Hacked.

A Briton accused of hacking into top secret military computers has lost a Law Lords appeal against being extradited to stand trial in the US.

Gary McKinnon could face life in jail if convicted of accessing 97 US military and Nasa computers.

Question is, should he extradited? My answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The US government claims he committed a malicious crime – the biggest military computer hack ever.

The authorities have warned that without his co-operation and a guilty plea the case could be treated as terrorism and he could face a long jail sentence. A statement by solicitors for McKinnon, who was not at the House of Lords to hear the judgement, said: “Gary McKinnon is neither a terrorist nor a terrorist sympathiser. “His case could have been properly dealt with by our own prosecuting authorities. We believe that the British government declined to prosecute him to enable the US government to make an example of him.”

American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him ‘fry’. So a fair trial then. This person has done the US a favour by showing up how “hacker proof” US military computer systems were, the people who should be brought to book are the ones responsible for its security.

But the important issues here for me is that once again the UK Government behaving like a submissive slave when it comes to anything the US demands of them, also if the roles were reversed, the US would never allow one of its citizens to be extradited to another country to face trail. If he is to face charges, it should be here in the UK.

The Lawyers for Mr Mckinnon  have stated that they will take this  case to the  European court of Human rights, hopefully they will overturn this weasly decision by I have to shamefully admit, my Government.

Political Policing.

“London: City Hall has been given legal advice to see if the mayor can suspend the Met Police Commissioner pending an inquiry into alleged financial impropriety.”

Ok, the commissioner’s links with a businessman who was then awarded a number of contracts from the MET(Metropolitan Police) should be investigated. But it would appear that this not the only reason Boris and his deputy mayors want to get involved with the MET.

One of the deputy Mayors, Kit Malthouse has stated: “I believe the mayor was elected to have an influence on policing in London.”

Influence yes, but complete control is what they actually want. Control to choose their own police commissioner who would be sympathetic to their political ideals. The current Met Commissioner Sir Ian has said he was concerned about the politicisation of the post of commissioner.

At a media briefing on Wednesday, he said: “Most senior police officers are concerned by the office of commissioner becoming a matter of high politics – which it has done for some time.”

Those currently in control at city hall view Sir Ian as a bit too “left wing” for their liking, so they would want to remove him, Boris Johnson plans to make himself chairman of the MPA (Metropolitan police Authority) so he can be “directly involved with day-to-day scrutiny of the police”, which is a way of criticizing the man they want gone, pressure him into quiting.

However, the mayor cannot suspend or remove the commissioner. That power lies with the Home secretary.

Long may it continue.

The Last Dictatorship In Europe.

I felt quite reluctant to post this as I felt that I couldn’t quite get the whole picture of what is happening in Belarus. Even the conclusions, if I can call them that feel…inconclusive.

On July 3rd, the “official” independence  celebrations were taking place in the Belorussian capital Minsk. The President Alexander Lukashenko was present. Just after midnight a bomb exploded injuring fifty people. Most countries have been subject to some form of terrorist attack, but this was the country’s first.

So what is going on?

Since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the country with increasingly authoritarian measures. The country became independent in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet post-war years, Belarus became one of the most prosperous parts of the USSR, but with independence came economic decline.

The following is from the BBC News website:

Alexander Lukashenko, often referred to as Europe’s last dictator, was declared to have won a third term as president at elections in March 2006 following a vote which Western observers said was fundamentally flawed.

President Lukashenko takes pride in his authoritarian style

They reported widespread harassment of opposition supporters and overwhelming media bias. Official results indicated that Mr Lukashenko had won over 80% of the vote.

The EU and US condemned the election while Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulations(What a surprise). The EU also banned the president and a number of ministers and officials from entering member countries. Mr Lukashenko’s assets in the EU and US are frozen.

A former state farm director, Mr Lukashenko was first elected president in 1994, following his energetic performance as chairman of the parliamentary anti-corruption committee.

A 1996 referendum gave the president greatly increased powers at the expense of parliament and extended his term by two years. He won a further five years in office in 2001 presidential elections condemned as undemocratic by Western observers. Another referendum in October 2004 supported lifting the two-term limit on Mr Lukashenko’s rule, allowing him to stand again in 2006.

Over the years, several opposition politicians who might have provided leadership have disappeared or been imprisoned. Insulting the president, even in jest, carries a prison sentence.

The president remains defiant in the face of Western pressure for change. He has dismissed all possibility of revolutions such as those which brought an end to old-style regimes in Georgia and neighbouring Ukraine. He insists that he will preserve stability “no matter what it costs”.

Lukashenko has sort closer ties with Russia than the EU and the “west”, but it would appear that Russia and Belarus have grown apart since they quarreled over energy prices last year, energy that Belarus is dependent on.

Belarus refuses to release former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin, imprisoned on charges of organising protests against the 2006 election. Currently Belorussian Christians are being arrested for attempts to express their views freely.

There was a program on BBC2 in the UK which drew my attention to Belarus where a woman was arrested and imprisoned for five days for allegedly having an EU flag in her rucksack. The media has been suppressed to the point that the only media is owned by the state.

Back to the explosion. Who did it?

The opposition feared that it would be blamed for the explosion, which will provoke a crackdown which has already begun with the KGB(Believe it or not) already reeling in opposition members, although there are reports that they were quickly released.

You could possibly say that the device that created the explosion was planted by others with the sole intention of blaming the opposition. However, there is also talk of a power struggle within the ruling elite. Quite a few officials privately admit that they are fed up with the president and the isolation he has imposed on the country. But they are afraid of him. President Lukashenko controls the army and the police, who are very loyal to him.

Lukashenko has sacked Security Council chief Viktor Sheiman, a highly influential ally from when the president came to power in 1994 and linked by Western countries to the 1990s disappearance of opposition figures. Presidential chief of staff Gennady Nevyglas has also been fired, whether this is the president dealing with potential political opponents or is simply removing personnel who are potential stumbling blocks when dealing with the western powers…

So you may wonder: why would Lukashenko want to possibly appear friendlier to the EU/West?

The only possible answer I have got so far is from Stanislav Belkovsky, an independent Russian analyst and head of Moscow’s National Strategy Institute who said:

“Lukashenko is doomed to trying to befriend the West as he has come to the conclusion that Russia cannot be an ally or defend him,  But the bomb has nothing to do with this. It was a sign of the struggle for power in Lukashenko’s entourage.”

An awful lot would have to change in Belarus before the west would even consider improving relations, change I would suspect Lukashenko would be extremely reluctant to carry out.

Cut Co2. Build more runways.

A decision over whether to allow a second runway at Stansted Airport in the UK will be taken by the government after a public inquiry.

The project director for the second runway scheme has stated that “There are huge social and economic benefits to be employed from the development of a second runway at Stansted for the east of England, London and for the UK. We are fully committed to maximising these opportunities for millions of air travellers while at the same time doing all we can to limit, avoid and mitigate against any environmental impacts.”

Right, so how does that work? You want to limit damage to the environment while at the same time build a second runway which will increase the number of flights. When I hear such statements as the one above I must think that there must be a marketing and communications firm somewhere in London who these organisations employ to come up with statements that insult your intelligence in a “business speak” manner.

Why are they even bothering?  When they say “do all we can” It means as little as possible. They are going to create an even bigger environmental impact by building a runway and the Government of the day will give them permission, because the Government’s environmental policies are the “fill the sky with airliners” policy that Stanstead and its operator wants.

Then car drivers in the UK get hit with Road licence duty changes that will mean a large number of drivers will pay more because their car pumps out certain amounts of Co2. I don’t have a problem with this as we do need to be more efficient with our fuel consumption and limit our Co2 output, but why can’t this apply to the likes of those who are promoting Runway building schemes?

I wrote a few posts ago about the quality of life survey which put the UK at the bottom when compared to nine other countries in Europe. What came out of that survey there also applies here. The business case for a runway will always come first and will always win the day.

And its the business case that has taken precedent over social economic policy of this country for the last few decades. And we are the worse for it.

If this Government wants us to take it seriously over its policies on the Environment, then it needs to stop sending mixed messages, messages that say you must limit your environmental impact, but hey, here are all these runways. Have a cheap flight on us.

Incidently, while I have gone on about Stantead airport, Heathrow airport looks set to have a third runway built. The government says it would have to be confident that any expansion would be able to comply with EU limits on air pollution and would not breach limits on the size of the area significantly affected by aircraft noise.

But when the secretary of state for transport Ruth Kelly says: “Heathrow supports 170,000 jobs, billions of pounds of British exports and is our main gateway to the global economy. But for too long it has operated at nearly full capacity, with relatively minor problems causing severe delays to passengers. If nothing changes, Heathrow’s status as a world-class airport will be gradually eroded – jobs will be lost and the economy will suffer” you can pretty much see where this is going.

Serbia captures fugitive Karadzic.

Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, one of the world’s most wanted men, has been arrested in Serbia after more than a decade.

The BBC has just reported that the Serbian Government have Confirmed that he has been arrested. He disappeared in 1996 and He is wanted in the Hague by the UN war crimes tribunal.

He is accused of war crimes and genocide over the massacre of 7,500 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

Pope go Home…

Pope Benedict XVI has been “down Under” attending the Catholic Church World Youth day festival in Sydney. There have been a few protests.

While the protest has been quite funny, the protesters hurling condoms at the worshippers and arranging a “Hunky Jesus” competition, I do feel however that this is just a group of protesters who are really going out of their way to demonstrate their “Alternative” lifestyle to the Catholics. Not that I would even class being Gay as alternative these days.

What I did find funny was a what was posted on the In a strange land blog. here’s a link to the story here.