Some Funnys.

Come to the UK, its all on a plate for you.

Is he a realtive of Capt Hook, Abu Hamza? Dare him to wear that on the tube...

No comment needed on this one.

.

So the kind corporate bods at Barclays Bank Plc have decided to give 250,000 pounds to help the poor people hit by the Farepak collapse, and who said that philanthropy was dead. All well and good and I have to say that if it helps them get some sort of decent Christmas then thats jolly fine and good.

**Barclays, a bank staffed by Mark Benton wannabe's but without the inteligence, the humour or even the looks of that comedian. Barclays are shit.

Also it has said that it is repaying 150,000 to customers who have used its debit/credit cards to make payments to the firm, again I cant fault that either.

Mind you for Barclays to claim the credit for this is a tad rich, after all the 250K and the other 150K are in fact customers money. After all that is the basic rule with banks, that its all customers money at the end of the day. Mind you they are not slow with regards to charges for this, charges for that, charges for breathing it seems at times.

So one can say that Barclays should really be thanking its hard working customers who keep its managers and directors in a cushy lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, oh and for the large donation to the Fairpak victims.

It would be nice if Barclays Bank Plc treated its customers with as much care as they did the victims of the Fairpak fiasco, but alas there would be no nice headlines in the UK papers if they did that.

Oh if Barclays Bank Plc legal bods are reading this, this is my personal opinion, a private view and one that has nothing to do with my previous complaints of which I shall be saying nowt.

A few random links and the like:
http://www.blagger.com/db4/company_id/130/companyname/Barclays.html

http://www.litsl.com/miscellaneous/poor_customer_service/barclays_bank_barc_the_woolwich.html

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Barclays_Bank__Review_5133047

http://www.teneric.co.uk/forums/finance-forum/business-banking-complaints-4719.html

http://www.grumbletext.co.uk/vt.php?t=108

http://www.barclaystory.com/

Tags: Barclays Bank
Banking
Finance
Newport Gwent

.

The below is from the website http://www.prophetmohammed.co.uk/bbc.html
nice to see the leader of the religion of peace talks sense when many of his followers can be seen foaming at the mouth over a few cartoons.

Indeed I shall have to award Mark Byford a Jens dhimmi award for that: Who is Jens ? click and find out.

Well it had to happen. The BBC has finally earnt its senior executives the first joint 'Prophet Mohammed Dhimmi Award'. Despite being funded by UK tax payers, the BBC openly admitted this week that it wasn't interested in delivering a fair and un-biased news service and would carry on with its left-wing, IslamoNazi agenda.

BBC deputy director-general Mark Byford even stated that it wasn't unreasonable for the news to be read by a veiled Muslim woman.

BBC arrogance has continued to rise as successive British governments have caved in to demands for above inflation licence fee increases. Its anti-Western propoganda is seen as a vital tool for radical Islamic clerics looking to brainwash young impressionable British Muslims. It has even been suggested that BBC reporting was partly responsible for the recruitment of the 7/7 suicide bombers.

BBC coverage of the recent conflict in Lebanon virtually ignored innocent Israeli civilian casualties. Most of its reports appeared to come straight from the offices of Hezbollah's 'Ministry of Propoganda'.

It is now impossible for the BBC to reclaim any credible level of authority it may once have held. We currently live in a free society and the BBC has every right to carry on broadcasting its perverted Westernphobic news programmes, but only if it no longer has access to public funding.

The BBC money pit should now be terminated and the licence fee abolished. Just like any other organisation, the BBC should be made to pay its own way. If it's as good as it likes to think then there should be no shortage of people queueing up to subscribe to a new style 'BBC subscription channel - 'BBC Al Jazeera' has a nice ring to it'.

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News,

Yes, we are biased on religion and politics, admit BBC executives

In the Interests of Freedom of Speech

Tags

BBC Bias
Mark Byford
Jens The Dhimmi

.

One of the biggest problems facing illegally-imprisoned U.S. Special Forces soldier Jack Idema has always been the issue of ‘plausible deniability’; that is, the willingness of a few, extremely courageous, individuals to work without the ’safety net’ of their country’s support should they be captured. If this does happen, such men fully expect to have their own governments deny all knowledge of their missions, and to find themselves treated no better than common mercenaries or criminals. Moreover, soldiers serving in this capacity expect to allow themselves to be tarred with this brush; to maintain their government’s secrets and take a fall rather than reveal the nature of their (fully-sanctioned) covert missions.

These are the risks that Jack Idema, and the many others like him, accepted in their work during the War On Terror. They do so because they realise that, without the ability to put skilled soldiers and agents in situations where they are not ’supposed’ to be, no war can be effectively prosecuted.

However. ‘Plausible Deniability’ refers to how a soldier’s own government react to his capture by an enemy power. No soldier serving under such circumstances should expect his own government to collude with an enemy in his arrest, torture and imprisonment.

Honour, you see, has to cut both ways.

If we expect an honourable silence from our Special Forces soldiers, then our governments should, at least, not actively betray them for political gain.

This is, of course, something that those of us who’ve campaigned on behalf of Jack Idema have always accused the U.S. State Department of having been guilty of — That when it was politically-expedient to do so, they not only denied all knowledge of the mission they sent him on, but also, and shamefully, assisted the U.S.’s enemies in arresting, torturing and imprisoning Jack and his men.

So far, however, Jack Idema’s has been the only voice raised in protest against these shameful games of realpolitik, played by effete careerist diplomats, and with brave men’s lives. This week, however, that all changed:

Days later in a dingy room he had electrodes attached to his feet. “Admit you’re an American spy,” snapped the sinister general interrogating him.
“I shouted ‘I’m not… F***!’ The pain as the current went through me was excruciating,” says Berry. His torture went on for six months during which he was caged in a dark 4ft by 8ft cell with an earth floor and no bed or toilet.
When he attacked an officer and tried to escape, he was kicked to a pulp by other guards and then whipped across the back with a metal cable.
“I don’t know how long this beating went on, but I lost consciousness,” says Berry. He was so badly beaten he ended up in hospital where, at last, British Embassy officials visited him.

This, disturbing, extract comes from the recently-published account of one, Colin Berry, a British agent who found himself cut-loose in a manner similar to Idema.

For Berry, the ‘embarrassing’ situation the U.S. and Britain wished to cover up by feeding him to the Islamofascist wolves was that he survived an assassination attempt by killing his two would-be murderers.

For Jack Idema, the ‘embarrassment’ was that he arrested an ‘ex’-Taliban terrorist with too much political clout.

Only, here’s the thing: Do we really believe that the likes of Colin Berry and Jack Idema are expendable? Assets to be thrown aside whenever they become only slightly inconvenient? Or do we take a stand against the kind of people who think electro-torturing our own troops for minor political gain is the way we should fight wars?

So what can we do? Well, anyone reading this with their own blog can sign up for the weekly Free Jack Idema Blogburst by emailing Cao or Rottweiler Puppy for details. I’d urge everyone to do this, as we’re still terribly short on takers. If you want to know more about the story, Cao’s Blog has a large section devoted to Jack Idema. There’s also a timeline here, and, of course, a huge amount of information is available over at SuperPatriots, without whose work none of us would have learned about Jack’s story.

You should also contact the following people and make your feelings known,
especially to write letters of complaint about this despicable situation:

Secret US EMBASSY Fax: - 301-560-5729
(Local US Fax: Goes RIGHT TO Ambassador)
c/o US Ambassador Ronald Neuman
US Embassy- Afghanistan
6180 Kabul Place
Dulles, VA 20189-6180

US Consul Russell Brown - 011-93-70201908 (Fired)
US Consul Addie Harchik- 011-93-70201908
(denied them water and mail at Thanksgiving- Gone)
US Consul Edward Birsner- number yet unknown
US Embassy Translator Wahid - 011-93-70201902
US Embassy Asst Consul Bashir Momman- 011-93-70201923
US Consul (friend) Dawn Schrepel- 011-93-70201908 (Fired)

Ambassador Massoud Khalili
(wounded with Massoud)
(Great and Kind man)
Islamic State of Afghanistan
Embassy of Afghanistan
Ankara, Turkey

H.E. Said Tayeb JAWAD (Afghan Ambassador- powerful in US)
(Northern Alliance Good Guy Fired- New Pro Taliban Ambassador)
Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington
2341 Wyoming Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (202) 483-6414
Fax: (202) 483-9523

Mr. Jahed Hamrah, Consul General (pro-Taliban)
CONSULATE GENERAL OF
AFGHANISTAN IN NEW YORK
360 Lexington Avenue,
11th Floor New York,
New, York, NY 10017
Tel.: (212) 972-2276 or 972-2277
Fax: (212) 972-9046

Chairman Peter Hoekstra
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
H-405, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515-6415;
Office: 202-225-4121 / Fax: 202-225-1991
Toll Free: (877) 858-9040

M. Cherif BASSIOUNI
Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights
On the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Ph: +41(0)22 917 97 27 Fax: +41(0)22 917 90 18

Senator Steven Saland (Jack’s Rep and Neighbor)
9 Jonathan Lane
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack’s Rep)
United States Senate
555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202-224.6342
Fax: 202-224.1100

Senator Richard Burr (Interested)
United States Senate
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3154 / Fax: 202-228-2981

Senator Bill Nelson (in the fight on Jack’s Side)
United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 716
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274 / Fax: 202-228-2183
FL Fax 407-872-7165

Senator Dianne Feinstein (Bennett’s Representative)
United States Senate
Hart Office Building, Room 331
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-3841

Representative Mike McIntyre (Jack’s Representative)
United States Congress
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-2731 / Fax 202-225-5773

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
(Reference Captain Bennett- CA citizen)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841 / Fax: 916-445-4633

Finally, PLEASE NOTE: The SuperPatriots and Jack images on this site are used with WRITTEN COPYRIGHT PERMISSION and any use by any third party is subject to legal action by SuperPatriots.US

jack idema
afghanistan
Technorati Search for Jack Idema

The Free Jack Idema Blogroll:

The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill
The Lone Voice
Kender’s Musings
Irate Nate
The Devil’s Kitchen
Cao’s Blog
Big Dog’s Weblog
Theodore’s World
NIF
Rottweiler Puppy
Making Headlines
Right For Scotland
Freedom Folks
The City Troll
Sacramento Boxing
Causes of Interest
Concatenation of Events
Hyscience
Stuck On Stupid
The Daily Blogster
You Don’t Know Jack
Right Wing Nation

.

So now the story has come out about how hook handed Islamofascist Abu Hamza really lost his hands, he told his followers he’d been hurt defusing a landmine in Afghanistan. But according to newspaper reports the truth is he failed to pay attention during a terror training class and they were blown off.

Now there is a moral there about paying attention in class, but according to the papers it seems that hook later begged an al-Qaeda double-agent who knew the real story to hush it up.

It is one of a series of revelations from the spook recruited by Britain to track Osama Bin Laden’s London network. Morocco-born Omar Nasri also told of meeting second hate preacher Abu Qatada, who he described as "really dangerous".

(Maybe one day the real story will come out about how he lost his hands and we will locate that ticking crocodile....)

(A shot of the bile filled hate cleric Abu Hamza-above-who should have been told to sling his hook by the UK years ago.)

Nasri told how an al-Qaeda instructor, Assad Allah, said he had been learning to make nitroglycerine when someone let the materials get too hot. Instead of dumping it in a sink of ice, the trainee dashed for the door with it.

He said: "The mixture exploded, blowing off both his hands and destroying an eye." "Assad said the man was Abu Hamza and was now in London." Nasri later met him at Finsbury Park Mosque.

He said: "I told him, ‘I trained with Assad Allah. He told me how you lost your hands.’
Hamza whispered, ‘Please don’t share that story with anyone’." Nasri told of meeting Qatada — now in a British jail fighting extradition. He told him that fighting in a jihad or holy war was a Muslim’s "highest calling".

Still look on the bright side had Hamza blown himself to that mythical afterlife and the 72 virgin goats he may well have qualified for a Darwin Award as well.

Tags: Capt. Hook
Terrorism
Afghanistan
al-Qaeda
Omar Nasri
Assad Allah
Jihad
Islam

.

TERRORIST CACHES SEIZED IN RAID
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces conducted an operation against terrorist activities in the vicinity of al-Habbaniyah Tuesday.

Intelligence reports indicated two targeted buildings were being used for terrorist activity. Coalition Forces discovered a weapons cache consisting of rocket-propelled grenades, multiple explosives and small arms in the first targeted building.

After breaching the second targeted building and discovering another weapons cache, Coalition Forces realized the building was a mosque. There were no external markings on the building to indicate it was a mosque.

Both the weapons cache from the mosque and the weapons cache from the first building were destroyed.

Iraqi Security Forces targets kidnapping, torture cell
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD – Special Iraqi Army Forces, with Coalition advisers, conducted a raid today in Sadr City, Baghdad against an illegal armed group cell responsible for kidnapping, torturing and murdering Iraqi civilians and Soldiers.

The cell has more than 30 members and allegedly uses a mosque compound as a place to conduct their illegal activity and store weapons. The cell is known to be targeting Iraqi Soldiers that work to safeguard the lives and security of Iraqi citizens.

Iraqi forces entered the mosque in search of cell members, but no one was detained.

There was minimal damage to the mosque, and Iraqi forces fired on and neutralized a hostile vehicle posing an immediate threat to ground forces at the objective.

There were no reported Iraqi forces or Coalition forces casualties.

Police deliver medical supplies in Ramadi
Multi-National Corps – West PAO
RAMADI, Iraq – Iraqi Policemen with the Western Ramadi Police Sub-Station provided nearly 3,000 pounds of medical supplies to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Ar Ramadi Nov. 16.

The Policemen conducted the relief operation, with assistance from Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, in response to requests from the local populace concerning a shortage in medical supplies.

The supplies, provided by the World Health Organization, are enough to support 10,000 residents for a period of three months. The supplies contain essential medicines and medical devices for primary healthcare workers with limited training.

The operation was the first step in a partnership between the hospital and Iraqi Security Forces to provide aid and basic services to the neediest citizens of Ramadi.

“This is a big and great help for us,” said Abd Alkhalq Z. Hassein, Director Assistant of the hospital. “We are very proud that the Police of this city look after the needs of the people.”

Coalition Forces conduct air strike targeting insurgents in Ramadi
Multi-National Corps – West PAO
RAMADI, Iraq - Coalition Forces were engaged at several locations Sunday in southern Ramadi by a group of insurgents with small-arms fire.

The insurgents took refuge in a nearby building and continued to engage Coalition Forces. After establishing positive identification and in an effort to avoid endangering civilians, Coalition Forces conducted an air strike against the insurgents using a laser-guided missile, killing one insurgent.

Three insurgents fled the building and were engaged by Coalition Forces, resulting in the death of another insurgent.

There were no reports of civilian casualties as a result of the events, and there were no Coalition casualties.

Joint mission nets 8 caches southwest of Baghdad
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
YUSUFIYAH, Iraq – A combined operation conducted by troops from 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regt., 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division discovered a series of eight weapons caches, approximately two miles southwest of Yusufiyah Nov. 16.

Within the caches were two sniper rifles with scopes and ammunition; four rocket propelled grenade launchers with six grenades; five PKC machineguns; two AK-47s with ammunition; two 105mm artillery rounds; 50 lbs of TNT; seven blocks of plastic explosives; five pressure plate improvised explosive device detonators and a variety of
small arms and machine gun ammunition.

Additionally, al Qaeda banners and other terrorist propaganda items were found among the weapons and ammunition.

An explosive ordinance detachment was called to dispose of the weapons and explosives. Four individuals were detained during the operation and are currently being held for questioning.

TWO TERRORISTS KILLED NEAR BAGHDAD
BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Coalition Forces killed two terrorists in an air strike Saturday afternoon near Baghdad.

Intelligence reports indicated the terrorists were associated with improvised explosive device attacks and suicide bombing operations.

Coalition aircraft engaged and destroyed the vehicle with precision fires, killing the driver and occupant.

Successful Coalition operations continue to disrupt the terrorists’ ability to attack innocent civilians as well as Iraqi and Coalition Forces.

EIGHT TERRORISTS KILLED, WEAPONS CACHES DESTROYED
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A Saturday morning raid targeting a terrorist in the Ramadi area led to eight terrorists killed and two suspects detained.

As Coalition Forces moved toward the target building, terrorists began firing rocket-propelled grenades at them; ground forces returned fire, killing three terrorists. Two suspected terrorists were detained, one of whom had been shot during the raid.

Ground forces provided him with on-scene medical care before detaining him.Ground forces also received mortar fire from armed terrorists during the raid. Coalition air support used precision fires to destroy the terrorists’ vehicle, killing five terrorists.

After inspecting the targeted building and property, Coalition Forces found multiple weapons caches, explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. All items were destroyed on site to prevent further use by terrorists.

This raid allowed Coalition Forces to continue the destruction of critical weapons caches and the disruption of the terrorist network in the Ramadi area.

ISF, Coalition Forces find AIF cache complex
Multi-National Division – North PAO
TIKRIT, Iraq – Task Force Lightning Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army, and the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, dealt a blow to anti-Iraqi forces by killing nearly 50 insurgents and capturing 20 while uncovering a large cache complex.

During this combined operation, Task Force Lightning Soldiers from the IA and coalition uncovered six caches, many of which were buried in underground bunkers. The caches included over 400,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, 15,000 rounds of heavy machine gun ammunition, five mortar bipods, three heavy machine guns, three anti-tank weapons, two recoilless rifles and numerous mortar rounds, grenades, flares and artillery rounds. Additionally, the Soldiers noticed an abandoned Nissan truck with false license plates. Upon searching the vehicle, the Soldiers uncovered a number of IED making material and anti-Iraqi forces items such as batteries, cellular phones, blasting caps, explosives, propaganda materials and a large amount of U.S. dollars.

“We made a significant impact on the enemy’s ability to conduct any type of anti-Iraqi force operations,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Poppas, 5-73rd commander.

Elements of the 3/1-5 IA, and 5-73rd Cav., conducted the five-day mission, engaging insurgents while emplacing IEDs in the roads or maneuvering in tunnel and canal systems, staging for attacks.

“The Iraqi Army fought in partnership with us,” Poppas said. “They were dismounted; walking through the canals, in the lead in most cases, fighting side-by-side to root out this enemy insurgent that was dug in to prepared positions.”

Coalition forces used close air support and attack helicopters to assist in the fight with bombs and rockets.

“This was an operation of opportunity,” said Poppas, “through this operation we destroyed command and control structures, destroyed caches of arms, heavy weapons, hundreds of thousands of rounds, and enemy fighters.”

Coalition force units also conducted road-clearing missions and had several IEDs explode, resulting in the deaths of six IA soldiers. During the fighting, small-arms fire killed two CF Soldiers. The deaths of these Coalition Soldiers were discussed in a prior release of information.

Aside from the impact on the enemy’s stronghold, members of the unit also conducted engagements throughout the surrounding villages.

“At the same time, while we are having these direct kinetic operations, we are having non-kinetic engagements with the families of the village who also want the insurgents out of their area so they can return to a sense of normalcy,” Poppas said.

The items discovered in the caches were transferred to Kirkush Military Training Base. A weapons team will determine what items can be transferred to further equip the Iraqi police. The remaining items will be taken to a location for controlled detonation by an explosive ordnance disposal unit.

Iraqi Police and CF discover and disarm rockets
Multi-National Division – North PAO
TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Police and Coalition Forces discovered and disarmed two rockets and launching components Friday in the town of Dibbis, Iraq, located northwest of the city of Kirkuk.

The 52 mm rockets and ignition systems were discovered by Dibbis IP initially. Expert explosive handlers from the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Task Force Lightning, disarmed the explosive weapons and destroyed the rockets.

The controlled detonations at the site caused no damage and there were no Iraqi civilian, IP or CF injuries or casualties.

Over the past seven days, the partnership between IP and CF with cooperation from local citizens has resulted in the discovery of numerous improvised explosive devices, mortars and multiple weapons caches near Kirkuk.

MND-B Soldiers seize large weapons cache in southwest Baghdad
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized a large weapons cache in southwest Baghdad Nov. 18.

The Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 89th Calvary Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, seized the cache at approximately 9:30 a.m.

The seizure of arms and munitions consisted of three 155mm artillery rounds, a 120mm mortar round, 55 60mm mortar rounds, 37 anti-personnel rocket-propelledgrenade rounds, 32 anti-armor RPG rounds, a long-range cordless phone, a fragmentation grenade, six homemade explosive propane tanks, three rifle scopes, a double-barrel shotgun, a crew-served weapon, a bag of blasting caps, 400 7.62mm linked rounds, 400 7.62 mm loose rounds and 200 .50 caliber rounds.

Tags: 101st Fighting Keyboardists
Iraq
MNF Iraq
Al Qaeda
BBC Bias
Saddam Hussain
War On Terror

.

BIGGEST BAR IN WALES!

The Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA, will be running Wales’s biggest beer festival at Cardiff City Hall this week. Featuring real ales from across Wales, the rest of the United Kingdom and for the first time beers from Germany, the 2006 Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival is set to be the biggest ever.

There are now over 30 breweries in Wales and most of these will be represented at the biggest real ale event in Wales. On the Friday afternoon at the festival, the Champion Beer of Wales competition will be judged by an expert panel. Last year the winner was the multi-award winning Bullmastiff Brewery from Cardiff and brewery owner Bob Jenkins has high hopes for his beers in the competition this year.

According to James Daley, CAMRA Regional Director, “With over 30 real ale breweries in Wales, we now have more breweries than we have had in 70 years. Between them these breweries produce over 180 different beers throughout the year and we will be aiming to have as many of these as possible available at the beer festival”.

The Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival is the biggest beer festival in Wales and is the showcase event for Welsh real ale breweries. During the 3 days of the Festival 10 tons of beer will be tasted by over 4000 thirsty customers.

“We have customers who come from right across the globe for the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival ”, says James Daley, “It’s a celebration of the best that our brewers in Wales can produce alongside the best beers from the rest of Britain and Germany. We even had one customer fly in from the USA last year”.

Over the past 5 years, the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival has aimed to offer the thirsty public the best range and quality of real ales, ciders and perries and this year will be no exception. The Great Welsh has has grown over the years from the Cardiff Beer Festival, which was held at the STAR centre in Splott(note of English people and Americans its not pronouced SPLO!) . It is now the Campaign for Real Ale’s biggest beer festival in Wales and one of the biggest in the UK.

No mice will be admitted entry this year, instead these can be found at:The Central Bar in Windsor Place, Cardiff. See post below for more details.

Festival Facts:
• Over 19, 000 pints of real ale, cider and perry will be sold at the festival.
• That’s over 10 tons of beer, cider and perry!
• Over 4000 customers will be attending the 3-day festival.
• 170 different real ales will be available at the Festival.
• An average of 11 pints every minute will be sold when the Festival is open.
• Around 50 ciders and perries (pear ciders), many from Welsh producers, will also be available to complement the real ales.
• Over 100 staff, all CAMRA volunteers, will be staffing the Festival.
• A range of beers from Germany will also be on sale at the upstairs bar.

The Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival: Cardiff City Hall - Open Thursday 23rd November 5pm-11, Friday and Saturday 24th-25th November 11-11

Admission £3 (£5 after 5pm Friday) includes souvenir glass and programme

Further Information: www.gwbcf.org.uk

Tags: Camra
Real Ale
Mice
Cardiff City Hall
Cardiff
Thats Splott not splo
J D Wetherspoon
James Daley

.

Diners at a city pub left in anger after spotting MICE scurrying across the floor.

Customers at The Central Bar in Windsor Place, Cardiff, spotted the furry rodents running throughout the premises but had no idea where they are coming from.

Tim Farr, 30, of Pentyrch Street, Cathays, Cardiff, holds regular meetings at the JD Wetherspoon pub with members of Timeless - a Doctor Who appreciation society.

On Tuesday night Mr Farr, a VAT advisor for the Inland Revenue, was there with three other members of the group.

He said: 'We were sat at a table upstairs and I saw something little shoot across the floor, away from me under another table.

'I didn't think anything of it until a friend said, 'Did you see that? It was a mouse'.'

Other customers in the pub then reported more sightings of the creatures to staff.

Mr Farr said: 'You could see people moving away from tables elsewhere, saying a mouse or rat just ran past.

'To be honest, it didn't bother me. I was more concerned the food was taking so long to come out - that's why we moved on to somewhere else.

'If they were coming from the kitchen I'd have been more concerned, but I don't think they were.'

One customer, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I was horrified. A lot of people eating there had seen them.'

Eddie Gershon, spokesman for JD Wethermice, said he was aware of the issue.

'We've had a problem with rodents in recent months,' he said.

'Environmental Health is fully aware of that but there's no problem with the kitchen.

'We've tried to solve it by contacting pest control and we're not certain where they're coming from.

'The problem is definitely far less problematic than it has been in the past.' - So its a problem but not as much of a problem as it has been before, nice bit of pr fluff their from Eddie at J D Wethermice. One point that has not been mentioned was that of the poor people who whilst having to endure rodents with their meals(not saying a thing about what passed for curry in their pubs) had no real apology from JD Wethermice, also the reaction of the management of The Central was to ban the people who reported said problem to them.

A very stalinst attitude methinks, still that seems to be par for the course with JD Wethermice, below is a copy of a mail about the ban: Note the bits about rude staff and snide remarks, nice to see that its not just the TTL in Newport where that happens but seems to be a company wide policy of abuse towards the very people who pay their wages.

My last article about the poor standards in JD Wethermice pubs.

>Subject: Mice update

>Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2006 11:40:05 +0000
>
>The mice in the Central were first reported publicly last Thursday in the
>Echo: http://tinyurl.com/y2wqqp
>
>I have not seen them myself and have not contacted Health & Safety.
>
>The situation with me being banned is this: The mice were brought to the
>attention of the public by TIMELESS, a Dr Who appreciation society which
>met Tuesdays in the Central. One member of that society (a "ginger-haired
>person") is alleged to have taken a photograph of a mouse; the general
>manager of the Central, Mr Andrew Harries, banned the whole TIMELESS group
>from the pub as a result.
>
>I'm a member of the Cardiff University Sci-Fi Society, a separate group
>with no affiliation to TIMELESS; indeed, until yesterday we were unaware of
>that society's existence. We've met in the Central on Mondays at 7:30 for
>two years, almost without interruption, and this year have been bringing
>about 20 people to each meeting. As we were gathering at the Central last
>night for our meeting, one of the members of staff misidentified us as the
>banned society and we were refused service.
>
>We were treated with an odd degree of rudeness by the staff. The first taff
>member I spoke with, a supervisor, initially refused identify who had
>banned us or why. The duty manager was more useful but, when we were making
>arrangements to meet with Mr Harries, she made an odd wisecrack about us
>being "too hung over" to make a 9 o'clock meeting.
>
>Mr Harries was unavailable yesterday; we were told he would be at work
>today to talk with the president of the society, We went to meet him and he
>was not there, but "come back tomorrow". If he proves to be as effective
>tomorrow I'm going to the Wetherspoons regional director; if someone has
>contact information for him I'd be grateful.
>
>The Cardiff Sci-Fi Society has not formally asked for CAMRA's help yet and
>I'm not making that request at this time; this is, however, quite an odd
>turn of events; the fact that the Central has a rodent infestation is now a
>matter for public discussion, and their response to it is concerning, and
>whatever happens with Sci-Fi, it may require some scrutiny.
>
>--Edmund

Tags: Camra
Real Ale
Mice
Julie Van Quickelberg
Bryn Lloyd
The Central Bar
Andrew Harries
J D Wetherspoon
Newport Gwent

.

One MP has woken up to the enemy within, now all we need is the rest of the house to realise he is right and we can get this once fine nation back on track.

Mr. Paul Goodman (Wycombe) (Con): We know that the central theme of the Queen’s Speech is the terrorist threat and our security response. I observe in passing that no Labour Back Bencher remains in place to make a speech on this or any other theme on the first day of our debates on the Queen’s Speech. I will do my best to fill the gap. This is my first chance to address the House about these issues since my constituents in High Wycombe woke up on 10 August to find themselves in the eye of a media storm about the aeroplane terror plot. Four of my constituents were arrested and two have since been charged with serious offences. I must, of course, presume that my constituents are innocent until or unless a court decides otherwise, but it is important to say that 10 August was an immeasurably sad day for High Wycombe and it is essential to pay tribute to Thames Valley police, to the local mosque committee and local imams, to Wycombe district council and to all local people for the good sense that they have shown during these difficult weeks and months.

More than 9,000 of my constituents are Muslims, almost 11 per cent. of my electorate. I thus represent more Muslim voters than any other Member of Parliament of my party. I therefore necessarily see one of my most important duties as a constituency MP and, indeed, more widely, as being to help to do what I can to create a moderate, prosperous and integrated British Muslim majority. The aeroplane plot, the Dhiren Barot trail and conviction, the Abu Hamza affair, the horror of 7/7, the attempted shoe-bomb atrocity by Richard Reid and the whole terrible history of recent events stretching back to 9/11 and beyond should remind the House-if, with our eyes also on currents events in Afghanistan and Iraq, we need any reminding-that this aspiration and our common security are under threat.

A central question about the Queen’s Speech, therefore, is whether both it and Government policy more broadly will curtail terror, build security and help to deliver that moderate, prosperous and integrated British Muslim majority that we all want to see. Ministers must thus convince the House that the analysis that accompanies their actions is thoroughly thought through. I shall risk a medical analogy: relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain are clearly to some degree poisoned. Seeking to drain the poison and heal those relations is a bit like a doctor treating an illness. We have to diagnose the cause of the illness before seeking to cure it.

There is no shortage of diagnoses. Some claim that the main cause of Muslim alienation is racism and Islamophobia; others that it is poverty and lower life chances; and others still that the cause is intergenerational conflict between older people who, in some cases, still inhabit psychologically, if not physically, the hill villages of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, and more rootless younger people who identify neither with traditional life in those villages nor with modern Britain. Other voices cite the failure of the multi-culturalist experiment in delivering social cohesion, and others point to foreign policy.

For myself, I believe that all those observations are part of any sensible diagnosis. As the first parliamentary Member of my party, as far as I know, to call publicly for an independent inquiry into the Iraq war on 2 June 2003, I am scarcely likely to argue otherwise. However, in my view these observations do not constitute the whole diagnosis. Clearly, there is something missing. Dhiren Barot, for example, cannot originally have been a victim of Islamophobia as he was raised as a Hindu. Jermaine Lindsay, the 7/7 bomber, cannot have been caught in an intergenerational struggle with Pakistani elders as he was black. Mohammed Sidique Khan, another 7/7 bomber, cannot have had his livelihood damaged by lower life chances as he was a graduate of Leeds Metropolitan university.

I suggest to the House that that missing something is the ideology of Islamism. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (David Maclean) said, Islamism is not Islam. Islam is a religion-a great religion at that and one, it seems to me, as various, as complex, as multi-faceted and as capable of supporting a great civilisation as Christianity. Islamism, however, is an ideology forged largely in the past 100 years, and that word ‘ideology’ should help to convey to the House a flavour that is as much modern as mediaeval.

Like communism and like fascism, those other modern ideologies, Islamism divides not on the basis of class or of race, but on the basis of religion. To this politician, it has three significant features. First, it separates the inhabitants of the dar-al-Islam-the house of Islam-and the dar-al-Harb-the house of war-and, according to Islamist ideology, those two houses are necessarily in conflict. Secondly, it proclaims to Muslims that their political loyalty lies not with the country that they live in, but with the umma-that is, the worldwide community of Muslims. Thirdly, it aims to bring the dar-al-Islam under sharia law.

I am not an expert on Islam, but I have learned enough about it since I was first elected to this place in 2001 to recognise that its view, and our inherited view of the difference between the sacred and secular, diverge. In our inherited view, the sacred and the secular are separate. The Christian tradition from which our inherited view springs has always acknowledged a distinction between what is God’s and what is Caesar’s. In Islam, that distinction is harder to perceive.

It is, of course, true that in the Muslim societies in which I have travelled sharia law and secular law exist side by side. In Pakistan, for example, there are both secular and sharia courts. None the less, the distinction is anathema, so to speak, to the Islamists. They look back for inspiration to Mohammed’s original political settlement, in which the religious and political were, in effect, one and the same. They are, as the phrase has it, ‘dreaming of Medina.’ They seek to restore the caliphate to a glory that is tinged with nostalgia and longing.

Let me give a hard example of what that means and its significance in the context of the Queen’s Speech. The Home Secretary was recently and notoriously heckled at a public meeting in Leyton by Abu Izzadeen, another convert to Islam, who was formerly known as Trevor Brooks. He said to the Home Secretary: ‘How dare you come to a Muslim area?’

That was not some random insult or interruption; Mr. Izzadeen knew what he was doing. He was asserting that Muslims are in a majority in the part of Leyton in which the Home Secretary was speaking. He was therefore claiming that part of the country as part of the dar-al-Islam. He was saying, in effect, that sharia law, not British law, should run in Leyton. Mr. Izzadeen’s version of sharia law would be consistent with dispensations for Muslims from some aspects of British law, the application of a sharia criminal code, special taxes for non-Muslims, a public ban on alcohol consumption and the closure of pubs and bars, and a ban on conversions from Islam to other faiths.

We can, of course, choose to dismiss Mr. Izzadeen as an isolated fanatic, but such a view may be unwise. There is polling evidence to suggest that his views tap into a reservoir of sympathy and support. For example, an ICM poll that was commissioned last February found that four out of 10 British Muslims want sharia law introduced to parts of this country. It is important to note that that almost certainly represents a degree of support for what I would call soft sharia-in other words, for the application of some sharia law in relation to family arrangements alone. None the less, even the implementation of soft sharia would mark, I think for the first time, one group of British citizens living under a different set of laws from other British citizens.

We must consider what the likely future effect would be on domestic Muslim support for sharia, and even for terror, of a further downward spiral events, of further international tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims, of further domestic terrorist incidents-which, alas, there may be-and of racist and xenophobic backlashes against British Muslims. That is the challenge that we all face together. In my view, it is a challenge to Britain that is no less pressing than the challenge of climate change, which has occupied much of the debate today. That is the challenge for the political and media classes as a whole, and it is especially the challenge for this Government and the security and terror-related aspects of the Queen’s Speech.

There are three tests for those parts of the Queen’s Speech and, in concluding, I will put them as questions. The first question is: does the whole Government machine clearly recognise that Islamism is a key element in poisoning relations between Muslims and non-Muslims? The evidence is ambiguous. The Prime Minister has said, crucially: ‘The rules of the game have changed’.

Individual Ministers, such as the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whom I heard speaking on this matter last week, see the scale of the problem. However, as a brilliant pamphlet-Martin Bright’s “When Progressives Treat with Reactionaries”-for the think tank Policy Exchange indicated, the foreign policy, Home Office and security establishments are divided on how to deal with the Islamists. Anyone who doubts that those divisions exist should ponder the leaked memos from Government in relation to the proposed visit by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, with which Mr. Bright illustrates his pamphlet.

The second question for the Government is: can they prove to the House and to the country that the proposals in the Queen’s Speech on security are inspired by the long-term good of the country, rather than by short-term political manoeuvring? That is a crucial question. Ministers must recognise that the yoking together of spin-which my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) mentioned and which I describe as the practices devised originally to deliver new Labour from the failures of the Kinnock and Foot years-and the selling of the Iraq war has eviscerated trust in the Government.

Alas, the habit of spin continues. The Chancellor now tells us that he wants to get tough on security, but, as I pointed out to the Prime Minister this afternoon, only £476,000 has been seized from suspect sources in six years and only four enforcement actions have been taken against Islamic charities-not that I am criticising Islamic charities as a whole, of course. The Home Secretary-that rival to the Chancellor, we read-will no doubt claim that he will be even tougher, but according to a written answer that I received recently: ‘There has been no centrally issued instruction to prison governors on the receipt of Islamist publications by prisoners.’-[ Official Report, 26 October 2006; Vol. 450, c. 2126W.]
That is remarkable. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for her part, must realise that those who sit on her new Integration and Cohesion Commission are unlikely to be optimistic, given that its predecessor, the huge “Tackling Extremism Together” project, has had only four of its proposals implemented. The Secretary of State for Education and Skills, in the wake of the collapse of his policy on admissions to faith schools, must now ensure that university principals strike the right balance between allowing free speech to flourish on campuses and closing down the incitement of violence, whether by Islamists or by anyone else. The Government as a whole must recognise that their motives in arguing for 90 days’ detention are greeted with deep suspicion, as my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) pointed out in his characteristically incisive speech earlier today.

The third and final question for the Government is: if they acknowledge the dangers posed by Islamism, and if their analysis is correct, will they see the necessary action through? The aftermath of the recent remarks by the Leader of the House about the niqab-remarks that I suspect were driven by his own concern about shariaisation-revealed deep uncertainty within the Government. Soon after he spoke out, voices were heard suggesting that his remarks had alienated moderates and driven Muslims into the hands of the extremists; that his words could have been better chosen; and that now was not the right time to have a public discussion about Islamism. I am not so sure. There is a deep problem. Politicians’ words can nearly always be better chosen, and now is never the right time, it seems, to have a public discussion about Islamism and integration. Broadly speaking, we have not been having this public discussion since the Rushdie affair, and my main concern about not having an informed, decent, consistent and rigorously thought through public discussion about Islamism centres on the effect that that postponement will have, not only on the non-Muslim majority, but on the Muslim moderates-the moderate and prosperous greater share of Muslims to whom I referred earlier.
The leadership of the Muslim community that I know best, in High Wycombe, is moderate and sensible. The community makes a huge contribution to the town. It is well integrated into both the main political parties and it produced the first Conservative Asian mayor in the country-Mohammed Razzaq-in the 1980s. However, it is clear that nationally, and especially among the alienated young, the moderates are not making the running; the Islamists are making the running. The moderates are in a position strikingly similar to that of the Social Democratic and Labour party in Northern Ireland, which has, in the past 15 years, been outpaced, outwitted and outsmarted by Sinn Fein-IRA, with consequences that are still fully to be seen. Deferring the debate further will only allow this process to continue. When it finally takes place, which it will, it will probably be noisier and nastier than would otherwise have been the case. It is essential that the moderates grasp that the main threat of the Islamists is as much to them as to anyone else.

This Queen’s Speech thus presents us with a choice-we can either take an approach that tends to lurch from pacification in the wake of future highly charged public rows, such as the veils controversy, to panic in the wake of future terrorist attacks, which we are, alas, told are only too likely to happen, or we can rise to the challenge in an informed, decent and consistent way. In facing the challenge, Opposition Members must acknowledge and be mindful of the fact that Ministers have a responsibility that none of the rest of us at present has to bear. George Orwell once wrote of the ‘deep, deep sleep of England, from which I sometimes fear that we shall never wake till we are jerked out of it by the roar of bombs. ‘On 7/7, we heard the roar of bombs in London. I sometimes worry that the deep, deep sleep that Orwell described in the 1930s is still here in relation to Islamism in sections of the Government, parts of the political and media establishment, the House and the country. This is one of the most urgent problems facing us, and if we are in that deep, deep sleep, it is time for all of us to wake up.

**Would that a certain Tony Blair PM would wake up.

Tags:Islam
Jihad
Veil
Abu Izzadeen
Abu Izzadeen
Conservative
Paul Goodman

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(From todays Sun) WOMEN are to be banned from wearing burkas and veils in Holland.

The Dutch government last night confirmed plans to outlaw the wearing of traditional Muslim gowns in public places.

It declared that it was acting out of concerns for national security.

Immigration minister Rita Verdonk — dubbed Iron Rita for her tough stance on immigration — said: “We will act as soon as possible, banning burkas and other clothing that covers a person’s entire face in public places.

“The Cabinet finds it undesirable that face-covering clothing, including the burka, is worn in public places for reasons of public order, security and protection of citizens.”

Holland’s move is bound to reopen the debate in Britain about the wearing of traditional Muslim dress.

Cabinet veteran Jack Straw sparked a row last month when he called for Muslim women to stop wearing veils. Link To Story: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006530667,00.html

http://newportcity.blogspot.com/2006/11/interview-with-glove-puppet.html

Dont hold your breath on that happening over here in the UK, after all this is the nation that allows criminal scum to sue for being forced off drugs, allows them to sue when shot by the police despite trying to attack officers at the time, where islamofascists can spout hate on the streets but the BNP end up in court(twice). Now as if that were not bad enough even when the authorities do decide to kick someone out they can sue because of delays in the system.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006530639,00.html

If I had the money I would be out of Blairs New Britain in a shot.

Tags:Veil
Islam

.

No I am not talking about chavs, although yes they can be classed as vermin but the rodent type vermin. Indeed next time you sit down in a J D Wetherspoons pub, think about this story whilst eating your meal that has been lovingly prepared by a microwave technician and wonder just where them rodents have been...

First off we have this article, story below the link: http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news_detail.aspx?articleid=23900&categoryid=9008

Rats are Dr Who fans

Diners at a Doctor Who (DW) convention in a Cardiff Wetherspoons were shouting exterminate as mice scurried across the carpet. Timm Farr, organiser of the event said: "To be honest it didn't bother me. I was more concerned about the food taking so long to come out - that's why we moved on to somewhere else." - Maybe Bryn from the TTL in Newport Gwent was "working" that night, maybe if they complain they to will recieve a corporate fluff letter off someone called Julie Van Quickelberg as I did earlier this year.

Eddie Gershon, spokesman for JD Wetherspoon said he knew about the mice.

"Environmental Health is fully aware of that but there's no problem with the kitchen. Although, we're not certain where they're coming from."

Perhaps they're coming out of the tardis.

13,000th pub visit

Four dedicated drinkers from the Midlands have set a new record after supping a pint at the 13,000th pub - in a bid to drink at every outlet in the country.

The Newt in Birmingham city centre played host to the landmark achievement. Dedicated drinker Pete Hill from West Bromwich and his fellow "Tairsters" have spent 22-years on the project so far. That's just over 11 pubs a week - good job they're not binge drinkers.

Fancy a Basil Fawlty?

A new Collins guide called Shame About the Boat Race has been published to help decipher modern rhyming slang. Sentences like: "Fancy going down the battle for a couple of Britneys and a Winona — then getting an Andy out for a Basil?" Snifter didn't have a Scoody Doo what that was about until he opened the dictionary. "Fancy going down the battle cruiser (boozer) for a couple of Britney Spears (beers) and a Winona Ryder (cider) and then getting the Andy McNabb (cab) out for a Basil Fawlty (balti)?"

Oh no not finished yet. Here we have a cool comment on this from an online weblog. http://oberonfan.blogspot.com/2006/11/diners-dash-as-rodents-scurry-across.html

But no what is this (an old story rodent related from 2001), it seems that J D Wethermice have been fined £13,500 after the bodies of dead mice were left adhering to a sticky 'glueboard' set to trap them at one of its City of London pubs.

Oh here is the internet report on this, seems that J D Wethermice have not improved much since 2001. (link below and tell of woe) http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=360333&in_page_id=2&in_a_source=

Mouse droppings were found littering several rooms, including the basement kitchen, and in a larder containing crisps, while rodents were twice spotted running around during the inspection. In the basement of the Liberty Bounds pub in Trinity Square inspectors found a cardboard box covered in droppings - with part of a caterers' health and safety manual inside.

The chairman of City of London magistrates, announcing the fine, said: 'It is disgusting for an organisation such as JD Wetherspoon to allow one of their premises to deteriorate to such a condition.'

A spokesman for City of London environmental health, which brought the prosecution, said: 'This fine fell just short of the maximum £15,000 and shows how serious a breach of the hygiene regulations it was.'

In the basement, floors and walls of the boiler room lobby were strewn with rodent droppings. The pub's bottle store contained mouse excrement and a live mouse was seen running around.

Wetherspoon pleaded guilty to three charges under the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations Act 1995. A spokesman for the pub chain said: 'The company has been trading for 22 years and this is the first time we have been prosecuted on such a matter We have our own independent environmental health team which checks our pubs on a regular basis, but it was a complete failure on this occasion.'

He added: 'The situation has now been rectified. The manager has left the pub. He still works for the company, but I cannot say where.' - Let me guess he is the J D piped piper maybe?

Wetherspoon has 530 pubs across the UK, many of them in prime locations. The Liberty Bounds is close to the Tower of London and is visited by many tourists.

Some non related, non rodent related links, but still related to JD Wetherspoons putting profits over customer concerns. Oh by the way still waiting for an apology letter Julie, after all your firm lets rodents run riot through the pubs, surley staff abuse oap's and yet take the high handed attitude of not apologising to customers. Over to JD Wethermice for a reply...

http://newportcity.blogspot.com/2006/07/j-d-wetherspoon-to-big-to-apologise.html

http://newportcity.blogspot.com/2006/07/j-d-wetherspoon-corporate-fluff-letter.html

http://newportcity.blogspot.com/2006/06/jd-wetherspoon-unable-to-handle-honest.html

http://newportcity.blogspot.com/2006/06/j-d-wetherspoon-once-good-chain-now.html

Tags: Camra
Real Ale
Mice
Julie Van Quickelberg
Bryn Lloyd
J D Wetherspoon
Newport Gwent

And lastly a link to another unhappy and I am sure ex J D Wethermice customer: http://feedbackjdwetherspoons.blogspot.com/

.

On Thursday, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, compared climate sceptics to advocates of Islamic terror. Neither, she said, should have access to the media.

** So now we see the true (in her case ugly face) of Zanu New Labour. Dont agree with govt, policies then you should be censored out of the media.

Maybe it has something to do with climate change being bollocks, billions being pissed up against the wall by the most inept government in human history, a sad failed bunch desperate to cling to any vote and bugger the facts.

someone who should be censored according to the ugly horse Beckett

And of course a fine bit on how to deal with the harridan Beckett. http://devilskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/11/oh-who-will-rid-me-of-this-turbulent.html

Tags: Margaret Beckett
Climate change
Zanu New Labour

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So you have worked hard all your life, endured the hard times, maybe did your bit for the nation during its times of need, worn the uniform and stood up fight for the country. However all of that means jack to the new age, Starbuck drinking, anti US, anti Israel, bleating types at El Beeb. Indeed the BBC style and fluff over serving the nation has now even reached BBC Radio Solent...

If your some radical muslim, fine air time for you matey, hate the nation then fine come on down, but if your old well I am sorry but the state broadcaster thinks that you dont fit the profile. Just not "yoof" enough.

The following is from The Telegraph, link and reposted below:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=1VLUPDN5A1MNPQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/11/15/nold15.xml

The BBC was accused of ageism yesterday after a leaked memo revealed that phone-in presenters on a local radio station have been barred from allowing callers who sound old on air.

Mia Costello, managing editor of BBC Radio Solent, told her broadcasters: "I don't want to hear really elderly voices."

She instructed presenters to appeal to an imaginary couple she called "Dave and Sue", who would typically be aged between 45 and 64. "Only do caller round-ups about people in this age range," she said.

Her memo was leaked after she axed several of her older broadcasters, including the BBC's disability affairs correspondent Peter White, who had a Saturday breakfast show on the station until last week. Other presenters to go included Pippa Greenwood, the gardening expert.

Mr White, 59, one of the corporation's most experienced broadcasters, condemned the policy. He started his BBC career on Radio Solent, which broadcasts to a large area of central southern England, from studios in Southampton in 1971.

Like other BBC local radio stations, many of Solent's regular listeners are aged in their sixties and above.

Mr White, who is a presenter on the Radio 4 You and Yours programme as well as a commentator on disability matters for BBC television and radio, described the memo as "condescending and contemptuous of older listeners who are as entitled to contribute to programmes as any other age group."

He questioned whether it was in the remit of the BBC, as a publicly funded broadcaster, to "disenfranchise a section of listeners who contribute to that funding as licence payers".

"I am disgusted by this," he said. "It is ageism, and one wonders who is leaning on the managing editor from a more senior level for her to write such a memo."

In it, Ms Costello said "only talk about things that are positive and appealing to people in the 45 to 64 age group". She said listeners were deserting Radio Solent for "more upbeat sounding stations".

She said broadcasters needed to "nurture" younger people and added: "Whatever your view of this policy, this is what the business needs, so please make sure you're doing the right thing." Mr White, who is blind, has presented In Touch, the Radio 4 programme for the visually impaired, since 1974. He was given one week's notice that his Radio Solent programme was being scrapped. Other presenters to go include a jazz show host, Chris Walker, and a veteran sailing correspondent, Dennis Skillicorn.

Mr White, who lives in Winchester, said he believed station bosses were "rattled" by declining audience figures.

Industry figures show that Solent has lost a quarter of its audience share in the last year.

A BBC spokesman said: "We do value our older listeners and it doesn't matter if you're 45 or 105." - Although they would rather you just pay your annual fee and not bother them if you would be so kind. Maybe the problem with the falling figures have more to do with the BBC not focusing on existing markets and chasing some pipe dream "yoof" market instead and of course employing tosspots like Ms Costello will not endear the station to its more mature listeners.

Tags: BBC
Mia Costello
BBC Radio Solent

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Iraqi Police captures members of insurgent cell
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD – Special Iraqi Police forces, with coalition advisors, conducted a raid Nov. 13 in Haswah and captured six insurgents believed to be responsible for improvised explosive device attacks that injure and kill Iraqi civilians and Iraqi Security Force members.

The insurgents are also allegedly responsible for criminal activities in the Haswah and Baghdad areas that include extortion, murder, kidnapping and car theft. The insurgents help finance other insurgent cells in their attacks against ISF.

There were arrest warrants for the insurgents. Nine additional suspects were detained by Iraqi forces during the raid and several assault rifles were confiscated.

Iraqi forces entered a mosque compound while conducting the operation, but did not enter the mosque. Coalition forces did not enter the mosque compound or the mosque.

Operations on the objective caused minimal damage and there were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or Coalition forces casualties.

Iraqi Special Forces captures leaders of insurgent cell
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO
BAGHDAD – Special Iraqi Security forces, with coalition advisors, conducted a raid Nov. 12 in Arab A’ Jabur and captured four members of an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for murders, kidnappings and bomb attacks that kill and injure Iraqi civilians and Iraqi police forces.

The insurgents are also allegedly responsible for taking over Iraqi civilian houses in the Arab A’ Jabur area to use for expanding their network, causing families to be displaced.

Operations on the objective caused minimal damage and there were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or Coalition forces casualties.

MND-B Soldiers respond to rocket attack, detain three suspected terrorists
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained three suspected terrorists in Baghdad’s Doura Province at approximately 5:45 a.m. Nov. 13.

The Soldiers, from 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, responded to a rocket attack and observed two suspects fleeing from the scene. The suspects attempted to evade the patrol, but were unsuccessful.

The patrol secured the suspects for further questioning.

Servicemembers become citizens on Veterans Day
13th SC(E), LSA Anaconda - PAOLSA
Anaconda, Iraq – Proud non-citizen servicemembers raised their right hands, took the Oath of Allegiance, and became proud American citizens during an inspirational Veterans Day weekend ceremony at Logistics Support Area Anaconda in Balad, Iraq Nov.12.

A number of dignitaries spoke to the almost capacity crowd at LSA Anaconda’s Sustainer Theater. Brig. Gen. Michael J. Terry, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Commanding General, delivered the key note speech. Terry told the new citizens and the crowd that there is probably no other situation or investment, except serving your Lord, where a person can give up so little and receive so much more in return. “Becoming an American can have nothing to do with birth or ancestry.” Terry said. “That is because America is an idea, not a race.”

Spec. Simon Muturi originally from Kenya, among the servicemembers receiving American citizenship, said he would continue to be a Kenyan at heart, but wants to be an American. “America is where it’s at.” Muturi said. “ No other country can give you the opportunities like America can.” Muturi joined the Army in 2000.

Already a momentous occasion, the ceremony took on a more special meaning by taking place in a combat zone during Veterans Day weekend. “Just as important as your new citizenship, and just in time for Veterans Day, we honor the fact that you are also Veterans” Terry said.

President George W. Bush speaking via a video message congratulated the servicemembers and welcomed them as fellow American citizens.

Dr. Emilio T. Gonzalez, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director said this year marks the 40 year anniversary of his own naturalization ceremony. Gonzales said people are allowed to come into America seamlessly because they don’t swear allegiance to a party or person, but an idea that is bigger than all of us. Gonzales shared his own stories of the opportunities afforded him as an American. He is a retired Colonel from the U.S. Army. In 2005 President Bush appointed and the senate confirmed Gonzales to head the USCIS. “Only in America do those type of opportunities exist.” Gonzales said. Gonzales led the candidates in the Oath of Allegiance.

Rounding out the dignitaries that were present are Mr. John M. Bugler ,USCIS Rome District Director, who performed the Presentation of Candidates and 13th SC (E) Command Sgt. Maj. Terry Fountain who delivered the opening remarks.

The proud new citizens are Carlos Arjona, Fernando Avila-Luna, Lorena Ayres, Latifatu Bakare, Benjamin Brito, June-Ray Cadiz, Gustavo Castellanos-Rivera, Luz Adriann Ceballos-Guevara, Ray De La Cruz Sanchez, Juan Delgado-Preciado, Aly Diasse, Kevaughn Edwards, Paul Ernandes, Yaser Essedraoui, Gafatasi Fuimaono, Carlos Gastelu, Maciej Gebala, Nicole Elizabeth Hart, Sok Jin Hong, Bartlomiej Jakowlew, Shilue Johnson, Esteban Leon-Cevallos, Rene Madsen, Kristofferson Marzo, Zayvier Moodie, Simon Muturi, Moonsammy Narinesammy, Oliver Nied, Oscar Ochoa, Kennedy Osara, Tito Parra Fiallo, Alberto Rivera-Jaquez, Angelo Rocha, Jesus Romero, Sergio Sepulveda-Moller, Lester Spence, Preston Suero Delgado, Biel Thiec, Jose Vaca Ramirez, Jorge Vargas, Juan Verduguez Moreno, Dmytro Vilyaykin and Thong Yang.

EIGHT TERRORISTS KILLED; 41 DETAINED DURING MULTIPLE RAIDS
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed eight terrorists and detained 41 suspected terrorists while conducting multiple raids in the Baghdad area this morning. During one of the raids, Coalition Forces called for the suspects in a building to surrender. The suspected terrorists began firing on Coalition Forces and attempted to flee the building. Coalition Forces returned fire killing eight terrorists and wounding one. Sixteen others threw down their weapons and surrendered.

The detainees are believed to have close ties with members of an al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist cell as well as links to foreign fighter facilitators.

Recent intelligence reports indicate the al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist cell has been active with local vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and supporting the foreign fighter network. This intelligence was confirmed after ground forces discovered a suicide IED initiator and other explosive devices during the early morning raids.

Coalition and Iraqi forces continue to conduct operations around the clock and will persevere in their mission to deny and destroy terrorist safe havens, equipment and weapons.

IA, MND-B Soldiers seize weapons in apartment complex
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO
MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers seized a large weapons cache and detained three individuals in the Qa-Qaa apartment Complex in Mahmudiyah, 30 km south of Baghdad, Saturday morning.

Iraqi Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, Fourth Brigade, Sixth Iraqi Army Division, teamed up with a U.S. advisory team from 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and conducted a “cordon and knock” operation in the apartment complex.

Three 107 mm rockets, 24 82 mm mortar rounds, 17 60 mm mortar rounds, 19 60 mm mortar fuses, 100 mortar charges, two mortar tripods and aiming devices, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, an AK-47 assault rifle, a RPK medium machine gun, false identification cards and four license plates were seized during the operation.

The most significant find in the cache was the discovery of 25 anti-armor improvised explosive device cover plates.

The operation was delayed briefly with the discovery of a car bomb parked near the apartment complex. An explosive ordinance team was brought in to dispose of the car bomb. The bomb was detonated on site.

The operation was based on actionable intelligence collected from sources in the area.

The detainees are in the custody of the Iraqi Army for questioning.

Coalition Forces kill 11 insurgents in Ramadi
Multi-National Corps – West PAO
RAMADI, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed 11 insurgents in three related incidents in Ramadi.

On Nov. 13, Coalition Forces observed a small number of insurgents emplacing an improvised explosive device. The insurgents were engaged by Coalition Forces with small arms fire, killing two. The three remaining insurgents returned to the emplacement site and Coalition Forces fired one tank main gun round, killing all three insurgents. There were secondary explosions, and the remains of the IED continued to burn for about an hour.

Following an IED attack on a Coalition Vehicle four hours later in the same vicinity, four insurgents were killed after they attempted to take mission essential equipment from the vehicle. Two of the insurgents were killed by small arms fire and two were killed with one main gun tank round.

This event occurred during curfew hours.

In a separate incident Nov. 14 in the same vicinity, three insurgents were observed emplacing an improvised explosive device. They were engaged with small arms fire and a main tank gun round. Two insurgents were killed.

There were no reports of civilian casualties as a result of the events.

Coalition Forces have conducted no air strikes in the vicinity of these events today.

No Coalition Forces were killed during these incidents.

AIR STRIKE KILLS 3 TERRORISTS IN YUSIFIYYAH
BAGHDAD, IRAQ – A Coalition Forces air strike killed three terrorists in Yusifiyyah during an operation Monday.

Coalition Forces tracked the terrorists’ movement on a dirt road on the outskirts of Yusifiyya.

Based on intelligence that linked the vehicle and the three terrorists to a local vehicle-borne improvised explosion device facilitation network, Coalition aircraft engaged and destroyed the vehicle with precision fires.

The result of this operation will significantly disrupt the VBIED production in the Baghdad region.

This and other recent operations in the region highlight the deliberate, methodical dismantlement of the al-Qaida in Iraq network and those who contribute to its illegal actions.

Terrorists kill themselves with IED(one for the Darwin awards methinks.)
Multi-National Division – North PAO

MOSUL, Iraq – Three terrorists were killed and one was seriously wounded on Nov. 13 when they tried to plant a roadside bomb in the Baghdad Garage neighborhood on Train Station Road in western Mosul.

The terrorists attempted to emplace a roadside bomb consisting of a 155 mm artillery round when it exploded prematurely, killing two of them instantly and injuring two more.

Iraqi Police responded to the explosion, finding the bodies of the two dead terrorists and evacuating the injured terrorists to a local hospital. One of the injured later died of his wounds. Two innocent bystanders, injured in the blast, were transported to Al Jamouri Hospital.

Coalition Forces capture members of insurgent cell
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD – Coalition Forces captured six insurgents and detained one other suspect Nov 13. in the Al Doura area of Baghdad during a raid against an insurgent cell responsible for deadly attacks against Iraqi civilians and Iraqi Security Forces in the area.

The insurgent cell is linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups and conducts improvised explosive device, rocket and mortar attacks which injure and kill Iraqi civilians, ISF and Coalition Forces.

Operations on the objective caused minimal damage and there were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or coalition forces casualties.

Iraqi Army detains kidnapping, murder-cell suspects
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD – Forces from the 7th Iraqi Army Division, with coalition advisors, conducted a raid Nov. 14 in Ramadi to capture members of a kidnapping and murder cell responsible for abducting, torturing and murdering Iraqi civilian and Iraqi security forces.

The cell members are also responsible for emplacing improvised explosive devices that injure and kill Iraqi police.
Iraqi Army forces detained eight suspects during the raid.

Operations on the objective caused minimal damage and there were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or coalition forces casualties.

CCCI convicts 13 insurgents

One sentenced to 42 years imprisonment, three sentenced to 30 years imprisonment BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 13 security detainees from November 2 to 9, for various crimes including possession of illegal weapons, possessing false civil affair identifications, failure to renew resident identification and illegal border crossing.

The trial court found four Iraqi men guilty of possession of illegal special weapons and for using and forging fake identification. Multi-National Force – Iraq personnel searched two vehicles after observing the defendants throw a pistol out of one of the vehicle’s window. The search of both vehicles revealed 35 82mm mortar rounds, eight 122mm artillery rounds and one 12.7mm machine gun. The defendants were found in violation of Section 6, Paragraph 2B as well as Article 298 and Article 292 of the Iraqi Penal Code. On November 7, the trial panel sentenced one man to 42 years imprisonment and sentenced the other three men to 30 years imprisonment.

The trial court found three Iraqi men guilty of possession of illegal special weapons, in violation of section 6, Paragraph 2B of the Iraqi Penal Code. The defendants surrendered to MNF after the defendants fled a targeted house, engaged MNF-I personnel in a firefight, and were found with one PKC machine gun, three RPG launchers, five AK-47s, and five hand grenades. On November 8, the trial panel sentenced the three men to 15 years imprisonment.

There were six men convicted of passport violations, forging official documents, possession of illegal weapons, and entering the country illegally. The sentences ranged from between six months to 10 years imprisonment. Those convicted include three Iraqis, two Saudi Arabians, and one from Egypt.

Since its establishment in April 2004, the Central Criminal Court has held 1,697 trials for Coalition-apprehended insurgents. The proceedings have resulted in 1,460 convictions with sentences ranging up to death.

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