Babies: Feeding On Demand

I do understand in a basic way what feeding on demand means, but I wondered how the mother know the baby's way the demand is and interpreted. Now here is what the Babycenter says:

Feeding on demand simply means feeding your baby whenever he signals that he's hungry — usually by crying or sucking on his hands — rather than according to a set schedule. The terms "on cue" or "ad lib" are a better way to describe feeding according to your baby's needs than "demand" feeding. The latter can mislead people into thinking that feeding a baby whenever he's hungry will turn him into a demanding little tyrant!



During the early weeks of breastfeeding, you may feel as though you're nursing your baby constantly, and wonder if your baby really needs all that nursing. Keep in mind that young babies have tiny stomachs — about the size of a walnut. Easily digested breast milk quickly fills their little stomach and is absorbed, so it's no wonder they need to eat again relatively soon.


If your baby seems hungry soon after eating (fussy, sucking on his fist, or rooting at your breast), go ahead and feed him again. Keep in mind, too, that babies are just hungrier on some days than on other days and will want to eat more than usual. These days are called "frequency days" and are thought to precede growth spurts.

If you are going to have a baby or have one, please do go to the original article and read it through. There are comments in there which might be helpful to you.




 










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75 River Community Center Latest News

According to the latest news, the judge has cleared the two defendants, Alex Darocy and Bradley Stuart Allen, of the felony charges of  vandalism, but the still are facing the charge of trspassing. How can a journalist be charged of trespassing. He is there to record what is happening during the said 'trespassing' by others who are annonymous. most probably the US gov wants him to take photos outside and write some stupid stuff like the main media. Has he got any rights at all. Hmmmm....1st Amendment for instance.

Then I found another publication by The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), who has sent a “Letter Brief“ to the courts. Nicely done I hear you say.












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75 River Community Center

recent news on this subject comes from


This was news on Wed, 2011-11-30 in anarchist news. And we were all happy for them.
Santa Cruz, CA, U.S.A.- November 30, 2011.

The formerly vacant building at 75 River St. is being repurposed by an autonomous group, in solidarity with Occupy Santa Cruz. Formerly a big bank, it was bought out by Wells Fargo. Subsequently, the building closed, and has remained vacant for nearly three years. Today this group has, without breaking & entering, taken the building with intentions of using the space in a productive way that benefits the community of Santa Cruz . The property will no longer be left open by big development companies as a sign of the economic despair in this county, but will rather be used to enrich and teach the local community.


While the middle class quickly falls toward the poverty line, the big banks and the extremely wealthy continue to get rich at the expense of all. Across the United States 1.05 million properties were seized by banks in the year 2010. In Santa Cruz County alone 1,594 homes were auctioned off between November 2010 and October 2011. The foreclosed and vacant buildings in this country serve as a reminder of the ever-growing gap between the 'rich' and the 'poor'. As people are left without shelter and social space due to foreclosures and a declining economy; big banks and developing companies buy out space to simply leave empty.


An existing time-honored U.S. and California law allows for the transfer of a property title when a property is occupied and taken care of by an alternative party for an extended period of time. This law is called adverse possession. The law was born out of the belief that society's best interests are met when land and property are utilized productively rather than sitting vacant. Today, the building at 75 River St. has been adversely possessed. No longer will the property exist only as an empty parking lot and a vacant building with a sign re-directing people to Wells Fargo across the street. It will be repurposed and used to benefit the community instead of Cassidy Turley, the large-scale commercial real estate company currently leasing the building, and Wells Fargo bank.


Instead of an empty space, there will be a space for community teach-ins, an open library, and discussion forums. The space will be offered to Occupy Santa Cruz as an opportunity to have a roof over its head and allow for more organization to take place. The space will be safe, non-violent, non-destructive and welcoming. The building will be a forum for individuals in the community to learn from one another, and help the Occupy movement grow.


There is a hope to see community support for the reclamation of property and space from the very wealthy, the 1%, back into the hands and benefit of the community.


This action was not decided on by the General Assembly of Occupy Santa Cruz. This press release is not from the Occupy Santa Cruz media team.

Then on the 3rd Dec a meeting was convened inside the occupied building at 75 River St. in Santa Cruz. At the meeting, a two page handwritten letter was composed, addressed to the Santa Cruz Police Department from The 75 River Street Community Center. The letter was left on a table for the police to find when they enter the building.


Below is the transcribed text, along with photographs of the original handwritten letter.

Hello SCPD,



This letter is to contest the notion that vacant, unused private property should be ethically or legally seen as the equivalent of an occupied home. The basis for [City Manager] Martin Bernal's criticism of our efforts to reclaim 75 River Street for the community was that this goes against existing property laws, and that the needs of this community's poor - notably the homeless - can be met through more traditional methods, such as voting procedures, or by continuing to protest extreme social inequality without breaking the law. This argument suffers from numerous deficiencies, and as it's been used to justify aggressive behavior towards us it's worth scrutinizing.


With regard to voting, it should be amply clear from the two major political parties' decision-making these past three decades that the interests of the masses, the 99%, are not the driving force in political change. Money, corporate interest groups, and international capital have been. As there is currently no political group with poor and homeless peoples' needs in mind, and the "mainstream" political system is funded to work against these interests, it is entirely understandable that many in our community and others like it are skeptical of voting. This space has been occupied to meet urgent, concrete needs that can't wait for election time to be met: food, shelter, bathrooms, safety from abuse, and many more.


A related argument that's been used against us is that positive social change can occur through forms of protest that obey the law. This of course ignores the question: How is it possible to effectively protest our system of laws, while at the same time fully obeying them? Perhaps an answer would be: through mobilizing public opinion. We certainly do believe in ethically mobilizing public opinion, but the issue remains of what to mobilize it for. As stated above, we have no interest in participating in a structurally corrupt voting system dominated by two massively corporate-funded political parties - so a traditional "get out the vote" effort is not the primary goal of what we are doing. We want the public to take direct action and actually join us in solidarity - and if they cannot join us here, to do it by occupying neglected spaces in their own city. As you know, this building occupation has become an object of national, and increasingly international, interest. For people who value human life over private property, it will doubtless serve as an inspiration.


To conclude, we would like to share one very important thought: whether or not this building occupation is shut down, others will spring up. You, the police, have taken a stand against the 99% in the service of an obsolete 1%. In these times of rapid change, it is guaranteed you will lose what support you have by continuing to protect the commodities of the super-elite at the expense of people's health, well-being, and sense of community. Please begin thinking and acting conscientiously, by joining the 99%!


Sincerely,

The 75 River Street


Community Center

About 75 River from their own website.

75River was a community space in Santa Cruz, California, that existed between Nov. 30 and Dec. 3, 2011. The occupation began to establish a variety of community projects in the space until occupiers left the evening of the 3rd.



The occupation was set up in the former Coast Commercial Bank, a quite useful building held vacant by Wells Fargo since 2008.


Please help occupations inspire more of its kind by spreading the word! Send your links, art, and support to seventyfiveriver@yahoo.com

And then suddenly I heard that they are closing down. Well here is what they say.

Last night, the occupiers of 75 River Community Center chose to end their occupation. Just after 9pm the building was left vacant, just as it has been since 2008. Before leaving, signs were hung from every office and conference room door with suggestions for a future community center. Servicess such as free childcare, free drug counseling, homeless outreach and senior speed-dating are just a few examples of what could have been available at 75 River, which aspired to become a community center for the residents of Santa Cruz.



This effort was disrupted and distorted by the Santa Cruz Police, the City Council, and Wells Fargo Bank. The occupiers chose to exit the building since it became clear that police were targeting a small group of individuals not directly involved with the occupation. Besides being a further testament to the ineptitude of the Santa Cruz Police Department, this targeting shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the Occupy organizing model. These targeted individuals acted as observers and monitors of the occupation and communicated to police and media, but were in no way central to the occupation. The Occupy movement has neither leaders nor central individuals.


The violence that occurred at 75 River was entirely initiated by the police. At least four individuals were brutalized by police, one of whom was hospitalized due to their injuries. The appropriation of tax funds for intimidation and unprovoked violence was a waste of money that could be used to fund public services, rather than to disrupt individuals autonomously providing those resources.


The police and some media have focused on Wells Fargo as the “victim” in this scenario. This logic is exactly the problem. Wells Fargo has foreclosed countless families out of their homes (not to mention investing in heinous ICE detention centers, engaging in predatory lending, and yielding profits of over $12 Billion last year). The reclamation and re-purposing of a vacant building valued at $3.5 million is an injustice to no person and no institution. The real injustice is people being pillaged out of homes they spent years working legitimately to obtain, by an objectively greedy and inherently predatory legal entity.


Within the occupied space, a sense of togetherness was created that many had never felt elsewhere. Many also found safety within the building. These are not trivial things for people forced into living on the streets, but rather powerful and beautiful experiences that will remain with those who participated in the bank occupation for the rest of their lives.


It was inevitable that an occupation like the River St. one would spring up, as winter approaches and the core members of Occupy, many of whom are homeless, find themselves needing shelter from the elements (not to mention a place to fall asleep without concern that one is committing an illegal act). Future occupations across the country are similarly inevitable. Marginalized members of this society are beginning to discover their power. Beyond their overwhelming numerical superiority, the people have a vision of society that is compelling and profoundly fairer than the current way of things. Every day we struggle together is a
a day closer to this vision.


We’ll be back.

Nice one they occupied it for 74 hours and peacefully removed themselves out of the place, but the olice were targeting few people who were Journalists and observers/ monitors. Check this one for more info .

On the 4th Po-lice of santa cruz put this in blog  .

75 River Street - Takeover Has Ended



On late Saturday night, after over 72 hours of difficult negotiations, Occupy Santa Cruz ended their takeover of a vacant bank building at 75 River Street. Our goal was to have a peaceful resolution to this illegal and unproductive action and we were successful in that endeavor. Thankfully, the group was able to show the maturity that had been lacking in the first three days of the takeover.


It is our intent to work with the District Attorney's Office to identify those that are responsible and hold them accountable for the trespass. In addition, we will be reviewing the costs associated with the takeover to see if there is any way we can recoup some of the public funds that were spent during the last few days. Clearly, as chief, I would prefer our resources be dedicated to more pressing issues than people that blatantly disregard reason, property rights and common sense. I can't make it clearer that no one has a First Amendment right to break into someone's property, commit acts of felony vandalism and ignore the law. Their actions were senseless and childish and diverted our limited resources. In addition, it placed our officers in needless danger; something that I find completely unbelievable.


We had worked hard to develop a Plan B to protect people and property and were fortunate that we were able to end this through the skilled work of our negotiators. It was difficult, especially given the lack of a central figure in the group to negotiate and their initial greeting of expletives and slurs about police; not exactly the best basis for friendly negotiation. Within hours, they stopped answering phone calls on the cell phone we provided and continually provided us with unreasonable desires and no time horizon for vacating a space they had no right to be in. The sense of entitlement and disregard for the law is appalling. To say the least, it detracts from whatever their initial message was to have such an escalation of action. Some were quoted in media outlets showing their willingness to be arrested and their lack of interest in negotiation. Others were shown harassing the media or police that were there to speak to them. No longer can we trust that their intentions are purely political protest or other reasonably protected First Amendment actions. We witnessed anarchists, like those involved in the May Day riots, openly participating in the initial takeover and saw some quoted that were willing to face any sort of police action in order to defend their "right" to illegal takeover of the building.


We cannot thank the community enough for their support during this time and their calls of encouragement of how we handled the takeover. I personally share the frustrations of many that this was a completely unacceptable and over the top way to garner attention to their vague cause. I plan to continue the conversation about these issues with the community in the coming week.


As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us.


Kevin Vogel


Chief of Police

Then on the 6th the Santa Cruz Po-lice Department put some pictures on their website asking people to recognize them and grass on them. Then they had an update on 28th of dec Thus:

Update on Takeover of 75 River Street




Throughout the past 4-weeks, Santa Cruz Police Department investigators have worked tirelessly to identify those responsible for the takeover and vandalism of the vacant building located at 75 River Street on Wednesday November 30, 2011. Much of the information regarding the identity of those responsible for the illegal entry and takeover was the direct result of information provided to SCPD by concerned community members after viewing photographs of the individuals responsible for participating in this incident.
Thus far, Santa Cruz Police Investigators have identified 13 individuals who are suspected of being responsible for planning, organizing and participating in these unlawful acts. The names and other identifying information for these 13 people have been submitted to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office and arrest warrants have been requested in conjunction with this case. We expect to begin making arrests as soon as the warrants are issued. This is the first wave of names that have been submitted for arrest warrants. As this investigation progresses, we expect to identify additional individuals who are responsible and we intend to hold them accountable for their unlawful actions as well.


The Santa Cruz Police Department would like to thank the community for their assistance in helping identify those responsible for this illegal takeover. We would also like to encourage anyone who has information on the identity or whereabouts of anyone who was involved in this incident to contact Santa Cruz Police Investigations at (831) 420-5820. You may leave an anonymous tip at (831) 420-5995. You may also submit a tip using our iPhone app, or via our website by clicking here.


Sincerely,
Kevin Vogel


Chief of Police

Thursday, February 9th, 2012


Posted by OccupyAdmin Feb. 8, 2012 75 River St. Charges & Arrests


All of the following are named on Case No. F22196, Superior Court Complaint,


Charged with felonies, except for Gabriella with a third misdemeanor charge of delaying an officer.


If they go to the courthouse to get a court date, they will not have to be arrested or post bail. Becky Johnson was arrested, handcuffed and taken from her home with pancakes burning on the stove around 10 am today. She is now in jail with $5000 bail needed, and David Silva for whom she is caretaking is alone at her house. Clearly the police don’t know who the #75River occupiers were, or they are targeting people they don’t like, including the media.


It is believed that Desiree and Brent were also arrested.






ROBERT NORRIS KAHN


BRENT ELLIOTT ADAMS


FRANKLIN CRUZ ALCANTARA (ANGEL)


BRADLEY STUART ALLEN................................. see my page


ALEX GEORGE DAROCY  ..................................  see my page


BECKY ANN JOHNSON


DESIREE CHRISTINE FOSTER


CAMERON STEPHENS LAURENDEAU


EDWARD DANIEL RECTOR


GABRIELLA CELESTE RIPLEYPHIPPS


GRANT GARIOCH WILSON

 On the 9th Santa Cruz Sentinal published an article with statements from two attorneys.

Two men facing charges in connection with the takeover of a former bank are slated for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Their attorneys say the men are photojournalists and were working in that capacity when the alleged violations took place.




Alex Darocy, Bradley Stuart Allen and nine other people are charged with two felony counts of vandalism and conspiracy, and two misdemeanor counts of trespassing. The charges stem from the takeover of the building at 75 River St. late last year. In that incident, a group claiming to be acting "anonymously and autonomously" but in solidarity with Occupy Santa Cruz remained in the building for nearly three days before leaving peacefully.


Darocy and Allen, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last month, are photojournalists who have done work for a number of outlets, including Santa Cruz Indymedia, according to defense attorneys George Gigarjian and Ben Rice.

I follow quite a lot of legal issues in and around the Indymedia outlets. sometimes the tactics by US gov and the Po-lice are deplorable to say the least. Most of the cases get thrown out of court after spending millions in court costs etc. Freedom country they say loud and clear.


See here for the latest.















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Alex Darocy

This is from his own website

Alex Darocy is based in the Bay Area near Santa Cruz, where he has lived since he was three. He has been taking pictures since he was ten years old, when he taught himself the fundamentals of 35mm film photography with the help of a book he found at a local used shop. His medium of choice is color film photography, but he rabidly shoots digital as well. His favorite subjects to shoot are toys and other objects of mass production, and he has also been working on a long-term street photography project.



Alex Darocy received a B.A. in History of Art and Visual Culture from the University of California, Santa Cruz.


For a list of Alex's past exhibitions, and his resume, click: here


THE PHOTOS


With the exception of the alt processes page, all of the photos on this site were single exposures taken with a medium format film camera, and they were originally printed on color photographic paper in the dark room (C-prints). Limited edition prints by Alex are available for purchase in a variety of photo sizes. For information on print prices and ordering or commissioning an artwork, email Alex at alex@alexdarocy.com

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Bradley Stuart Allen

From his own website .

Bradley Stuart Allen is a photographer, Indymedia volunteer and website developer living in Santa Cruz, California.



Since 2001, Bradley has been contributing coverage to Indymedia websites. Most of that coverage has been of events that took place in the city of Santa Cruz or at the university, UCSC. However, Bradley has also published reports from many other locations such as Miami during demonstrations against a free trade agreement, Houston and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the barricaded streets of Oaxaca, Mexico.


The website BradleyStuart.net began in June 2005 and serves as an archive of Bradley’s Indymedia coverage since that time.


In February of 2006, he created the website elenemigocomun.net to support the documentary film, El Enemigo Común (The Common Enemy). Bradley continues to serve as the website’s publisher, where bilingual articles and communiques are frequently posted, helping to sustain networks of communication and solidarity between the United States and Mexico.


Bradley’s photos have been published around the world; first through the Indymedia network, and then printed in books, newspapers, magazines, posters and flyers. Bradley’s photographs are included in numerous documentaries about the 2006 uprising in Oaxaca, such as Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth).


News outlets and organizations that have used Bradley’s photos include the San Jose Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Democracy Now!, The Progressive Magazine, Good Times Santa Cruz, San Antonio Current, Baylor College of Medicine, San Francisco Bay View Newspaper, American Friends Service Committee, Gizmodo, AlterNet, Community Alliance of Fresno, Common Ground Relief in New Orleans, Kaos en la Red, Infoshop.org, Bite Back, libcom.org, Earth First! Journal, Cannabis Culture, Free Speech Radio News, Free Radio Olympia, Free Radio Santa Cruz, Global Exchange, Bradley Manning Support Network, Rising Tide North America, Santa Cruz Reskilling Expo, Santa Cruz Patch, Antioch Arrow, Modesto Anarcho, SnitchWire, Socialist Viewpoint, SocialistWorker.org, Third World and Native american Students Press Collective (TWANAS), The Project, Disorientation Guide to UCSC, as well as AFSCME, the ILWU Dispatcher, and other labor unions, non-profit organizations, musicians, books, newspapers, films and even textbooks — History Alive! The United States Through Industrialism.


Bradley moved to Santa Cruz in the summer of 2000 to attend UCSC as a transfer student, and graduated in 2002 with a degree in Environmental Studies. Surprisingly enough, there were not any campus-based student environmental organizations at UCSC in 2000. In 2001, Bradley co-founded the Student Environmental Center at UCSC, which has become an institution within the university.


In 2006, Bradley returned to UC Santa Cruz to participate in the school’s new Social Documentation program. His focus was photography and website development. Bradley graduated with a master’s degree in 2008.


When not situated behind a camera or computer, Bradley enjoys riding his bicycle along the coast in Santa Cruz and being in nature.

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The Life With Mice And How I Caught Them Humanely

I had this experience with a few mice in my flat some time back and I started writing about it and doh ....did I finish....no.  Here is what I did write in way back in 2009.

About a couple of months ago I noticed a mouse running around my flat.I live in a small one bedroom flat. It is small in floor size, but easily accomodate a ten foot giant in the living and bed rooms. I thought a mouse is OK as long as it does not live inside with me. But then it became two mice in the flat. I decided the flat is too small for three of us.



By this time my back pain has grown into a undesirable state. I could not do the least amount of cleaning, like the cupboards etc. Little at a time I noticed that there is a distict smell in the kitchen area. I decided to investigate.

So why do I dig this out now? It is because I read an article about mice and I will tell you about later after I finish about what happened to me and the mices.

When I had a look in the cupboards it was a bloody mess likes which you find in old houses neglected for years and not cleaned. The cupboards were very old may be 1980's style. The doors will not shut properly and there is a gap at the top of the door, which I do not know the purpose was. So out with my cleaning stuff. There was a bag of rice in a plastic bag and it was nibbled out in a corner. Yummy mummy for the mice. There as a nest made but no little mices in it. Cleared cleaned the whole lot and did a bit of research on the net. Though they be a menace, I do not like killing them. So I found a electronic gadget which sends out a sound which is not apparently, according to the website, appreciated by the mice, and they run away, it said. And found another humane mouse trap. Delightful, I Amazoned for delivery. In a week or so I got them both delivered and set to work.

I put the electronic gadget in the living room and the trap in the cupboard, where the rice was before, with some rice and peanut butter inside it. By this time there were two of them running around in the sitting room and enjoying themselves. So I waited without moving just sitting down and watching tv. Yep the wee buggeres came out and started munching the rice I placed near the gadget. They kept on playing and mucking about and the electronic sound did not do anything to them. They even went near it and sniffed. So if you have mice? these electronic gadgets do not work. But we used to make little gadgets to scare cats in my backyard a long time ago. They worked ok, but it is very fiddly to get the exact frequency which makes them go away.

Next day I had a look inside the cupboard and found that the trap has fallen on the side and the rice and peanut butter all gone. So I put the trap in the living room and watched. Same ingredients inside it. After a while mice came out and startedd to muck around the living room?...doh or sitting room which is the same huh? One of them sniffed the trap then went away a distance and ran into it sideways and it toppled on a side. The trap is one which has part of the floor bit raised. The end, where the bait, is raised from the floor when you put it on the floor. The end with the entrance is flat on the ground, so that the mouse can easily go in.. If a mouse goes inside the raised part, it drops down due to the weight of the mouse and the cannot get out. That is the theory anyhow. But here my mouse toppled it sideways. Then one by one they both went inside and ate the food. Neat huh. Pity I did not have a camera in hand to take photos.

They must have learnt about it somewhere. By this time I noticed three of them at the same time. My friend Andy, and with a bit of help and ideas from me, designed a mouse trap.

You need
1 A tube of some sort, we used a paint roller,
2 Three plastic bags
3 Gaffa tape, or any strong stickey tape
4 Bait, best of which is bird seeds

Put a plastic bag at one end of the tube and secure the open end of the bag wrapped around the tube with gaffa tape. The cut the closed end of the plastic bag leaving about 3 inches hanging out of the tube. Then put another bag on top of that, secure the open end like before. This time cut the bag off leaving about 6 inches of the bag intact. Now hold the end of the tube without the plastic bags and hold the plastic bags at the other end, then twist and crunch the plastic bags. The reason is we have to create a trap making it hard for the mouse to crawl out. Now put the last bag on top of others, secure it and do not cut this bag.

I put some bird seed into the bag and placed the tube on top of the work top with the bag end well away from the edge. Fastened it properly with sticky tape. Put a trail of bird seed ...huh? not too much mind, on the work top. That night I slept on the sofa in the sitting room, which is joined with the kitchen. And hour or so later I woke up to this rustling sound. Aha there were two of them in the bag. I cut the bag from the top and put the bag and mice in a metal box which we prepared before with a small cup of water inside it. Put a new bag over the tube secured it on the work top and went back to bed. This went on for the next night etc and I caught 5 mice in all which I dispensed with in a little forest area we have close by.

Now the reason for back track. Did you know that male mouse snigs to attract females and it is unique to that individual mouse. I did not either.

Male house mice pro­duce me­lo­di­ous songs to at­tract mates, not un­like many birds, ac­cord­ing to new re­search.




The dit­ties are too high-pitched for hu­man hear­ing, but sci­en­tists at Vi­en­na's Un­ivers­ity of Vet­er­i­nary Med­i­cine an­a­lyzed them and found they con­vey in­forma­t­ion about ident­ity and kin­ship. The find­ings are pub­lished in the jour­nal Phys­i­ol­o­gy & Be­hav­ior and in the Jour­nal of Ethol­o­gy.

You can find the rest of the article of the World Science Net here








I am a selfish person. If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!claimes the World Science net. I who by instict knows that amoebae to humans are the same, loved this article.

About a couple of months ago I noticed a mouse running around my flat.I live in a small one bedroom flat. It is small in floor size, but easily accomodate a ten foot giant in the living and bed rooms. I thought a mouse is OK as long as it does not live inside with me. But then it became two mice in the flat. I decided the flat is too small for three of us.



By this time my back pain has grown into a undesirable state. I could not do the least amount of cleaning, like the cupboards etc. Little at a time I noticed that there is a distict smell in the kitchen area. I decided to investigate.

Cassino Italy

Caught my eye while reading an article about finance. funny init? You don't know where you are about. anyway This is what I found out about this municipality (Comune plural comuni) and the history.

Cassino is a comune in the province of Frosinone, Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio.



Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Rapido and Liri rivers. The city is best known as the site of the Abbey of Montecassino and the Battle of Monte Cassino during World War II, which resulted in tremendous Allied and German casualties as well as the near total destruction of the town itself. Today, Cassino is also home to the University of Cassino and a FIAT automotive plant.

That is from Wikipedia .

This is published in The army News on the 24th march 1944. This is copied from tove-nia gov website and all the citations are given below the article.

NAZIS STILL FIGHTFix this text ON AT CASSINO ALGIERS, Thursday.


-The Ger mans. are still fighting. bitterly to hold heaps of ,rubble in the ruins 'of Cassino, but the Now Zealanders are beating them back to the outskirts.


The strongest Nazi counter-attack reported in the latest communique was made in an attempt to capture Castle Hill, but British troops threw the Nazis back. Another attack on the French-held sector was smashed by artillery fire.


[The NZ Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, praised the work of the New Zealanders in the NZ Parliament to-day. He also revealed that Gen eral Freyberg was offered a higher post,. but refused to leave the men he loved.]

'On the Ancio beach-head and the Eighth Army front, activity was limited to patrotling.


Allied aircraft bombed railway yards at Padua, and attacked ship ping off the Dalmatian Coast.

Article identifierhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47691031



Page identifierhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page3356305


APA citationNAZIS STILL FIGHT ON AT CASSINO. (1944, March 24). Army News (Darwin, NT : 1941 - 1946), p. 1. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47691031


MLA citation"NAZIS STILL FIGHT ON AT CASSINO." Army News (Darwin, NT : 1941 - 1946) 24 Mar 1944: 1. Web. 7 Mar 2012 .


Harvard/Australian citation1944 'NAZIS STILL FIGHT ON AT CASSINO.', Army News (Darwin, NT : 1941 - 1946), 24 March, p. 1, viewed 7 March, 2012, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47691031


Wikipedia citation{{cite news url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47691031 title=NAZIS STILL FIGHT ON AT CASSINO. newspaper=[[Army News Army News (Darwin, NT : 1941 - 1946)]] location=Darwin, NT date=24 March 1944 accessdate=7 March 2012 page=1 publisher=National Library of Australia}}

This place has a lot of history but i can suggest you guys go find more about the histor. I did. ha ha. Ball is in.......!






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Mahdi al-Harati

Now I know I wrote something about this man sometime back Rewind . But I am gone crazy after a friend of mine sent me an email taking me to task; ahem yeah asked me what I know of him. My friend is Irish you see. He knows about things common people do not know. But I can say this, "I know a lot more".

I have doubts about his Irishness. I find out only that Mahdi al-Hariti was born in Libya, and have lived in Ireland for the last 20 years or so. He is married to Eftaima al- Najar who was born to an Irish mother and a Lybian father in Ireland. So he is not Irish at all. He lived in Ireland.

("Pak is a Pak no matter where he lives". Said my pakistani mate some time back.

So  said I, with a wink wink nudge nudge, "But you have a British passport???".

He goes, "Insha-Allah, that is for convenience". Bless. I rest my case.)

This Libyan man al Haridi has been enjoying the companianship of the Anti war campaigners in Ireland and went to Palestine from Turkey in the flotilla of goods for Palestinians and got injured. But is that all he been upto?

Fair and square we are not sure of what news papers say as it is unravelled in the british media eg. News of The World (1843 to 2011.... poor sod) etc. but there was a bit of news about my man al-Haridi in the irish news.as to "TINKER RAIDERS, SOLDIER, SPY" .

What it says there in a nutshell is, that some thieving traveller community (god bless them) has broken into al Haridi's house and nicked a sum of 200 grand Euro from his place. When questioned by the Police al Haridi has explained thus:

.....He has told cops (oops sorry Gardai) that the cash was a gift from US secret agents to aid the war effort in Libya. Now the money trail has led to the traveller strongholds in Rathkeale, where €500 notes have been popping up all over the place.//////

Astonished officers made contact with Mahdi al-Harati who told them that he had travelled to France, the United States and Qatar the previous month and that representatives of an American intelligence agency had given him a significant amount of money to help in the efforts to defeat Gaddafi. He said he left two envelopes with his wife in case he was killed and took the rest of the cash with him when he went back to Libya.........

The couple had no comment to make when the Sunday World called to their home last week. Al-Harati led the main rebel advance that captured Tripoli on August 21, a move regarded as being the beginning of the end for Gaddafi. He was appointed deputy leader of Tripoli's military council, a group which had the aim of merging all rebel units into one coherent national army.

Just days after the robbery in his home, al-Harati resigned from the council and returned to Dublin and has since been formally interviewed by gardai. Astonished detectives have launched a major probe into the daring robbery and issued an alert to all banks to be on the lookout for €500 notes, which are extremely rare in Ireland but would be relatively common in other European countries.

True to life, which I live and prosper, I hope they never catch the em tea leaves.

In a another informative website, Indemedia Ireland, hopeefully unbiased this came to light

Mahdi al-Harati has been well-known in antiwar and Palestine solidarity circles in Dublin over the years . He had been a passenger in the Challenger 1 ship last year when it attempted to break the seige of Gaza as part of the Free Gaza Flotilla . He was the last Irish member of the flotilla to arrive home after the Israeli raid and was given a hero’s reception at Dublin Airport by members of the IPSC and the IAWM . According to an indymedia comment from last year written by Kev from the IPSC

I found one of our own Blogspot people talking about this same subject in this . I don't think I have to elaborate about what this authour has written. But there are a few points one has to take:

1) There are few of the people who were in Libya also in the area viz. "Abdul Halim Belhaj" the Libyan military council leaders in Tripoli, "Adam Kikly" who informed the Spanish journalist that he worked with "Abdul Halim Belhaj" since 20 years in UK, and "Mehdi Harati", the leader of the "Tripoli Brigade"  in Libya

How true is this I wonder?

I saw a comment and I thought I will try to elaborate on this further. There is proof that there is a connection between Al Quaida and Meihdi. I shown you an article earlier by Daniel. But he has written more. They are all in Spanish, but thanks to google it can be easily rectified.

The train takes us to a cottage where we expect another group to be evacuated with us. And then comes the surprise: there are three Libyans, in their own words, have come not to fight, but "to assess the needs of the Syrian revolutionary brothers." The Libyans do not try to hide their identities. These are men near Abdelhakim Belhadj, military governor of Tripoli current and former jihadist with links to al Qaeda in the past.

One of them turns out to be an old acquaintance of the reporters who covered the war in Libya: Mehdi al-Hatari, the former commander of the Brigade of Tripoli, which played a key role in making the capital and the fall of Gaddafi. The second, Adem Kikli, says he works for Belhadj, and for almost two decades in exile in the UK. The third, Fuad, seems to be a bodyguard. "We are here on their own initiative and personal, not least of anyone," said Adem. He emphasizes that Harati publicly renounced his place in Tripoli on 11 October. Adem also claims to have been with other Libyans, "a few tens', which have moved to Syria on your own to help the insurgents.

Harati, no doubt, is a man of action. The character came to the fore after participating in the Gaza Flotilla in the spring of 2010. "I was wounded in the assault on the Mavi Marmara, and spent nine days in jail in Tel Aviv," he says. In February, Harati, who lives in Dublin and have Irish passport, said goodbye to his wife and son, along with other Libyan exiles in Ireland, went to Libya. There he created the Brigade of Tripoli, a group of elite fighters, trained by consultants from Qatar, who fought fiercely in the final battle for the capital.

You all can read about it here.








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The Processing of Weapons Grade Plutonium

Name of Element : Plutonium

Symbol: Pu
Atomic Number: 94
Atomic Mass: (244.0) amu
Melting Point: 639.5 °C - 912.65 °K
Boiling Point: 3235.0 °C - 3508.15 °K
Number of Protons/Electrons: 94
Number of Neutrons: 150
Crystal Structure: Monoclinic
Density @ 293 K: 19.84 g/cm3
Color: bright silvery



Plutonium exists in uranium ore in traces. But it can be synthesized. There are 20 radioactive isotopes have been analysed and catalgued by the boffins. The longest-lived are plutonium-244, with a half-life of 80.8 million years, plutonium-242, with a half-life of 373,300 years, and plutonium-239, with a half-life of 24,110 years. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 7,000 years. Aha we is getting to be boffins now onwards. So what we do is get some Pu 239 huh? Get a bit of uranium235 do a bit of fission to it to get a neutron out of it and add some U 238 we have a bit of U239 which will beta decay to turn the neutron to a proton to give you Np-239 (neptunium) and another short beta decay to produce Pu 239. Then to get Pu238 process is different. We get a bit of deutoron and hit U238 and 2 neutrons to get Np 238 which spontaneusly beta decay to give you a handful of PU238.

Well thats all I know



The efficiency and volatality of Uranium depends on the number of neutrones the nucleus carry, though it is the same element.











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The processing of natural uranium for Nuclear Reactors:

My favourite subject and least favourite whilst I was in Uni.

Uranium comes in so many isotopes my mind is reeling after reading the wikipedia article. Anyway here is the summation. The most stable found in the ground are 234U which is only .0054% with half life of 245,500 years, 234U which is only .072% with a HL of 7x10 to 8 years, 235U in traces with 2 x 10 to 7 years, and 238U 99% with 4x 10 to 9 years. Only 235U  and bits of others are used in fission for nuclear stuff like making bombs and power plants.

kilogram of uranium-235 can theoretically produce about 80 terajoules of energy (8×10¹³ joules), assuming complete fission; as much energy as 3000 metric tons of coal.

From

First you have the stuff which comes out of the ground called Yellow Cake which is an oxide. then we have to make it more concentrated which happens in a two well cordinated processes.


First purifies the uranium ore concentrate to a very high level, and then converts the uranium ore concentrate into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4).

Second transforms the uranium tetrafluoride into uranium hexafluoride (UF6). This processing gives the uranium concentrate the required purity for the production of nuclear fuel.


The second process is a bit more convoluted than the first the steps taken to turn UF4 to UF6 is below. The reason for the change is due to the volatality of UF4 and the easier to use it as a fuel.


Purification: any impurities are removed from the uranyl nitrate solution in a purification column. On completion of this stage, the uranium satisfies the purity requirements for use in nuclear power plants.




Precipitation and calcination: the "purified" uranyl nitrate solution is then concentrated; Ammonium diuranate is obtained by the injection of gaseous ammonia. This is calcinated in ultra-high temperature furnaces. A solid matter is produced - uranium trioxide (UO3).


Reduction and fluorination: the uranium trioxide is then reduced to uranium dioxide (UO2) by passing through a furnace, and then transformed into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) upon contact with hydrofluoric acid.
Transportation: the UF4 is packed in a special container and transported

This is used in molten salt reactor (MSR).

But other power plants use a combination of 235U and 238U and bits of others like plutonium. But UF4 has to be enriched to get this. Gosh I is tired like the Donkey in the winnie the pooh.


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Credit Default Swaps (CDS)?

Another one to be understood properly in this sort of mindset in the world.

Credit Default Swaps


63 Trillion Dollars worth of insuarence contracts (CDS) were in existance in the world in 2003 but falling to $26.3 trillion by mid-year 2010. And at the end of 2011 the amount is $ 32,409 billion according to the Bank of International Settlements.

Some people have made fortunes out of CDS's. CDS originated from the idea of someone taking an insuarence policy with the bank, to make the money he lent, to someone, is safe. When the economy is boomimg the banks made a lot of money, but now lots of companies are going bust the banks are losing money in a rabid state.

Simplify further, if a company "C" wants to enlarge, "C" goes to an investor "I" and gives "I" corporate bonds or IOU's to get the money. Then "I" wants to be sure that his money is safe, "I" goes to a bank "B" and takes a CDS as insuarence. "B" promise "I" to pay the amount in IOU's if the company goes bust. Nice and easy way the financial markets to go on their jobs. Hang on there is a catch, as usual, and incomes the speculator who do not as "B"  involve in the "C"'s stock, but buys the CDS's waiting for the"C"to go bust. When "C" goes upsy downsy the bankcrupcy costs go through the roof. So lots of people can take the CDS's for the same event like in the bookies.

THe biggest players in UK for this cds's were RBS and Barclays to the tune of 2.4 trillion each. That is if all cds's are called at the same time, which is unlikely one might say but when the credit crunch hapened, is that exactly what happened. The media said at that time the UK gov is worried about people taking their money out en masse and there won't be any money. Hmmmmm.
 
 
 
 
 

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Derivatives?

Comments welcome even the briefest thank you.


I have been very annoyed when people in TV talk about Derivatives. They expect us to know this term. May be I am slow. I think now I understand it as a bet. Wikipedia defines it as:

A derivative instrument is a contract between two parties that specifies conditions (especially the dates, resulting values of the underlying variables, and notional amounts) under which payments, or payoffs, are to be made between the parties.^[

Investopedia describes it as:

A security whose price is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.

Now I am geting a wee bit of understanding about this very elusive subject ( as many people seems to lose and win).

Joshep B Dahl from World Group Mortgage, LLC says

Derivates involve the trading of rights or obligations based on an underlying product, without necessarily directly transfering that underlying product

Still confusing or what may I ask?

OK now imagine a horse race I who takes a bet on the race is the buyer and the Race Tract is the seller. . After the transaction the seller is obliged to pay the buyer a certain amount according to the odds specified. These odds are called the underlying variables depending on the amount of money the Tract gets from the amount of money paid as bets.

Similarly a farmer can sell next years crop at a cetain amount of money to a bank, hedgefund etc. If the per unit price agreed drops bank loses that amount. If the price goes up the bank wins. Farmer vice a versa.

Further more, If I know someone is going to burn down his house, by using cadles only, I can take an insuarence policy to say that the house will be burnt down in a specific time. But I cannot take insuarence policies on another person or someone else's property. Then again a derivative can be arranged onsome elese company, a bank, a deal or another derivative. but this system is not regulated anywhere in the world, though it is legal in almost all top dog world.

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Who Was Present At the UN Meeting About Syria?

The people who spoke, about Human Rights Abuses in Syria, in the UN security council meeting:
according to the article. In the same article the authour mentions about the Mr. Muhammad Ahmad Mustafa Al-Dabi, the Head of the League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria. Why was he absent from the meeting. I really do not understand how this establishment runs. Any child can see their bullying way of totally disregarding protocol. If you are too lazy like me to read the article here is some points to make you read it ha ha hee. Mrs. Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightshas never been to Syria, and she is making herself as the bloody authority in the subject. Niether has any of the other big guns present and the very man who spent a month in Syria was avoided. Now if we see Mr. Al-Dabi’s report states that:

26. In Homs and Dera’a the Mission observed armed groups committing acts of violence against Government forces, resulting in death and injury among their ranks. In certain situations, Government forces responded to attacks against their personnel with force. The observers noted that some of the armed groups were using flares and armour-piercing projectiles. In Homs , Idlib and Hama , the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus carrying eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs , a police bus was blown up, killing two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed.



44. In Homs , a French journalist who worked for France 2 channel was killed and a Belgian journalist injured...It should be noted that Mission reports from Homs indicate that the French journalist was killed by opposition mortar shells.


73. The Mission noted that the Government strived to help it succeed in its task and remove any barriers that might stand in its way. No restrictions were placed on the movement of the Mission and its ability to interview Syrian citizens, both those who opposed the Government and those loyal to it.


75. Recently there have been incidents that could widen the gap and increase bitterness between the parties. These incidents can have grave consequences and lead to the loss of life and property. Such incidents include the bombing of buildings, trains carrying fuel, vehicles carrying diesel oil and explosions targeting the police, members of the media and fuel pipelines. Some of those attacks have been carried out by the Free Syrian Army and some by other armed opposition groups.


68. Since it began its work, the Mission has been the target of vicious media campaigns. Some media outlets have published unfounded statements which they attributed to the Head of Mission. They have also grossly exaggerated events, thereby distorting the truth. Such contrived reports have helped to increase tension among the Syrian people and undermined the observers’ work. Some media organizations were exploited in order to defame the mission and its Head and cause the Mission to fail.”


Rarely mentioned is a report that a Saudi TV station recently broadcast a Salafist religious leader giving his blessing for spilling the blood of observers. This was stated by the Russian Ambassador at the Security Council meeting on January 31.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague (the little Hitler), the French Foreign Minister, the Qatar Prime Minister

Is IMF And WB Make Countries Poor

I have been reading about Syrian uprising and found that, from:

There is certainly cause for social unrest and mass protest in Syria: unemployment has increased in recent years, social conditions have deteriorated, particularly since the adoption in 2006 of sweeping economic reforms under IMF guidance. The later include austerity measures, a freeze on wages, the deregulation of the financial system, trade reform and privatization. (See IMF Syrian Arab Republic — IMF Article IV Consultation Mission's Concluding Statement, 2006).

Further on I found that the IMF has been in Egypt and Tunisia before those countries had the uprising. Thia is from




 

In Egypt, a devastating IMF program was imposed in 1991 at the height of the Gulf War. It was negotiated in exchange for the annulment of Egypt's multibillion dollar military debt to the US as well as its participation in the war. The resulting deregulation of food prices, sweeping privatisation and massive austerity measures led to the impoverishment of the Egyptian population and the destabilization of its economy. The Mubarak government was praised as a model "IMF pupil".

The role of Ben Ali's government in Tunisia was to enforce the IMF's deadly economic medicine, which over a period of more than twenty years served to destabilize the national economy and impoverish the Tunisian population. Over the last 23 years, economic and social policy in Tunisia has been dictated by the Washington Consensus.

I can only read these articles and put in my blog, for anyone in the world who has not seen these articles can find them.










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Does God have problems

Yes I been turning this problem since I heard someone called Byron say that, "I do not know what to ask when I finish this trial, when I see God?". So I started thinking about God. How can he/she decide, if that person has not gone through the similar sxxxx I went through?

Right,  God knows, as he.she is almighty and knows everything, and that Devil exists. So God has a problem, how to fight the Devil,...huh? Or live with fxxxxx huh? Yes be the Devils advocate I hear you say.

Now I have another problem with God. Is it possible that the God was created by various industrious, and successful people, to get rich. In every nook and corner in the word, we see that happening even today. You cannot ignore the fact that the God can take different states eg. alcohol, heroine or any other stuff you get addicted to, and will do anything to get some more. They be Gods to some people.








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Dirty Side Of War

“We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected round the world.” (President Barack Obama, State of the Union address, 24th January 2012.)

Yeah right Mr Black President. There are lots of your soldiers are murderers and rapists etc etc.

Staff Sgt., Frank Wuterich:
Frank Wuterich (born 1980) is a private in the United States Marine Corps. On November 19, 2005, he led his men in the Haditha killings, where he and fellow Marines opened up fire resulting in the death of 24 civilians after a Marine had died in an insurgent attack.


Originally charged with murder, the charges were later reduced to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, and on January 23, 2012 Wuterich pled guilty to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty as part of an agreement with military prosecutors. In exchange, all other charges were dropped.[1][2] Wuterich was sentenced on January 24 and convicted to forfeiture of two-thirds of pay for three months and reduction in rank to private.[3]

From Wikipedia

Pfc. Steven D. Green:
Green grew up in Seabrook, Texas, and moved to Midland, Texas, when he was 14. According to school officials, he dropped out of high school in 2002 after completing the 10th grade and moved to Denver City, Texas, where he earned his high school equivalency in 2003. Days after a January 2005 arrest for alcohol possession, Green enlisted in the U.S. Army. In doing so, he was granted a moral character waiver for prior alcohol and other drug related offenses that might have otherwise disqualified him. Green graduated from infantry training and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. According to a military spokesperson and a criminal complaint filed in connection with the charges, Green was honorably discharged from the military "due to antisocial personality disorder but before the military was aware of the incident."^[45] Green was stationed in Iraq from September 2005 to April 2006 and discharged in May 2006.

James P. Barker
On November 15, 2006, Specialist Barker pleaded guilty to rape and murder as part of a plea agreement requiring him to give evidence against the other soldiers to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to 90 years in prison, and must serve 20 years before being considered for parole. He wept during closing statements, and accepted responsibility for the rape and killings, saying the violence he had encountered in Iraq left him "angry and mean" toward Iraqis.[47] Despite this show of emotion during closing arguments, Barker showed no such emotion afterward. Journalists reported "he smoked a cigarette outside as a bailiff watched over him. He grinned but said nothing as reporters passed by."[48]


He is currently held in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[49]




Paul E. Cortez
On January 22, 2007, Sergeant Cortez pleaded guilty in a court martial to rape, conspiracy to rape, and four counts of murder as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to 100 years in prison.[50] He will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Cortez, 24, also was given a dishonorable discharge. He wept as he apologized for the crimes, saying he could not explain why he took part.[51]


He is currently held in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[49]




Jesse V. Spielman



Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman On August 3, 2007, Private first class Spielman, 23, was sentenced by a court martial to 110 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. He was convicted of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder. He had earlier pleaded guilty to lesser charges of conspiracy to obstructing justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking.[52]

Spielman is currently held in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[49


Bryan L. Howard
Private first class Howard was sentenced by a court martial under a plea agreement to dishonorable discharge and 27 months' imprisonment for obstruction of justice and being an accessory after the fact. The court found that his involvement included hearing the others discussing the crime and lying to protect them, but not commission of the actual rape or murders.[53][54]


Howard was given a dishonorable discharge, received a 27-month sentence, and is currently on parole.[49]

From Wikipedia
Very good behavior and honourable I would not say.


























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Why?

Living in the war zone, in St Agnes

Few days ago I had a very troublesome night. the police attacked a legal squat without any reason. police say that they found petrol bombs. But none of the interested journalists have not seen the evidence. we need a public inquiry. I could not sleep or watch TV because of the Police helicoptor making the terrible noise. I thought I was in the warzone. It was relentless. I think they had two helicoptors because the sound never stopped. If there was only one the bugger will need refuelling, and give me a bit of quiet to sleep.

Then the next one was the day of the frigging wedding. In the morning and early afternoon the helicoptor stayed right on top of us. Stationed for at least 45 minutes. I think it went for refuelling and was back at the same position. I even phoned the local police station, one on New Foundland Road. Huh? what is the problem sir, I was asked. I said for the last half hour or so there is a helicopter stationary on top of my house. It is driving me crazy. I cannot watch TV without the Sub-titles. The bored PC advised me the helicoptor is catching a thief or saving someone's life. I felt that I was been a nuisance. Do we really have rights? I wonder where I stand in this society. A high n mighty PC can tell me where.


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The Wall and The Wet

When I moved in 2007.I a disabled person was given vouchers to buy paint and decorating paraphenalia and do the painting and decorating. Before the decorator painted the kitchen wall, I reported that the walls in my kitchen and the bedroom were wet. The surveyor that time told me, with a giggle, that it is because of ventilation and need a fan. They installed the fan and it did not stop the wet patch. We had to do three coats on them and still the paint bubbled off.

When the kitchen cupboards etc was replaced in 2010 I reported the matter to the surveyor. Doh! It is the cooking he said. I said I don't cook. Take-outs and microwave oven. But he said no there seems to be no problem, though he never checked it with an instrument. I asked him to check the upstairs flat's walls on the same side. I really dont know whether he did it or not. I got my friends to paint. Still bubbling out, I mean the paint not the bloody surveyor.

On the 5th July 2011 I had a visit from the surveyor Rachael after I called the office about the dampness. She came in checked the walls with an instrument and agreed that there seems to be a problem of water seeping through from the outside. I asked her again to check the upstaires flats. After a month or so I phoned her again and asked her whether it is better to put some sealant on the wall. She said NO. Reason? We have to get to the bottom of this problem. I said even after getting to the bottom, still we will have to get the plaster off the walls. NO No she said. Then I asked her whether she checked the upstairs flats? She went oops! What are the numbers of the flats above. Now remember this is the Surveyor asking me the numbers of the flats after 6 weeks. In the mean time I take 2 litres of water everyday from my bedroom dehumudifier.

5th of sept; i just learned from the upstairs tenant that she is coming for a visit tommorrow.

One thing I noted though; she did not take any notes down. I remember in one of the meetings we discussed about surveyors or any visits to be covered by notes. Because we had a lot of turn over in the staff. And there is no way for the next person who takes over to find out what is happening in various flats. It is not complicated at all.

I watched the program whilst writing this, about our real past M Brag. I saw how dreadful the houses were in the 1930's. Yeah Mellwyn Brag makes do with a saying, "Decent housing is a basic human need, and that is progress." I love to see this Housing Association do the same, instead of saying "No SIR we don't do that." Yep we still do the old fashioned way.

Got the housing association to work on my flat at last. They decamped (move a person temporarily....new word for me) me to Weston Hotel and packed everything in my flat and moved the lot for starage. Time given 4 weeks.

Came back from my nice holiday in the sea side. By the way Weston is a for one's failing sex life. Don't want to write about it, but it will be mentioned in my own private musings. The walls were still wet from the painting and some paint already peeling off. But overall it is not a bad job. The builders used the floor as a cement mixing area and the whole place is dusty. I wake up in the morning with noseful of dust. Very healthy. They needed more time. There will be more work done on parts of the chimney breast later....Doh!.

After two months I am struggling with unpacking. Boxes which should have gone to bedroom is in the living room, and I have no idea what is in most of the boxes, except the those I packed myself. Most of the stuff will have to go in the attc sapce, but with my disability it is impossible. I cannot get someone to help me in one go as I do not know which  goes in the attc until I open and peruse. Da Da Da dee dee.






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Democracy In Us Made Simple

The so called democracy in any government is controlled by the rich and elite. There is no escape? “Obama also found out that he cannot change anything else either, if he ever intended to do so. The military/security lobby has war and a domestic police state on its agenda, and a mere American president can’t do anything about it. President Obama can order the Guantanamo torture chamber closed and kidnapping and rendition and torture to be halted, but no one carries out the order. Essentially, Obama is irrelevant. President Obama can promise that he is going to bring the troops home, and the military lobby says, “No, you are going to send them to Afghanistan, and in the meantime start a war in Pakistan and maneuver Iran into a position that will provide an excuse for a war there, too. Wars are too profitable for us to let you stop them.” And the mere president has to say, “Yes, Sir!”

Taken from


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How To Make A country Poor

So how does it work:

First the World Bank (WB) lends money to say Haiti. Then Haiti has to pay back the money plus a hefty interest on it. For some reason if Haiti cannot pay the interest then H has to borrow the money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The thing is IMF will not just lend money, they ask the government of H to do something called Structural Adjustment Program (SAP).

This SAP is to do with changing laws of the country. It has to grant tax breaks to transnational corporations, reduce wages, reduce the protection of local enterprises from foreign imports and foreign takeovers and privertize the countries economies eg. selling at a scandalously low prices their state owned mines, railroads and utilities like water, gas, and electrics to private corporations. On top of that H will have to open out the forests to clear for strip mining, transportation networks for the mines without due regard to the ecological damage. The health, education, transportation and food in the country suffers from cutbacks to save money for the IMF and WB loans and interests.

When the foreign imports glut the market the local produce has no competition. As the iMF rules that the government of H cannot give subsudies to the local farmers and countries like US gives it's farmers 70% subcidies the products which are imported cost far less money than the local products, eg. Ghana and its rice vs American rice. So the local farmers have to look for work elsewhere and migrate to the towns and cities. On top of the legal reduction of wages there is a work force hungry for work and the multinational corporations make use of this without mercy.

For the US companies like Disney, Wal-Mart, and J.C. Penny get a tax concessions and relocation expenses at the cost to the tax payers in US. And US has refused to sign the international convention for the abolition of child labor and forced labor helping these money grabbers, to use children as young as 12 years who work long hours and without insuarence against injuries, with impunity. Well that is how I understand it. It is so simple I cannot understand people like Blair and Brown does not do anything about it. Of course the rich countries get richer from this process and I should not complain as my benefits come from that shit!








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