I know, better late then never.
Today (30/11/11) over 2 million British public sector workers held a one day strike. Although some professions had industry specific grievances such as health care workers concerned about NHS privatisation the main purpose of the strike was to protest against government reforms to pensions. Specifically three particular reforms;
1. Changing the measure by which pension payments are adjusted for inflation from the higher Retail Price Index (RPI) to the lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) while prices will continue to be adjusted according to RPI.
2. An eight year increase in the minimum age at which pensions can be claimed from 60 to 68.
3. An increase in pension contributions that will be used to fund other elements of government spending rather then pension payments. Although the government flatly refuses to use the words the correct term for this is a second income tax.
The one day strike had a significant impact across the country with all public transport stopped in Northern Ireland and hospitals only being able to deal with emergency cases. The area where the disruption was most noticeable though was in the education system with 70% of schools closed nationally with the figure rising close to 100% in Scotland. It was this area of the strikes where the government had focused most of it's anti-union propaganda claiming that by striking the teachers were forcing hard working families to lose a days pay just before Christmas due to a lack of childcare. I'm not sure that was the case though because a percentage of the parents would have been public sector workers and therefore would have been on strike anyway and a percentage of the parents would have been non-workers. So it shouldn't have been too difficult for communities to organise their own childcare solutions like in that Big Society the government's always talking about. In the old days the unions would have organised it themselves. The other major claim by the government was that the strikes would seriously damage the economy. That's just nonsense because although essential public services are rarely profitable which is why private companies leave them to the government to provide.
In London in the late afternoon unconnected with the strikes themselves protesters from the group UKuncut occupied the headquarters of the Xstrata mining company in Haymarket. The protest was against high levels of corporate pay but caused so little disruption it was barely worth mentioning.
One thing the strikes didn't deliver was the promised massive disruption to British airports as border and immigration staff walked out. This is because there was never going to be massive disruption. Along with Kelly Rowland's current single "Down for Whatever" and Britain citing the Vienna conventions during their diplomatic row with Iran the talk of massive disruption to immigration was a enquiry to South Africa about general visa status at the COP17/CMP7. The answer of course is; "constantly under review." In light of my comments on Monday (28/11/11) do I really need to comment on the diplomatic row between Britain and Iran further because it's pretty obvious that Britain is over reacting to see who will follow suit. As for the previously unheard of militant group that fired rockets into Israel for Lebanon on Tuesday (29/11/11) the previously unheard of militant groups that are currently causing trouble in Syria are crossing into the country from Lebanon.
Edited at around 22:45 on 30/11/11;
Actually 70% of schools in England were closed today bringing the national average up to around 80%. In London the ambulance service has been unable to deal with even emergency calls where there is an imminent threat to life and have had to rely on the police for support. So if that's a damp squib of a strike as the Prime Minister has claimed I would hate to see a widely supported strike.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
It the Riots Stupid!
Yesterday (29/11/11) the British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) delivered his Pre-Budget Report (PBR)/autumn statement. This is a half yearly assessment of the impact the annual budget has had on the UK economy. This years PBR was grim reading. It showed that growth was below target, borrowing was above target, inflation was above target, unemployment was above target and so on. Obviously this forced the Chancellor to set out new targets but no-one really trusts his predictions anymore. Most people now think the UK economy will be in recession the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year. In fact a lot of people are wondering how the UK economy managed to narrowly avoid being in recession during the third quarter of this year.
The answer to that is quite simple - the August riots. Although sounds strange the riots actually stimulated a large amount of economic activity. Most of what was stolen was eventually paid for by insurance companies and the looted shops went on to completely re-stock. Hundreds of construction workers got hired to demolish some damaged buildings and repair others. Then there was the army of solicitors, loss adjusters and accountants employed to help people deal with the damage and their insurance claims. It was even a boom time for criminal defence lawyers as thousands of people were arrested and taken to court.
It seems that the British government has already decided what it's next big trick to massage the economic figures will be. They're going to levy a second income tax on public sector workers and raid the pension funds to invest in large infrastructure projects. These include things like and extension to the Northern Line of London's underground railway and a new overground railway line between Manchester and Leeds. It is debatable whether these projects actually need doing but the hope is that the money spent doing them will be just enough to make Britain's economic figures look ever so slightly better then they actually are.
No wonder public sector workers are on strike today.
The answer to that is quite simple - the August riots. Although sounds strange the riots actually stimulated a large amount of economic activity. Most of what was stolen was eventually paid for by insurance companies and the looted shops went on to completely re-stock. Hundreds of construction workers got hired to demolish some damaged buildings and repair others. Then there was the army of solicitors, loss adjusters and accountants employed to help people deal with the damage and their insurance claims. It was even a boom time for criminal defence lawyers as thousands of people were arrested and taken to court.
It seems that the British government has already decided what it's next big trick to massage the economic figures will be. They're going to levy a second income tax on public sector workers and raid the pension funds to invest in large infrastructure projects. These include things like and extension to the Northern Line of London's underground railway and a new overground railway line between Manchester and Leeds. It is debatable whether these projects actually need doing but the hope is that the money spent doing them will be just enough to make Britain's economic figures look ever so slightly better then they actually are.
No wonder public sector workers are on strike today.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Nope Still no Amazon.
It looks like that £80 is just something I'm going to have to add to the long list of stuff the yokels have stolen from me. I wouldn't mind so much but that's now the second time they've managed to thieve "Bad Religion - All Ages." from me. In retaliation I think I'm not going to speak of this again until December 11th (11/12/11) at earliest lest Britain and America suck everyone into a long conversation about couriers.
Anyway I understand that today (29/11/11) Britain announced it's Pre-Budget Report (PBR)/Autumn Statement and tomorrow (30/11/11) there will be a large strike by British public sector workers. I'm sure that I have a very intelligent post linking these two issues together which I can unveil tomorrow unless of course I just get stoned and look at the pretty pictures.
Anyway I understand that today (29/11/11) Britain announced it's Pre-Budget Report (PBR)/Autumn Statement and tomorrow (30/11/11) there will be a large strike by British public sector workers. I'm sure that I have a very intelligent post linking these two issues together which I can unveil tomorrow unless of course I just get stoned and look at the pretty pictures.
I Have Theatre.
Or the Croydon version there of.
There I was this Tuesday (29/11/11) sitting in the pub having a quiet dinner with my father. All of a sudden in walked this 30 year old+ man accompanied by these two ladies of borderline drinking age (18 years) who had clearly been drinking all day. Everything was going well until the local loudmouth looked up from her usual trick of getting old (65+) men to drinks and set them off. Then ensued much posturing, arguing and lots and lots of noise. Like most people in the pub my father was keen to see what happened next so spent ages pushing peas around his plate which I hope explains why I'm a little late (20:15). I arrived home with no further problems.
Apart from that I've spent the day massacring trees preparing this bundle. The first four volumes are now complete so hopefully tomorrow I can begin to catch up with other things. Not least finding out if Micheal Jackson's doctor has been sentenced to four years or the maximum sentence allowed by law.
There I was this Tuesday (29/11/11) sitting in the pub having a quiet dinner with my father. All of a sudden in walked this 30 year old+ man accompanied by these two ladies of borderline drinking age (18 years) who had clearly been drinking all day. Everything was going well until the local loudmouth looked up from her usual trick of getting old (65+) men to drinks and set them off. Then ensued much posturing, arguing and lots and lots of noise. Like most people in the pub my father was keen to see what happened next so spent ages pushing peas around his plate which I hope explains why I'm a little late (20:15). I arrived home with no further problems.
Apart from that I've spent the day massacring trees preparing this bundle. The first four volumes are now complete so hopefully tomorrow I can begin to catch up with other things. Not least finding out if Micheal Jackson's doctor has been sentenced to four years or the maximum sentence allowed by law.
Monday, 28 November 2011
The Gary Speed Death.
I really don't want to comment on this matter further for a number of reasons. Not least that losing a loved through suicide is always a deeply traumatic experience and not one that is helped any by people spouting conspiracy theories on the Internet.
However it's fair to say that worldwide most people did not know who Gary Speed was and rather then hearing the full story they most probably first heard little rumours about the Welsh manager being found dead, the Welsh midfielder being killed or Mr Speed being found dead. This obviously leads to speculation about what has happened and what it means. For example although in football a midfielder is often the force that drives the team forward in other areas it can be taken to mean someone who is distinctly average. Likewise Speed could be a euphemism for amphetamines or a reference to Einstein's work on the speed of light that is currently causing some controversy. As the timing of the news seemed a little too perfect it then leads onto discussion about how easy it would be to fake a suicide and the answer is worryingly easy especially if the victim knew their attacker or had been drinking as suicides often do.
In a year when a suspiciously high number of Iranian scientists have died from accidental falls from balcony's this type of conversation would be particularly unsettling for delegates at the COP17 Summit to have with strangers in a strange bar in a strange hotel in a strange country. As about 60 years of scientific data proves and a British court will be asked to rule on the Friday paranoia and anxiety can significantly impair a persons mental ability and can even cause blackouts. So paranoid and anxious delegates are not likely to have a productive COP 17 Summit.
Incidentally the second coroners inquest into the death of Liam Hogan a British boy who died after being thrown from a balcony begins tomorrow (29/11/11).
However it's fair to say that worldwide most people did not know who Gary Speed was and rather then hearing the full story they most probably first heard little rumours about the Welsh manager being found dead, the Welsh midfielder being killed or Mr Speed being found dead. This obviously leads to speculation about what has happened and what it means. For example although in football a midfielder is often the force that drives the team forward in other areas it can be taken to mean someone who is distinctly average. Likewise Speed could be a euphemism for amphetamines or a reference to Einstein's work on the speed of light that is currently causing some controversy. As the timing of the news seemed a little too perfect it then leads onto discussion about how easy it would be to fake a suicide and the answer is worryingly easy especially if the victim knew their attacker or had been drinking as suicides often do.
In a year when a suspiciously high number of Iranian scientists have died from accidental falls from balcony's this type of conversation would be particularly unsettling for delegates at the COP17 Summit to have with strangers in a strange bar in a strange hotel in a strange country. As about 60 years of scientific data proves and a British court will be asked to rule on the Friday paranoia and anxiety can significantly impair a persons mental ability and can even cause blackouts. So paranoid and anxious delegates are not likely to have a productive COP 17 Summit.
Incidentally the second coroners inquest into the death of Liam Hogan a British boy who died after being thrown from a balcony begins tomorrow (29/11/11).
Operation Oil Theft: Month 9, Week 2, Day 1.
Last Tuesday (22/11/11) Libya announced it's new political cabinet or Transitional Executive Board (TEB). Worryingly how much of this has been reported was wrong. It was based on a document leaked the day before that seemingly no-one bothered to check. The full correct list can be found here in English and Arabic;
http://feb17.info/official-documents/full-list-of-official-ntc-executive-board-english-arabic/
and just in English here;
http://www.lbbc.org.uk/display_news.php?news_id=117
The first obvious thing about the TEB is that it has taken a new broom to Libyan politics with few of the people who rose to prominence during the conflict being given posts. Instead they've been replaced by new people who few have actually heard of. Among what I consider to be the key ministries (Justice, Interior, Foreign Relations, Oil, Finance, Construction) there are two about whom I still know nothing but their names. However Justice went to Kablifa Ashour a Judge from Misrata who served as chancellor of Misrata central court under Qaddafi. Interior went to Fawzi Abdela'ali a lawyer from Misrata who served as a prosecutor at Misrata central court under Qaddafi. Foreign Relations has gone to Ashour Ben Khayli a career diplomat who served as Qaddafi's Ambassador to Italy during the 1960's and Korea before he resigned in 1984 in protest against the Yvonne Fletcher killing and defected to the US before moving to Canada. Oil has gone to Abdulrahman Ben Yezza an oil industry veteran who spent a large part of his career with Italian oil giant Eni. As the chairman of Libya's National Oil Company under Qaddafi he awarded large oil contract to Eni before resigning because Qaddafi thought the terms of the deal was to generous. Finance and Construction went to Hassan Ziglam and Ibrahim Eskuti respectively but both remain a complete mystery to me.
Apart from appointing competent people to the right posts the TEB shows a deliberate effort to make sure all of Libya is represented although there is an ever so slight bias towards western Libya especially Misrata. The TEB also seems to have shunned Islamists in favour of secularists including several women. However Libya's Berbers who make up around 10% of the population are not represented at all and yesterday (27/11/11) held protests in Tripoli against their omission. The only worrying appointment is Osama Juwali as Defence Minister. As Juwali is the commander of the Zintan militia there is a feeling that rather then being awarded the post on merit he blackmailed himself into it using Saif al-Islam Qaddafi as a bargaining chip.
As for Saif al-Islam himself he is still being held by the Zintan Brigade. He has not been charged with any crime and he has not been handed over to the Libyan government. Also on Tuesday (22/11/11) a delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) began a two day visit to Libya to discuss the options for putting Saif al-Islam on trial. These include sending him to the ICC for trial, Libya putting him on trial themselves or a combination of the two with Saif al-Islam going on trial in Libya but with involvement from ICC Judges and lawyers. Obviously it will take time for the Libyan government to make a decision but they can't really start to consider the options until Saif al-Islam is handed over to them.
In a worrying demonstration of a possible pro-Qaddafi insurgency there was fighting between members of a rebel militia and Qaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid on Wednesday (23/11/11). Apparently fighting broke out when the militia attempted to stop a vehicle containing a pro-Qaddafi tribal leader and local residents attacked them. The gun battle was said to last for several hours and left seven dead - five of them militia members. This comes on top of an incident earlier this month when the Zintan Brigade militia got into a battle with the Zawiya Brigade militia over territory. The battle lasted several days and only ended after the arrival of Libyan special forces under the direct command of the central government.
http://feb17.info/official-documents/full-list-of-official-ntc-executive-board-english-arabic/
and just in English here;
http://www.lbbc.org.uk/display_news.php?news_id=117
The first obvious thing about the TEB is that it has taken a new broom to Libyan politics with few of the people who rose to prominence during the conflict being given posts. Instead they've been replaced by new people who few have actually heard of. Among what I consider to be the key ministries (Justice, Interior, Foreign Relations, Oil, Finance, Construction) there are two about whom I still know nothing but their names. However Justice went to Kablifa Ashour a Judge from Misrata who served as chancellor of Misrata central court under Qaddafi. Interior went to Fawzi Abdela'ali a lawyer from Misrata who served as a prosecutor at Misrata central court under Qaddafi. Foreign Relations has gone to Ashour Ben Khayli a career diplomat who served as Qaddafi's Ambassador to Italy during the 1960's and Korea before he resigned in 1984 in protest against the Yvonne Fletcher killing and defected to the US before moving to Canada. Oil has gone to Abdulrahman Ben Yezza an oil industry veteran who spent a large part of his career with Italian oil giant Eni. As the chairman of Libya's National Oil Company under Qaddafi he awarded large oil contract to Eni before resigning because Qaddafi thought the terms of the deal was to generous. Finance and Construction went to Hassan Ziglam and Ibrahim Eskuti respectively but both remain a complete mystery to me.
Apart from appointing competent people to the right posts the TEB shows a deliberate effort to make sure all of Libya is represented although there is an ever so slight bias towards western Libya especially Misrata. The TEB also seems to have shunned Islamists in favour of secularists including several women. However Libya's Berbers who make up around 10% of the population are not represented at all and yesterday (27/11/11) held protests in Tripoli against their omission. The only worrying appointment is Osama Juwali as Defence Minister. As Juwali is the commander of the Zintan militia there is a feeling that rather then being awarded the post on merit he blackmailed himself into it using Saif al-Islam Qaddafi as a bargaining chip.
As for Saif al-Islam himself he is still being held by the Zintan Brigade. He has not been charged with any crime and he has not been handed over to the Libyan government. Also on Tuesday (22/11/11) a delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) began a two day visit to Libya to discuss the options for putting Saif al-Islam on trial. These include sending him to the ICC for trial, Libya putting him on trial themselves or a combination of the two with Saif al-Islam going on trial in Libya but with involvement from ICC Judges and lawyers. Obviously it will take time for the Libyan government to make a decision but they can't really start to consider the options until Saif al-Islam is handed over to them.
In a worrying demonstration of a possible pro-Qaddafi insurgency there was fighting between members of a rebel militia and Qaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid on Wednesday (23/11/11). Apparently fighting broke out when the militia attempted to stop a vehicle containing a pro-Qaddafi tribal leader and local residents attacked them. The gun battle was said to last for several hours and left seven dead - five of them militia members. This comes on top of an incident earlier this month when the Zintan Brigade militia got into a battle with the Zawiya Brigade militia over territory. The battle lasted several days and only ended after the arrival of Libyan special forces under the direct command of the central government.
There Must Be a Summit On.
On November 13th I was sent a letter by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) telling me my benefit claim was up for review and promising to contact with further information within two weeks. That two week deadline expired yesterday (27/11/11) with me hearing nothing further. Now it would be nice to pretend that was because the Brits had suddenly seen the folly of their current path. However it's much more likely to be a dirty trick to stop my claim on the grounds of non-compliance.
So spending ages on hold with the DWP trying to sort out this mess is just another one of the other things I'm going to have to spend this week doing. That Amazon order still hasn't turned up btw.
Edited at around 10:45 on 28/11/11: After writing the above I called the DWP again and funnily enough they answered. They've not made any attempt to contact me so I am now covered for this matter for the next seven weeks. However it would be much easier if they just sent me a letter today admitting the earlier letter was sent in error. After all that would save everyone the time of realising that stopping my claim is not going to force me into the world of work and then re-starting my claim.
So spending ages on hold with the DWP trying to sort out this mess is just another one of the other things I'm going to have to spend this week doing. That Amazon order still hasn't turned up btw.
Edited at around 10:45 on 28/11/11: After writing the above I called the DWP again and funnily enough they answered. They've not made any attempt to contact me so I am now covered for this matter for the next seven weeks. However it would be much easier if they just sent me a letter today admitting the earlier letter was sent in error. After all that would save everyone the time of realising that stopping my claim is not going to force me into the world of work and then re-starting my claim.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
COP17 Begins
Later today (28/11/11) the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) and the 7th conference of signatories to the Kyoto protocol (CMP7) will open in Durban South Africa. Running until December 9th the purpose of these twin conferences is to examine the latest scientific data on the issues surrounding global warming/climate change and attempt to find political solutions to the problems created by these phenomenon.
This will also be the first large global summit since the G20 Summit in early November. Although not technically on the agenda that summit was dominated by the financial crisis in the Eurozone. On that issue US President Barak Obama said that there was much hard work to be done. Although he could have been talking about the work European leaders need to do or commenting on my situation Obama was mainly talking about the work the US needs to do. Since the second world war the US has relied on Britain to be it's man in Europe. Unfortunately the October 27th agreement paves the way for a two teir Europe with an inner core of nations who use the Euro as their currency (the Eurogroup) and a periphery of nations who don't. Britain will obviously be on the periphery while the Eurogroup intends to forge closer links with China in order to fund the special purpose vehicles referenced in the October 27th agreement. This lack of access puts the US at a distinct disadvantage as political power shifts from west to east and we move towards a multi-polar world. So the US are desperate to use the COP17/CMP7 to put pressure on Eurogroup/Chinese relations in order to find out what is planned for these special purpose vehicles. To this end we have already seen the US move the markets to increase the cost of borrowing for Italy, Spain and Portugal creating a mini-crisis. Unfortunately for the US Britain has already tipped China off about this play through their special 27 vehicle crash on the M5 motorway on November 4th. So while the US wants Britain to be it's man in Europe Britain clearly wants to be China's man in the US and are already trying to tear apart the October 27th agreement by forcing France who are now locked into a mutual defence pact to push the unworkable Eurobonds idea as an alternative.
The second significant issue at the moment is the Gulf Co-operation Council's (GCC) led by Saudi Arabia (oil & gas) and Qatar (gas) push for regional dominance in the middle east. Obviously this involves the situations in Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. The big question though is whether the Saudis will be successful in putting enough pressure on the US to allow Israel to attack Iran. If this does happen the worst case scenario that everybody is worried about is that Iran will retaliate by raining conventional missiles down on Israel. As Israel is a small nation there is a risk that they will respond with a nuclear strike on Iran provoking a Pakistani nuclear attack against Israel. If that happens there is talk of the US launching a retaliatory strike against Pakistan provoking a Russian nuclear strike on the US. Hopefully though most people are bluffing and referring to Surface to Air Missiles in terms of their acronym SAM. There is a lot of range testing going on though.
So although it is actually a really exciting time in terms of climate science I think that all these other things mean that the sort of climate change everyone will be talking about at the COP17/CMP7 will have nothing whatsoever to do with the greenhouse effect.
This will also be the first large global summit since the G20 Summit in early November. Although not technically on the agenda that summit was dominated by the financial crisis in the Eurozone. On that issue US President Barak Obama said that there was much hard work to be done. Although he could have been talking about the work European leaders need to do or commenting on my situation Obama was mainly talking about the work the US needs to do. Since the second world war the US has relied on Britain to be it's man in Europe. Unfortunately the October 27th agreement paves the way for a two teir Europe with an inner core of nations who use the Euro as their currency (the Eurogroup) and a periphery of nations who don't. Britain will obviously be on the periphery while the Eurogroup intends to forge closer links with China in order to fund the special purpose vehicles referenced in the October 27th agreement. This lack of access puts the US at a distinct disadvantage as political power shifts from west to east and we move towards a multi-polar world. So the US are desperate to use the COP17/CMP7 to put pressure on Eurogroup/Chinese relations in order to find out what is planned for these special purpose vehicles. To this end we have already seen the US move the markets to increase the cost of borrowing for Italy, Spain and Portugal creating a mini-crisis. Unfortunately for the US Britain has already tipped China off about this play through their special 27 vehicle crash on the M5 motorway on November 4th. So while the US wants Britain to be it's man in Europe Britain clearly wants to be China's man in the US and are already trying to tear apart the October 27th agreement by forcing France who are now locked into a mutual defence pact to push the unworkable Eurobonds idea as an alternative.
The second significant issue at the moment is the Gulf Co-operation Council's (GCC) led by Saudi Arabia (oil & gas) and Qatar (gas) push for regional dominance in the middle east. Obviously this involves the situations in Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. The big question though is whether the Saudis will be successful in putting enough pressure on the US to allow Israel to attack Iran. If this does happen the worst case scenario that everybody is worried about is that Iran will retaliate by raining conventional missiles down on Israel. As Israel is a small nation there is a risk that they will respond with a nuclear strike on Iran provoking a Pakistani nuclear attack against Israel. If that happens there is talk of the US launching a retaliatory strike against Pakistan provoking a Russian nuclear strike on the US. Hopefully though most people are bluffing and referring to Surface to Air Missiles in terms of their acronym SAM. There is a lot of range testing going on though.
So although it is actually a really exciting time in terms of climate science I think that all these other things mean that the sort of climate change everyone will be talking about at the COP17/CMP7 will have nothing whatsoever to do with the greenhouse effect.
Gary Speed Death.
Today (27/11/11) the manager of the Welsh national football team Gary Speed was found hanged at his home. Although the timing of the 42 year old ex-Leeds, Newcastle United and Fulham midfielder seems highly suspicious the police have been in something of a rush to rule it a suicide. However it's worth remembering the factors that make the death suspicious could also be the same factors that drive someone to kill themselves.
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Egypt's Military Budget.
Article 9 of Egyptian deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy's discussion document on constitutional reform contained a suggestion that the budget for the Egyptian military appears as a single item and a single total in the national budget. This sparked violent protests and accusations that the military were trying to cling to power and act as a sort of secret shadow government. I think that much of that criticism was misplaced because I think what the Egyptian military were trying to do was much more complicated and much more clever then that.
In even the most open societies certain aspects of what the military does has to remain secret for very good reason. For example if the Egyptian military were to publish a budget showing they spent US$1million on 10,000 tank shells an enemy or potential enemy could use that information to work out what type of tank shells the Egyptian military are using. That enemy could then improve the armour on their tanks to make sure they will withstand Egyptian shells meaning that if they ever met in battle the Egyptian military would have no way of destroying the enemy tanks meaning that Egypt would lose the war. This secrecy requirement is even more important in areas such as foreign covert intelligence (spying) and special forces operations.
In supposedly open western societies the military have developed a solution to this problem. They simply lie. For example I think the US unit that was set up to capture or kill Osama bin Laden after Sept 11th appeared in the US budget a logistics unit and throughout the cold war Britain's government department for farming always had a suspiciously large budget.
So by making their opening offer a single item and a single total the Egyptian military seems to be attempting to open a dialogue with the Egyptian people and their soon to be elected representatives to find out how much they want to know and if they will tolerate being lied too in return for being allowed to ask searching questions.
In even the most open societies certain aspects of what the military does has to remain secret for very good reason. For example if the Egyptian military were to publish a budget showing they spent US$1million on 10,000 tank shells an enemy or potential enemy could use that information to work out what type of tank shells the Egyptian military are using. That enemy could then improve the armour on their tanks to make sure they will withstand Egyptian shells meaning that if they ever met in battle the Egyptian military would have no way of destroying the enemy tanks meaning that Egypt would lose the war. This secrecy requirement is even more important in areas such as foreign covert intelligence (spying) and special forces operations.
In supposedly open western societies the military have developed a solution to this problem. They simply lie. For example I think the US unit that was set up to capture or kill Osama bin Laden after Sept 11th appeared in the US budget a logistics unit and throughout the cold war Britain's government department for farming always had a suspiciously large budget.
So by making their opening offer a single item and a single total the Egyptian military seems to be attempting to open a dialogue with the Egyptian people and their soon to be elected representatives to find out how much they want to know and if they will tolerate being lied too in return for being allowed to ask searching questions.
Friday, 25 November 2011
No That's it. I've Had Enough.
At around 02:15 on Saturday November 26th 2011 (26/11/11) I will now be attempting unconciousness. Beyond that I can't really promise much.
Well I Do Talk Some W@nk at times
But at around 01:00 on 26/11/11 I've been looking at some aggressive ITN news video and not seen any p0rn or that video of the latest Twilight premiere I was hoping to find. I have been drinking though.
And Now (00:45 26/11/11)
My father has finally gone to bed after spending a suspicious (bowel cancer screening test) in the outside lavatory. Beyond that I can't rememsnber much.
My Amazon Has Failed Me.
It turns out in this town if you want a birthday present you have to buy it yourself. So after visiting my mother on Wednesday (23/11/11) I visited a certain online retailer and purchased; House series seven, the Girl Who trilogy, Black Swan, the Battle of Algiers, All Ages by Bad Religion and some Imelda May album.
On Thursday (24/11/11) I received and email from said online retailer assuring me that I would receive delivery of above on Friday November 25th. So I left my front door open in expectation.
Instead I got a summons to the Royal Courts of Justice. Personally I don't consider that to be a fair exchange. Obviously I would have preferred to make my purchase at a high street store. However I challenge you to find a DVD store in Croydon that stocks a copy of the Battle of Algiers even if it is the most referenced film for the Libyan war that I've still not seen.
On Thursday (24/11/11) I received and email from said online retailer assuring me that I would receive delivery of above on Friday November 25th. So I left my front door open in expectation.
Instead I got a summons to the Royal Courts of Justice. Personally I don't consider that to be a fair exchange. Obviously I would have preferred to make my purchase at a high street store. However I challenge you to find a DVD store in Croydon that stocks a copy of the Battle of Algiers even if it is the most referenced film for the Libyan war that I've still not seen.
Right if You Want me to Completely Re-Train Egypt's CSF
six days before a significant strike action in London and the day before Millwall FC play Crystal Palace FC all along my high street I'm probably going to need paying. However long before that happens I really need these protests in Tahrir Square to stop because I've always felt the best place for training to take place is in a training centre rather then in the heat of a riot.
Yeah at this point (around 19:45 on 25/11/11) I'm just making more work for myself.
In other news my father has returned and would like a copy of the application I made to the Court of Protection (COP) that led to next Friday December 2nd hearing at the Family division of the Royal Courts of Justice. Obviously prior to the hearing I have to provide him with a copy of the full 300 page plus bundle. Unfortunately we've sort of run out of printer ink so we're currently debating whose responsibility it is to buy some more and where you would buy such a product from.
Yeah at this point (around 19:45 on 25/11/11) I'm just making more work for myself.
In other news my father has returned and would like a copy of the application I made to the Court of Protection (COP) that led to next Friday December 2nd hearing at the Family division of the Royal Courts of Justice. Obviously prior to the hearing I have to provide him with a copy of the full 300 page plus bundle. Unfortunately we've sort of run out of printer ink so we're currently debating whose responsibility it is to buy some more and where you would buy such a product from.
The November 30th (N30) Strikes
Under law British trade unions are no longer allowed to call sympathetic strikes or general strikes against government policy. So on November 30th 2011 (30/11/11) over twenty of Britain's largest unions representing public sector workers will strike against government plans to introduce a second income tax for public sector workers and cut their pensions - a specific government policy that directly affects their pay and conditions.
Although it is hard to predict how large these strikes will be they are expected to significantly affect all levels of the civil service, schools, universities, courts, prisons, hospitals and border and immigration controls. It is though likely to be one of the largest strikes held in Britain since the General Strikes of the 1920's. It will also be the first time health care workers have gone on strike since 1988.
Obviously this strike action will also coincide with the third day of the COP17/CMP7 Summit. However I see no reason why the strikers should hold off on account of that. In fact a strong display of how little support the British delegation have at home may actually improve the situation.
In other news the Court date for my grandmother's case has come up at the Family division of the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday December 2nd. The attended but secret hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:30 and last for a period of one hour. So arrest warrants in this case can safely be executed that evening. I must stress though that for this case and this case only.
Although it is hard to predict how large these strikes will be they are expected to significantly affect all levels of the civil service, schools, universities, courts, prisons, hospitals and border and immigration controls. It is though likely to be one of the largest strikes held in Britain since the General Strikes of the 1920's. It will also be the first time health care workers have gone on strike since 1988.
Obviously this strike action will also coincide with the third day of the COP17/CMP7 Summit. However I see no reason why the strikers should hold off on account of that. In fact a strong display of how little support the British delegation have at home may actually improve the situation.
In other news the Court date for my grandmother's case has come up at the Family division of the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday December 2nd. The attended but secret hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:30 and last for a period of one hour. So arrest warrants in this case can safely be executed that evening. I must stress though that for this case and this case only.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Today 24/11/11.
I have mainly been brushing up on my fundamentals ahead of the COP17/CMP7. So if I seem a bit quiet over the coming days it's not because I've forgotten or because something's wrong. It's just I'm channelling my energies into something more productive.
In Egypt a truce appears to be holding especially now the military appear to have confiscated the police's tear gas. The worry is though that midday prayers tomorrow (25/11/11) will lead to more mass protests. Given the current security situation this could be just enough to start another cycle of violence. So I think the most effective form of protest for tomorrow at least would be to stay home and do nothing
In Egypt a truce appears to be holding especially now the military appear to have confiscated the police's tear gas. The worry is though that midday prayers tomorrow (25/11/11) will lead to more mass protests. Given the current security situation this could be just enough to start another cycle of violence. So I think the most effective form of protest for tomorrow at least would be to stay home and do nothing
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Egypt Decides.
On Monday November 28th (28/11/11) Egyptians will go to the polls in the first round of voting for the Peoples Assembly. This will be the first such vote since the fall of the Mubarak regime was overthrown in January's revolution and should mark the start of the gradual transfer of power from the interim military leadership to a democratically elected civilian government. Unfortunately the election itself and the political discussion around the election look like they're going to be overshadowed by the recent violent protests. That is a shame because there are many more important but less dramatic issues that the Egyptian people should be considering when deciding who to vote for.
For example there is still the issue of food subsides. Following the food riots of the 1970's the Mubarak regime introduced a massive Communist style system of food subsides for all Egyptians. The system works by the Egyptian government basically controlling the entire market for wheat flour. Some of this flour is turned into Baladi bread which is sold at a loss at government run shops while the rest of flour is just given away. Although a nice idea that means no-one in Egypt goes hungry this system is massively damaging to the Egyptian economy. For a start it is hugely expensive costing around US$1.1 billion per year which is about 6% of Egypt's GDP. Secondly it is destroying the Egyptian farming industry because with only one customer - the government - farmers can only get one price regardless of how good or bad their produce is. Thirdly it distorts the wider economy through what is known as leakage. Basically this is richer people collecting their bread ration but rather then eating it selling it on, often to be used as animal feed. Obviously this drives down the price of other foodstuffs, reduces the profits of the people selling these other foodstuffs and reduces the number of people they're able to employ and the wages they can pay.
So there is a general agreement worldwide that Egypt's food subsidy system needs drastic and urgent reform before it bankrupts the country. The only question is what form that reform should take?
One option is to do away with the subsidies completely so if people can't afford to buy food they simply don't eat. Obviously this will create problems of further food riots and famine. Another option is to introduce means testing. This means that rather then giving subsidies to everyone subsidies are only given to people whose income is so low that they can't afford food. These people are then given ration cards similar to those used in the sugar and cooking oil system which they can show in shops to buy bread at a reduced price. Another option is to adopt a western style welfare system. This involves people who are unemployed or on a low income being given some help by the state. However rather then being given ration cards that allow them to buy certain goods at a price set by the government these people are simply given money that they can spend on whatever they like.
Then there is of course the issue of re-writing the constitution specifically the role of the military. I actually think that by proposing that the military budget appears as a single item and a single total in the national budget Egypt's interim military leadership are doing something very, very clever. So I would support the candidate that can explain what the military leadership are trying to do and how best for the civilian leadership to engage with them.
For example there is still the issue of food subsides. Following the food riots of the 1970's the Mubarak regime introduced a massive Communist style system of food subsides for all Egyptians. The system works by the Egyptian government basically controlling the entire market for wheat flour. Some of this flour is turned into Baladi bread which is sold at a loss at government run shops while the rest of flour is just given away. Although a nice idea that means no-one in Egypt goes hungry this system is massively damaging to the Egyptian economy. For a start it is hugely expensive costing around US$1.1 billion per year which is about 6% of Egypt's GDP. Secondly it is destroying the Egyptian farming industry because with only one customer - the government - farmers can only get one price regardless of how good or bad their produce is. Thirdly it distorts the wider economy through what is known as leakage. Basically this is richer people collecting their bread ration but rather then eating it selling it on, often to be used as animal feed. Obviously this drives down the price of other foodstuffs, reduces the profits of the people selling these other foodstuffs and reduces the number of people they're able to employ and the wages they can pay.
So there is a general agreement worldwide that Egypt's food subsidy system needs drastic and urgent reform before it bankrupts the country. The only question is what form that reform should take?
One option is to do away with the subsidies completely so if people can't afford to buy food they simply don't eat. Obviously this will create problems of further food riots and famine. Another option is to introduce means testing. This means that rather then giving subsidies to everyone subsidies are only given to people whose income is so low that they can't afford food. These people are then given ration cards similar to those used in the sugar and cooking oil system which they can show in shops to buy bread at a reduced price. Another option is to adopt a western style welfare system. This involves people who are unemployed or on a low income being given some help by the state. However rather then being given ration cards that allow them to buy certain goods at a price set by the government these people are simply given money that they can spend on whatever they like.
Then there is of course the issue of re-writing the constitution specifically the role of the military. I actually think that by proposing that the military budget appears as a single item and a single total in the national budget Egypt's interim military leadership are doing something very, very clever. So I would support the candidate that can explain what the military leadership are trying to do and how best for the civilian leadership to engage with them.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Egypt Continues to Protest.
Well in a country of 74 million people about 750,000 are protesting. With the Muslim Brotherhood withdrawing their support for the demonstrations on Monday (21/11/11) Tuesday's protest was largely organised by the Egyptian Revolutionary Youth Movement an organisation remarkably similar to the Libyan Youth Movement or Britain's Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Sadly the situation now seems to have become self-perpetuating. Sections of the protesters keep trying to violently attack government buildings surrounding Tahrir Square including the Interior Ministry. This forces the military to equally violently stop them. In turn the succession of injured protesters being brought back into Tahrir Square for medical treatment encourages more protesters to attack government buildings. There is also a strong suspicion that some of the protesters are armed with handguns and are shooting other protesters in order to increase the level of anger towards the military.
So at the moment I think the main demand from both the military and the protesters is simply, "Please stop attacking us."
Beyond that the protesters are demanding that Egypt's interim military leaders set out a timetable for when they will hand over power to a civilian President. I have to say that this makes no sense to me because there is already a timetable in place for that handover. It starts on Monday (28/11/11) with the first round of Parliamentary elections for the Peoples Assembly (lower house). Assuming that there are no problems this will complete on December 5th (5/12/11). The second round of voting will begin on December 14th (14/12/11) and assuming there are no problems will end on December 21st (21/12/11). The third round of voting will begin on January 3rd (3/1/12) and assuming there are no problems will end on January 10th (10/1/12). Voting for the Shura Council (upper house) will begin on January 22nd and is expected to last until around mid-February.
Once they've been elected Egypt's new elected representatives will break off to form committees to work on the best way to re-write the constitution, get the economy back on track, reform the police and criminal justice system and all the other boring things government's do. This committee stage is expected to last for six months meaning that the earliest Presidential elections can be held is late-August 2012. However I'm hesitant to put a firm date on it for the simple reason that no-one in Egypt has ever done this before so there really is no way of knowing what will happen in the future. For example we don't know if all the elected representatives are all going to agree on every issue which in itself is not healthy for democracy or if a block of the representatives are going to slow everybody down by simply saying no to every suggestion much like the Republicans are currently doing in the US House/Senate. Likewise we don't know what is going to happen in the region. For example when Mubarak fell no-one - not even the people who planned it - knew that Libya was going to descend into eight months of civil war and we still don't know if Israel is going to attack Iran.
At the moment though the biggest threat to the democratic handover of power are the protests themselves. Roads are blocked, the authorities are over stretched, people are getting injured so cannot vote and people are getting scared to leave their homes. Under these circumstances even the most liberal government would be forced to ask if elections can go ahead. To their credit Egypt's interim military leadership are resolute that the elections will go ahead as planned no matter how violent the protests become. This is because whether people believe it or not the military want to hand power over to a civilian authority just as soon as possible. As for the protesters I'm not so sure.
So at the moment I think the main demand from both the military and the protesters is simply, "Please stop attacking us."
Beyond that the protesters are demanding that Egypt's interim military leaders set out a timetable for when they will hand over power to a civilian President. I have to say that this makes no sense to me because there is already a timetable in place for that handover. It starts on Monday (28/11/11) with the first round of Parliamentary elections for the Peoples Assembly (lower house). Assuming that there are no problems this will complete on December 5th (5/12/11). The second round of voting will begin on December 14th (14/12/11) and assuming there are no problems will end on December 21st (21/12/11). The third round of voting will begin on January 3rd (3/1/12) and assuming there are no problems will end on January 10th (10/1/12). Voting for the Shura Council (upper house) will begin on January 22nd and is expected to last until around mid-February.
Once they've been elected Egypt's new elected representatives will break off to form committees to work on the best way to re-write the constitution, get the economy back on track, reform the police and criminal justice system and all the other boring things government's do. This committee stage is expected to last for six months meaning that the earliest Presidential elections can be held is late-August 2012. However I'm hesitant to put a firm date on it for the simple reason that no-one in Egypt has ever done this before so there really is no way of knowing what will happen in the future. For example we don't know if all the elected representatives are all going to agree on every issue which in itself is not healthy for democracy or if a block of the representatives are going to slow everybody down by simply saying no to every suggestion much like the Republicans are currently doing in the US House/Senate. Likewise we don't know what is going to happen in the region. For example when Mubarak fell no-one - not even the people who planned it - knew that Libya was going to descend into eight months of civil war and we still don't know if Israel is going to attack Iran.
At the moment though the biggest threat to the democratic handover of power are the protests themselves. Roads are blocked, the authorities are over stretched, people are getting injured so cannot vote and people are getting scared to leave their homes. Under these circumstances even the most liberal government would be forced to ask if elections can go ahead. To their credit Egypt's interim military leadership are resolute that the elections will go ahead as planned no matter how violent the protests become. This is because whether people believe it or not the military want to hand power over to a civilian authority just as soon as possible. As for the protesters I'm not so sure.
It's Tuesday 22/11/11
at around 20:05 and I'm back from the pub. There are no major problems to report but I don't expect the news that I've been to the pub is going to make me particularly popular with the Muslim Brotherhood.
What's going to make me even less popular is saying that I think the announcement by Egypt's interim military leadership that they intend to hold Presidential elections as early as July 2012 is a mistake. To me it sounds like risking the long term prosperity and security of the nation in order to appease a minority of violent extremists. It will do wonders for Britain's 2012 Olympic bid though.
In other news this afternoon my father and I made our traditional fortnightly trip to the supermarket. It's almost impossible to believe that since the last time we went the Court of Protection (COP) issued a section 49 order preventing my grandmother being discharged from Croydon University Hospital (CUH) then CUH submitted evidence, the Section 49 order was revoked and the matter has been sent to the High Court. I guess it must be true what they say though - time is relative to how fast you are travelling.
And there's the massive headache again.
What's going to make me even less popular is saying that I think the announcement by Egypt's interim military leadership that they intend to hold Presidential elections as early as July 2012 is a mistake. To me it sounds like risking the long term prosperity and security of the nation in order to appease a minority of violent extremists. It will do wonders for Britain's 2012 Olympic bid though.
In other news this afternoon my father and I made our traditional fortnightly trip to the supermarket. It's almost impossible to believe that since the last time we went the Court of Protection (COP) issued a section 49 order preventing my grandmother being discharged from Croydon University Hospital (CUH) then CUH submitted evidence, the Section 49 order was revoked and the matter has been sent to the High Court. I guess it must be true what they say though - time is relative to how fast you are travelling.
And there's the massive headache again.
Egypt: My Mistake.
My first mistake was not thinking up a catchy title like "Operation Oil Theft" that I could use over and over again rather then having to think up a new title each time. I mean look at how effective simply re-naming the interim military leadership "SCAF" has been at whipping up protest.
My second mistake was telling Egypt's interim military leadership to push back the first round of elections to avoid clashing with the UN General Assembly in September. So if you've got a problem with that then I've got a comments section below that I very rarely read. Judging by the number of Egyptians who continued to protest yesterday (21/11/11) I think I'm about to receive a lot of abusive messages.
That's perfectly understandable because 11 months after their revolution really not much has changed. The Egyptian economy is still barely functioning and there's still high unemployment. On top that there is a big public safety problem caused by the security vacuum created by the dismantling of Mubarak's police and court system. At the same time far too many people have been put in jail by unfair and unjust military courts that have no place in civilian life. Undoubtedly members of the Egyptian military have abused the privilege of military courts to settle old scores and must be punished for that but I don't see how we can do away with the military courts entirely. Without them there will be absolutely no system for catching criminals and keeping them away from so society. That will mean that the thieves and thugs that inhabit any society will be free to do whatever they like and I don't need to tell a growing number of Egyptians why that is a bad idea.
The only solution I can think of is for Egypt to build a completely new police and criminal justice system. This is no simple task because to train a police officer it takes two years in the classroom followed by a year of training on the street followed by another two to three years before they actually become any good at doing the job. For Judges you're looking at 10-15 years of study and practice. Obviously the Egyptians need to start on this as soon as possible but they can either force the interim military rulers to do the job for them or they can use next Monday's (28/11/11) election to vote for a civilian Parliament who will make this important task their first priority.
Alternatively they can just continue to protest, cause the election to be delayed further and things will remain exactly as they are now.
My second mistake was telling Egypt's interim military leadership to push back the first round of elections to avoid clashing with the UN General Assembly in September. So if you've got a problem with that then I've got a comments section below that I very rarely read. Judging by the number of Egyptians who continued to protest yesterday (21/11/11) I think I'm about to receive a lot of abusive messages.
That's perfectly understandable because 11 months after their revolution really not much has changed. The Egyptian economy is still barely functioning and there's still high unemployment. On top that there is a big public safety problem caused by the security vacuum created by the dismantling of Mubarak's police and court system. At the same time far too many people have been put in jail by unfair and unjust military courts that have no place in civilian life. Undoubtedly members of the Egyptian military have abused the privilege of military courts to settle old scores and must be punished for that but I don't see how we can do away with the military courts entirely. Without them there will be absolutely no system for catching criminals and keeping them away from so society. That will mean that the thieves and thugs that inhabit any society will be free to do whatever they like and I don't need to tell a growing number of Egyptians why that is a bad idea.
The only solution I can think of is for Egypt to build a completely new police and criminal justice system. This is no simple task because to train a police officer it takes two years in the classroom followed by a year of training on the street followed by another two to three years before they actually become any good at doing the job. For Judges you're looking at 10-15 years of study and practice. Obviously the Egyptians need to start on this as soon as possible but they can either force the interim military rulers to do the job for them or they can use next Monday's (28/11/11) election to vote for a civilian Parliament who will make this important task their first priority.
Alternatively they can just continue to protest, cause the election to be delayed further and things will remain exactly as they are now.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Egypt Seems Calmer.
Although some limited clashes continue around Tahrir Square today (21/11/11) there seems to have been no repeat of the three days of nationwide rioting that left at least 20 dead and thousands more injured. While I'm finding it extremely difficult to believe either the BBC or Al Jazeera coverage of events I am starting to get a better idea of what took place.
On Friday (18/11/11) the Muslim Brotherhood called a million man march against military rule because the Brotherhood's leadership objects to articles 9 and 10 of Ali al-Selmy's constitutional principles document. Several hundred thousand people attended and while I'm not sure of the exact circumstances as the Brotherhood's demonstration was due to end it was joined by a few thousand more demonstrators intent on setting up camp in Tahrir Square in an attempt to copy the worldwide "Occupy" protests that started in the United States. Egypt's interim military rulers - the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took one look at this and did not like what they saw.
This is because SCAF have already looked at their western neighbour, Libya where all the world's major spy agencies are competing with each other for influence over the local militias and power brokers in order to win control over Libya's vast natural resources. SCAF have also looked at their eastern neighbour, Palestine whose bid for statehood is still at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). SCAF have also looked at their other eastern neighbour, Israel which is preparing it's civilian population for an attack on Iran and a possible regional war.
SCAF then looked towards the global COP17 Summit that begins on November 28th and rightly decided that a protest camp in Tahrir Square represents a significant threat to Egypt's national security and decided to clear it. Unfortunately because SCAF still needs to be an effective military force they cleared the camp the only way they know how - through violence. This is not the same as saying the SCAF don't think that ordinary Egyptians should discuss, understand and shape their new democracy. They just think it's better if this is done in homes, shops and cafes rather then in a massive public square under the ever watching gaze of the world's media.
As for Egypt joining the global Occupy movement the occupiers are trying to copy what the Egyptians have already done. So the Egyptians are already the leaders of the movement and serve it best by not screwing up what they've already achieved.
On Friday (18/11/11) the Muslim Brotherhood called a million man march against military rule because the Brotherhood's leadership objects to articles 9 and 10 of Ali al-Selmy's constitutional principles document. Several hundred thousand people attended and while I'm not sure of the exact circumstances as the Brotherhood's demonstration was due to end it was joined by a few thousand more demonstrators intent on setting up camp in Tahrir Square in an attempt to copy the worldwide "Occupy" protests that started in the United States. Egypt's interim military rulers - the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took one look at this and did not like what they saw.
This is because SCAF have already looked at their western neighbour, Libya where all the world's major spy agencies are competing with each other for influence over the local militias and power brokers in order to win control over Libya's vast natural resources. SCAF have also looked at their eastern neighbour, Palestine whose bid for statehood is still at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). SCAF have also looked at their other eastern neighbour, Israel which is preparing it's civilian population for an attack on Iran and a possible regional war.
SCAF then looked towards the global COP17 Summit that begins on November 28th and rightly decided that a protest camp in Tahrir Square represents a significant threat to Egypt's national security and decided to clear it. Unfortunately because SCAF still needs to be an effective military force they cleared the camp the only way they know how - through violence. This is not the same as saying the SCAF don't think that ordinary Egyptians should discuss, understand and shape their new democracy. They just think it's better if this is done in homes, shops and cafes rather then in a massive public square under the ever watching gaze of the world's media.
As for Egypt joining the global Occupy movement the occupiers are trying to copy what the Egyptians have already done. So the Egyptians are already the leaders of the movement and serve it best by not screwing up what they've already achieved.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 9, Week 1, Day 1.
Two days after his capture the Zintan Brigade paramilitary militia have still not handed Saif al-Islam Qaddafi over to Libya's Transitional National Council (TNC). The TNC though have promised that Saif al-Islam will receive a fair trial in Libya. This makes me think that after 40 years of Muammer Qaddafi hollowing out public institutions and amid the chaos of building a new nation out of the wreckage of civil war no-one in Libya actually understands what a "fair" trial involves.
Along with the principle of Habeas corpus which prevents a prisoner being detained indefinitely without charge a fair trial carefully balances the rights of the accused with the rights of the accuser through a system of complex legal principles. These are too many and varied to cover fully here so I'll concentrate on the two that are the most important and relevant to this case.
The first is the presumption of innocence. This means that the accused is considered wholly innocent until their guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt. That means in order to find Saif al-Islam guilty the prosecution will not only have to prove that the acts he is accused of actually happened but that he knowingly caused them to happen. In this case that means providing documents signed by Saif al-Islam in which he ordered fighters to do certain things or providing testimony from credible witnesses that they were in the room when Saif al-Islam ordered them to do certain things. Simply saying that Saif al-Islam was a member of the then Libyan government and Libyan government forces did some bad things is not enough.
The second is the right to the best possible defence. In a fair trial Saif al-Islam will be allowed to put forward the best argument to explain why he has not committed any crime. If I was representing him I would tell him to use the defence of "what is necessary is also lawful." Taking the siege of Misrata as an example the use of indiscriminate weapons (Grad rockets, artillery etc) against a civilian population centre is undoubtedly a breach of the laws of war and a crime against humanity. However the Misrata Brigade was hiding in and amongst the civilian population and the NATO air campaign severely restricted the military options available to the then Libyan government so indiscriminate weapons were the only weapons that could be used to keep the Misrata Brigade contained. When the siege was broken the Misrata Brigade went on to commit massacres and forcibly remove black Libyans from Tawargha and surrounding villages. Therefore the lesser offence of using indiscriminate weapons became lawful because it prevented the greater crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Do we seriously think that there is a Judge, lawyer, politician or man in Libya who is going to allow Saif al-Islam to walk free on the grounds that the Misrata Brigade militia are the greater criminals and do we even think that would be a good idea. If we don't then Saif al-Islam will not receive a fair trial in Libya.
Along with the principle of Habeas corpus which prevents a prisoner being detained indefinitely without charge a fair trial carefully balances the rights of the accused with the rights of the accuser through a system of complex legal principles. These are too many and varied to cover fully here so I'll concentrate on the two that are the most important and relevant to this case.
The first is the presumption of innocence. This means that the accused is considered wholly innocent until their guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt. That means in order to find Saif al-Islam guilty the prosecution will not only have to prove that the acts he is accused of actually happened but that he knowingly caused them to happen. In this case that means providing documents signed by Saif al-Islam in which he ordered fighters to do certain things or providing testimony from credible witnesses that they were in the room when Saif al-Islam ordered them to do certain things. Simply saying that Saif al-Islam was a member of the then Libyan government and Libyan government forces did some bad things is not enough.
The second is the right to the best possible defence. In a fair trial Saif al-Islam will be allowed to put forward the best argument to explain why he has not committed any crime. If I was representing him I would tell him to use the defence of "what is necessary is also lawful." Taking the siege of Misrata as an example the use of indiscriminate weapons (Grad rockets, artillery etc) against a civilian population centre is undoubtedly a breach of the laws of war and a crime against humanity. However the Misrata Brigade was hiding in and amongst the civilian population and the NATO air campaign severely restricted the military options available to the then Libyan government so indiscriminate weapons were the only weapons that could be used to keep the Misrata Brigade contained. When the siege was broken the Misrata Brigade went on to commit massacres and forcibly remove black Libyans from Tawargha and surrounding villages. Therefore the lesser offence of using indiscriminate weapons became lawful because it prevented the greater crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Do we seriously think that there is a Judge, lawyer, politician or man in Libya who is going to allow Saif al-Islam to walk free on the grounds that the Misrata Brigade militia are the greater criminals and do we even think that would be a good idea. If we don't then Saif al-Islam will not receive a fair trial in Libya.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
More Trouble in Egypt
And I really need coffee.
Egypt is today (20/11/11) enduring it's second day of violent protest/rioting following a million man protest in Tahrir Square on Friday (18/11/11) called by the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the Brotherhood have played somewhat loose with the truth and succeeded in whipping the public into a general anti-military frenzy the protests are actually against an incredibly narrow and technical aspect of constitutional law.
Back in July the Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy published a discussion document on the principles that would guide the drawing up of Egypt's new constitution. The vast majority of the document was accepted by all parties as being rather sensible. The only dispute is over article 9 and article 10 which concern the role of the Egyptian military. Article 9 makes the military the property of the people rather then the legislature and while the President will remain as commander in chief article 10 will set up a National Defence Council that will oversee and effectively run the military. There are also concerns in some quarters that article 9 will keep the military budget secret and prevent groups like the Muslim Brotherhood running a paramilitary wing as Hamas do in Palestine.
By introducing these articles al-Selmy is trying to achieve two things. Firstly he is trying to create a separation between the power of the military and the power of the President. This is so if Egypt again finds itself in a situation like it was in during the revolution where the President is ordering the military to shoot protesters it is easier for the military to refuse without fear of being executed for mutiny. The second thing al-Selmy seems to be trying to do is create a role for the military as the guardian of Egyptian democracy similar to the role the Turkish military plays as the guardian of Turkish secularism. Rather then being an attempt by the military to grab power this seems to me to be a well thought out attempt to build in a safeguard so if in 10, 20, 50 years Egypt is unlucky enough to get a Hitler style figure who rises to power through the democratic process but then uses that power to do away with the democratic process they can be stopped. Most modern democracies actually have similar safeguards it's just that because those safeguards are in place no-one tries to do away with the democratic process so the safeguards don't get talked about or used. The fact that the Muslim Brotherhood are so opposed to this idea makes me worried about what they've planned.
As for the proposal that the military budget appears as a single item and a single total in the national budget I've got a problem with that being overly secretive. However I think the military will have some flexibility on the issue and I'm sure the best way for the Egyptian people to find a solution is to vote in the November 28th election for a candidate who will challenge the military on the issue rather then take part in protests and riots that may well cause that election to be cancelled.
Edited at around 22:35 on 20/11/11 to add:
This al-Selmy discussion document is a completely different document from the Constitutional Declaration of Febuary 13th as amended on March 20th and March 23rd 2011 but because I think everyone in Egypt is sort of learning as they go at the moment no-one is really sure what to call it.
Obviously I have read a copy in English but it's not the easiest document to get hold of. That makes me wonder how widely it's been published in Arabic in Egypt and if it hasn't been widely published is that because after all the years of secrecy under Mubarak no-one's published it because the military hasn't told them they're allowed too?
Egypt is today (20/11/11) enduring it's second day of violent protest/rioting following a million man protest in Tahrir Square on Friday (18/11/11) called by the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the Brotherhood have played somewhat loose with the truth and succeeded in whipping the public into a general anti-military frenzy the protests are actually against an incredibly narrow and technical aspect of constitutional law.
Back in July the Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy published a discussion document on the principles that would guide the drawing up of Egypt's new constitution. The vast majority of the document was accepted by all parties as being rather sensible. The only dispute is over article 9 and article 10 which concern the role of the Egyptian military. Article 9 makes the military the property of the people rather then the legislature and while the President will remain as commander in chief article 10 will set up a National Defence Council that will oversee and effectively run the military. There are also concerns in some quarters that article 9 will keep the military budget secret and prevent groups like the Muslim Brotherhood running a paramilitary wing as Hamas do in Palestine.
By introducing these articles al-Selmy is trying to achieve two things. Firstly he is trying to create a separation between the power of the military and the power of the President. This is so if Egypt again finds itself in a situation like it was in during the revolution where the President is ordering the military to shoot protesters it is easier for the military to refuse without fear of being executed for mutiny. The second thing al-Selmy seems to be trying to do is create a role for the military as the guardian of Egyptian democracy similar to the role the Turkish military plays as the guardian of Turkish secularism. Rather then being an attempt by the military to grab power this seems to me to be a well thought out attempt to build in a safeguard so if in 10, 20, 50 years Egypt is unlucky enough to get a Hitler style figure who rises to power through the democratic process but then uses that power to do away with the democratic process they can be stopped. Most modern democracies actually have similar safeguards it's just that because those safeguards are in place no-one tries to do away with the democratic process so the safeguards don't get talked about or used. The fact that the Muslim Brotherhood are so opposed to this idea makes me worried about what they've planned.
As for the proposal that the military budget appears as a single item and a single total in the national budget I've got a problem with that being overly secretive. However I think the military will have some flexibility on the issue and I'm sure the best way for the Egyptian people to find a solution is to vote in the November 28th election for a candidate who will challenge the military on the issue rather then take part in protests and riots that may well cause that election to be cancelled.
Edited at around 22:35 on 20/11/11 to add:
This al-Selmy discussion document is a completely different document from the Constitutional Declaration of Febuary 13th as amended on March 20th and March 23rd 2011 but because I think everyone in Egypt is sort of learning as they go at the moment no-one is really sure what to call it.
Obviously I have read a copy in English but it's not the easiest document to get hold of. That makes me wonder how widely it's been published in Arabic in Egypt and if it hasn't been widely published is that because after all the years of secrecy under Mubarak no-one's published it because the military hasn't told them they're allowed too?
Operation Oil Theft: Month 8, Week 5, Day 2.
Although more details have begun to emerge the exact circumstances of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi's capture yesterday (19/11/11) remain distinctly opaque.
What we do know is that Saif al-Islam was travelling in a two two vehicle convoy headed in the direction of Niger when it was intercepted by fighters from the northern Zintan Brigade near the southern town of Obari. According to one version of events Saif al-Islam surrendered immediately without a shot being fired. According to another version of events he only surrendered after a two hour gun battle. I have to say that neither of these versions of events seem particularly believable so I think he probably surrendered after a short exchange of fire. What I'm about to say next though is pure speculation;
I think that Saif al-Islam had informed the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he intended to travel to Niger to either continue negotiations with them or just surrender. The Zintan Brigade had been tipped off about this and moved to stop it from happening. As for who tipped off the Zintan Brigade I think Britain is the most likely suspect. Firstly they have a lot to lose if the events of the Libyan war are examined in too much detail which is what would happen if Saif al-Islam is tried at the ICC. Secondly Britain has a large incentive to open up discussions with the ICC over issues of jurisdiction in certain high profile cases. All the better if these discussions are done through an unwitting third party.
What we do know is that Saif al-Islam was travelling in a two two vehicle convoy headed in the direction of Niger when it was intercepted by fighters from the northern Zintan Brigade near the southern town of Obari. According to one version of events Saif al-Islam surrendered immediately without a shot being fired. According to another version of events he only surrendered after a two hour gun battle. I have to say that neither of these versions of events seem particularly believable so I think he probably surrendered after a short exchange of fire. What I'm about to say next though is pure speculation;
I think that Saif al-Islam had informed the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he intended to travel to Niger to either continue negotiations with them or just surrender. The Zintan Brigade had been tipped off about this and moved to stop it from happening. As for who tipped off the Zintan Brigade I think Britain is the most likely suspect. Firstly they have a lot to lose if the events of the Libyan war are examined in too much detail which is what would happen if Saif al-Islam is tried at the ICC. Secondly Britain has a large incentive to open up discussions with the ICC over issues of jurisdiction in certain high profile cases. All the better if these discussions are done through an unwitting third party.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Have I Mentioned That I Hate Working on Saturdays?
Unfortunately I have to though because I'm developing a nerdish and unhealthy fascination with the OPERA experiments. The Italian led researchers now claim that they have re-run the experiment and once again found neutrinos to be moving at 60 billionths of a second faster then the speed of light thus contradicting Einstein's theories of relativity. Although this is clearly way out of my league I can't help but ask one obvious question;
Speed = Distance / Time. In the OPERA experiment the distance travelled by the neutrinos was measured to within a margin of error of around 25mm using the Global Positioning System (GPS). In order to function the satellites that make up the GPS require that Einstein's theory of relativity is accurate. Therefore surely the results of the experiment disprove the methodology of the experiment.
And that's not even the complicated part of the debate surrounding the OPERA results.
Speed = Distance / Time. In the OPERA experiment the distance travelled by the neutrinos was measured to within a margin of error of around 25mm using the Global Positioning System (GPS). In order to function the satellites that make up the GPS require that Einstein's theory of relativity is accurate. Therefore surely the results of the experiment disprove the methodology of the experiment.
And that's not even the complicated part of the debate surrounding the OPERA results.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 8, Week 5, Day 1.
Within the last hour reports are emerging today (19/11/11) that Saif al-Islam Qaddafi has been arrested in southern Libya and is being flown by helicopter to northern Libya. Personally I believe these reports to be true but there is still deep confusion as to whether he was captured or surrendered himself through some very complex back room dealing.
Either way the capture presents a major test for the new Libya because Saif al-Islam is the subject of an active International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Therefore the convention is that he will now be placed in the ICC's custody and swiftly transferred to the Hague for trial. However there are certain (British) sections of the Libyan leadership who want to see Saif al-Islam tried in Libya. As Libya has nothing even closely resembling a functioning legal system this will mean a swift unfair trial leading to a swift conviction and an equally swift execution.
Either way the capture presents a major test for the new Libya because Saif al-Islam is the subject of an active International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Therefore the convention is that he will now be placed in the ICC's custody and swiftly transferred to the Hague for trial. However there are certain (British) sections of the Libyan leadership who want to see Saif al-Islam tried in Libya. As Libya has nothing even closely resembling a functioning legal system this will mean a swift unfair trial leading to a swift conviction and an equally swift execution.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Heard Back From the COP.
Today (18/11/11) I received a letter from the Court of Protection (COP) dated yesterday (17/11/11). Basically no section 48 order on duty of care has been made but the case has be referred to the Royal Courts of Justice for review by either a High Court Judge or the Court's President. I think this in meant to intimidate me but really shouldn't. Now things have gone this far we are going to have to start talking in terms of prosecutions for perjury and otherwise perverting the course of justice.
That Was Nearly Quite Bad.
I've been taking a look at that bulb that blew last night (17/11/11) in the cold light of day. It went with such force that it blew the glass bulb clean off the metal cap. That cap along with the plastic fixture and the fabric shade are scorched and burned and you can still smell the burnt plastic. So basically if the fuse hadn't gone when it did that could have easily started a house fire.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
If it's not Going to Upset the National Grid.
At 00:48 on Friday 18th of November 2011 my father is still awake and watching that new US TV show on BBC2 "Pan Am" which features that girl "Donna" off of Neighbours.
Meanwhile I found a copy of the three page document that the local authority for the City of London (City of London Corporation) has served on some of the tents at the Occupylsx protest here;
http://occupylsx.org/?p=1152
Basically it explains that the tents in the red area have no right to be there because of 18:00 on 17/11/11 they are committing the criminal offence of obstructing the public/Queens highway. However because they have chosen to remain and I've not seen a police clearence yet (00:55) they are now allowing the City of London Corporation to exert legal pressure on the Church of England in front of the Queen. This does me no favours whatsoever.
Elsewhere the policing for the November 9th student protest was fully in line with the mobile cordons used on your average Millwall/Cardiff/West Ham/ Leeds football match. The only interesting point was the members of the Territorial Support Group (TSG) being sent out in plain clothes to prove they won't be taking part in the big November 30th protest march whilst trying to claim that it wasn't Britain's MI6's Youth Training Scheme (YTS) who went and did the Libyan "Revolution."
Anyway it's around 01:00 and I'm trying to go to bed.
Meanwhile I found a copy of the three page document that the local authority for the City of London (City of London Corporation) has served on some of the tents at the Occupylsx protest here;
http://occupylsx.org/?p=1152
Basically it explains that the tents in the red area have no right to be there because of 18:00 on 17/11/11 they are committing the criminal offence of obstructing the public/Queens highway. However because they have chosen to remain and I've not seen a police clearence yet (00:55) they are now allowing the City of London Corporation to exert legal pressure on the Church of England in front of the Queen. This does me no favours whatsoever.
Elsewhere the policing for the November 9th student protest was fully in line with the mobile cordons used on your average Millwall/Cardiff/West Ham/ Leeds football match. The only interesting point was the members of the Territorial Support Group (TSG) being sent out in plain clothes to prove they won't be taking part in the big November 30th protest march whilst trying to claim that it wasn't Britain's MI6's Youth Training Scheme (YTS) who went and did the Libyan "Revolution."
Anyway it's around 01:00 and I'm trying to go to bed.
Well as it Seems I'm Being Forced to Stay Awake
at around 00:20 I might as well trawl the Internet for copies of the eviction notices served on the Occuplylsx protest on Wednesday (16/11/11) requesting that they leave by 18:00 on Thursday 17/11/11. So far I've got up to Tuesday 15/11/11.
Let There Be Light.
Daddy dearest has now (23:56 on 17/11/11) fixed the down stairs lighting circuit and given me a copy of the 5amp wire. He is currently considering himself and deciding whether or not to go to bed.
I'm currently trying to decide whether the timezone for the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) in Durban will be GMT+1 or GMT+2? With all of the green Micheal Portillo's shirt on the live BBC1 political show "This Week" is forcing me to smoke I'm struggling to find myself awake before 10:30 GMT.
I'm currently trying to decide whether the timezone for the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) in Durban will be GMT+1 or GMT+2? With all of the green Micheal Portillo's shirt on the live BBC1 political show "This Week" is forcing me to smoke I'm struggling to find myself awake before 10:30 GMT.
I Hope That was the Voice of God.
But sadly I know it was just one of those "smart" electricity meters.
Literally just as I logged of my PC the incandescent light bulb in the front room blew taking the downstairs circuit with it. Now I could have fixed this my self if my former (valve era) electrician father could just tell me where the 5amp wire is. Apparently it's his birthday (17/11/11) today so he couldn't. Now he's been woken up.
I hate to insult him publicly but recently I had to explain to him that if you run a varying current through the resistor that is an incandescent bulb it will blow. By that point he'd run through about 6 bulbs.
Seriously the guy uses his big TV as an aid to fall asleep every night and still wonders why his electricity bulb is so high.
Literally just as I logged of my PC the incandescent light bulb in the front room blew taking the downstairs circuit with it. Now I could have fixed this my self if my former (valve era) electrician father could just tell me where the 5amp wire is. Apparently it's his birthday (17/11/11) today so he couldn't. Now he's been woken up.
I hate to insult him publicly but recently I had to explain to him that if you run a varying current through the resistor that is an incandescent bulb it will blow. By that point he'd run through about 6 bulbs.
Seriously the guy uses his big TV as an aid to fall asleep every night and still wonders why his electricity bulb is so high.
The Horror. The Horror!
Btw love what you Yanks are doing with the Syria thing. Excluding education and communication technology from the sanctions. It gave you the perfect opportunity to train and communicate with your network of agents. So make no mistake what is happening now in Syria is the fault of the United States of America (USA) and has been planned for the last 3-5 years.
It is what they've done on the diplomatic front that's most interesting though. Firstly they used "Syria" as a euphemism for "Britain." This encouraged world leaders to make ever more damming statements. In turn this caused the Assad brothers to become ever more isolated and paranoid. In turn they have gone on to use ever more violence against their own people which has in turn led to more condemnation. Secondly they've forced Britain and Qatar ("the bad guys" post-Libya) to lead calls for military intervention making it difficult. This is because the USA does not want regime change in Syria. Instead they want a civil war that will drag in Hezbollah from the Lebanon and Iran from the Iran. While I think we all know that Hillary Clinton is running an alternate Whitehouse Obama has signed up to the deal because he thinks that if Iran and Hezbollah get tied up in Syria he's free to allow Israel to attack Iran without it leading too a larger regional conflict. The Palestinians of course are still going to get hammered into the ground.
As for how to fix Syria I'm going to need five minutes. Not least because Britain has just decided to do away with the top rate of income tax through a two day charity event (17/11/11 - 18/11/11) ironically known as "Children in Need." However I think we're up to the point where someone is going to have to stand troops for a peacekeeping force. The Turks are well up for it but because they're so up for most things I don't think they're mission appropriate.
In other news today (17/11/11) I received my invitation to join the consultation on the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 (didn't even need to google) which is hopefully posted below;
As the Welfare Reform Bill has already received Royal Assent and become law I can only assume that this has been sent in error. We will find out at close of business tomorrow (17:00 on 18/11/11) if armistice has been declared with the sending of a Section 48 Court of Protection (COP) order placing my grandmother as mention is 118266OT back under the care of Croydon University Hospital (CUH) if not the psychical location of MayDie hospital.
It is what they've done on the diplomatic front that's most interesting though. Firstly they used "Syria" as a euphemism for "Britain." This encouraged world leaders to make ever more damming statements. In turn this caused the Assad brothers to become ever more isolated and paranoid. In turn they have gone on to use ever more violence against their own people which has in turn led to more condemnation. Secondly they've forced Britain and Qatar ("the bad guys" post-Libya) to lead calls for military intervention making it difficult. This is because the USA does not want regime change in Syria. Instead they want a civil war that will drag in Hezbollah from the Lebanon and Iran from the Iran. While I think we all know that Hillary Clinton is running an alternate Whitehouse Obama has signed up to the deal because he thinks that if Iran and Hezbollah get tied up in Syria he's free to allow Israel to attack Iran without it leading too a larger regional conflict. The Palestinians of course are still going to get hammered into the ground.
As for how to fix Syria I'm going to need five minutes. Not least because Britain has just decided to do away with the top rate of income tax through a two day charity event (17/11/11 - 18/11/11) ironically known as "Children in Need." However I think we're up to the point where someone is going to have to stand troops for a peacekeeping force. The Turks are well up for it but because they're so up for most things I don't think they're mission appropriate.
In other news today (17/11/11) I received my invitation to join the consultation on the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 (didn't even need to google) which is hopefully posted below;
As the Welfare Reform Bill has already received Royal Assent and become law I can only assume that this has been sent in error. We will find out at close of business tomorrow (17:00 on 18/11/11) if armistice has been declared with the sending of a Section 48 Court of Protection (COP) order placing my grandmother as mention is 118266OT back under the care of Croydon University Hospital (CUH) if not the psychical location of MayDie hospital.
The FIFA Poppy Racism Row.
Britain along with several other countries uses the poppy flower as a symbol to commemorate those killed in war especially the first world war. This is because when fighting ended across the fields of the western front (northern France and Belgium) thousands of these blood red flowers started to grow wild from the ground where millions of men had died.
As the England football team were playing a friendly against Spain on the day after Armistice Day (11/11/11) and the day before Remembrance Sunday (13/11/11) the English football association asked the sports world governing body FIFA if the players could wear poppies on their shirts. FIFA refused because the rules forbid the wearing of any political symbols because I'm sure Britain wouldn't be happy if the USA team turned up to a game wearing symbols celebrating their war of Independence and the USA wouldn't be happy if Iran turned up to a game celebrating their 1979 revolution. Sadly Britain didn't see it this way and everyone including the Prime Minister and Prince William launched into personal attacks on FIFA and it's President Sepp Blatter.
What they failed to realise is that while here in Britain the poppy is a rather benign image elsewhere in the world it's still highly controversial. For example in Afghanistan the Taliban use proceeds from the sale of opium poppies to fund their current war against British troops. So forcing British troops to wear a picture of what's essentially killing them just makes them look stupid. Similarly poppies were used by Jews in Palestine to mock British soldiers who were protecting Arabs for Jewish terrorist attacks. So the poppy can also be seen as a symbol that celebrates the formation of the state of Israel.
The main current controversy about the poppy though concerns Turkey and Syria. Before it became a world war the first world war started out as a regional conflict between the Austrian-Hungarian Empire containing what is now Armenia and the Ottoman Empire containing what is now Turkey and Syria. In 1915 between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turkish forces. The Armenians claim this to be a genocide while the Turks deny it. As modern Turkey has grown into a regional power broker people, led by the USA, have used the issue as a way to put pressure on Turkey. So by making such a fuss about the poppies Britain appears to have been trying to force Turkey to prove it's commitment to human rights by getting tough on what is now an US/Qatari armed insurgency in Syria. Personally I don't think that's got any place in football.
Today (17/11/11) the FIFA President has rather generously suggested that racists should be allowed to escape formal punishment provided they're prepared to apologise and shake hands. Britain responded by launching another round of personal attacks on Sepp Blatter so I guess someone's still really sore about that 2018 World Cup bid.
As the England football team were playing a friendly against Spain on the day after Armistice Day (11/11/11) and the day before Remembrance Sunday (13/11/11) the English football association asked the sports world governing body FIFA if the players could wear poppies on their shirts. FIFA refused because the rules forbid the wearing of any political symbols because I'm sure Britain wouldn't be happy if the USA team turned up to a game wearing symbols celebrating their war of Independence and the USA wouldn't be happy if Iran turned up to a game celebrating their 1979 revolution. Sadly Britain didn't see it this way and everyone including the Prime Minister and Prince William launched into personal attacks on FIFA and it's President Sepp Blatter.
What they failed to realise is that while here in Britain the poppy is a rather benign image elsewhere in the world it's still highly controversial. For example in Afghanistan the Taliban use proceeds from the sale of opium poppies to fund their current war against British troops. So forcing British troops to wear a picture of what's essentially killing them just makes them look stupid. Similarly poppies were used by Jews in Palestine to mock British soldiers who were protecting Arabs for Jewish terrorist attacks. So the poppy can also be seen as a symbol that celebrates the formation of the state of Israel.
The main current controversy about the poppy though concerns Turkey and Syria. Before it became a world war the first world war started out as a regional conflict between the Austrian-Hungarian Empire containing what is now Armenia and the Ottoman Empire containing what is now Turkey and Syria. In 1915 between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turkish forces. The Armenians claim this to be a genocide while the Turks deny it. As modern Turkey has grown into a regional power broker people, led by the USA, have used the issue as a way to put pressure on Turkey. So by making such a fuss about the poppies Britain appears to have been trying to force Turkey to prove it's commitment to human rights by getting tough on what is now an US/Qatari armed insurgency in Syria. Personally I don't think that's got any place in football.
Today (17/11/11) the FIFA President has rather generously suggested that racists should be allowed to escape formal punishment provided they're prepared to apologise and shake hands. Britain responded by launching another round of personal attacks on Sepp Blatter so I guess someone's still really sore about that 2018 World Cup bid.
Admire the Commitment.
Today (17/11/11) Britain has announced that it is to sell the troubled bank Northern Rock to the Virgin Group. This is a reference to the fact that the emergency medical side of Croydon University Hospital (CUH) is to be sold to a private company owned by the Virgin Group. As I've previously enjoyed something of a good relationship with the Virgin Group Britain was rather hoping this would be viewed as CUH being punished for it's conduct. There are only two small problems with this.
Firstly due process means we can't have discussions about how CUH is to be punished until the Court of Protection (COP) rules that it along with one of the COP's judges has behaved improperly. I've yet to hear back from the COP and even if they've issued a Section 48 order placing my grandmother back under their care without telling me the next stage is an attended hearing which is likely to take weeks if not months.
The second problem is that there is no provision under English law to allow a private company to run a National Health Service (NHS) service. This provision of course may be introduced with the Health and Social Care Bill 2011. However this is still being debated in the House of Lords, has not yet recieved Royal Assent and is therefore most certainly not the law of the land. The fact that CUH are running their complaint procedure in way that it incompatible with law should only make the COP's decision easier.
Firstly due process means we can't have discussions about how CUH is to be punished until the Court of Protection (COP) rules that it along with one of the COP's judges has behaved improperly. I've yet to hear back from the COP and even if they've issued a Section 48 order placing my grandmother back under their care without telling me the next stage is an attended hearing which is likely to take weeks if not months.
The second problem is that there is no provision under English law to allow a private company to run a National Health Service (NHS) service. This provision of course may be introduced with the Health and Social Care Bill 2011. However this is still being debated in the House of Lords, has not yet recieved Royal Assent and is therefore most certainly not the law of the land. The fact that CUH are running their complaint procedure in way that it incompatible with law should only make the COP's decision easier.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Oh Cheer Up.
I've had plenty of mental breakdowns. None of them have started like this.
Just for a bit of housekeeping. I actually emailed COP9 and COP24 to the Court of Protection (COP) today (15/11/11). All I got was an out of office auto-response so the matter will be being dealt with by them tomorrow (16/11/11).
Just for a bit of housekeeping. I actually emailed COP9 and COP24 to the Court of Protection (COP) today (15/11/11). All I got was an out of office auto-response so the matter will be being dealt with by them tomorrow (16/11/11).
Yeah I'm Back.
At around 20:15 on Tuesday November 15th with actually very few problems. The only issue is that tomorrow (16/11/11) the Whitgift Foundation will be hosting a sort of conference attended their health/social care charities and some of the people who use them. I think it's fair to say that's going to be a little controversial.
I've Just Back From Visiting my Grandmother.
Considering how difficult it is for me to get there is may as well be in Wales. I found her to be lucid but depressed. It's obvious to see why because she is clearly in a much healthy condition then the other residents. Not that her symptoms matter anymore because she's not under any medical supervision. Not even a GP.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Nope Not Even Half Way Through.
The sad fact that although it's now 03:20 on 15/11/11 I'm apparently not allowed to look at any porn until I've finished looking at work. So I've decided to just go off to bed.
Title to Be Inserted Shoirtly.
22:45 14?11?11.
22:47 and I've still not seen Casablanca which is what I was planning to do today (14/11/11). My actual 30th Birthday (tomorrow) is reserved for drink, drugs, drink and violence. Followed by more drugs, more drink and then some lying down.
Although now I've had time to reflect I've realised that there's one thing - which might, be important to some - that I've not commented on. My father and his reaction to all this. That is something that is hard for me to comment on for two main reasons; Firstly I don't really know because I've spent most of the evening hiding in the gym/pub/office/third plot of land with planning permission for residential use that's sort of in my garden. Secondly experience tells me that he'll stab me in the back rather then put anything down in writing.
However I think it's a statement of fact that he recieved a copy of Croydon University Hospital's (CUH) submission to the Court of Protection (COP) on Saturday (12/11/11) and read through it while I was in another county. I assume he did so without legal advice (currently 22:58) because his legal advice "retired" in mid-2010. However as I'm sure my neighbours and anyone with a spy satelite has already testified I've not been shouted at yet 23:01
Edited again at 23:02 - around 23:21 on 14/11/11 to add:
F*ck you all I've got a Johnny Cash album dedicated to me!
Edited again at 23:36 on 14/11/11 to add: Because I'm Popeye - the f*cking sailor man!
The upshot of all this that because my grandmother has already been admitted (duty of care) to Albany Lodge I don't have to get up offensively early in the morning to fax off my latest COP9s and COP24s to the Court of Protection because I don't think this shift's finishing before 03:00. As a result I have more then enough time (23:40) to clear up the alphabet soup in my post before the last two;
DSMIV stands for the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Accepted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this is considered the bible/torah/qu'ran of the psychiatric community in the developed world although some totalitarian regimes still refuse to recongise it (23:44). They are currently (00:06) reviewing submissons for the 5th edition but you wouldn't expect a sad old drunk to know that.
Edited Again at 00:23 on 15/11/11 to add: My computer froze. Of course my ex-cat has a Johnny Cash song (1999/3). Not by the great man himself you understand it's just I though "The Beast In Me" was appropriate. Personally I've just been listening to the same P!nk song (2003/03) over and over again.
Edited Again at 00:49 on 15/11/11 to add:
No my computer is Royally F*cked (slow). Every time I try to edit my photo-album I am presented with an image of a camera as if to remind me that although there are currently about 490,000 pictures of me a my mother's big gay wedding I can't access a single one of the them. As a result you can all see that I ended my most recent submission to the COP with the words;
"Although I am not sure if this is the correct place to do so I would also like to state that I have no objection to Mrs [name] being transferred to Albany Lodge provided that CUH are prepared to continue their duty of care her. My concern is that if she is discharged before being properly diagnosed she may well be forced to live out the rest of her life suffering an easily treated medical condition."
On reflection I agree that "easily treated medical condition" could mean HIV/AIDS, dementia or botulism even if none of them are particularly believable.
Anyway while I'll agree that along with perverting the course of justice contempt of court is serious offence it appears to me that Anders Behring Breivik has had another court appearance yesterday (14/11/11). According to the COP submissions that I and the Norwegian government have been reading recently rather then showing shame Britain has been exacerbating the situation by hoping a leprechaun will be leaping out of the pot of golden grief at the end of the rainbow.
After a quick read through and the god given spell check I can now (01:25) confirm that the Australian band is playing the Kentish Town Waltz and the area in the quotation marks (" ") is a direct quote. Now (01:26) can I get on with my life?
22:47 and I've still not seen Casablanca which is what I was planning to do today (14/11/11). My actual 30th Birthday (tomorrow) is reserved for drink, drugs, drink and violence. Followed by more drugs, more drink and then some lying down.
Although now I've had time to reflect I've realised that there's one thing - which might, be important to some - that I've not commented on. My father and his reaction to all this. That is something that is hard for me to comment on for two main reasons; Firstly I don't really know because I've spent most of the evening hiding in the gym/pub/office/third plot of land with planning permission for residential use that's sort of in my garden. Secondly experience tells me that he'll stab me in the back rather then put anything down in writing.
However I think it's a statement of fact that he recieved a copy of Croydon University Hospital's (CUH) submission to the Court of Protection (COP) on Saturday (12/11/11) and read through it while I was in another county. I assume he did so without legal advice (currently 22:58) because his legal advice "retired" in mid-2010. However as I'm sure my neighbours and anyone with a spy satelite has already testified I've not been shouted at yet 23:01
Edited again at 23:02 - around 23:21 on 14/11/11 to add:
F*ck you all I've got a Johnny Cash album dedicated to me!
Edited again at 23:36 on 14/11/11 to add: Because I'm Popeye - the f*cking sailor man!
The upshot of all this that because my grandmother has already been admitted (duty of care) to Albany Lodge I don't have to get up offensively early in the morning to fax off my latest COP9s and COP24s to the Court of Protection because I don't think this shift's finishing before 03:00. As a result I have more then enough time (23:40) to clear up the alphabet soup in my post before the last two;
DSMIV stands for the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Accepted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this is considered the bible/torah/qu'ran of the psychiatric community in the developed world although some totalitarian regimes still refuse to recongise it (23:44). They are currently (00:06) reviewing submissons for the 5th edition but you wouldn't expect a sad old drunk to know that.
Edited Again at 00:23 on 15/11/11 to add: My computer froze. Of course my ex-cat has a Johnny Cash song (1999/3). Not by the great man himself you understand it's just I though "The Beast In Me" was appropriate. Personally I've just been listening to the same P!nk song (2003/03) over and over again.
Edited Again at 00:49 on 15/11/11 to add:
No my computer is Royally F*cked (slow). Every time I try to edit my photo-album I am presented with an image of a camera as if to remind me that although there are currently about 490,000 pictures of me a my mother's big gay wedding I can't access a single one of the them. As a result you can all see that I ended my most recent submission to the COP with the words;
"Although I am not sure if this is the correct place to do so I would also like to state that I have no objection to Mrs [name] being transferred to Albany Lodge provided that CUH are prepared to continue their duty of care her. My concern is that if she is discharged before being properly diagnosed she may well be forced to live out the rest of her life suffering an easily treated medical condition."
On reflection I agree that "easily treated medical condition" could mean HIV/AIDS, dementia or botulism even if none of them are particularly believable.
Anyway while I'll agree that along with perverting the course of justice contempt of court is serious offence it appears to me that Anders Behring Breivik has had another court appearance yesterday (14/11/11). According to the COP submissions that I and the Norwegian government have been reading recently rather then showing shame Britain has been exacerbating the situation by hoping a leprechaun will be leaping out of the pot of golden grief at the end of the rainbow.
After a quick read through and the god given spell check I can now (01:25) confirm that the Australian band is playing the Kentish Town Waltz and the area in the quotation marks (" ") is a direct quote. Now (01:26) can I get on with my life?
No Shame, No Shame No Shame.
Britain's Channel 4 is currently (21:00-22:00 14/11/11) showing a documentary about undercover police officer and all round coward Mark Kennedy. The revelation that he started his career to doing street drug buys in Brixton will certainly cause a reaction. Not from me though I've been on the beer.
Brave.
At around 19:10 today (14/11/11) my father returned from Croydon University Hospital (CUH) to inform me that my grandmother was moved to the Albany Lodge nursing home with immediate effect. Now I can't tell you how other people will view this fact.
However I can tell you that CUH's decision to discharge a patient who they diagnose with dementia to a nursing home that does not have the facilities to deal with a patient with dementia whilst knowing there is both an ongoing internal investigation and an ongoing legal process certainly paints a picture with me of an organisation that is more concerned with avoiding it's liability then protecting the best interests of the patient.
In the meantime I wouldn't worry about the cost issue because the legal process is ongoing and will likely invalidate any current arrangements.
However I can tell you that CUH's decision to discharge a patient who they diagnose with dementia to a nursing home that does not have the facilities to deal with a patient with dementia whilst knowing there is both an ongoing internal investigation and an ongoing legal process certainly paints a picture with me of an organisation that is more concerned with avoiding it's liability then protecting the best interests of the patient.
In the meantime I wouldn't worry about the cost issue because the legal process is ongoing and will likely invalidate any current arrangements.
At Least That Saves Time.
Although Capsticks the lawyers representing Croydon University Hospital (CUH) made no application to the Court of Protection (COP) on Friday 11/11/11 the Judge has decided of his own accord to overturn the Section 49 order made on Tuesday (9/11/11)
I an my father have both just received copy of this order today (14/11/11) and my father has rushed up to the hospital to have my grandmother discharged. That would be an unwise course of action for the hospital to take because these types of orders are only finalised after a 21 day period for any party to lodge an objection has expired. That's exactly what I'll be doing. I wonder what grounds I shall use.
Edited at around 17:40 on 14/11/11 to add: Thats all done and will be assessed by the COP when they re-open tomorrow. Beyond saying that I've objected on the grounds that the grounds that the Judge's decision has no basis in fact or law I can't comment further.
However if you would like an essay question; With reference to DSMIV compare and contrast the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and a psychiatric assessment as defined by the 1983 Mental Health Act.
I an my father have both just received copy of this order today (14/11/11) and my father has rushed up to the hospital to have my grandmother discharged. That would be an unwise course of action for the hospital to take because these types of orders are only finalised after a 21 day period for any party to lodge an objection has expired. That's exactly what I'll be doing. I wonder what grounds I shall use.
Edited at around 17:40 on 14/11/11 to add: Thats all done and will be assessed by the COP when they re-open tomorrow. Beyond saying that I've objected on the grounds that the grounds that the Judge's decision has no basis in fact or law I can't comment further.
However if you would like an essay question; With reference to DSMIV compare and contrast the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and a psychiatric assessment as defined by the 1983 Mental Health Act.
The Levenson Inquiry Begins.
Today (14/11/11) The Right Honourable Lord Justice Levenson has opened the inquiry that bears his name and is expected to last about a year at a cost of around £3million. The inquiry will not deal with the events of August 2011 when the worst rioting in almost 90 years tore through six British cities causing close to £1billion worth of damage, putting over 1000 people at serious risk of being burnt alive in their homes and left 6 dead. Instead the Levenson Inquiry will be dealing with the much more serious issue of a few people having their answer phone messages listened too as part of the phone hacking scandal.
Also today at Britain's High Court the murder trial of Gary Dobson and David Norris has begun. Gary Dobson and David Norris are 2 of the 5 men who murdered Stephan Lawrence in an unprovoked racist attack in south London in 1993. The reason why 18 years later no-one has been convicted of this crime is that the guilty were protected by an institution wide network of corrupt and racist police officers. This lead to the Macphearson Inquiry which although did not lead to a single police officer being prosecuted it did do away with double jeopardy and the right to silence - two important legal principles best described in the 5th amendment to the US Constitution.
So by timing the start of the Levenson Inquiry to co-incide with the start of the Lawrence trial Britain seems to be trying to convince the public that the Levenson Inquiry is anything other then a state attack on one of the cornerstones of democracy - a free press.
Also today at Britain's High Court the murder trial of Gary Dobson and David Norris has begun. Gary Dobson and David Norris are 2 of the 5 men who murdered Stephan Lawrence in an unprovoked racist attack in south London in 1993. The reason why 18 years later no-one has been convicted of this crime is that the guilty were protected by an institution wide network of corrupt and racist police officers. This lead to the Macphearson Inquiry which although did not lead to a single police officer being prosecuted it did do away with double jeopardy and the right to silence - two important legal principles best described in the 5th amendment to the US Constitution.
So by timing the start of the Levenson Inquiry to co-incide with the start of the Lawrence trial Britain seems to be trying to convince the public that the Levenson Inquiry is anything other then a state attack on one of the cornerstones of democracy - a free press.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Italy's Gone into Admistration.
Although there are similar arrangements in most capitalist societies in Britain if a business is at serious risk of going bankrupt it can choose to go into administration. This involves appointing a team of experts (normally accountants or economists) known as administrators to take of the running of the business from it's directors and owners. The administrators then make the changes needed to nurse the business back to health.
The nation of Italy appears to be doing something similar with their national economy. Yesterday (12/11/11) the Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi resigned. He has been replaced by Mario Monti an unelected but highly respected economist who has served as a European Union (EU) commissioner for both the internal market and competition for ten years. He is expected to oversee a cabinet made up of similarly unelected technocrats. Once they have finished their work of implementing the changes needed for Italy to avoid bankruptcy they will return the Italian economy to it's owners - the Italian people.
Obviously Mario Monti has only just been formally given the job and has not even started work so it is quite difficult to predict how successful he will be. However as General Motors will testify in the business world steps like this are often hugely successful.
The nation of Italy appears to be doing something similar with their national economy. Yesterday (12/11/11) the Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi resigned. He has been replaced by Mario Monti an unelected but highly respected economist who has served as a European Union (EU) commissioner for both the internal market and competition for ten years. He is expected to oversee a cabinet made up of similarly unelected technocrats. Once they have finished their work of implementing the changes needed for Italy to avoid bankruptcy they will return the Italian economy to it's owners - the Italian people.
Obviously Mario Monti has only just been formally given the job and has not even started work so it is quite difficult to predict how successful he will be. However as General Motors will testify in the business world steps like this are often hugely successful.
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Remembrance Sunday.
In the summer of 1914 the Austrian-Hungarian Empire backed by Germany declared war on Serbia, Russia, France, Belgium and Britain. Over the next four years more then 15 million young men lost their lives. Some of their bodies were never recovered, identified nor given a proper burial.
When Armistice was finally declared at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1918 (11:11, 11/11/18) the British state built a temporary plaster and plywood memorial to the unknown soldier in Whitehall known as the Cenotaph. Such was public anger at the time Britain was soon forced to make the Cenotaph a permanent memorial and set aside the first Sunday following November 11th as a day to remember all those who have sacrificed their lives in the service of others. The tradition of Remembrance Sunday was born.
In modern Britian this tradition means that later today (13/11/11) the leader of the Church (the Archbishop of Canterbury), the leader of the Royal Family (the Queen) the leader of the commoners (the Prime Minister) and the heads of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force) will gather at Saint Paul's Cathedral for a memorial service. They will move on to a poppy wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph. Private memorial services will continue throughout the day.
Obviously this year's event will be spoiled somewhat by the presence of the Occupylsx protest in the churchyard of St Paul's. It need not have been that way though. From what I gather the original plan was that on Friday (11/11/11) the majority of the camp would relocate to the Finsbury Square site. At St Paul's three tents would have remained to ensure the continuation of the protest across the three legally distinct plots that make up the churchyard. Those three tents would have contained three of the several British war veterans that make up the Occupylsx protest. Unfortunately Islington council evicted the Finsbury Square site and the High Court issued an injunction preventing the protest moving to Canary Wharf. As a result the Occupylsx protest seems to have been left with option other then to spoil Remembrance Sunday.
Although I really don't need to say it I'm sure that even if for legitimate political reasons members of the Occupylsx protest can't bring themselves to honour Britain's war dead they can at least take a moment to honour;
Blair Peach,
Ian Tomlinson,
Mark Duggan,
Trevor Ellis,
Haroon Jahan,
Shazid Ali,
Abdul Musavir,
Richard Mannington-Bowes,
Mark Rivers
and all those whose names have already been forgotten.
When Armistice was finally declared at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1918 (11:11, 11/11/18) the British state built a temporary plaster and plywood memorial to the unknown soldier in Whitehall known as the Cenotaph. Such was public anger at the time Britain was soon forced to make the Cenotaph a permanent memorial and set aside the first Sunday following November 11th as a day to remember all those who have sacrificed their lives in the service of others. The tradition of Remembrance Sunday was born.
In modern Britian this tradition means that later today (13/11/11) the leader of the Church (the Archbishop of Canterbury), the leader of the Royal Family (the Queen) the leader of the commoners (the Prime Minister) and the heads of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force) will gather at Saint Paul's Cathedral for a memorial service. They will move on to a poppy wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph. Private memorial services will continue throughout the day.
Obviously this year's event will be spoiled somewhat by the presence of the Occupylsx protest in the churchyard of St Paul's. It need not have been that way though. From what I gather the original plan was that on Friday (11/11/11) the majority of the camp would relocate to the Finsbury Square site. At St Paul's three tents would have remained to ensure the continuation of the protest across the three legally distinct plots that make up the churchyard. Those three tents would have contained three of the several British war veterans that make up the Occupylsx protest. Unfortunately Islington council evicted the Finsbury Square site and the High Court issued an injunction preventing the protest moving to Canary Wharf. As a result the Occupylsx protest seems to have been left with option other then to spoil Remembrance Sunday.
Although I really don't need to say it I'm sure that even if for legitimate political reasons members of the Occupylsx protest can't bring themselves to honour Britain's war dead they can at least take a moment to honour;
Blair Peach,
Ian Tomlinson,
Mark Duggan,
Trevor Ellis,
Haroon Jahan,
Shazid Ali,
Abdul Musavir,
Richard Mannington-Bowes,
Mark Rivers
and all those whose names have already been forgotten.
I Have Returned.
There is no need for applause, medals or ticker tape parades. In the end it was actually quite sedate.
Planned engineering works that I'd foolishly failed to learn about meant that trains weren't running between Croydon and Brighton. Instead they terminated at Haywards Heath where all passengers were transferred onto a rail replacement bus service. Fortunately this gave my professional driver mate the perfect excuse to drive up to Haywards Heath to pick me up. After a quick trip to a pub in Hove we all decided that we were all far too tired for outside so instead went back to his place to watch the England V Spain (1-0) football game while eating pizza. As this caused my mates girlfriend to fall asleep my mate jumped at the chance to drive me back to Croydon via Crystal Palace where we had a few beers. So today (12/11/11) I've actually spent most of the day sitting in something of a fast car rather then a pub.
As a result when I returned home about 22:30 I was more then sober enough to skim read the 22 page submission that Croydon University Hospital (CUH) had made to the Court of Protection (COP) through their solicitors (Capsticks.com). As this is still a sealed proceeding I can't tell you what was in it. I can though tell you what was not in it. That is a COP9 application to have the section 49 order lifted. So you know they care but they don't care that much.
I must say I'm still quite annoyed that this secrecy order is in place. For example if my grandmothers MMSE (memory test) score had risen from 9/30 to 17/30 I think a lot of people would be interested to know that detail because 30/30 is what you're aiming for even if I was unlikely to score that highly at this present moment.
Anyway I'm hoping my mate makes it home safe. Not out of any concern for his driving you understand. It's just that the local "Sussex" police were making right a*seholes out of themselves on his estate as we left.
Edited at about 23:55 on 12/11/11 to add: I'm now currently re-reading the submission to allow every letter of the legal nuance to soak through my pores. The first thing I realised was that I should change my earlier mistake and correct the name of CUH's lawyers from the incorrect Copsticks to the correct Capsticks but I turns out I was right first time. Therefore all I can think of saying is Chop Sticks.
Planned engineering works that I'd foolishly failed to learn about meant that trains weren't running between Croydon and Brighton. Instead they terminated at Haywards Heath where all passengers were transferred onto a rail replacement bus service. Fortunately this gave my professional driver mate the perfect excuse to drive up to Haywards Heath to pick me up. After a quick trip to a pub in Hove we all decided that we were all far too tired for outside so instead went back to his place to watch the England V Spain (1-0) football game while eating pizza. As this caused my mates girlfriend to fall asleep my mate jumped at the chance to drive me back to Croydon via Crystal Palace where we had a few beers. So today (12/11/11) I've actually spent most of the day sitting in something of a fast car rather then a pub.
As a result when I returned home about 22:30 I was more then sober enough to skim read the 22 page submission that Croydon University Hospital (CUH) had made to the Court of Protection (COP) through their solicitors (Capsticks.com). As this is still a sealed proceeding I can't tell you what was in it. I can though tell you what was not in it. That is a COP9 application to have the section 49 order lifted. So you know they care but they don't care that much.
I must say I'm still quite annoyed that this secrecy order is in place. For example if my grandmothers MMSE (memory test) score had risen from 9/30 to 17/30 I think a lot of people would be interested to know that detail because 30/30 is what you're aiming for even if I was unlikely to score that highly at this present moment.
Anyway I'm hoping my mate makes it home safe. Not out of any concern for his driving you understand. It's just that the local "Sussex" police were making right a*seholes out of themselves on his estate as we left.
Edited at about 23:55 on 12/11/11 to add: I'm now currently re-reading the submission to allow every letter of the legal nuance to soak through my pores. The first thing I realised was that I should change my earlier mistake and correct the name of CUH's lawyers from the incorrect Copsticks to the correct Capsticks but I turns out I was right first time. Therefore all I can think of saying is Chop Sticks.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 8, Week 4, Day 1.
Over the past seven days many things have happened in Libya. People have fallen in love and got married, the old have died and the young have been born. Unfortunately I've been far too busy this week to learn about any of it in any detail.
Friday, 11 November 2011
Thank You For Enjoying Your Trip Around by Crazy
Photographs will be affable for sale on your way out.
No I'm sorry at around 02:05 on Saturday 12/11/11 I'm too wrecked some I'm going to bed.
No I'm sorry at around 02:05 on Saturday 12/11/11 I'm too wrecked some I'm going to bed.
When the Facts Fail You..
...Just go straight for the personal attacks.
That seems to be the policy around here.
Since the issuing of the court order preventing my grandmother's discharge from hospital I been on the receiving end of a lot of anger from other members of my family. The main threat seems to be that I'm about to be disowned. The worst of it has come from my mother who has access to all the latest hospital gossip. On Wednesday (9/11/11) she sent me a series of text (sms) messages accusing me of endangering my grandmother's health. I got another series of messages in a similar vein on Thursday (10/11/11) morning so I replied pointing out that court orders aren't granted on a whim so to get this far I've already had to win arguments over jurisdiction, proportionality and evidence tests.
That evening my mother sent me about another 7 barely coherent texts demanding that I show her all the court documents. I replied pointing out that I was unsure I could show her sealed court documents especially as it might have been the behaviour of members of her staff that had given the court cause for concern. I went on to remind her that in her professional capacity she could access my grandmother's medical records and use them to inform her opinion. After several hours I sent another message explaining that along with unlawful imprisonment, Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) and attempted murder contempt of court is considered a serious offence. I went on to explain in detail how my mother could add herself as a party to the proceedings and apply to the court to have the order lifted as in her opinion it endangered my grandmother's health. I did warn her though that the hospital's legal department would have already explored that route and chosen not to take it.
This morning (11/11/11) I received another 3 texts conveniently ignoring everything I'd said and telling me that I was never in my grandmother's will and basically trying to rub my nose in that fact. I replied that I was already fully aware of that fact because I'd discussed the matter at great length with my grandmother prior to the will being drawn up and actually advised her not to put me in it. I went on to point out that if I was simply interested in getting the local authority/council to fund my grandmother's care I would simply rent her vacant property under the housing benefit system and possibly make a small profit.
I am currently waiting for my mother to clarify if she is speaking to me in her personal capacity as my mother or in her professional capacity as a representative of Croydon University Hospital. At the moment it is hard to tell especially with all these NHS cuts and job losses allowing the senior management team to exert undue influence over their employees.
Edited at around 22:40 on Friday 11/11/11 to add: My mother has replied and stated that she is speaking in her capacity as my mother "who loves me very much." She then went on into what I can only term as emotional blackmail. What I'm doing is going to cause me great pain, my father great pain and grandmother great pain etc.
So I responded by stating that it felt as though I was speaking to a middle manager who is so in fear for her job that she's desperate not to make a fuss no matter what the consequences are. I then reminded her that she could always make an application or get my father to make an application to the court to explain to their medical officer that their risk assessment is incorrect. As it's hard to get poetic in a text message I followed that up by stating that I would support such an application provided her (Croydon University) hospital agreed to continue to consider my grandmother to be one of their patients by continuing their duty of care to her. I also explained that they wouldn't accept that compromise because they don't care what happens to my grandmother they just want to make sure she's not their problem. I left off the bit about how other people who've reviewed the case have expressed concerns that Croydon University Hospital (CUH) doesn't even seem to be classing my grandmother as a member of the human race. That seems to have shut her up a bit.
As for the secrecy issue surrounding the Court of Protection (COP) hearing I can't remember the Latin but it is most certainly not a super-injunction so I am most certainly allowed to acknowledge that a proceeding is taking place. Of course the seal could be lifted if an application was made stating that there is a significant public interest in the case. Obviously such an application would sound much better if it was made by someone who's not me not has ever met me. A British Member of Parliament (MP) would be perfect and have the added advantage of allowing the COP to know what they're dealing with. I'm sorry but I'm a soppy old liberal, I think that things like that are kind of important.
Elsewhere in technology news at around 20:00 my father discovered that his mobile phone was not working. This prompted him to spend ages turning his phone on and off again before giving up and trying to charge up his new handset with various chargers. All the while I was sitting there saying "Don't worry it's just a mobile phone."
My mobile phone was of course working perfectly allowing me to learn that tomorrow (12/11/11) my friend ( I'm only allowed the one) won't be coming up to visit me. Instead I'll be going down to Brighton to visit him. Although this will clash with an Arab League meeting on Syria I only mention it to warn Brighton because the mood I'm in I'm going to hit that town like a f*cking freight train. A freight train fuelled by cocaine, cheap whiskey and a whole lot of anger.
Until then though I'm going to watch Jame Murdoch's appearance yesterday (10/11/11) before the House of Commons select committee on culture media and sport while smoking a fat spliff and saying; "Ohh he's definitely a Brit." and "Wow he looks like my housemate Dan from my Grande Parade days."
Or alternatively I might just look at porn.
That seems to be the policy around here.
Since the issuing of the court order preventing my grandmother's discharge from hospital I been on the receiving end of a lot of anger from other members of my family. The main threat seems to be that I'm about to be disowned. The worst of it has come from my mother who has access to all the latest hospital gossip. On Wednesday (9/11/11) she sent me a series of text (sms) messages accusing me of endangering my grandmother's health. I got another series of messages in a similar vein on Thursday (10/11/11) morning so I replied pointing out that court orders aren't granted on a whim so to get this far I've already had to win arguments over jurisdiction, proportionality and evidence tests.
That evening my mother sent me about another 7 barely coherent texts demanding that I show her all the court documents. I replied pointing out that I was unsure I could show her sealed court documents especially as it might have been the behaviour of members of her staff that had given the court cause for concern. I went on to remind her that in her professional capacity she could access my grandmother's medical records and use them to inform her opinion. After several hours I sent another message explaining that along with unlawful imprisonment, Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) and attempted murder contempt of court is considered a serious offence. I went on to explain in detail how my mother could add herself as a party to the proceedings and apply to the court to have the order lifted as in her opinion it endangered my grandmother's health. I did warn her though that the hospital's legal department would have already explored that route and chosen not to take it.
This morning (11/11/11) I received another 3 texts conveniently ignoring everything I'd said and telling me that I was never in my grandmother's will and basically trying to rub my nose in that fact. I replied that I was already fully aware of that fact because I'd discussed the matter at great length with my grandmother prior to the will being drawn up and actually advised her not to put me in it. I went on to point out that if I was simply interested in getting the local authority/council to fund my grandmother's care I would simply rent her vacant property under the housing benefit system and possibly make a small profit.
I am currently waiting for my mother to clarify if she is speaking to me in her personal capacity as my mother or in her professional capacity as a representative of Croydon University Hospital. At the moment it is hard to tell especially with all these NHS cuts and job losses allowing the senior management team to exert undue influence over their employees.
Edited at around 22:40 on Friday 11/11/11 to add: My mother has replied and stated that she is speaking in her capacity as my mother "who loves me very much." She then went on into what I can only term as emotional blackmail. What I'm doing is going to cause me great pain, my father great pain and grandmother great pain etc.
So I responded by stating that it felt as though I was speaking to a middle manager who is so in fear for her job that she's desperate not to make a fuss no matter what the consequences are. I then reminded her that she could always make an application or get my father to make an application to the court to explain to their medical officer that their risk assessment is incorrect. As it's hard to get poetic in a text message I followed that up by stating that I would support such an application provided her (Croydon University) hospital agreed to continue to consider my grandmother to be one of their patients by continuing their duty of care to her. I also explained that they wouldn't accept that compromise because they don't care what happens to my grandmother they just want to make sure she's not their problem. I left off the bit about how other people who've reviewed the case have expressed concerns that Croydon University Hospital (CUH) doesn't even seem to be classing my grandmother as a member of the human race. That seems to have shut her up a bit.
As for the secrecy issue surrounding the Court of Protection (COP) hearing I can't remember the Latin but it is most certainly not a super-injunction so I am most certainly allowed to acknowledge that a proceeding is taking place. Of course the seal could be lifted if an application was made stating that there is a significant public interest in the case. Obviously such an application would sound much better if it was made by someone who's not me not has ever met me. A British Member of Parliament (MP) would be perfect and have the added advantage of allowing the COP to know what they're dealing with. I'm sorry but I'm a soppy old liberal, I think that things like that are kind of important.
Elsewhere in technology news at around 20:00 my father discovered that his mobile phone was not working. This prompted him to spend ages turning his phone on and off again before giving up and trying to charge up his new handset with various chargers. All the while I was sitting there saying "Don't worry it's just a mobile phone."
My mobile phone was of course working perfectly allowing me to learn that tomorrow (12/11/11) my friend ( I'm only allowed the one) won't be coming up to visit me. Instead I'll be going down to Brighton to visit him. Although this will clash with an Arab League meeting on Syria I only mention it to warn Brighton because the mood I'm in I'm going to hit that town like a f*cking freight train. A freight train fuelled by cocaine, cheap whiskey and a whole lot of anger.
Until then though I'm going to watch Jame Murdoch's appearance yesterday (10/11/11) before the House of Commons select committee on culture media and sport while smoking a fat spliff and saying; "Ohh he's definitely a Brit." and "Wow he looks like my housemate Dan from my Grande Parade days."
Or alternatively I might just look at porn.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
I Have Found the Answer.
Alcohol. Lots and lots of lovely alcohol.
In less local news a small fuss has been caused by Newcastle United Football Club's decision to change the name of their stadium from "Saint James' Park" to "The Sports Direct Arena." Sports Direct of course being the retail chain owned by Newcastle United's owner Mike Ashley. The story is a reference to the announcement today (10/11/11) that the Mayor of London Boris Johnson welcomes the plans by the Australian Westfield group to take over the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon in order to help the borough recover from the August riots. As the Whitgift shopping centre is the main cash cow for the Whitgift Estate one can only assume they've recently received a rather large insurance bill.
Elsewhere a panel of British Members of Parliament (MP's) referred to a certain Chief Executive as being "the first mafia boss in history who did not know he was running a criminal enterprise." While I couldn't possibly know what that was a reference too it is worth noting because the panel of MP's featured Louise Mench. This Conservative Party freshmen famously appeared on the BBC1 comedy show "Have I Got News For You" at the height of the Ryan Giggs/Super injunction scandal and courageously named the footballer who took out an injunction to prevent us all from knowing that he'd been shagging Imogen Thomas. The only problem was she named the wrong footballer.
Anyway in testament to the start of the fourth series of "The Mentalist" at the curious time of 22:00 I must tell you my great August riots war story. I actually spent most of it watching "Empire Records" a 1994 film featuring a rather young and incredibly bald Agent Theresa Lisbon.
In less local news a small fuss has been caused by Newcastle United Football Club's decision to change the name of their stadium from "Saint James' Park" to "The Sports Direct Arena." Sports Direct of course being the retail chain owned by Newcastle United's owner Mike Ashley. The story is a reference to the announcement today (10/11/11) that the Mayor of London Boris Johnson welcomes the plans by the Australian Westfield group to take over the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon in order to help the borough recover from the August riots. As the Whitgift shopping centre is the main cash cow for the Whitgift Estate one can only assume they've recently received a rather large insurance bill.
Elsewhere a panel of British Members of Parliament (MP's) referred to a certain Chief Executive as being "the first mafia boss in history who did not know he was running a criminal enterprise." While I couldn't possibly know what that was a reference too it is worth noting because the panel of MP's featured Louise Mench. This Conservative Party freshmen famously appeared on the BBC1 comedy show "Have I Got News For You" at the height of the Ryan Giggs/Super injunction scandal and courageously named the footballer who took out an injunction to prevent us all from knowing that he'd been shagging Imogen Thomas. The only problem was she named the wrong footballer.
Anyway in testament to the start of the fourth series of "The Mentalist" at the curious time of 22:00 I must tell you my great August riots war story. I actually spent most of it watching "Empire Records" a 1994 film featuring a rather young and incredibly bald Agent Theresa Lisbon.
Inexplicable.
No I've got idea why I haven't passed out yet but I've got a feeling it's coming.
Today (10/11/11) I went all the way up to the Court of Protection (COP) in Archway to hand over the originals of all the forms known as "the bundle" and pay the fee. The COP then refused to accept payment because they only accept cheques which obviously would have caused them a great problem if cheques had been ended in August as planned. Without payment they also refused to accept the bundle. After going back and some encouragement they did finally accept the bundle meaning that the appointed special visitor should have all the necessary information to prepare their report.
Today (10/11/11) I went all the way up to the Court of Protection (COP) in Archway to hand over the originals of all the forms known as "the bundle" and pay the fee. The COP then refused to accept payment because they only accept cheques which obviously would have caused them a great problem if cheques had been ended in August as planned. Without payment they also refused to accept the bundle. After going back and some encouragement they did finally accept the bundle meaning that the appointed special visitor should have all the necessary information to prepare their report.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Stinging.
Today (9/11/11) the yields on Italian ten year bonds reached 7.5%. This is just 0.5% below the point at which Italy becomes locked out of the bond markets and goes bankrupt. Therefore the question that's been on everyone's lips is will Italian Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi recluse himself before the country is economically annihilated? Even the Italian President has publicly said that he expects Berlusconi's resignation within a week. Personally I'm torn because while he is on the brink of dragging the nation and possibly the world into very dark place I've always found his attempts to bat in the big leagues highly amusing.
In other news I've just returned from dinner with my mother. She was already aware of the situation with my grandmother and as a clinical manager at Croydon University Hospital (CUH) she is very much toeing the party line. However as a clinical manager she was unable to offer an explanation as to why the subject of an abuse investigation would be asked to make clinical decisions about the person they're accused of abusing. She was also unable to offer an explanation as to why a consultant would refuse a legal binding request for a psychiatric assessment.
In other news I've just returned from dinner with my mother. She was already aware of the situation with my grandmother and as a clinical manager at Croydon University Hospital (CUH) she is very much toeing the party line. However as a clinical manager she was unable to offer an explanation as to why the subject of an abuse investigation would be asked to make clinical decisions about the person they're accused of abusing. She was also unable to offer an explanation as to why a consultant would refuse a legal binding request for a psychiatric assessment.
Look At Me! I'm So Important(!)
I know that there is a student fees demonstration going on in London, the Greek Prime Minister has been given an important address to the nation and the Italian economic situation has taken a turn for the worse. However at the moment I can only really comment on what's happening right in front of my face.
My father has returned from the hospital and it's fair to say he's less then happy. So unhappy in fact he is currently refusing to tell me where my grandmother is. However I gather that she is still in Croydon University Hospital (CUH) because he is accusing me of preventing her receiving the necessary level of care. Of course he can't currently verbalise what sort of extra care she would recieve at a residential nursing home that she wouldn't receive on a medical ward staffed 24 hours a day in a building with it's own trauma unit, intensive care unit, surgical unit and medical imaging equipment.
My father has returned from the hospital and it's fair to say he's less then happy. So unhappy in fact he is currently refusing to tell me where my grandmother is. However I gather that she is still in Croydon University Hospital (CUH) because he is accusing me of preventing her receiving the necessary level of care. Of course he can't currently verbalise what sort of extra care she would recieve at a residential nursing home that she wouldn't receive on a medical ward staffed 24 hours a day in a building with it's own trauma unit, intensive care unit, surgical unit and medical imaging equipment.
Riot Police on the Streets of London.
And me back at the Court of Protection. It's almost as if the last year didn't happen. I wonder if that excuse will work at my next birthday?
Despite the police threatening to use baton rounds and sending intimidating letters to people who'd attended previous demonstrations today (9/11/11) around 4000 students gathered in London to march in protest against rises to tuition fees and plans to privatise universities. They were met by 4000 police officers in riot gear who contained the march in a mobile cordon as it made it's way from the University of London Union on Malet street to a rally at London Metropolitan University. A small group were able to escape the police cordon and set up a protest camp at Trafalgar Square but away from the TV cameras they were swiftly arrested.
The police have ordered the rally to end at 16:00 so at 15:50 we're waiting to see if the protesters will leave and what action the police will take if they refuse.
Despite the police threatening to use baton rounds and sending intimidating letters to people who'd attended previous demonstrations today (9/11/11) around 4000 students gathered in London to march in protest against rises to tuition fees and plans to privatise universities. They were met by 4000 police officers in riot gear who contained the march in a mobile cordon as it made it's way from the University of London Union on Malet street to a rally at London Metropolitan University. A small group were able to escape the police cordon and set up a protest camp at Trafalgar Square but away from the TV cameras they were swiftly arrested.
The police have ordered the rally to end at 16:00 so at 15:50 we're waiting to see if the protesters will leave and what action the police will take if they refuse.
Phew That Was Close!
When I arrived at the ward at around 10:05 the porters were there about to move my grandmother to the discharge lounge. So I issued the ward staff with a copy of the COP1 form which added to the copy I'd already given too my father. I then issued another copy to the Chief Executive via the liaison office (PALS). I then sat down with my grandmother to give and explain to her her copy. I think it's fair to say she didn't understand a word of it but the form has been added to her possessions so should be given directly to the care home before they decide to accept her.
I've still not heard from the Court of Protection's (COP) technical officer. This is quite annoying because I really need to know if the Judge laid out a framework for the Section 49 order. At it's broadest Section 49 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 allows a court appointed special representative (in this case the Office of the Public Guardian) to interview the patient, interview to all the staff, review all medical records and observe the patient being treated by the staff. Obviously that last part can't happen if my grandmother is discharged. So it is my opinion that the prevention of discharge is implicit in the Section 49 order however I will agree that it is open to interpretation.
As I was leaving the ward staff were considering their next move. I can only recommend that they seek legal advice before making a decision however based on my experience with them I suspect they're going to discharge anyway in the hope that changing the situation on the ground will change the legal situation. As for whether or not the nursing home will accept my grandmother they are part of what was the Southern Cross group which does suggest a high degree of managerial competence.
Edited at around 12:00 on 9/11/11: I have now received a copy of the COP's order. However it is a sealed order so I can't tell you what's in it, which Judge made it or when it is expected to be carried out by.
I've still not heard from the Court of Protection's (COP) technical officer. This is quite annoying because I really need to know if the Judge laid out a framework for the Section 49 order. At it's broadest Section 49 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 allows a court appointed special representative (in this case the Office of the Public Guardian) to interview the patient, interview to all the staff, review all medical records and observe the patient being treated by the staff. Obviously that last part can't happen if my grandmother is discharged. So it is my opinion that the prevention of discharge is implicit in the Section 49 order however I will agree that it is open to interpretation.
As I was leaving the ward staff were considering their next move. I can only recommend that they seek legal advice before making a decision however based on my experience with them I suspect they're going to discharge anyway in the hope that changing the situation on the ground will change the legal situation. As for whether or not the nursing home will accept my grandmother they are part of what was the Southern Cross group which does suggest a high degree of managerial competence.
Edited at around 12:00 on 9/11/11: I have now received a copy of the COP's order. However it is a sealed order so I can't tell you what's in it, which Judge made it or when it is expected to be carried out by.
Progress of Sorts.
I've finally been able to get through to the Court of Protection. At yesterday's hearing the Judge did allow the case to proceed and made a Section 49 order (Mental Capacity Act 2005) which calls on the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to visit my grandmother in hospital and prepare a report. However it is unclear whether a separate order has been made to prevent my grandmother being discharged or whether it's implicit within the Section 49 order.
Annoyingly the relevant technical officer who can answer that question doesn't start work until 10:00 so can't contact me until then. In the meantime I'm going to serve copies of the COP1 application on all relevant parties so they can make an informed choice of how to proceed.
Annoyingly the relevant technical officer who can answer that question doesn't start work until 10:00 so can't contact me until then. In the meantime I'm going to serve copies of the COP1 application on all relevant parties so they can make an informed choice of how to proceed.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Hooray For Yiddish
Because I was that drunk that early in the evening.
Anyway it is now (22:45) and I've still not heard from the COP so I will soon attempting to find that common horror known as sleep.
Anyway it is now (22:45) and I've still not heard from the COP so I will soon attempting to find that common horror known as sleep.
Surveillance Crazy.
Over the last two days Britain has become obsessed with the concept of covert surveillance or "spying" as it's more commonly known. Yesterday (7/11/11) a BBC Newsnight investigation alleged that the News of the World (NotW) hired a private investigator to monitor lawyers representing alleged victims of the phone hacking scandal. This morning (8/11/11) Marget Baroness Ford the head of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) rather stroppily alleged that Tottenham Hotspur football had put the entire board of the OPLC under surveillance. Then this afternoon the same Newsnight investigation alleged that the NotW had put Prince William under covert surveillance ahead of his marriage to Catherine Middleton.
Now it would be nice to pretend that all of this was the British Establishment attempting to inform the Court of Protection (COP) that the three month harassment campaign that caused my grandmother to be mis-diagnosed was organised and run by the local authority (Croydon Council) in one of the most spectacular abuses of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) ever seen. Unfortunately though along with the Home Secretary's recent admission that she has no idea how many foreigners had been allowed into the country this has been a reference to the fact that a delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) are currently in Britain to discuss with the Ministry of Justice and the Judicary the issues surrounding seizing property from some of the junior Qaddafi's as the proceeds of crime.
I've been hesitant to mention this before unless it is mis-interpreted as an attempt to intimidate the COP. I'm not sure it could be though because it is just a simple statement of fact and I'm sure the two issues are in no way related. At least I hope they are not otherwise today's IAEA report into Iran is particularly damming.
Anyway it's now around 20:18 on Tuesday November 8th and I returned from dinner with my father at around 20:10. There are no problems other then the fact that dinner was nowhere near as dramatic as the assembled audience had hoped. That's hardly my fault because until the COP speaks I have nothing to say. Speaking of which I've still not heard anything from them. However my earlier injunction theory would fit perfectly with today's death of a Red Arrows airman. After all his flight was grounded but he decided to discharge his ejector seat anyway and it killed him. I guess the poor sod must have believed the manufacturers spiel about the seat being safe to use on the ground.
Now it would be nice to pretend that all of this was the British Establishment attempting to inform the Court of Protection (COP) that the three month harassment campaign that caused my grandmother to be mis-diagnosed was organised and run by the local authority (Croydon Council) in one of the most spectacular abuses of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) ever seen. Unfortunately though along with the Home Secretary's recent admission that she has no idea how many foreigners had been allowed into the country this has been a reference to the fact that a delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) are currently in Britain to discuss with the Ministry of Justice and the Judicary the issues surrounding seizing property from some of the junior Qaddafi's as the proceeds of crime.
I've been hesitant to mention this before unless it is mis-interpreted as an attempt to intimidate the COP. I'm not sure it could be though because it is just a simple statement of fact and I'm sure the two issues are in no way related. At least I hope they are not otherwise today's IAEA report into Iran is particularly damming.
Anyway it's now around 20:18 on Tuesday November 8th and I returned from dinner with my father at around 20:10. There are no problems other then the fact that dinner was nowhere near as dramatic as the assembled audience had hoped. That's hardly my fault because until the COP speaks I have nothing to say. Speaking of which I've still not heard anything from them. However my earlier injunction theory would fit perfectly with today's death of a Red Arrows airman. After all his flight was grounded but he decided to discharge his ejector seat anyway and it killed him. I guess the poor sod must have believed the manufacturers spiel about the seat being safe to use on the ground.
Escape and Evasion?
As of 17:25 I have yet to receive a response from the Court of Protection (COP) regarding today's (8/11/11) hearing. So at around 16:40 I tried calling them. It turns out my contact at the COP has changed their telephone number since this morning. So after spending about 15 minutes being bounced from extension to extension as everyone tried to find the new number I called their switchboard. There I spent about 25 minutes on hold before being cut off. Now the switchboard won't even allow me to sit on hold immediately cutting off my calls.
Now I'm not sure if I should say this because it is only a gut feeling but I can't help but thinking that an injunction has been granted but someone is trying very hard to make sure that said injunction cannot be served on the relevant parties until after discharge has taken place. However like I said that is just a gut feeling and I certainly have no evidence to support it and may well be wrong.
Now I'm not sure if I should say this because it is only a gut feeling but I can't help but thinking that an injunction has been granted but someone is trying very hard to make sure that said injunction cannot be served on the relevant parties until after discharge has taken place. However like I said that is just a gut feeling and I certainly have no evidence to support it and may well be wrong.
The Racism Thing(s)
Following the eviction of Dale Farm Britain saw a flurry of racism scandals. I think there were three in football and two in the X-Factor. The only thing these stories had in common were they left people asking; "Was that racist?"
Most of the stories died out as quickly as they'd started. However the story about Chelsea footballer John Terry allegedly racially abusing Queens Park Rangers (QPR) footballer Anton Ferdinand is still running fuelled by Scotland Yard's (the police) decision on November 2nd to investigate the incident as a possible criminal offence. This is because when Wayne Rooney is otherwise engaged in sending off scandals I become either John Terry or Frank Lampard in the football code. According to legend and folklore back in 2005 I apparently racial abused a Frenchman. Although not actually true Britain has used this story to create divisions between me and the whole of France. So by bringing up the matter again at the start of the French hosted G20 Summit Britain was effectively grabbing the French President by the shoulders and frantically shouting; "Look, look you have to hate him!" Therefore we need to be open to the possibility that in the scandal where Nicholas Sarkozy and Barack Obama were overheard making disparaging comments about Israel at the G20 neither party were talking about the actual Israel.
As for the Court of Protection (COP) matter. Yesterday (7/11/11) I was emailed a request for a completed fee undertaking which is basically a legally binding IOU note. This was made available to COP staff at the start of business today (8/11/11). As a result the case is now at the top of the Courts schedule and should be dealt with as soon as the Judge has finished with an attended hearing. Feasibly this means that the matter could be being dealt with now. You may have noticed I'm currently desperately trying to think about other things.
Most of the stories died out as quickly as they'd started. However the story about Chelsea footballer John Terry allegedly racially abusing Queens Park Rangers (QPR) footballer Anton Ferdinand is still running fuelled by Scotland Yard's (the police) decision on November 2nd to investigate the incident as a possible criminal offence. This is because when Wayne Rooney is otherwise engaged in sending off scandals I become either John Terry or Frank Lampard in the football code. According to legend and folklore back in 2005 I apparently racial abused a Frenchman. Although not actually true Britain has used this story to create divisions between me and the whole of France. So by bringing up the matter again at the start of the French hosted G20 Summit Britain was effectively grabbing the French President by the shoulders and frantically shouting; "Look, look you have to hate him!" Therefore we need to be open to the possibility that in the scandal where Nicholas Sarkozy and Barack Obama were overheard making disparaging comments about Israel at the G20 neither party were talking about the actual Israel.
As for the Court of Protection (COP) matter. Yesterday (7/11/11) I was emailed a request for a completed fee undertaking which is basically a legally binding IOU note. This was made available to COP staff at the start of business today (8/11/11). As a result the case is now at the top of the Courts schedule and should be dealt with as soon as the Judge has finished with an attended hearing. Feasibly this means that the matter could be being dealt with now. You may have noticed I'm currently desperately trying to think about other things.
Monday, 7 November 2011
No-one Told Them to Stop
So they just kept on going.
Croydon University Hospital (CUH) is going to attempt to discharge my grandmother to the Albany Lodge nursing home of Wednesday (9/11/11). As a result I have filed paperwork with the Court of Protection (COP) intended to prevent them from doing so. As this is an urgent matter it should be put before a Judge within the next 24 hours for a preliminary hearing. If that Judge decides there is a case to answer they will impose an injunction blocking discharge until a full hearing can take place. Obviously it's is not my place to predict the Judges decision however question 3.1 on the COP1B does ask if the patient has been assessed under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Technically I've faxed over a COP1 application supported by a COP24 statement along with a COP9 application for an urgent hearing and a COP2 application for permission to apply. As a named person in the Lasting Powers of Attorney and the previous COP ruling I strictly speaking don't need permission but it is better to be safe then sorry. The other paperwork including fee forms will follow at a later date as per procedure for urgent applications.
Croydon University Hospital (CUH) is going to attempt to discharge my grandmother to the Albany Lodge nursing home of Wednesday (9/11/11). As a result I have filed paperwork with the Court of Protection (COP) intended to prevent them from doing so. As this is an urgent matter it should be put before a Judge within the next 24 hours for a preliminary hearing. If that Judge decides there is a case to answer they will impose an injunction blocking discharge until a full hearing can take place. Obviously it's is not my place to predict the Judges decision however question 3.1 on the COP1B does ask if the patient has been assessed under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Technically I've faxed over a COP1 application supported by a COP24 statement along with a COP9 application for an urgent hearing and a COP2 application for permission to apply. As a named person in the Lasting Powers of Attorney and the previous COP ruling I strictly speaking don't need permission but it is better to be safe then sorry. The other paperwork including fee forms will follow at a later date as per procedure for urgent applications.
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