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Sarah Palin will pry your Klondike bar from your cold dead fingers.

calendar   Wednesday - August 18, 2010

What Recession?

Golfer Greg Norman some rich folks buy another boat





Update: I could have sworn I was reading several web pages last night that showed that the series of mega-yachts named Cakewalk belonged to Greg Norman. Alas, that is not the case, as reader Ron L. was so kind to diplomatically point out:

Please be advised to get your information correct.  The Yacht Cakewalk was never owned by Greg Norman.

The only yacht he owned was Aussie Rules.  The older Cakewalk and the new one just launched is owned by an American from Denver, Col.

Get your facts straight.



Gosh. red face
So, like at least one of the Cakewalk yachts, it looks like I’d better give this post a total refit.

Well, it turns out he was correct. I think. I’m not going to bother to do a huge bit of web investigation, but at least TWO of these Cakewalk yachts was owned by Charlie and Diane Gallagher. Of Denver.

Timelessness, technology and tradition – along with a no-compromise approach to quality – were the guiding principles behind building Charlie and Diane Gallagher’s 205-foot Cakewalk at Van Lent Shipyards.

Flanking the chart table in Cakewalk’s large wheelhouse are a ship’s clock and barometer, a simple matching brass set that Charlie Gallagher considers the most valuable pieces of equipment in his extraordinary new Feadship.

Pity the yachtsmen and yard management teams that don’t communicate clearly. Some owners tell custom yards they want a magnificent stateroom soundproofed to the hilt to lull them into dreamland, when in reality they want every room to be whisper-quiet. Others fail to get as involved as they should in the layout of behind-the-scenes areas like the engine room. While those owners still end up with workable yachts, the vessels aren’t as exceptional as they could—and should—be, given their custom nature.

Not so with the 204-foot Cakewalk commissioned by the American couple that Capt. Bill Zinser works for. In fact, they made it very simple when they approached Feadship’s Van Lent en Zonen yard about building the yacht: “We wanted the best of everything,” Zinser says matter-of-factly, adding, “We told Feadship we wanted them to build its best yacht ever.”

Having bought the Van Lent-built Fiffanella in the late 1990s, extensively refitting her and stretching her to 142 feet (she launched in 1987 at 132’7"), the owners were familiar with the yard’s craftsmanship. Three years of “trouble-free cruising under every conceivable condition,” in the words of the husband, convinced them to return to Van Lent to commission a new, larger project when the yacht, which they had renamed Cakewalk, couldn’t accommodate their growing family—18 members strong. The project started out on paper at 187 feet, gradually increasing to 204’5” to make her profile even sleeker.

So Cakewalk (II) is the 2001 Feadship built Cakewalk, and would be mega-yacht #2 for the owners. Mega-yacht #1 would be the rebuilt Fiffanella, rechristened as Cakewalk(I).

Cakewalk (III) may have been the 2003 yacht built by Trinity Yachts in New Orleans built and originally called the Mia Elise. Changed owners soon thereafter, refitted, became a Cakewalk, sold, refitted, and is now called the Vita.

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Notice how much this one looks like the first white yacht below, which IS/WAS Norman’s yacht Aussie Rules.  Don’t be fooled by little things like radar masts and shark gill windows - this is what refitting can do. And this is where my error may have crept in. Who owned it when it was Cakewalk? I have no idea. Could be the Gallaghers, could be someone else. But with the infinite number of names out there, it is a little odd that several mega-yachts keep bearing the same name. And the world of mega-yachts is really not all that big.

Cakewalk IV MAY BE the yacht now called Fortunato. But since it’s a little older than the formerly Cakewalk Vita, it may have been Cakewalk III and Vita was Cakewalk IV. Who can tell? Why would anyone spend such huge amounts of money on a fricking boat to begin with, much less buy and sell them as soon as the “new” smell was only half worn off. Then again, I could be wrong about that too. What’s to stop someone of unimaginable wealth from owning a whole bloody FLEET of luxury yachts named Cakewalk all at the same time? Nothing. However, Wikipedia lists Cakewalk/Fortunato as belonging to the Gallaghers.

But I was able to find out that the latest Cakewalk, the 3000 ton behemoth I originally wrote this post about, was called Cakewalk V during it’s building. (It was also called the Dancer Project, so go figure.) And, somewhere in the process, there were financial difficulties, even though that project should have brought the shipyard $82 million.

When a self-made American millionaire was looking to commission his 281-foot yacht, he rebuffed the international boat making scene, instead vowing to stay local by enlisting Derecktor Shipyards Connecticut for the job, according to a recent article in the Hartford Courant.

“We just wanted to do it here to prove to the elite northern Europeans that we could do it here,” the yacht’s would-be captain told the newspaper on behalf of the mystery owner. “The U.S. takes a hammering worldwide over the [poor] quality of its products – and it’s not true, and we’re proving it’s not true…We thought we could do it here, and we are.”

Well, kind of.  The millionaire’s campaign to showcase America’s yachting prowess is off to a rocky start after Derecktor’s July Chapter 11 filing. Plans for the on-board spa, gymnasium and theater are still in tact, but the Bridgeport, Conn., company’s balance sheet is on shakier footing. And the multimillion dollar “Cakewalk,” which experts say could be the biggest yacht ever made, has been caught in the crosshairs of the courtroom drama.

Paul Derecktor, president, of the Bridport yacht building yard, Derector Shipyards has said that the building of Cakewalk V, the largest yacht to be built in the USA in 75 years, was the most important job in the company’s 60-year history. Now, through court records we learn just how valuable that contract is to the firm.

The price of the 85.6 metre yacht has been revealed as US$82 million and comes at a time. Local newspaper reports say that these days, Derecktor has been very tight-lipped about the project and the only reason the price tag is known is through court records from Derecktor’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. This stems from a disagreement with one particular client over the building of the world’s largest catamaran called Gemini II.

So the owner finally got his big boat built, and just like Cakewalk I, Cakewalk V - whoever actually owns it!!!!! - is built to have the very best of everything

The price tag for the vessel has not been disclosed, but one expert estimates more than $100 million.

Although not the longest motor yacht constructed, Derecktor noted it is the largest yacht by volume built in the United States. The steel-hulled vessel with aluminum superstructure is six decks tall and 281 feet long. More than a mansion on water, the Cakewalk V is a floating country manor with millwork carried out by Ohio and North Carolina craftsmen.

It can accommodate 12 guests in six large cabins. The owner’s deck includes a master stateroom with his and her’s heads, a theater system, study and lounge area, spa, gymnasium, bar and dining table with seating for 14. There are multiple lounge areas and a library, and the lower deck will carry waverunners, outdoor equipment and three tenders, which are the boats that can be used to run ashore. The smallest of the tenders is 32.8 feet.

Well, fair wind and following seas, and may they have the best of luck with their latest yacht.

PS - Who are the Gallaghers? Yes, they are from Denver. And yes, they are very rich. He’s into a bit of corporate Engulf & Devour, but also runs another company that focuses on moving raw materials around and supplying the things you need for building large things.

In 2005, Gallagher Enterprises formed and internally funded Gallagher Industries to commit additional resources and focus to future investments in manufacturing and value-added distribution businesses. Gallagher Industries continues to build upon the Gallagher legacy, forming long-term partnerships with excellent operating partners who have turned their vision into profitable enterprises. Our current team has led six highly successful leveraged buyouts and has positioned current platform holdings for significant future growth.

To date, the Gallagher Industries’ investment model has driven significant, repeated successes across manufacturing, marketing, and value-added distribution businesses including: mining, minerals, ferroalloys, refinery outsourcing, bulk shipping terminals, petroleum coke, metal building products, high density and PET blow-molded containers, clay-based soil amendments, leading-edge erosion control products and synthetic stone veneer.

They have a very well funded ($20m) philanthopic foundation giving educational scholarships, are involved in any number of community, cultural, and artistic associations, supporting hospitals and so forth. And they look to be significant contributors to the Republican Party. Sounds like good people to me; they got rich helping America grow, and they give back where they can.

Unlike others who make a fortune hitting a little ball with a stick.

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Greg Norman’s yacht, Aussie Rules. Sold to somebody else.


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One of the former Cakewalk yachts, now called the Fortunato




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The new Cakewalk V yacht under construction. Steel below, aluminum above, utter luxury inside. Note the foredeck similarity to the ship now called Fortunato.  And now, here’s the latest and greatest Cakewalk, launched but perhaps not yet fully finished inside.

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Isn’t that pretty? What a nice sense of proportion it has. You’d hardly notice that this water bauble is 281 feet long (85.6m) and displaces 3000 tons. You can’t see its two custom designed elevators, but it needs them, since the boat is more than 6 stories tall.

As many of us in the media have been reporting since the contract was signed in 2006, the 281-foot (85.6-meter), 2,995-gross-ton Cakewalk is the largest yacht by volume to be built on U.S. soil since the 1930s. An American couple who previously owned two European-built megayachts commissioned her. They firmly believed that they could get a well-engineered yacht stateside.

The yacht will remain at Derecktor for the next few weeks undergoing final outfitting and sea trials. She is scheduled to make her much-awaited debut at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show in October.

The latest Cakewalk only carries 3 little runabouts, including a 10m Vikal limousine. Nice. I think everyone should own a little boat like this, nearly as big as a destroyer.

Specifications:
Length, o.a.  281 ft
Length, w.l.  248 ft
Beam 46.9 ft
Draught 13.1 ft
Gross tonnage 2995
Propulsion 2x 16V400M71 @ 2465BKW (3306HP)@200 RPM MTU
Propeller 2x 5 Blade Rolls Royce Single Pitch
Speed 17 knots / 15 knots
Fuel capacity 97,000 gal
Range 5000NM @15 Knots

See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 08/18/2010 at 08:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuffplanes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •  
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Past The Tipping Point

Blatant Jury Tampering?



Blogovich found guilty only of lying to feds



After three weeks of respectful but increasingly tense deliberations, 11 jurors were ready to convict Rod Blagojevich of what prosecutors called a “political corruption crime spree” that would have sent yet another former Illinois governor to prison.

Not close enough. On vote after vote, the jury kept coming up one juror short — a lone holdout who wouldn’t budge and would agree only that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. “The person just did not see the evidence that everyone else did,” said juror Stephen Wlodek.

The guilty verdict on the least serious of the 24 counts against him, and mistrial on all the rest, led Blagojevich to taunt prosecutors in the courthouse lobby. More than a year after federal prosecutors accused him of crimes that would make Abraham Lincoln “roll over in his grave,” the disgraced politician bragged about essentially fighting them to a draw.

The outcome that left the Blagojevich brothers so pleased came as a disappointment to three jurors who spoke to The Associated Press late Tuesday, hours after the exhausted panel departed the courthouse. They said further deliberations would not have mattered — a second unanimous decision on a charge of attempted extortion evaporated shortly before the verdicts were to be read.

“I think in the end, based on what happened today, the people of the state just did not have justice served,” said Wlodek, 36, a human resources manager whose job in the jury room was playing the FBI wiretap tapes in which Blagojevich, often in the most profane language imaginable, discussed his alleged schemes.

Federal prosecutors — no doubt stung by the jury’s inability to reach a decision on all but the single charge — were as emphatic as the former governor. When U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel said Tuesday he would give prosecutors time to decide whether to take Blagojevich to court again, prosecutor Reid Schar spoke up instantly: “It is absolutely our intention to retry this.”

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald later thanked the jury for its service but refused to comment on their decision, citing the need to prepare for Blagojevich’s second trial. Zagel set a hearing for Aug. 26 to decide manner and timing of the retrial, and a former federal prosecutor said the 11-1 split in favor of conviction on several counts bodes well for the government.

“At the end of the day it signals very strongly they will get a conviction next time,” said Joel Levin, who helped win a conviction of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan in 2006. “It sounds like the case was lost in jury selection.”

Lost in jury selection? Hardly. Examine the political connections, finances and employment situation of that juror, his family and his in-laws and I can almost guarantee you will turn over a rock with something dirty beneath it.

The OJ trial was lost because some seriously stupid people on the jury could not understand that “beyond reasonable doubt” did not mean the same as “125% obvious guilt”. But in this case is was obvious. And 11 of the jury could see that, on each and every single charge. By the most direct and damning evidence ever. But not 1. No matter what. This stinks to high heaven. That juror was bought, one way or another.

Come on. They had Blagovich cold. They had him on tape blatantly trying to sell the Senate seat, trying to negotiate a price, trying to leverage it for his own personal gain. Dead to rights. Guilty. And the whole bunch of the rest of them too, from Jesse Jr on up.

One set of rules for us peasants slogging through the mud. One set of rules - or at least results, because rules themselves don’t apply to the far left - for our masters in government.

Don’t forget that this case was run by special witchfinder prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the guy who managed to convict Scooter Libby for perjury, because he was the only guy in the Bush/Cheney/Rove circle he could stick a pin in, for the Valerie Plame nonsense. Even though Fitzgerald knew from the very beginning that turncoat Richard Armitrage was the one who outted her. So obviously he has magic powers, and is able to find a crime were none exists, and force a conviction as well. And the best he could do here, with miles worth of tape and hours and hours of unimpeachable evidence, was the same pissant charge against Blago that he managed, after 3 solid years of investigation, to stick on Libby? This is madness. Madness! Madness!!

I have no faith in our government. None. Not in its effectiveness, its honesty, its intent. Nothing. Thieves, crooks, liars, incompetents. Cronyism and corruption, and the ability to take care of its own, no matter what crime they’ve committed. I think it’s time for a seriously bloody revolution. 


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 08/18/2010 at 01:22 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsJudges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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Illegals to be expelled from France … The left cries race … always race.

Viva la France ....

Good for Mr. Sarkozy for not caving in to the liberal left schmucks who try to paint everything as race. And btw ... screw the UN for being critical of France.
France is facing a problem with illegals and illegal encampments, and is doing something about it.  The Brits should follow the example being set by France.

Of course, I think there’s a faster better way but hey.  At least Sarko is acting.

The UN and the left in France always raise the race issue and have no interest in the fact that there are people whose actions turn others against them. The Romas are a good example and there are others of course. 
Why is it that when any govt. and especially here and in France, is critical of the criminal element among the many, that’s automatically an attack on “human rights.” What about the rights of the people being imposed on?  I guess somehow their rights mean less.  And if it isn’t that way, it sure seems to be based on the flack aimed at Sarko and the French voters who support him. 


France to expel hundreds of Roma on Thursday

Hundreds of Roma will be expelled from France on Thursday as part of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s summer clampdown on members of the minority living illegally in the country.
“In all, around 700 Roma will be taken back to their countries before the end of the month,” said Brice Hortefeux, the interior minister.
So far, police have dismantled 51 illegal Roma camps, he said, adding that two flights would take the Roma to Romania and Bulgaria on August 19 and 26, with a third flight set for the end of September.

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President Sarkozy’s government has in recent weeks launched a major and controversial crackdown on France’s Roma, gipsy and traveller minorities, closing unauthorised camps and expelling foreign-born Roma from the country.

Last month, following a clash between Gypsies and police, Mr Sarkozy announced a raft of new stringent security measures, including plans to dismantle 300 unauthorised campsites within three months.
Critics have accused the French leader of stigmatising travelling minorities in a bid to recover votes lost to the anti-immigration far-Right in time for his re-election battle in 2012.

Last week a UN report said France was experiencing “a significant resurgence of racism” and lacked the political will to fix the problem.
But opinion polls show most French voters approve of the measures.

There are estimated to be 15,000 Gypsies and Roma of eastern European origin in France. Some live in authorised encampments, and others have moved into squatter camps or abandoned buildings.

SOURCE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/18/2010 at 10:56 AM   
Filed Under: • FRANCETravelers/Gypsies/Squatters •  
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Time Out To Read

I’ve been chewing my way through Ken Follet’s World Without End for the past couple of days. At nearly 1100 pages it’s a pretty long read. Very interesting book. In theory it’s the sequel to his Pillars of the Earth from 18 years ago, but that’s only true peripherally. It’s set in the same town, the mythical Kingsbridge, which is somewhere in Peiper’s corner of England. 200 years have gone by since the story told in Pillars, but it’s still the middle Middle Ages in Britain so things haven’t changed a heck of a lot. Follet is a master of character development, and his stories are all very involving.

I’m at the halfway point, and what I’m noticing is not just how awful, unjust, one sided, and utterly stupid the 14th century was, but how strongly his picture of life back then seems to mirror life today. Ok, granted, things aren’t quite so bleak or violent now. We don’t have knights and barons running around raping and killing people because they feel like it. And we don’t have a poorly educated, highly selfish Church owning and running everything. But we do have an emerging class of elites who do seem to be above the law in many ways. And even though those at the top exist because of taxes and tithes on the serfs and tradespeople, they don’t seem to feel much responsibility to them. Oh, as Lord of this demesnes my little nose is out of joint because I was embarrassed because I was caught red-handed committing a horrible crime for which, as a member of the gentry, I was not punished for, but I’ll let the village starve to punish them for embarrassing me. Oh yeah? Well as prior of the cathedral my nose is even more out of joint because the peasants have found several ways to make money that don’t involve giving it all to the church or even letting me tax it to death, so I’ll do whatever I can to thwart them. Cutting off my nose to spite my face? Who cares, as long as I still have the power! Sounds awfully familiar to modern times in many ways. We don’t strictly have “privilege” these days - literally a private ledger, meaning one set of laws for the commoners, and one extra flexible set of laws for the rich - but it sure seems that way when I look at the endless scandals and corruption in government.

Pillars of the Earth eventually got me down. The first time or two that I read it, it was all about the amazement of building a massive stone cathedral using little more than hammers and ox carts, and the technology of that benighted time. After that I soured on the book, because by my third or fourth time through it I lost compassion for the lead characters, whose lives were a never ending series of death, starvation, disease, disappointments, and being screwed over by the folks in charge, mostly because they didn’t buck the system. Or couldn’t. Whatever, the story became Loserama to me, and I gave the book away. 18 years later for me and 200 years later for them, and I’m wishing the peasants had machine guns and artillery. This book’s newer more “modern” world has the beginnings of the rise of the merchant class, but society itself is still rather static. A static culture is a rotting culture, no matter how happy people may be by avoiding change and relying on “that’s how we’ve always done it”. And any progress from a static culture that does not move in a direction of more economic and personal freedom for the lower parts of society is a move towards slavery. Or serfdom. As Follet’s two books in this epoch show, there isn’t a helluva big difference. Unarmed, uneducated, landless, taxed to the edge of starvation, and kept in place by elitist “government” and knot-headed unionism (the ubiquitous and change resistant Guilds of that period), they exist to suffer for their better’s profit. If only they would rise up. If only WE would rise up.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 08/18/2010 at 10:47 AM   
Filed Under: • EditorialsLiterature •  
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Find in Britian believed to be Villa of a future Roman emperor

This appeared less then an hour ago .... just had to post it.  There’s lots more at the link.

They keep finding new evidence of history here. Awesome.  Wish I were up going around the country with a camera visiting all these sites and museums. Who knows, maybe one day I might. Would like to. There’s so much to see and learn here.

Notice the Swastikas on the tile.  We have it in mosaics here too.  It appears to be a design that was liberally used by the Romans, but my guess is that is was purely as decoration.  Reason I say that is because the one in our museum here has a bit of Roman flooring with the design running all the way around what was a floor, all attached to form a decorative ring. 

Treasures found at second century villa in Britain reveal it was once home to future Roman Emperor

By Tony Bassett

August 18, 2010

Historians are becoming increasingly convinced that a villa uncovered 20 miles from London was once home to Britain’s Roman Governor.
Since Lullingstone Roman Villa was first uncovered in the 1930s experts believed it was once the home of a leading Roman or wealthy Briton, but archaeologists were unsure of the owner’s identity.

Now experts have re-examined treasures found at the site, near Orpington in Kent, and say it was almost certainly the home of Publius Helvius Pertinax.
He was governor of Britain between AD185 and 186 and went on to become Roman Emperor in AD193.

A high-quality intaglio, or seal, found just outside the villa during excavation is now believed to have been the Governor’s personal seal.
This finely-engraved victory gem was found next to some discarded coins.

The governor is known to have fled the villa at the end of the second century amid a mutiny by his soldiers. The men then looted it for gold and silver.
Roman experts believe the looters prised the seal from a gold signet ring and then left it behind as worthless. There are signs the seal has been gouged with a knife.
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An elaborate mosaic at Lullingstone Roman villa near Orpington, Kent. Experts believe it was the home of Pertinax, a former Roman Emperor

MORE STORY AND PHOTOS HERE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/18/2010 at 10:11 AM   
Filed Under: • Archeology / AnthropologyHistoryUK •  
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calendar   Tuesday - August 17, 2010

Village in lockdown as religious festival is over-run by 1,000 travellers ..

FIRST:  Hello Nashville.  Hope all recovered by now and things pretty much back to normal.

Now then ..... this is fairly interesting and may not be the usual thing I rant on about.  Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what Friday brings.  If anything.

Perhaps this is really on the square and there won’t be any trouble.  Not holding breath mind you, but also holding my usual harsh opinion.  We’ll see.

STAY TUNED ....  There has to be a follow up on this.


Village in lockdown as religious festival is over-run by 1,000 travellers

By Daily Mail Reporter

A picturesque village has gone into lockdown after an empty field was invaded by 200 caravans and 1,000 people for a born-again Christian festival for Irish travellers and gipsies.

Stunned shopkeepers complained traveller children have been running amok and one pub landlord has locked his doors after the caravans descended on Swavesey, near Cambridge, on Saturday.

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Angry villagers claimed yesterday they were duped into granting permission for a small six-day religious festival with a dozen caravans to be held on the 30-acre field.

Instead a large convoy of travellers descended on the village and set up toilets and a marquee in a 30-acre field yards from homes and a church.
The event has been organised by the Life And Light group, a born-again Pentecostal Christian organisation, which is made up of Romany Gipsies and Irish travellers.

Dozens of angry villagers held showdown talks with councillors in Swavesey yesterday demanding the travellers are removed but they are not due to leave until Friday.

Minister Abraham Howard, of the group running the Life and Light Festival, said: ‘We have come here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

‘We have paid for the field from Saturday until Saturday but we will be gone and the field will be returned to its previous state by Friday.

‘We are meeting to talk about the word of Jesus Christ. We haven’t come to do any harm we’re just here to save the “lost ones” from hell.

‘People have nothing to fear - we are Christians.’

Despite complaints from villagers the campsite is entirely legal because the travellers obtained legal permission for a Christian festival to be held on the field.

Sue Ellington, South Cambridgeshire district councillor for Swavesey, said: ‘We have a field that has been used for steam engine rally this summer and other relatively small activities and I understand someone approached the landlord to hold a small religious festival.

‘I think everyone in the village was then a little stunned to find more than 200 caravans arrive.
Despite complaints from villagers the campsite is entirely legal because the travellers obtained permission for a Christian festival to be held on the field

Despite complaints from villagers the campsite is entirely legal because the travellers obtained permission for a Christian festival to be held on the field

‘Nobody in the village knew this was happening until the caravans came traipsing through the village.

HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY AND MORE PIX


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/17/2010 at 01:37 PM   
Filed Under: • Travelers/Gypsies/SquattersUK •  
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Police told not to pursue stolen motorbikes… because thieves weren’t wearing helmets …

Happens a lot and I bet back home in the US as well. But perhaps not quite as much as here.  This isn’t the first time for this kind of thing.

Read the comments following the article.  The photo of the shop owner is interesting. Guy looks like sad sack. Can’t say I blame him.

Police told not to pursue stolen motorbikes… because thieves weren’t wearing helmets and might get hurt

By James Tozer

As a gang of raiders roared off on three high-powered motorbikes they had just stolen, they were spotted by police.

But the officers were told not to chase the thieves, because a pursuit would put the criminals’ health and safety at risk.

They were not wearing crash helmets and might have fallen off and hurt themselves.

Yesterday the decision to let the robbers escape was greeted with incredulity, and critics asked why the welfare of criminals was more important than catching them.

The balaclava-clad trio smashed into a showroom in Greater Manchester, late last Thursday night and stole three motorcycles worth a total of £20,000.

Officers who saw them escaping radioed their inspector but were told that because the thieves were not wearing crash helmets or protective clothing it would be unsafe to pursue them.

They are still at large, although one of the bikes has been recovered.

Tony Crawford, who runs the Manchester Motorbike Store which was targeted, said: ‘It’s bizarre that a criminal’s health and safety is more important than catching them.

‘It’s not the police I blame, it’s the politicians who’ve put these ridiculous rules in place.

‘They’re effectively telling criminals that as long as they make their getaway on a motorbike and don’t wear a helmet, the police won’t be allowed to chase them.’

He was backed by Graham Brady, Conservative MP for Altrincham and Sale West, who said: ‘I am astonished that the welfare of criminals in the act of breaking the law should be put before the public’s expectation that they should be apprehended.

‘I expect most police officers would be deeply frustrated not to be allowed to pursue criminals because of health and safety issues.’

Chris Burrows, chairman of the Greater Manchester branch of the Police Federation, agreed that officers found such situations ‘incredibly frustrating’ but said they had to comply with guidelines.

Superintendent Steve Nibloe, of Greater Manchester Police, confirmed the officers were following ‘a nationwide policy which gives clear guidance that motorbikes should not be pursued because of the higher risk of injury to the rider’.

He added: ‘The officers were asked not to pursue the suspects as they were not wearing the correct safety equipment and were not wearing helmets, so it is clear to me the correct decision was taken.’

Police have been criticised over the number of deaths during high-speed pursuits, and new guidelines drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers are aimed at balancing the potential risk against the gravity of the crime.

Greater Manchester Chief Constable Peter Fahy said that in the case of the motorbike thefts, his officers had probably been right not to give chase.

He said: ‘What are the chances of us catching a high-powered motorbike? Pretty low.

‘What is the risk to the offender? The risk is that he is probably going to get killed. It is about balance.’

But he added: ‘My main frustration is that people seem to want it both ways.

‘We get criticised hugely about deaths in police pursuits – was it worth somebody losing their life? – but then in a case like this we are being criticised that we did make a judgment that putting somebody’s life at risk wasn’t worth it.’

PHOTOS AT SOURCE

If it’s a case of the life of criminal trash, who the hell cares? 


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/17/2010 at 01:23 PM   
Filed Under: • CrimeUK •  
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a toon from the telegraph’s comment page ….

Saw this today, have nothing to add. Something to ponder.

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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/17/2010 at 07:19 AM   
Filed Under: • MiscellaneousUKUSA •  
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Re-discovered. A treasure trove of JAZZ.

OK, this short posting is for anyone else out there who is as wowed and fanatically tied to early Jazz as I am. I can never get enough of this stuff, I know there are others who feel the same.

I got this heads up from a friend stateside.

A treasure trove of 100s of unique and often previously unheard recordings of 1940s jazz musicians such as Benny Goodman, Billy Holiday and Louis Armstrong have found a new home at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Recorded from radio broadcasts (often surreptitiously) by William Savory, a broadcast engineer, these recordings were left for decay in a basement and finally resurrected by one of Mr. Savory’s sons. To the jazz aficionado, this is Really Big News ---not unlike finding the Titanic to the treasure hunter. Musicians and jazz lovers alike knew they were “out there somewhere,” but no one knew where and if they would surface. Although releasing the material in any form will be a royalties and licensing nightmare, the mere fact that there are almost 1000 discs which are, for the most part restorable, will be wonderful news for music scholars and jazz lovers everywhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/arts/music/17jazz.html?_r=1&hp

Yes I know. The N.Y.Times.  Hey, this is what I got and anyway, the page is music and music history and a great find. Be sure and watch the video here too.
I hope they make this available for sale and at my age, I haven’t got forever.

This won’t mean a thing to anyone not a fan of Teddy Wilson, but WOW.  Teddy Wilson on harpsichord was a first for me. It never ever entered my thinking that the BG group would have that instrument.  I know Artie Shaw did with Johnny Guarnieri. Who by the way was a terrific player of Boogie-Woogie. Awful sounding name, great music.

No matter, for Jazz fans this is truly a very major find.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/17/2010 at 05:53 AM   
Filed Under: • OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTUSA •  
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calendar   Monday - August 16, 2010

11 KIDS AND NUMBER 12 ON THE WAY. NO WORRY. TAXPAYER PICKS UP THE BILL. INCLUDE HOUSING PLEASE.

It never ends. Does it?

Papers make it look as tho everyone is on the dole.  Seems however that a very few are being paid for by the very many.
Never have so few been indebted to so many.


Benefits couple with ELEVEN children rake in £30,000 a year and a free five-bedroom home (and now they’ve got another baby on the way)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

A benefits claimant whose partner is expecting her 12th child boasted today that they ‘have enough for a football team’.

Out-of-work Gary Bateman, 46, and Joanne Shepherd, 36, have been moved into a free five-bedroom house in which to raise their brood.

The £1,200-a-month rent on their home is covered by the more than £30,000 a year they claim from the taxpayer.

Fiona McEvoy, of the Taxpayer’s Alliance, said: ‘It’s disgraceful that this family is being given more than taxpayers earn, our benefits system needs real reform.’

But Mr Bateman, 46, said: ‘People should mind their own business. We’re not doing anyone any harm. It’s a nice place. We outgrew the last house. It was a bit of a nightmare being on top of each other.’

Speaking about his partner’s 12th pregnancy, he told The Sun: ‘ It was an accident. Something happened that wasn’t supposed to. We’ve enough for a football team.’

Mr Bateman says he has been out of work for as long as he can remember.

His partner Miss Sheppard, who currently has 11 children by three men, has not worked for 19 years after she fell pregnant with her first child aged just 17.

SOURCE AND PHOTOS


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/16/2010 at 12:35 PM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINEDaily LifeUK •  
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Terrorists on our doorstep. Again?

Ah, tis a warm glow we feel in the knowledge that there are still patriots about who will risk life and limb in the name of justice and freedom.
Some lads who claim to be a purer more fundamentalist form of the IRA, have set off a bomb in a waste container.  It went off with no fatalities but did injure two twelve year old girls and a three year old.  Earlier reports said two years old but hey, that’s still a baby.  That’s the stuff lads.  How brave and macho. A blow for freedom for sure.  Fuckin dickheads. 

The honestagod truth of it is, low life like that enjoy this sort of thing.  If they didn’t have the IRA cause, they’d make one up just to feel good about their miserable and worthless selves.  They like what they do and care nothing for innocent lives, or ppl who haven’t a thing to do with whatever twisted cause they say they are fighting for.


Fears of further violence in Northern Ireland after four bombs discovered in a week

There are fears that Northern Ireland is facing a summer of violence after the discovery of four bombs in a week thought to have been planted by dissident republicans.

MORE HERE

Called “dissident republicans,” the papers say these folks could bomb targets in Britain for the first time in nine years.
This newer organization with a name no human can pronounce easily, has been behind recent attacks in Northern Ireland with the intent of killing by the end of the month. 

As if muzzies aren’t enuff to deal with.  Now this. 

Three children hurt in Northern Ireland bomb blast
Three children have been injured in a bomb blast in Lurgan, a dissident republican stronghold of Northern Ireland.

By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent
In an attack on 3rd August, a 200lb bomb left in a hijacked taxi detonated outside a police station in Londonderry, causing substantial damage but no injuries.

SOURCE AND MORE

And of course when caught their “rights” will be scrupulously seen to. 


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/16/2010 at 11:25 AM   
Filed Under: • TerroristsUK •  
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$2.25 Billion for Reparations?

via C&S, via Freep, via Pajamas Media

I am full-on confused here. WTFFFF?

Barack Obama and USDA’s Shirley Sherrod involved in reparations shake down?

Ok, there was this court case. Pigford v. Glickman. 1997. 400 black farmers felt they had been discriminated against by the USDA when applying for farm loans. They won. In 1999 each was given $50,000 for settlement. But by then the word had leaked out, and the original 400 plaintiffs had grown to a class action suit involving thousands. Sixteen thousand to be a little specific. It was the free money tree: all you had to be was black, and a farmer, and the government would cut you a check for 50 Large. Period. Done deal, no proof of anything discriminatory required. Yikes.

Well, that’s not entirely true. At the time the government was reviewing each claimant, and about 41% of them were denied.  But quite a few years later the case was re-opened. By a freshman Senator, Barack Obama. And by Chuck Grassley (R - IA). And the awarding started all over again, with those denied in the past now being accepted. And tens of thousands of new applicants accepted and approved. So many, in fact, that the number of applicants was 2 to 4 times greater than the actual number of black farmers, then, now, or ever. Go figure.

Somehow in this mess, Shirley Sherrod and her husband managed to get awarded a $13 million settlement, for a farm that they owned that had gone out of business. The largest settlement of all the Pigford claimants. How about that? And just after that, coincidentally, she got hired by the USDA. Amazing.

Now it looks like the total settlement amount could add at least $1.25 BILLION to the $1 BILLION already paid out.

What was originally a $20 million settlement has ballooned exponentially, twice. It does not appear that any real proof of discrimination, or even of actual farming, is necessary. It looks to me like somebody planted ACORNS and grew a money tree, and the fruit is ready for picking.

This really looks like a major scam. It looks like Sherrod and Obama are in it up to their necks. Please read the whole story, or at least as much as is known at this point, starting with

Rdoger’s post at C&S, a slightly longer synopsis at Hummers & Cigarettes then loads of details and data in Zombie’s post at Pajamas, and then by what might be the first post on this over at Free Republic. Googling up Pigford v. Glickman couldn’t hurt either.

From what I gather, $1 billion had already been paid out, back in 1999. Another $1.25 has been awarded, but the allocation of that money is in doubt. Looks like it was recently removed from a defense appropriations bill. How it was in there to begin with, God only knows, but that’s DC.

400 black farmers were discriminated against. Agreed. Pay them their settlement. 16,000 more tried to get some of that 11 years ago. Half failed. Now 89,000 black farmers are claiming they should be paid as well. Even though we have don’t have even half that many black farmers. How can this not be a scam? How the EFFITY EFF did Sherrod get $13 million and a job out of this? How can this not be some kind of stealth reparations in the most original form - because somewhere between $50,000 and $13 million really ought to enable you to buy 40 acres and a mule.

Spread the word. If this is not a con and corruption, then this is the biggest example of government ineptness ever. Ever. I want to see proof of discrimination for each and every loan application, all 89,000 of them, for the period in question. With further proof of farm ownership at that time. And 10 years in jail for any and every applicant who faked it. You can not join a class action suit after it is settled. That’s not allowed. It is not the fault of the government that the suit may not have been advertised sufficiently at the time, is it? You certainly can not be allowed to put your claim in 11 years after the fact. This smells to high heaven, and if it turns out to be rotten, then Chuck Grassley should get the axe too. Good intentions are no excuse if he didn’t investigate enough to smell a rat.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 08/16/2010 at 10:20 AM   
Filed Under: • GovernmentCorruption and GreedObama, The OnePolitically Correct B.S. •  
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Young women at the front …. Battling Brits

I hope she’ll be okay .... I wish her well and all those young people in harms way. 

There are some videos here of other young women in uniform and serving “Over There.”

MORE VIDEOS HERE AT THE SOURCE, TELEGRAPH

Lance Corporal Ashton Mulligan, who joined up at 16, explains why she now has ambivalent feelings towards ‘home’.



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Posted by peiper   United States  on 08/16/2010 at 09:53 AM   
Filed Under: • Battling Brits UKWar-Stories •  
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MORALITY ACCORDING TO THE TALIBAN, who claim to worship a merciful god

There isn’t anything new here, but it is a reminder of the mindset of the sub human species we’re up against. 
And btw .. how the heck does a widow commit “adultery?” Can any of you see any way the USA can pull out of that place, without seriously damaging our own internal security?  If we do leave, it’s a sure thing the Taliban will regain control or if not in total then they will make it easier for Al Qaeda to flourish there.
Don’t ya just wish we could say the hell with it and just nuke the whole damn place and start from scratch.


Taliban kill couple in public stoning

A man and woman have been stoned to death in northern Afghanistan after being accused by the Taliban of having an affair.

by Our Foreign Staff
The Telegraph

The 23-year-old woman and 28-year-old man were killed because “they had an affair,” said Mohammad Ayob, the governor of Imam Sahib district in Kunduz province.

“Two people were stoned to death by Taliban in Mullah Quli village late yesterday,” he said. The village is under the control of the Taliban.
Mullah Quli resident Abdul Satar said about 100 people, most of them Taliban insurgents, gathered in the village on Sunday evening as a statement was read out saying the pair had confessed to their affair.

He said the man was married to someone else, and the woman was engaged.
“The Taliban convicted both to stoning to death, some from the crowd started throwing stones at the couple until they died,” Mr Satar said.
The couple had their hands bound behind their backs and were forced to stand in an empty field as their sentence was carried out, he said.
A local Taliban commander, who contacted media but refused to give his name, confirmed the killings.

“The couple confessed they had eloped together and based on their confession they were stoned to death,” he said.
Under Islamic Sharia law, sex between unmarried people is punishable by public beatings, while punishment for those caught in extra-marital affairs is death by stoning.

EARLIER THIS MONTH, THE TALIBAM PUBLICLY FLOGGED AND THEN KILLED A PREGNANT WIDOW FOR ALLEGED “ADULTERY.”

The killings are a grim reminder of the Taliban’s harsh 1996-2001 rule, when apparent crimes were brutally punished after summary trials.
As well as lashings and death by stoning for alleged adulterers, people accused of theft regularly had their hands or feet amputated.
In regions that have come under Taliban control as the war drags towards the end of its ninth year, rough justice is meted out in the same manner, and includes execution of people accused of “spying” for foreign forces.

SOURCE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 08/16/2010 at 09:20 AM   
Filed Under: • Terrorists •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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