Access denied-living with multiple sclerosis

I am enjoying the editing immensely these days.

2012-02-01T17:38:00.022+01:00

The Power of Fantasy –

Edgar Ende.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Ende

A very cold day here today, ice cold and now at the end of the day it’s a very dark night, seems more like the beginning of January not the 1st of February.

Our lovely friends Anja and Erik were here; Anja was here for on hour helping me with our administration, which has been done now.

Erik came to get her after visiting his mother, so they could go home together, a good arrangement.

Good to see them both, much too brief but great to see them both looking so well, keeping fit has paid of for them.

Always a huge relief when it’s done, when it is, I feel the tension falling off me right away which is a great feeling.

I decided as I had already written my post, to leave posting it until tomorrow, which I think is a better way of writing.

I like going myself time and space to let my thought run freely and better editing, it works well; and I am enjoying the editing immensely these days.

I think giving myself more time to write works better and makes writing more fun for me, as well as better writing so for me a good situation.

'Excited delirium' finding in custody death angers parents

2012-02-01T17:30:00.000+01:00

Pathologist concludes Jacob Michael died of 'excited delirium', a term not recognised by Department of Health.

Shiv Malik
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/01/excited-delirium-custody-death

Jacob Michael died last summer of 'excited delirium', according to a Home Office pathologist. Photograph: Guardian

The parents of a 25-year-old man who died in police custody have been angered by a Home Office pathologist's finding that their son died of "excited delirium", a medical term that is not recognised by the Department of Health.

The family of Jacob Michael, who died last summer after calling police saying he feared for his life, say the pathology report ignored how their son was heavily restrained by 11 officers on the street outside their home, as well as evidence of broken ribs and a torn liver.

According to witnesses, Michael was repeatedly hit with police batons after fleeing his home when two officers from Cheshire constabulary entered his bedroom and released pepper spray into his face.

The IPCC has told the Guardian that 58 witness statements have been taken and 98 exhibits logged in the investigation. Two pieces of relevant CCTV footage have been secured, including film from the police custody suite where Michael was held down on the floor by officers.

Michael's father said: "As far as I'm concerned, if the police didn't treat my lad the way they did, he would be here today. He did nothing wrong, he hadn't committed any crime, he rang the police for help.
"We're still waking up crying every day. The pain is there 24 hours," he said.

Despite not being listed by either the Department of Health or the World Health Organisation as a recognised cause of death, excited delirium has been cited in a number of death in custody cases.

A joint investigation by File on Four and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday cast doubt on the medical basis for the term, which has been cited in 17 suspicious death cases in the UK.

Richard Shepherd, one of the UK's leading pathologists and a member of the independent advisory panel on deaths in custody, who recently reviewed the scientific evidence on excited delirium, told File on Four that pathologists should be wary of the term.

"I'm clear in my own mind that there is no strict definition [of excited delirium]. It's a term that should be used with great care … because I don't think it is yet established that closely and it should never explain a death [by itself]"

There have been dozens of excited delirium cases in the US, most notably where police have used Tasers or pepper spray.

A two-year official inquiry by a retired Canadian judge, Thomas Braidwood, in 2009 concluded that the term was uniformly rejected by medical professionals and was being used to cover up actual causes of deaths in custody, especially those involving excessive restraint and Taser use.

In a 1,000-page report, Braidwood concluded it was "not helpful to characterise people displaying these behaviours as suffering from excited delirium. Doing so implies that excited delirium is a medical condition or diagnosis, when mental health professionals uniformly reject that suggestion.

"Assigning responsibility to such symptoms (in the guise of a diagnosis) conveniently avoids having to examine the underlying medical condition or conditions that actually caused death, let alone examining whether use of the conducted energy weapon and/or subsequent measures to physically restrain the subject contributed to those causes of death."

Helen Shaw, co-director of the charity Inquest, which campaigns for justice in death in custody cases, said: "Where the use of force may be a contributing factor in the death, there is frequently an attempt to obscure that contribution, often by relying upon completely unfounded or disputed physiological theories like excited delirium.

"We have seen evidence presented at inquests which appears to be designed to shift the focus on to anything but the use of force, to deflect attention away from the acts or omissions of those involved and to attempt to blame the victim for their own death as a result of their supposed pathological condition."

The IPCC said there was nothing in the pathology report to suggest Michael's injuries were linked to his cause of death.

"The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been involved in a small number of cases where pathologists have cited a condition called excited delirium as a factor in the death or behaviour of an individual," it said. "We are aware there is an ongoing debate within medical circles about the condition, but the IPCC does not have the medical expertise to comment on such a matter.

"We are reliant on the opinions of the medical professionals in determining what we investigate and the recommendations we make."

It said four police officers and one civilian member of staff were under notice of investigation over their actions during Michael's arrest.

It is looking into whether officers involved in the incident had received training in identifying and dealing with excited delirium. The investigation is expected to reach a conclusion in April.

enjoy every thing I can enjoy in the here and now.

2012-01-31T22:18:00.013+01:00

Edgar Ende.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Ende

I have been quite dreamy today and have remembering things from years ago, jobs, friends, places.

It was a nice trip down memory lane, one I thoroughly enjoyed, very pleased with how good my memory is.

Very good, happy my horrible MS has not stolen that too, must be dreadful to lose the ability to think clearly.

If only this nasty disease were not so intrusive, if only if only, no point in thinking like that, it would just have driven me nuts if I had ever thought like that.

Or thought it was not fair, not really useful thinking, not when it’s about a disease like MS.

In 2006 when I was diagnosed I had many thoughts, often desperately upset and panicking, no wonder when MS has no cure, and no perspective of one being found in my lifetime.

The only thing I can do and do is keep cheerful and optimistic and enjoy every thing I can enjoy in the here and now.

Iain Duncan Smith to give families nine months to adapt to benefit cap

2012-01-31T17:56:00.036+01:00

Aim is to give people more time to find job or move house
Discretionary fund will help councils ease difficult cases

Patrick Wintour, political editor
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/31/welfare-reform-duncan-smith-benefit

Iain Duncan Smith will give families affected by the welfare cap at least nine months to adapt to the loss of work.

The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will give families affected by the government's £26,000 welfare cap at least nine months to adapt to the loss of benefits, thereby allowing them more time to find a job or move house before the limit is imposed.

It has been suggested that as many as 200,000 people on housing benefits will have to move from areas of high rents as a result of the change, but the government says the actual figure is 67,000.

That number, it is claimed, will be reduced if the cap is not imposed as soon as benefits are claimed, or when the claimant is forced into expensive temporary accommodation.

A discretionary fund will also be available to local authorities to ease difficult cases, and ensure families are not forced to move during critical points in a child's schooling.

It is also expected that Duncan Smith will stress that the Child Support Agency will not charge fees to the lowest income single parents seeking CSA support to extract maintenance payments from absent parents.

The government has not yet set out the level of the fee, but peers voted by an overwhelming 270 to 128 to oppose the principle of a fee.

The concessions are expected to be the only major clarifications from the government's welfare reforms when they are debated by MPs on Wednesday.

Government sources say ministers will seek to overturn seven major amendments to the bill imposed by the Lords in successive rebellions over the past fortnight, including one final revolt on Tuesday, when peers voted by 246-230 against plans to cut payments worth up to £1,400 to families with disabled children.

Labour will resist the coalition's efforts to overturn the amendments, but there is little likelihood that Liberal Democrat MPs will join Labour in substantial numbers on Wednesday, thereby ensuring victory for the government.

The bill, restored to its original form, will then be returned to the Lords in the next few days and peers, especially a critical group of crossbenchers, will have to decide whether to have a trial of strength over the reforms by sticking to their guns.

The government is determined to ensure the bill is on the statute book this month, and intends to tell peers they are not going to win any substantial changes since the measures are necessary to cut the deficit.

It is expected MPs will overturn a move promoted by bishops to exclude child benefit from the welfare cap.

Ministers argue that the removal of child benefit from the cap would favour large families, be regressive and do little to reduce a dependency culture in which it is cheaper to be out of work.

The government will also oppose a welfare cap set at local levels reflecting differing housing costs, an idea promoted by Labour in the past week.

The government will argue that benefit claimants would be drawn to localities where the cap was set higher.

Duncan Smith will also overturn amendments that have removed the requirement to set a time limit of one year on means-tested employment support allowance for cancer sufferers and young people.

The Macmillan Cancer Support charity revealed a YouGov poll showing 72% of those questioned believed there should not be a limit on the amount of time that someone suffering from cancer or its side-effects can receive benefits. This included 65% of Conservative supporters.

Based on the government's figures, the charity estimates 7,000 cancer patients will lose up to £94 a week.

The poll also revealed that 89% agreed that the government had a moral duty to ensure that cancer patients were not pushed into poverty by the welfare cuts.

enjoy going out as much as possible and have fun.

2012-01-30T16:41:00.009+01:00

Edgar Ende.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Ende

Today happened much quicker than I thought it would, this occurs most weekends, they always end too soon

Last night I was convinced for some hours that it was Saturday after awhile I had to admit it was Sunday.

Funny how that always happened, it must be having been happening ever since I started work in 1969.

Oh well obviously something that just surprises me every week anew, it’s become a joke now which amuses me alot.

This has been a very pleasant Monday, my physiotherapy went well, a good session, but tiring.

Afterwards I just wanted to take it easy and not do anything much apart from relax and enjoy the day With Richie and the dogs.

It’s become extremely cold; winter seems to be really starting now on February 1st.

Hopefully this winter period is over soon and spring will begin to start soon and I can go out and enjoy outside again.

Which I am really looking forward to very much, this year I intend to enjoy going out as much as possible and have fun.

makes my life good.

2012-01-29T16:59:00.017+01:00

Edgar Ende.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Ende

This weekend has been pleasant; I slept well, despite waking up several times during the night, every night

I could sleep on each time which was brilliant, we both can, so glad we are not deprived of sleep.

That would make life really unpleasant, I hate waking Richie, but I can’t keep sleeping because it’s too painful.

Sometimes I try but usually I don’t have the choice, I often wake up calling out in great pain.

Richie is brilliant coming to my rescue each time I call out, I am glad we are together, Richie makes my life good.

Cloning scientists create human brain cells

2012-01-29T16:29:00.047+01:00

Scientists in Edinburgh who pioneered cloning have made a technological breakthrough that could pave the way for better medical treatment of mental illnesses and nerve diseases

Robin McKie

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jan/29/brain-cloning-breakthrough-mental-illness

The news that Edinburgh scientists had created the world's first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, at the university's Roslin Institute made headlines around the world 16 years ago.

Her birth raised hopes of the creation of a new generation of medicines – with a host of these breakthroughs occurring at laboratories in the university over the following decade.

And now one of the most spectacular has taken place at Edinburgh's Centre for Regenerative Medicine, where scientists have continued to develop the technology used to make Dolly.
In a series of remarkable experiments, they have created brain tissue from patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar depression and other mental illnesses.

The work offers spectacular rewards for doctors. From a scrap of skin taken from a patient, they can make neurones genetically identical to those in that person's brain. These brain cells, grown in the laboratory, can then be studied to reveal the neurological secrets of their condition.

"A patient's neurones can tell us a great deal about the psychological conditions that affect them, but you cannot stick a needle in someone's brain and take out its cells," said Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, the centre's director.

"However, we have found a way round that. We can take a skin sample, make stem cells from it and then direct these stem cells to grow into brain cells.

Essentially, we are turning a person's skin cells into brain. We are making cells that were previously inaccessible. And we could do that in future for the liver, the heart and other organs on which it is very difficult to carry out biopsies."

The scientists are concentrating on a range of neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and motor neurone disease.

In addition, work is being carried out on schizophrenia and bipolar depression, two debilitating ailments that are triggered by malfunctions in brain activity.

This latter project is directed by Professor Andrew McIntosh of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, who is working in collaboration with the regenerative medicine centre.

"We are making different types of brain cells out of skin samples from people with schizophrenia and bipolar depression," he said. "Once we have assembled these, we look at standard psychological medicines, such as lithium, to see how they affect these cells in the laboratory.

After that, we can start to screen new medicines. Our lines of brain cells would become testing platforms for
new drugs. We should be able to start that work in a couple of years."

In the past, scientists have studied brain tissue from people with conditions such as schizophrenia, but could only do so once an autopsy had been carried out. "It is very difficult to get primary tissue to study until after a patient has died," added McIntosh.

"Even then, that tissue is affected by whatever killed them and by the impact of the medication they had been taking for their condition, possibly for several decades. So having access to living brain cells is a significant development for the development of drugs for these conditions."

In addition, ffrench-Constant is planning experiments to create brain cells from patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, a disease that occurs when a person's immune system turns on his or her own nerve cells and starts destroying the myelin sheaths that protect the fibres that it uses to communicate with other nerve cells. The condition induces severe debilitation in many cases.

"The problem with MS is that we cannot predict how patients will progress," said ffrench-Constant. "In some, it progresses rapidly.

In others, the damage to the myelin is repaired and they can live quite happily for many years. If we can find out the roots of the difference, we may be able to help patients."

The brain cells that make myelin and wrap it around the fibres of nerve cells are known as oligodendrocytes. "We will take skin samples from MS patients whose condition has progressed quickly and others in whom it is not changing very much.

"Then we will make oligodendrocytes from those samples and see if there is an intrinsic difference between the two sets of patients. In other words, we will see if there is an underlying difference in people's myelin-making cells that explains, when they get MS, why some manage to repair damage to their brain cells and others do not."

Once that mechanism is revealed, the route to developing a new generation of MS drugs could be opened up, he added. "It is only a hypothesis, but it is a very attractive one," said ffrench-Constant. "Crucially, stem cells will be the means of proving it."

The technology involved in this work is a direct offshoot from the science involved in making Dolly the sheep. Dolly showed that adult cells in animals were more flexible than previously thought. This paved the way for research that allows scientists to turn adult cells, such as those found in the skin, into stem cells that can then be converted into any other type of cell found in the human body.

Four basic uses for stem cells have been found: to test the toxicity of drugs; to create tissue for transplanting, for example for Parkinson's disease; to try to boost levels of a patient's own population of stem cells in order to improve their defences against diseases; and to make models of diseases that will lead to the development of new drugs, as is being done with the Edinburgh research on brain cells.

"That is why the stem cell revolution is so important," said ffrench-Constant. "It has so much to offer, not just in the area of creating material for transplants but in areas such as making models of diseases which should then allow you, hopefully, to develop all sorts of new treatments for a condition."

Wheelchair users block Oxford Circus to protest at disability cuts 'We're not scroungers and fakers' say wheelchair protesters.

2012-01-29T16:11:00.026+01:00

Peter Walker
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jan/29/wheelchair-users-block-oxford-circus

Wheelchair users complain that they are seen as an easy target.

Disability activists blocked one of central London's busiest road junctions on Saturday with a line of wheelchair users chained together in the first of a series of promised direct action protests against government welfare cuts.

The demonstration, which brought much of Oxford Circus to a standstill for more than two hours, was the product of an alliance between disabled groups and UK Uncut, which came to prominence by staging similar direct actions against corporations accused of avoiding tax.

Planned cuts to the disability living allowance could see 500,000 disabled people losing money, the charity Mencap has said.

Many of those taking part said they had never before joined a demonstration, let alone taken such direct action, but felt angry at the proposed cuts and the associated rhetoric from ministers and the media.

"The tabloids have created this idea that we're scroungers, or fakers," said Steven Sumpter, 33, who left his home in Evesham, Worcestershire, at 6.30am.

"This has allowed the government to do this [propose the cuts]. Disabled people are seen as a good scapegoat."

Merry Cross from Reading in Berkshire said disabled people needed to join together. "We're seen as quite an easy target," she said. "We don't necessarily live in the same places and we can find it hard to get together. That makes it easy for the government to think they can target us."

They Are All Preying On Vulnerable people.

2012-01-28T20:10:00.041+01:00

Edgar Ende.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Ende

I find it quite incredible, but expect that there are other people like Dermot O’Connor claiming they have been able to cure themselves of MS and other diseases.

Dreadful that someone would seek to fool people with progressive diseases which have no cure; but are desperately sought after; what a horrible thing to do.

I am amazed too that Dermot O’Connor claims that at his diagnosis, he was informed he would be in a wheelchair by the end of the year.

I wish that it would be possible to get such a prognosis; on my visits to the neurologists I asked each time if they could tell me what to expect to occur as the next progression.

Neither neurologist would ever give a prognosis; very frustrating, especially as one is a leading world expert in MS, even he can’t say because of the type of disease it is, the prognosis of MS is just to difficult to predict.

People like Dermot O’Connor are always there ready to take advantage of peoples vulnerabilities, and making them, and keeping them, dependent.

Seems to me, to be just like the ‘drug dealers’, the pharmaceutical companies, who like to keep their customers for life.

Once on a drug it’s not easy to stop, while I wish there was a drug that could help me.

I am also glad I am not having to use IV drugs with nasty side effects and no visible benefits, but too scared to stop in case it gets worse.

What I despise is how they are all preying on vulnerable people.

Disability campaigners stage central London protest against welfare reforms

2012-01-28T15:45:00.041+01:00

Members of Disabled People Against Cuts and UK Uncut demonstrate against government cuts

Peter Walker
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/28/uk-uncut-protest-welfare-reforms

Disability activists and UK Uncut stop traffic for two hours, chaining themselves together across Regent Street in a demonstration against the welfare reform bill Link to this video.

Disability campaigners have blocked one of central London's busiest road junctions with a line of wheelchair users chained together in the first of a series of protests against government welfare cuts.

The demonstration – which brought much of Oxford Circus to a standstill for more than two hours – was the result of an alliance between disabled groups and UK Uncut, which has staged similar protests against corporations accused of avoiding tax.

The protest was organised by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), while UK Uncut provided advice on how to stage an eyecatching, media-friendly event and brought along several of its own supporters.

The direct action began just before midday when a group of wheelchair users lined themselves along the northern edge of Regent Street, blocking traffic in both directions. The wheelchairs were chained together, and then chained to railings on either side of the road.

Within about 20 minutes, with traffic stationary and congestion spilling over into other streets, around 300 people were standing at the junction, chanting, playing drums and waving placards against the welfare reform bill, which is currently going through parliament.

After the road had been blocked for just over an hour, police asked over a loudhailer that the protesters move, which they refused to do. Eventually, at around 2pm, they unchained themselves and left voluntarily.

Planned cuts to the disability living allowance under the bill could see 500,000 disabled people losing money, the charity Mencap said.

Many of the disabled people taking part said they had never before joined a demonstration but felt angry at both the proposed cuts and the associated rhetoric from both ministers and the media.

"The tabloids have created this idea that we're scroungers or fakers," said Steven Sumpter, a 33-year-old who left his home in Evesham, Worcestershire, at 6.30am to join the line of chained-up wheelchair users. "This has allowed the government to do this – I think disabled people are seen as a good scapegoat."

Merry Cross, from Reading, Berkshire, said disabled people needed to work together to get their voices heard.

She said: "We're seen as quite an easy target. We're not a natural community – we don't necessarily live in the same places, and we can find it hard to get together. That makes it easy for the government to think they can target us."

Changes to the disability living allowance were likely mean her losing care assistance at home, Cross said, adding: "I've had it continuously for 20 years and now, when I'm 61, apparently I can cope fine without it. It doesn't make any sense."

Josie, 52, from Hampshire, who asked not to give her full name, said her disablity, which has left her with limited mobility and near-constant pain, was caused by a fall onto a concrete floor at work 10 years ago.

"I was doing three jobs until my accident and I was a keen hill walker," she said. "But with the injuries from the fall I can only work part time. I'm probably going to have to give them up now because the cuts will mean I get less help.

"I've never been on a protest before, but the government's plans make me so angry."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said the government remained "absolutely committed to supporting disabled people", spending more than £40bn a year on support.

He said: "Households where someone receives disability living allowance will be exempt from the benefit cap, and we are giving local authorities an additional £190m over four years to ensure vulnerable people are supported through the housing benefit reform, so we are not expecting people to become homeless.

"The introduction of the universal credit, from 2013, will see a simpler and fairer system of support for disabled people.

"More importantly, there will be no cash losers at the point of transition to universal credit, and disabled adults in greatest need and severely disabled children will receive more support than now."

Preying On Vulnerable People.

2012-01-27T16:19:00.048+01:00

Aquis submersis 1919

Max Ernst
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ernst

On Wednesday I received a mail about someone, called Dermot O’Connor, claiming he had been able to cure himself of MS.

‘’Dermot O’Connor was diagnosed with an aggressive strain of Multiple Sclerosis over fourteen years ago. At the time of his diagnosis, he was informed he would be in a wheelchair by the end of the year. Today, Dermot is symptom free and is in the best health of his life. How did he do it? ‘’

No neurologist would ever give such a diagnosis; they can’t because of the type of disease it is, the prognosis is difficult to predict.

There is no aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis, there are 3 types:
• Relapsing Remitting MS
• Secondary Progressive MS
• Primary Progressive MS.

When I looked up Dermot O’Connor, I discovered he had been an international banking consultant, who was diagnosed with MS.

He has now left banking to write books like The Healing Code The Immortality Code, he is endorsed by Paul McKenna, Author and Hypnotherapist who says ‘’Dermot is a gifted healer whose skills enable others to make significant changes in their lives”

He has opened clinics in Dublin and London; he claims success with illnesses ranging from serious conditions such MS, Parkinson's disease to chronic migraine.

His first media appearance was in 2006 in the Daily Mail, a tabloid not known for news, or accuracy they prefer gossip and sensation and innuendo, not facts.

He calls it a very aggressive form of MS, which it does not seem to be, so he is trying to deceive by misusing the term out of context, to lend gravitas to his claim.

Then describes how his first symptom was that he could not talk, I expected to read he could not walk, as I thought he had Primary Progressive MS not what sounds like relapsing remitting ms.

Relapsing Remitting MS can go into remission for years; so presumably he is in remission, I wish him all the best and hope his remission lasts a long time.

What I despise is how he is preying on vulnerable people with his books and clinics by claiming he cured himself of a very aggressive form of MS.

Michael Gove criticised for awarding public funds to organisation he advised.

2012-01-27T15:24:00.032+01:00

Education secretary made decision to give taxpayers' money to organisation that he had promoted as an adviser since 2007

• Rob Evans
• The Guardian, Friday 27 January 20
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/27/michael-gove-funds-organisation-advised

Michael Gove personally wrote to the trust confirming that the education department was awarding the money to it.

Michael Gove, the education secretary, awarded £2m of public money to an organisation that he promoted as an adviser for four years.

The education secretary personally made the decision to give taxpayers' money to an organisation to fund better security at Jewish schools. Gove has promoted the Community Security Trust (CST) as an adviser since 2007.

Documents obtained by the Guardian show that Gove personally wrote to the trust confirming that the education department was awarding the money to it. He issued a public statement saying that he had "secured the funding" to the trust.

Richard Benson, the trust's chief executive, replied to Gove twice thanking him for his "personal commitment" to providing the funding. Benson's letter lists Gove as a member of its advisory board, along with more than 50 others.
The minister has taken a strong stand against antisemitism. However, questions are being asked over whether he should have taken any role in awarding the money to the organisation.
David Miller, of the Spinwatch pressure group, which campaigns for greater transparency in politics, said: "It is blindingly obvious that he should have stood aside, as this is a potential conflict of interest. This is another example of transparency rules in the UK being ineffectual and in serious need of overhaul." Miller first drew attention to Gove's advisory work for the trust.

An education department spokesman said: "Officials were aware that the secretary of state was listed as a member of the Community Security Trust's advisory board.

The then permanent secretary was fully content that there was no conflict of interest in the secretary of state making the decision to award the grant."

The spokesman added that the advisory board "has around 55 to 60 members, drawn from a cross-section of society including members of parliament and peers, police, the armed forces, academia and religious and lay leaders of the Jewish community."

"The advisory board is not part of the governance structure of CST and its members have no responsibility for, and play no part in, the day-to-day management of the charity. The advisory board itself does not meet as a separate body."

Recently Gove has come in for criticism over his support for a new royal yacht to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee, while his plan to send a copy of the King James Bible to every school in the country has run into trouble because he has so far been unable to find a philanthropic sponsor for the idea.

Gove made a pledge to give money to improve security at Jewish schools during the 2010 general election campaign, when he was the shadow education minister.

After he gained office, he held a meeting with the trust to "discuss the allocation of the funding".

The department has refused a freedom of information request to make public documents relating to the meeting in July 2010, arguing that it was not in the public interest to do so.

Gove's closest aides are being investigated by a watchdog for allegedly abusing the open government act by conducting official business through private email accounts.

Later in 2010, Gove announced that the money had been awarded to fund extra security guards at 39 Jewish voluntary-aided faith schools in England.

Gove said it was wrong that parents had been paying around £1.6m out of their own pockets to fund the security to protect pupils against antisemitic and racist threats.

All the money is distributed by the trust to the schools which then employ the security guards.

As the trust's role is essentially administrative, none of the money is retained by the trust or pays for any of the trust's work.

The trust, set up in 1994 to physically protect British Jews, says that the number of antisemitic incidents in the country has increased over the past decade.

In its latest annual survey, it says that during 2010 there were 639 antisemitic incidents in the country, of which 58 targeted Jewish schools, schoolchildren or teachers.

More Daily Trips This Year.

2012-01-26T16:25:00.030+01:00

Gunther Gerszo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunther_Gerszo

Today has been a wonderfully relaxed day, one both of us have very much enjoyed.

Nice to get a day like this, I am beginning to realise that there will be more of theses days, a pleasant prospect.

Also see now that as soon as I get the last few things, only 4 items, then there will be no more regular appointments.

Brilliant, no need to communicate; like right now sometimes several times per week with my case manager.

The appointments have been happening since November 2006, so not surprising to be looking forward to no more appointments.

I love the idea of no regular meetings, feels like finally getting my life back, nice not to have to check whether there were appointments coming up.

Now the better steering is on the wheelchair we will be able to get around more this year, which is another pleasant perspective.

Could not go further than our neighbourhood in 2011 because the steering for Richie was not good for outside, it was for short distances only, for inside, as it turned out later.

I have already told Richie I want to go to the park to see the spring flowers, the first of what I hope will be

Gunther Gerszo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunther_Gerszo
Today has been a wonderfully relaxed day, one both of us have very much enjoyed.

Nice to get a day like this, I am beginning to realise that there will be more of theses days, a pleasant prospect.

Also see now that as soon as I get the last few things, only 4 items, then there will be no more regular appointments.

Brilliant, no need to communicate; like right now sometimes several times per week with my case manager.

The appointments have been happening since November 2006, so not surprising to be looking forward to no more appointments.

I love the idea of no regular meetings, feels like finally getting my life back, nice not to have to check whether there were appointments coming up.

Now the better steering is on the wheelchair we will be able to get around more this year, which is another pleasant perspective.

Could not go further than our neighbourhood in 2011 because the steering for Richie was not good for outside, it was for short distances only, for inside, as it turned out later.

I have already told Richie I want to go to the park to see the spring flowers, the first of what I hope will be daily trips this year.

Being incontinent.

2012-01-25T13:25:00.017+01:00

Sainte-Genevieve Des Bois, 1965

Henri Goetz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Goetz

Today started very nice and calmly, Richie got me sitting with the big Quattron cushion around me.

Then he got my laptop, I got started right away proof reading and editing yesterdays post which I did not post in the end, because I was too tired.

All went well until I began to feel worried, then anxious so got Richie to get me out of bed and to the toilet.

As I was lifted by the hoist I started to crap in to my pj’s and carried on in the bathroom, and although Richie got me over the toilet I did it on the floor.

Half in my pj’s the rest as soon as Richie had taken my pants off, the movement seemed to trigger it off, shame I didn’t make it to the toilet.

But once I was showered and dressed I felt good again, the trauma of the rapid exit from bed left well behind me.

It best to move on and not let something like that get me down, pointless for me to get worked up by something I can do nothing about.

Being incontinent is really horrible but considering everything else, it is not the worse thing.

Never a favourite having to begin my day like that, but then it’s over and the day can really start

that prospect makes me very happy.

2012-01-24T17:23:00.027+01:00

Henri Goetz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Goetz

Had quite a tiring day, two appointments back to back, both with Maurits, occupational therapist.

The first with Annelies, the council’s mobility advisor/occupational therapist, good to see her again after her maternity leave.

We discussed other types of steering for me to remain able to steer the wheelchair when at home.

Funnily enough Maurits and Annelies are pushing this more than me; we don’t live in such a big place, so nowhere much to go.

With this big wheelchair the only thing I need do is get from bedroom to front room and back, outside Richie steers, which I m ok with. .

The second appointment was with kees van roekel who will be making better support in bed.

Hopefully I will get the completed bed support in the very near future; it takes one week to make the first shell, then its tweaked and brought here to see if it’s good.

Then I get to try it out and make observations, any adjustments will be made and then it’s finished and I get it.

Basically I will be in a sort of cocoon that will support my torso once more, since being in bed deprived me of my torso muscles.

The main thing for me now is I will be supported in bed, so it will be possible for me to sit well in bed again, that prospect makes me very happy.

Cannabis taxation: a win-win all round, Richard Branson tells MPs

2012-01-24T16:02:00.028+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/24/cannabis-tax-branson-mps-virgin

Virgin boss appears before Commons committee to argue for regulation of drug and diversion of resources to crime-fighting

• Alan Travis, home affairs editor
• guardian.co.uk

The market for cannabis in Britain should be regulated and taxed, and responsibility for drug policy moved from the Home Office to the health department, Sir Richard Branson has told MPs.

The Virgin Group head said the 20% of police time and £200m spent on giving criminal sentences to 70,000 young people for possession of illegal drugs in Britain each year would be better spent going after the criminal gangs at the centre of the drugs trade.

"It's win-win all round,'' he told the Commons home affairs select committee.

Asked about his personal history of drug use, Branson replied: "I would say 50% of my generation has smoked cannabis. I would say 75% of my children's generation has smoked cannabis … If I was smoking cigarettes, I would be very worried."

He said that in his own Virgin companies he did not think staff who were found to be taking drugs should be dismissed but instead treated as having a problem, and helped.

"There are many people in companies with drink problems or smoking problems," he said.

Branson was part of a global commission on drug policy, which includes five ex-presidents and Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.

The body concluded last year that the war on drugs had failed and called for experiments in decriminalisation.

He was the first witness at the Commons home affairs inquiry into drug policy.

Branson argued that the policy of switching responsibilty for drug policy from the Home Office to the health department had worked in Portugal, where nobody had been jailed for using or possessing drugs in the last 10 years.

Portugal was the only country that had decriminalised all drugs. As a result of treating drug users rather than imprisoning them, he said, heroin use and heroin-related deaths had fallen by more than 50%.

In Britain, 100,000 young people a year were arrested for drug offences, and 75,000 of them were given criminal records, which meant they had problems in later life in travelling to some countries, he said.

"If next year those 100,000 people are not prosecuted for taking drugs, but they are helped, I think the commission would welcome Britain doing that."

He said if the sale of cannabis and other drugs were regulated and taxed, then the quality of what was being taken could be controlled.

He contrasted the lack of deaths in Portugal with the recent deaths of three teenagers in Britain from taking tablets they wrongly thought were ecstasy, citing the fatalities as an example of the consequences of failing to regulate the illegal market.

The Virgin chief admitted he had not read the UK Home Office drug policy statement, which emphasises diverting drug users from prison, but said the 100,000 arrests each year were evidence the policy was not working in practice.

Pressed by some Conservative MPs on the committee to come down on one side or the other in the debate over methadone maintenance versus abstinence, Branson said he was no expert, and it was for the MPs to establish what worked best.

a good thing to reaffirm.

2012-01-23T22:25:00.015+01:00

Valentine Hugo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_Hugo

Felt surprisingly quite good today after a late night; I woke up suddenly in discomfort, due to my pelvis being twisted one way and my torso the other way.

My head was following my pelvis and leaning to the right at an acute angle which was not comfortable as soon as I woke.

It is amazing how much movement my body still has even though I am totally unable to move my body at all.

Every morning when I wake, I am curious as to where my body has shifted to in the night.

When I was mobile, never sat still for very long, I was always getting up and doing something, usually as soon as I had sat down.

How I wish I could move around again, exercise and be able to feel my muscles working, a great feeling.

I loved going to Th gym, used to go every week, seems incredible now, and almost could be someone else not me.

My life now is so different now; despite everything I am still happy to be alive, a good thing to reaffirm.

Welfare reform: benefits cap would reduce payments by £83 a week

2012-01-23T17:11:00.024+01:00

House of Lords to vote on bill that would see 20% of households that fall in criteria lose over £150 weekly.

• Patrick Wintour, political editor
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 January 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/23/welfare-reform-benefits-cap-payments

A total of 67,000 households – 310,000 individuals – will have their benefits reduced by an average of around £83 per week as a result of the government's benefit cap due to be voted upon by the House of Lordson Monday, according to updated research published by the Department of Work and Pensions.
Nearly 20% of those households losing benefit will lose more than £150 a week.

There will be a transfer from these households of £290m in 2013/14 and £305m in 2014/15. The figures come in an impact assessment published by ministers.

The Labour party has said it supports the principle of a cap, but not the way it is being implemented.
It is the first time the government has published such detailed survey data on the impact of the cap, especially the impact in terms of different regions.

As expected, families in London are worst affected by the cap due to high rents – 54% of affected households are in Greater London. The shares of other English regions are all less than 10%, with the south-east having 9% (6,000) and the north-west 6% (4,000).

Ministers are still looking at transitional arrangements and government sources were stressing it would not be expected that families with children in important stages of their school term, such as exams, would be required to be uprooted.

Such concessions are unlikely to satisfy Liberal Democrat rebel peers, such as Lord Ashdown.

Justifying the cap, the impact assessment states: "Spending on welfare increased by 45% in real terms in the decade to 2009-2010. In that year, the government spent £192bn on welfare payments, compared with £35bn on defence, £50bn on education, and £98bn on health.

"The state can no longer afford to pay people disproportionate amounts in benefit each week in welfare payments, sometimes in excess of what someone in work may take home in wages".

Iain Duncan Smith has defended the government's plans to cap the benefits paid, insisting families would not be "plunged into poverty" as a result of the proposed £26,000 annual limit.

Speaking before Monday's Lords vote on the measures, the work and pensions secretary also denied the £500-a-week cap would lead to an increase in child poverty, adding: "We just don't believe that that's going to happen."

It has emerged that Ashdown will join Church of England bishops and other rebel Lib Dems by voting against the proposals unless greater measures are put in place to ensure children living in poverty are protected.

However, ministers appear determined to ride out the opposition, believing there is strong public support for their plans to curb a "benefits dependency culture" and "make work pay".

Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the plans would not provoke a rise in either child or adult poverty. "Our department does not believe that you can directly apportion poverty to this particular measure," he said.
"At £26,000 a year, it's very difficult to believe that families will be plunged into poverty."

Not Just Yet.

2012-01-22T14:15:00.021+01:00

I
Valentine Hugo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_Hugo

Its lovely getting so much support and friendship from my blog friends, I do appreciate them so very much.

It is brilliant being able to be part of this dynamic interaction of people across the globe, sharing their thoughts.

Brilliant to have this blog so I can have my say, I feel very fortunate to have the ability to access the internet.

Especially without too many restrictions by the Dutch state, this is not the situation for many.

I guess that is why it’s very upsetting to have my failing hand function stop me from writing like I have been able to up to now.

Hate writing only short posts, I am finding it difficult to even write e-mails which is extremely frustrating.

Two comments yesterday by dear friend’s Sherry and Rhapsody helped me quite a lot.

Sherry reminded me’’you are stubborn. I like that about you. =) It keeps you going, that trait of yours. Makes you frustrated at times’’ and rhapsody told me ‘’the challenge is to keep hope alive and the spirit of positivity fuelled’’.

I will keep both in mind, I feel sure that I will try to keep going for as long as I can and want to, at some point I guess its game over but not just yet.

Costa Concordia captain claims company ordered 'salute' to island.

2012-01-22T13:24:00.032+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/22/costa-concordia-captain-salute-island-claims

Francesco Schettino reportedly challenges Costa over cruise collision by saying firm 'planned and wanted' manoeuvre.
• Tom Kington in Rome
• guardian.co.uk

The stricken luxury liner Costa Concordia lies off the island of Giglio.

Francesco Schettino, the cruise ship captain accused of steering the Costa Concordia into rocks on the island of Giglio in a reckless bid to "salute" the island, has reportedly said he was ordered to carry out the manoeuvre by ship owner Costa Crociere.

"The salute at Giglio on 13 January was planned and wanted by Costa before the departure from Civitavecchia," Schettino told a judge investigating the collision, according to transcripts leaked to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

At least 12 people died trying to escape from the vessel as it listed on rocks following the collision. Schettino is being held under house arrest accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

Schettino said the "salute" should have been carried out a week earlier, but was put off due to bad weather.
He reportedly told the investigating judge that there was "insistence" by the firm on carrying out such manoeuvres, because it was a good way to promote its cruises.

"Costa was aware of the repeated practice of 'saluting' around the world," said Schettino.

The claims appeared to contradict Pier Luigi Foschi, the chief executive of Costa Crociere, who said last week: "I can't exclude that ships have been sailed closer to land on the initiative of some captains without informing us. But I have never been aware of this taking place in an unsafe manner."

He said steering within metres of Giglio on 13 January was "unapproved, unauthorised and unknown to Costa" and pointed to the onboard newspaper, which said the ship would stay five miles off the coast.
Schettino said he had given up-close salutes to the island of Capri and the Sorrento coast near Naples on previous occasions, as well as at Giglio, following the example of another Costa captain.

One US law firm which is preparing legal action on behalf of passengers has said: "It's too easy to say this captain acted alone."

In response to Schettino's latest claims, a spokesman for Costa Crociere said on Sunday: "Costa Crociere will not be commenting on any aspect of the ongoing judicial proceedings."

Schettino also reportedly told the judge, Valeria Montesarchio, that on the night of the collision he discovered some of the equipment which records navigation data was out of order, which could hamper investigators' efforts to reconstruct his route.

The transcript also shows Schettino at odds with Costa's account of the communication between captain and company after the collision.

Foschi has accused Schettino of keeping the firm in the dark about the state of the ship, which was listing as it took on water.

Schettino reportedly told the judge he gave an accurate description of the collision to Costa Crociere official Roberto Ferrarini and told him he would seek to swing the boat around on to rocks by Giglio port.
"Yes, do that," Schettino reports Ferrarini telling him. And when the boat grounded, Ferrarini allegedly said "At this point, more than this … We won't sink any longer."

In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Foschi said Schettino had always been considered one of the company's best captains, albeit with a "pronounced ego".

On the island of Giglio, the head of Italy's civil protection agency Franco Gabrielli arrived on Saturday to take over the search for passengers left on board the listed vessel after mounting concern over the duplication of efforts – and the conflicting information given out by – the various police, military and emergency services who have been involved.

Gabrielli may decide that salvage teams can now start working on removing fuel from the vessel even as the hunt for passengers continues, suggesting that the Dutch salvage workers waiting on Giglio could have been sent into action days ago.

Fears are growing that the ship could slip into deeper waters, even though the predicted arrival of bad weather that could disturb the Costa Concordia is now thought to be further off.

Over the weekend, ferries to Giglio from the mainland were filled with tourists keen to see the marooned Costa Concordia. Some of them took picnics on to the rocks overlooking the vessel.

Not Convinced.

2012-01-21T12:53:00.007+01:00

Alice Rahon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Rahon

Yesterday afternoon was horribly frustrating; it was a huge effort but every time no luck.

I just got the cursor laboriously pushed to the right spot, then my little finger would activate keys on the left side of the keyboard, then computer, search and many others would open.

Totally obscuring my writing, so I kept trying and trying, it took me one hour to write one e-mail.

So in order to rescue the evening, and before it did my head in, I had to stop, as it was getting me every down.

I saw no point in getting miserable, tried to cheer myself up saying tomorrow is another new day, with new chances.

Not sure I was convinced, it’s not easy having reality thrust in my face as it was yesterday.

Friday, 20, January, 2012. Tomorrow Is Another New Day With New Chances.

2012-01-21T12:34:00.005+01:00

Alice Rahon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Rahon

Today has been a difficult day for me I can hardly type I think I will finish this in the morning when my index finger will hopefully work.

It was quite an unpleasant experience having so much to say and no way of being able to get my index finger to work.

My other fingers, kept opening up other folders, horribly frustrating; every time I just got the cursor on right spot my little finger would activate computer, search and many others.

Totally obscuring my writing, so in order to rescue the evening I did me had to stop, as it was getting me down.

Tomorrow is another new day, with new chances.

See What Happens In April.

2012-01-19T15:47:00.028+01:00

Toni Del Renzio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_del_Renzio

Today started with a phone call from a flower shop who called to say they tried to deliver a bouquet yesterday, but without success.

No wonder they got our number wrong, no surprise we were not found, lucky they could phone.

The flowers were delivered this morning, they are really lovely, very large bunch of gorgeous red tulips it was Aud, Richie’s sister who sent us this lovely surprise.

A truly delightful surprise, a nice way to start the day today.

The second call was from Welzorg; hilariously they wanted to make an appointment, only it was already made on Monday by my occupational therapist.

Th other thing that happened was I got the date for my court hearing appealing the council’s decision to refuse me air conditioning.

It will be in April, I can be there too which I had not expected, so we will see what happens in April.

Gibson inquiry into MI5 and MI6 torture collusion claims abandoned.

2012-01-18T13:04:00.038+01:00

Alice Rahon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Rahon

Ken Clarke promises another judge-led inquiry into claims by two Libyans once police investigations are completed.

• Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 January 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/18/gibson-inquiry-torture-collusion-abandoned

Ken Clarke tells the Commons the judge-led inquiry into allegations of British collusion in the torture of detainees is to be abandoned.

The judge-led inquiry into allegations of British collusion in the torture of detainees has been abandoned for the time being, Ken Clarke has announced.

The investigation led by Sir Peter Gibson into the role of MI5 and MI6 officers, which has so far carried out only preparatory research, will publish a short report of its preliminary findings and then close down, the justice secretary told the Commons.

Last week the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan police said they would look into claims that the intelligence agencies were involved in the secret rendition of two Libyans back to Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2004.

Abdel Hakim Belhadj, a commander of anti-Gaddafi forces, and Sami al-Saadi claimed they were tortured after being returned to Libya in a joint US/UK operation.
Clarke told the Commons the new police investigations would have further delayed the start of the Gibson inquiry.

"There now appears no prospect of the Gibson inquiry being able to start in the forseeable future. So following consultations with Sir Peter Gibson we have decided to bring the work of his inquiry to a conclusion," he said.

The inquiry would "provide the government with a report on its preparatory work to date, highlighting particular themes or issues which might be the subject of further examination," the justice secretary said.
"The government is clear that as much of this report as possible will be made public. The government fully intends to hold an independent, judge-led inquiry once all police investigations have concluded."
Clarke said Scotland Yard detectives had taken three years to decide there was insufficient evidence to bring charges in relation to claims by Guantánamo Bay detainees.

[It would would be unreasonable to keep the Gibson inquiry panel waiting for a further unknown period. Any new inquiry "may require a fresh group of people to carry it out", he said.

Many NGOs and civil liberties groups had already declined to participate in the Gibson inquiry because they had grave doubts about its powers and the transparency of its procedures.

Gibson said: "[We] regret the fact that we are not able to complete the task we were asked to do by the prime minister. However, we recognise that it is not practical for the inquiry to continue for an indefinite period to wait for the conclusion of the police investigations.

"The inquiry has, however, already done a large amount of preliminary work, including the collation of many documents from government departments and the security and intelligence agencies.

We welcome the opportunity to bring together the work we have done to date. The inquiry will therefore produce a report of our work, highlighting themes which might be subject to further examination.
"This task will ensure that the work we have done is not wasted and we hope that it will materially assist the future inquiry that the government intends to establish."

Human rights groups said they hoped the move would mark a rethink of the investigation process.
Shami Chakrabarti, the director of human rights watchdog Liberty, said: "We welcome the sensible decision to end the embarrassment of a so-called inquiry in which neither torture victims nor human rights campaigners had faith.

"Let's remember that it was lawyers, journalists and campaigners that uncovered the Libyan rendition files now to be properly investigated by police and prosecutors. Such revelations should lead to more scrutiny of the secret state, not the shutting down of open justice as proposed in the government's current green paper."

Clare Algar, the executive director of Reprieve, said the inquiry "simply did not have the powers or the independence to get to the truth.

We therefore look forward to working with the government to ensure that an inquiry with real clout and real independence is established once these investigations have concluded. This is essential to ensuring that we find out who signed off on Britain's collaboration in some of the worst excesses of the 'war on terror'."

Richard Stein, the head of human rights at law firm Leigh Day & Co, who is representing the two Libyans, said: "It was ill-conceived from the beginning, the government reserved the right for the final say on what material would be published, and did not allow for cross-examination or any other way of testing the evidence from members of the UK security services, which was to be given secretly.

"If there is to be a future inquiry following the police investigations into my clients' allegations, then it must have credibility, allowing the official version of events to be challenged."

The parliamentary intelligence and security committee will meet on Thursday to discuss the implications of the government's decision.

It has already began to investigate MI6's links with Gaddafi's regime, notably the part played by British intelligence officers in the rendition to Tripoli of the two Libyan dissidents in 2004, shortly before Tony Blair visited the dictator.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the committee's chairman, said: "The committee's investigation of the UK's wider intelligence relationship with the Libyans (an issue which did not fall within the scope of the detainee inquiry) will continue."

Visit To The Dentist

2012-01-17T14:39:00.020+01:00

Salad.
A tribute from Till Nowak
for Giuiseppe Archiboldo

Another tiring day today I had to go to the dentist, I booked the mobility bus last night, and for a change booking the trip was easy.

All we had to do, was get up early, Richie got up at 06.00 so he could take the dogs to the park.

Then he came home and showered and dressed me, and got me in the wheelchair finally at 09.30.

Then our friend Cecile arrived to dog sit, Tina rather surprised us by being in heat much earlier than we thought.

Tina has been loud, barking, crying, Cyril cries when Richie goes shopping, and Marleen will join in, we did not want to bother our neighbour with dog concerts.

No problems at home thanks to Cecile.

Sadly nothing happened at the dentist, my broken tooth would take longer to reconstrute properly then my 30 minute appointment.

They put something on and in my broken tooth to stop it hurting; I have 3 appointments for more fun,
14th and 28th of January and 6thMarch.

Because nothing much was done, we were ready to go but it was only 12 noon.

The mobility bus would not collect us until 13.00, although they promise they would collect us before 13, but didn't, they never do.

Syria: Beyond The Wall Of Fear, A State In Slow-Motion Collapse

2012-01-16T21:07:00.000+01:00

Georges Malkine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Malkine

Despite the superficial calm in Damascus, everyone knows change is coming. The only question is, how much will it cost?

Ian Black in Damascus
guardian.co.uk

Members of the Free Syrian Army demonstrate against Bashar al-Assad near Idlib.

Sipping tea in a smoky Damascus cafe, Adnan and his wife, Rima, look ordinary enough: an unobtrusive, thirtysomething couple winding down at the end of the working day in one of the tensest cities in the world.

But like much else in the Syrian capital, they are not what they first seem: normally, he is a software engineer and she a lawyer; now, they are underground activists helping organise the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

It is dangerous work. Over the past 10 months, thousands of Syrians have been killed – perhaps twice the 5,000 figure given by the UN – as Assad has pursued a ruthless crackdown that shows no sign of ending. But his opponents are equally determined to carry on.

Adnan and Rima are unable to work or contact their families. They have false identities. Adnan changes his appearance regularly. He has just shaved off his beard.
[
It clearly works: a friend at a nearby table fails to recognise him.

Most of their friends are on the run from the Syrian mukhabarat secret police. But where they used to be scared of fighting the regime, now they have become used to it. "The revolution destroyed the wall of fear," he explained.

"At school, we were taught to love the president – Hafez – first. And it didn't get any better when Bashar took over. Now, everything has changed. Assad's picture is defaced everywhere and we are certain that at some point we will topple the regime."

On the face of it, Damascus is calm. The bloodiest frontlines of the revolution may be in Homs, Hama, Idlib and Deraa, but the appearance of normality in the capital is deceptive. Intrigue, fear and anger are just below the surface.

"Damascus is crucial to the survival of the Assad regime," a leading opposition figure told the Guardian. "They will never allow a Tahrir Square here. If Damascus falls, it's all over."

Large protests organised by the tansiqiyat, local co-ordination committees, are held almost nightly in many suburbs, and always on Fridays.

Even in the centre, daytime "flash" demonstrations last for a few minutes and disappear before they are pounced on by security forces, the worst of whom are shabiha louts in army trousers and leather jackets who loiter at junctions and squares.

The demonstrators are ingenious: in one case, volunteer drivers created traffic jams all around the old Hijaz railway station to create a space in which a brief but eyecatching protest could be held.

Creativity and secrecy are crucial. On the first day of Ramadan, loudspeakers concealed in the busy shopping area of Arnous Square blared out the stirring song "Irhal ya Bashar" ("Leave, Bashar").

This is the signature work of Ibrahim Qashoush, who was murdered in July after performing in Hama. His killers cut his throat and carved out his vocal chords.

"At first, people were frightened," said one Damascus resident who had heard the song. But when it was played for a second time, they relaxed. "By the third time, they were laughing," he said.

The speakers were positioned on a roof and the area around them was smeared with oil to make it harder to silence them.

The tactics are effective but risky: one activist accidentally started playing a tape of the song in a taxi but the driver turned out to be a mukhabarat agent, who handed him in.

Jawad, a computer scientist involved in one of these groups, was held for two months and beaten repeatedly to try to make him betray the names of his friends.

Other nonviolent acts have been stunningly symbolic: in August someone poured blood-red dye into the fountain outside the central bank in Saba'a Bahrat Square, the scene of raucous pro-Assad rallies.

Black-ribboned candles have been distributed to commemorate Ghayath Matar, famous for handing out roses to soldiers, who was tortured and killed last September.

"People are taking risks here," said Salma, a human rights worker. "But in Idlib and Homs, it's a matter of life and death; that's not true in Damascus."

Still, some cannot quite believe what they are daring to do. "Look at us," laughed Bassam, a podgy manufacturer in his twenties, "using false names and driving around to avoid police checkpoints. The first time I went to a demonstration, it was frightening. Now it's exhilarating."

Yet no one thinks the revolution will have a happy end any time soon. Last week's speech by Assad, his first public appearance for months, was seen as a declaration of war designed to rally his supporters.

In the live broadcast on state TV, the crowd looked enormous; in fact, a leaked unofficial shot suggested there were probably no more than a few thousand people in Umayyad Square.

Damascus is surrounded by the army's fourth division, commanded by the president's brother Maher. Government buildings are protected by anti-blast barriers.

Roads near the presidential palace and defence ministry are closed. Outside the state security HQ, in Kafr Sousseh, machingun-toting guards look out warily from sandbagged emplacements.

It was there, two days before a cheerless Christmas, that twin suicide bombings killed 44 people and were blamed (20 minutes after the blasts) on al-Qaida – a reminder of the unrelenting official narrative that Syria faces only "armed terrorist gangs", not the mass popular protests that have become an emblematic event of the Arab spring.

On 6 January, terrorists struck again. In nearby al-Midan, an opposition stronghold, there was what looked, at least at first glance, like another suicide attack, which reportedly killed 26 people. But as in the previous bombings, key details remain confused.

Locals spoke of the area being mysteriously cordoned off by police the night before. Many noted the remarkably swift response by the Syrian media and emergency services.

And a rapidly assembled crowd of demonstrators, who were not from the neighbourhood, chanted pro-Assad slogans for journalists bussed in by the ministry of information. Suspicions that the event was somehow staged look reasonable, rather than the product of a febrile conspiracy theory.

Abu Muhammad, a chatty Sunni taxi driver, had no doubt about it. "It was pure theatre, all fabricated," he said. "The idea is to frighten people in Damascus." Nader, a shopkeeper, was even blunter:

"The government knows Syrians don't believe them. But they count on people being too afraid to break the silence."
Hassan Abdel-Azim, leader of the opposition National Co-ordination Committee, who is often criticised for being too close to the regime, admitted that he too had serious doubts about the official version.

On 11 January, the killing of the French TV correspondent Gilles Jacquier by mortar fire during a government-escorted trip to Homs left more troubling questions unanswered.

Was it a warning message to the international media? Official involvement will inevitably be difficult to prove.

What is extraordinary about all these incidents is the automatic assumption of so many Syrians that the regime would act with such murderous duplicity.

"No one has any illusions," said another anti-Assad figure. "People think [the regime] is capable of anything. There are no red lines."

The president's supporters see things very differently. The regime's grand conspiracy narrative, in which the US, the west, Israel and reactionary Arab "agents", led by Qatar, plot against Syria, is pumped out daily by state media.

Its most aggressive exponent is Addounia TV, a satellite channel owned by the wealthy brother-in-law of Maher al-Assad. Above all Addounia loathes the broadcaster al-Jazeera, the Qatari-owned cheerleader for the Arab revolutions, which it has accused of staging fake demonstrations in studio mock-ups of Syrian cities.

In his speech the president referred to 60 TV channels as part of this vast "plot".

Big lies seem to work. "The emir of Qatar is a Jew, worse than the Jews," an Alawite taxi driver raged.

"There are no demonstrations in Syria, or only by people who have been paid, and the terrorist gangs."
No wonder so many Syrians berate the few foreign journalists who are allowed into the country and urge them to "tell the truth like it really is".

Regime loyalists who speak to the international media claim to support political reform and dialogue with the peaceful opposition: these are people like the Assad adviser Buthaina Shaaban and Jihad Makdissi, director of information at the foreign ministry, who engages in Twitter debates with supporters of the uprising.

Overthrowing the president, warns Makdissi, "will open a Pandora's box".
But Syria's powerful security chiefs, who are unavailable for briefings or interviews, emphasise the grave danger posed by Salafi extremists or al-Qaida – the same "foreign fighters" the mukhabarat used to help cross into Iraq to fight the Americans.

Stomach-churning pictures showing decapitated bodies or corpses with their eyes gouged out are produced as evidence of the savagery of these terrorists.

Opposition supporters do not claim such horrors are faked but insist the regime bears overwhelming responsibility for the current violence.

"For the Syrian security people, the solution now is to kill until it's all over and wait until there is some change in the position of the west," said a well-connected but despairing businessman.

Assad supporters also accuse the opposition of naivety and of forgetting the early 1980s, when a wave of assassinations and bombings by the Muslim Brotherhood culminated in the Hama uprising, in which government forces killed at least 20,000 people.

But that was 30 years ago: such a draconian "security solution" would be hard to repeat in the age of YouTube – and unlikely to end the uprising.

Sectarianism is also rearing its ugly head, with the opposition blaming the regime for fomenting tensions between Alawites, who dominate the security forces, and the Sunni majority.

In the current climate, it is easily done. Mudar, a young Alawite with close establishment links, tells of a soldier cousin who was killed and mutilated, and then clicks on a high-quality video clip of a bushy-bearded man sawing off the head of his screaming victim.

In an area near the Umayyad mosque, an Alawite woman visiting a Sunni friend said she dare not take a taxi home because a Sunni driver might kidnap her and sell her on to be killed.

Rumblings of concern are audible. Last spring, a group of influential Alawites urged Assad to apologise for the repression and pursue genuine rather than cosmetic reforms.

"Alawites feel their fate is connected to the Assads," warned a veteran opposition leader, "and that is very dangerous."

Pressure is clearly mounting. Alawite businessmen are reported to have been bribing the mukhabarat to avoid releasing their employees to attend pro-regime rallies.

Fadwa Suleiman, an Alawite actress, won huge admiration when she came out in support of the uprising, but she was ostracised and denounced on TV by her brother.

Christians, traditionally loyalists, are worried, too, especially about the Salafi element of the uprising, and the churches keenly demonstrate public support for Assad.

To some, though, it seemed a very mixed blessing when Daoud Rajha, a Greek Orthodox Christian, was appointed army chief of staff, perhaps in an attempt to guarantee the community's support.

Another sign of Syria's deepening crisis is that the state is no longer functioning properly.

It is "collapsing in slow motion", in the words of one expert. Security chiefs are concerned about bribes being demanded to release detainees.

Half the weapons acquired by rebels are estimated to have been sold by army personnel while customs agents look the other way as shipments come in from Lebanon.

Rumours persist of different branches of the secret police shooting at each other on clandestine operations.

And officials are said to have been destroying documents recording off-the-book payments authorised by a phone call from the president's palace.

Syria's economic plight has also deepened in the last few weeks.

Power cuts for several hours a day are now routine.

Shops in the priciest streets of Damascus depend on generators on the pavement. Petrol is in short supply, in part because of massive use by the security forces, and the prices of heating and cooking oil have risen steeply.

This joke illustrates the impact: Abu Fulan – everyman – buys a chicken for dinner. He asks his wife to roast it but she says, 'Sorry, there's no gas'.

Maaleish (never mind), he replies: let's pluck it and put it in the microwave. 'Sorry,' his wife answers, 'there's no electricity either.

' At this point, the chicken miraculously comes to life and squawks: Allah, Souriya, Bashar! ("and that's all you need!")

The punchline slogan is borrowed from Libya, where the propaganda line was that the only thing people needed apart from God and country was Muammar Gaddafi – until his overthrow and murder. It can hardly be a good omen for Assad.

The president was ridiculed for praising the quality of the country's olive oil and wheat – an allusion to self-reliance. Yet even if ordinary people grumble and make do, the macroeconomic outlook is bleak.

Foreign investment and tourism have collapsed. Hotels are empty. US sanctions block most international financial transactions. The EU has stopped oil purchases. Credit cards can no longer be used. And the value of the Syrian pound has been falling steeply.

The regime understands the dangers but its room for manoeuvre is diminishing: when it banned luxury imports, in November, Sunni businessmen protested.

The measure was rescinded a few days later.

It is hardly surprising, then, that all this is taking its toll: doctors report an increase in heart attacks, high blood pressure and other stress-related symptoms.

Pharmacists are doing a brisk trade in anti-depressants.

Two years ago the government introduced a smoking ban, but government offices, cafes and restaurants are still wreathed in clouds of smoke.

People are also drinking more. "Doctors tell you to go and watch some silly Egyptian films – anything except the news," a friend laughed.

Many now have first-hand experience of the apparatus of state repression, and describe details of underground cells, beatings and torture.

It is common knowledge that Iranian security advisers are on hand with their sinister expertise in communications monitoring and riot policing. Damascus feels, and looks, like Tehran in 2009 during protests over the rigging of the presidential election.

"The people who are being arrested now don't have Facebook pages," the economist Raja Abdel-Karim said wryly.

"They don't care about actors, journalists and writers. The effect of the footage of the demonstrations and the killings is far greater than any quote someone like me can come up with."

Abu Ahmad, a middle-aged man who was sacked from his government job, wept as he described being at a funeral in Midan, scene of the last dubious suicide bombing, with his wife and children when the shabiha started shooting.

State media reports only on martyrs among security personnel or regime supporters.

Bodies are returned to families bearing unmistakable signs of torture.

"Perhaps the worst human rights violation committed by the regime against the Syrian people is no time to mourn each martyr, no time to grieve," tweeted the blogger Razan Ghazzawi.

Elements of the anti-Assad opposition are uncomfortable with the "militarisation" of what began as a peaceful uprising inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

The expectation is that violence will intensify as the Free Syrian Army, composed largely of defectors, continues to grow.

"If you shoot at people for months, you shouldn't be surprised when they start shooting back," observed one western diplomat.

Overall, Syria's divisions appear to be deepening. "For the last 10 months, millions of people have occupied the middle ground," says Badr, a university lecturer.

"But Assad is leaving us with no choice."

Another joke makes the point well: citizens are being told they must no longer wear grey clothes – only black or white are allowed.

No one can accurately predict how long the uprising will continue.

On the opposition side, optimism of the will is tempered by a sober realisation that in the short term the balance of forces is not in their favour and is unlikely to change quickly – barring a Libyan-style foreign military intervention, which few want and fewer expect.

"Our tomorrow is in our hands," tweeted one supporter of the revolution, "or we will have no tomorrow."

Louay Hussein, an independent, Alawite writer and intellectual, said only a political solution could bring down the regime.

"The crisis is in deadlock," he argued. "All the signs are that we are heading for open-ended civil war.
Assad still has quite a lot of support.

It's not just a question of repression."

The economist Abdel-Karim takes the long view. "I have no doubt the regime will be toppled.

The problem is that the longer it takes, the more powerful the Islamists will become, and those who advocate violence will gain ground. It's a question of time and cost: time is getting shorter but the price is getting higher."

Mouna Ghanem, of the Syrian State-Building Movement, one of very few independent nongovernmental organisations, agrees fully with this gloomy analysis.

"We are happy that there is change," she says. "We thought change would never come to Syria. But we fear what is it going to cost."

Sunday, 15 January 2012. It’s The Anticipation.

2012-01-16T17:06:00.000+01:00

Georges Malkine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Malkine

Well today is much better, although I am still feeling somewhat tired and not my usual self, not at all.

I found that I just felt too slow, so decided to give myself a break and take things easy.

Not surprising I guess seeing as I have not been well, not with my tooth breaking as well as an upset stomach and guts.

A few apprehensive days never knowing if I needed Richie to take me quickly to the toilet before an accident occurred.

Either in bed or in my wheelchair, neither option were favourite, I personally preferred no mishaps and no uneasy feelings.

Just to ensure it was a ‘fun’ Sunday, I took antibiotics last night, so that Richie could replace the supra pubic catheter.

Not my preferred activity, changing my catheter but best to do to avoid UTI- bladder infection.

It’s something that is vitally important that it’s changed, even though I wanted it done, I still worried how it would go, it went well, it’s the anticipation that’s the worse.

2012-01-16T16:20:00.003+01:00

Hopfully tomorrow will be even better.

2012-01-14T18:58:00.015+01:00

Angel Planells
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Planells

Today has been a better day for me, which was a relief for both of us, nice not to be constantly hoisted in and out of my wheelchair and shower chair.

What a relief to not bee feeling nauseous the whole time like yesterday, it was not a pleasant day.

Horrible, I am glad its all over today, I still feel pretty exhausted so will keep this short again for today.

Hopfully tomorrow will be even better.

Why Newt Gingrich's sister says vote Obama

2012-01-14T14:32:00.002+01:00

While the Republican goes gunning for gays to boost his hardline GOP credentials, his lesbian activist sister will be rooting for the President.

Can their 'respectful' family bond survive the strain?

Guy Adams The Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
.
As we're sitting down to lunch at a restaurant in Washington DC, a smartly dressed man approaches Candace Gingrich-Jones. "I just wanted to say hello," he announces, cheerfully, "because I know your brother."

Ms Gingrich-Jones has two stock responses to people who greet her in this fashion.

The first, to those who seem friendly, is to politely say how nice it is to make their acquaintance.

The second, to anyone who claims to be among her famous half-sibling's enemies, is to smile archly and respond: "You are not alone!"

This time, given the man's ownership of an array of Republican sartorial props (blazer, tie, sensible haircut and stars-and-stripes lapel badge) she goes with the former.

Ms Gingrich-Jones's half-brother is, of course, Newt Gingrich, the former Republican leader in Congress and would-be presidential candidate who is attempting, with mixed success, to position himself as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.

The reason for her mixed reactions is that while Newt is among the best-known figures on the right of American politics, Ms Gingrich-Jones is a creature of the left.

She also happens to be a lesbian, a mortal sin in the eyes of mainstream Republicans. And she is also a happy participant in same-sex marriage, something every major GOP candidate, including her own half-brother, would like to see outlawed.

But the biggest sore thumb is Ms Gingrich-Jones's day job.

As the head of "youth and campus outreach" at the Human Rights Campaign, a lobbying organisation devoted to gay and lesbian issues, she is a professional agitator against the very social values her elder half-brother espouses.

Regardless of whether Newt Gingrich ends up as the GOP contender in November's election, Ms Gingrich-Jones will be working tirelessly to ensure victory for his opponent, Barack Obama.

"No matter who the Republican candidate is, I will do everything I possibly can to ensure they don't win," she says.

"President Obama has done so much for the gay community. From repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell', to getting a hate-crime prevention act passed in 2008, to anti-discrimination policies in the workplace, to laws giving gay couples hospital visitation rights. It would be a disaster if he were to lose."

Newt has failed to utter a word about his sister on the campaign trail so far. But Ms Gingrich-Jones has been less discrete.

Before Christmas, she popped up on the Rachel Maddow programme to formally endorse Obama. And speaking to The Independent last week, she admitted to being deeply upset by his recent pronouncements on gay issues.

Though stressing that their relationship is "respectful", Ms Gingrich-Jones was perturbed by an interview in which Newt said society should "tolerate" homosexuals in the same way that it tolerated alcoholics.

"Does he take these positions because he absolutely believes them?

Or does he have them because he's a Republican running for president?" wonders Ms Gingrich-Jones. "Only Newt knows the answer to that. I honestly don't know if that's what he feels in his heart... Politics, it changes people."

Ms Gingrich-Jones puts Newt's position on the hostile end of an array of GOP candidates she believes are playing the homophobic card in an effort to woo the religious right.

Recent weeks have seen Rick Perry produce an anti-gay campaign video, and Rick Santorum declare that if America were to legalise same-sex marriage then it should also make polygamy legal and allow men to marry farmyard animals.

"Santorum, Rick Perry and my brother are all in the same bit of the spectrum on gay issues," Ms Gingrich-Jones says, adding that if she had to choose a Republican president it would probably be Mitt Romney.

"He supported workplace discrimination protection, when he was governor of Massachusetts. But he won't acknowledge that now."

Ms Gingrich-Jones has never been exactly close to Newt, who at 68 is 23 years older than her, and had left home before she was born.

Their genetic relationship is also complex: the duo share a mother, Kathleen. Ms Gingrich-Jones's father, Robert, was Newt's adoptive (but not biological) father.

As a child growing up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Ms Gingrich-Jones only occasionally saw Newt, who at the time was a college professor in Georgia, on the first of his three marriages.

"A lot of people see the distance between my brother and me and think it's all ideological; that the reason we don't hang out is because we don't get along," she says.

"But, really, he was gone before I was even born, and I never got to know him."

Ms Gingrich-Jones realised she was gay as a teenager, but her first same-sex relationship had to wait until university.

There she discovered that several fellow members of the women's rugby team (she plays hooker) were openly lesbian.

"Not all lesbians play rugby and not all rugby players are lesbians. But there's a great deal of overlap. And on my college team, I began seeing people that felt what I felt, and were open and fine with that. It was like a piece of my life falling into place."

Ms Gingrich-Jones "came out" in the summer of 1987, when Kathleen discovered a gay newsletter in her bedroom. At the time, Newt was a junior congressman. "I asked what my brother had said about it, and my mother told me that his reply was along the lines of this is my life and I can live it however I want to,'" she recalls.

After university, she settled into an unremarkable job loading trucks for UPS.

But her life changed in 1994, when Newt, a rising Republican star, was elected Speaker.

"Suddenly, the media became interested in our family," she recalls. One day, a reporter came to interview her. "Towards the end of our conversation, she said: 'I have one more question: are you gay?' I didn't have any reason not to tell her, so I said yes."

With that, she became headline news. Reporters began examining Newt's record on gay issues. It turned out to be surprisingly hard-line. "Until then, I had no idea that he'd said some of the things he said."

Shortly afterwards, the Human Rights Campaign rang Ms Gingrich-Jones. Saying she had a "powerful" story that deserved to be shared, they persuaded her to embark on a tour of the US, holding town-hall meetings at which she counselled people who had been abused or discriminated against because of their sexuality.

She later joined the organisation full time, moved to Washington DC, and has been there ever since.

In the glare of publicity that came with the Clinton era, her relationship with Newt became understandably strained. But in recent years, as media attention has waned, it has thawed significantly, she says.

Two catalysts for their rapprochement have been Rebecca, Ms Gingrich-Jones's spouse, whom she met in 2006 through her rugby team, the Washington Furies, and Newt's third wife, Callista, whom he married in 2000.

"Rebecca is strongly family orientated.

To her it was just unacceptable that I would have a blood relative in the same city and we wouldn't do things together.

Callista was very much the same. So in the past five years I have seen my brother more than in the previous 25 years. Callista has changed him, made him far more appreciative of family."

Newt and Ms Gingrich-Jones now get together every Christmas holiday.

On social occasions, Ms Gingrich-Jones and Newt never talk politics. Instead, they find common ground discussing family matters or American Football.

Ms Gingrich-Jones says her brother is no longer the volatile figure of the 1990s, though she does keep hearing commentators wondering: "When is he going to have his big meltdown?"

Because he has publicly remained hostile to gay rights, Newt's relationship with his sister has its limits.

Two years ago, when Ms Gingrich-Jones married Rebecca in Boston, Newt and Callista sent a gift. But they declined an invitation to the event itself, saying they were travelling in Asia.

In future, the limits of his tolerance may be tested further: Ms Gingrich-Jones and Rebecca are planning to become parents, once they have worked out the logistics.

So could a lesbian family one day be house-guests in a Gingrich White House? In this most topsy-turvy of sibling relationships, stranger things have probably happened.

Straight Talkers: Candidates' Views
Newt Gingrich

"I believe that marriage is between a man and woman... and I think this [homosexuality] is a temporary aberration that will dissipate. I think that it just fundamentally goes against everything we know."

Mitt Romney
"...from the very beginning in 1994, I said to the gay community, I do not favour same-sex marriage..."

Rick Perry
"Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me."

Rick Santorum
"[Marriage is] the union that causes children to be born and raised in an environment that's a birthright. When we deny children that birthright by saying other types of relationships are OK, I think we are harming children."

Police To Question Jack Straw Over .Torture In Libya

2012-01-13T22:10:00.008+01:00

Yves Tanguy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

Kim Sengupta The Independent.

Former ministers in Tony Blair's government are expected to be questioned by police over their alleged role in human rights abuses, in a new Scotland Yard investigation into how dissidents were sent to Libya to be imprisoned and tortured by Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

The focus of the inquiry will be the involvement of MI6 in the arrest and rendition of two men.

Jack Straw, Tony Blair’s Foreign Secretary between 2001 and 2006, will be interviewed, police and Whitehall officials pointed out, as he would have had to “sign off” operations by MI6 at the time in question.

One senior official stressed: “These [operations] were in line with ministerially authorised government policy.”

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, and the Metropolitan Police Service declared yesterday in a joint statement:

“The allegations raised in the two specific cases concerning the alleged rendition of named individuals to Libya and the alleged ill-treatment of them in Libya are so serious that it is in the public interest for them to be investigated now rather than at the conclusion of the Detainee Inquiry.”

The two Libyan victims are known to be Sami al-Saadi and Abdel Hakim Belhaj, who is now a senior military commander in the new Libyan government.

Mr Belhaj, 45, was living in exile in Beijing, China, when he was detained with his wife in 2004 en route to the UK where they were trying to seek asylum. He was held for six years in prisons in Libya.

A source close to Mr Belhaj, who is in the process of suing the UK government, told The Independent last night “British police are welcome to carry out their investigations here, after all we are allies now. They can have interviews and any documents needed.

“But Abdel Hakim will continue with his legal action which he only begun after failing to get an apology from the British Government.”

Files discovered by The Independent in Tripoli after the fall of Col Gaddafi’s regime contained letters from Sir Mark Allen, then MI 6’s head of counter-terrorism, to Moussa Koussa, the head of Libyan intelligence, which seemed only too keen to acknowledge his service’s role in the capture and transportation of Mr Belhaj, stressing:

“The intelligence about Abu’Abd Allah [a nom de guerre for Mr Belhaj] was British.”

At the time, Mr Belhaj insisted to The Independent that British intelligence agents who had visited him in Tripoli were aware of his mistreatment.

“They knew I was being tortured,” he said. “I hoped they would do something about it.

I was too terrified during the meeting to say out loud what was being done to me because I thought the Libyans [secret police] were taping what was going on.

When the guards left I made sign movements with my hands.

“The British people nodded, showed they understood. But nothing changed; the torture continued for a long time.”

Tony Blair, who was Prime Minister when Mr Belhaj’s rendition took place, maintained he knew nothing about the affair.

Jack Straw said: “The position of successive foreign secretaries, including me, is that we were opposed to unlawful rendition, opposed to torture or similar methods and not only did we not agree with it, we were not complicit in it, nor did we turn a blind eye to it.”

He added: “No Foreign Secretary can know all the details of what… intelligence services are doing at any one time.”

After the denials of Mr Blair and Mr Straw, the head of MI6 at the time, Sir Richard Dearlove, insisted: “It was a political decision, having very significantly disarmed Libya, for the Government to co-operate with Libya on Islamist terrorism..”

Last night, the former Foreign Secretary issued a statement, saying he is “always happy to deal with any questions relating to his time as Home Secretary or Foreign Secretary” while refusing to discuss yesterday’s developments.

His office pointed to a previous statement in which he had welcomed the scrutiny of the Gibson Inquiry into detainee abuse – set up David Cameron last Autumn, and presided over by a retired judge, Sir Kenneth Gibson – which was “ the appropriate forum for these discussions”.

The DPP and Scotland Yard yesterday stated that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against officers from MI5 and MI6 over alleged complicity in the torture of terrorist suspects in two cases.

Binyam Mohammed, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, had claimed that a member of the Security Service [MI5], known as Witness B, had interviewed him while he was incarcerated and mistreated in Pakistan.

The Crown Prosecution Service has already concluded there was insufficient evidence for charges to be laid.

The second investigation took place after the Secret Intelligence Service [MI6] called in the police to look at allegations that one of its agents was present at Bagram air base, in Afghanistan, when a suspect was mistreated.

The DPP and the police said they had been unable to track down the alleged victim and had failed to find evidence which contradicted the account given by the SIS operative.

The current MI6 chief, Sir John Sawers, noted that a police inquiry into the Bagram airbase allegations had exonerated the agent concerned. He continued: “We will of course be cooperating with the police on this new investigation, as we have done on the one now concluding.

“It is in the service’s interest to deal with the allegations being made as swiftly as possible so we can draw a line under them and focus on the crucial work we now face in the future.”

Rendition: What they said
Senior UK intelligence officer to Gaddafi regime after rendition of Mr Belhaj, March 2004
"I congratulate you on the safe arrival of [Belhaj]. This was the least we could do for you... I was grateful to you for helping the officer we sent out."

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, September 2011
"We didn't support rendition as far as I know. There is no point putting stories to me about these people, I don't know about them."

Jack Straw, former Foreign Secretary, September 2011
"The position of successive foreign secretaries, including me, is that we were opposed to unlawful rendition, torture... and not only did we not agree with it, we were not complicit in it, nor did we turn a blind eye to it."

Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, September 2011
"It was a political decision for the Government to co-operate with Libya on Islamist terrororissm.’’

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-to-question-jack-straw-over-torture-in-libya-6289041.html

Not A Good Writing Day.

2012-01-13T15:23:00.009+01:00

Yesterday I was abit under the weather with an upset gut; we seemed to spend mot of the day being hoisted in and out of t wheelchair.
Not a good writing day.

Tired But Happy.

2012-01-12T19:39:00.004+01:00

Yves Tanguy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

Last night was not such a good night we were both very tired, my ms was playing nasty tricks.

So regretfully I cancelled an appointment with 3 people, my occupational therapist, and the council’s mobility advisor, and a mobility advisor from Welzorg all at 12.

Abit much when I was not feeling good, not the best way to chose a different option.

Another appointment did go ahead; I now have an arm lifter to help lift my arm.

It’s a nifty gadget which works well and seems a good addition to my aids.

I Last night was not such a good night we were both very tired, my ms was playing nasty tricks.

So regretfully I cancelled an appointment with 3 people, my occupational therapist, and the council’s mobility advisor, and a mobility advisor from Welzorg all at 12.

Abit much when I was not feeling good, not the best way to chose a different option.

Another appointment did go ahead; I now have an arm lifter to help lift my arm.

It’s a nifty gadget which works well and seems a good addition to my aids.

Happy with my new aid and now because I am very tired I am stopping.

Hopefully On Tuesday It Will Be Resolved.

2012-01-11T20:29:00.005+01:00

Neither Legends Nor Figures 1930.

Yves Tanguy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

One of my teeth, not my front teeth, but one next to it, corner tooth, just sheared off, for seemingly no reason; I was not even eating something tough.

My dentist says that he thinks that brittle teeth are a symptom of MS; he has seen many people with MS whose teeth break very easily.

Now I will have to wait until next week Tuesday, during the day I am distracted.

By being busy during the day, but at night when I am tired I really feel the exposed nerve.

These last 2 nights I have inhaled alot of THC, eaten a THC sweet and taken a diazepam and managed to sleep.

It has made me aware how important teeth are, can’t eat all the things I like, without my teeth.

Hopefully the dentist will be able to do something clever and save the tooth, which I think will happen.

I remember in the Sixties, Seventies dentists pulled too many before it was realised it was not good for peoples health.

Hopefully on Tuesday it will be resolved.

Arab League Official Attacks Syria Mission As 'Farce'

2012-01-11T15:42:00.010+01:00

Neither Legends Nor Figures 1930.

Yves Tanguy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

Anwar Malek, an Algerian member of the mission, says it is not acting independently and is 'serving the regime's interests.

Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 January 2012

An Arab League official has launched a scathing attack on the regional body's mission to Syria, claiming it has been powerless to prevent "multiple crimes against humanity" from being committed by troops loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Anwar Malek, an Algerian member of the team, said the observer mission was becoming a farce. He said it was not acting independently and was serving the regime's interests.

Malek is the first from the 60-man delegation – which has been widely criticised – to break ranks. His fierce criticism echoes regular warnings made by Syrian opposition figures who have claimed throughout the past month that the mission was being manipulated by regime officials.

In an interview with al-Jazeera, Malek claimed to have witnessed numerous incidents of torture in Syria and to have left behind a country on the verge of civil war.

"What I saw was a humanitarian disaster," he said. "The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people. The snipers are everywhere, shooting at civilians. People are being kidnapped. Prisoners are being tortured and none were released."
His comments came as the UN security council was briefed that about 400 people have been killed in Syria since the Arab monitors started working on 26 December. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said the figures were "a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity to end the violence and fulfil all of its commitments (to the Arab League), is instead stepping up the violence."

Malek said the leader of the Arab League delegation, the former Sudanese general Mohammed al-Dabi – who has attracted controversy for his involvement in the Darfur conflict – was attempting to avoid inciting Syrian officials by acknowledging unrest, but not the scale or severity of the violence.

"The head of the mission wanted to steer a middle course in order not to anger the (Syrian) authorities or any other side," he added.

Syrian officials have also been far from satisfied by the monitors' presence, which came after the 18-member Arab League suspended Syria in protest at the 11-month regime crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

In his third major speech since the uprising began in March, Assad condemned the Arab League for what he described as a betrayal of Syria and of Arabism.

Speaking at a rally in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday, he said the organisation was ill-equipped to sort out the crisis in Syria given its lack of achievement over the past 60 years.

Assad characterised the violence in Syria as a broad international conspiracy involving western states, terrorists, the Arab League and the global media.

Flanked by his British born wife, Asma, and their two chidren, Assad told thousands of flag-waving supporters in Ummayad Square that "victory against terrorists" was near and that "conspirators will fail".

"It is important that we maintain our faith in the future," said Assad, 46, who has made very few public appearances since the uprising against his regime began 10 months ago.

"I have that faith in the future and we will undoubtedly triumph over this conspiracy."

But while he remains in control of the capital, it is not the loyalist stronghold it was during the summer.

Elsewhere, an entrenched divide now exists between regime backers – comprised mainly of members of Assad's Allawite sect as well as Druze and Christians – and opposition groups, largely members of Syria's Sunni majority.

Assad's combative speech offered little to bring any sort of compromise, despite promising constitutional amendments in March and multi-party elections in either May or June.

Meanwhile, Malek's stance has heightened concern about the viability of the Arab League mission, which will be reviewed by officials for a second time on 19 January.

Both Kuwait and the UAE claimed on Tuesday that up to 11 monitors had been injured when pro-regime crowds encircled them on field missions.

After initially emboldening anti-government demonstrations with their presence, protesters are now increasingly wary of being filmed by Syrian officials near any of the orange-vested monitors as they are escorted around the country.

Some activists have called for the mission to be recalled the mission and regime officials to be referred to the United Nations security council.

Because Syria is not a signatory to the Rome Treaty, which enshrined the International criminal court, this would be a necessary pre-requsite for a referral to the global judicial body – a move urged by the United Nations human rights commissioner, Navi Pillay, in December.

However, Syria retains the support of key security council members China and Russia. Both have used vetoes to stop sanctions from being imposed on their ally.

Took My Needs Into Consideration.

2012-01-10T12:47:00.015+01:00

Yves Tanguy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

What I have really noticed since my ms diagnosis is how burocratic the system is that administers aids for the handicapped.

Mismanagement, lack of care and attention, as well a lack of sympathy, empathy and understanding for people’s situation.

There were a few good people, but sadly they were outnumbered by those who were only interested in the wages not in the job.

Sadly many advisors are sales people first and advisors second, they will sell aggressively which is not a good approach for vulnerable people.

Being sales people first and advisors second means that the interests of the company are being met not the needs of their handicapped clients.

Frans from RTD Het Dorp is one of the worst examples of arrogant know it all, bullying salesman.

Who put getting the Seetech contract before my needs, his second opinion was to hijack the contract.

He did this by reducing it from 16,000 to 6,000, instead of a new system, it’s an old one, and the software is not up to date.

Only one language, Dutch no English or German and no possibility me to operate the home Servant with Seetech, my needs were totally ignored.

Now I am waiting to hear if my appeals is successful and HES who took my needs into consideration will get the contract.

Would Not Have Lost Precious Time.

2012-01-09T22:29:00.001+01:00

The Absent Lady, 1942.

Yves Tanguy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

Being positive and optimistic is so vital for me; I only really did notice quite how true that was in 2009.

After I ended up being 24/7 in bed, with a deep pressure wound which kept me there for 2 years, from 2008 until 2010.

I was so depressed that I did not even realise until 2009, quite how down I had been up to then.

Writing my blog, every day really helped me understand what was going on. it gave me the room to think.

The other good effect was it helped me to be totally honest once more, also

with myself; this has been so good for me.

It has helped my communications with Richie and everyone else too, finally I could talk about how I was, instead of giving a blanket response of I am ok.

Being able to talk freely has been a good for me, especially as I am an open honest person, keeping people at arms length was not me.

Just saying I am ok tells me now, that I was extremely scared and no wonder it was merely two years after my diagnosis.

Only one year 9 months and already I had an enormous pressure sore, this should not have occurred.

Not if my case manager and mobility occupational therapist at the time had done their jobs properly.

I had only been sitting in a wheelchair since 21st November 2006, if only Anita and Hanneke had done their jobs properly, I would not have lost precious time.

Amnesty Warns Of Continued Repression In Middle East

2012-01-09T13:53:00.026+01:00

Through Birds Through Fire But Not Through Glass, 1943.

Yves Tanguy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

Despite the Arab spring, many governments are brutalising their populations into submission for regime survival, says report.

guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/09/amnesty-warns-repression-middle-east

In Egypt, military rulers were behind abuses 'worse than under Hosni Mubarak', Amnesty said.

Most Middle Eastern governments are failing to recognise the significance of the Arab spring and are responding with repression or merely cosmetic change, Amnesty has said.

Reform movements showed no sign of flagging despite bloodshed on the streets and arrests last year, the human rights organisation said in its report, Year of Rebellion: State of Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa.

"With few exceptions, governments have failed to recognise that everything has changed," Philip Luther, Amnesty's interim Middle East and north Africa director, said in the report.

"The protest movements across the region, led in many cases by young people and with women playing central roles, have proved astonishingly resilient in the face of sometimes staggering repression.

"They want concrete changes to the way they are governed and for those responsible for past crimes to be held to account.

"But persistent attempts by states to offer cosmetic changes, to push back against gains made by protesters or to simply brutalise their populations into submission betray the fact that for many governments, regime survival remains their aim."

In Syria there were more than 200 cases of reported deaths in custody by the end of 2011, more than 40 times the recent average annual figure, Amnesty said.

In Yemen more than 200 people had been killed in connection with protests while hundreds more died in armed clashes.

In Bahrain it was unclear how committed the government was to implementing reform recommendations made by an independent report, Amnesty said.

The report also said that despite the optimism that had greeted the fall of long-standing rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, concern remained that the gains had yet to be cemented by important institutional reforms.

In Egypt Amnesty found that the military rulers had been responsible for abuses that were "in some aspects worse than under Hosni Mubarak".

About 84 people had died under violent suppression between October and December last year, while more civilians had been tried before military courts in one year than under 30 years of his rule, it said.

In Tunisia, it was "critical" that a new constitution was drafted to ensure it guaranteed protection of human rights and equality under the law, the report said.

Amnesty also criticised international powers and regional bodies for "inconsistencies" in their response to the situations in Libya, Syria and Bahrain, and of "failing to grasp the depth of the challenge to entrenched repressive rule".

"Support from world powers for ordinary people in the region has been typically patchy," Luther said.

Positive And Optimistic Is So Vital For Me.

2012-01-08T14:30:00.026+01:00

Yves Tanguy, Reply to Red, 1943
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

Richie is watching football, Manchester United against Manchester City while taking own the Christmas tree, once both are over it will be time for my shower.

This can’t come soon enough for me; my legs keep spasming every now and then, think I need to do my leg exercises quite soon on the Motomed.

I have been noticing various changes that the progression of my ms, has caused.

Things like needing Richie to rearrange my body, which moves involuntarily during sleep.

It always ends up in an S bend; this becomes intensely painful, it wakes me up, calling for Richies help to untwist me.

This did not happen at all until recently, now it often happens a couple times during the night.

The other thing I have notice is how extra sensitive my skin has become; both things have made life more difficult.

As well as how my torso muscles are so much weaker, Richie has to almost wrestle in order to get me dressed.

That is why being positive and optimistic is so vital for me.

Two Down, Three To Go.

2012-01-07T12:43:00.023+01:00

Dora Maar, Sans Titre, 1934

If it had not been for the tremendous work of Doreen and Neville Lawrence in building such an incredible campaign, to get action taken against the gang of racist murderers.

Five racist thugs would have got away with mindlessly killing a young man, who had a promising career as an architecture student ahead of him.

They did not know him, there was no reason apart from racism, the young man was black, and that is why they killed Stephen Lawrence.

A great effort by the Lawrence’s to get two of these five racists who callously murdered their son Stephen, finally before a court of law and on trial.

Their tireless efforts since 1993 resulted in a trial after 19 years since the murder in 1993 and guilty verdicts for two of the gang on Tuesday of this week.

Since the trial, already new evidence has come to light, now people seem to feel able to give their evidence safely, since the police protection is gone.

It may mean that the other three gang members may well be in court soon too, facing charges of this racially motivated murder.

Brilliant news for the Lawrence family and for all anti racists and ant fascists, and a clear message to racists and fascists that they will not be tolerated.

It took 19 years, but finally the law has caught up with two of the five racist thugs, two down, and three to go.

Brilliant News For The Lawrence family.

2012-01-06T14:58:00.017+01:00

Night Fishing At Antibes, 1939

Jacqueline Lamba
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lambal

Whilst the Dobson and Norris sentences are not really something to celebrate, but nevertheless, it was great news that two of the 5 racists had finally got prison sentences.

Prison sentences, they should have received in 1993, and not finally 19 years later; after all this time, it was good to hear that they were going to spend quite some time in prison.

For 19 years the five racists have been able to be free, to carry on with their activities, knowing they enjoyed police protection.

Apparently since the trial it seems there is new evidence, and at the same time members of the public have protested that the prison sentences were not long enough.

Now the sentences will be reviewed, it seems they may be extended to a minimum of twenty years, before they are eligible for release on parole.

Then if there any doubts whether they are rehabilitated, their sentences will get extended until they are considered safe enough to be back in the community.

I would not be surprised if they are kept in prison for a very long time, perhaps they will end up doing thirty years or even natural life.

Which would not be a surprise as the murder of Stephen Lawrence has become known worldwide.

New evidence may mean that the other three gang members may well be in court soon too, facing charges of this racially motivated murder, brilliant news for the Lawrence family.

Police Corruption Delails Trial For 19 Years.

2012-01-05T16:31:00.041+01:00

Jacqueline Lamba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lambal

Its quite amazing the amount of damage which occurred because of the corruption of the south London police, which stopped them, doing their jobs.

Instead of that, they were doing everything they could to protect their informant, a drug dealing gangster, who sold cocaine.

This valuable informant was the father of David Norris, one of five men, who attacked and murdered Stephen Lawrence in Eltham, London, in 1993.

The police never even bothered to arrest them, despite numerous calls coming in naming the men.

They did photograph one of the gang the day after the murder with a full bin bag outside his house, probably full of vital evidence.

But instead of following the many leads the public gave them about the racist gang, the police decided that because Stephen was black, it must be drug and gang related.

It was not a gang fight about drugs; it was a racist attack, by a racist gang who were on the look out for black people to launch a vicious attack on.

The police did nothing until Nelson Mandela was in London; he heard about the murder of Stephen Lawrence and gave the Lawrence’s his support.

The very next day the men were arrested and their homes were searched, but of course by then nothing was found.

If they had arrested them right away and put them on trial; they would have done their prison sentences long time by now and got on with their lives.

This did not happen; they denied it was them for 19 yrs, for 19 years Stephen Lawrence’s family fought for the people who murdered their beautiful son, to be tried in a court of law.

Finally two of them have been sentenced; to 14 and 15 respectively, hopefully the three others will be in court soon for their trial and prison sentences.

Finally.

2012-01-04T13:28:00.109+01:00

Helen Frankenthaler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Frankenthaler

Stephen Lawrence murder: reaction to sentencing of Gary Dobson and David Norris.
• Gary Dobson sentenced to minimum of 15 years two months
• David Norris sentenced to minimum of 14 years three months

The general feeling seems to be that the sentences are too short, although this seems to be tempered by relief that Dobson and Norris have at least been convicted, 19 years after the murder.

Vikram Dodd reports a crowd of 100 outside the Old Bailey. The Lawrence family are due to speak soon.
Brian Paddick, formerly of the Metropolitan police and now Lib Dem candidate for mayor of London, has just been speaking to the BBC about stop and search.

The Met has improved the way it carries out stop and search since Stephen Lawrence was killed in 1993, he says, but it is still carried out disproportionately against black people.

The Press Association has more quotes from Mr Justice Treacy, passing sentence today:
A totally innocent 18-year-old youth on the threshold of a promising life was brutally cut down in the street in front of eye witnesses by a racist, thuggish gang.

You were both members of that gang. I have no doubt at all that you fully subscribed to its views and attitudes.

He said that undercover police footage of the pair using racist obscenities showed "disgusting and shocking scenes", and that the murder was committed "for no other reason than racial hatred".

Scotland Yard commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has said "the other people involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence should not rest easily in their beds", the Press Association reports.

Speaking before this morning's sentencing, he made an appeal to possible witnesses: "Anything you know, please tell us ... We can make a difference in this case still."

The Metropolitan police "are actively reviewing the consequences of what opportunities might be presented", Hogan-Howe said.

When asked about allegations that the Metropolitan police was still institutionally racist, Hogan-Howe said: "I hope we are not but it is a bit like asking someone if they are a nice person. Are we the best people to ask?"
He said the force was "hugely different from where we were" at the time of Lawrence's death.

Mr Justice Treacy said the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence was a "terrible and evil crime" as he began sentencing Gary Dobson and David Norris today.

Sandra Laville reports that the judge ordered the Metropolitan police to continue with its investigation into the murder and praised Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, the senior investigating officer in the latest investigation.

Michael Mansfield QC, who represented Lawrence's parents at his inquest, is speaking on BBC News. He says that "it is a very important landmark that race has to be considered within the context of crime".

Mansfield points out that after Dobson and Norris have served their minimum sentences, they may not be immediately released – it may be felt that they are not eligible for parole at this point.

"I suspect they will serve more than the minimum."
Dobson's father shouted "shame on you all" after the sentencing, according to the BBC.

Gary Dobson and David Norris have been sentenced for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

Gary Dobson must serve a minimum of 15 years and two months before he is eligible for parole.

David Norris must serve a minimum of 14 years and three months before he is eligible for parole.

The defendants did not respond, going down quietly, Sandra Laville reports from the court.

David Norris has been sentenced to a minimum of 14 years and three months.

Gary Dobson has been given a minimum term of 15 years and two months.

His starting point is 12 years and he is going to adjust that up or down due to aggravating or mitigating factors, the judge says, according to the BBC. Gary Dobson is standing to hear his sentence now, according to the BBC.

Gary Dobson and David Norris, the two men convicted of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, are about to be sentenced.

The pair were 17 and 16 at the time of the murder. Their sentence will take into account as a starting point the fact that they were juveniles at the time of the fatal stabbing.

Mr Justice Treacy, the trial judge, will also take aggravating factors into account: specifically that the murder was racist, and also that the pair realised one of their group might use a knife.

According to the BBC, Treacy said Dobson repeatedly lied out of loyalty to the group he was with.

He said the encounter was chance, not premeditated, but Dobson and Norris were prepared to attack, the BBC reports.

He said Dobson and Norris were part of a racist, thuggish gang, the BBC reports.

There can be no mitigation for contrition, the judge said, according to the BBC.

You lied to the court, the judge told them, Sandra Laville reports.

Neither of you has shown any regret or remorse, he told them.

You are now both in your mid-30s but I have to look at you as you were at the time, Treacy said.
There is nothing I have seen that suggests either of you were immature or easily led, he told them.

I must sentence you by reference to your age and maturity at the time not as the mature men you are now.
An adult committing this crime now would face life with a starting point of 30 years after changes to the law 2003, Treacey says.

Stephen Lawrence verdict: Dobson and Norris guilty of racist murder New evidence helps convict men of murder 18 years after teenager's fatal stabbing

2012-01-03T13:13:00.075+01:00

Helen Frankenthaler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Frankenthaler

Vikram Dodd and Sandra Laville
The Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/03/stephen-lawrence-verdict-guilty-murder

Gary Dobson (left) and David Norris have been found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

Two men have finally been convicted of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, 18 years after a white gang fuelled by hatred stabbed the black teenager to death.

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were found guilty of murder on Thursday by a jury at the Old Bailey. The crime had raised searching questions about racism in Britain.

Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death 18 years ago.

The pair were part of a group of five white men who were suspected just hours after the murder in 1993, but had escaped justice through police failings and because some witnesses were too scared to come forward.

New scientific evidence tied Dobson and Norris to the murder and exposed as lies their claims that they were not present when Lawrence was attacked.

A covert video shot in the flat Dobson rented in 1994 showed him and Norris bragging and fantasising about inflicting violence on ethnic minorities, using explicit racist language, and having close friends who handled knives.

The case was one of the most famous unsolved murders in Britain.

An 18-year fight for justice by Lawrence's parents led to a public inquiry which uncovered blunders by the Metropolitan police, blamed on institutional racism, which allowed his killers to escape justice.

Lawrence, 18, was murdered on 22 April 1993, as he and a friend waited for a bus in Eltham, south-east London.

They were attacked by a group of five to six white youths who shouted: "What, what nigger?" and then rushed towards them.

The jury heard that Lawrence's friend, Duwayne Brooks, urged him to flee, shouting "get up and run Steve". But by then Lawrence had been caught by the white group, which "swallowed" him up through its "weight of numbers".

Prosecutor Mark Ellison QC said "hand and leg movements" were seen by a witness as Lawrence was attacked. He was stabbed twice, in his upper torso, with arteries being severed.

Ellison said: "Stephen Lawrence was likely to have been upright when wound one was inflicted, but may have been lying on the ground by the time he was stabbed in the left shoulder."

The group fled, the jury heard, leaving Lawrence dying on the pavement.

Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead by midnight.

His death was caused by the loss of blood from stab wounds.

Ellison said: "The only discernible reason for the attack was the colour of his skin.

The way in which the attack was executed indicates that this group were a group of like-minded young, white men who acted together and reacted together.

They shared the same racial animosity and motivation."

Lawrence's parents, Doreen and Neville, had sat through much of the detailed evidence about their son's murder, which had begun in November.

At times it seemed to almost overwhelm them.

The blunders from the first police investigation into the murder had for more than a decade appeared to have been so severe that Lawrence's killers would not face justice in court.

But new evidence was unearthed by a cold case review which used new techniques and more rigorous methods to examine clothing from the victim and from the five main suspects.

Scientists found that on Dobson's grey bomber jacket, in the weave of its collar, was a blood spot, measuring 0.5mm by 0.25mm.

The chances of the blood coming from anyone other than Lawrence were one in a billion.

Furthermore the re-examination found that 16 fibres from three pieces of Lawrence's clothing were recovered from Dobson's jacket, or from the evidence bag it had been stored in.

Norris was tied to the murder by two hairs belonging to Lawrence that were found in the evidence bag containing jeans recovered from Norris's bedroom.

Ellison told the jury: "Within the debris from the packaging of the exhibit … were two short, dark brown-coloured, cut hairs. They were 1mm and 2mm in length."

They were sent to the US for mitochondrial DNA testing, which focuses on the genetic makeup of hair cells.

The technique had not been available in the mid-1990s.

They were found to match Lawrence's DNA or that of a maternal relative to a certainty of 999 in 1,000.

Seven fibres were also found on Norris's blue sweatshirt which potentially came from two items of Lawrence's clothes.

Dobson and Norris took the stand in their own defence, after a covert video exposing their racism and propensity for violence was played to the jury.

It helped establish in the jury's minds that the pair were – at around the time of the murder at least – racist and violent.

Norris was recorded talking about "skinning" black people and setting them alight.

Dobson was recorded also uttering racist remarks, and saying he had carried a Stanley knife and threatened to use it against a black man.

Norris said: "If I was going to kill myself do you know what I would do? I would go and kill every black cunt, every Paki, every copper, every mug that I know."

Norris later says: "I would, I would go down Catford and places like that, I am telling you now, with two submachine guns and I am telling you I would take one of them, skin the black cunt alive, mate, torture him, set him alight … I would blow their two arms and legs off and say, 'Go on you can swim home now.'

They would be bobbing around like that."

Dobson is recorded discussing a man, calling him a "nigger" and threatening him with a Stanley knife.

Dobson is caught by the camera "walking about with [a] large knife", according to a transcript.

Other extracts show him using the terms "Paki" and "nigger".

Testifying in his own defence, Dobson admitted lying to police when, in a 1993 interview, he told detectives he did not know Norris.

For his part, Norris told the Old Bailey, he could not remember where he was on the night of the murder.

Dobson had previously been acquitted of the murder in 1996, after the Lawrences brought a private prosecution.

In May this year the court of appeal quashed his acquittal after deciding the scientific evidence was sufficiently new and compelling.

Three other suspects remain free. Neil and Jamie Acourt, and Luke Knight deny involvement in the murder.

Detectives hope that the long-awaited convictions will lead to new evidence emerging against the rest of the gang that murdered Lawrence.

Dobson and Norris claimed that the scientific evidence against them came from contamination caused by failings in the way the exhibits had been stored over the last 18 years.

Tellingly, they did not produce a single expert to testify in support of their claims that contamination had somehow produced the evidence against them.

First Monday In 2012

2012-01-02T12:00:00.030+01:00

Helen Frankenthaler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Frankenthaler

I am starting this New Year feeling very positive and optimistic, for the first time in ages I don’t feel I have to make the best of things.

In fact I feel that I have plenty, there’s Richie, our love for each other, that’s top of my list.

Our friendship, we enjoy each others company, and we always have something to discuss, lovely to have found such a good friend.

Feeling good about myself, understanding finally that while a fully functional body is a joy, being so extremely handicapped as I am doesn’t make me any less of a human being or a woman.

Glad I have managed to work it out for myself, with the help from all my friends, who are also on my list, friends are so important.

All the people I know mean alot to me, sadly some contacts have been lost people move away, its life.

Since I moved to Amsterdam, I met many lovely people but never made the same sort of close friends, like I did in England.

Maybe it’s the language and the culture, but whatever it is I am happy to have good friends here too.

Feels good a new year, I am looking forward, always forwards never looking back.

A Happy New Year's Eve.

2012-01-01T18:16:00.023+01:00

Helen Frankenthaler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Frankenthaler

New Year’s Eve was a pleasant evening, because Richie had taken the dogs out to the park first thing in the morning

They had fun in the park from 07.30 to 10.32 then came home, and then Richie took them to the pet shop which they seemed to enjoy.

Richie wanted to stock up on tripe, dog treats, as well as bones to distract them during the cacophony of noise from the fireworks storm which is unleashed to celebrate New Year.

His strategy worked very well, the dogs coped well with the noise, they stayed nice and calm, it was a succccful tactic of Richie’ which worked well

From 23.15 we watched Jools Holland’s excellent New Years Eve Hootenanny show, it was brilliant.

Betty Wright, Ruby Turner, Cindy Lauper, Sandi Shaw, Jesse J, Imelda May, were absolutely stunning, brilliant performances from them

And from many others like the Vaccines, Buddy Greco, Rico, Caro Emerald, James Morrison, Arlo Blaxx.

It was an enjoyable end of 2011 an enjoyable night, Happy New Year.

Enjoy Today,

2011-12-31T11:38:00.026+01:00

Dorothea Tanning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Tanning

Well here it is the last day of 2011; because it’s raining I do not have to endure too many sounds of fireworks.

Here there have already, been weeks of fireworks being let off, despite it being illegal to set off fireworks before midnight on the 31^st of December.

No one tries to enforce this law, shame as fireworks causes so much injury, and I wish they would stop selling fireworks, better to have big displays.

People here drive to Belgium for fireworks, where there are fewer restrictions, and so heavier fireworks can be bought and smuggled over the border.

Things that are more like mortar bombs and nothing like crackers or bangers or catherine wheels.

My first New Year here on my own in 1982, was very scary, no one told me about fireworks, it sounded like I was in the middle of a war zone, like Beirut.

I wish people pooled their fireworks, and organised more communal displays, but after 30 years I am less hopeful.

Hoping for rain tonight so the streets won’t be too noisy, and our 3 dogs won’t get too upset, although Cyril seems to have started howling already.

I intend to enjoy today,

Happy New Year Without New Year’s Resolutions

2011-12-30T12:14:00.018+01:00

Dorothea Tanning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Tanning

Well it’s nearly the 31st of December and the end of this year, 2011 and the start of a new year.

Of 2012, a new year and a new chance, to do things in a different way, always good to try something else.

A new year is a great chance to do something else; I don’t do new years resolutions

I found I never stuck to them, it was always something I would say I intend to do, but by January 2 all was forgotten.

This way has worked better for me, much better, I feel free to use my imagination.

Instead of reciting a list of things I won’t do suddenly as if by magic, no wonder it can’t work because there is no magic, it does not exist.

I feel happier making decisions as I need to not just because everyone makes new years resolutions.

My best new year’s resolutions were promising never to do it ever again, to never set myself up to fail.

Happy New Year without New Year’s resolutions

Syria: Human Rights Groups Challenge Leadership Of Arab League Mission.

2011-12-29T11:58:00.005+01:00

The Chair, 1955.
Leonora Carrington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington
Doubts raised after Sudanese general says situation in Homs is 'reassuring' despite footage of monitors witnessing casualties
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
The Guardian, Thursday 29 December
A Syrian tank moves through Homs where the Arab League observer mission began on Tuesday. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The judgment of an Arab League observer mission in Syria has been called into question after its leader, the Sudanese general Mustafa al-Dabi, described the situation in the opposition stronghold of Homs as "reassuring", despite video footage of his monitors witnessing heavy gunfire and being shown civilian casualties.
Syrian opposition groups reported more deaths on Wednesday in Hama, where security forces allegedly used live ammunition against protesters attempting to stage a sit-in in the city centre before a scheduled Arab League mission on Thursday. Estimates of casualties range from seven wounded to six killed.
Al-Jazeera television footage from Hama showed gunfire, rising black smoke and men marching through the streets chanting "Where are the Arab monitors?" One man appeared to be bleeding from the neck.
The appointment of Dabi as the head of the observer mission was criticised on Wednesday by international human rights groups, who point to his past as a military intelligence chief and long-serving loyalist of President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the international criminal court for genocide and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region.
Dabi was a military commander in Darfur in 1999, when Arab Janjaweed militias, later accused of killing many of the local population, were co-opted by the army in a counterinsurgency against rebel groups.
Nearly 3 million people were forced to flee their homes in Darfur and the UN says about 300,000 have died, mostly from disease.
Amnesty International said Sudan's military intelligence under Dabi's command "was responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and torture or other ill-treatment of numerous people in Sudan".
Alex de Waal, co-author on a book on the Darfur conflict who now runs the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, said of Dabi's time in the region: "Many were arrested during his tenure and the Darfur rebels say that his stint in the area was "the beginning of the organisation of the Janjaweed". Dabi argues that he was even-handed and that it was "necessary to show a firm hand in the face of dissent that threatened to spiral out of control".
The Arab League has defended its choice of Dabi to lead the monitoring team. Observers speculated that his selection represented a reward to the Sudanese government for its support of Qatar in opposing the Gaddafi regime in Libya and in taking a tough line on Syria.
The mission, currently 60-strong but eventually intended to comprise 150 observers, began its work on Tuesday in Homs, a city of 1 million people and stronghold of the rebel Free Syrian Army, where the government reportedly used tanks and armoured cars on Monday against the restive district of Baba Amr.
"Some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening," Dabi told Reuters on Wednesdayby phone from Damascus. "The situation seemed reassuring so far … Yesterday was quiet and there were no clashes. We did not see tanks but we did see some armoured vehicles. But remember this was only the first day and it will need investigation. We have 20 people who will be there for a long time."
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed security forces killed 15 people across the country on Tuesday, six of them in Homs. It said 34 were killed the day before.
A video distributed by activists in Homs showed Arab League monitors in a battle-scarred area of the city on Wednesday, taking cover when heavy fire rang out. Another showed the body of a little boy, purportedly killed in this week's fighting in Homs, being laid on the bonnet of an Arab League monitors' vehicle.
Omar, a Baba Amr resident and activist, told Reuters: "I felt they didn't really acknowledge what they'd seen – maybe they had orders not to show sympathy. But they didn't seem enthusiastic about hearing people tell their stories.
"We felt like we were shouting into a void. We placed our hopes in the entire Arab League. But these monitors don't seem to understand how the regime works, they don't seem interested in the suffering and death people have faced."
The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad said it was fighting a terrorist insurgency, which has killed 2,000 soldiers and police. The regime claimed to have freed 755 detainees "whose hands were not stained with Syrian blood", but according to Amnesty International 15,000 Syrians remain in detention.

As If We Were Immortal..

2011-12-28T12:22:00.007+01:00

Leonora Carrington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington

Today has been pleasant, this afternoon Anne, a friend visited us which was nice, good to see someone else.

Often the only person that comes round every week is my physiotherapist who comes here twice; we often can go weeks without seeing anyone else here.

In the late seventies when I worked for the gas board, reading gas meters, I meet many people, who saw no one.

Apart from the meter reader, every three months and the milk delivery person once per week, to pay.

I recall being very surprised at this as I had never considered the possibility of such a thing, of people being so isolated.

Amazingly this is happening to us now; I guess its something, that must happen alot more then I ever thought it were possible.

I never thought it would happen to me, but then again, I didn’t’ think I would be as sick as I am.

I just always thought that I would be fit and healthy and be able to look after myself.

Never considered the alternative but I think I am not the only one, I think its something that we all do without thinking, living as if we were immortal.

Syria, Something That Can't Be Ignored.

2011-12-27T19:03:00.014+01:00

Leonora Carrington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington

I have been enjoying a day of relaxing, which has been very pleasant, so much so I am going to keep doing this.

It is much better than getting stressed, hopefully quite soon I will be able to say goodbye to advisors and there will be no need for any more appointments.

A very fine prospect that I am looking forward to tremendously in fact I can’t hardly wait for that moment to b here.

Being relaxed is nice but it has not stopped me being aware of what is happening in the world I live in.

All the killing and suffering that has been inflicted on the Syrian people by the Dictator Assad’s regime is something that can’t be ignored.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/27/arab-league-monitors-syria-homs?INTCMP=

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16343543

The Last Christmas Day.

2011-12-26T13:38:00.011+01:00

Leonora Carrington.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington

I am still enjoying the Christmas days, today was much too quickly the last day, abit sad, but keen for the New Year now.

So glad I can still type with my left index finger, it never fails to amaze me how little, I seem to need for me to have quality of life.

Being positive is a must, as I have discovered so often over the years since my diagnosis, that, and a working index finger, so I can send e-mails, type posts, surf the net, it makes me happy.

Since I started writing my blog everyday in February 2009, I found out that I love to write, writing everyday, it is a pleasure not a chore.

I wish I had known this was a way to make a living, being a paid writer would have been a dream comes true.

No point crying over what could have been, instead I think I will try to just enjoy writing now; everyday I can do it, is a huge bonus for me.

My darling Richie is the person who looks out for me, he makes my life very good, Richie is always looking out for ways to make life even better for me.

Happy Winter Days.

2011-12-25T14:35:00.028+01:00

Leonora Carrington

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington

Yesterday was a lovely day; I thoroughly enjoyed myself with Richie, its always good fun spending time together.

Today Christmas day has been a very pleasant relaxed day, which I am also finding rather enjoyable.

These two lovely days in mid winter, are such beautiful days which I am enjoying as always.

It’s nice to have a break from the usual routine even if only for a few days, it’s brilliant not to have any appointments until next year.

Nice not to have to deal with advisors, nice to have my own time and space, just my darling and I and the dogs, happy days.

A Beautifully, Relaxed And Enjoyable Christmas Eve.

2011-12-24T16:05:00.025+01:00

Leonora Carrington
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington

Yesterday afternoon my dear friend Anja visited us, it was really good to see her, especially just before Christmas, it meant a lot to me to see her here, she brought me a present.

Today has been a truly lovely Christmas Eve, I have thoroughly enjoyed my day, this afternoon I listened to the opera Tosca, being performed, and it was glorious.

I had a late afternoon shower so I could be in the front room until midnight which we both really enjoyed, it felt good.

I got Richie, Professor Brian Cox’s Quantum Physics and the Wonders of the Solar System, Cesar Milan’s Dog Training book, Wilco Johnson’s 2 cd’s and a box set of Phil Spector’s Philly Sound.

Richie got me three perfumes, two Kylie Minogue as well as Chanel Nr. 5, a big box of Mon Cheri, 4 pairs of pyjamas, two t-shirts, and a pair of casual pants.

Well spoiled, I also got lovely lavender body lotion, lavender sachets, and a heat pad for my cold hands from Gareth and Paul from Wales.

They also sent us cheddar cheese and cream crackers, I also got two beautiful presents from Aud, Richie’s sister, and she sent me two incredibly lovely pairs of earrings and necklaces.

They are both very striking I have never seen anything like this before, I shall get Richie to take photos so I can post on my blog

Anja’s present was a beautifully presented and wrapped, rose body lotion, rose shower gel, rose body scrub and a pretty pink sponge.

It was a truly lovely day, a beautifully, relaxed and enjoyable Christmas Eve.

Quite A Day.

2011-12-23T17:05:00.019+01:00

Leonora_Carrington

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington

Quite a day, today it started with me having to call our doctor and request a house call, Dr Smit agreed to visit at 12.00.

Turns out it was exactly what I thought it would be, not a simple yeast infection but it had gone to another stage, it was now another fungal infection, it was now trichamonas.

Which I thought it was, shame the locum I spoke to did not come here as I requested Wednesday, then I would not have been experiencing three more days of painful discomfort.

I hate being preoccupied with something like this, no wonder I have not been myself, I have been tired, listless lacking my usual sense of humour.

Richie has just gone to the chemist to pick up medication, seems that there is a huge queue, so my darling is waiting in line for my pills.

Luckily he just returned with them so my week long pain party will be finally over later tonight when I take them before I go to sleep.

Apart from that I also had to mail agis, about the seemingly never ending saga of Seetech and which company will get the contract.

RTD Het Dorp thought they had it; however I heard they were so keen to get the contract that they have put together a limited version which won’t allow me to keep communicating like now.

Because they left out giving me English or German, I grew up bilingual, plus no installation nor instructions how to use, I explained to Agis that the RTD het Dorp were looking after their own interests not mine.

Agis are reviewing the bids, so I hope there will be good news before my finger stop working, which is happening now.

Can Information Be Too Dangerous.

2011-12-22T12:27:00.064+01:00

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/alarm-as-dutch-lab-creates-highly-contagious-killer-flu-6279474.html

Steve Connor.

A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it.

The discovery has prompted fears within the US Government that the knowledge will fall into the hands of terrorists wanting to use it as a bio-weapon of mass destruction.

Some scientists are questioning whether the research should ever have been undertaken in a university laboratory, instead of at a military facility.

The US Government is now taking advice on whether the information is too dangerous to be published.

"The fear is that if you create something this deadly and it goes into a global pandemic, the mortality and cost to the world could be massive," a senior scientific adviser to the US Government told The Independent, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The worst-case scenario here is worse than anything you can imagine."

For the first time the researchers have been able to mutate the H5N1 strain of avian influenza so that it can be transmitted easily through the air in coughs and sneezes.

Until now, it was thought that H5N1 bird flu could only be transmitted between humans via very close physical contact.

Dutch scientists carried out the controversial research to discover how easy it was to genetically mutate H5N1 into a highly infectious "airborne" strain of human flu. They believe that the knowledge gained will be vital for the development of new vaccines and drugs.

But critics say the scientists have endangered the world by creating a highly dangerous form of flu which could escape from the laboratory – as well as opening a Pandora's box for fanatical terrorists wishing to make a bio-weapon.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed hundreds of millions of birds since it first appeared in 1996, but has so far infected only about 600 people who came into direct contact with infected poultry.

What makes H5N1 so dangerous, though, is that it has killed about 60 per cent of those it has infected, making it one of the most lethal known forms of influenza in modern history – a deadliness moderated only by its inability (so far) to spread easily through airborne water droplets.

Scientists are in little doubt that the newly created strain of H5N1 – resulting from just five mutations in two key genes – has the potential to cause a devastating human pandemic that could kill tens of millions of people. The study was carried out on ferrets, which when infected with influenza are the best animal "model" of the human disease.

The details of the study are so sensitive that they are being scrutinised by the US Government's own National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which is understood to have advised American officials that key parts of the scientific paper should be redacted to prevent terrorists from using the information to reverse-engineer their own lethal strain of flu virus.

In an unprecedented move, the Biosecurity board is believed to have told the US Government that there is a serious possibility of potentially dangerous information being misused if the full genetic sequence of the mutated H5N1 virus were to be published in open scientific literature.

A senior source close to the Biosecurity board, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Independent that the National Institutes of Health, which funded the work, is about to make a decision on how much of the scientific paper on the H5N1 super strain should be published, and how much held back.

"There are areas of science where information needs to be controlled," the scientist said. "The most extreme examples are, for instance, how to make a nuclear weapon or any weapon that is going to be used primarily to kill people. The life sciences really haven't encountered this situation before. It's really a new age."

The study was carried out by a Dutch team of scientists led by Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, where the mutated virus is stored under lock and key, but without armed guards, in a basement building.

Dr Fouchier, who declined to answer questions until a decision is made on publication, said in a statement released on the university's website that it only took a small number of mutations to change the avian flu virus into a form that could spread more easily between humans.

"We have discovered that this is indeed possible, and more easily than previously thought. In the laboratory, it was possible to change H5N1 into an aerosol-transmissible virus that can easily be rapidly spread through the air," Dr Fouchier said. "This process could also take place in a natural setting.

"We know which mutation to watch for in the case of an outbreak and we can then stop the outbreak before it is too late. Furthermore, the finding will help in the timely development of vaccinations and medication."

A second, independent team of researchers led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the universities of Wisconsin and Tokyo is understood to have carried out similar work with similar results, which has underlined how easy it is to create the super virus with a combination of deliberate mutations and random genetic changes brought about by passing avian flu manually from the nose of one ferret to another.

Some scientists have privately questioned whether such research should have been done in a university department that does not have the sophisticated anti-terrorist security of a military facility.

They also point out that experimental viruses kept in seemingly secure laboratories have escaped in the past to cause human epidemics – such as a 1977 flu outbreak.

"There are people who say that the work should never have been done, or if it was done it should have been done in a setting where the information could be better controlled," said the source close to the biosecurity board.

"With influenza now it is possible to reverse engineer the virus. It's pretty common technology in many parts of the world. With the genomic sequence, you can reconstruct it. That's where the information is dangerous," he said.

"It's scary from a number of different angles. You want to have the vaccines and therapeutics in place, and you need to have a much information as you can about a particular virus, but you also worry about it from a biosecurity perspective."

Profile: researcher behind the science
Ron Fouchier
The Dutch virologist started as an expert in HIV, having received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 1995. After research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, he began a new career in the virology department at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, studying the molecular biology of the influenza A virus.

At a conference in Malta in September, he described his work as something that was "really, really stupid," but ultimately useful for the development of vaccines

May Have Saved Myra’s Life.

2011-12-21T16:52:00.007+01:00

Today it’s the winter solstice, the shortest day and tonight is the longest night, from tomorrow the days will be slowly getting slowly longer.

That is nice to look forward to, in the meantime, I am enjoying the dark December days, and excitingly, it’s nearly Christmas now, three more days to go.

Today has been another quiet day, I got some goods news, heard from my friend Angela that her mother Myra has successfully completed her course of i.v antibiotics.

Brilliant news that Myra has recovered from the serious bladder infection, she developed because no one had kept an eye on her liquid intake.

Really good news, especially as one week ago it looked like she was fading away, seemingly for no reason.

Now she has recovered, she has made friends in the ward, Myra has even become popular with the staff; good job one member of staff was alert.

An auxiliary nurses requested tests to see why after coming out of her operation so well and being so engaged with her environment she suddenly started drifting off an couldn’t talk.

Not Myra, who is a great communicator, a very dynamic woman, so glad, one member of staff doing their job and being attentive to her patients, may have saved Myra’s life.

I Am Who I Am.

2011-12-20T13:33:00.022+01:00

18 to 21 are my favourite days before Christmas, I have always liked those days, even more in Europe, but it started in Trinidad.

I well remember the excitement of Christmas in Port of Spain, Trinidad; we lived on a hill, so it was lovely seeing people putting up lights on their homes below us.

Great to see that was still happening, when I visited in 1997; then the decorations were truly wonderful, funny seeing so much billowing fake snow in gardens in the baking heat of the midday sun.

There were lots of houses with Santa with sleigh plus reindeer, some were really too small, but that did not stop anyone, it was an amazing sight.

So glad I got back to my beautiful island in the sun, it was the best thing for me, I had many questions about where I came from.

Being there in 1997 gave me myself back, that’s how it felt, and it was truly wonderful to meet cousins, and their kids as well as my favourite auntie Josephine.

In 1997 I rediscovered my roots, my background, it truly helped me feel more me, more happy and understanding where i am from, that was aso important to know where I was born and why and how I am who I am.

Remembering An Unforgetable Day.

2011-12-19T12:40:00.042+01:00

Conroy Maddox.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conroy_Maddox

Amazingly Beenhakker sent some one to fit a new emergency cut off switch; they are such a good company very customer orientated.

Unlike Welzorg, Beenhakker are efficient, attentive and seem to be interested in their customers.

Nice to have a positive experience, it makes such a huge difference and is such a boost, especially after the way other companies have been.

If it had been Welzorg, I would have needed to phone, e-mail them for days, and if I were really lucky they probably would have come back next week or in the New Year.

Getting the shower chair fixed totally unexpectedly today was almost like getting an extra present for our anniversary.

Having it fixed makes all the difference to us, lovely to have it all sorted out without any stress.

Today has been quite a pleasant day, which we both enjoyed very much; I think it has been a relaxing day.

I can hardly believe that it’s already ten years since that wonderful day, 19^th December in 2001 when we married.

We had such a great party, with good friends; Richie made a feast for it, which was wonderful, an unforgettable day.

A Surprise.

2011-12-18T11:58:00.024+01:00

Emmy Bridgwater
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Bridgwater

Today has been a pleasant day, I enjoyed sitting in bed editing two Dutch posts, for Friday and Saturday.

As usual I was doing several things at the same time as editing; I was also listening to the radio, watching football on TV.

Richie got me out of bed to shower me; which was lovely, I am still getting extra enjoyment from showers, after the shower chair drama on Friday.

Once I was dressed and sitting in my wheelchair, Richie announced he had got me a10th anniversary present.

He left me waiting, for what seemed ages, wondering what the present would be, I was very excited.

Then Richie returned with a chicque little black shiny bag, pulled out a ring box, he opened it and took out a beautiful ring and placed it on my finger.

It is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen, I am over the moon with Richie’s beautiful surprise anniversary present.

‘It is gorgeous ring, a really amazing present; I had no idea, none, not even when he went off to buy olive oil, not unusual for him to go to one of the excellent Turkish shops 5 minutes away.

My darling Richie has really surprised me, it is not often I am speechless, today I was, totally and utterly amazed, that’s what I call a surprise.

Hospital Negligegnce And Incompetence.

2011-12-17T14:29:00.063+01:00

Emmy Bridgewater,The Kill,1942.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Bridgwater

What started as a relaxed day yesterday became quite tense and worrying, but once the Beenhakker engineer had fixed the shower chair, those tensions vanished.

Feel very lucky that Arjan was on call last night, and thought he could make the difference; he made an amazing quick fix, which allows Richie to fully use the shower chair.

So today, I finally can be showered by Richie, which will be an incredibly lovely experience, looking forward to it.

Because of being distracted yesterday, I hadn’t written a post, thought 23.00 not the time to start to write, instead I wrote yesterdays post today.

There was even more stress worrying about my good friends Angela’s mother Myra, who got rushed to hospital, when she fell; broke her good right arm and dislocated and broke her shoulder last week Wednesday.

She had an operation right away, two more are due, because the staff took too long getting the commode last Saturday, Myra wet the bed, a nurse shouted at her and roughly put diapers on her.

Myra was bright over last weekend, starting to get worse on Monday, poor Angela frantically, trying to find the cause of her mother’s deterioration and getting no help from the doctors and nurses.

There was excellent news from Angela last night, that there had been positive developments thanks to an auxiliary nurse, who could not believe the change in Myra since being admitted the previous Wednesday.

She had been off duty until Thursday; she insisted that tests were done, turns out the cause of Myra’s deterioration was a serious UTI, something that could have killed an 80 year old like Myra.

Once Myra could communicate again she told Angela that after the nurse shouted at her she limited her intake of liquids so she did not need to pee too much, this caused the UTI.

I called the hospital yesterday, to check how Myra was doing, I wanted them to realise that there were people who are concerned about her, and I heard she was on an antibiotic drip.

Strange the hospital did not it give Myra a catheter and drip for fluids right away, as it must have been clear she would not be mobile, nor did they monitor her fluid intake.

I think the hospital have been negligent, Angela will put in a formal compliant, she could have lost her mother due to the incompetence in dealing with a handicapped woman with broken bones.

Beenhakker Look After Their Customers.

2011-12-17T14:26:00.004+01:00

Elsa Schiaparelli.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Schiaparelli

Today was a pretty relaxed day until Richie got the shower chair to take me to the bathroom and discovered it didn’t work.

Richie put the battery onto charge again, to see if that was the problem, after half an hour it became clear it wasn’t.

It could not be used, so that Richie can place me above the toilet, then undresses me, showers me, dries and dresses me all on the Carendo shower chair.

Luckily it was high enough for me to use the toilet, it was just possible, sadly no shower, as the shower chair won’t be adjusted, so Richie wouldn’t be able to wash nor dry me adequately.

What a nasty surprise, had been so looking forward to a lovely shower, I contacted Beenhakker, the supplier.

Happily they could send someone to hopefully repair the shower chair, the engineer arrived at 22.00, and he worked for 40 minutes, at the end it worked.

Which was the best news ever, no sooner had Arjan the engineer left, when I needed to go to the toilet, and happily the shower chair could be used.

We just couldn’t manage without, so glad Arjan cares for his work; once I explained the importance to me he agreed to come.

After nearly an hour, Arjan had managed a quick fix, the problem, had occurred because the emergency button had been activated.

Three cheers for Arjan, from Beenhakker who solved the problem; they are a good company, who look after their customers.

A Brave Whistle Blower Taking On Pharmaceutical Companies.

2011-12-15T12:48:00.071+01:00

Jacqueline Lamba.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lamba

Rhys Morgan: 'They are trying to silence me'

A 17-year-old schoolboy from Cardiff is proving an unlikely but effective opponent of powerful organisations pushing miracle cures for serious diseases
By Steven Morris
guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/14/schoolboy-querying-miracle-cure-claims

Rhys Morgan … 'I was a little bit scared'.

Like many teenage boys, Rhys Morgan loves video games, rock music and hanging around with his friends. He works hard at school and tries to do his bit helping out at home. But what makes this 17-year-old a little different is that he also finds time to join battle with powerful, wealthy organisations that promote miracle alternative cures for serious diseases.

Morgan's burgeoning campaign, run from the front room of his family's house in a cul-de-sac in Cardiff, is gaining him friends and enemies. He is winning plaudits from within the sceptical community and from some journalists impressed at his gumption, but is berated by those desperate to believe in the treatments offered – and has spent countless hours in recent weeks batting away threats of legal action.

So why does this floppy-haired teenager bother? Wouldn't it be less hassle to focus on becoming even better at Team Fortress 2 or just kicking back and listening to his favourite bands, Muse and Radiohead?

"It can be nerve-wracking but I think that getting the message out there is a lot more important than me being sued," says Morgan. "I think there's a need for more people to speak out. I hate the idea of anyone being taken for a ride."

Morgan was not always a sceptic. His mother, Dawn, reveals that he believed in Father Christmas until he was 11 when she and his father, Paul, had to break the bad news. "I think they should have told me a little earlier," Morgan says. As a young boy he went to church with his grandparents, only becoming an atheist after attending a Christian camp. "I had a good time but a few weeks later stopped believing. I'm not quite sure how that happened."

Morgan's first contact with online scepticism dates to his early teens when he became interested in Snopes.com, a website devoted to debunking urban legends. Then he wrote an essay for his English language GCSE expressing doubts about the validity of many alternative medicines. This interest in medicine did not emerge out of nowhere: his father is an intensive care doctor, his mother a nurse.

But it was when Morgan was diagnosed with a serious illness – Crohn's disease – that he plunged deep into the world of scepticism. While off school last year, he set about researching the disease and was alarmed at some of the "miracle cures" on offer. One particularly grabbed his attention: Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), which is described on its website as the "answer" to Aids, hepatitis A, B and C, malaria, herpes, TB and "most cancer".

Morgan looked into MMS and was alarmed to find that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had warned that, when used as directed, the solution produced was "a potent bleach" and urged anyone using it to stop immediately and throw it away. Similar warnings have been issued in this country.

"A few people on support forums seemed to be pushing MMS on others. I started telling people on the forums, look, this treatment doesn't seem to be that great." He got "kicked off" one forum. "They told me I was being rude and inflammatory by questioning other people's choices."

Happily for Morgan, he went into remission at the start of this year (thanks to "conventional" drugs prescribed on the NHS, he is keen to emphasise). He returned to school and continued his studies. The teenager found he now had two groups of friends – his Cardiff pals and online colleagues from the increasingly well-organised sceptical community. The two groups do not overlap and Morgan says his local friends do not know much about his online activities. "I think they'd be bored by it. I don't tell them much about it all."

In this year's summer holidays, Morgan's eye was caught by a campaign aiming to raise money to send a young woman with inoperable brain cancer to a centre called the Burzynski clinic in Houston, Texas (motto: Tomorrow's cancer treatment today). The clinic says it uses "antineoplastons" – "molecular switches that turn off life processes in abnormal cells" – to treat cancer patients.

Morgan did some digging into the clinic and was not convinced. "I couldn't find anything substantial on the internet to support what was being claimed." He says he was angry at the idea of desperate people spending what could be the last days of their lives flying across the globe and putting their faith in what he believes are "unproven" treatments. He posted a blog about the clinic and again got on with his life and studies.

But at the start of November an email dropped in Morgan's inbox from one Marc Stephens, who accused him of libelling the Burzynski clinic.

"I was a little bit scared. I didn't know who this guy was," says Morgan. He told his mum and dad and asked for advice from fellow sceptics and sympathetic lawyers. Further emails followed. Morgan was worried that if he lost a libel case, his parents' assets, their house, cars and savings could be at risk.

It got even heavier. Stephens told Morgan he would contact his school about his activities and, most disturbingly, included a satellite view of the Morgan family home in one message.

"It was extremely odd. It was as if he was saying: 'I know where you live.'"

It was a tense time for the Morgans. When a suspicious brown package arrived addressed to "Dr Rhys Morgan", his mother was so worried about what it might contain that she thought it best to open it outside. It turned out to be a wristband sent by a friend.

Morgan went on the attack. He published the email exchanges on his blog and asked pointed questions about Stephens' legal credentials.

At the end of last month the clinic issued a press release distancing itself from Stephens. It said he had been hired as an "independent contractor" to "provide web optimisation services and to attempt to stop the dissemination of false and inaccurate information". It accepted that sending a Google map and making personal comments to bloggers had not been appropriate. The clinic apologised and said it "no longer has a professional relationship" with Stephens.

The press release does not name Morgan but says that bloggers who had made "false and defamatory" statements would be contacted by its lawyers. It also claims that the woman whose fund-raising campaign attracted Morgan's attention is doing well and that her tumour is shrinking. The press release goes on to list 13 articles that it said had been published since 2006 supporting antineoplaston therapy.

Morgan is unbowed. He believes he is right and will not back down. "It's quite clear that they are trying to intimidate me, silence me. Science should be settled through more papers and better understanding of the world as opposed to through lawsuits."

He is not a fan of the libel laws in the UK. "They favour the person making the claims of libel very heavily. People can be sued for things published in academic journals. That can't be right."

Morgan now plans to delve into the work of a second cancer clinic and is also interested in tackling other alternative medicines and beauty products.

When he leaves school he plans to go to university and then become a doctor and journalist.

On his Twitter page, he already describes himself as "Journalist.
Skeptic." He thinks he'll be able to juggle all his callings.

So what does he believe in? Morgan does not hesitate: "Evidence-based medicine.

If evidence can support something, I'm all for it.

One thing that really gets me is when people claim sceptics have closed minds. That's not true: a true sceptic will be convinced by evidence. And even if the evidence supported the most absurd claims, the sceptic would agree that it's true."

A Brave Whistle Blower Taking On Pharmaceutical Companies;

:

The Crisis Explained.

2011-12-14T13:59:00.005+01:00

Not The Present I Wanted.

2011-12-13T13:53:00.039+01:00

Jacqueline Lamba.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lamba

Last night suddenly, without any warning my index finger stopped working, it occurred not long after I published yesterdays post.

Although I knew this would be happening soon, nevertheless it still shocked me.

Especially horrible as it was not only my index finger but sadly the other fingers were also not working, not even my thumb could be used.

I ended up using the keyboard mouse with the palm of my hand, which became almost impossible to do, but being a stubborn woman I persisted.

Typing was difficult Richie helped me with the last part, and then finally I could make the purchase.

Normally an online form takes approximately 5-10 minutes, last night it took me nearly two hours.

As I was in the middle of ordering a present for Philip, the husband of my favourite cousin Aileen in Trinidad, it had been a frustrating experience.

Not a pleasant thing to have happen, not something I wanted to have happen right now.

I hoped my index would still be functioning until next spring not stop this Christmas, this is not the present I wanted.

Enjoy While I Can.

2011-12-12T11:37:00.035+01:00

cquelineJa Lamba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lamba

Today has been a quick day; first I had my physiotherapy appointment with the wonderful Mathilde, my physiotherapist.

Doing the arm exercises, has become almost too much for me, I used to be able to do the exercises with light weights strapped to my wrists.

Now however my arms have become too weak to cope with any weight, it’s a shame, I miss feeling the strength in my arms, miss it very much, and I hate feeling like I do already now.

I hate it, don’t like it at all, its not pleasant to feel myself becoming so weak, must try to stop myself getting sombre too

After all there is absolutely no point in my becoming anxious and depressed, I am very aware that I have a virulent strain of a nasty progressive disease.

That is not getting better just worse, my plan now is to enjoy life, while I can, I am aware that life is finite; I intend to make the most of every moment I have got left.

I am going to enjoy this Christmas very much with my beautiful darling Richie; I love this time of year.

Almost Blasé.

2011-12-11T13:06:00.045+01:00

Jacqueline Lamba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Lamba

One minute I was sitting happily in bed, receiving my mails, opening my blog, answering comments, feeling very relaxed, then the day got derailed.

As the next minute my guts were gripped by horrible sensations, which I immediately recognized as me needing to get to the toilet extremely quickly

What it actually meant was, I should be there right now; because whatever Richie, does now will be too late, I will have crapped in my leggings in bed.

Not my favourite thing to occur, but today, I was not for one moment embarrassed or ashamed, which was good.

Not wasting my time and energy on being pointlessly upset, glad I can be like this, better then getting unnecessarily upset.

A really hateful situation, being incontinent is awful but there is nothing I can do to change it, no matter how much I may want to.

Better to be calm, like I managed to be this afternoon, knowing that once Richie showered me I would feel good once more.

Soon after I was indeed dressed, perfumed and feeling restored which was a wonderful ending to an unpleasant experience.

Not the Sunday we were expecting, glad we can be so calm and relaxed, almost blasé, better then getting upset, when there is nothing to be done to change things.