A new book entitled "Ringside at the Revolution: An Underground Cultural History of El Paso and Juarez" by David Dorado Romo alleges that the Nazis may have picked up some of their tricks through observation of American treatment of Mexicans in period between the wars.

Hmmm. I may have to give it a read.

The top man at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, one Michael Griffin, has expressed his doubts as to whether fighting climate change is a priority. It's hardly even news anymore.

There has been much comment and anger at a Malaysian court's decision not to recognise a Muslime woman's conversion to Christianity. The anger is justified although I think it would be even better if we all expressed concern as to why religious affiliation should even be included on an identify document. Nonetheless the decision clearly restricts freedom of religion and, in a free and open society, should be set aside.

I hope that there will be just as much discussion over the claims by an Israeli rabbi that conversion to Judaism cannot be set aside. Rabbi Haim Druckman's statements relate to a decision by a religious court (yes there is such a thing in Israel!) that a woman who had converted fifteen years ago but failed to keep the mitzvot. In Rabbi Druckman's opinion once a Jew always a Jew.

The Commander Guy is trying to sneak yet another bigoted, homophobic right winger onto the Federal bench. Leslie Southwick is the latest nominee for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Write or ring you Senator and make sure that Bush has to try at least one more time to come up with someone qualified and at least marginally human for the job.

For those of you that haven't been to the UK during the St. Tony Blair years you should know that CCTV cameras now ubiquitous. They are everywhere and frankly one does get used to them after a while. However it turns out that fully 95% of the country's more than 14 million cameras may in fact be in violation of the law.

Time for the de-installation crews I'd say.

Series eight of Big Brother has begun and well, it just gets worse and worse doesn't it? This year's house mates are all female including a bi-sexual, a Spice Girl wannabe and young, blond twin Scousettes.

The first show drew around 8 million viewers fully 7.9 million of which I imagine to be middle aged men entrapped by some twisted sexual fantasy involving the twins.

In case you are wondering I was one of the 52 million British residents that didn't bother to watch this mindless piffle.

How is it that the only person in the country that US Vice President "I'm a Big" Dick Cheney seems to believe has a right to privacy is himself? Via his lawyer "I'm a Big" ordered the Secret Service to destroy the logs pertaining to those who had visited him at his official residence claiming that they were protected under the Presidential Records Act. The letter came to light as part of a public interest lawsuit brought by the ever optimistic Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington who are attempting to find out what right wing religious leaders visited the Veep. It is not clear if the records were destroyed or not at the time.

It is with a considerable amount of personal pride that I can say I am a lifelong supporter of the Philadelphia Phillies, as was my father before me and his father before him. We Stringers go all the way back to the beginning in the nineteenth century and we never, ever, ever supported those damn Athletics when they were in town.

It is important that you know that these selfsame Phillies are the losingest team of all time having lost more matches than any other team in any professional sport. The current tally is 9,981 leaving us just 19 losses away from the coveted 10,000. If I were in the states I would give anything to be in attendance on June or at worst July day when the milestone is reached. If it happens in Philly how will the crowd react? Will they boo hits by the home side and cheer runs by the opposition? Will there be a standing ovation? Will ticket stubs from the match become collectors’ items?

I have so many questions.

Yesterday saw a court in Thailand ban the country's most popular political party from participation in the democracy that doesn't exist in the country. The Thai Rak Thai was dissolved by court order and all of its officials prohibited from engaging in political activity.

Now if we could just manage to do the same with those pesky Democrats...

The six insufferably long years of this Bush administration has meant six long years without any serious US brokered effort to bring peace in the conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews. During that time what has occurred? The largely secular Fatah movement once headed by Yasser Arafat has lost ground to the Islamist Hamas movement, the withdrawal of Jewish troops from the Gaza strip has turned it into a nightmare territory not too far distant from that imagined in Escape from New York and the youth of the occupied territories are become more and more radicalised.

A job well done I'd say.

The Times, a Murdoch paper nonetheless, has been running a series on how to reduce one's carbon footprint. One of the recommendations was to buy French wine rather than a tipple from New Zealand. Needless to say the Kiwi's are not well pleased.

A study funded by the European Union and carried out in Italy, Romania, Scotland, and Sweden has established a link between exposure to pesticides and Parkinson's Disease. They found that even low levels of exposure, such as that an amateur gardener might experience, can produce a material difference in likelihood of contracting the condition. Head trauma and injuries associated with contact sports, especially boxing, was also found to be a casual agent.

Dr Kevan Wylie of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield has been doing important and much overlooked research in an area which, in my opinion, does not get the funding it deserves. He has been reviewing the results of twelve different studies of attitudes towards penis size conducted over the past 65 years and concludes that women don't care about it as much as men do.

I am so happy for my friends, acquaintances and colleagues who, unlike me, have had to bear the burden of perceived inadequacies in this area throughout their adult lives.

Is it Lent again already? It is approaching that in Baghdad at least as middle class Iraqis are having to ration their meat intake as food shortages caused by the waves of violence in the Iraqi capital take hold. In addition nearly 65% of Iraqis are now living below the poverty line due to unemployment and other factors.

The Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, has asked the Decider(TM) to decide to decide to intervene in a lawsuit in the Federal courts that accuses the Persian Gulf state of forcing thousands of children to work as camel jockeys. In a letter to GW the sheikh noted that the UAE was "a key partner in the global war against terrorism" and asked for his assistance in having the suit, filed under the Alien Tort's Act, thrown out. I shall be following this one closely I think.

Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, has restated the company's objections to regulation on carbon emissions and continued to cast doubt on climate change driven by the consumption of fossil fuels. Perhaps after they've squeezed the last hundred billion USD or so out of the petroleum market they will consider thinking about discussing whether it might be time to perhaps change their mind.

Mr. Tillerson "earned" a pitiful 4.1 million USD last year although he was only in charge for six months. I'm sure he will do much better this year!

The presence of melamine in animal feed imported into the US from China recently caused an uproar and there was much concern expressed over the lack of oversight, regulation and inspection in China. One wonders if the presence of melaminein animal feed products manufactured in America will cause the same level of concern. Feed products from both Tembec BTLSR Inc. of Toledo OH and Uniscope Inc. of Johnstown CO have now been recalled.

An eighteen year old Connecticut woman who had snuck out of her house, undoubtedly up to no good, has shot by her father, an off duty police officer after climbing through a basement window in order to return home. Awakened by a motion light Eric Scott of the New Haven PD saw an individual in his basement and shot his daughter with his police issue pistol. The officer has not been charged.

Christ if you can't trust the coppers to use firearms responsibly what hope is there for a heavily armed nation such as America?

...but not in our country. The US comes in at 96th out of 121 countries according to the World Peace Index. That is just below The Yemen and just above America's perennial favourites Iran. America's young protégé, Iraq, outperformed its mentor by coming in at 121; that's last for those of you who are rubbish at maths. Infamous whale killers Norway ranked at the top and 18 of the top 20 are socialist states by American standards. The UK ranks 49th; sandwiched between Morocco and Mozambique.

The full rankings with backup detail may be found here.

I think that the American Civil Liberties Union is displaying incredible naïveté in its understanding of post-modern capitalism by choosing to sue a subsidiary of Boeing Corporation for profiting from the CIA's extraordinarily illegal 'extraordinary rendition' programme. After all it is clear to me that Jeppesen Dataplan Inc simply recognised a niche in the market and moved into it in order to follow the Prime Directive; maximising shareholder value. Now what could be more American than that, eh?

I can hardly wait to learn the results of the US Justice Department's internal investigation into whether it violated civil service regulations by hiring only conservative Republicans. There is no word as to whether only conservative Republicans have been named to work on the investigation. I am certain that Gone-zo Gonzales will tell us just as soon as he has some recollection related to the matter in question if he can remember what the matter in question is.

Performance artist Mark McGowan has eaten what he claims to be cooked Corgi as a protest over the royal family's treatment of animals. The meal took place during a show on Resonance FM, a London station. He also shared the feast, minced Corgi balls with apple, onion and seasoning with Yoko Ono who was also a guest on the show. I have been unable to reach Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England and Wales and Elizabeth I of Scotland for her comments on this matter.

Young David Cameron's Tory Party is accusing New Labour of a "leftwards march of ideas" as the race for the deputy leadership hots up as least according to their shadow Chancellor George Osborne. Well Mr. Osborne in case you haven’t noticed left is the only direction that they have to march to having already moved as far right as any party that used to be used socialist might dare.

Britain is to launch a voluntary scheme whereby consumer products will be labelled as to their carbon footprint. The joint imitative between the government's initiative has been announced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Carbon Trust (also government funded), and British Standards (BSI). The labels will rate the products' contribution to greenhouse gas emissions from production, transport and consumption. Even though this is a voluntary enterprise I anticipate that should significant consumer pressure be brought to bear, and I believe it will, that the participation in the scheme will soon become de rigeur.

Perhaps my countrymen can push for a similar proposal on their side of the Atlantic.

A new book entitled "Military Inc. Inside Pakistan's Military Economy" is set to be published in Pakistan. The volume details the tangled web of business interests controlled by the country's military and which are valued in the neighbourhood of 10 billion USD.

The launch party however doesn't seem likely to happen after the government warned hotels, clubs and restaurants in Islamabad that hosting the party would not be advisable.

I plan to launch a crusade calling for the burning and destruction of all children's books that include cheetahs as characters as the news reaches us that the elegant big cats refuse to recognise that marriage is a union between one male cat and one female cat. It seems that the females of the species are a bit slutty and like to sleep around. Thank God that Jerry Falwell didn't live to hear this or the African felines might have been blamed for the 11 September attacks!

The Decider(TM) has decided to decide to announce that his is to ask Congress to double aid money to be spent on HIV/AIDS from the current 15 billion USD over five years to 30 billion. This will create some pressure, prior to the upcoming G8 summit in Germany, for other wealthy nations to step up their contributions. This is a good.

The bad news of course is that a material portion of the funds will be spent on programmes run by right wing religious groups that promote abstinence as the only method to avoid infection and that refuse to allow the distribution of condoms.

Still some of the money will do some good.

The front page of today's Guardian newspaper sees an article by an anonymous British private security guard in Iraq who details what his life is like in and out of the Green Zone in Baghdad. He is earning about £90K per annum tax-free providing protection for contractors working on reconstruction contracts. He describes the service he and others provide as a "taxi service with guns".

Key quote to be found near the end of the article:

Blairgacy - the farewell tour continues with the soon-to-be-ex-Prime Minister stopping off in Sierra Leone where he was named Shebora Matof or "Prince of Peace", apparently without a sense of irony. At the same time Gordon Brown has been named Shebora Matof in waiting.

In defence of the Sierra Leonians (sic?) the British Prime Minister's intervention in the country's long running civil war did provide a lesson in how the power of the West can be used for good. It is perhaps not coincidental however that the United States did not take part in any of the military action in the West African country.

*Note: not to be confused with St. Tony's travails - see also Iraq, BAE Systems and Lolly for Lordships.

72 fucking days I've been at this and yet US Attorney General and Bush succubus Alberto "Gone-zo" Gonzales is still employed. Why? How? In the private sector, so beloved of his boss, no one this incompetent would last a month. Still the boss thinks that he's doing a bang up job! According to the Decider(TM) "he has done nothing wrong". If it that were the case he also has do nothing, or at least precious little, right. Is that enough for him to remain as the nation's top law enforcement official? Given the otherwise incredibly low standards of the Bush administration it would appear so.

Elsewhere tonight is the first match that England will play at the new three quarters of a billion pounds Wembley stadium under Steve "I've Never Really Coached a Winning Side and It Doesn't Look Like I'm Going to Start Now" McClaren. He has, in an act of desperation, brought back David Beckham to face Brazil in tonight's friendly and then Estonia next week in the must win Euro qualifier. Should England lost that match McClaren looks a dead cert for the sack.

(To be continued...)

Could it be that Israel has known all along, based on the advice of its legal advisers that the construction of Jewish settlements on Arab land occupied after the Six Day War would be illegal? It is hard to imagine that this could be so? I mean would so many successive American administrations give the developments some measure of approval if this were the case?

Well Theodor Meron, undoubtedly another self-loathing Jew, who was the Israeli Foreign Ministry's legal adviser during and after the war wrote a memo to the foreign minister Abba Eban saying just that. Furthermore Mr. Meron, who moved on to become a respected international jurist, says that the settlements are still in violation of the Hague and Geneva Conventions.

Despite the fact that the United States spends far more on defence (aka offence) than any other country in the world the good folks at the Heritage Foundation say it isn't nearly enough. They demand that spending levels are ratcheted up until they reach 4% of GDP a roughly 20 - 25% increase over planned levels.

That should lead to lots of prime lobbying jobs for departing Senators, Congressmen, Generals and Defense Department staffers!

The US State Department tells us, with not hint of a hidden smirk, that they are taking steps to "prevent an erosion of democracy in the Americas and around the world".

I suggest that they could begin this effort in Washington DC perhaps in the White House. They could run some seminars for those in high office who seem to have forgotten the basics. I would suggest such interesting topics as:

and of course

The constabulary in Hasland, Chesterfield were called to the local postal sorting office to deal with a suspicious package that was believed to be making a noise of some sort. The coppers did what they normally do in such circumstances; they took it outside and blew it up. How were they to know it was just a vibrator. If this had occurred in Texas it would be more understandable.

There is no mention of the level of compensation the intended recipient is entitled to.

I am sure that all of the true, red Republicans who are so upset that the Decider(TM) has thrown open the borders to millions of millions of brown people will come back on board with the plan once they realise that the amnesty for those already in the States is going to be used to finance the tax cut for rich folks through inflation busting increases in visa and citizenship fees.

That old GW - he's dumb as an (idiotic) fox.

I have refrained from commenting about the tragedy surrounding the abduction of young Madeleine McCann in Portugal largely because I felt I had nothing to add and there was enough sadness already. However as the media circus surrounding the girl's disappearance over the past month I have slowly stirred myself up as her parents, undoubtedly justifiably, use the media in an attempt to keep the case in the spotlight and hopefully ensure her return. Now however I have had enough. Today they have jetted off to Rome to see Il Papa and he has blessed her photograph. Now just exactly how is that supposed to fucking help? Surely even the deranged alleged celibate doesn't believe that will have any impact does he? If so he is madder than I thought. I suppose that should the young girl suddenly be located and returned to her parents when the old German kicks off his supporters can use this as evidence of a "miracle" to propel him on the path to sainthood and a sure reunion with Jerry Falwell wherever Jerry has ended up.

Question: is the Murdoch run newspaper the Times trying to tell us anything by carrying this story on its entertainment page? I thought old Rupert was a good Christian and believe in all this rubbish.

Federal investigators are looking into remodeling done at the home of Alaskan Senator Ted "The Tubes Are Clogged" Stevens over suggestions that he may not have paid for it all by himself.

Whether the investigation is related to this story entitled "U.S. to Study Protection for Alaska Loon" I cannot possible say.

The Creekstone Farms Premium Beef company of Kansas City (I'm not sure which one) wants to test 100% of its cattle for mad cow disease because they feel that such tests could enhance the value of their product.

However those dastardly Commies in Bush's Department of Agriculture say "not so bloody fast". Implementation of a court ruling that was to take effect on Friday that would have allowed the company to freely pursue free enterprise has been put on hold after the Feds announced that they were appealing the decision.

In what can only been seen as a bad omen for the fortunes of Philadelphia’s venerable but generally hapless American football team the Eagles the nest of the first pair of bald eagles to call the city home in 200 years has failed.

The pair had made the playoffs (i.e. produced an egg) but the Super Bowl (i.e. eaglet surviving) was just out of reach.

True or false: 3445 > 2996

According to American General Peter Pace, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the answer is false. I leave you to come to your own conclusion as to the answer.

I forgot to mention that St. Tony's first stop on his whistle-stop tour of Africa could get him in hot water with the Decider(TM) as he as gone to Libya to talk to the known terrorist leader Muammar Gaddafi. Oh wait a minute. They're selling us oil against. They mustn't be terrorists anymore! Never mind.

I have been a lifelong opponent of the death penalty in any and all circumstances. However now that China is showing us its utility in dealing with corrupt and incompetent government officials I may have to reconsider my position.

It is unlikely to change my mind in the end but if someone were to dangle Karl Rove in front of me as bait I would be likely to be sorely tempted indeed.

Is it just me or does this story about an flying about the globe whilst infected with a rare and dangerous strain of tuberculosis sound like a puff piece for a bad TV movie starring Lindsay Wagner? Perhaps she just wishes to make yet another half-comeback now that they are remaking the "Bionic Woman" with a younger, British model.

St. Tony's farewell tour in promotion of the "Blairgacy" continues.

The first stop was Washington DC where who knows what goes one when he is alone with the Commander Guy.

Then it was on to Baghdad for a surprise visit so that he could personally thank the troops for dying in the name of the "Blairgacy".

Now he is triumphantly stomping across the Dark Continent accompanied by a writer and two photographers from that serious foreign policy publication Men's Vogue.

Where to next I wonder.

The British prison and jail system is hereby declared full. Please commit no crimes until further notice. Thank you very much indeed for your cooperation.

A former British Cabinet Secretary, Lord Butler, has come forward to accuse the lame duck Prime Minister of gutting the powers of the cabinet. According to Lord Butler the cabinet took only one decision in Blair's first eight months in office and that was to leave the Prime Minister the task of sorting out the Millennium Dome fiasco. For those in charge of the careful cultivated Blair legacy* the fact that Lord Butler compares St. Tony unfavourably with Margaret "The Milk Snatcher" Thatcher will not be an east pill to swallow.

*Note: from this point forward I shall be refering to the "Blair legacy" as the "Blairgacy" in order to conserve valuable keystrokes.

The United States has provocatively been going forward with plans to base its son-of-the-son-of-the-son-of-Star Wars missile "defence" system in Eastern Europe. This has the Russians rather worried. After all they do have great deal of oil and natural gas and the Bush administration has shown its willingness to use force in places that have considerable fossil fuel reserves.

So how do they react? They up the ante. Perhaps this time the Russians will force America to spend its way into bankruptcy and the IMF could be sent in to clear up the mess.

Yes, US Attorney General and Bush succubus Alberto "Gone-zo" Gonzales is still employed. Who would have thought he would last this long? Not I but then I can't pick horses either. His support is slipping away so rapidly that we have to look as far a field as Idaho to find an editorial that supports him. Unfortunately for him we couldn't find one

Meanwhile the competition for second spot in the who-gets-sacked-first contest is heating up as England football Steve "I've Never Really Coached a Winning Side and It Doesn't Look Like I'm Going to Start Now" McClaren admits that recalling David Beckham could have been the last act of a desperate man. Should England fail to win in Estonia next month he is sure to go. I wonder how the head WAGS feel about the imminent return of Posh.

(To be continued...)

Well it's open and it is sure to ruin the education of dozens of unhappy children of uneducated adults who take them there.

Welcome to the Creation Museum. I don't plan on going even if I get really, really close!

Didn't there used to be a poster that was more or less popular in the states that showed two vultures sitting on a branch or a rock with one saying the above to the other?

It turns out it might have been prophetic.

This didn't take long. How long has he been dead; a week and a bit? He has resurfaced in Poland where the already homophobic government is set to an inquiry into gay propagandists the Teletubbies! And they are having psychologist Ewa Sowinska focus on Tinky Winky because they think he's gay. Tinky Winky is the one that so outraged Falwell before God snatched the good reverend up and clutched him to Her bosom.

For the first time in a very long time American men in their thirties can expect to earn less in real terms than their fathers did. In 2004 the real income of thirty year old men was 12% less than in 1974 after adjusting for inflation. Family income for men in thirties is slightly up on that of thirty years ago but only because of the increasing number of wives and mothers in the work place.

It isn't likely to get much better either. For the second time today I feel lucky to be old!

Thanks to the efforts of the Commander Guy Iraqi women are no longer relegated to a status of second class citizens virtually imprisoned in the home. They are now free to seek challenging new careers in exciting new places. He's quite a guy - our George.

Should the Turkish armed forces finally decide that they cannot resist an incursion into Iraqi territory for a strike against Kurdish separatists based there what then? Does the US abandon Iraqi Kurdistan to a de facto Turkish occupation? Do American troops intervene? What?

At least we can rest assured that the Commander Guy and his minions have at least a good a plan for this eventuality as they did for post-invasion Iraq.

St. Tony's extended and ridiculous farewell tour continues with a completely unnecessary taxpayer funded trip to Africa. The man is now a lame duck and therfore an irrelevance. Why are we paying for this? This is just stock footage for the legacy section on his website.

US Presidential contender Barack Obama has come out in favour of "universal health care". I've only read a bit of the coverage but as far as I can tell it is essentially a welfare programme for insurance companies. This will not provide what Americans need unless of course they work for or own significant stock in a health insurance company. Health insurance firms add no value whatsoever to the process and any engineer worth his or her salt would eliminate them as redundant and unnecessary.

I am sure Sen. Obama will be accused by the right wingers of being a socialist but it is a peculiar type of socialism indeed.

A huge collective sigh of relief must have been heard in Brighton the other day after the organisers of the local leg of the World Naked Bike Ride and police have come to an understanding.

The website for the global event, probably not safe for work, may be found here.

Well can there be any doubt of that now? If the country is going to subsidise birth control pills so that poor woman can afford them does Il Papa have any other choice? If they we subsidising or suppressing news of child abuse that would be something entirely different.

Or for that matter how hot is too hot? Supposedly acting on medical advice the Fédération Internationale de Football Association has banned international football matches in stadia above an altitude of 2500 metres above sea level. Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, all of whom have national stadia above the cut-off, are not well pleased. The ruling is not thought to cause any problems for either Bangladesh or the Netherlands. Personally I would think that matches in temperatures above 35C would be equally, if not more, dangerous.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that George W. Bush, the anti-President, and I don't see eye to eye. In defence of my position he doesn't exactly see eye to eye with reality either. He seems to believe that the American people agree with him and trust him.

There I was thinking he had given up on the booze.

Blackwater USA, the controversial security firm and major Pentagon subcontractor, is also the subject of a frightening and important book. They also opened fire on Iraqi security forces last week and killed an Iraqi driver. Since they are theoretically exempt from both Iraqi and American law it is unlikely that any charges will be brought. However, according to a company spokeswoman, they are required to file "action reports on any such incidents". That's a relief. I am sure that justice will be done.