Two years ago there were low crime rates in Belize City. Today there are grenades going off.

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – The main opposition People’s United Party (PUP) says it is willing to work with the Belize government on a solution to deal with the escalating crime situation after another grenade exploded in the capital on Monday.
Law enforcement officials fear that a truce between rival gangs may have been broken after the grenade exploded on the south side of Belize City. It was the second grenade explosion within a month.
The first was responsible for the death of 14-year-old Rudolph Flowers and resulted in a meeting last week between Prime Minister Dean Barrow, his National Security Minister Carlos Perdomo, Police Commissioner Crispin Jeffries and rival gang leaders.
Jeffries said that the police have been looking at the use of grenades since 2008 when one person was killed in a similar incident.
The police commissioner told a news conference that a British model defensive grenade had been thrown at the home of a man on Monday.

Ashcroft's millions: from Belize tax haven to Tories via Southampton

Straight-talking Yorkshireman: Tory MP Eric Pickles spearheaded the campaign

Toby Helm, political editor


14 February 2010
The Conservative party chairman, Eric Pickles, has revealed his frustration over Lord Ashcroft's tax status, as pressure grows on the party to come clean over the peer's finances.
In an interview to be broadcast tomorrow, Pickles admits that he does not know the financial arrangements of the peer, who has funded the party's campaigns in dozens of marginal seats and is also a deputy party chairman.
Asked if Ashcroft was a "non-dom" – someone who pays UK tax only on their earnings in this country – Pickles says he is in the dark on the issue: "I'm not in a position to be able to tell you."
Pickles also hints that he is irritated by the secrecy surrounding Ashcroft and the constant media demands for clarity. "I do not know what his tax status is. If I did, I would certainly tell you," he says....

Infamous Bullingdon Club photo resurfaces to haunt Tories

...Since last March, apart from surfacing on the odd internet site, the photo has not appeared anywhere - until today.
The Tories would have good reason to keep the photo hidden. It hardly helps having two of its most prominent and recognisable members, both Old Etonians t'boot, shown in this snooty context. Moreover, party bosses are said to be fearful that Labour may use it for a campaign poster come the next election to highlight the background of Cameron and his team. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne was also a member of the club, though of a later vintage than Cameron and Johnson.
LAST UPDATED 12:00 PM, MAY 7, 2008

Timeline: Lord Ashcroft and the Tories

December 9 1999
Michael Ashcroft settles a legal action against The Times which publishes a front-page statement saying: "Mr Ashcroft has told The Times that he recognises the public concern about foreign funding of British politics, and that he intends to reorganise his affairs in order to return to live in Britain. The Times applauds this."

March 3, 2000
Conservatives are told that their nomination of Mr Ashcroft for a peerage has been rejected by the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee for the second time March 23, 2000
After the blocking of his peerage, the Belize-based billionaire, makes a pledge to come back to Britain.

He writes to William Hague, the Conservative leader, making a “solemn and binding undertaking” that he would “take up permanent residence in the UK again before the end of this calendar year”.

April 1, 2000
Lord Ashcroft’s spokesman says the UK residency pledge was simply a personal undertaking and not a formal condition of the peerage. Is that the exact wording of what Lord A's spokesman said?

June 2001
Stood down as Treasurer of the Conservative Party

June 2003
Whitehall departments apologise and pay around £500,000 in costs to Lord Ashcroft after a High Court battle over a secret “dirt file” that was compiled by officials .

December, 2005
Named Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party by David Cameron, recently elected Tory leader

February 2009
It emerges that Lord Ashcroft’s wife has donated a quarter of a million pounds to the Conservatives while the Electoral Commission was carrying out an investigation into Bearwood Corporate Services, the company the peer usually used to make donations.

August 29, 2009
The Times reveals that Lord Ashcroft's wife was the biggest donor to David Cameron's campaign to be Conservative Party leader in 2005, giving £20,000 — twice as much as was officially recorded at the time . The error in the records was jointly made by the Conservatives and the Electoral Commission.

November 29, 2009
Zac Goldsmith, an advisor to Mr Cameron and Conservative candidate for Richmond Park & North Kingston, in southwest London, admits that he has been registered as a "non-dom".

January 29, 2010
Lord Ashcroft comes under pressure to reveal his tax status after the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, ruled that documents relating to his residency must be made public after a Freedom of Information request by Gordon Prentice, a Labour MP.

March 1, 2010
After long claiming his tax status was a private matter, Lord Ashcroft admits that he is a "non-dom".

In 1999 his trade were illegal passports

Ashcroft sold Belize passports for pounds 33,000 (click title to entry - thank you)
Fran Abrams
Wednesday, 21 July 1999
MICHAEL ASHCROFT,

BHI Inc.,

BHI Offshore Financial Services

MICHAEL ASHCROFT, the controversial Tory party treasurer, sold Belize passports for pounds 33,000 each, The Independent can reveal. Holders had the right to "trouble-free travel" around the world without visas.
The passports were available quite legally until as recently as last month through a firm called BHI Offshore Financial Services, a part of Mr Ashcroft's BHI Corporation. The firm also offered to sell offshore companies and trusts, which could make investors' money safe from tax authorities, creditors, former spouses and even disinherited children.
Mr Ashcroft, who is the Belize ambassador to the United Nations, sold the financial services arm of his company in June as part of a wider restructuring, a spokeswoman said yesterday. However, an earlier announcement omitted specifically to mention the sale of the financial services arm....

It's Saturday Night

"A Gringo in Belize" by Dennis Wolf

Well he came down on vacation, 'cause he liked the tropic sun
Margaritas and the music, made it all seem fun
He bought a piece of heaven on the Carribean seas
He's a happy little camper in Belize

He began to build a condo, but the labor cost was high
His partner stole his money, that left him high and dry
His land is still a mudhole, where you sink up to your knees
And he's just another gringo in Belize
　
He's a planner, he's a dreamer, he's a sordid little schemer,
Seems to think that money grows on trees
He's a whiner, he's a loser, he's a pothead, he's a boozer,
He's just another gringo in Belize
　
Well he used to have a girlfriend that now he can't afford
Since one of his investments got busted at the border
He wasted all his money paying bribes and fines and fees
And he's just another gringo in Belize

Oh, he sold his motorcycle, somebody stole his boat
They ran it on the reef and now the damn thing just won't float
The only thing's that free is mud, mosquitoes and the breeze
And he's just another gringo in Belize

He's a planner, he's a dreamer, he's a sordid little schemer,
Seems to think that money grows on trees
He's a whiner, he's a loser, he's a pothead, he's a boozer,
He's just another gringo in Belize

Now he'll drink a beer for breakfast, he'll chase it with rum punch
He's smoking up his dinner, he's a snorting up his lunch
He's been wasted on the mainland, now he's stoned out in the Cayes
And he's just another gringo in Belize

He's a planner, he's a dreamer, he's a sordid little schemer,
Seems to think that money grows on trees
He's a whiner, he's a loser, he's a pothead, he's a boozer,
He's just another gringo in Belize
He's just another gringo in Belize
Sounds like a pretty good goddamned life to me

Reconciliation is Constitutional for Health Care Reform - it is fiscal issue and imperils the nation's populous

Kent Conrad could not be more "W"rong. The issue is urgent, necessary, involves the fiscal well being of Americans, the USA Treasury and the future of our nation. It is DEFINATELY a fiscal issue and it belongs in reconciliation. Nothing else to say, EXCEPT, 'get it done.'

NOW !!!!!

...While some have described reconciliation (click title to entry - thank you) -- a process that requires only a majority vote in the Senate to pass legislation that reduces the deficit -- as an obscure, rarely used procedure, the truth is that it has been used 22 times since 1980, with 16 of those times occurring when Republicans controlled the Senate. Republican efforts to block its use now for a "fixer" bill represent little more than a politically expedient attempt to kill health-care legislation....

The Incompetent Republican

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but, I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground with an elevation of 2,346 fee above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees 49.09 minutes west longitude."

She rolled her eyes and stated, "You must be an Obama Democrat."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But, I have no idea what to do with the information and I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"It is like this," replied the man in the boat. "You don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quanity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it is my fault."

New York is on a feeding frenzy AH-gain. Populism. The Public is grossly out of line.

The Constitution of the State or the USA is not being honored by the electorate. The public is harassing the political infrastructure so they have a 'stake' in the real game of "Voting the latest political figure off the island."

The political mood of the USA is hideously stupid and the violence reverberating around the country is a part of it.

Where do New Yakers get the idea that 'spoiled brat anarchy' is okay?

Why don't they all just go shopping?

..."If he had, you know, (click here) two years left in his term that would be one thing, but he’s got less than a year left in his term in the midst of a legislative session, in the midst of a terribly difficult budgetary process with a lieutenant governor who is unknown to huge chunks of the New York populous,” Kaine said on ABC News’ “Top Line” earlier today.
"The question is: Even if folks are concerned about him, and I do respect the decision not to run again, do you want somebody who is unknown and possibly untried coming into the midst of this very difficult budget situation for what is admittedly a very short term window of trying to work with the Legislature of trying to do New York’s public business? That is something that I think only Governor Paterson can resolve."...

The truth is the truth. The European Union needs to bring reason to diplomatic relations between Turkey and the USA.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The legislature under Bush allowed the lie, it is time to end it.

The Iraq Elections will reflect the success or failure of Bush policies in Iraq as the USA exits.

The USA is NOT going to continue to occupy Iraq, nor are we going to refight the war there. Iraq needs to determine its future. The USA is no longer the Maliki Militia.

To me, Iraq has always been tenuously held together as a single sovereign country. It has been plagued with civil war since the invasion began on March 19, 2003. President Bush and Vice President Cheney never recognized the demographics of the country for what it was. The potential of division of the country into Provinces always existed and still does. The question as to the 'fate' of the control by the Maliki government is not for the USA to decide. When the Iraqi people vote it hopefully it will reflect the will of the Iraqi people to continue with the government as it stands today, or to move into other dynamics that will allow for greater autonomy of provinces.

I wish the Iraqi people great success in plotting the future course of their country.

Campaign posters in Baghdad. The Baqouba bomb hit days before elections to decide who runs Iraq after the US pulls out. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA
　

At least 30 dead in Iraq triple suicide bombing (click title to entry - thank you)
Election preparations overshadowed as provincial capital hit by deadliest attack for weeks

Wednesday 3 March 2010 10.22 GMT

　

A string of three deadly suicide bombings in Iraq killed at least 30 people in the former insurgent stronghold of Baqouba today, including an attack in which the bomber rode in an ambulance with the wounded before blowing himself up at a hospital, police said.
The bombings – Iraq's deadliest in weeks – come as the country is preparing for elections on Sunday that will decide who will oversee the country as US forces go home and help determine whether Iraq can overcome the deep sectarian tensions that have divided the country since the 2003 American-led invasion.
US and Iraqi officials have warned repeatedly that insurgents were expected to launch such attacks in an attempt to disrupt the vote.
A police spokesman, Captain Ghalib al-Karkhi, said the blasts struck in quick succession and wounded another 40 people in Baqouba, a provincial capital 35 miles north-east of Baghdad....

President Obama overwhelmingly was voted into office with the passions of the college students and young voter. He needs to address his constituency.

The students of the USA are hurting. It isn't their fault. They have witnessed the bailout of investment banks while their educational opportunities are slipping through their fingers due to increasing costs with state budgets that can support their universities as they had before the economic collapse of October 2008.

President Obama and Vice President Biden along with Democrats swept into majority in 2006 and 2008 were strongly supported by Pro-Peace students demanding change and a return of their democracy.

In addition to the increasing costs of their education, they are witnessing the obstructionist forum of the Republicans and the Right they mostly hoped to replace. The democracy they love is being toyed with by minority power. They are becoming disillusioned. They need for their political leaders to do their part and take their protests seriously. The worst outcome for them and our country is for them to become estranged from their elected leaders.

What has happened with them is not fair in the remotest sense of the word. They need their President at their side. They are the future of this country and should be seen as vital partners to that future with valued opinions. Given a chance, if they were listened to rather than HANDLED, they may be able to solve their own problems with insight lacking by those that administer cuts to their funding rather than prioritizing it.



University of California, Berkeley, students Griffin Cassara, 19, left, and Katherine Cole, 18, walk past the state Capitol after a participating in a ralley against funding cut to higher education in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, March 4, 2010. Marches, strikes, teach-ins and walkouts were planned nationwide in what was being called the March 4th National Day of Action for Public Education.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

March 4, 2010
1929 gmt
Antarctica

The frigid air over Antarctica's Blue Ice is nearly absent.

Weather may force Transtasman rower off-track (click here)
10:37 AM Friday Mar 5, 2010
....Quincey told Radio New Zealand the weather was starting to build and he expected to get "a bit of a battering" over the next few days in the strong easterly conditions.
"It's a little bit unfortunate. I'll get pushed further and further north and further back to Australia," he said.
He estimated it could set him back by 100km or more.
It's nothing I haven't experienced before in the Tasman. It's just very frustrating and a little bit demoralising."
Weatherwatch weather analyst Philip Duncan said a southern storm could affect Quincey's journey.
MetService forecaster Andy Downs said winds were coming from the Pacific and were about 20 knots at present but would build to 30 knots and more....

The upside of climate change (click here)
By Brian Fallow
4:00 AM Thursday Jan 21, 2010
A group of business leaders is urging the Government to set a up a taskforce to scope the opportunities and quantify the benefits of a "clean technology" strategy for New Zealand.
Both at the national and the global level, the debate over what to do about climate change tends to focus on costs, and how much can be offloaded on to someone else.
Very little attention by comparison is paid to the upside, the opportunities, the economic potential....

March 1, 2010
1200 PM
Antarctica

The 2009 global temperature analysis released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)

...To many people’s confusion (click title to entry - thank you), these weather events happened against a backdrop of increasing man-made greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere that are gradually warming the planet. But scientists stress this weather does not mean that those gases are no longer exerting a warming influence. Nor does it go against the grain of basic global warming theory. Cold snaps and bouts of natural cooling that could last years are expected naturally even as the climate continues on a long-term warming trend, forced by man-made emissions....



2009 was tied for the second hottest year on record

It is expensive to exploit the natural resources of Earth with abandon. Climate Crisis 2010.

CVPS repairs to cost $3.6M

By SUSAN ALLEN Staff Writer
Published: February 28, 2010

MONTPELIER – Vermont utilities will continue working today to restore power to thousands of homes still in the dark after last week's weather mess that combined several days' worth of wet, heavy snow and high winds to spark well over 130,000 reports of power outages across the state.

"We're still cleaning up, and we'll be here through tomorrow, as well," said Central Vermont Public Service Corp. spokeswoman Christine Rivers on Saturday. "We're all a little punchy."

Rivers said throughout the course of the various storms, a record 91,700 outages were reported to CVPS. Some were homes that lost power, had power restored, then lost power again.

Rivers said additional crews have been brought in from other New England states and Canada to speed the effort to restore power, adding, "These folks are pulling 16- and 18-hour shifts."

The company estimated the outages would cost $3.6 million – one of the five most expensive in CVPS history, Rivers said.

Because of the duration of the storm, which began Tuesday and Wednesday with deep snowfall, then saw high winds sweep over the region Thursday and Friday, followed by more wet, heavy snow into Saturday morning, some customers have been without power for days. Others have had power restored, only to lose it again in a subsequent snowfall or wind blast, Rivers said.

"This is certainly the storm that does not seem to want to end," she said. "That's one of the unique things about this storm. It's done more widespread damage … every single district in our service area has been affected."...



February 27, 2010
Rutland, Vermont

Photographer states :: NOAA reported a peak wind gust of 58mph but this makes me think higher. This is 4 miles from the NOAA reporting station.

Wind, snow to worsen today (click here)

By Brent Curtis STAFF WRITER
Published: February 25, 2010
As bad as the weather was Wednesday in Vermont, today is expected to be worse, with high winds blowing snow and rain through areas still digging out from under a two-day storm that dumped more than a foot of snow.

"It may be worse than what we're seeing today because of the wind," said Barbara Farr, Vermont emergency management director. "What we've been told to expect is winds of 40 to 50 mph and the windstorm in Rutland was specifically mentioned for comparison."

The windstorm Farr referred to is what many Rutlanders call the "Nor'icane" a violent storm that descended on the city in April 2007. The brief but extremely gusty storm knocked down thousands of trees and cut power to the city for almost a week.

The windstorm today - featuring rain at elevations under 1,500 feet and snow in the higher regions - was expected to begin about six hours after the storm that dumped snow on the state Tuesday and Wednesday departed.

For power companies that spent the day trying to restore power to thousands of homes where electricity lines were cut by the heavy, wet snow, the prospect of another natural calamity in less than 72 hours wasn't welcome news.

"With the (Nor'icane) there was no heavy, wet snow already on the lines," said Christine Rivers, spokeswoman for Central Vermont Public Service. "We're trying to ramp up for this as much as we can but it's going to be a very long week."

Rivers said her utility spent Wednesday trying to restore power to more than 40,000 customers. By 5:15 p.m., more than 42,000 CVPS customers had reported outages during the day. Line crews restored service to more than 24,000 customers....

Human Induced Global Warming has caused a Climate Crisis

February 28, 2010
1800 UTC
Global view of Hurricane Xynthia with Infrared Satellite

February 28, 2010
1800 UTC
Hurricane Xynthia


Portugal
Pampilhosa da Serra 147 km/h (91 mph)
Penhas Douradas 126.1 km/h (78 mph)
Porto (Airport LPPR) 113km/h (70 mph)

Spain
Lardeira: 196.1 km/h (122 mph)
Serra do Eixe: 157 km/h (98 mph)
Campus de Vigo: 146.9 km/h (92 mph)
Gandara: 145.8 km/h (91 mph)

France
Eiffel Tower, Paris: 175 km/h (106 mph)
Saint-Clement of the Whales: 159km/h (99 mph)
Charente-Maritime: 161km/h (100 mph)

It is a the first Hurricane of the Atlantic season occuring outside the limits of 'the hurricane season.' Doesn't mean its the last.

Sunday, February 29, 2010
12:00 gmt
Hurricane Xynthia at Cat 1 strength.