Yank in London
occasional musings on politics, culture and life in general from an american in exile


"We have it in our power to begin the world over again"

Tom Paine - Common Sense

"A republic, sir, if you can keep it."

Benjamin Franklin

"War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

Norman Whitfield / Barrett Strong

31 January 2007
  Germany seeks arrest of CIA operatives
Anyone want to guess what the likelyhood is that the US will extradite these suspects to Germany if asked to do so?

Are there any numbers big enough?
  17:46:00 0 comments links to this post
  "War is Peace"
"Openness is censorship".

So saith PR hack Eric Dezenhall after he was hired by the Association of American Publishers to fight the moves towards "open access journals and public databases" for publication of scholarly works.

He suggested that the firms argue that, and I quote, "public access equals government censorship". It's really hard to argue with that!
  17:39:00 0 comments links to this post
  Why Johnny can't swim
George Bush is used to having grades that aren't so good. After all he did struggle at prep school and merely coasted his way through the Ivy League on his family's heritage so I reckon he won't be too shocked that the US has been given a C minus grade as regards its performance in protecting the ocean.

I say why should the oceans be treated better than the rest of the planet.

We must also admit that the student is getting better. The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative awarded a D plus to the US last year. Apparently when George hears someone talking about the seas he now knows that there might be more on their mind than "just a letter".
  17:33:00 0 comments links to this post
  "Forgive me father for I may, or may not, have sinned"

Reporters for the Italian magazine L'espresso have gone underground cleverly disguised as Catholics to unearth if Italian priests are toeing the Vatican line in the confessional.

Guess what! They aren't. Well most of the time anyway. According to an article in today's Guardian they come up short in a number of areas. Amongst the more controversial opinions expressed were:

Of course when the issue of abortion was raised by a reporter who said his future child would be born with Down's Syndrome - "I swear to God: if you do it, you'll be a murderer."

What has been the Vatican's reaction to this? Why what else would they do other than "accuse the magazine of profanity.

  17:08:00 0 comments links to this post
  BAE redux
Remember the inquiry into UK's Serious Fraud Office inquiry into allegations of corruption involved in the deal between the British arms merchant and Saudi Arabia for the sale of EuroFighter; the one that had to be called off after Tony and his Cronies started running around with handkerchiefs on their collective heads screaming "National Security! National Security!"?

Now Claire Short has revealed that the SFO has evidence that the sale of advanced radar systems to the government of Tanzania by the selfsame BAE was corrupt. They would like to see someone charged in that case but as yet, alas, no one has been.

I hope he enjoys his legacy, that Mr. Blair.
  16:58:00 0 comments links to this post
  The noose tightens
I wonder how Tony Blair feels about the Saddam Hussein execution now that the noose is tightening around the necks of his friends and therefore, by extension, himself. The police arrested New Labour fund raiser Lord Levy was arrested for a second time yesterday and was later released on bail. This raises the possibility, now perhaps a near certainty, that his Legacyship Tony Blair will be interviewed again, perhaps under caution. My oh my.
Will they hood him when they drag him out of Number 10?
  16:50:00 0 comments links to this post
30 January 2007
  He does go on...
Over at AlterNet Evan Derkacz asks "What Can Possibly Be in Bush's Head on Escalation?". Why did he find it necessary to add those last two words?

  17:15:00 0 comments links to this post
  We had best put a stop to this sharpish
How, I ask, will the magic, yet invisible, hand of the market be able to perform its miracles if we allow things like not-for-profit pharmacies in disadvantaged neighbourhoods to exist.

This is communism damn it and should not be tolerated in America!
  17:05:00 0 comments links to this post
  Republic President Bush apologises
He says that his dropping of the "-ic" suffix when he (attempted to) mention the Democratic Party in his State of the Union speech last weeks was due to his difficulties reading a teleprompter coupled with his inability to speak the English language. Either that or it was "an oversight" - however that might apply.
  16:37:00 0 comments links to this post
  I find this incredibly hard to believe
This is just fucking impossible. According to a survey by AC Nielsen 13% of Americans have never heard about or read about global warming. I'm sure however that they have caused some!

Note: this was an internet survey so these are people that should not be totally divorced from the world at large!
  16:31:00 0 comments links to this post
  One small step
Some good news in the court martial of US 1st Lt. Ehren Watada for his refusal to accept deployment to Iraq on the basis that the war was, and is, illegal. According to the Honolulu Advertiser the government has dropped two of the charges and will not enforce subpoenas issued to two journalists.

Lt. Watada's defence has already been denied the right to argue that the war is illegal previously and is likely to be convicted on some or all of the remaining counts.

We have to hope that subsequent appeals will exonerate him.
  16:01:00 0 comments links to this post
  The The Lord saves Washington DC (sort of)
In July of 2006 some Christian groups held a week long prayer vigil in the nation's capital. They asked the Lord that "the number of murders in Washington D.C. would drop dramatically over the next five months from the previous year". I found this a peculiarly specific but none the less laudable prayer request.

Well the results are now in and clearly my cynicism was unwarranted. According to a news release from the Christian Defense Coalition the Washington murder rate was down 27% in the last five months of 2006 as compared to the last five months of 2005. Halleluiah. Of course for the year as a whole there were only 3 fewer murders than the prior year. Q.E.D.

You what I wonder? Why didn't they pray to God for NO murders from that point forward or couldn't God do that? Why did they only pray for reduced murders for five months?

Of course there are other people, undoubtedly evil non believers or even Satanists, who think there might be other, more sensible reasons for the decline than a bunch of folks who spent a week in a tent on the Mall during the best of the summer weather. But don't you believe them!
  15:42:00 0 comments links to this post
  Colombia - enriching the rich
Colombia is supposedly an important American ally. It gets huge amounts of aid primarily in the military arena ostensibly to fight the flow of drugs to America and which is craved by Americans. Where the government forces have made inroads against the FARC guerrillas right wing paramilitaries have moved in and seized land, around 26,000 square miles, from local peasants and small farmers. Much of this land, to my complete surprise, is prized for either its oil or mineral deposits.

The American back government of President Uribe is said to be dissolving these militias but it unlikely that most of the legitimate landowners will even return to their land due to policies put in place by the Uribe government.

Will the US take the issue up with the Colombian government and force them strip these fascists of their ill-gotten gains?

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Alright. I'm back. I was just writhing about on the floor seized by fits of laughter.

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It is this sort of duplicity, or realpolitik if you are Henry Kissinger (and I do pity you if you are), that has been the hallmark of American foreign policy dating back well over a century, and which continues to ensure that we are distrusted or hated by most vulnerable people on the planet. Will it ever change? It is unlikely to go away completely but perhaps, with another President, it might cease to be one of the most notable of the faces we present to the world.
  15:31:00 0 comments links to this post
  American tragedy
More and more I find that I describe America to my European friends and acquaintances as a first world country and a third world country sharing the same real estate.

There is no doubt that there is much wealth in America and great opportunities are sometimes available. Unfortunately for many in America, due to circumstances beyond their control, they don't get to share in that wealth or have access to those opportunities. The gap continues to widen between the rich and the poor. As any remnants of the New Deal's or Great Society's "safety net" are swept away before by the prophets of the market the poor are getting poorer.

It is especially tragic when this affects the young as it does in a large numbers. What is even worse is that the plight of homelessness affecting a million young people annually.

A million.

America.

Wealthy.

God's country!
  14:59:00 0 comments links to this post
  Stop the enemies of Israel!
An internal report produced by the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressing concern over groups of former Israeli Defence Force soldiers, who are now opposed to the actions of the IDF in the (illegally) occupied territories, who are touring the United States and presenting their views to the American Jewish community. The Ministry views this with great concern. Heaven forbid that their largest supporters should ever hear a viewpoint other than their own. Speaking of the so-called "refuseniks" the reports states:

"The willingness of Jewish communities in the United States to host these organizations, and even sponsor them, is unfortunate. This is a phenomenon that must not be ignored."

The report goes on the urge action against the ex-soldiers saying "their negative effect on Israel’s image must be stopped". I'm sure that the Israeli government would never encourage the US to refuse visas to any refuseniks and should it occur it is for other, completely justifiable reasons which must, of course, be kept secret.
  14:47:00 0 comments links to this post
  Pharma-lie-aculs
According to the BBC GlaxoSmithKline, the largest British drugs firm which also has a significant presence back in the old home town of Philadelphia, withheld evidence from regulators relating to teen suicide during the approval process for its anti-depressant Seroxat. The BBC reported their findings on the programme Panorama. Their evidence included statements from former employees and emails which showed that the company was aware that there was little or no evidence that the drug was effective for use in the adolescent population but continued to promote it for use.

GSK, as could be expected, denies the charges.
  14:38:00 1 comments links to this post
  And to think I missed it!
Yesterday was Milton Friedman Day. I'd best note this in my diary for next year!
  14:30:00 0 comments links to this post
  "M" word confusion
Is a "miscalculation" anything at all like a "mistake"? According to Admiral William Fallon, the new head of US military operations in Iraq, the American military miscalculated the abilities and resolve of the Iraqi insurgents. In a letter submitted to the Senate Armed Service Committee he said:

"Securing the stability of the country has been more difficult than anticipated. Our ability to correctly assess the political, economic and security situation in Iraq has been lacking."

So he is, at least in my interpretation, saying "we're shit and we know we are".

At least I remain enormously amused at the idea of an admiral at the helm of things in a nation that is largely desert. At least it proves that Bush is unafraid to try out something new. Will he spend his weekends, in full dress uniform, piloting a naval launch up and down the Euphrates in search of a fleet to inspect?
  13:56:00 0 comments links to this post
  Wikiprecedent
Remember the furore that the right wing kicked up when one of the US Supreme Court Justices, I think it may have been Justice Kennedy, suggested that the court should, in some cases, take into account legal rulings elsewhere such as Europe. Of course the ignore the fact that English Common Law has an almost equal bearing to the Constitution as the basis for American Law, a fact which probably explains why the founders didn't believe it was necessary to include an explicit right to habeaus corpus petitions in the Constitution as it was already a bedrock of Common Law. This also confused the US Attorney General as he demonstrated last week.

So how will they feel about US judges increases use of citations from Wikipedia in their opinions? I wait with bated breath.
  12:22:00 0 comments links to this post
  Rent-a-tans kill!
If you are Caucasian you're not meant to have brown skin in the winter time and if you are Scottish you are not meant to have brown skin at all, so stay away from the bloody sun beds already. It is no bloody good for you. Are you listening?
  12:18:00 0 comments links to this post
  Bigotry on the Moskva
Amazing as it may seem the United States does not have a monopoly on right wing religious bigots, especially the homophobic ones. The mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, has banned a gay rights parade in the city and referred to it as Satanic. In so doing he has gained the full support of the Russian Orthodox Church. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, a spokesman for the church, said:

"I believe that in the 21st century people will realize the malignancy of perversions opposing the family in its natural form as bestowed by God."

A nice refreshing 21st century attitude don't you think?
  11:59:00 0 comments links to this post
  Leave my feet alone!
Britain is to launch the world's first national criminal footprint database next month in which shoe prints from crime scenes up and down the country will be available and compared. What a brave advance for British criminology!

Does anyone really think this will help that much? How long to people hang on to shoes? What if Imelda Marcos is a suspect? How will they be able to get through her entire wardrobe?

I wonder how much we are spending on this.
  11:49:00 0 comments links to this post
29 January 2007
  In the (slightly smaller) House that Bush Built
Down in Florida, long an enclave of Bushiness and dubious electioneering, we now find that their system for controlling the issuance of conceal carry permits for firearms might new a wee bit of a rethink.
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  Will someone please tell Blair he's not on Mastermind?
Blair says he's not leaving until he finishes what he started.

Reports that a loud cry of pain followed by a single gunshot were heard from number 11 could not be confirmed at this time.
  13:29:00 0 comments links to this post
  Joined at the approval rating
Tony Blair - 26% - an all time low.

George Bush - 30% - an all time low.

"At times they even talk alike —
You can lose your mind"

  12:58:00 0 comments links to this post
  Do you see what I see?
I am certain that coppers will not waste their time, and considerable public resources, searching for school girls not wearing any knickers should the government install x-ray security cameras on Britain's High Streets.
  12:54:00 0 comments links to this post
  One word makes all the difference
A British government study has found that young Muslims "more religious and political than their parents. This will undoubtedly be met with trepidation in parts of America.

However if you changed "Muslims" to "Christians" (or even "Jew") I would expect it to be met with joy from the same quarters. Hmmm.
  12:16:00 0 comments links to this post
  If I had ever drunk this before I would probably know just what to do
Australia remains mired in a drought that has lasted for of years. Their Prime Minister, the incredibly annoying John Howard, continues to toe the Bush line on climate change. Now Australian states are having to act over the shortage of potable drinking water. Queensland has become the first to admit that it will have to begin using water from sewage waste to augment the supply of fresh water. I'm sure it is perfectly safe and that the government would never lie to the people over something as basic as this. Right?
  11:55:00 0 comments links to this post
  "Your uterus belongs to the nation!"
The Japanese Minister of Health, Hakuo Yanagisawa, appears to be considering a career in American politics with his statement at the weekend that described women as "birth giving machines".

He has apologised but not, as yet, been sacked.
  11:48:00 0 comments links to this post
  A sea change in Ulster
It is sometimes hard to appreciate just how far the Northern Irish peace process has come but ten years ago I am sure that few could have imagined that it would reach a point where Sinn Féin would vote to participate in the province's policing and justice processes. As is to be expected the ever intransigent Unionists greeted the announcement with scorn. I can just hear Ian Paisley chanting, in his dulcet tones, "no surrender to the IRA". By the way it took talking to American financied terrorists (or are they freedom fighters if they are Christian) to get this far.

I hope the progress continues. After all the Rev. Paisley can't live forever.

I say this as a victim of the 1996 bomb at South Quay which almost scuttled the peace process for good.
  11:37:00 0 comments links to this post
  "Not to mention that I specifically asked for a cell with a view"
Two men spend eighteen years in prison for a crime they did not commit. They are abused whilst in prison for being child murderers. This is what happened in the case of the two men convicted of the murder of newsboy Carl Bridgewater. When they were finally exonerated and released they sought compensation from the government for wrongful imprisonment and won.

Then the government has the temerity to deduct 25% of the amount awarded for loss of earnings to pay for their room and board in prison because of the costs they avoided living the high life at the state's expense.

I don't know, maybe they just have bad karma, but I hope they win. In actual fact, the amount they were awarded, even without the deduction, seems woefully inadequate for their ordeal.
  11:17:00 0 comments links to this post
28 January 2007
  Caution, wrist slap coming
The Bush administration has been forced to admit, and will report to Congress, that Israel may have violated the conditions of arms deals with the US when it used US-made cluster bombs in Lebanon.

And that will be the end of that.
  13:38:00 0 comments links to this post
  How many lives to ducks get?
The phrase "lucky duck" is truly meaningful for a certain migratory waterfowl in Florida. He (or she) was shot but cruel and inhumane hunter Dale Tadlock on the fifteenth of January. He took the creature home and stuck the carcass in the fridge undoubtedly meaning to pluck and clean it later. Some two days later his lovely wife, Pamela, opened said fridge only to find the bird still alive, albeit the worse for wear. She rushed the creature to the nearest veterinary surgery where the bird was treated with oxygen and CPR. Ten days on the bird has had surgery and, although still weak, is saidto be doing fine, according to the vet.

There is no word as to how Pamela's therapy is going nor on the current status of her relationship with the evil one, Dale. One can only assume had he found the bird alive in the fridge he just would have taken out of doors and shot it again.
  13:25:00 0 comments links to this post
  Fodder for the red tops
Tabloid editors up and down the country are undoubtedly squealing with glee at revelations in today's Independentthat, with British prisons full to bursting and the Home Secretary John Reid already being blasted for his penal polices, Mr. Reid is drawing up plans for a "offend now, serve later" system of waiting lists.

How long then before we are treated to a series of hysterical yet heartwarming articles about aged criminals living in dreary council flats who are afraid that they will expire before they are able to do their porridge?
  13:17:00 0 comments links to this post
  Silencing the truth
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working furiously to prevent publication of a book written by Carne Ross, a former senior diplomat and member of the British mission to the UN. Mr. Ross's book, entitled Independent Diplomat, is said to include a number of revelations about the run up to the invasion of Iraq that will undoubtedly prove damaging to Prime Minister Blair and President Bush as well as their beloved legacies. A spokesman for the FCO was quoted as saying that publication of the book would risk "damaging the credibility and morale of the FCO and the relationship of confidence and trust within government".

Surely the government has done that already!

Mr. Ross's testimony before the Butler Commission, which was made public by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee is to be found here and is well worth a read.
  13:05:00 0 comments links to this post
  Royal Philly
I see that my old hometown has given a warm and gracious welcome to Big Ears and Frumpy (aka the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall). I hope they had a grand time. Did they get to have any cheese steaks or Tastykakes?

The Prince is known for his green ambitions, even if he does fly a great deal, and that was apparently welcomed in the City of Brotherly Love but nonetheless buried in a British article about the visit I did find this lovely quote from a Philly area native, one Walt Kennie:

"You can drive small cars over there in Europe if you like. We're gonna keep driving the big ones. This is America. More is more."

Oh my. Do you reckon he might be Republican by any chance?
  12:54:00 0 comments links to this post
  Cameron out Bushes Bush
We all remember that wildly (un)successful education initiative of Bush's first term known as "No Child Left Behind". Well in today's Observer Tory upstart and boyish leader David Cameron promises to go him one better by ensuring in the new warm, compassionate, caring Tory Britain that he dreams about no one at all will be left behind. What a noble ambition I say!

Unfortunately I think it is going to have to remain an ambition. The population is around 60 million but it is only 874 miles from Land's End to John O'Groat's. If we all line up in one row we will all only get about an inch. There is going to have to be several rows which, unfortunately for young David, will mean that someone will get left behind.
  12:40:00 0 comments links to this post
  Kelly's last stand
My favourite minister, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, appears to be considering one last attempt to see to it that her beloved Catholics are allowed to continue to discriminate against gays via an exemption to the proposed legislation that would end such practices. Perhaps have this attempt fails she can resign and go to work for Opus Dei full time.
  12:36:00 0 comments links to this post
  Good news for climate change deniers
There is an article in today's Observer with the headline "Experts split over climate danger to Antarctica" which I suppose debunks the UN report due out next week which is supposed to deny the decision of the Decider (TM) that doubt remains as to whether humanity is causing global warming.

Oh, wait. Never mind. Having now actually read the article I find that they are referring to "so called" experts which believe that the already harsh report doesn't go far enough, especially about Antarctica.

Sorry to have troubled you.
  12:30:00 0 comments links to this post
27 January 2007
  Are you listening (or just deciding) George?
He is a past master at telling the Bush administration things which they do not wish to hear, that they will not listen to and about which he will be correct so if the American President and his minions ignore the statement from former UN arms inspector Hans Blix that "the threat against the global environment and global warming are a greater threat than weapons of mass destruction" we should be excused for reminding the Americans that he, and not they, was right last time. OK?
  14:46:00 0 comments links to this post
  Green air miles?
Is there anything more inane than getting into the 4x4, driving about half a mile to the local Tesco's only to purchase a half a dozen organic apples flown in from New Zealand or a bunch of asparagus, in the dead of winter, flown in from Chile?

Well the Soil Association agrees and as it is responsible for the regulation of the use of the term "organic" in the UK is considering a ban of its use on goods which have been air-freighted from around the world. Let's hope they go through with it.
Oh, whilst you are at it, you could walk to the supermarket, now couldn't you?
  14:00:00 0 comments links to this post
  The ethics of cheese
The US Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve the use of cloned livestock to produce meat and other products for the American marketplace. Their thinking has been critically influenced by scientists in the pay of the cloning industry and there has been little or no consideration of animal welfare or other ethical issues.

Questions are being raised as to whether the FDA has shifted from its responsibility to regulate to active promotion. Read the extract of the paper at the link, which has gone to the FDA, and think about contacting your Senator and / or Representative.
  11:48:00 0 comments links to this post
  Wired for sound
I'm worried as to the potential impact on America's police forces should these caffiene laced doughnuts make their way onto the market. Each doughnut would have the equivalent caffeine to about two cups of coffee. So when Officer Jones pops into the local doughnut outlet in the middle of his shift for a couple of cream doughnuts and one of those huge 32-ounce coffees he will be getting the caffeine equal to about ten cups of coffee (not to mention the sugar and the transfats). Am I the only one who begins to freak out with that much stimulant in my bloodstream? Is this level of drug abuse conducive to the carrying of firearms? Perhaps coppers should be restricted to decaffienated only.

I know that the cops and doughnuts thing is a bit of a stereotype but when I used to live in King of Prussia I passed the Dunkin' Donuts at the intersection with Henderson Road at all hours of the day and right with great regularity. There were never less than two assorted police vehicles outside and there were often as many as five. (Does this save them money on insurance?)
  11:31:00 0 comments links to this post
  American hate
Guildford College is a small educational institution in Greensboro, North Carolina associated with the Religious Society of Friends. Is it possible to imagine a more incongruous place for a potential hate crime?

Just to show how deeply ingrained racist, especially anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, thinking is ingrained in our society today the College was the site of a savage attack on a small group of Palestinian students,allegedly by members of the school's (American) football team. The FBI is now involved and investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

Sad really although knowing the traditions of the Quakers I am sure that the college community will find appropriate means to deal with it themselves and in a manner that heals rather than divides.
  11:10:00 0 comments links to this post
  The (not quite) greening of the President
In his State of the (dis)Union speech earlier this week George Bush made a few grudging "concessions" to enviromentalists and all of those concerned about human induced climate change. Basically he suggested that Americans should burn more corn and that the big American automakers would volunteer to make their cars more efficient. There were, of course, no suggestions that American (and Western European) citizens needed to address their profligate use of energy to drive a wasteful, consume-at-all-costs society.

With the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due to release its report next week which will suggest that the situation is real, it is grave and that dire action is required to address the problem, if it is addressable at all, the American government is planning a counter attack. The planned US response sounds as if it was assembled by a group of stoned university students who were trying to kill the time between pizza deliveries. Alternatives provided to any sacrifice on the part of the American consumer include:
The Americans are also upset at the report's lack of emphasis on the upside of global warming such as the addition of beaches to Tennessee's tourist attractions, Xmas day barbeques in Duluth and Massachusetts orange juice.

The US comments on the IPCC document are to be found here (PDF).
  10:42:00 0 comments links to this post
  Conflict in the Irish Isles
Forget Ulster. The latest conflict to stir up the passions of the Irish is the battle between Inis Mor and Inis Oirr, both of the Aran Islands, to claim the right to be recognised as the real Craggy Island. Rumours that Peter Hain was on his inestimable way to mediate the dispute has encouraged the islanders to come up with their own novel solution. They are considering using an "All-Priests Five-a-Side Over-75s Indoor Challenge Football Match" to decide the matter with the winner getting to be Craggy Island for the year and the loser having to suffer the ignominy of being Rugged Island.

In the immortal words of Father Jack: "That would be an ecumenical matter!" so tell Peter Hain to just feck off then!
  10:26:00 0 comments links to this post
  "What can I do? She still won't eat!"
The Spanish Ministry of Health plans to invite over 8,000 normal women to take part in a project that will ensure that clothing shop mannequins will reflect reality. The woman will be subjected to body scans which will then be analysed to determine how dummies should be modified to reflect the average woman.

I am a bit worried though. They can't stuff the dummies full of food, they just vomit it all up, so are they just going to throw the old ones away. Are mannequins recyclable? If so, which bin do I put them in?
  10:18:00 0 comments links to this post
26 January 2007
  Brain damage key to giving up fags
No really. I'm not kidding. If I were a member of the Bush administration I could just ignore the scientists but I am not and therefore cannot. Here is the science.

So if you want to give up smoking. Spend this weekend killing some brain cells. I heartily recommend beer but feel free to use the tipple of your choice.
  16:50:00 0 comments links to this post
  How long is a piece of string?
String theory, that bizarre attempt to produce a "grand unified theory" in the realm of physics that would reconcile Einstein's Theory of Relativity with Quantum Mechanics, has any number of proponents around the world. Its basis, like much of physics is largely mathematical but it makes a number of predictions, amongst them the rather bizarre requirement for an additional eight or ten spatial dimensions. Nonetheless there are problems with the theory.

The most obvious is that virtually no one can understand it but the most critical is that there seems to be no way to prove or disprove it thereby making more like speculation than a workable scientific theory.

Now scientists at Carnegie Mellon University the University of California (San Diego) and The University of Texas at Austin have devised a test that should be capable of disproving at least part of string theory. I will not pretend to understand what the hell they are talking about but for those with interest an explanation is to be found here.
  16:35:00 0 comments links to this post
  Get that lad an ASBO*, quick!
A four year old boy has a scream that is so horrible upon hearing it a flock of chickens in Jiangsu province in China stampeded causing the deaths of 443 of them. A court has ruled that his father, a delivery man, has to pay compensation. I'm just glad that I don't live next door!

*ASBO = Anti-social Behaviour Order for the uninitiated.
  15:54:00 0 comments links to this post
  Molly coddling criminals
Corey Clagett of Moncks Corner, S.C was a member of group of who shot dead three unarmed people. After pleading guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice he was sentenced to 18 years but could be out in 5 years. I await the chorus of indignation from the right!

Oh, did I forget to mention that Clagett was a US soldier and that the men that were killed were only Iraqis?
  15:45:00 0 comments links to this post
  They can have any colour they want as long as it's red!
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" (P.B. Shelley - Ozmandias)

Oh how the mighty have fallen. The American* car manufacture Ford has announced its largest ever annual loss, 12.7 billion USD or approximately 2,000 USD for every car and truck it sold. It also lost significant market share in the US.

*Note: don't tell anyone that they are American. A surprising percentage of people in the UK somehow think they are British!
  15:05:00 0 comments links to this post
  Just wait until the wingnuts hear about this!
Why does the US military hate America? Because we all know that anyone who doesn't hate France must hate America by default. Ergo the fact that the US military has given a 1.6 billion USD contract to Michelin, a French company, to provide tyres for all its vehicles over the next ten years, is surely indicative of their deep and abiding hatred of the United States. Quad erat demonstrandum.

Disarm them I say!
  14:39:00 0 comments links to this post
  Omitting the omission
Several major media outlets, including the Washington Post and ABC's World News, thought it important enough to note that the Decider (TM) decided that it wasn't worth his while to mention the Hurricane Katrina recovery (non)effort or New Orleans in his state of the (dis)Union speech earlier in the week.

Christ, even USA Today managed to notice, albeit at the very end of the story.
  14:30:00 0 comments links to this post
  The Puppet Master
Is anyone surprised by the news out of the "Scooter"* Libby trial that Vice President Cheney was the evil genius behind the scenes manipulating everything?

I, for one, am not!

*Is "Scooter" any kind of name for a 56 year old man who is pretending to be a grown up?
  14:24:00 0 comments links to this post
  "Not git out there and kill me some Iranicrats!"
One would think that someone who has started at least two wars in the past six years, neither of which is going quite as planned (assuming that there was a plan), would probably not be all that eager to start another one. Well, if one were to think like that one would being underestimating the Decider (TM).

I have long expected, and I am certainly that alone in this, that Dubya is just itching for a fight with Iran. They have a new policy in Iraq, courtesy of a new administration decision, that allows, indeed encourages, the capture or killing of Irani operatives.

This coupled with the sending of an additional carrier task force to the Persian Gulf and the introduction of additional sanctions will considerably ratchet up the tension in the area.

Coming soon to a (war) theatre near you.
  12:52:00 0 comments links to this post
  Why is the murder of an ex-Russian spy like an arms merchant's bribes?
The investigation into the Litvineko murder by polonium poisoning has been proceeding apace and the police are nearly ready to charge one or two Russian businessmen with his killing. The chances of actually getting the individuals extradited from Russia to the UK are approximately nil however. I suppose, if Putin gets testy about it, Tony could just have the investigation quashed in the interests of "national security".

I think this reminds me of something.
  11:51:00 0 comments links to this post
  The Nebraska corn rush
I have some additional thoughts re the Decider's (TM) green conversion via the use of ethanol to save us all. Besides the previously noted* impact that the use of corn to produce fuel will have in a world which already struggles to produce sufficient food to feed all of its inhabitants there is that fact ethanol just isn't all that green. In a best case scenario ethanol produces only 13% less greenhouse gasses than petrol. However using current methods to produce the fuel from the grain, which involve coal fired heating to extract the sugar, the net impact is NIL, ZERO, NONE!

*Note: it seems that the grain prices are already rising therby affecting costs to both meat producers and consumer alike.
  11:37:00 0 comments links to this post
  Is this a surge or an augmentation?
The Bush administration is poised to get the printing presses at the Treasury fired up again as they plan to pour an additional 8 billion USD into Afghanistan. After all they've being pouring money into Iraq by the bucket load and that has turned out so well!

They also plan to send more troops but as there aren't to spare (see "Iraq surge") they will make up the difference by keeping the ones that are there already there longer.
  11:11:00 0 comments links to this post
  To my antipodean friends
Happy Australia Day. I trust you won't waste your day off by staying sober!

Now, as a prezzie for me, will you please ditch John Howard? Thanks very much indeed.
  11:06:00 0 comments links to this post
  Saint Tom the Divine
There are important things are brewing in the hallowed halls of Scientology. The "church" has discovered a new saviour in the "Chosen One". This divine and blessed being is currently on Earth in the form of none other than vertically challenged Hollywood giga-star Tom Cruise. He has been told by church big wigs that he is their Christ-like figure destined to go forth and convert the world. I have seen signs of this proselytising spirit already as there have been groups of the wacky, I mean holy, Scientologists on Bromley High Street recently offering their famous free stress test and selling sacred tracts by L. Ron Hubbard.

I have so many questions I really don't know where to start.
  11:05:00 2 comments links to this post
25 January 2007
  Can the NHS rescue the Afghan economy?
Maybe it can if doctors get their way. The British Medical Association may recommend that Afghan opium be imported into the UK and used to make diamorphine, essentially pharmaceutical heroin, which is in short