The US Federal Reserve announces an $85bn rescue package for AIG, the country's biggest insurance company.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Bush administration had a hand in causing US Credit crunch
The US Federal Reserve announces an $85bn rescue package for AIG, the country's biggest insurance company.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Cleared: Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law
Thursday, 11 September 2008
The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.
Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.
The not-guilty verdict, delivered after two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises the stakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and could encourage further direct action.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Cancer is a Fungus
Cancer, according to those who research and treat it, is a "mystery."
It's a very *lucrative* mystery for those who keep it mysterious.
One thing that is not mysterious about cancer is as soon as their is a diagnosis, the cash register starts to ring.
Billions upon billions dollars...tens of thousands of people employed...
Cancer, Inc. an industry is as big as making cars or distributing gasoline and the consensus says it's doing the best it can with the knowledge it has.
But what if the cause and cure of cancer were not a mystery?
How ready would this industry - led by the always-ethical pharmaceutical companies - be to consider, let alone research, an alternative view?
Here's an alternative view on cancer:
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
criminalized for the benefit of a chemical company, a newspaper mogul and a banker.
There is a staggeringly high and ever increasing numbers of Americans declaring personal bankruptcy because they are having to pay their High Medical Bills, even though many had paid in to a full Medical Insurance schemes for decades. The following come as no surprise then that we learn the American Corporations still insist on putting profits before the health and well being of its very own citizens.
========================
Demon Marijuana
The original impetus for outlawing the hemp plant came from the DuPont and Mellon families with an important assist from William Randolf Hearst.
Hearst owned timber rights for millions of acres of forest land, the raw material for newsprint. DuPont had patents for numerous synthetic products that hemp is competitive with.
Harry Anslinger, the virulent racist who headed the Bureau of Narcotics and spear-headed the campaign against "demon marijuana" was married to the niece of Richard Mellon of the Mellon banking family.
For those who believe that the world is run by and for the benefit of a few interlocking families, this episode provides evidence for that position.
Enforcing marijuana laws and jailing offenders is a multi-billion dollar a year business that employs tens of thousands of people.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
U.S. banking giant switches billions in debt to Britain to avoid paying corporation tax for 50 years
Last updated at 2:41 AM on 16th August 2008
Investment bank Merrill Lynch may not have to pay UK tax for decades.
The Wall Street giant, which employs 5,500 in the City of London, could be eligible for a tax holiday of more than 50 years after making billions of pounds of losses on 'exotic investments.'
The possibility of such a business escaping tax will astonish households struggling with their personal finances.
Protesters: Holding pens unfit for voting machines
In Lies We Trust
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
FCC Commissioner: Fairness Doctrine Could Lead To Government Regulation Of Web
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
American Mercenary Captured By Russians
"Martial Law" Declared in Arkansas Town
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Monday, August 11, 2008
Areas of a town in Arkansas have been placed under a 24-hour, non-stop curfew described by the mayor as "almost akin to martial law". The lockdown, issued after a spate of robberies, home invasions and shootings, applies to everyone in Helena-West Helena, no matter what age or what time of day it is.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Television documentaries must not be manipulated by the state
Our revelation that the Government has been funding television documentary series, and monitoring the content before it is broadcast, will come as a shock to many viewers.
Certainly, it raises serious questions about the extraordinary readiness of Labour politicians effectively to hijack "documentaries" for use as a propaganda tool. It also highlights the worrying eagerness of television companies to be thus used in exchange for a handsome injection of cash and access.
The money for this duplicitous exercise, of course, flows direct from the pockets of the unwitting British taxpayer.
Perhaps the most extreme example uncovered is the ITV documentary series Beat: Life On The Street, which dealt with the experience of police community support officers.
Two series have already been broadcast, largely funded by the Home Office at a cost of £400,000 each. During the editing process of the second series the programmes were scrutinised by the Home Office, which suggested changes to language and terminology.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Nuclear plan in disarray as deal stalls
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - The drive for more nuclear power is in disarray after key British Energy investors rejected a 12 billion pound takeover bid by EDF, derailing the French group's expansion plans. Full Article |
Jury fails to reach verdict in London 7/7 case
LONDON (Reuters) - A jury failed to reach a verdict on Friday in the trial of three Britons accused of helping to plot the deadly London suicide bombings in July 2005, which left 52 dead. Full Article |
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Gas Prices to customers forced up whilst record Profits grow for Suppliers
31 JUL 2008 08:59 BST
LONDON (Reuters) - British Gas-owner Centrica said on Thursday it had been "absolutely necessary" to raise household gas prices as first half operating profit fell nearly 20 percent to 992 million pounds.
British Gas owner Centrica reports a fall in half-year profits following Wednesday's record price rises.
Centrica provokes fury among its 16 million customers with biggest ever price hike.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Innocents' DNA 'should be erased'
The DNA of innocent people should be deleted from the national database, a government-funded inquiry has found.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
3,000 passports and visas stolen
About 3,000 blank British passports and visas are stolen while being taken from Manchester to London in a van.
BP benefit from the soaring oil and Gas price
BP boss warns of more pain for consumers from oil prices
29 Jul 2008*BP boss Rubs it in the faces of all its customers by warning of more pain for consumers from oil prices after announcing record quarterly profits.
The chief executive of BP, Tony Hayward, has warned that the long term trend for oil and gas prices spells more pain for consumers. Earlier this year, Mr Hayward said that the era of cheap energy was over, at least for the medium term. Today he added: "Events are playing out even faster than any of us expected."
Despite the crude price falling from recent record highs, the boss of Britain's biggest company said that there was "an increasing likelihood that oil and gas prices will be stronger for longer.
Cat Infected With Bird
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/38567.php
Monday, July 28, 2008
Cat Infected With Bird Flu Virus
EDF Energy leads energy price hikes
Full Article
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Missouri Police taser injured boy 19 times
Doctors believe 16-year-old Mace Hutchinson broke his back and heel after falling, as his injuries are consistent with such a fall. The boy's family does not understand why police would have tasered the the teen 19 times after he was so seriously injured.
The teen's father said that the use of the taser caused Mace to develop an elevated white blood cell count, leading to a fever that delayed the young man's otherwise immediate surgery by two days.
Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset attempted to explain why the taser was used:
"He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he's also making statements such as, 'Shoot cops, kill cops,' things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers."
Ozark police say that while there remains unanswered questions in the case, the reason for the use of the Taser is not one of them.
Call the Police
Ozark City Police Department
201 E Brick St, Ozark - (417) 581-6600
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And listen to Freedom Fighter Radio.net 5 nights a week Mon-Thur 8pm est and on Fridays at 9pm est go to :
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Saturday, July 26, 2008
'Nuclear bomber base' raises fears of a new Cuban crisis
Pc convicted of assaulting child
A police officer is convicted of assaulting a 12-year-old boy at a Manchester police station.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Britians authorities have gone mad with power...
With the summer holidays getting into full swing this weekend, I suppose it was inevitable that someone would find a way of banning ice cream vans.
Worcester Council has decreed that no van can play its chimes for more than four seconds every three minutes.
That's barely enough time to belt out the first bar of the Teddy Bears' Picnic. Cough and you'll miss it. And the noise mustn't exceed 80 decibels at a distance of 25ft.
Trader is fined £300 by council for using black bin bags instead of grey
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:56 AM on 25th July 2008
A boutique has been fined £300 for throwing away rubbish in the wrong coloured bin bags.
Shopkeepers in Muswell Hill are ordered to put their waste out in special grey sacks.
However, the company that supplies the sacks had run out of them, so staff at Charli, a designer fashion store, were forced to use normal black bags instead.
To their horror, Haringey council officials patrolling the area spotted the four bags left outside the store and imposed a £75 fine for each.
Shop owner Sangita Ibrahim, 47, said: 'The shop was really busy and they came in like the Gestapo.
'Staff were told they would face criminal prosecution and receive a criminal record for the bags. I felt like I was going to be frogmarched away.'
Painter given £30 fine for smoking 'at work'...in his own van
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:28 PM on 24th July 2008
For painter and decorator Gordon Williams, his van is simply a means of getting from A to B.
But council officials chose to give the vehicle a more lofty status.
When they spotted him behind the wheel with a cigarette, they handed him an on-the-spot fine of £30 - for smoking in his place of work.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Pentagon eyes sending hundreds of troops to Afghanistan
Radioactive leak contaminates 100 in France
Senate Republicans preventing crackdown on oil speculators
Top Rocket Scientist: No Evidence CO2 Causes Global Warming
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
2008 Bohemian Grove Guest List Obtained By 9/11 Truth Activists
Steve Watson & Paul Watson
Infowars.net
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Now there are 1,000 laws that will let the state into your home
Last updated at 8:56 AM on 20th July 2008
The march of the Big Brother state under Labour was highlighted last night as it was revealed that there are now 1,043 laws that give the authorities the power to enter a home or business.
Nearly half have been introduced since Labour came to power 11 years ago. They include the right to:
• Invade your home to see if your pot plants have pests or do not have a 'plant passport' (Plant Health England Order 2005).
• Survey your home and garden to see if your hedge is too high (Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003).
• Check that accommodation given to asylum seekers is not being lived in by non-asylum seekers (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999).
• Raid a house to check if unlicensed gambling is taking place (Gambling Act 2005 Inspection Regulations 2007).
• Seize fridges without the correct energy rating (Energy Information Household Refrigerators and Freezers Regulations 2004).
Met Police chief in quiz over panel that gave £3m contract to skiing pal
Brown to begin Middle East talks
Gordon Brown arrives in Tel Aviv for two days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian political leaders, following his trip to Iraq.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Global Warming Conclusively Debunked As Gore Calls For CO2 Tax
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Conservatives use £1.5m of taxpayers' money a year to pay relatives
Date: 17th July 2008
New figures show 61 Conservatives employ members of their family out of their £102,000 staffing perk. Sixteen of them pay relatives as much as £40,000 to help run their parliamentary or constituency offices.
They include chief whip Patrick McLoughlin's wife Lynne, who earns up to £39,999 as a constituency secretary. Frontbencher Laurence Robertson employs both his wife, Susan, from whom he has separated, and Anne Adams, the girlfriend whose affair with him was said to have led to the breakup.
The details were revealed yesterday as the Tories published the most extensive breakdown of MPs' expenses of any party at Westminster.
The information includes second homes allowances, travel and office costs. The biggest mortgage interest claim was £9,600 from Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest. The highest car mileage claim - £3,542 - was from Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater).
Bush Says Economy Sound As Inflation Rises To Record Levels
Two Peer-Reviewed Scientific Papers Debunk CO2 Myth
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Bank of England warns: 'There's NOTHING we can do to stop the pain of prices soaring'
Date: 15/07/2008 Source: Daily Mail The Bank of England yesterday warned it can do nothing to alleviate the pain of rapidly rising prices over the coming months. Governor Mervyn King signalled living standards will continue to be squeezed. |
Monday, July 14, 2008
Mortgage Giants' Collapse Could Herald 1930's Style Depression
Media Ignores Ron Paul March For Liberty
Friday, July 11, 2008
Iran's Photoshopped Missiles Are "Glorified Scuds"
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Friday, July 11, 2008
The events of the last two days surrounding the Iranian missile tests once again highlight that the perception of any threat Iran poses to the U.S. and even to Israel is wholly manufactured and has been blown out of all proportion by the Western media and, by proxy, the two presidential candidates.
Bush, McCain & Obama To Visit Bohemian Grove?
Why poorer families will be 'hardest hit' by steep rises in car tax
Date: 11th July 2008
Hundreds of thousands of car owners earning less than £15,000 a year will be hit with road tax rises of up to £245, new estimates have revealed.
Almost 400,000 of the poorest drivers will pay an average £80 more, equal to two days' take-home pay, under controversial Government plans to overhaul vehicle excise duty.
Around 140,000 will be stung for at least £100, while those with the most polluting vehicles will be subjected to the maximum £245 increase - more than a week's wages.
The figures come a day after the Treasury revealed that almost half of all motorists - 9.4million - will be worse off once the scheme is fully implemented in 2010.
And they are certain to stoke further anger from rebel MPs furious that another Labour tax change will hit the poorest hard following the 10p tax fiasco.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
U.S. military to patrol Internet
"If someone wants to blow us up, we want to know about it," Robert Hembrook, the deputy intelligence chief of the U.S. Army's Fifth Signal Command in Mannheim, Germany, told United Press International.
In a solicitation posted on the Web last week, the command said it was looking for a contractor to provide "Internet awareness services" to support "force protection" -- the term of art for the security of U.S. military installations and personnel.
"The purpose of the services will be to identify and assess stated and implied threat, antipathy, unrest and other contextual data relating to selected Internet domains," says the solicitation.
Judge who sentenced animal rights activist was fan of blood sports
Thursday, 10 July 2008
A man found guilty at the end of the longest animal rights trial in legal history has launched an appeal, claiming the judge should not have heard the case because of his interest in blood sports.
Sean Kirtley, 42, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for his part in a prolonged campaign against Sequani Ltd by Judge Peter Ross at Coventry Crown Court earlier this year.
The case, which has been unreported until now, has become a cause célèbre among anti-vivisection campaigners after the activist became the first person to stand trial accused of conspiring to interfere with an animal research establishment under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
G8 agree emissions cuts needed
TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - The world's biggest polluters agreed on Wednesday on the need for "deep cuts" in greenhouse gas emissions, but differences between developed and emerging economies kept them from setting specific targets. Full Article |
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Terror Stopped For Putting My Hand In My Pocket
'Big Brother' government costs us £20billion
Oil prices fall heavily as Iran tensions ease
US exports to Iran increased over tenfold under Bush
G8: New energy forum to tackle oil crisis
08/07/2008
The G8 industrial nations today announced the creation of a new world energy forum as a response to the threat posed to their economies from a doubling in the price of crude over the past year.
Benn confirms TB cull rejection
G8 vows to halve greenhouse gases
World leaders at the G8 summit in Japan agree aggressive targets to cut carbon emissions in an effort to tackle global warming.
Muslim nations warn of food and fuel disaster
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Warning that escalating food and fuel prices could lead to disaster, a group of developing Muslim nations called on Tuesday for urgent measures to lift food and oil output and a rethink on biofuels. Full Article |
EU begins budget discipline procedure against UK
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers started disciplinary budget steps against Britain on Tuesday, saying its deficit was set to exceed the country's fiscal commitments. Full Article |
G8 wants U.N. deal to halve emissions
TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - The G8 rich countries said on Tuesday they want to work with the nearly 200 states involved in U.N. climate change talks to adopt a goal of at least halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Full Article |
Monday, July 07, 2008
Afghanistan Accuses "Foreign Intelligence Agency" Of Deadly Embassy Bombing
Biochemistry Students' Violent Deaths Shock Police
G8 accused of backtracking on Africa pledges
Full Article
Brown calls on public to cut food wastage
Date: 07/07/2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons can help bring food prices down by cutting the amount they waste every year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday.
Full Article
Sunday, July 06, 2008
UK-Government accused over bonuses
The government is criticised by the Tories after it was revealed civil servants banked more than £128m in bonuses.
Ministers are running a "something for nothing" culture in handing civil servants bonuses of £128m , the Conservatives have said.
The 2007-8 figures show the average senior civil servant banked a bonus of more than £7,000, they said.
Top level staff at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport earned the most, at £11,000.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
War veteran, 84, in suicide bid after energy firm hounded him for £6,600 that he didn't owe
Last updated at 4:28 PM on 05th July 2008
A war veteran driven to despair by soaring electricity prices tried to commit suicide when a power company broke into his home and installed a pre- payment meter he did not know how to use.
Walter Bargate, 84, swallowed 100 sleeping pills and painkillers after spending three freezing days without heating, lighting or cooking facilities in the middle of winter.
The great-grandfather, who has impaired vision and is physically disabled, left a heartbreaking suicide note to his children, scrawled in the pitch dark.
He said he had been pushed to take his life when engineers from German-owned power firm E.ON installed a pre-payment meter after claims that he had failed to pay his bills of £6,600.
But unknown to Mr Bargate, who served as a navigator on Lancaster bombers in the Second World War, E.ON had been wrongly calculating his electricity costs for years. In fact, the retired civil servant had overpaid his account by thousands of pounds because the firm had wrongly wired his meter.
He didn't owe it a penny. He was discovered unconscious by a relative the following morning and has since recovered.
Mr Bargate's plight has emerged at a time when experts have warned that average household heating and electricity bills are likely to rise by more than £400 in the next few months to around £1,400 a year.
Last night Mr Bargate's daughter, Sarah Hayes, 50, said the power firm had treated her father with nothing but contempt. 'E.ON have behaved in the most outrageous manner from beginning to end,' she said.
'It chokes me to think how desperate he must have felt. I'm disgusted with this company. They broke into his home while he was in bed upstairs and, despite his age and frailty, could not recognise that he was a vulnerable customer.
'Even now, when it has been proved that they wired the meter incorrectly, he is still waiting for an apology.
'Where the Germans failed during the war, E.ON almost succeeded in killing my father 60 years later.
'They have a moral and legal duty to compensate him for all that he has been through.'
Mr Bargate's ordeal began around four years ago when he started struggling to pay the large electricity bills.
As a fiercely independent man, the divorced pensioner refused to ask his two grown-up children for help.
In fact, there was a long-standing technical problem. The off-peak meter had been wired through the main meter, which meant he was being charged more than double for the energy he was using.
Fearful of his mounting debts, Mr Bargate stopped opening correspondence from E.ON.
In February last year three engineers, armed with an official warrant, broke into his semidetached home in Stockport to install a pre-payment meter.
When the electricity supply ran out a few days later Mr Bargate could not fathom how to top it up.
He desperately tried to contact E.ON - hanging on the phone to a customer service representative for three hours on one occasion - but failed to get any help.
After three days days and two freezing nights without heating, lighting or cooking facilities he had reached the end of his tether and took the overdose.
Doctors warned Mrs Hayes that her father was unlikely to survive, but he pulled through.
Mrs Hayes then discovered her father's suicide note and unopened correspondence demanding £6,600 in unpaid bills.
She referred the matter to the energy-supply ombudsman, who discovered the faulty wiring and said E.ON UK should write off the debt and £500 compensation.
The ruling suggested that while the faulty wiring dated from 2002 when the meters were installed, the problem could go back to 1983 when E.ON took over his supply.
Mrs Hayes, of Burnage, Greater Manchester, is taking legal action to try to recoup £10,000 she estimates her father overpaid and to secure compensation.
Adam Scorer, director of campaigns at the utilities watchdog Energywatch, said the case was a 'catalogue of crass errors' by E.ON.
'They have a legal and moral obligation to acknowledge the horrendous impact of their actions on Mr Bargate's quality of life and to provide suitable redress,' he added.
E.ON said there was no evidence of overcharging before 2002. A spokesman added: 'We had not received payment for over two years, despite our numerous calls and letters. We were therefore granted a warrant to fit a pre-payment meter at Mr Bargate's property.'
The spokesman added: 'As soon as we were aware of the fault on Mr Bargate's meter we corrected it and offered our sincere apologies to the customer and his family.
'We were not aware of Mr Bargate's medical condition. Had we known of this we obviously would have taken it into full consideration. Had we been made aware of the severity of this situation by Mr Bargate or his family we would have acted upon it immediately.'
Mr Bargate's story will feature on ITV1's Tonight programme on Monday at 8pm.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Ron Paul: I hear members of Congress saying "if we could only nuke Iran"
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Friday, July 4, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Lieberman Latest To Pitch For New Terror Attack
Prison Planet
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Government Permission Required For Parents To Kiss Children
Prison Planet
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Earth 'not at risk' from collider
Earth 'not at risk' from collider
Science reporter, BBC News
Our planet is not at risk from the world's most powerful particle physics experiment, a report has concluded.
The document addresses fears that the Large Hadron Collider is so energetic, it could have unforeseen consequences.
Critics are worried that mini-black holes made at the soon-to-open facility on the French-Swiss border might threaten the Earth's very existence.
But the report, issued the European Organization for Nuclear Research, says there is "no conceivable danger".
The organization - known better by its French acronym, Cern - will operate the collider underground in a 27km-long tunnel near Geneva.
This Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a powerful and complicated machine, which will smash together protons at super-fast speeds in a bid to unlock the secrets of the Universe.
Six "detectors" - individual experiments - will count, trace and analyse the particles that emerge from the collisions.
Most physicists believe the risk of a cataclysm lies in the realms of science fiction. But there have been fears about the possibility of a mini-black hole - produced in the collider - swelling so that it gobbles up the Earth.
Critics have previously raised concerns that the production of weird hypothetical particles called strangelets in the LHC could trigger the mass conversion of nuclei in ordinary atoms into more strange matter - transforming the Earth into a hot, dead lump.
New particles
The lay language summary of the report, which has been written by Cern's top theorists, states: "Over the past billions of years, nature has already generated on Earth as many collisions as about a million LHC experiments - and the planet still exists."
The report added: "There is no basis for any concerns about the consequences of new particles or forms of matter that could possibly be produced by the LHC."
The new document is an update of the analysis carried out in 2003 into the safety of the collider by an independent team of scientists.
The authors of the latest report, including theoretical physicist John Ellis, confirmed that black holes could be made by the collider. But they said: "If microscopic black holes were to be singly produced by colliding the quarks and gluons inside protons, they would also be able to decay into the same types of particles that produced them."
The report added: "The expected lifetime [of a mini-black hole] would be very short."
On the strangelet issue, the report says that these particles are even less likely to be produced at the LHC than in the lower-energy Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in New York, which has been operating since 2000.
A previous battle over particle accelerator safety was fought over the US machine.
'Fundamental question'
The scientific consensus appears to be on the side of Cern's theorists.
But in 2003, Dr Adrian Kent, a theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge, wrote a paper in which he argued that scientists had not adequately calculated the risks of a "killer strangelet" catastrophe scenario.
He also expressed concern that a fundamental question (how improbable does a cataclysm have to be to warrant proceeding with an experiment?) had never been seriously inspected.
The LHC was due to switch on in 26 November 2007. The start-up has been postponed several times, however, and is currently scheduled for later this summer.
The first delay was precipitated by an accident in March 2007 during stress testing of one of the LHC's "quadrupole" magnets.
A statement carried on the Cern website from the US laboratory that provided the magnet stated that the equipment had experienced a "failure" when supporting structures "broke".
It later emerged that the magnet had exploded in the tunnel, close to one of the LHC's most important detectors, prompting the facility to be evacuated.
In March, a complaint requesting an injunction against the LHC's switch-on was filed before the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii by seven plaintiffs.
One of the plaintiffs had previously attempted to bring a similar injunction against the RHIC over safety concerns.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Councils warned over spying laws
Councils in England have been urged to review the way they use surveillance powers to investigate suspected crime.
Under laws brought in to help fight terrorism, councils can access phone and e-mail records and use surveillance to detect or stop a criminal offence.
But Local Government Association chairman Sir Simon Milton has written to councils warning overzealous use of the powers could alienate the public.
They should not be used for "trivial offences" such as dog fouling, he adds.
Concerns have been raised about the way some councils have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
Police "focus on minor crimes"
LONDON (Reuters) - The number of young people entering the criminal justice system has soared in the last few years as police focus on minor crimes in order to meet government targets, a think-tank said on Monday.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the number of offenders aged under 18 had risen by more than a quarter since 2002, two-and-a-half times faster than adults.
The number of under-15s being criminalised had also risen by a third, it said in a report, based on figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The left-leaning IPPR argued that youngsters who commit less-serious offences should face "Community Justice Panels", made up of victims and local representatives, rather than sent to court.
"Current targets to bring more offenders 'to justice' have resulted in the police concentrating on easier-to-solve, low level crimes committed by children and teenagers, often with complex problems," said report author Joe Farrington-Douglas.
"This has not resulted in crime reduction but serves to criminalise young people, increases re-offending and misdirects important resources away from dealing with severe offences and crime prevention."
The IPPR's findings echo a report last month by the right-wing think-tank Civitas which said police forces were putting government targets ahead of serving the public by criminalising law-abiding people for minor crimes.
Last month it was reported that four police forces had decided to abandon the Home Office's national targets and concentrate on "common sense" policing.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)
Hats banned from Yorkshire pubs over CCTV fears
Pubs in Yorkshire have been ordered to ban people from wearing flat caps or other hats so troublemakers can be more easily recognised.
The Park Hotel in Wadsley, Sheffield, is the latest to be asked to impose the rule by senior police officers.
Mark Kelly, the landlord said: "Police asked us to ensure that everyone removes headgear.
"With pensioners, by the time they sit down their hats always come off anyway because they were brought up with manners so usually take their hats off indoors."
The measure, designed to prevent people from obscuring their faces from CCTV cameras, has been questioned by Barnsley's former Test umpire Dickie Bird, 75, well-known for his favoured white flat cap.
He said: "Asking a Yorkshireman to take off his flat cap -- whoever heard of anything so silly.
"It's a Yorkshire tradition, men wearing flat caps. Although youngsters don't bother these days, older men still wear them and should be allowed to continue.
"I still wear a flat cap when I go out shopping and often leave it on when I get home and end up sitting watching TV with my cap on They look smart and they keep your head nice and warm."
A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said bans on people wearing headgear in public premises had been operated in banks and post offices for years.
She added: "There have been incidents both in pubs and other establishments when it has not been possible to identify offenders captured on CCTV because hats were hiding their faces."