He hasn't got many friends left but World Bank President received a hearty show of support from Bush and his minions this morning prior to meeting with the Bank's board where, if he has any honour, he will resign.

The BBC website has a story about the unassisted triple play by Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. It includes a brief explanation of what it calls the "unusual feat". I can't wait for Sports Illustrated to do an article on the googly!

In a world that is absolutely filled with millions upon millions of young boys was it absolutely necessary to invent artificial snot? Don't they have enough to go around? Aren't we overlooking a virtually limitless natural supply of something we will now have to manufacture?

The US State Department is set to release its annual report on terrorism and it will show that there has been a 29% increase in terrorist attacks in 2006 as compared to 2005. 45% of the world's 14,000 (that's 38 a day folks) attacks were in Iraq.

Anyone want to bet this goes out late on Friday afternoon?

That is why I think that the candidacy of Abdul Dean, a Muslim, who is running for a Scottish regional seat as a member of the Christian Peoples Alliance Party is doomed to failure.

The question on everyone's lips is will high ranking American and Iranian officials actually talk to each other when they both attend a conference on Iraq's security in Egypt next week.

On everyone's lips but mine that is! What I want to know is whether they've booked senior statesman Senator John McCain as the musical entertainment.

Tried of basking on the beach or camping with the kids? Can't handle one more trip to Disney World? Why not give Captain Bert's Biblical Betrothal Camp a try? But hurry as places are strictly limited. If you are an unmarried couple seperate trailers are de rigueur so plan accordingly.

The US death toll in Iraq has topped 100 in April making it the worst month so far this year. As far as civilian casualties go it would seem that even the Iraqis have stopped counting.

Yesterday four human beings were shot and killed in a shopping mall in one of the Kansas Cities. Today if when I go to the KansasCity.com news home page I find nary a mention. The featured story is about a legislative initiative to repair university buildings. In the "More from the Star" section the first mention I can find is the sixteenth listed story.

Is Kansas City such a dangerous place that this isn't news? I admit I haven't been there since the early 80s but it certainly wasn't like that then.

From the department of "isn't news supposed to be something we didn't know already" come reports that Blacks and Latinos are more likely to be searched and arrested by police after a traffic stop than whites. Anyone surprised?

Beleaguered World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is due to meet with the Bank's board today and everyone seems to be looking for an easy way out of the crisis that has been bubbling away since the news became public that the randy Wolfman arranged for a cosy secondment at the US State Department, under US Vice President "I'm a Big" Dick Cheney’s daughter, with a hefty wage increase for his paramour who was also a Bank employee. The International Herald Tribune reports today that it is possible that Wolfowitz could resign in return for an acknowledgement that he acted in "good faith" and the Bank's ethics watchdogs were aware of what he had done and had approved of the moves.

There has been a settlement between the state of Pennsylvania and some Christian organisations who had sued the state because they were prevented from using a state sponsored job site to find employees. Why were they prohibited? Because they want to insist that all of their employees must be Christians so Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoist, humanists, agnostics and atheists would be specifically discriminated against. The settlement will allow them to use the site and to discriminate.

What I do not understand is why churches (I won't use the term "religions" as I think that is too broad based) and other church related institutions are treated in this favourable way whereas other institutions are not? I even think that one of the attorneys who fought the case against the state agrees with me. Timothy Tracy is quoted as saying that "the right of a religious organization to align itself with individuals of shared belief is as central to that organization's mission as other viewpoints are to nonreligious organizations". If I understand him, and he was not quoted out of context, he is saying that all employers should be allowed to discriminate based on belief so that a scientific publishing company should be allowed to exclude those who do not believe in evolution from their workforce and that oil companies should be able not refuse to hire those folks who believe that the Earth is only 7,000 years old as it takes millions of years to make fossil fuels and this would be a sign that they don't believe in the product.

If that is not what you are saying Mr. Tracy I would appreciate it if you would clarify your remarks.

This is wrong. Just plain wrong.

Do you know what makes me saddest about the horrorific murder rate (none of them killed by guns of course!) in Philly this year (1.2 per diem)? It isn't even news in Philly. It is as if it is acceptable and there is nothing that can be down about it. There were four murders at the weekend taking the toll so far this year to 137 and, according to their websites it isn't even mentioned on the front page of either the Inquirrer and barely gets a mention in the Daily News.

The Guardian has a rather interesting article today about the genetic modification of crops with the intention of producing medicines and drugs, also known as "pharming". I confess to mixed emotions about genetic modification in general but I do not suffer from the knee jerk opposition that many in the green community or on the left seem to do. I do think that GM foods have great promise in helping the world, especially the poor, feed themselves but not in the hands of huge multinational corporations.

As presented in this story the use of crops to produce medicines that could not otherwise be produced inexpensively enough to aid the emerging world would seem to have enormous potential, again not in the hands of huge multinationals.

There is also much to fear. We have to ensure that they stay out of the food chain. The recent experience with GM rice in the United States clearly indicates that that country's protocols in this regard are woefully inadequate and, given the lack of uproar over the incident, are likely to remain that way.

Care, in the form of governmental regulation with harsh penalties that would include explicitly defining the criminal responsibility of corporate executives and boards and ensure custodial sentences, needs to be taken to ensure that:

The Guardian today has a short story about the new "alternative" web sites that are springing up for those who scorn much of what is out there for religious or philosophical beliefs. These sites, such as GodTube, Conservapedia, CreationWiki and the curiously named Ditty Talk (a "Christian My Space Alternative"). The article quite adequately describes a couple of these sites as "just like Wikipedia but are free from the unpleasant left- liberal bias that tends to accompany the truth". Of course the Guardian is a charter member of the hard left main stream media and ergo anything that they publish must immediately be discarded and/or condemned.

Former CIA director George Tenet has a new book out entitled At the Center of the Storm. He has given a combatitive interview to CBS's 60 Minutes. It is clear he is an angry man and I sense in him more credibility, even if I don't always agree with his positions, than most of those he worked with.

The Bushies, of course, "say it ain't so".

For the well heeled amongst California's prison population things can be a good bit easier than they are for the rest of the population. For 75 to 125 USD a day (£35 - £60) you can get a cell upgrade that keeps you away from the "real" criminal element (i.e. those who are Republicans) and where you may be allowed a laptop or an IPod. You will be called a "client" rather than a prisoner by the "staff" (aka guards).

Now this sort of thing happens all over the world, usually in the developing world (and one suspects Italy as well) but the scam is not so brazen. In order to receive special treatment a "client" has to discretely slip large amounts of cash or drugs to a "member of staff" and the relationship generally lacks official sanction. Only in America would this be an opportunity for the state (or a private prison) to open up a new "revenue stream" in order to "maximise investment" and taxpayer (or shareholder) investment.

It can only be a matter of time before they offer loyalty card schemes; stay 1000 nights and get a free conjugal visit! This is so nineteenth century don't you think?

Antarctica is the final frontier, at least on this planet, the last wilderness and the continent that is least likely to be ticked off as having been visited even by globe trotting travellers. But tourism there is on the increase and it is not doing it any good. So hurry up and see it whilst it is still there and by doing so you ensure that it will be gone just a wee bit sooner!

I wonder how US Attorney General and Bush succubus Antonio "Gone-zo" Gonzales spent the balance of his weekend after being heckled at his law school reunion on Saturday night? Even at the reunion, which should have been a triumphant return for Gone-zo, one suspects that he wasn't, as he should have been, at the centre of a cluster of "friends" and others kissing up to the government's most powerful lawyer. I suspect he was treated as if he were poison. Well I'm sure he has another exciting week ahead of him trying to make the world understand how such an inept and incompetent toady ever got the position in the first place.

England football manager Steve "I've never really coached a winning team and it doesn't look like I'm going to start now" McClaren is still lying low and rooting for Gone-zo.

(To be continued...)

More than 20% of the America's guests at Guantánamo Bay Beach and Leisure Resort have been cleared but not released as there is nowhere for them to go.

I guess that they are lucky they are in such a nice place with excellent conditions. Maybe they can even wrangle an upgrade to business class!

What is the fixation of the American right wing with the Clintons? It is hard to fathom. Is it because the husband managed to defeat them twice and they are concerned that the wife might repeat the success? Whatever the reason they have a new home on the internets: StopHerNow.com. I hope their tubes don't get all clogged up. I have already signed up for their email updates and look forward to endless hours of entertainment.

A survey of eight Iraqi reconstruction projects declared as success by the Americans has found that only one of them was still functioning. In at least one case the review came only six months after the last successful inspection. I wonder how many of these were Halliburton jobs.

It is always the cover up that seems to be the downfall of the arrogant and the greedy; two traits that apply to beleaguered World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz in spades. Documents released by the Bank's ethics committee show that Wolfie tried to "cover his tracks" as regards his intervention in the employment and compensation of his lover.

Iraq suffered 2.22 Virginia Tech Equivalents yesterday as suicide bombers killed seventy one people in Karbala. The toll is only 1.33 VTEs if you use the three fifths of a person rule for brown people as enshrined in the US Constitution.

Expect all hell to break loose in Washington DC next week if the defence in the case of accused madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey decides to go through with its proposed strategy of naming names of customers. Washington gossip has it that "Randy" Randall Tobias, the State Department official who resigned on Friday once his name came out, will not be the only casualty. Figures who could be named include White House and Pentagon staff, lobbyists and Congressional staff. I would expect both Republicans and Democrats to be nervous over this as lust has no political affiliation that I know of.

How will unarmed Americans be able to protect themselves, their families and their cable television when crazed wild deer break into their homes? The story does not note whether the animals were wearing Kevlar® and therefore one has to assume that, in addition to weapons, the American family must keep armour piercing ammunition on hand as well!

This is just speculation of course but I am trying to work out which way the Decider(TM) will decide to decide to go should Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul ultimately claim victory in the country's Presidential election leading the Turkish military to defend secularism. This could be a very difficult choice for Mr. Bush. On one hand he has his "Freedom Agenda" and theoretically supports democracy. On another hand he is no fan of secularism and prefers "faith based governments". On the third hand (why did elect a mutant President?) he sure doesn't look positively on Islamic governments especially is they are popularly elected without the intervention a judges appointed by one's father.

South London is the forgotten part of the capital, most of the posh bits are north of the river and those of us who live to the south have to remember to take our passports with us when we travel up London. So it is with great pride that I announce that Isambard Kingdom Brunel's water towers that once powered the fountains at Crystal Palace are to be rebuilt as wind turbines. For those of you who do not know the history of South London, and that will be most of you, the Crystal Palace was originally erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. At the close of the exhibition it was re-erected in the distant southern suburbs near Sydenham where it remained until it burned down before WWII. (Yeah - I don't know how crystal burns either.) The foundations can still be seen in Crystal Palace Park which is a just short ride on the 227 for me. The dinosaurs, described in Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything as the world's first theme park remain even if they are no longer scientifically correct.

*Note: I am not referring here to my football side, Crystal Palace FC, who are languishing in mid-table obscurity in the Championship and are unlikely to be "reborn" or promoted anytime soon.

Not to be outdone by the Americans the British are going to have a troop surge of their own. As you may or may not know by now Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne and the grandson of German and Greek immigrants, is to be deployed to Iraq after much ministerial hand-wringing. Of course his grandmother is very concerned about his well being and, in order to ease her concerns, the military is to send a extra group of special forces troops to keep him safe. Not only that but he after two months will get to go home and help organise a concert to honour the anniversary of his mum's death. Not every soldier gets that, do they?

It happens to all of us. There are times we have social obligations but we just want to stay at home, put our feet up, pop a beer and watch a little telly but, recognising our obligations, we put on the monkey suit and go anyway. That must describe how US Attorney General and Bush succubus Antonio "Gone-zo" Gonzales felt when deciding whether to go to his law school reunion at Harvard. What happened? Some protesters showed up and ruined the evening for everyone.

The other contestant vying for second place in the who-will-get-sacked-first England football manager Steve "I've never really coached a winning team and it doesn't look like I'm going to start now" McClaren probably just stayed home.

(To be continued...)

Classrooms at a Community College in Iowa had to be evacuated yesterday because of a suspicious package. The package turned out to be condoms. Since the students had all had only "abstinence only" sex education none of them had ever seen a prophylactic before, including the pregnant ones.

...that climate change is really someone else problem. As a representative of the rest of the world I would like to personally thank each and every one of you very much indeed for all of your hard work and willingness to sacrifice.

Increasingly irrelevant US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Norway to speak on issues related to Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Middle East. "Why Norway?" you ask. Do you have any idea how dangerous those other places are?

At Human Events Online Pat Buchanan absolves himself of any responsibility for the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech in an article entitled "Too Much Tolerance". If there was ever a more intolerant man than Mr. Buchanan I would not like to meet him. In fact, I would not like to meet Mr. Buchanan either despite the fact that Hunter S. Thompson used to like to get pissed with him.

Should we worry that Wal-Mart is hiring former military and government intelligence officers as part of an operation to identify real or perceived "threats" to the world's largest retailer? The targets include "suspect individuals and groups". At least if they spot any of these folks shoplifting Wal-Mart will be ready to act, eh?

Neither the United States nor Israel want to give up using cluster bombs. The UK doesn't either but in the future has pleged to use only so-called "smart" cluster bombs which have a much lower rate of unexploded bomblets.

I would suggest to anyone who thinks this is a good idea that perhaps they should move to Southern Lebanon where, as a result of the recent Israeli invasion, there is a least one unexploded bomb for every resident.

"Go on out and play kids. Just don't play in traffic."

This is the geezer, Ray Comfort, shown here with religious philosopher and C list actor Kirk Cameron, who on 5 May 2007 is going to prove the existence of God. It should be ever so exciting don't you think. Don't forget that is 5 May 2007. Put it in your Crackberry.



I would like it to be known that I am an atheist and I am constantly having nightmares about bananas! The man is a genius.

Vertically challenged actor Tom Cruise and his young Stepford wife are helping to ensure that emergency workers who laboured so courageously on and after 11 September 2001 can get Scientologically detoxified. I can just picture L. Ron Hubbard beaming down on the two from on high.

I saw some of his comrades out on Bromley High Street earlier today. Perhaps I should go get one of their free "stress tests". Or perhaps not.

In case you were under the impression that Iraq was the only crisis and/or disaster on the world stage today this link will take you to an interview with Paul Rusesabagina on whose story the film Hotel Rwanda was based. It makes one wonder how much good we could actually be doing in the world if we weren't pouring limitless billions of USD and the lives of thousands of Americans (and tens of thousands of others) down the drain in Iraq.

I received the following email from my Congressman, Joe Sestak (D - PA), this morning in response to an email I had sent him thanking him for his work on Iraq.


Dear Mr. Stringer,

Thank you for contacting me to express your views about our current engagement in Iraq . I greatly appreciate your input, and I apologize for the delay in my reply.

As a Member of Congress, it is my responsibility to represent my constituents' concerns and interests and to provide them the honorable and enthusiastic service they deserve. I truly value your input and suggestions on issues before the House. In a representative government such as ours, it is essential that I know what your thoughts and views are on these issues.

As you may know, I firmly believe that Iraq is a tragic misadventure because it was never a clear and certainly not a present danger for our nation. We are now on the road to nowhere in Iraq , and our current policies are doing nothing but taking us farther down this path. We need to do the following things in order to extract ourselves from this situation:

The bottom line is that we must set a deliberate timetable for the redeployment of our troops from Iraq . This plan to redeploy will serve as the catalyst for the Iraqis to accept responsibility for their country and will allow us to better address our strategic security interests throughout the rest of the world, as well as here at home. We must also have the confidence to work with Iran and Syria , as well as other regional nations, which have an interest in Iraq becoming stable as we redeploy our troops. They do not want to have millions of dislocated Iraqis overflow the border like two million already have nor do they want a proxy war between their majority Sunni and Shia populations if each side were then to support the different Iraqi Shia and Sunni factions causing the sectarian violence in that nation.

These are all steps that I have laid out in legislation that I have sponsored - H.R. 960, the "Enhancing America's Security by Redeployment from Iraq Act." This binding legislation sets the end of 2007 as the date certain for our redeployment from Iraq . The rationale for doing so is clear - only the Iraqis can bring about the needed reconciliation in their country. Their political leaders must take the difficult political steps needed to cease the violence, by building coalitions among competing sects, ensuring minority rights, balancing power between provincial and central governments, and sharing oil revenues among all regions in Iraq . We simply cannot do this work for them.

While the redeployment specified in my legislation will be carried out to enhance the global security interests of the United States and to improve our military readiness, it will not apply to: special operations forces assigned outside of Iraq that conduct targeted counter-terrorism operations or periodic support operations of the Iraqi security forces in Iraq; air forces assigned to locations outside of Iraq that conduct air operations over Iraq; or other military liaison teams that operate within Iraq.

In addition, H.R. 960 calls for the United States to take a leadership role in the diplomacy and negotiations necessary to bring regional nations together to ensure a stable Iraq . It also calls for the convening of an international conference of nations with the goal of providing economic aid for rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure and other reconstruction efforts that are key to its long-term stability.

The fact of the matter is that everyday we are in Iraq , our overall security goes down. Afghanistan is again prey to terrorists as the Taliban has begun to control the Southern Provinces. North Korea has exploded a nuclear device, Iran is bent upon developing one, and the Middle East is in a perpetual state of conflict - while we have failed to address the center of strategic gravity in the future-the Western Pacific, where China is emerging diplomatically, economically and in other areas.

We simply cannot afford to continue on our current course any longer. There is a better strategy - one that will better address our security interests both abroad and at home - and as your Member of Congress, I will work to ensure that it is implemented.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to share your views on this matter of utmost importance to our nation's security. If I can be of any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me again. If you would like to receive regular updates on these and other Congressional issues, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/sestak to sign up for my e-newsletter. I look forward to our future correspondence.

Sincerely,

Joe Sestak
Member of Congress


This is vastly superior to all those years of "Crazy" Curt Weldon.

Media Matters for America has a handy little guide to the myths and outright lies propagated by the climate change deniers. Commit it to memory as it will undoubtedly come in handy when having a fag with a right wing nut outside your office's back door on Monday morning.

At least not until September. I am certain that the Decider(TM) will be far too busy until then what with the cook outs, the brush clearing and all.

In celebration of this insightful decision I give you the finest example of not mentioning the war known to mankind.

World Bank President must surely be spending his weekend packing up the office. Today the Washington Post reports:

I note that his defenders, of whom there are fewer and fewer as time passes, always seem to suggest that he did all he could to avoid the conflict of interest. They completely ignore the one thing he could, and should, have done and that is to refuse to accept the position because it would create a conflict of interest. Since he chose not to take that path then we he reaps is what he deserves.

Randall "Randy" Tobias, the Bush administration's head of foreign aid has suddenly decided that he needs to spend more time with his family and less time with high priced hookers. After all he is 65 and probably needs the rest. Besides if we link foreign aid to "abstinence" should we link the dishing out of foreign aid to the same?

Admittedly it wasn't a very big one and Californians will undoubtedly thumb their noses at it but surely I should have felt something. Perhaps it has to do with my uncertainty as to whether I really live in Kent. The Royal Mail says that I do but both my phone number, an 0208 prefix, and the Mayor of London say that I live in London instead. I do have to drive about four or five miles away from town to reach the "Welcome to Kent" sign if that is any indication.

Former CIA director George Tenet’s new book is due out Monday and it is already causing a storm of controversy as he apparently refuses to do the honourable thing and accept the blame for the catastrophe that is Iraq. He instead suggests that Bush and his minions had decided to illegally invade with or without the aid of the intelligence community and that Mr. Tenet’s now infamous “slam dunk” remark did not have any influence. Of course there are some who find all of this to be just "self-serving revisionism" and somehow manage to associate it with Sheryl Crow.

How much do you wish to wager that the White House won't remember where they put these documents related to the death of Pat Tillman that the House Oversight Committee would like to see?

Because despite all evidence to the contrary the press doesn't seem to want to refer to them as "suspected terrorists" despite the fact that a raid of several member's homes in Alabama yielded "nearly 250 grenades and improvised explosive devices and 2,500 rounds of ammunition". Alice Martin, a not-yet-sacked US Attorney, announced the arrests and said that the group, which is considered violent, " just have a beef with the government". Let us see how the press describes these lovely men shall we?

So the Feds arrest five men who have a "beef with the government" and who have been "stockpiling weapons" including explosives not to mention drugs and it's no big deal. They must be white Christians.

The US has released news that it has in its custody Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi who is said to be a high ranking al Qaeda operative and that they are transferring him to Guantánamo Bay Beach and Leisure Resort where he will undoubtedly receive humane treatment, get a free and fair trail and work on his tan all without unduly taxing the legal community.

I am not saying that Mr. Hadi is not in all probability a not very nice person. I am just saying that with the process so stacked against him that irrespective of the outcome I will always harbour a suspicion that justice has not been served.

Today the ashes of (not really very good but incredibly lucky) actor James Doohan aka Star Trek's Scotty are due to be launched into their final frontier. A moment of silence if you please.

Do not, under any circumstances, marry this man. Trust me on this. It will all go pear shaped in the end.

A UN study due to be released next week and previewed by the Guardian today is to say that the world has the resources; scientific, technological and financial; to defeat climate change if we are willing to put our minds to it.

Read it and get to work will you?

Want to increase your country's fertility rate? Do well in the World Cup. Apparently the positive emotions increase the odds of pregnancy and if your side does well the old man will probably be up for shagging. It seems to have worked for Germany at any rate.

A state that takes human rights seriously in the 21st century (sorry for eliminating the US from the discussion straightaway) clearly has a difficult path to follow. Imagine that your country is host to some individuals that you seriously believe have strong associations with terrorism but you have insufficient evidence to charge and try them. Normally you would deport them to their country of origin but in this case their home state is suspected of abusing and torturing suspects and depriving them of other human rights such as the presumption of innocence and access to a fair trial. (No - they are not Americans!) Then someone in the government comes up with a bright idea. You will deport them to their homes but before you do you will get their government to sign a little letter promising not to torture the deportees. After all there is no reason to distrust a country that abuses its own citizens is there?

But then your damned activist judiciary gets in the way and says: "Sorry mate. We can't trust these geezers and you've got to set the men free." I can't wait to see the next idea they come up with.

US Attorney General and Bush succubus Antonio "Gone-zo" Gonzales has managed to stagger, reeling and rocking, into another weekend whilst still hanging onto his job but it seems that some folks are still dissatisfied. I hope he has a relaxing weekend before he wades back into battle on the Monday.

Steve "I've never really coached a winning team and it doesn't look like I'm going to start now" McClaren has also staggered into the weekend still employed largely by keeping his head down.

(To be continued...)

I'm going to have to give this some thought. One Ms. Mary Grabar, over at the ever enlightening Townhall.com, puts forward the idea that guns don't kill people but the liberal arts do. A someone who majored in English Literature at University I think this means I'm supposed to go out and commit mass murder now if only to prove Ms. Grabar correct.

Today I noticed that on the Google News World page that a story entitled "US Papers Friday: Aiding the Enemy" has positioned next to it the photograph from this article. Do they know something that I only suspect?

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this headline* did not lead me to an article about Alberto "Gone-zo" Gonzales's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee!

*"D.C. region seen as prone to blackouts"

Oil wars are even better. At least they are if you are ExxonMobil whose profits leapt to 9.28 billion USD for the last QUARTER! For those of you who are shite at maths that comes to 1.2 million USD a second! Not bad eh?