refused to answer their phones and wouldn't even let me leave a voicemail so I guess they're still adamant that they don't want to get the message.
While I'm here I should point out that while it's been hard to tell because of the media feeding frenzy over the hacking scandal my old area of expertise in mental health and eating disorders has made something of resurgence in British popular culture. This started with rumours about the Duchess of Cambridge, a scandal with models used by the retailer Topshop and a report that there's been an increase in boys and young men suffering from eating disorders. From this we can safely assume that those currently squatting in my life just aren't meeting the required standard. So time for them to be replaced then.
While I'm here I should point out that while it's been hard to tell because of the media feeding frenzy over the hacking scandal my old area of expertise in mental health and eating disorders has made something of resurgence in British popular culture. This started with rumours about the Duchess of Cambridge, a scandal with models used by the retailer Topshop and a report that there's been an increase in boys and young men suffering from eating disorders. From this we can safely assume that those currently squatting in my life just aren't meeting the required standard. So time for them to be replaced then.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Explosion in Boston.
In a story that will develop overnight British police have just (22:30 on 13/7/11) announced that five men have been killed in a explosion at an industrial park in Boston, Lincolnshire. As you might remember Lincolnshire police are the police force that appeared on national television on Monday (11/7/11) telling everyone how to make improvised incendiary devices.
So this is Britain's way of asking anyone who's interested but particularly the Americans if when the Brits blow up #50 Beechwood killing the occupants would they mind if I was arrested for the crime. Of course the best advice for the Americans would be to just ignore it. However if they want to do me a favour they could use it as an opportunity to remind the Brits that they have no other option then to convict the Notting Hill Housing Trust for a statutory nuisance and impose a closure order on #50 Beechwood.
So this is Britain's way of asking anyone who's interested but particularly the Americans if when the Brits blow up #50 Beechwood killing the occupants would they mind if I was arrested for the crime. Of course the best advice for the Americans would be to just ignore it. However if they want to do me a favour they could use it as an opportunity to remind the Brits that they have no other option then to convict the Notting Hill Housing Trust for a statutory nuisance and impose a closure order on #50 Beechwood.
That's Bad Timing.
Today (13/7/11) in Britain the government has announced the results of a new review into the 1994 Mull of Kintyre helicopter crash. This was when a faulty Royal Air Force (RAF) Chinook helicopter crashed in Scotland killing 25 of the top police and military experts in Northern Irish intelligence and security.
Obviously in this incident the Ministry of Defence (MoD) made a large number of very serious mistakes including putting that many VIP's on the same aircraft and operating a faulty aircraft. However rather then taking responsibility for those mistakes the MoD decided to cover the whole thing up by falsely claiming the crash had been the fault of the two pilots who also died. The MoD then spent the next few years thoroughly destroying the reputation of the two pilots in the media and condemning their families to a 17 year battle for justice. Today the MoD finally admitted that the pilots were in no way at fault and apologised to their families although there is no suggestion that those who were at fault will be punished in any way.
Obviously this announcement is a good thing but it comes at a highly embarrassing time for the government because for the last two weeks they been telling the public that they should be outraged that newspapers had been hacking the phone messages of the families of dead British soldiers who were battling the MoD for justice.
Speaking of which after weeks of British politicians and the other parts of the British media telling everyone how the British public are outraged at the phone hacking someone's actually gone and spoken to members of the British public. The mood is best described as one of general indifference. So clearly there is nothing the Labour Party won't sacrifice in their desperate quest to get back into power.
Obviously in this incident the Ministry of Defence (MoD) made a large number of very serious mistakes including putting that many VIP's on the same aircraft and operating a faulty aircraft. However rather then taking responsibility for those mistakes the MoD decided to cover the whole thing up by falsely claiming the crash had been the fault of the two pilots who also died. The MoD then spent the next few years thoroughly destroying the reputation of the two pilots in the media and condemning their families to a 17 year battle for justice. Today the MoD finally admitted that the pilots were in no way at fault and apologised to their families although there is no suggestion that those who were at fault will be punished in any way.
Obviously this announcement is a good thing but it comes at a highly embarrassing time for the government because for the last two weeks they been telling the public that they should be outraged that newspapers had been hacking the phone messages of the families of dead British soldiers who were battling the MoD for justice.
Speaking of which after weeks of British politicians and the other parts of the British media telling everyone how the British public are outraged at the phone hacking someone's actually gone and spoken to members of the British public. The mood is best described as one of general indifference. So clearly there is nothing the Labour Party won't sacrifice in their desperate quest to get back into power.
The Hypocrisy Continues.
You may have noticed that for the past eleven months France, along with Britain and the United States have been putting pressure on middle-eastern governments like Libya and Syria over human rights abuses such as shooting protesters with live ammunition. Well on Monday (11/7/11) pro-government protesters held demonstrations outside the US and French Embassies in Damascus, Syria. The French soldiers guarding the French Embassy responded to these demonstrations by shooting the protesters with live ammunition.
Elsewhere in the region protesters are back on the streets of Egypt. This is because the NATO war against neighbouring Libya along with the military commitments and refugee crisis it imposed on Egypt has caused Egypt's revolution to slow and possibly be de-railed completely. What is causing the Egyptians to panic now is the looming Parliamentary election which is scheduled for September 2011 which will decide how the Presidential election will be carried out in October/November 2011. Although I lack the language skills to get fully across all the arguments involved it is insane that the Egyptians would even consider holding this election in September. That's because it will co-incide with the United Nations vote on whether to grant statehood to Palestine which is one of the most inflammatory and complicated issues the region has ever faced. Therefore it would be much better for the Egyptians to postpone the Parliamentary election until after September to allow the global picture to calm down and the regional picture to become clearer.
Elsewhere in the region protesters are back on the streets of Egypt. This is because the NATO war against neighbouring Libya along with the military commitments and refugee crisis it imposed on Egypt has caused Egypt's revolution to slow and possibly be de-railed completely. What is causing the Egyptians to panic now is the looming Parliamentary election which is scheduled for September 2011 which will decide how the Presidential election will be carried out in October/November 2011. Although I lack the language skills to get fully across all the arguments involved it is insane that the Egyptians would even consider holding this election in September. That's because it will co-incide with the United Nations vote on whether to grant statehood to Palestine which is one of the most inflammatory and complicated issues the region has ever faced. Therefore it would be much better for the Egyptians to postpone the Parliamentary election until after September to allow the global picture to calm down and the regional picture to become clearer.
Murdoch's Gone Soft.
After the News of the World phone hacking scandal Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation/News International has sensationally dropped plans to take over British satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
This is a shock because after the British government kicked the issue into the long grass by referring the matter back to the competition commission and the Prime Minister announced he wouldn't take part in a symbolic vote in the House of Commons today (13/7/11) everyone knew that the deal would be going through once things had calmed down a bit. After all the Brits always roll over when they come up against a more powerful opponent.
This is a shock because after the British government kicked the issue into the long grass by referring the matter back to the competition commission and the Prime Minister announced he wouldn't take part in a symbolic vote in the House of Commons today (13/7/11) everyone knew that the deal would be going through once things had calmed down a bit. After all the Brits always roll over when they come up against a more powerful opponent.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
I Have Returned In Magnificent Fashion
Because after a while simply saying "I'm Back" gets boring.
Anyway today (12/7/11) I have been home to Brighton to visit my friend (I'm only allowed the one.) After discussing important issues of state such as; "look at the tits on her" we discussed what he is to do with his life now he is no longer employed by British Gas. On one level this is something of a moot point because if the Brits hadn't got to big for their boots I'd be employing him now. However on another level it's quite an interesting talking point because the last time he was made redundant it was because he refused to relocate to Belfast, Northern Ireland. I think we can all agree that if he'd made a different decision it would have made for a much more dramatic commute.
Today's commute was something of an expletive about having violent sexual intercourse with ones mother. In the morning I caught the 12:55 from east Croydon. As this was a direct train I arrived in Brighton at around 13:00 only to fall into drink and a depressing lack of drugs. As a result the intervening few hours are a little hazy. However at around 20:40 I boarded a train at Brighton thinking it was the direct train to east Croydon. It wasn't. Instead it was the slow train stopping at; Preston Park, Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Wivelsfeild, Haywards Heath, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, Redhill and east Croydon. This was a little bit annoying but sandwiches took the pain away and now it's 22:45 and I'm home vomit and violence free which I'm finding a little disappointing.
Anyway today (12/7/11) I have been home to Brighton to visit my friend (I'm only allowed the one.) After discussing important issues of state such as; "look at the tits on her" we discussed what he is to do with his life now he is no longer employed by British Gas. On one level this is something of a moot point because if the Brits hadn't got to big for their boots I'd be employing him now. However on another level it's quite an interesting talking point because the last time he was made redundant it was because he refused to relocate to Belfast, Northern Ireland. I think we can all agree that if he'd made a different decision it would have made for a much more dramatic commute.
Today's commute was something of an expletive about having violent sexual intercourse with ones mother. In the morning I caught the 12:55 from east Croydon. As this was a direct train I arrived in Brighton at around 13:00 only to fall into drink and a depressing lack of drugs. As a result the intervening few hours are a little hazy. However at around 20:40 I boarded a train at Brighton thinking it was the direct train to east Croydon. It wasn't. Instead it was the slow train stopping at; Preston Park, Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Wivelsfeild, Haywards Heath, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, Redhill and east Croydon. This was a little bit annoying but sandwiches took the pain away and now it's 22:45 and I'm home vomit and violence free which I'm finding a little disappointing.
Monday 11 July 2011
The Post They Tried To Ban.
This has been written an ready to publish since approx 22:50 on 11/7/11. However it's now 23:07 and the Internet is still refusin to allow me to publish. You've got to feel a bit sorry for the Yanks, they did a deal with the Brits and it just not comming off. Anyway;
I've declared this Monday To be last Thursday.
I hope that won't be a problem for anyone.
On Sunday (10/7/11) I brought the last ever edition of the News of the World (NotW). It came with a 48 page souvenir pull out showing some of their greatest front pages of the last 168 years. These included the one from 11/1/09 where they exposed a video of Prince Harry racially abusing one of his fellow cadets at Sandhurst military academy and the one from 2/5/01 where they caught Prince Edward's wife talking about her husbands apparent homosexuality. It also included the one from 21/11/99 when they exposed Conservative peer Jefferey Lord Archer as having committed perjury and he was sent to prison. However before the NotW was published the Guardian newspaper - showing their usual grasp of reality - were celebrating how the NotW had been forced to close after an Internet campaign after got advertisers to pull out.
So in January 2011 thousands of Egyptian protesters harnessed the power of the Internet to overthrow a government that muzzled the press by shutting down newspapers that were critical of the regime. But in July 2011 hundreds of British protesters helped the government muzzle the press by shutting down a newspaper that was critical of the regime. So clearly not one lesson learnt since Libya then.
Elsewhere today the Greek Cypriot (read British) government exploded a stockpile of Iranian weapons that were being stored in Cyprus after being confiscated on route to Palestine although the Cypriots are trying to use the "It was Israeli sabotage" defence. That is in less of course it really was incredibly well planned Israeli sabotage to make everyone think it was the Cypriots.
Anyway I think the point I'm trying to make is that this stuff will do your head in if you think about it too much. So probably best not to do it on a big square or the global stage. Speaking of which I will be going home to Brighton tomorrow, apparently to teach the town why real men carry umbrellas. But I wouldn't worry too much, it's only a 12 hour pass.
I've declared this Monday To be last Thursday.
I hope that won't be a problem for anyone.
On Sunday (10/7/11) I brought the last ever edition of the News of the World (NotW). It came with a 48 page souvenir pull out showing some of their greatest front pages of the last 168 years. These included the one from 11/1/09 where they exposed a video of Prince Harry racially abusing one of his fellow cadets at Sandhurst military academy and the one from 2/5/01 where they caught Prince Edward's wife talking about her husbands apparent homosexuality. It also included the one from 21/11/99 when they exposed Conservative peer Jefferey Lord Archer as having committed perjury and he was sent to prison. However before the NotW was published the Guardian newspaper - showing their usual grasp of reality - were celebrating how the NotW had been forced to close after an Internet campaign after got advertisers to pull out.
So in January 2011 thousands of Egyptian protesters harnessed the power of the Internet to overthrow a government that muzzled the press by shutting down newspapers that were critical of the regime. But in July 2011 hundreds of British protesters helped the government muzzle the press by shutting down a newspaper that was critical of the regime. So clearly not one lesson learnt since Libya then.
Elsewhere today the Greek Cypriot (read British) government exploded a stockpile of Iranian weapons that were being stored in Cyprus after being confiscated on route to Palestine although the Cypriots are trying to use the "It was Israeli sabotage" defence. That is in less of course it really was incredibly well planned Israeli sabotage to make everyone think it was the Cypriots.
Anyway I think the point I'm trying to make is that this stuff will do your head in if you think about it too much. So probably best not to do it on a big square or the global stage. Speaking of which I will be going home to Brighton tomorrow, apparently to teach the town why real men carry umbrellas. But I wouldn't worry too much, it's only a 12 hour pass.
Oh Here We Go.
Today (11/7/11) Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper ran a story claiming that British teachers will be allowed to use violence to deal with unruly pupils. As I've been giving these guys an education for the best part of ten years there's no mystery to that metaphor. Then the ITV daytime magazine show "This Morning" ran a segment in which Lincolnshire police appealed for help catching a gang who've been using home made incendiary devices to destroy Gatso speed cameras. This appeal included rather specific advice on how to make home made incendiary devices.
So the Brits are already doing the preparatory work for the day when the NHHT do something violent to the new occupants of #50 Beechwood and the police use it as an excuse to arrest me. Therefore Britain's announcement this afternoon that the terrorist threat level has been reduced was, like most other things today, just noise even if the Southern Cross care home announcement was a genuine "Why what have you heard?"
Anyway I'm pretty sure that I've already warned the big bad CIA about the dangers of sharing intelligence with the Brits because in case they've not noticed things have been blowing up and falling down across the world recently due to their refusal to accept that it's not 2006 anymore.
So the Brits are already doing the preparatory work for the day when the NHHT do something violent to the new occupants of #50 Beechwood and the police use it as an excuse to arrest me. Therefore Britain's announcement this afternoon that the terrorist threat level has been reduced was, like most other things today, just noise even if the Southern Cross care home announcement was a genuine "Why what have you heard?"
Anyway I'm pretty sure that I've already warned the big bad CIA about the dangers of sharing intelligence with the Brits because in case they've not noticed things have been blowing up and falling down across the world recently due to their refusal to accept that it's not 2006 anymore.
That Didn't Take Long.
About 23:15 last night I stepped outside into my garden to discover 5 of my new neighbours wandering around my property. As I appeared one of the women started with some very mild verbal abuse and I'm ashamed to admit that the adrenaline rush from that confrontation meant I didn't get to sleep until around 4am. So whatever assurances or sob stories the NHHT gave they were lying. The movement of their lips should have been a clue.
Speaking of lying. If the yanks have really being applying pressure then three weeks and a murder should be enough time for the Croydon Magistrate Court to adjust their attitude. So the summons can go out on Tuesday, the closure order can be imposed on Thursday and the issue of costs can be discussed at a cost hearing to be held at a later date because the train is most certainly still on the tracks.
Elsewhere today (11/7/11) Milly Dowler's family will be meeting the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg to discuss the issue of phone hacking. The short version is that the Dowler family chose to take part in the theatrical trial of Levi Bellfield in order to cause maximum emotional distress to members of my family by dragging up dark events from the past. By choosing to participate in the phone hacking scandal the Dowler family are choosing to continue on that path so they won't be getting any sympathy from me.
Edited @11:25 to add: In this fast moving story Britain has gone public with the issue of secret/deleted emails in the phone hacking scandal. This is misdirection designed to give the impression that Britain is trying to find out what information the Americans have about the new family at #50 Beechwood. In reality Britain gave the Americans all the information about this family for vetting before they moved in. So I wonder if anyone's explained to the new family that from here on in every aspect of their lives is just political capital in a game between America and China because I'm pretty sure no-one would pay for the privilege of being treated link that.
Speaking of lying. If the yanks have really being applying pressure then three weeks and a murder should be enough time for the Croydon Magistrate Court to adjust their attitude. So the summons can go out on Tuesday, the closure order can be imposed on Thursday and the issue of costs can be discussed at a cost hearing to be held at a later date because the train is most certainly still on the tracks.
Elsewhere today (11/7/11) Milly Dowler's family will be meeting the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg to discuss the issue of phone hacking. The short version is that the Dowler family chose to take part in the theatrical trial of Levi Bellfield in order to cause maximum emotional distress to members of my family by dragging up dark events from the past. By choosing to participate in the phone hacking scandal the Dowler family are choosing to continue on that path so they won't be getting any sympathy from me.
Edited @11:25 to add: In this fast moving story Britain has gone public with the issue of secret/deleted emails in the phone hacking scandal. This is misdirection designed to give the impression that Britain is trying to find out what information the Americans have about the new family at #50 Beechwood. In reality Britain gave the Americans all the information about this family for vetting before they moved in. So I wonder if anyone's explained to the new family that from here on in every aspect of their lives is just political capital in a game between America and China because I'm pretty sure no-one would pay for the privilege of being treated link that.
Sunday 10 July 2011
The British Grand Prix's Over.
After a last minute rule change to allow Ferrari to win the race was won by a Ferrari. Despite that though by the standards of what is now being referred too as "the new Formula 1" it was quite an exciting race and people are already comparing it too the Canadian Grand Prix. So am I the only one's who's noticed that the best races are the wet races because in wet conditions fuel consumption becomes less of an issue allowing the drivers to drive at the limit for most of the races?
Anyway new residents crept into #50 Beechwood Ave under to cover of darkness at around 21:30. It turns out that the new lab rats are a family of black rats and before they'd even managed to get the key in the door they were already playing music loud enough to be heard through double glazing. So cheers for the favour yanks because no-ones fooled by the Pakistan announcement.
Anyway new residents crept into #50 Beechwood Ave under to cover of darkness at around 21:30. It turns out that the new lab rats are a family of black rats and before they'd even managed to get the key in the door they were already playing music loud enough to be heard through double glazing. So cheers for the favour yanks because no-ones fooled by the Pakistan announcement.
Saturday 9 July 2011
East Africa Food Crisis.
Yesterday (8/7/11) Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an emergency appeal to raise funds to help up to 10 million people who face starvation in the east African countries of Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the newly formed South Sudan. Although the DEC represents 14 British charities in this case the majority of the money raised will go to the Save the Children charity that has been leading operations in the region for a number of years.
As for the crisis in east Africa itself there are actually two major problems at work;
The Climate: All the nations affected are part of the Sahel belt that stretches across Africa. For the past several decades the entire Sahel region has seen more and more arable farmland lost as the desert expands reducing the amount of food that can be grown there. This is a highly contentious issue that has been at the heart of international debates about global warming and climate change since those arguments began. Regardless of the cause though the past two rainy seasons in east Africa have failed to happen. This lack of rainfall has caused widespread crop failures and meant that the United Nations (UN) Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification Framework (IPC) famine early warning system has been issuing almost monthly alerts for the region since August 2010.
Somalia: Since the collapse of it's government in 1991 Somalia has become a complete failed state where everybody is armed and there are often several civil wars going on at the same time. In recent years Somalia has also become the third front in America's war on terror/Al Qaeda. All this fighting has made normal life pretty much impossible so there is little food production and even less food importation and the nations main source of income has become maritime piracy. Obviously a society where people are lucky to live long enough to starve to death has created a huge and long running refugee problem as Somali's flee to neighbouring countries.
What makes this month different from the past 12 months in east Africa is that the Dadaab refugee camp in south-eastern Kenya which is operated by Britain's Department For International Development (DFID) and Save the Children has begun reporting an increase in the number of refugees arriving from Somalia. This has caused the severity of the situation to rise on the IPC index to one level below all out famine and forced the UN to go into emergency mode. So Britain seems to have escalated the situation in east Africa in order to provoke a UN wide discussion. The true purpose of that discussion is to be used as a metaphor for a discussion about Britain's role in the UN post-Libya and well my situation. The discussion can also be used to discuss the very complicated situation in Somalia, the very complicated situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the very complicated issue of Sudan's separation and the extraordinarily complicated issue of the Israel/Palestine situation. The discussion also touches on issues of climate change and the eternal argument over the best way to deliver international aid specifically the approach taken by British organisations such as DFID and Save the Children.
Although this crisis is more politically driven then a full scale humanitarian disaster and I know that money is tight everywhere but the situation in east Africa is bad and has been bad for a long time now. So if you have any spare money you might want to donate it too;
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
The UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
Because even if they're not needed to help in this crisis they'll certainly be needed to help in the next one.
As for the crisis in east Africa itself there are actually two major problems at work;
The Climate: All the nations affected are part of the Sahel belt that stretches across Africa. For the past several decades the entire Sahel region has seen more and more arable farmland lost as the desert expands reducing the amount of food that can be grown there. This is a highly contentious issue that has been at the heart of international debates about global warming and climate change since those arguments began. Regardless of the cause though the past two rainy seasons in east Africa have failed to happen. This lack of rainfall has caused widespread crop failures and meant that the United Nations (UN) Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification Framework (IPC) famine early warning system has been issuing almost monthly alerts for the region since August 2010.
Somalia: Since the collapse of it's government in 1991 Somalia has become a complete failed state where everybody is armed and there are often several civil wars going on at the same time. In recent years Somalia has also become the third front in America's war on terror/Al Qaeda. All this fighting has made normal life pretty much impossible so there is little food production and even less food importation and the nations main source of income has become maritime piracy. Obviously a society where people are lucky to live long enough to starve to death has created a huge and long running refugee problem as Somali's flee to neighbouring countries.
What makes this month different from the past 12 months in east Africa is that the Dadaab refugee camp in south-eastern Kenya which is operated by Britain's Department For International Development (DFID) and Save the Children has begun reporting an increase in the number of refugees arriving from Somalia. This has caused the severity of the situation to rise on the IPC index to one level below all out famine and forced the UN to go into emergency mode. So Britain seems to have escalated the situation in east Africa in order to provoke a UN wide discussion. The true purpose of that discussion is to be used as a metaphor for a discussion about Britain's role in the UN post-Libya and well my situation. The discussion can also be used to discuss the very complicated situation in Somalia, the very complicated situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the very complicated issue of Sudan's separation and the extraordinarily complicated issue of the Israel/Palestine situation. The discussion also touches on issues of climate change and the eternal argument over the best way to deliver international aid specifically the approach taken by British organisations such as DFID and Save the Children.
Although this crisis is more politically driven then a full scale humanitarian disaster and I know that money is tight everywhere but the situation in east Africa is bad and has been bad for a long time now. So if you have any spare money you might want to donate it too;
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
The UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
Because even if they're not needed to help in this crisis they'll certainly be needed to help in the next one.
Friday 8 July 2011
Oh Creatativity Fail
Sorry I'm feeling a little mentally vacant at the moment on account of watching the final episode of the Pacific. I think it was worth it though even if it did go a bit gay porn in the middle.
Anyway after getting pregnant and having the baby Natalie Portman has now named the baby. Apparently he is to be known as Alef Portman. Alef being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet so she's basically called her child A Portman. Presumably if they have another child it will be called Another Portman.
Anyway I'm off to feel ashamed about myslef now.
Anyway after getting pregnant and having the baby Natalie Portman has now named the baby. Apparently he is to be known as Alef Portman. Alef being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet so she's basically called her child A Portman. Presumably if they have another child it will be called Another Portman.
Anyway I'm off to feel ashamed about myslef now.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 3, Day 1.
In Libya the front lines between Libyan government and rebel forces are still in place in Misrata, Brega/Ajdabiya and in the foothills of the Nafusa mountains. However in the early part of the week the conflict reached such a stalemate that neither side could even be bothered to exchange sniper fire across those front lines.
The government forces reason for this is quite simple. They know that if they attempt to attack the rebel positions NATO aircraft will come along and bomb them in order to protect the rebel fighters. So they are perfectly happy to sit on the defensive line they've established and wait for the rebels to attack them. The reason why the rebels have yet to do this is more complicated. They claim that they are avoiding attacking in order to avoid civilian casualties and are instead waiting for the long promised uprising in Tripoli to begin. In reality it is because they know that they can't break through the government line and the rebels backers have somewhat lost interest now that the bulk of Libya's oil reserves, in the south east of the country, are under rebel control and slowly coming to market.
The fact that Muammer Qaddafi is still able to bring hundreds of thousands of Libyans onto the streets in support coupled with the fact that the foreign controlled resistance network in Tripoli now seems to have been broken up to the point where they're reduced to actions, such as setting fire to billboards, that British anarchists would consider beneath them means that the rebels morale has dropped dramatically in recent weeks. So on Tuesday (5/7/11) the rebels leadership launched a big operation to boost morale and re-energise their support. One element of this was to call hundreds of thousands of rebel supporters to the streets in Benghazi and Misrata on Wednesday (6/7/11) to show to the world that the rebels have not yet been defeated. The other element was to launch two offensives on the Misrata and Nafusa front lines.
In Misrata a small section of the rebels offensive line was able to break out and establish a narrow, 12 mile (20km) long corridor towards government lines. This took two days between Tuesday (5/7/11) and Thursday (7/7/11) and around 30 rebels and an unknown number of government forces were killed in the process. Despite the rebels claims of success they remain within the limits of the city and it remains to be seen if they can maintain this corridor with their fighters isolated very far ahead of the main rebel line.
In the Nafusa mountains the rebels pushed out almost parallel with the government line to take the town of Gualish around 6 miles (10km) to the north-east. This effort took three days between Tuesday (5/7/11) and Friday (8/7/11) and although I don't have actual figures the rebels are said to have sustained heavy casualties. Although the rebels and the western media are claiming this to be a major victory all the rebels have actually achieved is to move closer to the strategically important town of Gharain which contains the main highway to Tripoli but remains about 28 miles (45km) ahead of them. Taking Gharain will take an even greater effort from the rebels because it is part of the government's stop line.
On the diplomatic front Britain and Russia held talks designed to help end the conflict but they broke down, apparently due to Britain's refusal to stop arming the rebels. At this point I have to say that I think Britain is hoping that the war in Libya will get so boring that everyone will stop paying attention and therefore not notice that it never actually ends.
The government forces reason for this is quite simple. They know that if they attempt to attack the rebel positions NATO aircraft will come along and bomb them in order to protect the rebel fighters. So they are perfectly happy to sit on the defensive line they've established and wait for the rebels to attack them. The reason why the rebels have yet to do this is more complicated. They claim that they are avoiding attacking in order to avoid civilian casualties and are instead waiting for the long promised uprising in Tripoli to begin. In reality it is because they know that they can't break through the government line and the rebels backers have somewhat lost interest now that the bulk of Libya's oil reserves, in the south east of the country, are under rebel control and slowly coming to market.
The fact that Muammer Qaddafi is still able to bring hundreds of thousands of Libyans onto the streets in support coupled with the fact that the foreign controlled resistance network in Tripoli now seems to have been broken up to the point where they're reduced to actions, such as setting fire to billboards, that British anarchists would consider beneath them means that the rebels morale has dropped dramatically in recent weeks. So on Tuesday (5/7/11) the rebels leadership launched a big operation to boost morale and re-energise their support. One element of this was to call hundreds of thousands of rebel supporters to the streets in Benghazi and Misrata on Wednesday (6/7/11) to show to the world that the rebels have not yet been defeated. The other element was to launch two offensives on the Misrata and Nafusa front lines.
In Misrata a small section of the rebels offensive line was able to break out and establish a narrow, 12 mile (20km) long corridor towards government lines. This took two days between Tuesday (5/7/11) and Thursday (7/7/11) and around 30 rebels and an unknown number of government forces were killed in the process. Despite the rebels claims of success they remain within the limits of the city and it remains to be seen if they can maintain this corridor with their fighters isolated very far ahead of the main rebel line.
In the Nafusa mountains the rebels pushed out almost parallel with the government line to take the town of Gualish around 6 miles (10km) to the north-east. This effort took three days between Tuesday (5/7/11) and Friday (8/7/11) and although I don't have actual figures the rebels are said to have sustained heavy casualties. Although the rebels and the western media are claiming this to be a major victory all the rebels have actually achieved is to move closer to the strategically important town of Gharain which contains the main highway to Tripoli but remains about 28 miles (45km) ahead of them. Taking Gharain will take an even greater effort from the rebels because it is part of the government's stop line.
On the diplomatic front Britain and Russia held talks designed to help end the conflict but they broke down, apparently due to Britain's refusal to stop arming the rebels. At this point I have to say that I think Britain is hoping that the war in Libya will get so boring that everyone will stop paying attention and therefore not notice that it never actually ends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)