Strangely Perfect

From Google Treasure Chest to Ubertan Sun Tan Scam in Nevis on the BBC? A.  yes it’s true! An article on the BBC website today highlighted the dangers of a tanning products called Ubertan.  On reading it, and following up with a simple Google search, the way it is portrayed in forums immediately set off [...]

I got a phishing spam this morning from Nigeria! Typical 419 that I usually see: Nothing unusual in that, you say – the Nigerian 419 scam has been going on for years!  It even has it’s own scambusters (see references later) and the actual advanced fee fraud is usually just called a 419 scam because [...]

Bloody Sunday The Saville Report, probably the longest and certainly the most expensive enquiry in the UK ever, is now out.  The ramifications are continuing, despite the Prime Minister trying to draw a line under everything.  See Bloody Sunday report published History On that day in 1972, 13 folks were killed, and overall, in what [...]

Criminal Cost? A week may be a long time in politics, but it takes several years for anti-crime agencies to crack down on scammers…  This is my observation on all the various scams perpetrated on folk by such smiling scum as Pacific WebWorks and Jesse Willms. Salt Lake Tribune (SLT) The fine publication, SLT, always [...]

Students die in India as bus plunges into river The above headline is awful enough for the people involved, but in reality, it’s subject, a road crash, is common enough in my own country, the UK. What is really bad is how the BBC is reporting this.  They should know better but essentially, they’ve reported [...]

Introduction Yesterday’s News The use of intercept evidence in courts in England and Wales is not “legally viable”, …the Home Office has said.  This is reported on the BBC here, Using intercept evidence in court ‘not yet viable’ Security From the earliest days of the British (English) Secret Service, back in Elizabeth I’s time, all [...]

Meteor Last night, a washing-machine-sized  lump of rock plummeted from the depths of space right across the face of Utah, USA, and right across the news screens.  there are now quite a few videos on-line because the people of Utah are so paranoid (it appears), that the whole place, offices and homes alike, seems to [...]

CIA Guilty of Torture and Kidnap – Damages of 1.5 Million Euros Amazing news today.  An Italian court has bravely taken on the leader of the Western World and convicted 22 CIA agents of kidnap and torture. (see CIA agents guilty of Italy kidnap). The man on the left with the wacky beard and hat, [...]

This week, I’ve become aware of three excellent initiatives that are focussing people’s energies, creativity, and cash(!) into positive solutions to the global energy crisis.  It just shows what can be done – and these projects are not difficult or hard to creative creatures like ourselves. Big Mirrors in the Desert This is a $400billion [...]

RBS and Lloyds’ Banks Carve-Up Call me stupid if you like, but there’s something particularly disturbing about the ethics of the planned carve-up of the big two banks rescued last year by our taxes.  (see RBS and Lloyds in major shake-up for details) Normal Practice During Business Mergers If two companies merge or one buys [...]

In a weird co-incidence that I missed at the time, I’ve just found that the plans for the Auschwitz death camp were put on  display during my Austrian visit earlier this year.   This visit very soon prompted my outburst on the pontificating nutty bishop, Richard Williamson (see The Face of Evil from 20 Feb [...]

As MP’s expenses come to the fore again, Peter Mandelson spoke on Radio 4 this morning and did his usual self by not explaining anything and being perfectly unclear about everything!  Listen hear here! Thank god the interviewer cut him off. The question was “Have you got much sympathy with MPs who’ve claimed under one [...]

Like a metal mickey, old Geordie Gordon Moore (no, not him of Intel and his ‘law’) has astounded the medical profession with the recent discovery that a big hole in his head has grown back under the protective metal plate that was inserted to fill the gap.  (see the story here: Man grows new skull [...]

How Bad was Thatcher’s Recession compared to the Current Economic Slump? Q. Well, how would you find out, exactly? A. Surprisingly easily.  This graph here compares historical economic slumps with the current one, on a month by month basis.  It’s taken from the “National Institute of Economic and Social Research” (NIESR) website here.  Notionally, it’s [...]