BRITAIN TO HELP BAIL OUT GREECE
BRITISH taxpayers’ money is poised to join a multi-billion pound bail-out of Greece after the debt-ridden nation formally asked for an international loan deal to be activated.

BLOW AS THE RECOVERY FALTERS
BRITAIN’S battered economy ­suffered another setback yesterday after official figures showed the recovery slowed during the winter.

Oceans die, while humans trivialize
When I look at the news, I am often struck by the trivial matters with which people seem to be obsessed, while the world around them is going to hell in the proverbial handbasket. For example, So-and-So's ugly dress at the latest Hollywood party gets 5,000 retweets, while nobody seems to care much about the fact that our oceans, seas, rivers and waterways in general are becoming cluttered with junk and toxic chemicals.

Stunted growth leaves Bank facing interest-rate dilemma
The economic recovery lost momentum in the first three months of the year as January’s snowy weather held back businesses, official data indicated yesterday

‘Pakistan may let Taliban use its nuclear weapons against India’
Conservatives plan for a coalition
Kenneth Clarke has become the first senior Conservative to suggest how the party might negotiate with the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition government in the event of a hung parliament.

Alistair Darling favours bank 'super tax'
Alistair Darling has thrown his weight behind a new "super-tax" to be levied on banks' profits and signalled that the G20 could agree on the international tax later this year.

Another Drug Record for Afghanistan
In addition to being the world’s leading producer of opium, Afghanistan has now become the largest producer of hashish, according to the first ever cannabis survey released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) earlier this month. Again, the US invasion is behind the new record.

Peak oil predictions
The peak oil debate has always been about reserves and costs. But it's clean, green technologies that now spell oil's demise

Flu shots suspended after kids hospitalised
The Health Minister, Kim Hames, says 45 children have been taken to hospital suffering high temperatures and febrile convulsions after receiving the vaccination.

German troops in Afghanistan call on Angela Merkel to explain why they're at war
German soldiers are wearing their hearts on their sleeves - in the form of a badge that protests their country's involvement in the war in Afghanistan.
Some troops have taken to wearing the cloth accessory that states - ironically - 'I fight for Merkel' in a bid to persuade the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to explain exactly what they are fighting and dying for.

Fitch warns of debt 'shock' for Japan
Fitch Ratings has warned that Japan's sovereign debt is rising to ominously high levels as the workforce shrinks and deflation grinds deeper, while the government's reserve assets may prove unusable for defence in a funding crisis.

Leicestershire to dim street lights
A county council is planning to switch off or dim thousands of street lights next month in a bid to cut costs

Tony Blair Stands Accused
Malaysia must not allow this mass murderer to be immune from justice.

Dangerous Crossroads: US Deploys Patriot Missiles in Poland directed against Russia
MOSCOW -- Moscow is deeply concerned with the plans of the United States to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland near the Russian border, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Bias of Weather Models: Britain's Met Office Computer Accused of 'Warm Bias'
A BBC weather forecaster has suggested that the Met Office's super-computer has a 'warm bias' which has stopped it predicting bitterly cold spells like the one we have just endured.

British grandmother returns home after 23 years in Spain... and is branded an asylum seeker
A British grandmother who returned home destitute after living in Spain for 23 years has complained after being barred from claiming benefits.
Lorraine Marsland, 52, says officials are classing her alongside asylum seekers even though she was born here and holds a British passport.
Since arriving in Britain in January with her grandson Dylan, she has been denied housing benefit, child benefit, and Jobseeker's Allowance.

In hiding, the mother accused of abuse for cuddling her child
A mother alleged to have 'emotionally abused' her daughter by telling her she was born by caesarean has fled to Ireland with the child.
Fearing that social workers would take her daughter away, Shahnaz Malik smuggled five-year-old Amaani out of the country.
After allegations that included Mrs Malik cuddling Amaani for too long while dropping her off at nursery, social services placed the little girl on a 'child protection plan' and scheduled a child mental health assessment


Mother's fury as children as young as EIGHT are being offered free condoms
Charity youth workers have been criticised after offering free condoms to children as young as eight who were playing in a park.
Angry mother Samantha Fuller says her 13-year-old daughter was given the contraceptives - but she also claims her eight-year-old nephew was asked if he wanted some.

Governments Will 'Bankrupt Us': Marc Faber
"They will all bankrupt us and expropriate us, but it may not happen tomorrow. They'll give us something to play with, until the whole system breaks down...they'll just print money and print more money," he said on CNBC Thursday

Demonizing Iran: US Media Continue Beating War Drums
Just yesterday, the New York Times, had a lead story about Israeli planning to possibly “go it alone” in an attack on Iran if the US were not to “succeed” in its diplomatic efforts to get Iran to “stop” it’s alleged attempts to develop a nuclear weapon capability.

Aside from the fact that there is no hard evidence that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb or even to refine uranium to obtain nuclear-grade material, the paper ignored one crucial point: Israel cannot “go it alone” in any strike on Iran, since its key weapons – F15 and F-16 fighter-bombers – are supplied to it, and kept flying, thanks to the equipment and spare parts provided by the United States. Indeed the entire Israeli military machine is largely financed and armed by the US.

Wikileaks and the Internalized National-Security-Virtual-State
The magnetism of US censorship is that people 'think' they are free and knowledgeable, but they do not 'know' they have internalized and have been imprisoned by a national-security-virtual-state. It purports fear, ignorance, confusion, and misinformation, notes Dallas Darling.

And we would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for that damned Internet
There are now a whole lot of newly-minted, well-informed skeptics out there

Fly me to Dunoon... Scottish bid for de Niro's film festival

It is a plan that would move Manhattan to the Firth of Clyde

Childcare expert claims leaving babies to cry has toxic stress effect

Just grin and bear the political smile fest

Teachers' fury at pay cut for staff stranded by volcanic ash

Shake-up call as GP services makes many rural patients 'feel at risk'

Leafletgate deepens as Gordon Brown is accused of 'fear and smear'

UKNN Website

The new blog format is essentially finished and we will carry on posting news links on a daily basis.

We do however want to go much further and a blog simply cannot achieve what we want to do. We want to create a new UK online daily ‘newspaper’ and we will purposely design it so it has a similar format and look to some of the other UK newspapers, perhaps a cross between the Telegraph and the Guardian. We want it to look professional and polished.

We want to not only link to other news sites but eventually create our own news as we believe there must be many ‘would be’ journalists and writers seeking a platform- all we have to do is find them.

Our chief aim will be, while providing news and informing people, is without a doubt, getting more people into the ‘Libertarian’ blogosphere but to do that we are going to have to be ‘crafty’ . Hence the need for a balanced, ‘not in your face’, MSM type news site.

We will work out how to give exposure to the blogs without it being overt or obvious and once we have set it up we’ll link the site here so that everyone can see it and comment on it till we get it right. Once we have done that we will advertise it as a new and truly independent UK online newspaper not tied to any group or organisation, where you’ll get all the important news on a daily basis.

On the subject of being crafty does anyone out there plan on subscribing to the Times when it starts charging in June? If you are do us a favour and copy the best articles and email them to us and we’ll research the source material ourselves, quoting sources, and then publish our own news piece on the site.

If anyone wants to get involved in anyway please email theuknewsnetwork@googlemail.com and of course any donations, however small, will help us set up the site and hopefully create a fund for advertised links on other sites. We want to stress again that this project is voluntary and not for profit and we will publish regular account details so that anyone who donates can see what we are doing.

This all might seem a bit ambitious but there’s an old Scottish saying:

“Aim for the stars and you’ll hit higher than a haystack”

And we think now’s the time to start doing a bit of aiming.

Best Wishes

The Network

Parade boosts patriotism on St George's day
St George has been back on horseback for a new quest - to boost flagging patriotism in the nation's capital.

As part of a weekend of nationwide festivities marking St George's Day, campaigners bidding to "reclaim Englishness" revived a traditional pageant last staged in 1585.

IMF cuts UK forecast in blow to Gordon Brown
The International Monetary Fund has delivered a pre-election blow to Gordon Brown, cutting its 2011 UK growth forecasts.

There is literally excrement in your salad: Fecal bacteria contamination widespread
A recent Consumer Reports investigation has revealed that bagged salads labeled "pre-washed" or "triple-washed" may not be as clean as they appear. Of the 208 samples taken from 16 different brands of bagged salad, researchers found that nearly 40 percent of them were tainted with bacteria often found in fecal material.

GLOBAL WARMING FANATICS BECOMING DESPERATE
The latest volcano eruption in Iceland is now being used as an example by the Global Warming fanatics of how thinning ice caps can actually cause volcanoes to erupt. The latest is how thinning ice caps in Iceland are releasing pressure on the ground and creating liquid magma. Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a vulcanologist at the University of Iceland, goes on to say that melting ice caused by Global Warming can influence magmatic systems as seen from the increasing volcano activity at the end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago apparently because as the ice caps melted, the land rose

Greek strikes, debt crisis intensify fears of economic collapse
Major banks and investors continued to bid up interest rates on Greek government debt in the run-up to tomorrow’s strikes in Greece, prompting renewed fears that joint European-IMF bailout plans might fail. It is widely assumed in financial circles that bailouts will not resolve the underlying economic problems that provoked the debt crisis, and European officials and media are increasingly discussing state bankruptcy or the end of the common European currency, the euro.

Britain: What will a 20 percent cut in public spending mean for workers?
With the international financial institutions demanding that Britain rein in its ballooning debt, all the main political parties are committed to deep-going cuts in public expenditure to pay for the bank bailout and further enrich their corporate backers.

Studies reveal Americans’ declining living standards and increasing anger
A series of recent studies conducted by the Pew Research Center shed new light on the scope of the economic crisis in the US and the level of hostility the majority of the American population holds for the US government

BANKERS' BONUSES SOAR TO ‘SICKENING' £7BN
FAT Cat bankers will this year pick up bonuses worth nearly a staggering £7billion, research will reveal today.

City workers will receive an average payout of about £70,000 – almost triple the average salary of workers in other sectors.

GORDON BROWN ACCUSED OF LIES TO PENSIONERS
THE Tories last night produced a new election poster featuring Gordon Brown’s head superimposed on the body of Little Britain’s Vicky Pollard.

The move came after David Cameron accused Gordon Brown of peddling “lies” to scare pensioners in a series of controversial Labour election leaflets sent to millions of homes.

Gordon Brown warns of 'double-dip recession' as economy falters
Gordon Brown warned of the dangers of a double-dip recession today after official figures showed the economic recovery almost stalling in the first three months of the year

Quieter activity on Sun may push Britain into a modern-day Little Ice Age
Horse racing on frozen rivers? Ice bowling? Activities last seen during Britain's Little Ice Age could once more be seen, researchers believe.
Having just emerged from a bitterly cold winter the experts are warning that Britain could return to the mini ice-age at the end of the 17th century. This is despite claims that global warming is causing Arctic ice to melt and temperatures to rise

Newborn babies to get bar codes instead of handwritten name tags
An NHS hospital has become the first in the country to issue all new born babies with bar codes instead of traditional handwritten tags.

US death toll doubles in Afghanistan
New data from the US government shows that the number of American contractors killed in Afghanistan has increased by more than 100 percent

Public sector job losses 'inevitable', says Alistair Darling
Public sector job losses are ''inevitable'' as measures to halve the deficit take effect, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, has said

US warms to strike on Iran
With sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could probably develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] capable of reaching the United States by 2015," claimed a Pentagon report that was declassified on Monday. The almost simultaneous timing of two key recent revelations - this and Israeli accusations that Syria had transferred Scud missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon - has contributed to a fresh escalation of tensions in the Middle East and to speculation that the stage is being set for a military show-down.

NHS computers hit by voracious, data-stealing worm

The UK's National Health Service has been hit by a voracious, data-stealing worm that's easily detected by off-the-shelf security software, according to researchers who directly observed the mass compromise.

68 percent support English Parliament

According to a new ICM poll for POWER2010, 68 percent of English voters believe that England should have its own Parliament, with similar powers to the Scottish one. An even larger number (70 percent) supported the idea of ‘English votes for English laws’, whereby laws that only affected England could only be voted on by MPs representing English constituencies. Plainly the West Lothian Question, first posed by Labour MP Tim Dalyell in 1977, is long overdue an answer:

CAMPAIGNERS CALL FOR CLIMATE COURT

Participants in a conference on climate change are demanding 300 billion US dollars in annual compensation from wealthy countries and transnational companies to deal with the effects of global warming.

Nationalists lose fight over participation in TV debate

Scots doctors write protest letter to Times on assisted dying Bill

Cameron accuses Brown of 'lies and scare tactics' over election leaflet campaign
Gordon Brown was forced to disown Labour’s election campaign after his party was accused of publishing ‘lies and scare’ tactics about their policy on elderly people.
David Cameron angrily told the Prime Minister that he should be ‘ashamed’ of claims that the Tories would axe benefits such as free bus passes, TV licences and the winter fuel allowance.

Lib Dem’s UK immigration plan to direct migrants to Scotland
Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats immigration policy proposal for “earned citizenship” for those who have been living illegally in Britain for more than 10 years has earned support from London's mayor, Boris Johnson.

Yet, ANOTHER global warming oops moment .
At the rate the blunders and errors of global warming “science” have been revealed, you have to sooner or later wonder if these folks may be more than just dishonest. They may be just plain stupid

Hung parliament – The dangers to UK plc
Recent opinion polls, driven forward by the Clegg phenomenon, indicate that a hung Parliament is a real possibility. As such, two critical priorities for the incoming Government – cutting the UK’s horrendous public sector net borrowing (PSNB) figure and tackling the UK’s lack of base-load electricity generating capacity – will be downgraded.

Budget deficit at record £163bn
The UK has registered its biggest annual budget deficit since records began in the 1940s, as the political row over the Government finances grows more intense.

Escalating Greek default fears rock Europe's debt markets
Greece's debt crisis has reached a dramatic crescendo after the EU revealed that the country's debt and deficit figures are even worse than feared and leading banks began to talk openly of debt-restructuring.

DANGER ON THE STREETS AS VIOLENT ATTACK RATE SOARS
LABOUR’S failure to crack down on crime is exposed today by figures which show violence soaring on Britain’s streets.

Google had 1,200 requests for data from British authorities
Google was asked by British authorities almost 1,200 times for information about the internet activites of individuals and companies in just six months, the search engine has disclosed.

Iran's military begins large-scale war games
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has begun three days of major military manoeuvres in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz

Public Sector Debt Reaches Historic High of 62% of GDP
The latest economic statistics reveal that not only has Government borrowing soared to unprecedented levels, but also that Britain’s public sector net debt has now reached an incredible 62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

According to figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Britain slumped even further into the red by another £23.5 billion in March, despite Government claims that we are in “recovery.”

Identity parade: What do flags say about nations – and human nature?
So out it pops today, as always in the last week of April, waving in the wind like some great blowsy red-and-white spring blossom which has suddenly emerged: the Cross of St George. But while blossom is universally welcome, the red cross on white of England, hoisted in its homeland on this St George's Day, 23 April, arouses contradictory and dangerous emotions: enthusiasm on the one hand, contempt and distrust on the other. Can there be a national flag anywhere which is so potentially divisive in the very country it symbolises?

Can you name this man? The many changing faces of St George
England never celebrates St George’s day. Well, not really anyway, as the deafening silence which greeted Boris Johnson’s attempt to drum up enthusiasm for the saint “who had been ignored for too long” showed last year. Despite his “St George’s week” efforts, Londoners barely noticed the 23rd April, except to wonder why their local pubs were full of complimentary red and white party hats.

Five interesting things that happened on today’s date
There are some dates in history that are repeated time and again, producing an odd synergy. For example, the 23rd November is the date on which John F. Kennedy was assasinated in 1963; it was the date British prime minister Margaret Thatcher ended her premiership in 1990; and it was the date on which Angela Merkel became the first ever female Chancellor of Germany in 2005.
Today's date, 21st April, is another such date. It has seen a host of interesting historical events, births and deaths. Here we look at five of the most significant things to happen on this day.

How Dangerous Is the Volcanic Ash?
A flight by the German Aerospace Center on Monday measured the ash plume over Germany and found that the particle concentration was no higher than that of sand clouds from the Sahara desert that sometimes reach Europe. But it is still unclear what kind of effect Eyjafjalljökull's ash particles could have on jet engines.

Playing for time
If North Korea did deliberately destroy a South Korean warship, what next?

Woman firefighter 'slept with her boss to stop him sexually harassing her', tribunal hears
A female firefighter slept with her 'sexist' boss in a desperate bid to end harassment by colleagues, a tribunal heard.

Tory candidate in John Prescott mask arrested for assault on female Labour party helpers after lunge at former deputy PM
A Tory council candidate wearing a John Prescott mask has been arrested after allegedly knocking down two women while trying to disrupt a campaign visit by the former deputy prime minister.

Doctors in Spain claim to have performed world's first full face transplant
A team of 30 Spanish doctors claim to have successfully performed the world’s first full face transplant.

The man who threw away the £100,000 winner
A mail driver today described how he threw away a £100,000 winning scratchcard because he misunderstood the rules of the game.

As foreign affairs enter the debate, so the anti-war protesters make their voice heard
Six people were arrested last night after police clashed with protesters in fractious scenes in Bristol hours ahead of the second leaders' debate.


'Sun' censored poll that showed support for Lib Dems
The Sun newspaper failed to publish a YouGov poll showing that voters fear a Liberal Democrat government less than a Conservative or Labour one.

Burglars break into prison to rob absent inmates
It would make a good gag for a comedy if it weren't actually true: thieves have broken into a Dutch prison to steal the inmates' televisions.

Virgin Atlantic Accused In Price Fixing Probe
Sir Richard Branson's airline Virgin Atlantic will be grilled over alleged passenger fare price fixing with rival carrier Cathay Pacific Airways.

Police Figures Show 7% Drop In Crime
The number of violent attacks, robberies and burglaries have fallen sharply across England and Wales, according to the latest figures.

RAF Hopes To Resume Flights After Ash Scare
The RAF hopes to resume Typhoon training flights today after deposits of volcanic ash in engines sparked a fresh scare over British air safety.

Owners of Marmite seek injunction against BNP after jar appears in video
The owners of Marmite sought an injunction against the British National Party yesterday after it included images of the brand in a political broadcast.

Failed job hunt ends in overdose at 21
A young woman who had left school with ten GCSEs and three A levels apparently killed herself because she felt “humiliated” when she could not get a job.

Newborn babies to get bar codes instead of handwritten name tags
An NHS hospital has become the first in the country to issue all new born babies with bar codes instead of traditional handwritten tags.

British family ‘asked not to be served by hotel’s black waiters’
A family of British holidaymakers were accused yesterday of telling the management of a five-star Florida hotel that they did not want to be waited on by black staff.

'Boastful' killer, 17, detained for four years
A teenager who killed a man and boasted about it on the social networking site Facebook has been detained for four years.

Diabetic boy died after swine flu misdiagnosis
An eight-year-old boy died from diabetes after being misdiagnosed with swine flu by an out-of-hours doctor service, an inquest has been told.

Man jailed for sex with autistic teenager
A man who had sex with a "vulnerable" autistic girl after meeting her mother via the internet has been jailed for more than three years.

Somerset village stands up against 'greedy MPs'
Driving across the Somerset levels, through the village of Burtle, I cannot fail to notice one thing.
Nearly every other house has a black and white poster up saying Vote Against Greed.
It was started by Robin Howell, who said he wanted to send a message to all politicians and parties about greed and corruption in parliament.

Poor 'get less prostate surgery'
Men living in deprived areas are less likely to receive radiotherapy or surgery for prostate cancer than their richer counterparts, a study suggests.

Britain's first-quarter growth eases fears of double-dip recession
Labour relieved as official figures today are tipped to show growth at high end of economists' forecast

Car bomb blast outside police station on Irish border
Police face rise in threat of activity by dissident republicans

Davd Cameron attacks Gordon Brown over 'scaremongering' leaflets
Conservative leader scores big hit during leaders' debate with accusation of 'lies' about policy on pensioners

Stranded BA passengers sent to back of queue
British Airways faced an angry backlash from long-haul customers stranded in India and China today after the airline admitted it is giving them no priority over new paying customers for empty seats.

Minimum alcohol pricing isn't as effective as we thought - scientists

Leading economist warns Scotland to prepare for £35bn in budget cuts

Dog Asbos get go-ahead to tackle 'deed not breed'

IMF’s Global Taxes Can Only Be Enforced Through Global Government
Latest proposals part of ongoing centralisation into new economic world order

Ten U.S. Cities In Free Fall
Economic indicators in these metros have gone from bad to worse, with no sign of recovery.

YouTube Hitler Downfall parody videos removed over copyright
YouTube has removed a large number of Hitler parodies featuring a clip from Der Untergang, or Downfall, after copyright complaints from producers Constantin films.

Climate scientist sues newspaper for 'poisoning' global warming debate
Climate modeller Andrew Weaver launches libel action in Canada for publishing 'grossly irresponsible falsehoods'

Hidden In The PPI Data Was The Largest Food Price Spike In 26 Years
Food prices are volatile, but this move can't be ignored given its historical significance

MOODY'S DOWNGRADES GREECE, Euro Going Berzerk
Moody's downgrades Greece from A3 to A2. It's almost over

Britain has biggest annual deficit since World War II
The UK has recorded its largest annual budget deficit since the Second World War as the election battle over how to repair the public finances intensifies

Scandals Signal The Demise of Our Financial System
The line up goes down the block and around the corner for prosecutions against Goldman Sachs, Sovereign debt looms large, 8 more banks close, scandals in the financial sector continue to erupt everywhere, the public picks up the bills, we face a staggering depression, anger grows against wall street, a plan for permanent bailouts only favors the rich and corrupt.

ACTA treaty aims to deputize ISPs on copyrights
Internet service providers could become copyright cops encouraged to block access to suspected pirate Web sites, according to a previously secret draft treaty made public on Wednesday.

One section of the proposed digital copyright treaty says that immunity from lawsuits would be granted to Internet providers "disabling access" to pirated material and adopting a policy dealing with unauthorized "transmission of materials protected by copyright." If the ISPs choose not to do so, they could face legal liability.

WikiLeaks claims Facebook deleted its page, 30,000 fans
WHISTLEBLOWER website Wikileaks claims it has had its Facebook page deleted.
According to the WikiLeaks Twitter account, the website had more than 30,000 fans at the time it was deleted.

EU policy cheat sheet: UKIP -v- Lib/Lab/Con

With Saint Clegg's rise in the polls, many people might have forgotten just how wedded the three 'mainstream' parties are to the EU.

Be in no doubt - a vote for the LibDems is a vote for further EU integration, and then some.

. Labour Conservatives Lib Dems UKIP . EU Referendum? On the Euro On further transfers of power to the EU On UK membership of EU and the euro On UK membership . Joining the euro? Mixed messages Never Yes No . Crime and policing? Status quo No new EU powers, opt out More integration No integration . European public prosecutor? Against Against Mixed messages Against . Immigration and asylum Partly in favour of more EU integration Against more integration and asylum burden-sharing More integration, n favour of asylum burden sharing 5-year immigration freeze . EU Defence Possibly more cooperation Against - no EU defence procurement EU defence procurement No EU involvement in defence . EU Foreign policy Keep EU diplomatic service separate from national issues Keep EU diplomatic service separate from national issues Keep EU diplomatic service separate from national issues Return to UK diplomatic service . Reform of the EU budget Vague CAP reform promise, maintain UK rebate Vague CAP reform promise, maintain UK rebate Vague reform promise, missed messages on CAP and UK rebate Reform (if we’re still in the EU) . EU financial supervisors In favour with reservations Against if transferring powers In favour with reservations Against . EU employment policy Status quo Opting out of parts “most damaging” to economy Status quo Opting out (if we’re still in the EU) . Common Fisheries Policy Fundamental reform Fundamental reform No mention in manifesto Withdraw . Environmental policy Support EU action, and current targets Support EU action, and current targets Support EU action, and current targets UK action

Source of Lib/Lab/Con info: Open Europe (PDF)

Cross-posted

8 Invented Diseases Big Pharma Is Banking on
Since direct-to-consumer drug advertising debuted in 1997, pharma's credo has been When The Medication Is Ready, The Disease (and Patients) Will Appear. Who knew so many people suffered from restless legs?

But pharma's recent plan to move from mass-market molecules into more lucrative vaccines and biologics did not see the anti-vaxer movement coming: millions of Americans saying You Want to Vaccinate Me -- and My Child -- with WHAT?? and condemning vials of H1N1, rotavirus and MMR vaccines to sit, well, way past their expiration dates. Nor were fears of an international vaccine conspiracy helped by former CDC Director Julie Gerberding resurfacing as President of Merck Vaccines in December. (Nice revolving door if you can catch it.)

Now pharma is back to creating new diseases, patients, risks and "awareness campaigns" faster than you can say thimerosal (the vaccine preservative that started the backlash.)

Greece Welcomes Its New IMF Overlords With Day Of Rioting And National Strikes
“Papandreou is caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Jacques Cailloux, chief European Economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “The market has zero confidence in what the Greeks are saying, and any further austerity measures pushed for by the IMF could be the ones that break the camel’s back if they are deemed unfair by the population. He doesn’t have any option though.”

Real U.K. Unemployment is 5.5 million, the Jobless Economic Recovery?
The latest U.K. Unemployment and claimant count data released Wednesday show a confusing mixed picture which allowed both Labour and the Conservatives to broadcast election propaganda in their own favour

Google reveals UK government’s censorship and user data requests
The UK government asked Google 59 times between July and December last year for information about Google users or to censor search results delivered by the company's search engine.

This emerged yesterday when Google launched a web page that detailed government requests for it to censor its search results or for information on Google users

IMF Warns of 'New Phase' in Crisis .
WASHINGTON—Greece's upheaval could mark the starting point of a "new phase" in the global financial crisis, one marked by escalating concerns about sovereign debt, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday

Greek debt-crisis woes worsen; stocks plunge
LONDON: World equity markets and the euro turned south on Thursday after the European Union said Greece's budget deficit was worse than firstTop gainers, losers

'Debt explosion' fears: IMF puts pressure on G20

We cannot ignore Labour's debt crisis
"The interest payments alone on Britain's debt will soon be more than £60 billion a year. That's nearly twice the entire annual Scottish budget - double what we spend on schools, hospitals, the police, local government and more, every year in Scotland.

The Global-Warming Tax
Damn the data; full speed ahead!

Climategate, Copenhagen, Snowmageddon in the nation’s capital, the EPA ruling that CO2 endangers us all, and Senate Republicans pushing for a global-warming tax. Has it been a great run-up to Earth Day, or what?

Never has a public-policy agenda been pursued with so little regard for scientific fact or public opinion. In March, 48 percent of Americans agreed that global warming, while real, is exaggerated. When Gallup first asked this question in 1997, only 31 percent thought the threat exaggerated.

Deeper Double Dip Recession as Keynesian Fails
The case for a secondary recession rests on several factors: a double-dip decline in the residential real estate market, the accelerating decline in the commercial real estate market, the unresolved losses in bank balance sheets, the narrow focus of the profitability (earnings), which has been limited to bailed-out banks, and the threat of rising long-term interest rates, i.e., a decline in the bond market

An American Phenomenon: The Widespread Psychiatric Drugging of Infants and Toddlers
The United States has become the psychiatric drugging capital of the world, medicating children at a younger and younger age.

Strategies for Revolutionaries: Break the TV addiction
Numerous institutions, traditions and prejudices function as modes of oppression and prevent us from collectively addressing the tragedy of the commons. Acts of legislation arbitrarily prohibit and criminalize our actions, schools indoctrinate us with a tacit deference to authority, and our interpersonal relationships are prone to crystalizing vicious spirals of interaction. Taken as a whole, they manufacture a society in which worldviews are intentionally constrained, warped, and self-defeating

Gordon Brown may be PM until 2017, says Ed Balls
Gordon Brown could remain Labour leader throughout the next Parliament and into the one that follows, one of his closest allies has said.

Mission Accomplished

We're sure you'll all be happy to know that the blog format is now finished. It's nice a simple and there's nothing to suggest to first time visitors the aims of the people behind it. Many thanks to everyone for advice, comments and idea's.

We still want to set up a .com version of this site so we can make wider forays into the msm-o-sphere. Please consider helping us to do this by making a small contribution towards hosting costs and set up fees.

Many Thanks
The Network

In Brussels, they're crossing their fingers for Nick Clegg

In Brussels, they're crossing their fingers for Nick Clegg

As Dan Hannan points out, a vote for the LibDems is a vote for the EU. They are eurofanatics and proved as much with their support for the hated Lisbon Treaty, which dissolved our sovereignty - and their enthusiasm for the European Arrest Warrant, which has just claimed another innocent victim.

The LibDems are not a cuddly, anti-politics party - they are part of the very establishment we all hate.

A vote for the LibDems would herald another term for Labour, and further erosion of our civil liberties.

Don't even be tempted. And don't waste your vote; if you want to cast an anti-politics vote, vote for UKIP or one of the other small parties or independents.

Something for the Bloggers

Hi Folks,

After searching for a long while for a decent blog template I finally found a site where you can download a wide range of FREE templates. Templates with many different themes and formats with multiple sidebar and lower bar options. sidebars on the left, sidebars on the right, double sidebars, treble sidebars and excellent control options over every aspect of the blog in the Colours and Fonts section in the layout page.

So if your looking to improve the look of your blog have a look at some the templates at
http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/ there's over 150 to choose from.

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Britain's deficit hits record £163 billion - but undershoots forecast
Government borrowing hit its highest level since records began during the 12 months to March but the figures reveal Labour has undershot its target for the year

More Censorship? You Tube Yanks All Versions of Hide the Decline ClimateGate Song
After being up for one day the new version of "Hide the Decline" hosted on The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition's channel was pulled by YouTube, along with all the other copies of the original version of the video made by Minnesotans For Global Warming.

Our foreign aid target is absurd and outdated
The main parties are perversely sticking to a figure that never had any legitimacy

VOLCANO ASH CHAOS: NOW COST OF PLANE TICKETS TO ROCKET
PASSENGERS will suffer rocketing flight costs for the next few weeks as airlines which took a £1.1billion hit from the crisis cash in on soaring demand.

Catching up again

China Just Grew Its Oil Demand By 10x The Rate of Global Supply Growth
Second, more powerful Icelandic volcano likely to explode soon
"The CIA Hit List": Muslim Men to be Murdered as "Threats to the US"
Uprisings against the New World Order: Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, and Revolution
Secret Treaty To Curb Internet Freedom
So much for cleaning up politics! Leaks reveal how Lib Dem MPs were told to milk expenses to spend on propaganda
How Britons have run up £55bn in hidden debt
The Road to Total War
300,000 Teachers Set to Lose Jobs... The Massive Dumbing Down of America's Students is Stepping Up Pace!
Unemployment breaks through 2.5 million
Water bills to jump by 27pc
Britain 'facing electricity blackouts'
Obama Regime Will Stage Violence To Crush Dissent
"Climate Change" Scamsters to go Global
Prominent Climategate Figure Threatens Lawsuit over Spoof Video – No Cap-and-Trade Coalition Says “Bring it on”
Massive Anti-Obama Rally Set for Sunday in New York
NEW HOMES FACING TAX OF £14,000
Young Have Been Turned into Zombies
The guy who filmed the shots fired at the POLISH PLANE CRASH WAS ASSASSINATED
Nine out of ten expats are so glad to be gone
'Toxic stew' of chemicals causing male fish to carry eggs in testes
Shocking Footage Of The Violent Clashes In Kyrgyzstan
IMF cuts UK growth forecast for 2011
The Tipping Point is Upon Us

Hung Parliament risks re-run of IMF rescue for Britain, warn Tories

Telegraph- A hung Parliament would rock Britain’s economy so severely that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would have to “tackle our problems for us”, the Conservatives have warned.

Britain's public sector pay party is over

The Telegraph- The economic mayhem that George Osborne warned about on Wednesday on the back of a hung Parliament will be a heck of a lot worse if such political paralysis is combined with spluttering economic growth

Labour ready to let in the EU snoopers
Daily Mail- British citizens face being subjected to secret EU 'Big Brother' spying missions.
Labour is supporting plans for a dramatic expansion in the powers available to fellow member states who accuse UK nationals of committing even the most minor crimes while visiting.
Under the plans, other countries could get the right to demand surveillance on a UK resident who has returned home, and access to his or her bank records.

Secret Treaty To Curb Internet Freedom
Global Research- Negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) resume today in Wellington, New Zealand, with Canada, the United States, the European Union, and a handful of other countries launching the eighth round of talks

How Britons have run up £55bn in hidden debt
Daily Mail- Guilty Britons are tying themselves in knots over hidden debts that are said to total an astonishing £55billion.
As many as one in five refuse to admit their true level of spending and debt to their husband or wife, while a third would not tell their wider family.

Unemployment breaks through 2.5 million

Guardian- At 2.502 million, the number of people out of work is its highest since the end of 1994

Water bills to jump by 27pc
Telegraph- Water bills could jump as much as 27 per cent above inflation in the next 20 years, customers have been warned.

Britain 'facing electricity blackouts'

Telegraph- Britain faces widespread electricity blackouts within six years, government experts have warned.

Scotland racks up £55m swine flu bill
The Scotsman- THE Scottish Government has spent more than £1 million a week battling the swine flu virus over the past 12 months, The Scotsman can reveal

Drink-drive ban for father who took toy Barbie car for a spin
As a means of transportation it left something to be desired in terms of comfort and street cred.
And when police asked the driver to pull over, the Barbie car, with its top speed of 4mph, was hopeless as a getaway vehicle.
Paul Hutton, 40, is regretting his impromptu roadtrip after he was arrested for drink-driving when he tried to take the battery- operated child's toy to a friend's house.

Girl with gun at her back forced to hand over £40m Graff gems

Jurors today watched CCTV footage as a robber held a gun to the back of a jewellery shop assistant and forced her to empty £40 million of gems out of display cabinets into a black bag.........

Organ donors could be rewarded under plans to boost registration
People who sign up to be organ donors could be put on transplant priority lists or qualify their family for funeral cost cover under radical plans being considered to boost donor registration.

‘JEKYLL AND HYDE GP LOST 800 PATIENTS DUE TO TEMPER TANTRUMS’
A FAMILY GP branded a “Jekyll and Hyde” character lost 800 patients in four years due to his temper tantrums, a tribunal heard yesterday.

New NHS uniforms could be scrapped after nurses complain of 'unbearable' rashes
They were meant to make nurses, ward sisters and midwives instantly distinguishable for patients.
But new colour-coded NHS uniforms could now be scrapped after staff complained they caused painful rashes, it emerged yesterday.

Calls to reduce abortion limit as number of 2lb survivors soars
The number of babies born weighing only 2lbs has more than doubled in just two years, re-igniting the emotive debate over the abortion time limit.

Church to address gay minister debate

Ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland are to debate gay ordination at a special meeting tonight in an attempt to halt a split among its members.

Glasgow high street 'among most expensive in the UK for top brands'

Leaders face fury over expenses TV debate

Poll puts Scottish Labour ten points clear of SNP with LibDems in third

Voters down south should back Nick Clegg, hints the SNP

EXCLUSIVE Tax payer funded union activity

With all the hot air being spouted by politicians and wannabe politicians about spending cuts and 'protecting front line services' I thought it only right to publish the following information that I have been sitting on for a couple of weeks.

In a nutshell, I have listed all the councils in Scotland and how many employees each council have who do nothing but union activity.

Click to read in full

Democratic Deficit: Brown & Mandelson Had "Sexual Encounter"

Democratic Deficit: Brown & Mandelson Had "Sexual Encounter"

Interesting read. Do the findings surprise anyone?

Democratic Deficit: Brown & Mandelson Had "Sexual Encounter"

Democratic Deficit: Brown & Mandelson Had "Sexual Encounter"

Cold Steel Rain jumps for British veterans
Jumping out of a plane, who would do it? Apparently Cold Steel Rain is the man brave enough to do it, and he even does it for charity.
He will be supporting Combat Stress a charity organisation "specialising in the care of British Veterans who have been profoundly traumatised by harrowing experiences during their Service career.".
So if you have the time and want to support his jump and course then go to his site and help him out.

Iranian cleric: Women who wear revealing clothing cause earthquakes
Women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes, a senior Iranian cleric has said.
Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi's comments follow a warning by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that a quake is certain to hit the capital Tehran and that many residents should relocate.

Voters in Redditch 'will oust Jacqui Smith'
Jacqui Smith was voted in as Redditch MP in 1997
The people of Redditch want a new MP and are ready to say goodbye to Jacqui Smith, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates for the town say

Lord Monckton throws his safari helmet in the ring as Ukip candidate
One of the world's best-known climate sceptics has registered as a candidate for a Scottish constituency in the general election

Brown: We need global levy on banks
Gordon Brown comments on bankers' bonuses and regulation: "This is probably one of the worst cases we have seen."

Why rising inflation means more pain for us all
Today's higher than expected rise in prices adds to the risks policy-makers may get it wrong and throw the recovery off course

Airspace lockdown could stall UK food supplies
There is growing concern that the ongoing airspace lockdown, after the volcanic eruption in Iceland created a volcanic ash cloud, could impact upon food supplies to the UK. The food chain is a very complicated issue even though consumers only see the end result and an increase in travel time, cost and lack of availability could filter through to create upwards pricing pressure on UK food imports. This would then have the potential to impact upon the rate of inflation and could, if the situation lasts much longer, become a major problem

Public sector job cuts of 500,000 probable, CIPD analysis warns
Half a million public sector jobs could be shed over the next five years as the new government begins to tackle the £167bn deficit - dwarfing any assessment the current political parties are willing to make, the CIPD has warned.

Global water crisis 'will see food prices rocket'
A worldwide water crisis in the next decade could cause British food prices to soar and damage the economy, a study warns

Food crisis on the horizon
There was a shortage of food during the 1960s prompting the then Prime Minster, Lal Bahadur Shastri, to the appeal to people to forego food once a week. They did obey his genuine appeal. There was no significant number of hungry people then as we have now, with 250 million Indians going to bed without food. The level of poverty and hunger has multiplied several-fold in the last five decades, so much so that India ranks 66th among 88 countries in the hunger index. A loud warning bell has been sounded by Ban-Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the global food crisis. The failure of the World Food Summit held in Rome in November 2009 was unfortunate. It showed the least concern of many governments to the serious problem of food crisis and hunger around the world.

New Global Warming Alarmism from LA Times: ‘The World is Running Short on Air Pollution’
We have now reached the apex of “heads I win, tails you lose” global warming-alarmism. In his April 18 op-ed for the LA Times, author Eli Kintisch warned that “the world is running short on air pollution, and if we continue to cut back on smoke pouring forth from industrial smokestacks,” global warming consequences could be “profound.”

Forget Eyjafjallajokull, Mt. Katla Is Now Getting Ready To Rumble
The ground is now literally shaking around Iceland's Mt. Katla. If that blows, look for Bund spreads to promptly catch up with Greek ones

The Pentagon's Fantasy Numbers on Afghan Civilian Deaths
“The American public is conditionally tolerant of [military] casualties and consistently indifferent to collateral damage” Dr. Karl P. Mueller, School of Advanced Airpower Studies, Maxwell Air Force Base

Labour must prepare to boot Brown
If voters return a hung parliament, Labour must bite the bullet and get rid of Gordon Brown or face staying out of power

Calls to bar bank from government work
Goldman Sachs should be suspended from working for the Government until the outcome of a fraud case brought against the investment bank is known, opposition politicians said yesterday.

US forces kill 4, injure dozen Afghans
US military forces have opened fire on a vehicle killing four and wounding more than a dozen civilians in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost

Turkey backs Iran, restates diplomacy
Turkey says that it has always supported Iran's stance on its nuclear issue and has reemphasized that any coercive measure against Tehran would prove ineffective.

Pressure on interest rates after suprise inflation jump
Inflation surged by more than expected last month, raising fears that the Bank of England may be forced to raise the interest rate sooner than expected

Traffic warden faces the sack after foul rant about motorcyclist’s wife

A traffic warden faces the sack after his foul-mouthed rant at a motorcyclist was caught on video.........

Which Veggie Burgers Were Made With a Neurotoxin?
Most non-organic veggie burgers currently on the market are made with the chemical hexane, an EPA-registered air pollutant and neurotoxin

Shoppers hit by 'high street tax'
Shoppers are being hit by a “high street tax”, paying up to 70 per cent more for goods bought in store rather than online, according to a new report.

North Korea 'carried out torpedo revenge attack' which sunk South Korean Navy's Cheonan

'Over-confident' activist who was unlawfully searched by police wins £1,200 payout

NOW BRITAIN OWES EU £160M FINE
GORDON Brown’s blundering over funding for regional quangos has landed the ­taxpayer with a £160million fine from the European ­Union, the Conservatives said yesterday.

SPEED CAMERAS TRACK MOTORISTS FROM SPACE
THE war on motorists is being taken up a gear with “spy-in-the-sky” speed cameras that use satellites to track drivers for miles.

Ministers urged to bar bank from government contracts
Anger at allegation that RBS was victim of fraud

Sky high petrol prices send UK inflation soaring
Sky high petrol prices sent annual inflation soaring to 3.4% last month after a faster than expected rise in the cost in living, official figures revealed today.

Inflation hits 3.4% thanks to sky high petrol prices

Soaring petrol prices sent annual inflation to 3.4% last month after the cost of living rose quicker than expected, official figures showed today.......

What's going on-from ukws

Many thanks to those that took the time to email with links and encouragement and offers of help. Incase your getting confused what we want to do is create a UK based and focused Independent news outlet/aggregatorweb site.

The change in the blog format was simply to demonstrate the kind of format we want for a website and just to gage the reaction and to see if we can get some help in setting it up.

Blogger could never host a decent site as it doesn't have the graphic tools to make it look good and as a result will always look amateurish. We cant even seperate the sections using enclosed boxes and so everything looks mixed up and without definition.

We've had some financial offers of assistance but I don't have a bank account so we need someone we trust with a paypal account to set up a donate button and collect donations and pay for the hosting. It's only about £4 a month but without that we can't do anything. so please get in touch if you can help with this.

I want to stress that this project is completely voluntary and not for profit and any money left over will go towards advertising. Not one single penny will go into anyones pockets.

Unfortunately we have a problem. One of the initial contributors set up a uknewsnetwork.com and .co.uk site but then froze the rest of us out of it and won't reply to emails and is posting 'news' so we have lost the name and will have to think of a new one. Any ideas?

I can tell you that put us back a bit and caused a great deal of confusion for a week as nobody could work out what was going on. I want to make it plain that http://uknewsnetwork.com/ has nothing to do with what we are doing here and you can use your own imagination as to why somebody would want to do that. We wish him the best of luck.

Hopefully the next thing you will see on the site is a donate button so please consider trying to help us a little with costs. 10p per vistor for a few hours would probably do it.

News posting will continue as normal and we apologise for the amateurish look and feel of the blog.

Flights resume amid warnings of 'new ash cloud' heading for UK

Air passengers were braced for further delays today after warnings that a "new ash cloud" was spreading towards the UK as the volcano eruption in Iceland "strengthened"..........

Police power could be given to nightclub bouncers and security guards
Tens of thousands of nightclub bouncers and private security guards could be given sweeping police-style powers.
Senior police officers have ordered a dramatic expansion of a controversial scheme that allows authorised civilians to issue fines for littering and other minor offences.

Energy price hikes set to push inflation further above target
Preview: Official CPI and RPI inflation figures out this morning kick off week of key economic data

How would a hung parliament affect gilts and sterling?

Property price crash if Tories win
City economists say Tory plans to cut public sector spending could wipe 20% off house price valuations

The FDA Shuts Down Common Infant Vaccine After Startling Discovery

Global Financial Maelstrom Continues, Government Policies of Insolvency
The global financial maelstrom continues to unfold as public serpents, central banks and crony capitalists continue to pour gas on the fires. It is set to continue. The collapse of FIAT paper wealth storage is unfolding with breathtaking speed. Asset bubbles continue to emerge in the emerging world and collapse in the developed world as capital FLEES. Today’s missive covers the deep insolvencies in the developed world and the definitions of solvency of Austrian Economics. The inflationary depression still lies in our futures

FOX News Promoting The Microchipping Of Alzheimer’s Patients

COUNCIL TAX CASH GOES TO PARTY FUNDS
CASH from council taxpayers will end up in Liberal Democrat coffers under new party rules requiring councillors to hand over some of their allowance, it emerged yesterday

SNP say hung house is 'huge opportunity'