This that and everything

Torture investigation

2009-03-29T09:50:00.001+01:00

The police chief who headed the Tony Blair ‘cash for honours’ inquiry is to lead the investigation into the torturing of Binyam Mohamed.
Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner John Yates, 49, has been handed the politically-sensitive inquiry after Attorney-General Baroness Scotland ordered police to investigate last week. The ‘cash for honours’ allegations did not lead to any prosecutions.
But Mr Yates also led the investigation that enabled a successful perjury case to be brought against Lord Archer.
MI5 and MI6 carried out a review of files after the launch of an unprecedented police investigation into claims by the former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed that British intelligence services knew he was being tortured.
The review has uncovered 15 cases in which the intelligence services carried out interrogations of suspects in US custody. Most of the cases relate to a period between 2002 and 2004 at American facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
Shami Chakrabarti, of the human rights organisation Liberty, said that the Government could no longer avoid an independent judicial inquiry headed by a senior judge with powers to call ministers at the highest level.
The problem arises, however, when British officers are obliged to deal with foreign countries who adopt a different approach, and where suspects are routinely tortured to extract information.
According to the guidelines adopted by MI6 and MI5 in the wake of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal in Iraq in 2004, British officers are already required to seek guidance from London if they believe a suspect has been mal-treated. If senior officers believe that, in the interests of national security, it is still necessary to proceed with an interview, the matter is passed to the relevant minister.
In the five years that these guidelines have been in operation, ministers have always put the interests of national security above all else.
And even though the British government has been highly critical of some of the more extreme tactics used by the U.S. to extract information from detainees, they nevertheless point out that at least two major terrorist attacks planned against Britain have been thwarted by information provided by detainees.
But British intelligence and security officials are becoming increasingly concerned that the fall-out from the Binyam Mohamed affair could seriously compromise national security, as British officers will not be allowed access to information from any suspect who claims mal-treatment, irrespective of how important it might be to preventing a major terrorist attack

Car Free West End

2008-12-07T12:52:00.001Z

London's West End saw shoppers queuing outside stores as the area held its annual traffic-free day.

Organisers say the move to close both Oxford Street and Regent Street proved popular with Christmas shoppers again this year.

West End shoppers spend more than £1bn in the six weeks before Christmas.

Shops offered entertainment, fashion shows, face painting, a concert by Jamie Cullum and even free massages for weary shoppers.

There were queues outside of some stores on Oxford Street several hours before opening time.

Foreign currency

The New West End Company, which represents businesses in the shopping area, hopes this year's event will give a boost to shops despite the tough economic climate and top last year's takings of £100m.

A spokesman for the umbrella organisation said foreign visitors were out in force, armed with stronger Euro and American dollar currencies

Computer Accessories List at BG Stores

2008-12-07T12:41:00.001Z

Computer

Accessories

John Lewis sales slip while the UK,'s Fastest Growing Online Stores Keeps Growing

2008-06-08T19:18:00.002+01:00

Sales at the high-street bellwether John Lewis show no sign of improving after it posted a fourth consecutive week of falling numbers.

The department store's sales tumbled by 4.7 per cent to £48.5m for the week to 31 May. Only two of its 24 stores open for more than a year delivered an increase in sales.

The worst performer was its Peterborough store, which posted sales down 20.4 per cent, while Cribbs Causeway's were down 15.6 per cent.

The Blue Oar analyst Greg Lawless said these were "poor numbers" for John Lewis, which is a barometer for the UK high street. "The only bright star is that it looks like clothing sales are holding up, but everything is going backwards at a significant rate. If John Lewis is finding life tough, so too will other department stores, together with the electricals boys," said Mr Lawless.

He pointed out that the department store's dotcom site grew sales by only 22 per cent, against a year-to-date run rate of 34 per cent.

For the week to 31 May, John Lewis said its electrical and home technology sales fell by 10.8 per cent. However, John Lewis posted fashion sales up by 5.6 per cent for the week, with womenswear, childrenswear and beauty departments performing strongly.

Next week, John Lewis, which has 26 stores, will launch a £2m advertising campaign that highlights different elements of its shopping experience.

The John Lewis Partnership supermarket chain Waitrose posted sales up 4.1 per cent for the week to 31 May, despite torrential rain across much of the country for the bank holiday

In contrast BG Stores, the UK's fastest growing online shopping site is reaching new heights, with record sales in the last 2 months, and this week announced the launch a new Site BG Watches, this is the first of many they hope to launch in the next few months, making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for more easily.

Online shoppers spend third more in '07

2008-06-03T21:10:00.000+01:00

Shoppers shrugged off fears about the economy to spend more than ever on the internet last year, with the total sum up by more than a third on 2006. Consumers splashed out £14.7bn online in 2007, 35% higher than the previous year, according to a survey by retail analysts Verdict Research. That’s the fastest rate of growth in six years and is 10 times the figure enjoyed by the UK retail sector as a whole. Verdict reckons the internet will account for almost 14% of spending by 2012 when online sales are predicted to hit £44.9bn. "The internet is widely perceived as a cheaper and easier way of finding lower prices and bargains in most sectors,” said Malcolm Pinkerton, a senior analyst at Verdict. "As the cost of broadband falls, consumers become accustomed to internet shopping and retailers continue to enhance their online propositions, the channel will find itself extremely well-placed to capitalise on the falling consumer confidence and lower levels of disposable income currently impacting the retail market."

US Ship barred from Burma are the US really this Stupid

2008-05-18T09:53:00.003+01:00

The US amphibious assault ship, USS Essex, is moored off the coast of Burma, prohibited by the military government from swinging into action to help cyclone victims.
Is this really a surprise do they really expect to be let in.
I look at it like this if some one had been telling me I was evil and they wanted me thrown out of my house, I would not let them in the door no matter what.
But this is just what the USA has done it shouts how evil Burma is, it makes it very clear it wants the government out of power, yet now they want Burma to let Americans run all over the country.
We all know the US and the things they have done in the past assignation attempts on other countries leaders burning sugar plantations in Cuba etc, so I am 100% sure they would use this as a excuse to get the CIA into the country and stir up trouble.
The truth is also they have let in international aid from countries such as China, it is just the countries that have made it clear they would like to see them overthrown that they have stopped.
OH and the US is free to send as much aid as they want it is just they can not be the ones that distribute it, the US is making a lot of fuss about that and don't really want it that way, probably because they can't put CIA agents in boxes, a clear sign that the US is not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts but a way of getting a foot in the door.

Shock internet fraud figures released.

2008-05-08T12:29:00.001+01:00

Today the UK,s fastest growing online shopping site released its figures for attempted fraud on its site, and it is quite a shock most of us think of most fraud coming from countries in Africa or Asia, but their figures show that a huge 93% of attempted fraud comes from the United States of America, they in fact report that a shocking 1 out of 3 attempted transactions from the USA are in fact fraud attempts.The company have in the past blocked buyers from some of the countries normally associated with fraud, but removed all blocks for a one year trial. As a result of the one year trail all the countries that we all associate with fraud will still be free to shop with them, but transactions will be closely monitored.But have decided to no longer except orders from the USA.

ATTEMPTED ONLINE FRAUD BY COUNTRY.
1) USA 93%
2) Singapore 3%
3) Germany 2%
4) Rest of world 2%

Yahoo! shares to fall sharply after rejecting Microsoft

2008-05-05T13:31:00.002+01:00

Yahoo! shares are expected to fall sharply when Wall Street opens this morning after the on-line giant rejected an improved offer from Microsoft over the weekend.
Analysts said that shares could fall by as much as 30pc to the low $20 range from their $28.67 close last week.
This has to be proof that Wall Street knows nothing about the internet, anyone with a bit of knowledge about search engines knows that Microsoft search engine does not work, and that is why it can not keep up with Google and yahoo in the search engine wars, no doubt they would have took yahoo down to their level.

British soldier killed on patrol

2008-05-04T03:25:00.002+01:00

A British soldier killed on patrol in Afghanistan when his vehicle went over a mine has been named as Trooper Ratu Babakobau, a 29-year-old Fijian serving with the Household Cavalry.
His death on Friday in the Nowzad area of northern Helmand brings the total number of British military fatalities in the country to 95 since operations began in November 2001.

Time to stand up and get our boys back home, its time to stop supporting US wars, the US do not want us there as friends they want us because they are unable to win wars without us.

My heart goes out to the family and loved ones of this soldier and the other 94 that have died in a war that was started for no more than revenge and as history shows can never be won, despite the US claiming it was a quick victory it was not it was a quick start the end is years away and it is a end that will be lost.

Boris Johnson first Stumble

2008-05-04T03:13:00.002+01:00

There were the trademark stammers, the shambling, slightly shy gait… even a stumble as he stepped up to the podium.
He is not even Mayor yet and he has stumbled, the first of many to come I am sure.
I predict in the next 5 years there will be big strikes in London of transport workers and council workers, riots on the streets for sure and possible race riots.
Why the hell do people vote for some one that went to a paid school? they know nothing about the real world and the problems of the average man and care even less about them.
If he keeps opening his mouth and upsetting people expect hell on earth to break out, London is multi-racial and this man has clearly no feeling or care for them.

House prices suffer worst decline since 1996

2008-05-03T08:40:00.002+01:00

Further confirmation that the economy is entering its worst slowdown since the early 1990s came yesterday, as the Halifax index showed that house prices fell by another 1.3 per cent in April.
It follows a 2.5 per cent drop in March, and came as the Insolvency Service reported a 58 per cent jump in the number of companies going into administration in the first quarter of this year.
The Halifax data will be of most immediate concern to householders. Property values are down 0.9 per cent on the year, the worst performance since 1996, with only Scotland bucking the trend.
The figures are in line with those from Nationwide, and demonstrate how badly the credit crunch is hitting the British economy as banks and building societies choke off lending to homebuyers and businesses.
March witnessed a rush of banks withdrawing products as interbank lending rates (Libor) soared and the Bank of England reported worsening credit conditions for companies.
Personal insolvencies rose to 25,264 in the first quarter of this year, up 1.7 per cent on the last quarter, and at 3,210, corporate liquidations rose by 4 per cent on the year. The tally of 858 firms placed in administration was one of the highest in two decades.
Analysts also predicted that the situation would not improve quickly: Liz Bingham, head of corporate restructuring at Ernst & Young, said: "Insolvency may be the only option available for increasing numbers of individuals. Credit will be expensive and in short supply just as debts hit record highs – over 160 per cent of post-tax income, versus around 100 per cent in 2001.
When are people going to realise Houses are just bricks and mortor, they are not worth what they charge you for them, and thinking you are going to get rich because the price of your house has gone up is so bloody stupid, WAKE UP what are you going to do sell it and live on the streets.

London Mayor

2008-05-03T06:03:00.000+01:00

Boris Johnson capped a cataclysmic day for Labour by seizing power in London last night, and left Gordon Brown facing a desperate fight for survival.
The Old Etonian handed David Cameron a stunning political triumph by ousting veteran mayor Ken Livingstone.
Mr Johnson won with 1,168,738 first and second preference votes, compared with Mr Livingstone's 1,028,966 on a record turnout.
What a disaster this is going to be the man is a idiot have any of you listened to his ideas, and have you forgot the conservative policy high unemployment to keep you in your place, have you forgot the Tory's want to destroy the NHS if you cant afford your own treatment then die and hard s**t it is your fault for being poor.