Nacho Nacho Man

Finally the US has lost one record that it never really wanted ...... that of worlds behemoths, aka 'Fat boys' (and girls).

Mexican Porkers .....

I was surprised that the winner of this title is actually its southern neighbour, Mexico. The latest figures produced by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, shows that 32.8% of Mexican adults is now classed as obese (or 'ill', as the American Medical Association have now designated obesity). This outweighs the US figure of 31.8% and thus claims the unwanted title.

I Ain't Got Nobody

When Nguyen Quang Hung, a North-Vietnamese soldier was wounded during fighting with the US in 1966, he was lucky enough to be taken prisoner and not left to die in the jungles (like so many others). Unfortunately by the this time he had developed gangrene, and had to have his arm amputated by a US army doctor.

Strangely, the US Army Doctor Sam Axelrad decided not to throw the amputated arm away, and instead had it de-fleshed, the bones sewn back together and in a sort of excarnation, kept the bones for more than 40 years as a reminder of the 'good deed' he had performed by treating an enemy soldier.

But in 2011 he wasn't getting any younger, and decided to track down the ex-Vietcong former owner of the arm, a move, which he later said, would help provide "closure". A local journalist wrote about his mission, and the news eventually spread back to Mr Hung and last month, the doctor finally reunited the arm with the Vietnamese pensioner.  

Doctor Sam Axelrad and Nguyen Quang Hung - Then And Now.

"I'm very happy to see him [Dr Axelrad] again and have that part of my body back after nearly half a century," Mr Hung said."My arm bone is evidence of my contribution to the war. I will keep it in my house... in the glass display cabinet," he said, adding that he hoped the arm would help him claim a veteran's pension, as his army files had been lost. He apparently intends to be buried with his bones.

Dr Axelrad, said he was "unbelievably happy" to be able to return the arm. "When I amputated his arm [in 1966], our medics took the arm, took the flesh off it, put it back together perfectly with wires, and then they gave it to me. When I left the country six months later, I didn't want to throw it away, I put it in my trunk and brought it home, and all these years it has been in my house".

Whilst this might seem like a humerus reunion (sorry, couldn't resist), there was a sad side ... Mr Hung. concluded the tale by saying that he considered himself "very lucky" compared to many of his comrades who died in the war - The Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, killed an estimated 58,000 US soldiers, and three million Vietnamese.

Killer Apes

It seems that not only do we want young men to fight wars, risking injury or death on behalf of politicians, but we want them to be bright as well .....

Scholar Soldiers?

…… a report just issued has said that we must have ‘clever soldiers’.

 

Everyone But Themselves

A leaked version of a Pakistani government report has been published on the al-Jazeera News TV station, and its alleged to be a draft version of the secret report .......

Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad

..... issued by the 'Abbottabad Commission', into the events surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden.

 

Colouring The Past

I have posted before on the colour of the past. How we are completely wrong to think that the ancient world was a monochrome of white or dark marbles, but in fact was a riot of colours everywhere the ancients looked. Of course bronze was already around .......

Giant Bronze Statue Athena - Acropolis - Pheidias

But recent discoveries have show exactly how much colourising went on - not just of cult images, but of the statues seen daily on the streets and the buildings.

Best or Worst Politicians

The worst and the best US Presidents as calculated by various criteria is not a subject I have dwelled long upon

Trump - Latest Contender For Title?

..... I guess that like most people, I would have generally thought along the lines of, Abraham Lincoln = Good, and George W Bush = Bad. Which just shows that I don't really know much about past US Presidents.

Getting Old Ain't No Picnic

It used to be that there was a difference between the treatment of the elderly in the oriental (and to a lesser extent Asian), cultures and the West. 

 

Its Not All Fun Growing Old In China

 
The idea was that in those societies, the elderly were looked after and respected within the family unit, while in the West, the elderly weren't respected, and would end up in old peoples homes.

 

Detroit's Decaying Majesty

The collapse of the old cities of the Industrial revolution is apparent across the Western world (first in, first out, springs to mind), and nowhere more so than the Northern cities of the US -

Detroit in Decline

..... Such as Detroit, and too a lesser extent cities like Chicago, which have both suffered from the twin blights of the collapse of traditional manufacturing, and a mass influx of overwhelmingly African-American immigration, that caused 'white flight' from the centres.

 

Talking To The Dead And Other Interesting Claims

The Daily Mail newspaper in the UK has reportedly had to pay what are described as 'substantial damages plus legal costs' for ..... 

 

Helen Duncan Produces 'Ectoplasm'
aka Cheesecloth, During A Test
By Harry Price

.... suggesting that a 'psychic', was 'using an ear piece' to receive instructions from her helpers, and thus conning the paying public.  

Cheesy Stinkers

What’s in a cheese? .... well according to the US food and drug administration, not always cheese. The specialist Mimolette cheese of France, is classified as nothing much more than, and I quote, "it appears to consist in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid or decomposed substance or be otherwise unfit for food".

Mimolette Is A 'Stinky French Cheese' According To USFDA

Mimolette is a cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille, France, where its also known as 'Boule de Lille'.... its similar to Edam, but coloured orange (Louis XIV had it created to stop the French importing Dutch Edam). 

Washing Your Dirty Money

What's a fun loving criminal going to do about getting his money cleaned? The cost of a full blown money laundering operation is both very expensive (at up to 40% of value) and rife with uncertainties and betrayals. Now there have always been ways of means for criminals to turn stolen goods into hard cash .... the good old fashioned 'fence' (or sometime pawn broker), would take stolen items and offer the thief a percentage of the perceived cash value in the hope of later recouping a greater value themselves and thus making their profit on the deal.

Now this was all well and good in the days when stolen silverware was the item - the value obtained by the criminal was determined by how 'hot' the item was, and the end value to the fence. But now days the thief is not going to be moving a couple of hundred pounds worth of items, they are likely to be moving millions of pounds worth of drugs, arms or people trafficking money. They also want it to be moved around the globe - so this places a particular emphasis on speed and reliability.

So what are launderers to do?

Old fashioned approaches still work to some degree.

Buying Gold or Diamonds can move fair amounts but requires an element of smuggling and physical couriers. Which mean its expensive and with an element of risk.

Buying stocks, bearer bonds or shares - they will allow large money moves and internationally but require some element of money laundering before purchase or the services of a 'bent' money broker. Still, it is time tested and once completed can be hard to trace later.

Property - surprisingly large amounts of money can be moved by purchasing properties, but apart from the issue of paying the seller (which can be done fairly easily via capital in kind - drugs, diamonds etc - if the seller has criminal links) - there is the slowness in turning the property into cash that would hinder many criminals. e.g. Russian / Georgian gangsters prefer their wealth in liquid assets, or wearable items.

Bank transfers - most large international banks move millions electronically from offices around the world - this is done to stop all the cash ending up in one spot such as London. Some banks may be willing to facilitate transfers to foreign climes (for a consideration) .... a good few years ago, I heard a story that the London branch of the Bank of Iraq (under Mr Hussein and Sons); one of our then Arab 'allies', would be willing to do this (for a fee). The money would be brought in to the bank as cash. They would put this in to the vault, but add the value to the electronic amount to be transferred that night, and then open an account in the branch overseas, to which the criminal wanted the money (minus the 'commission'). Now how easy this is to arrange, and how often it could be done, I can't say, but its obvious that its probably an occasional activity at best.

Cash / Wire transfer services - these are very popular with Africans - they are supposed to be regulated but hey, this is Somalis or Nigerians. Where there is a will, there is a way, and hundreds of millions leave Europe and the US by this method. Most of this is untracked - however very large amounts, in the millions, would undoubtedly attract unwanted attentions.

So we now move to the Hi-Tech computer savvy methods of choice:

AIPS - The Money Launderers Choice

　
Anonymous Internet Payment Systems (AIPS): This is a simple system whereby you deposit funds by opening and account with for example a name, e-mail address, and birth date. Essentially the providers were companies like the now defunct 'Liberty Reserve' and the 'Azitos payment system' - there is also another one which is a Moscow-based service called 'WebMoney'. However the criminals (especially Eastern Europeans), liked the 'Liberty Reserve' service for several reasons:

• It didn't do much checking (if any), and
• It was based outside of the US or Russia
• It only charged 1% commission
• It was essentially anonymous to create and account (an email and user name).
• Deposits could be made through third-parties using a credit card or bankwire
• Deposited funds were then "converted" into Liberty Reserve Dollars or Liberty Reserve Euros, which were tied to the value of the US dollar and the euro respectively, or to ounces of gold.
• No limits were placed on transaction sizes.
• Transactions were "100% irrevocable" i.e no recalls.

The redemption of the Liberty Reserve Dollars etc was achieved by someone purchasing the virtual money amount from you e.g. Liberty Reserve Euro's, for a fee (standard was 9%), and giving users the cash.

Its closure has created a dilemma - other 'providers' are slightly more scrupulous in monitoring account activity. They often require nominally more information ('WebMoney' for example require, a name, address, telephone and email address for registration). Unfortunately, they are also much more heavily monitored: Web Money are known to be heavily monitored by the Russian FSB (successors to the KGB) who will act if activities are harming Russia, but are less interested if its western interests that are harmed.

BitCoins - are another widely used virtual currency, which although not as flexible as Liberty Reserve, do offer a semi unregulated method of moving monies - But the biggest 'BitCoin exchange' has already announced that its users must provide identification documents to use the service to withdraw cash, in what appears to be an effort to avoid displeasing US law enforcement agencies. They are likely to become regulated very soon.

So was the closure of Liberty Reserve a blow against money laundering? Well yes, but hardly a killer. As one expert put it "I have no doubt that within twenty-four hours most of them figured out another way of getting money from point A to point B."

Naughty Saudi Royals

Ah those naughty Saudi Princesses ... they just can't help themselves can they?

 

Saudi Princess Meshael Alayban Mugshot

The latest up before the beak is one Meshael Alayban, who as one of the many wives of Prince Abdulrahman bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, qualifies for the title 'Princess', and who was arrested in California on slavery charges.

Superman Flys To The Rescue

Anyone who visits this Blog knows that I never turn away from a Superhero story .... there are Ninjas, Darth Vaders, various Spidermen, Ninja Turtles, Self made super heroes, Batman and others ..... but I think I've only had the man of steel once, yes, Superman!

Apparently his alter ego in this instance wasn't mild the mannered Clark Kent, but the more proactive Luke Junior. He was wearing the distinctive blue and red caped outfit, as he took part in a charity fund-raising event outside a shop, when he happened to notice a shop lifter with his swag, running out of the store and being chased by staff.

He rushed across and apprehended the thief and made a citizen’s arrest.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet - Superman To The rescue

The families in the street cheered his heroics, and while the man was arrested and taken away in handcuffs, the Superman theme music was played in the background over the charity event’s PA system.

"When the adrenaline finally stopped, then I realised I was still dressed as Superman and I've not lived it down since," Mr Junior said.

Turkeys Beak Bared At BBC

In a case of the biter bitten, the BBC, a long time supporter of Turkey being a 'European' and not an 'Asian' country, has found out exactly how 'Democratic Liberal'  Turkey really is, with BBC reporters being attacked as "English Agents" by many Government supporters, such as the Mayor of Istanbul. It must be a shock for an organisation that generally supports getting Turkey into the EU, to find that this supposedly 'democratic, acceptable face of Islam' country, acts rather like the hard-line Syrian or Iranian regimes, when reported upon in a less than wholly fawning manner.

Mayor Ibrahim Melih Gokcek accused BBC Turkish reporter Selin Girit of being an English agent

It has had to admit that "a large number of threatening messages have been sent to one of our reporters" .... and that it was a woman reporter as well. How could a Turkish man treat a woman like this? Is there no end to the slap in the face the BBC has got .... a women reporter being insulted, practically a hanging offence in the PC UK (but luckily its just 'cultural' when its a Muslim man, so no offence eh?).

This is a regime that declares reporters for western news organisations as 'agents' of the West (of which it also claims it's a part - they don't do irony), and that the demonstrators were working for 'foreign powers' (aka Israel),  and that the protesters had been manipulated by "terrorists" ..... The freedom loving mayor of Istanbul has also threatened to sue everyone who criticised him on twitter by using the #hashtag "Melih Gokcek is a provocateur" ... he has followed this up with a statement that it was "unacceptable that Turkey is targeted by the BBC" - that's the spirit of democratic cut'n'thrust for you.

Note the emotive and violent terms used by the Turkish government in the last few weeks : 'terrorist', 'targeted', 'agent', 'final warning', 'armed forces ..... to establish peace' . Just the sort of language Tony Blair would never have used, but that would could happily spout forth from the mouth of President Assad.

You should always be careful who you cuddle up to as 'friends', and Britain and the BBC are far too ready to apologise for regimes that are not sharing any of our values, when they should be openly condemning them.

One Is A Lonely Number

A wild female asparagus was discovered in Portland, Dorset, in 1997 .... this Dorset asparagus was thought to be anything between 70 and 100 years old .... but as the endangered wild asparagus is found at only 28 locations across the country, her nearest male plant (needed for successful pollination), was a male variety in Cornwall.

This male plant was very carefully moved to Dorset in 2006, and then pollination was engineered as they rubbed its pollen on the female’s stigmas.

Wild Asparagus Colony

Finally, this year they have found that eleven of the offspring have not only grown, but the seven males and four females have now flowered for the first time, meaning they can reproduce and now instead of one, there is now a small colony.

A little story I know, but just occasionally here at PC Towers, we like to post a story that's just a little bit righteous, and makes us feel good. Maybe there is just a little bit of hope for the world. 

We Are Getting In Bed With Shaitans Children

In Syria we in the non Muslim world are being invited to get in to bed with the Syrian Sunni rebels ..... who could also be rightfully considered to be Shaitan's children.

Syrian Rebels - Democrats or Jihadists?

How else can you explain the murder in Syria, of a fourteen year old boy, an event which sadly is not normally newsworthy at the moment, but the fact that he was killed by the rebels, and that those rebels did so under 'Sharia Law', tells you a lot about the sort of people Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barak Obama are being urged to support and arm.

The boy had been asked to give someone a free coffee - "Not even if the Prophet himself returns" he had jokingly replied. Three of the rebels armed gunmen heard him say this, they dragged him to a car and took him away, and then subjected him to a terrible beating. Half-an-hour later they returned him, badly beaten, and dumped his unconscious form onto the road by his coffee cart. But not content with this savagery, they then summoned passers-by with the shout of "Oh People of Aleppo. Oh people of Shaar. Whoever insults the Prophet will be killed according to Sharia"  ... they then shot him three times (at least once in the face), and kicked his body. When his mother tried to intervene they shouted that "He is not a Muslim - leave!"

On top of the wanton murder of children, the animals of Jabhat al-Nusra are also waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Christians. Last week they purportedly filmed the murder of a Catholic priest, Father Murad. The first film put out, showed a man said to be the priest, hands bound, while one of the butchers used a kitchen knife to hack his head off. The spectators allegedly 'cheered', and were seen taking souvenir photos of the body ..... however later reports suggest that this was a black propaganda video, intended to shock Christians even more than the usual daily attacks, and that in fact the priest had been executed in a monastery while trying to protect nuns from sexual assault.

Prime Minister David Cameron, and President Obama, publicly support aiding these rebel monsters. The usual suspects for this animal behaviour include (but there are numerous other groups):

• The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (the main group linked to al-Qaeda).
• Jabhat al-Nusra aka 'The Nusra Front', the biggest Islamist organisation fighting the regime.

As usual they have all backtracked once the film was posted on the web, and condemned the killing - but rather oddly as this was a rebel area, the local Islamic 'scholar' (how that term makes me laugh), said the killers were not rebels, but members of the regime militia, "shabiha" (armed pro Baathist supporters), trying to ferment trouble between Jihadi's and other fighters (although he couldn't explain what they were doing in a rebel area, and why they were able to walk about freely) ..... they just don't know the meaning of the telling truth in that part of the world.

The young liberal, democratic demonstrators who have instigated the uprisings in every Arab Muslim country so far, have soon been swept aside by the tidal forces of the armed Islamists and their illiterate peasant supporters, and its the Jihadists who have already achieved power in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, where the populations are facing the same options as those in Iran when the Shah fell - none. Theocracies like Iran will soon be the only landscape that stares out from all the Arab world ..... what a bleak region that will be.     

In the meantime, the Sharia courts (aka a bunch of thugs with little education and a Kalashnikov), are dispensing 'justice' in the usual Taliban style - whippings, or death. One of these death dealers was interviewed and said that "Full punishments will be enforced as soon as the regime falls and an Islamic State is declared." .... there's something for the faithful to look forward too.

We reap what we sow by supporting these groups, and one day we will find them on our doorsteps, knives in hand.