Mexican prison authorities find woman’s husband curled up in foetal position in her suitcase as she left after conjugal visit Police say a woman was caught trying to sneak her common-law-husband out of a Mexican prison in a suitcase following a conjugal visit. A spokesman for police in the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo says staff at the prison in Chetumal noticed the woman seemed nervous and was pulling a black, wheeled suitcase that looked bulky. Spokesman Gerardo Campos said on Monday that prison guards checked the bag of 19-year-old Maria del Mar Arjona and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the foetal position. Ramirez is serving a 20-year sentence for a 2007 conviction for illegal weapons possession. Arjona was arrested and charges are pending. Mexico guardian.co.uk
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Ryu Matsumoto steps down after threatening funding would be withheld unless local leaders came up with workable plans Japan’s minister in charge of overseeing the reconstruction of the country’s devastated north-east coast resigned on Tuesday, just one week into the job, amid criticism that he offended victims of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in comments captured by TV cameras. Ryu Matsumoto’s resignation could not have come at a worse time for the prime minister, Kan Naoto, who is struggling to pass legislation to fund Japan’s biggest reconstruction project since the end of the second world war. Matsumoto came under pressure to quit after a TV station broadcast footage of a testy meeting on Sunday with Yoshihiro Murai, the governor of tsunami-hit Miyagi prefecture. After Murai arrived a few minutes late, Matsumoto, in a passable impression of a hectoring schoolmaster, said: “When a guest comes to visit, do not call the guest in until you have arrived in the room. Do you understand?” Matsumoto, 60, suggested such sloppy manners would not be tolerated in the self-defence forces [SDF], where young people respected their elders. Murai, a 50-year-old former SDF member, nodded and smiled through clenched teeth. Matsumoto effectively sealed his fate when he warned Murai that the government would do nothing to help the region unless local leaders arrived at a consensus over post-disaster reconstruction. Perhaps sensing the mood had turned against him, Matsumoto quipped to reporters in the room: “That was all off the record, OK? Understand? You write this up, and it’ll be the end for your company.” Unfortunately for Matsumoto, the journalists simply ignored him. The exchange quickly appeared on YouTube , where it has been viewed more than a million times, and became a trending topic on Twitter and Facebook. In a separate meeting with Takuya Tasso, the governor of neighbouring Iwate prefecture, Matsumoto threatened to withhold funding unless local communities came up with workable reconstruction plans. On Monday night, Matsumoto apologised and blamed his indelicate remarks on his blood type. “If I hurt the feelings of the disaster victims, I would like to apologise,” he said. “I’m a type B and can have the tendency to be simplistic and straightforward at times. “My intentions don’t always come across perfectly. My wife called me earlier to point that out. I think I need to reflect on that.” The haematic reference wasn’t particularly outlandish in Japan, where many people believe their blood type defines their personality . But no one in the battered north-east appeared willing to forgive Matsumoto or his blood type. Jin Sato, the mayor of Minamisanriku, a badly damaged town, said the comments had added to the anguish of residents already disheartened by the slow pace of rebuilding. “I have been saying all along that this government has no sense of speed,” he told NHK. “My frank opinion is that this resignation drama is another misstep.” Matsumoto is not alone in committing a tsunami-related gaffe: Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, described the disaster as divine punishment for Japan’s culture of “egoism” and was re-elected weeks later. In an attempt to placate opposition MPs, Kan has promised to step down once three key bills – an extra budget, and legislation to allow fresh borrowing and promote renewable energy in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accident – have passed. His best hope is that Matsumoto’s swift departure helps smooth the way for a US$25bn-extra budget (£15.6bn) for disaster-hit areas and a compensation scheme for people who lost homes and businesses due to the nuclear crisis. But opposition MPs spied Matsumoto’s resignation as an opportunity to put Kan under fresh pressure to quit soon. Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic party, said Kan’s resignation offered the best hope for the tsunami-affected region. The government’s chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, said Kan had no intention of stepping down early, adding that it would be “irresponsible” to resign while the reconstruction and energy bills were still being debated. Japan disaster Japan Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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Thirteen expected to enter not guilty pleas to charges of aggravated trespass in Fortnum & Mason store in March Activists accused of occupying the luxury London food retailer Fortnum & Mason during tax avoidance protests in March are expected to plead not guilty to charges of aggravated trespass on Tuesday. The case against five minors arrested during the UK Uncut demonstration was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service last week but charges remain against 139 others. Of those, 13 are expected to enter pleas at City of Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, when a trial date should also be set. Lawyers are pressing for the charges to be dropped against all those arrested after the occupation of the store. Mike Schwarz, a partner in criminal law at Bindmans, which is representing most of the accused, said his firm had written to the CPS arguing that it was in the public interest that the charges be withdrawn as they interfered with the right to peaceful protest. Similar concerns have been expressed by Liberty and by the Labour MP John McDonnell. Liberty said it “deplored” the offence of aggravated trespass, while McDonnell told the Independent that any trial would be “outrageous” and “fly in the face of public opinion”. Activists have also raised concerns about the way in which the arrests were carried out . Police officers at the scene described the occupation, which took place at the same time as massive public sector demonstrations against government cuts, as “non-violent” and “sensible”. Activists said the police tricked them into a mass arrest after giving assurances they would not be detained. In video footage obtained by the Guardian , a senior officer tells UK Uncut protesters that police are making sure it is “clear and safe” before letting them leave. Upon leaving the building the activists were kettled and arrested one by one. Some were held in cells for up to 24 hours. Raj Chada, a partner at law firm Hodge, Jones and Allen, who is representing 20 of those charged, although none of those expected to enter pleas on Tuesday, said: “This idea a senior officer told them to leave raises fundamental questions about police tactics for future public events if the police can’t be trusted.” UK Uncut London Police Protest Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
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UK’s last train maker says jobs must go at its Derby site after failing to secure the £3bn government deal Bombardier is to cut more than 1,400 jobs at the UK’s last remaining train manufacturing plant, in Derby, after losing a £3bn government contract to a German rival. The Canadian engineering giant said the completion of recent orders and failure to secure a deal for the Thameslink route made a near-50% cut in its workforce “inevitable.” Bombardier announced plans this morning to shed 983 temporary staff and 446 permanent workers at its Derby factory, a total of 1,429 jobs. A 90-day consultation will be launched. Bombardier said it had to lose nearly half of its 3,000 staff because four out of five production lines will be idle from September once contracts for the London Underground Victoria line and the London Midland franchise are completed. Francis Paonessa, head of Bombardier’s UK passenger division, said winning the Thameslink contract would have “secured workload at this site”. He added: “We regret this outcome but without new orders we cannot maintain the current level of employment and activity at Derby.” In a blow to the government’s plans for Britain to manufacture its way out of recession, Bombardier placed its UK operations under review after the Department for Transport awarded a contract to make carriages on London’s Thameslink rail route to Siemens of Germany, bypassing Britain’s last remaining train factory. Siemens won the deal for 1,200 carriages on the trans-London route last month, sparking widespread criticism from politicians and trade unions. Bombardier held an 8am press briefing on Tuesday morning at its Derby headquarters. Senior shop stewards will be briefed on job losses in time for the end of the night shift at 6am. The jobs blow comes after Lloyds Banking Group said last week that it would cut 15,000 jobs and experts warned of up to 10,000 job losses on the high street as a succession of retailers including Carpetright, Thorntons, TJ Hughes and Habitat said they would close stores. In a recent letter to the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, Bombardier warned that 1,200 jobs could be at risk at Derby even if it won the Thameslink contract. However, it had hoped that winning a deal for more than 1,000 carriages on the rail route would allow the company to retain many of the jobs. If it lost the Thameslink deal, it said, more jobs could go by the end of the year, amid doubts over the 350-strong engineering unit. The head of Bombardier’s works committee, John Pearson, said the company hoped the announcement would force the government to review the decision, with protests from local politicians and the Labour party and even expressions of concern from two cabinet ministers. “The company is going to use it as a political lever to try to get the government to change its mind about Thameslink,” said Pearson, 63, a member of the Unite trade union, who has worked at the Derby plant for 26 years. “We are the last train maker in this country. How can we let those skills go? If we want trains in the future they will have to come from abroad.” However, the government cannot review the decision. In a letter to David Cameron, Labour has claimed that up to 20,000 jobs could be hit by the Thameslink decision and looming cuts at Bombardier. The train maker’s manufacturing lines will grind to a halt in 2014 when it finishes a contract for London Underground trains. Future orders for the as-yet unbuilt Crossrail and High Speed Two projects are years from being tendered. Unite has written to two cabinet ministers in an effort to have the Thameslink decision reversed. Diana Holland, assistant general secretary of the UK’s largest trade union, said the move could be the “last straw” for Bombardier in the UK. In a letter to Hammond and Vince Cable, the business secretary, she said: “It is Unite’s belief that insufficient, if any, consideration was given to the social and economic implications of your department’s decision,” she said. “Similarly, we are confident that the business case for Bombardier is a strong one and, coupled with the need to safeguard national manufacturing, ought to have seen it awarded the contract.” The RMT trade union, which also represents workers at Derby, said the effect of the Siemens decision would be “devastating.” Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: “This act of political sabotage to a key element of the remaining UK manufacturing base could leave the nation that gave the world the railways building nothing but a few basic components.” The government believes its hands were tied over the Thameslink decision by European Union procurement rules, which state that any EU state must not allow a company’s location or nationality to influence contract awards. Nonetheless, Unite has pointed out that Germany’s state-owned rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, recently handed a €6bn (£5.4bn) high-speed train contract to Siemens. Cable and Hammond made pointed references to the perceived bias of contracts awarded elsewhere in Europe in a recent letter to the prime minister. Siemens, which employs 16,000 people in the UK, claims the contract will create up to 2,000 jobs in the UK supply chain. However, even though some components will be made in the UK the trains will be built in Germany. Manufacturing sector Job losses Transport Rail transport Travel & leisure Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
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Fears 1,500 jobs at risk at Derby train factory after company loses £3bn Thameslink contract to Siemens of Germany Bombardier, the Canadian engineering group, will announce major job losses at its Derby train factory on Tuesday, amid fears that 1,500 workers are at risk after the business lost a £3bn government contract to a European rival. The company told trade union officials to expect “substantial” redundancies. Significant reductions appear to be inevitable after Bombardier warned the government privately in May that 1,200 posts were already at risk among the 3,000-strong workforce. It is thought that up to 350 more engineering jobs are under threat. In a blow to the government’s plans for Britain to manufacture its way out of recession, Bombardier has placed its UK operations under review after the Department for Transport awarded a contract to make carriages on London’s Thameslink rail route to Siemens of Germany, bypassing Britain’s last remaining train factory. The company has called an 8am press briefing on Tuesday morning at its Derby headquarters. Senior shop stewards will be briefed on job losses in time for the end of the night shift at 6am. It comes after Lloyds Banking Group said last week that it would cut 15,000 jobs and experts warned of up to 10,000 job losses on the high street as a succession of retailers including Carpetright, Thorntons, TJ Hughes and Habitat said they would close stores. In a recent letter to the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, Bombardier warned that 1,200 jobs could be at risk at Derby even if it won the Thameslink contract. However, it had hoped that winning a deal for more than 1,000 carriages on the rail route would allow the company to retain many of the jobs. If it lost the Thameslink deal, it said, more jobs could go by the end of the year, amid doubts over the 350-strong engineering unit. The head of Bombardier’s works committee, John Pearson, said the company hoped the announcement would force the government to review the decision, with protests from local politicians and the Labour party and even expressions of concern from two cabinet ministers. “The company is going to use it as a political lever to try to get the government to change its mind about Thameslink,” said Pearson, 63, a member of the Unite trade union, who has worked at the Derby plant for 26 years. “We are the last train maker in this country. How can we let those skills go? If we want trains in the future they will have to come from abroad.” However, the government cannot review the decision. It is understood that about 700 agency workers employed at Derby are most at risk, with the heaviest cuts expected to come from manufacturing staff. In a letter to David Cameron, Labour has claimed that up to 20,000 jobs could be hit by the Thameslink decision and looming cuts at Bombardier. Bombardier’s manufacturing lines will grind to a halt in 2014 when it finishes a contract for London Underground trains. Future orders for the as-yet unbuilt Crossrail and High Speed Two projects are years from being tendered. Unite has written to two cabinet ministers in an effort to have the Thameslink decision reversed. Diana Holland, assistant general secretary of the UK’s largest trade union, said the move could be the “last straw” for Bombardier in the UK. In a letter to Hammond and Vince Cable, the business secretary, she said: “It is Unite’s belief that insufficient, if any, consideration was given to the social and economic implications of your department’s decision,” she said. “Similarly, we are confident that the business case for Bombardier is a strong one and, coupled with the need to safeguard national manufacturing, ought to have seen it awarded the contract.” The RMT trade union, which also represents workers at Derby, said the effect of the Siemens decision would be “devastating.” Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: “This act of political sabotage to a key element of the remaining UK manufacturing base could leave the nation that gave the world the railways building nothing but a few basic components.” The government believes its hands were tied over the Thameslink decision by European Union procurement rules, which state that any EU state must not allow a company’s location or nationality to influence contract awards. Nonetheless, Unite has pointed out that Germany’s state-owned rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, recently handed a €6bn (£5.4bn) high-speed train contract to Siemens. Cable and Hammond made pointed references to the perceived bias of contracts awards elsewhere in Europe in a recent letter to the prime minister. Siemens, which employs 16,000 people in the UK, claims the contract will create up to 2,000 jobs in the UK supply chain. However, even though some components will be made in the UK the trains will be built in Germany. Job losses Rail transport Travel & leisure Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Title: An American Trilogy Artist: Mickey Newbury Happy Fourth Of July!
Continue reading …Oh, those annoying peasants: Montanans outraged by Exxon/Mobil’s tepid response to Yellowstone River oil spill
July 4, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media [From KTVQ-TV. ] That horrifying oil spill on the Yellowstone River in Montana is bad enough. But of course, Exxon/Mobil officials had to go and make it worse by minimizing the damage done to the river and making only the most tepid of cleanup responses : An oil spill in Montana’s Yellowstone River surged toward North Dakota on Sunday as outraged residents demanded more government oversight of Exxon Mobil’s cleanup. An estimated 750 to 1,000 barrels, or up to 42,000 gallons, spilled overnight Friday through a damaged pipeline in the riverbed, Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said. The break near Billings could be related to the river’s high water level, officials said. More than 100 people were working on the cleanup late Sunday, Jeffers said. But local officials said that, because of the raging floodwaters, only a handful of crews were laying absorbent pads and booms to trap oil along short stretches of the river between Billings and Laurel. In some areas, residents said, oil may be flowing underneath the booms and continuing downstream in the murky water. Jeffers said most of the oil was believed to be within 10 miles of the spill site, and Exxon crews were flying over the area late Sunday to assess how far it had spread. But Montana’s governor disputed the estimate. “Nobody can say definitively,” Gov. Brian Schweitzer said. “It’s too early. We need boats on the water,” not only flyovers. Boats were potentially unsafe because of the high water, however. Montanans don’t let just anyone mess around with their rivers. After all, this is A River Runs Through It country, and every summer the state’s blue-ribbon trout streams draw a steady stream of fly fishermen who spend lots of tourist dollars. It’s a big moneymaking industry — maybe bigger than oil in the state. As the story observes: Oil was reported as far as 100 miles away near the town of Hysham, Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy said. Although the spill is downstream from Yellowstone National Park and the fertile Yellowstone fly-fishing grounds frequented by tourists, some officials worried about harm to the industry that draws 11 million annual tourists a year to a state with a population of 980,000. “We take our rivers very seriously here in Montana,” said Schweitzer, a soil scientist who planned to visit the spill site Tuesday. “We will not allow this catastrophe to affect the $400 million trout industry in Montana.” Of course, Exxon Mobil officials claimed there had been no sign of harmed wildlife so far : UPDATE 7 a.m.: Gov. Brian Schweitzer says statements from ExxonMobil officials that no injured wildlife had been found were premature. “For somebody to say at this early stage that there’s no damage to wildlife, that’s pretty silly,” Schweitzer told the Associated Press on Saturday. “The Yellowstone River is important to us. We’ve got to have a physical inspection of that river in small boats — and soon.” The Billings Gazette has published photos of soiled pelicans and turtles. The Environmental Protection Agency said it can’t confirm any damage to wildlife or fish kills, but investigators were checking and the federal agency expected to know more Monday. Here’s one of those photos : enlarge Credit: Billings Gazette The worst part is waiting to see what happens to the trout populations on the Yellowstone and its tributaries. This could get very ugly.
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Thousands pack streets of central Caracas to celebrate return of populist president following month abroad Venezuela’s showman president Hugo Chávez made a dramatic return home yesterday, addressing thousands of ecstatic supporters in Caracas with the battle-cry: “The return has begun”. Hordes of Chávez supporters had flocked onto the streets outside the city’s Miraflores Palace to welcome back their leader, following his surprise return from Cuba in the early hours of Monday. At just after 5.35pm local time a sea of red-clad supporters erupted in cheers and applause as Chávez stepped out onto the Palace’s “balcón del pueblo” or “people’s balcony” wearing a red beret and green army uniform. Hoisting his country’s red, blue and yellow flag into the air, Chávez launched into a rendition of the Venezuelan national anthem before shouting: “Viva Venezuela! Viva the Bolivarian Revolution! Viva the Venezuelan People… Viva life! Viva Chávez!” “We will win this battle for life, for the fatherland and for the revolution,” Chávez told thousands of flag-waving supporters, speaking just days after admitting he was being treated for cancer in Cuba. “We will overcome all of these difficulties,” he added from the iconic veranda, the setting for numerous key addresses since he came to power in 1999. Chávez’s sudden return, nearly one month after he left the country, came on the eve of Venezuela’s independence celebrations that kick off on Tuesday. Within hours of Chávez setting foot on Venezuelan soil, allies from his United Socialist Party (PSUV) were appearing on television urging supporters to gather outside the city’s Miraflores Palace. “We have so much to celebrate,” said Blanca Eekhout, the vice-president of Venezuela’s National Assembly. “Let’s celebrate independence and the happiness of having our president back.” Chávez was now “recovering and preparing for the battles ahead,” she added. Throughout Monday, state-controlled television churned out infomercials for the afternoon address, accompanied by a chirpy pop-rock soundtrack and the catch-line “pa’lante comandante” – “onwards, commander”. “Welcome back president,” bellowed the commercial’s voiceover. “The whole of Venezuela receives you with happiness.” Across town the refrain was repeated, as faithful Chavistas celebrated their president’s “resurrection”. “I feel great joy because Chávez is back in his country,” said Iris Teran, a 27-year-old secretary who was among the crowds. “We’ve come to show him our revolutionary support. We have all prayed so that he can continue in his Bolivarian revolution”. Nelson Leon, a 68-year-old headmaster, added his voice to the chorus. “My wife woke me up to tell me he was back, but I thought she was lying. I feel the same joy as all my compatriots to see our president back and in good health.” Rafael Leonides, 51, said he had prayed for Chávez’s return. “We were feeling orphaned.” Political analysts had harboured suspicions that Chávez might attempt a high-profile homecoming to coincide with Venezuela’s independence celebrations on Tuesday – although those chances appeared to have faded last Thursday following Chávez’s admission he had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer. Javier Corrales, a Venezuela expert from Amherst College in Massachusetts, described Monday’s dramatic, pre-dawn return as “typical Chávez.” “He is a micro-manager par excellence, convinced of his own indispensability. Thus a premature return is less surprising from Chávez than a prolonged absence,” said Corrales. “Governance in Venezuela might not necessarily improve with an ailing president back in residence, but at least the internal confusion and posturing within his ruling party will ease, for now,” he added. With a 2012 presidential election looming on the horizon and domestic headaches growing, Chávez needs to recover, and fast. Corrales said Chávez faced “a tough scenario” back home, with an ongoing energy crisis and economic woes presenting a treacherous run-up to the election. “Until his health improves, Chávez’s best hope to prevail in the forthcoming elections may be to win enough sympathy votes,” Corrales said. Venezuela Hugo Chávez Cuba Tom Phillips guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Police in Colorado Springs are calling the Saturday beating of two gay soldiers a possible hate crime. The men, who wished not to be identified, told 7 News that they went to Albert Tacos restaurant after leaving a nightclub. “As soon as we walked in, there was a group of African American males that walked in,” one of the men said. “And they started a confrontation with us because of the fact that one of our go-gos was still in his outfit.” “We walked in and immediately one black male started making remarks like, faggot,” another of the men told KOAA . When they returned to the parking lot, they were beaten by a group of about five men. Two women are also wanted in connection to the beating. Both men were rushed to the hospital. One man’s jaw was shattered and had to be wired shut.
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