NUDE CYCLISTS PROTEST CONGESTION CHARGE

In a protest against congestion charges, naked commuters road into the nation's capital on Saturday - on bicycles.

When asked by TheBigRetort what caused one male cyclist to rise that morning (he was on a lady's bike), he responded: 'TfL... It's taken the shirt off my back.' [Photo, Marie Accomiato]

Unveiling the secret finances of the Masons

[punch.co.uk]

STRANGE - BUT TRUE? Flying saucer over England in 1795

UFO SEEN OVER ENGLAND...in 1795

It was nearly half past nine on the clock of a Tuesday evening when what was described as 'a body of fire of an uncommon size' passed over the town of Halifax...
The craft headed 'nearly the line' south west, until it hit the zenith of Halifax, inexplicably changing direction, it then headed a few points from the north east to east.
But what's so unusual about that?
The years was 1795... The object's diameter appeared to be 'more than half that' of a full moon and its velocity was so rapid that it was doing 50 miles a second - or 18000mph!
Certainly its speed was greater than any velocity achieved in that century, and those that followed. (At the time of the report apparently a coach and horses into London took several days.)
The height of the extremely bright object must have been considerable as it passed through clouds, and illuminated those which it passed 'over'. (Great heights were also unachievable in that century.)
Reports at that time relate that its colour was 'pale and livid' and it was visible for about five or six seconds. Finally, it was 'lost in the eye of a big large cloud'.
Could this have been a mother ship? It seems unlikely... the encounter was followed by a 'tremendous peal of thunder' believed to be the 'bursting of the globe' in the negatively electrified cloud. So, following an interstellar journey of some tens of thousands of light years, these poor space travellers, presumably on a mission from a dying planet - to make our world there's no doubt - perished. It's almost as if a guiding hand was at play saying that far and no further. Amazing...
[The Times, Sept 8, 1795, p4,c3. Disclaimer. Please note, the photograph of the downed saucer above did not appear in the original report, as photography did not exist then.]

Alexander Litvinenko - British Citizen

It seems remarkable that Moscow troublemaker ALEXANDER LITVINENKO was murdered only shortly after becoming a British citizen. He was naturalised in October and poisoned at the beginning of November.

But perhaps the biggest question is why this has not been picked up by the general media.

Was someone in the Kremlin sending out a strong and ominous message? (Apparently Putin had always been jealous of Litvinenko's hair.) Or were other forces working to embarrass Moscow by waiting until Litvinenko became a 'Brit'?

Answers may be found at the PRO - in about 100 years (or the Kremlin now).

Perhaps though, as things happen these days, "Rendition Airways" may head East, and another spy may be due in from the cold.

London Congestion Charges - boycott

Opening my mail today, I was surprised to receive a Penalty Charge Notice from my old chums TfL. This time the picture claimed to show my car at an entry point to London's Congestion Zone. (The picture shows the vehicle on an arrow that displays no "C" or other road markings. But is this 'evidence'?)

Little did I realise that as I took the wrong exit on a roundabout, and headed along Newington Causeway instead of the New Kent Road, I was about to be 'mugged' by TfL - again. (See Lewisham Scam-Cam below...)

The wrong exit error took a few seconds to correct... but too little too late, in Livingstone's London: "You are liable to purchase a Congestion Charge for any use of the Congestion Charging Zone, regardless of the duration." And being "unaware" is a defence that falls on deaf red ears. After all, as many of you realise by now, it's all about revenue.
So have you been caught out by an overzealous TfL? Think the law has been applied too strictly in your case? If you're now hopping (mad) onto public transport then you can fight back with a big retort... FINE THE FINER.
If someone profits from your loss unfairly - and let's face it these are huge and sometimes unfair profits - why not simply boycott the goods and/or services of those involved? Remember, by taking your business elsewhere, you ensure that your voice in London is heard - and in this instance by Capita Group Plc.
[See link for more on spy cameras. http://www.spy.org.uk/wtwu.htm.]

CAPITA is responsible for operating the Central London Congestion Charging Scheme on behalf of TfL. Remember... if you can deny them profit - in any way - then you will have gained.
Post details, along with loss of revenue to Capita and its fatcat directors and shareholders here @TheBigRetort.
REMEMBER, BE FAIR. Only deny them what has been taken from you - including increased penalty charges. TheBigRetort will tally up the final shortfall to Capita in a later blog.
But don't forget TfL... you can make a difference there too... by boycotting its transport and other services up to the value of your fine(s) you can ensure that your protest is heard - remember, post at TheBigRetort when you do.

THE BUSINESSES TO AVOID (but only if you feel that you have been treated unfairly):

Local Shops or Post Offices, both receive kickbacks for their part in the traffic fines scandal.

TfL - Transport for London

Capita Business Services
Providing an integrated range of business process outsourcing and professional services to clients in the UK and Ireland.

Capita Commercial Services
Market leader in providing outsourced administration and support services to the general insurance sector and affinity partnerships.

Capita Symonds
Providing a comprehensive range of project management, telecommunications engineering and construction related consultancy services.

Capita IRG
Share registration and employee share scheme administration services.

Capita Trust Company

Corporate trustees and providers of trust and administration services.

Capita Life & Pensions

Administration and customer services for life and pensions operations.

Capita Life & Pensions Regulated Services

Administration and customer services for life and pensions regulated operations.

Constructionline

The UK's register of pre-qualified local and national construction and construction-related suppliers.

Quay Software Solutions Ltd

Veredus

Specialist provider of senior-level recruitment consultancy, public and private sectors.

[If you have any suggestions to add to the list, or think a company may be placed in error, contact TheBigRetort. A list of appointments by Capita Board members to follow in a later blog.]

STOP AND SEARCH

These new anti-terror powers are worthy of Commons sense.

Some years back I was puzzled to see scores of uniformed police officers in body-protection armour and Dayglo jackets, accompanied by sniffer dogs, stopping, questioning and searching commuters as they exited a London tube station. The dogs were quite nice. It was their masters who were the Rottweilers.

When I enquired abut the operation, a police officer quipped, "It's part of a strategy by Ken Livingstone and Transport for London.'

When I pointed out that it seemed a bit over the top, he responded loudly, 'What are you - a bloody anarchist!"

An attempt to photograph this quite visible - the police later claimed sensitive - operation led to my being questioned and detained at length (ten minutes) under... the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

All this despite the fact that I was pushing a pram with my baby daughter inside, and despite the fact that I had asked an officer's permission to film the scene for the local rag. (Not that one needs to in a democracy.)

A police officer later told the newspaper: "The aim of the operation was to show a visible presence to members of the public and lessen the opportunity for criminality and fare defaulters to travel undetected through the area."

Of course, I hear you say, not long afterwards several nutters blew themselves up on London Underground taking many souls alongside their own misbegotten lives, so all's 'fare' then. Be that as it may, would such a highly visible police operation have prevented the nutter atrocities?

Like I said, commuters were being body searched (ostensibly for drugs) and questioned exiting the station - so it seems unlikely.

Operation Extended Powers, as the paper later reported, then as now, had a 'whiff' about it... Guv.[]

Zeno - Solving a 30-year-old literary mystery

A remarkable story from the pages of history (which I am still tidying up, sorry) . The identity of a war hero revealed - ZENO [Reproduced with kind permission of Punch Ltd. http://www.punch.co.uk/. For this and other subjects of interest see Steve Lewis's Mystery File at http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=260.]

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[A sad postscript... Shortly after the article first appeared I was contacted by the Met Police. Death threats had been received by Gerald Lamarque's widow. (A name I did not include in the article, or contact phone number.) However, as a result of files held by me, a person related to Lamarque became the focus of the Met's attention. I do not know if the threats ceased following this, as the police invariably fail to acknowledge assistance rendered to them. See "Brockley Con Artist" for an example.]