http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sonic-weapon-deployed-olympics-010258021.html

A device that can be used as a sonic weapon will be deployed in London for the Olympics.

The American-built long-range acoustic device (LRad) can be used both as a high-powered loud speaker and to emit an ear-piercing beam of sound.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that it was among a "broad range of assets" being used by the Armed Forces to provide security during the Games.

A spokesman said it would be used primarily in "loud hailer mode" in order to issue verbal warnings to any boats on the River Thames that were causing concern.

However, the LRad can emit a highly focused beam of sound at a pain-inducing 150 decibels (dB).

In comparison, military jets have a take-off rating of 140 dB while instant perforation of an eardrum can occur at 160 dB.

The US army deployed LRad as a crowd control device during its struggles in post-war Iraq.

More recently, it used a vehicle-mounted system against G20 protesters in Pittsburgh in 2009 , driving back US demonstrators with the LRad's high-pitched sound.

The devices have also been used on cruise liners to ward off Indian Ocean pirate attacks.

Some models are now "man portable" backpacks that can blast alarm warnings at 137 dB, and can be used as land-based loud hailers with a range of 1km.

"As part of the military contribution to the police-led security effort to ensure a safe and secure games, a broad range of assets and equipment is being used by our Armed Forces," the MoD spokesman said.

"This includes the LRad which will be deployed during the Olympic Games primarily to be used in the loud hailer mode as part of the measures to achieve a maritime stop on the Thames."

Editor's Comment: Anyone with half a braincell must have seen this coming when the private ownership of weapons was made illegal in the UK. Will this weapon be mothballed after the Olympics? Of course it will... NOT! Say goodbye to your right to peaceful protest folks. If our police forces had a pair between them they would strike over the use of such weaponry - whether it was illegal for them to do so or not. One has to wonder what goodies the chief constables have been promised in exchange for their acquiescence.

If my supposedly democratic country's government ever used such a weapon against a group of which I was a part, e.g. a party on a river cruise, I would consider the gloves to be completely 'off' from that point forward.

When a government stoops to using physically damaging pain to enforce its laws, that government can only be deemed to be an immoral and corrupt failure, and the people then automatically acquire the right to raise open and violent rebellion in their own - and their children's - defence. 

Reuters - By Harry Papachristou and Deepa Babington
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/angry-greeks-vote-cliffhanger-election-041845275--business.html

Greek voters enraged by economic hardship deserted governing parties in droves in an election on Sunday, according to exit polls that threw doubt on the country's future in the euro zone.

Polls by six different pollsters indicated the only two parties supporting an EU/IMF bailout that is keeping Greece from bankruptcy would likely fall short of enough support to form a stable coalition government.

The exit polls showed conservative New Democracy and Socialist PASOK, who have dominated Greece for decades, reaching a maximum of 37 percent of the vote combined.

In a huge upset, a previously small leftwing party, the Left Coalition, was predicted to take around the same share of the vote as PASOK with 15-18 percent. In the previous election in 2009 they had less than 5 percent.

PASOK, which took 44 percent of the vote in a landslide victory in that election, was shown with between 14 and 18 percent, according to polls by Kapa Research and a pool of five companies for Greek television stations.

New Democracy also appeared particularly hard hit with a vote share way below opinion poll predictions of around 25 percent.

If confirmed by official results, the election could plunge Greece into new political turmoil, reigniting a euro zone debt crisis first detonated by Athens in 2009 and starting it down a path that could take it out of the euro.

The exit polls showed Greeks fuming at record unemployment, collapsing businesses and steep wage cuts had ignored warnings that a vote against the harsh terms of the bailout would push Greece towards bankruptcy.

Earlier during voting leaders from all sides emphasised the importance of the vote for the future of Greece, which is suffering one of Europe's worst postwar recessions.

"We all agree that these elections are perhaps the most crucial and today each of us is deciding not only who will govern the country but also Greece's path for the next decades," said outgoing technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, as he cast his vote in Athens.

Rage

But many Greeks expressed their rage at the ruling parties as they voted.

"My vote was a protest vote because they cut my pension and there are more measures waiting for us around the corner," said 75-year-old pensioner Kalliopi, her fists clenched in anger.

"I live in a basement but pay the same (property) tax as someone who lives in a penthouse," said Kalliopi after voting in Athens.

International lenders and investors fear success for the small parties opposed to the bailout could lead to Greece reneging on the harsh terms for the programme, risking a sovereign default and dragging the euro zone back into the worst crisis since its creation.

Euro zone paymaster Germany has warned there would be "consequences" to an anti-bailout vote and the EU and IMF insist whoever wins the election must stick to austerity if they want to receive the aid that keeps Greece afloat.

Editor's Comment:  I do hope that Cameron, described as "sneering" by a member of his own Party, is not too supercilious to be able to take a hint from this report.  On today's reported reaction of the CHancellor to the local election results, it's unlikely to sink through what is obviously very thick skin in that quarter.

I'm just wondering if it would be worthwhile starting a countdown to disaster chart for the Tories now, or should I leave it for a week or so till the "no confidence" row heats up a little more?

The only problem, now that the LibDums have shown how two-faced and useless they are in a pinch, is that we'll end up with a bunch of leftie Labourites again, which will only drop us further into the financial sh-one-tee.

Perhaps emigration is the answer for fed-up Brits now.  To Proxima Centauri where we could set up a fair government that doesn't involve political parties or career politicians, thus completely avoiding any opportunities for corruption that this lot constantly exploit.

We really do need something new to replace our present options, because our present options are rapidly declining to the point where they are not options at all.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/chancellor-undeterred-amid-tory-backlash-031411951.html

George Osborne has insisted the coalition Government will not deviate from its economic course - despite a drubbing at the polls and a backlash from within his own party.

The Chancellor conceded the elections had delivered a "tough result" for the Government and claimed he understood why voters had shown their anger at the ballot box .

Insisting "Britain doesn't duck its problems", he pledged ministers were working together to sort out the mess.

But, as criticism continued to rain down on Mr Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron , Conservative Nadine Dorries went as far as to warn the leadership it could be ousted by Christmas.

"According to the rules of the backbench 1922 Committee, in order for David Cameron's position as leader to be challenged, the chairman of the committee needs to receive 46 signatures from Conservative MPs to signal a vote of no confidence," she told The Mail on Sunday.

"I would guess that those signatures are already coming in and will reach 46 by Christmas."

The Chancellor said he took the blame for the way the Budget had backfired after tax cuts for low earners were overshadowed by the " granny tax " and the " pasty tax ".

In The Mail on Sunday, he wrote: "Let me take it on the chin. Last week's elections produced a tough result for the Government at a tough time for the country.

"People know we've had to make unpopular decisions to fix the country's problems but they want us to remember that times aren't easy for families.

"So they are making sure that times aren't easy for the Government either. I get that."

He continued that "one thing matters more than whether the Government is popular at this point. It matters that it is right".

During a number of TV appearances, Mr Osborne is set to defend the party's performance as the coalition begins its fightback.

But speculation was mounting that Mr Cameron will cave into pressure to row back on gay marriage proposals and a shake-up of the House of Lords following pressure from a string of Tory right-wingers, who have demanded he drop the "barmy" plans.

Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is facing his own internal party battle as heavy election losses sparked criticism.

The Queen's speech on Wednesday will set out the Government's agenda for the coming year, which ministers hope will revive the ailing Government.

Editor's Comment:  This Chancellor has made it very clear that he does not have Britain's interests at heart.  He has been told by many sources that his budget has done little except re-secure votes from the wealthy and alienate even more working class people than before.  Yet he comes out with inanities in response to visibly justifiable criticism of Conservative financial policy.  But, then, he can afford to, having the kind of private financial means that ensure that sudden unemployment would not harm him.

This kind of unbridled arrogance and power-tripping is what eventually lefd the Tories to fifteen years in Opposition, and just goes to show that neither Osbourne nor Cameron have learned a thing from that exile.

The local election results from May  3^rd were anything but "mid-term blues."  Here, where I live, the Ward lost a well-respected and highly efficient Tory councillor because local voters decided that we need to teach the hated government a lesson.  The votes were cast on the basis of local disabled and elderly people being thrown into financial despair by Tory policy of taking from the poor and giving not to the rich, but to foreigners!

Why, for example, did the Chancellor find it so necessary to send aid funds to India, which can afford its own space and nuclear defence programmes?  This kind of behaviour is not only criminal; it is corrupt.  If it is not corrupt then it is downright incompetent.  Whichever it might be, it is certainly grounds for the immediate removal of George Osbourne from the office he holds before he can do any further damage.

Sweeping Reforms To Restore British Liberties
www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Unwarranted state intrusion into private lives will be brought to an end after the Protection of Freedoms Bill became law today. (but see Editor's Comment below...)

It will curb local authority snooping, see the destruction of DNA samples and profiles given by innocent people and radically scale back the employment vetting process which would have routinely monitored 9.3m people.

Millions more people will be protected from state intrusion into their lives through a sweeping range of policies which will restore common sense to government.

The Protection of Freedoms Act will see:

• the scrapping of the Vetting and Barring Scheme and creation of a new Disclosure and Barring Service to oversee a scaled-back barring regime focused only on roles working most closely with vulnerable groups
• millions of householders protected from town hall snoopers checking their bins or school catchment area
• the scrapping of section 44 powers, which have been used to stop and search 100,000s of innocent people
• the reduction of the maximum period of pre-charge detention for terrorist suspects to 14 days
• DNA samples and fingerprints of more than 1m innocent people deleted from police databases
• thousands of gay men able to clear their name of out-of-date convictions for consensual acts
• thousands of motorists protected from rogue wheel clamping firms
• British freedoms at the heart of the Whitehall agenda

The Act follows the review of counter terrorism and security powers and the scrapping of ID cards as the coalition government delivers on its agreement to put traditional British freedoms at the heart of the Whitehall agenda. It also draws on views put forward by the public through the radical Your Freedom website set up after the coalition government came to power.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: 'Snooping on the contents of families' bins and security checking parents who want to help out in their children's classrooms were never needed for state security and we have brought them to an end.

'I have brought common sense back to public protection with this Act.'

The Protection of Freedoms Act will also see:

• an end to the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental consent
• introduction of a code of practice for CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems (overseen by a new Surveillance Camera Commissioner) to make them more proportionate and effective
• restrictions on the powers of government departments, local authorities and other public bodies to enter private homes and other premises for investigations and a requirement for all to examine and slim down remaining powers
• the repeal of powers to hold serious and complex fraud trials without a jury
• the liberalisation of marriage laws to allow people to marry outside the hours of 8am-6pm
• an extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and strengthening the public's right to data
• widening of the existing offence of trafficking for forced labour and ensuring that UK nationals who commit trafficking offences anywhere in the world can be prosecuted under UK law

Commencement orders enacting measures in the Act will begin from early July.

Editor's Comment:  But Theresa May still believes that the State should have full and unwarranted access to private citizens' emails... 

Interesting, also, that the HO website article doesn't give the link to the Your Freedom website.  I'm happy to help out...  

This certainly appears to be the case for The Zhou Gang.  What with one senior police official, Wang Lijun, taking refuge in a US  diplomatic area from another senior police official, the escape of a blind human rights dissident has served only to show that China's outgoing security chief, Zhou Yongkang, does not exactly seem to have his finger on the pulse.

Mind you, with HR dissident Chen Guangcheng now at large, China can rein in a massive outlay that obviously wasn't money well spent.  $9.8 million to keep one man under wraps definitely has more than a whiff of the ridiculous about it.  It's more accurate to say that it is criminally obscene.  That kind of money could have plugged a lot of leaks at Thames Water...

Zhou is unlikely to be openly criticised before his compulsory retirement at age 70 later this year, but I have a feeling that his losses of control will not go unpunished after that.  Can one feel any sympathy, though, for the man whose term of office included the infamous Tian An Men Square massacre?  The answer, in my case, is a flat "No."

China's supreme leadership council does seem to be on the verge of a major realisation, however: When a nation's spending on internal policing exceeds that of the military by some 30 billion currency units (Yuan in China's case) it is definitely time for a re-think.  That kind of expenditure on non-productive matters, with much of it being salted away by corrupt and greedy officials, is what bankrupted the Soviet Union.  Maybe, with more of the Old Guard being pensioned off we might see a better-mannered and less insular China in the years to come.

Man who sold fake and unlicensed medicines ordered to repay more than £14million
www.gmp.police.uk

A Tameside man who sold fake and unlicensed medicines has been ordered to repay more than £14million following a financial investigation by the North West Regional Asset Recovery Team (NWRART).

Simon Hickman (03/08/1959), of Lily Lanes, Ashton-under-Lyne, was jailed for two years in 2009, following a criminal investigation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

He was convicted of six counts of selling and supplying fake and unlicensed medicines and money laundering to the value of £1.4 million.

He was sentenced to a further 22 months in prison in January 2011 for Contempt of Court after he tried to obtain a passport by deception and for selling a property in breach of a court restraint order.

Working alongside investigators from MHRA, the NWRART commenced an investigation into Hickman’s finances with a view to identifying criminal assets.

Extensive assets, including his home, Range Rovers, luxury flats and cash, were identified and restrained pending confiscation proceedings.

Hickman made his fortune by selling counterfeit erectile dysfunction tablets and slimming aids that he purchased overseas.

Investigators discovered Hickman created dozens of bank accounts across the globe, using them to launder cash totalling millions of pounds.

Funds were transferred into off shore accounts having been diverted through more than 30 different bank accounts, some based in Malta, Holland and the Cayman Islands.

At Southwark Crown Court today, Friday 27 April 2012, Hickman was found to have benefited by £15,427,850.28 from his criminal enterprise.

He was ordered to repay £14,407,850.28 within six months or face a further 10 years in prison and still liable for the order.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Ashton, head of the NWART, said: “Hickman made a considerable personal fortune by selling illegal pills to thousands of unsuspecting victims.

“He has been held to account thanks to a meticulous joint investigation between the NWRART and MHRA.

“Owing to a thorough partnership investigation, the MHRA and NWRART ensured Hickman lost his liberty as well as his assets. This case sends out a clear message to organised criminals that law enforcement agencies, working in partnership, will continue to pursue those involved in serious crime.

“To put this result into perspective, I think it is fair to say that this one single confiscation order eclipses any that have gone before and is higher than all confiscation orders secured by NWRART collectively last year.”

Editor's Comment:  Made his pile by selling fake Viagra, hey?  Guess you could say that he's now been given a STIFF DOSE of his own MEDICINE  

www.middlesbrough.gov.uk

A Middlesbrough mother has been jailed for failing to ensure her two children attended school.

The case has sparked a warning to parents to ensure they make their children’s education a priority – or face the consequences.

The 43-year-old was sentenced to a total of ten weeks after the pupils were absent from primary and secondary schools in the town for lengthy periods without permission.

Teesside Magistrates heard how the children, aged 10 and 14, failed to attend school on a total of nearly 130 days between November, 2011 and February this year.

The mother’s appearance in court this week (Tuesday, April 24) followed previous convictions for similar offences.

In June, 2010 she was fined £175 with £80 costs for failing to ensure her children attended school, and in October last year she received a suspended six-week jail term for failing to get the older child to classes.

This week’s hearing saw the activation of the suspended sentence, with the imposition of a further four weeks’ custody. The woman will serve half of her sentence in jail, with the remaining five weeks on an electronic tag.

Councillor Mike Carr, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive Member for Children, Families and Learning, said: “This authority takes the issue of school attendance extremely seriously because the importance of education in the life of every child cannot be overstated.

“There is strong evidence that missing time at school has a significant impact on a child’s chances of achieving good qualifications and future employability.

“We employ a wide range of measures to ensure all our children attend school, with the Education Department and Education Welfare Service working in close partnership with our schools and academies.

“This includes offering dedicated support and help to children and their families.

“Unfortunately there is still a significant number of parents who fail to ensure their children attend school on a regular basis, and in these cases we have a number of enforcement measures that can be used as a last resort.

“This case sends out a clear message that parents who break the law in this way – and harm their children’s prospects - can expect to be dealt with severely.”

Editor's Comment:  I can't help feeling that the wrong person is being tagged in this case.  How can the mother keep an eye on what the kids are up to if she's curfewed by an electronic tag?  I would tag the children, using the school as the control point for a daytime (school hours) curfewto make sure they attended properly. 

www.lancashire.police.uk

Police seized a dog from a Lancaster house following the execution of a dangerous dogs warrant.

Officers attended the address on the Ryelands estate after learning that the dog could be the puppy of another animal that had already been seized and found to be a dangerous type.

Any dog can be a danger to the public, but certain types of dogs are banned in the UK. If you own a banned breed of dog you are committing a criminal offence. A banned dog can be seized by police even if it isn’t acting in a dangerous manner.

The dog – which is believed to be a pit bull terrier type dog (one of four banned breeds in the UK) - will now be kept in kennels while checks are made.

PC Peppi Agliolo, Lancaster police, said: “The dog will be examined to determine what type it is. If it is not a banned breed of dog then it will be returned to its owner. If it is banned dog, officers will investigate the circumstances around the dog and owner and a decision will be made regarding what offences have been committed and whether to prosecute the owner in either criminal or civil courts.

“If it can be shown that the dog is not a danger to the public, then the courts can place it on the government's Index of Exempted Dogs. The owner may be able to keep their dog, dependant on the courts decision, and a list of compulsory stringent conditions will be imposed - including keeping it muzzled and on a lead when in public and having it neutered.”

He added: “It is very important that dog owners take responsibility for their pets – banned type or not - and that they train them and care for them so that they are not a threat to other animals or people. Where we can see that an owner is willing and able to meet their responsibilities, costs and conditions, we will work with them to have their animal returned.”

Photo:  PC Mark Edwards with the seized dog

Editor's Comment:  So "banned" doesn't necessarily mean banned, then?  Strange...

There's a report on Yahoo! News today about the heavy rain and strong winds that are affecting many parts of the UK.  Thames Water say that two weeks of heavy rain isn't sufficient to reverse the drought caused by two unusually dry winters.

One commentator had this to say:

Steve • Manchester, England • 46 minutes ago
 It's official. This is the wettest drought since records began........ 

There's a problem with the water industry in the UK, and it's called competition.  They don't/won't work together to manage water supplies effectively.  Paved-over areas, such as cities and town centres merely channel the water into drains that disgorge it into rivers and the sea, when it could be better collected above ground and piped to treatment centres to provide reservoir stock.

Two unusually dry winters is a load of old cobblers.  This winter was mild and wet.  The one before, and the one before that were subject to heavy snowfall which, when it melted, caused flooding misery for many people in Herefordshire and Cumbria.  Where did all that water go?  Not into reservoirs , that's for damn sure!

It's really long past the time when the politicians and water industry woke up to the need for better control and management of the UK's water supply, and to make better use of that which is, in truth, a gift from the sky.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/independent-family-returns-panel

Child welfare experts have been appointed to a panel advising the government on returning families who have no right to be in the UK.

The Independent Family Returns Panel makes recommendations to the UK Border Agency on the best method of returning families to their home country and making sure the welfare needs of children are met.

Following an open recruitment process, Immigration Minister Damian Green has appointed 11 panel members including the chair, Chris Spencer, a former Director of Education and Children's Services in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Other panel members include former directors of local authority children's services departments, members of Local Safeguarding Children Boards, a former head teacher and doctors who will be able to provide to provide professional medical advice.

Welfare of children

Damian Green said: 'Our more humane approach to family returns places the welfare of children at the heart of the process and the Independent Family Returns Panel has a vital role to play.

'These appointments mean that our decisions will continue to be guided by a group which boasts an exceptional level of expertise, experience and dedication to the welfare of children.

'We always take a compassionate approach in this sensitive area of our work but individuals with no legal right to be in the UK must return home.'

The appointments announced today mean that the panel now exists in its full form, having operated on an interim basis since March 2011. The panel is one part of a wider process designed to ensure families with no right to remain in the UK are returned to their home countries with dignity, ensuring the welfare of children at all times.

Editor's Comment:  So, basically, what we will now see is families who have no legal right to stay in the UK being granted leave to remain simply because their sprogs are here.  Glad to see the Tories getting tough on immigration, like they said they would - strengthening the defences against deportation is definitely a tough attitude to take.  Obviously been some hard thinking done by the Commons Candlelit Committee on this one.  

These new additions to the Panel will definitely be worthy of their doubtless high salaries too.  after all, it takes a lot of directorship know-how to stand up and scream with hands fluttering madly in the air before their faces: "Oh but they can't possibly be sent orf becaawz they hev children hyah, dontcherknow!"

Hardly surprising to read that we're back under the Black Flag again, following a worse than predicted first quarter performance for our GDP.  This was driven by the biggest fall in construction output for three years, while the manufacturing sector failed to return to growth, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The preliminary estimate, which may be revised later depending upon how far the government can "massage" (read: "fiddle") the figures, means the UK is back in a technical recession - defined as two quarters of decline in a row. The City had predicted the economy would scrape growth of 0.1% after a 0.3% fall in the previous quarter.  However, the same City analysts who got the GDP forecast wrong also say that the current downturn is expected to be nothing like as severe as the previous recession of 2008/09, which spanned more than a year.  They'll forgive me if I don't hold my breath...

Chancellor George Osborne, with his gift of stating the obvious still honed razor-sharp, has said: "It's a very tough economic situation. It's taking longer than anyone hoped to recover from the biggest debt crisis of our lifetime - even after the recent fall in unemployment. But over many years this country built up massive debts, which we are having to pay off."

He added that the recession in much of the rest of Europe was hampering the recovery, but pledged not to abandon his "credible plan" to cut the budget deficit.  So, to blazes with the economy proper then, George?  Let's all be in this together under your - ahem - credulous plan.  Now, at least, we know why Francis Maude urged people to store petrol.  One cannot help but wonder what the downturn might have looked like if we hadn't all gone bleating our way to the pumps and bunged great wads of cash into the economy before Easter...

One cannot help but wonder what we might be steered into panic-buying this quarter.  Emigration tickets, maybe?  To Easter Island where the economy is 100% better than ours?  At least they have new growth, even if it is only trees.

The data:

Services Sector - Down 0.1%
Retail Sector - Unspecified boost (petrol)
Industrial Sector - Down 0.4%
Manufacturing Sector - Down 0.1% (on top of 0.7% in the previous quarter)
Construction Sector - Down 3.0%

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: "The danger is that these gloomy data deliver a fatal blow to the fragile revival of consumer and business confidence seen so far this year, harming the recovery and even sending the country back into a real recession."
 

Well said, Mr Williamson.  Any economic recovery is going to depend upon confidence among industrialists and, of course, the people employed by them.  Quite why this government has the idea that a nation can prosper under a regime that encourages job losses, overtaxed household incomes, and strangled business finances is a mystery to me.

But there's more to it than just our own internal actions, of course.  Our economy is also battling against recession in the rest of Europe (as Ozzy kindly informed us,) a €urozone that looks like Pol Pot's killing fields on a particularly busy day, and a strong American dollar, none of which are likely to do any of our much-reduced export options any favours whatsoever.

Support for the Tories has plunged since the Budget, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll that gives Labour its best score in almost nine years.

A three-point Conservative lead over Labour just before George Osborne's Budget has now given way to an eight-point deficit.

Tory support has slumped by six points in a single month, down from 39% to 33%, while Labour is up five from 36% to 41%, to claim an eight-point lead.

The Liberal Democrats are unchanged on 15%, while the combined total of the smaller parties has inched up two to stand at 12%, suggesting more support for UKIP and the Scottish and Welsh Nationalists.

The Conservative slide is the biggest seen in the monthly Guardian/ICM series since the autumn of 2008, when the onset of the credit crunch briefly produced very volatile political conditions.

It leaves the Tories with their worst score since before the general...

Full article here

Admin Comment: Well is it any wonder that the Tories are unpopular. They go about budget cuts with chainsaws and lump hammers to make us fit in to their vision of an economic Britain yet spend OUR MONEY that is raised in taxes and to quote MAGGIE THATCHER... THERE IS NO PUBLIC MONEY, ONLY TAX PAYERS MONEY... So it’s about time all HOME NEEDS are taken care of before any chancellor goes giving TAX PAYERS MONEY AWAY FRIVOLOUSLY.   

Here's an excellent quote from "That Hideous Strength" by CS Lewis that ought to please the "get tough on crime" lobby:

"The trouble with these courts for young criminals nowadays is that they're always binding them over when they ought to be bending them over." 

I couldn't agree more.

"That Hideous Strength" is the last book in Lewis' excellent fantasy trilogy that starts with "Out Of The Silent Planet," which is followed by "Perelandra."

 If your computer is infected with the DNSChanger virus, your summertime Internet activities will be seriously curtailed -- as in buh-bye. But a special Web site can help you fix the problem.

The FBI is warning that hundreds of thousands of people could lose their Internet connections come July, unless they take steps to diagnose and disinfect their computers.

The problem is related to malware called DNSChanger that was first discovered way back in 2007 and that has infected millions of computers worldwide.

In simple terms, when you type a Web address into your browser, your computer contacts DNS (or Domain Name System) servers to find out the numerical Internet Protocol (IP) address of the site you're trying to reach, and then it takes you there. DNSChanger fiddled with an infected machine's settings and directed it to rogue servers set up by a crime ring -- servers that handed out addresses to whatever sites the ring chose.

Full Story Here

Admin Comments: The nature of the web means that you should regardless of your country visit the www.dcwg.org. website and have your machine checked and ensure that your summer of surf fun is not dashed on the rocks come July 9th when these servers will be shut down after the 8th!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-wants-deal-limit-human-rights-court-powers-032308974.html

Representatives from 47 countries are meeting today to decide if the European Court of Human Rights has too much power.

It comes as the deportation of radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada is thrown into doubt after his lawyers lodged an appeal with the human rights judges.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke is hosting a conference of representatives of the member nations of the Council of Europe in Brighton.

The Government hopes to secure a deal on reforms that will see European human rights judges intervene less in British affairs.

The deal, called the Brighton Declaration, is expected to be signed at the two-day conference.

In January in a speech at the Council of Europe , Prime Minister David Cameron claimed that the Strasbourg-based court's work defending human freedom and dignity was being put "under threat" due to public unease over some of its decisions.

He also envisaged reforms to the court - reforms which senior Government officials last night denied had been watered down into the draft Brighton Declaration.

However, a justice minister involved in the reform talks insisted there was no "great constitutional crisis about foreign judges trying to ride roughshod over British law".

Liberal Democrat peer Lord McNally said the court needs to change because there is a danger of it acting as a "convenient safety net" for under-performing states.

The Liberal Democrat peer said national responsibility for human rights runs through draft plans for reform "like the letters through a stick of Brighton rock".

He said the Brighton Declaration would ensure there was "an onus at national level" for them to consider all human rights implications, he said.

The ECHR "cannot secure the rights and freedoms of 800 million people and, what is more, we should not even ask them to try", he said.

He denied that foreign judges were simply trying to overrule British courts.

The draft declaration "leaves the important decisions for Strasbourg and gets the balance right", he said.

Lord McNally also said the European court was still receiving more applications than it could handle, with a backlog of more than 150,000 cases.

Just 45,000 cases were presented to the court in its first 40 years, but in 2010 alone it was asked to consider 61,300 applications.

In future it should "focus on cases which particularly require the attention of an international court", he said.

He added that the draft declaration was "pretty much there" and "starts with national implementation" of the European Convention on Human Rights and how it may be implemented more effectively by states.

The deal follows months of negotiations in which there was widespread agreement that the system was not working as well as it could and "general agreement that the court should take fewer cases".

From the UK, there were around 900 applications to the court last year, part of a backlog of some 3,000 UK cases, but only eight findings against the UK.

This compared with some 40,000 pending cases from Russia.

Editor's Comment: I see several facets within this article.

First: When a person acts in a manner deliberately intended to bring death, injury or distress to another, that person can only be deemed to be acting in an inhuman fashion. It therefore follows that if a person voluntarily gives up his (or her) humanity, they can no longer stake any claim to have human rights. On this basis, the ECHR can have no legal influence upon the disposal of the offender by the host state.

Second: If the ECHR has so much of a backlog, it would make sense to decentralise the court to provide semi-autonomous branches hosted by each member nation of the EU, with no nation being permitted to pass judgement on its own people's complaints. In bringing about this decentralisation, though, it would be essential for a "bible" to be produced so that every branch court was guided by and ruled in an identical manner when dealing with identical complaints.

     This is somethinhg that needs to be applied to UK law as well. In seeing the number of press releases that I do, regarding benefit fraud and drink-drive cases, I note that the punishments imposed vary from prison sentences to minimal community service orders. We desperately need a system of "one crime, one punishment" which would surely make any judge's job far easier. Mitigating circumstances? You know the old saying: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime." People know the difference between right and wrong, so there can be no excuses. Laws need to be black and white, which is to say there should be no grey areas.

Third: Why is the ECHR dealing with cases from Russia? It is not an EU member. Does the Russian Federation not have its own courts for its people to petition? And what is the point of an ECHR ruling in respect of a Russian Federation complaint, when Russia can simply choose to ignore the verdict? Surely this clogs up the system with cases that are simply time-wasting and preventing EU citizens from obtaining justice in a timely manner.  This is something that the type of conference now being held should also be addressing.

Fourth: Why does Cameron and his party keep working to erode human rights? Could it be that they are actually afraid of the potential repercussions from the snooping regulations that they are trying to bull through Parliament at the moment? I honestly believe this to be so.

I can use myself as an example of how the government tries to defraud its own vulnerable citizens, using the internal Appeals system as a means of keeping legitimate complaints out of sight. I spent over seven months trying to fight against Job Centre Plus whose Newcastle office kept trying to remove my benefit entitlement. I receive benefits as a disabled person. Not something I particularly like as a way of living, but there's no choice. There were a couple of times when I came close to joining the 30-odd people who have committed suicide and cited Job Centre Plus tyranny as the reason. For three of the months of battle I was fighting to get money that was owed to me by the DWP, only to be fobbed off with excuse after excuse after excuse by Job Centre Plus.

Matters finally came to a head and I believe I scared the living daylights out of the DWP when I told them that I would not use the corrupt internal Appeals system, but that I would take privately funded legal action against them in order to stop the bullying, harassment and deliberate withholding of legally due benefit amounts, and that I would be seeking what I termed "substantial damages."

Within three HOURS, the money that I had been trying unsuccessfully for three MONTHS to have paid to me was on its way into my bank account. There has been no further bullying. There has been no further harassment.

I have advised the DWP Minister that any further occurrence of what was obviously illegal behaviour on the part of Job Centre Plus and its agents, Atos Healthcare, would be met with private legal action without further warning or discussion. I hope that they have the sense to understand that I never bluff.  If I ever tried to play poker for money, I would lose my shirt !

And I'm going to mention this lady because she's been wonderful throughout. Clair B, you know who you are: God bless you for all the help and support you have provided during my fight with Job Centre Plus and Atos Healthcare. xx 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/clampdown-foreign-doctors-language-skills-044515908.html

Foreign doctors practising in the UK whose English skills are inadequate could be struck off amid fears that patients are being put at risk.

Newly-unveiled plans would also see senior medical staff ordered to ensure that all staff at their organisations have adequate language ability.

Concerns have been raised after cases in which foreign-born doctors were said to have provided sub-standard care.

Those coming to the UK from outside the EU already face strict language tests.  But some 23,000 doctors from within the area are said to have registered to work in the NHS without being asked if they can speak English properly.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the moves, being put out for consultation, would help protect patients.

"It is absolutely crucial that we get this right," he said.  "Clearly if a doctor can't speak proper English then they won't be able to communicate effectively with their patients.

"It can also lead to situations where doctors put patients' safety at risk - the last Government knew this was a problem but failed to change the system to protect patients."

A 2010 report into foreign doctors warned that changes were urgently needed after David Gray, 70, died after he was given 10 times the recommended dosage of diamorphine by a Nigerian-born German locum .

Mr Lansley added: "We will create a legal duty that will mean doctors in hospitals and in the community will have to ensure that anyone hired is able to speak English and is suitably qualified and experienced for the role.

"This will create proper accountability and will leave no one in any doubt about our desire to protect patients."

Around 500 "responsible officers" at hospitals and other organisations will be tasked with checking language skills.

The Government also hopes to amend the General Medical Council's powers to make it easier for the body to take action if concerns are raised about a doctor's suitability.

Editor's Comment: Why has it taken so long to get this essential control into practice?  And why has it needed the unnecessary death of at least one NHS patient to convince government planners that lives are more important than political correctness?

Answer to the second question:  Because the NHS is now to operate using AQP - Any Qualified Practitioner - and the powers-that-screw-up-regularly are sh*t-scared of the likelihood of lawsuits if they cause any further damage or loss of life through negligence.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pioneer-slams-monitoring-plans-034121812.html

Controversial government plans to allow intelligence agencies to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of every person in the UK should be scrapped, the inventor of the world wide web has said.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee warned that the "dangerous" new laws would lead to a "destruction of human rights" if they were implemented in their current form.

The new legislation, expected in next month's Queen's Speech, will enable GCHQ to access information "on demand" in "real time" without a warrant.

But the British computer engineer, who advises the Government on how to make public data more accessible, said there has not been enough discussion on how the sensitive data could be safely stored.

In an interview with The Guardian Sir Tim said: "The idea that we should routinely record information about people is obviously very dangerous.

"It means that there will be information around which could be stolen, which can be acquired through corrupt officials or corrupt operators, and (could be) used, for example, to blackmail people in the Government or people in the military. We open ourselves out, if we store this information, to it being abused."

The internet pioneer added: "The amount of control you have over somebody if you can monitor internet activity is amazing.

"You get to know every detail, you get to know, in a way, more intimate details about their life than any person that they talk to because often people will confide in the internet as they find their way through medical websites....or as an adolescent finds their way through a website about homosexuality, wondering what they are and whether they should talk to people about it."

Home Secretary Theresa May defended the proposals after they faced fierce criticism from backbench MPs and civil liberties groups. She insisted that suspected terrorists, paedophiles and serious criminals would be targeted by intelligence officials rather than ordinary people.

Sir Tim said that if the government pushes ahead with the plans a "very strong independent body" would have to be set up to scrutinise the use of the powers.

Editor's Comment: "It means that there will be information around which could be stolen..." Yet Theresa May vowed that there would be no huge government database involved with this proposal. (See earlier reports below) So, once again, those we elect to protect and benefit US, not themselves, have blatantly lied to us.  I indicated at the time that I considered May's statement to be complete and utter BS.  Nice to find myself correct !

Theresa May and all involved in the construction of this hideous proposal should be sacked, arrested and charged with attempted violation of privacy. 

Man charged with murder in Waterlooville
www.hampshire.police.uk

Detectives from the Hampshire Major Investigation Team charged a man last night (Monday, April 16, 2012) with the murder of Simon Warton in Waterlooville.

Sean Thomas Bailey, aged 28, of Waterlooville, remained in custody overnight to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court today (Tuesday, April 17, 2012).

The charge follows a Hampshire Constabulary investigation into reports of a fight in the Dove Close area of Waterlooville during the early hours of Thursday, April 12, 2012.

A post-mortem examination found Simon Geoffrey Mark Warton, aged 27, of Orsmond Close, Waterlooville, died of a stab wound.

Mr Warton’s next-of-kin were informed of the charge against Sean Bailey by a police family liaison officer yesterday night.

Four people arrested in the Havant area on Saturday night (April 14, 2012) were questioned on suspicion of assisting an offender. They were later bailed until July 25, 2012 pending further enquiries.

A fifth person arrested in Waterlooville today (Monday, April 16, 2012) on suspicion of assisting an offender was also bailed until July 25, 2012 pending further enquiries.

Editor's Comment:  The police really ARE very, very good at solving these cases here in Hampshire.

Man arrested as part of murder investigation after body found in burnt out car
www.hampshire.police.uk

A 36-year-old man has been arrested as part the investigation into the murder of a man found in burnt out car in Chilworth near Southampton.

Officers launched a murder investigation after a body was found in a car fire, in Chilworth Drove, between 1am and 1.30am on Tuesday, April 10. Officers believe the deceased was dead before the fire took hold.

The body was that of a young adult male.

A 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder last night in Southampton and is currently being questioned by police.

Officers are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about the murder to contact then they should call the Operation Wedgewood on 101.  Quote RMS: 44120139482

Alternatively, they can call the charity Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111 where information can be left anonymously. 

www.dontcutusout.org.uk

West Sussex County Council's bluff and bluster response to publication last week of the Don't Cut Us Out's WSCC Dossier of Shame, is sadly, typical of their attempts to defend the indefensible. On the one hand they say there is no alternative to the £31 million they are robbing from the disabled and elderly, then with the other, they callously salt this cash and more into their Reserves - without a thought for the devastating affects these cuts in care support and closure of day centres are having on the most vulnerable within our society.

The Council's attempt to rubbish the Campaign by saying we prefer to chase negative headlines instead of getting involved in joining with other organisations to help shape future provision is also wide of the mark. The Don't Cut Us Out Campaign embraces a broad church of care organisations, charities, faith groups, carers and health officials who share a deep concern for the plight the vulnerable within West Sussex now face. Many of those working with the Campaign are in regular contact with the Council and attend the West Sussex Learning Disability Partnership Board meetings which the Council wish DCUO to engage with. Yet this Partnership has no voice when it comes to discussing overall policy, only an expectation on the part of the Council that it should implement the Cuts in care that it imposes. There is no opportunity to discuss alternative policies.

On two occasions when Don't Cut Us Out campaigners have met with Council leaders and officials, we have been confronted with the same one-way dialogue. At our first meeting in June 2011, we agreed to engage on ten points on which the Council and Campaign found common ground, yet 10 months later, The Council has still to follow up on any one of them. We met again in February when the Campaign raised several key issues, but in the Minutes taken by the Council, not one of the Campaign's concerns were even noted.

The Council's assertion that the WSCC Dossier of Shame is a package of inaccurate, outdated and misleading claims from a mish mash of sources is equally surprising, for most of the information is taken directly from their own website. To prove the point, we have republished the Dossier of Shame on www.dontcutusout.org.uk with links to all the sources.

Not long ago, West Sussex was held up as a national example for care within the community, but now it has one of the worst records among the 159 Councils in England.

The Don't Cut Us Out Campaign believes that care for the Vulnerable should be the same nationwide and not the subject of a postcode lottery. Instead of defending the indefensible, West Sussex County Councillors should be working to right this wrong turn in social care.

Editor's Comment:  Come May 3rd maybe the people of West Sussex will take the trouble to go out and vote for a candidate other than the "Big 3," ideally an Independent.  Then, maybe, WSCC will acquire sufficient backbone to stand up and say NO to the central government ministers and senior civil servants whose fat salaries make them blind to the effects that their feather-brained policies have on ordinary and vulnerable people.