Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

The following is utterly ridiculous and totally unfair, in the opinion of just about everyone in the UK. And yet the government (eg. Cameron as PM and Theresa May as Home Secretary, do absolutely nothing to correct the stupidity and unfairness of it.

The generality of the USA legal system usually brings 'plea bargaining into the equation'.

If therefore, someone makes a false or malicious accusation against you and instigates a criminal case, you end up having to be extradited to defend yourself and in this case, the initial legal charge was brought in the USA. The couple concerned were in the UK and never got to hear anything about this charge, couldn't defend themselves and the end result was an extradition request to our government to make the couple go to the USA to face charges.

What charges?
They will find that out for the first time when they get there.
Are they guilty or innocent?
They don't even know what they have been charged with! Thus they cannot yet file any kind of a defence!
Upon arrival in the USA after extradition, he goes to a male prison to be held. His wife goes to a female prison to be held. They are thus separated and aren't even allowed to speak directly with each other.
Eventually, a trial will be held. No one yet knows when. The general feeling is that the charge was brought maliciously by the son of the owner of the USA company whom the UK man went to work for as MD of the American Company. The son was overlooked and was very miffed about this. The USA owner died, the son came back into the company at its head and the best thing the UK guy and his wife could do was to then leave and go back to the UK.
When they first went out to the USA to run the company, they were given generous removal and re-settlement expenses. At the time these expenses were OKed by the then owner and subjected to legal Audit by the company's Finance Director and the authorities.
Now, it is generally felt the son is 'getting even' and acting maliciously.

My wife occasionally bumps into one of these two, whilst walking the dog. They don't live too far away and hence we know who they are and we have shown a bit of interest in their case:

Here's the story latest from the local Northampton Chronicle.

Essentially, it is about extremely unfair extradition laws. IMHO, it is irrelevant whether the couple are guilty or innocent of the charges. They are being made to go back to the USA to answer a 'Nobody knows what type of charge' and are being imprisoned until the case is brought to trial, separately, and whilst they prepare a defence.

This defence is going to cost a fortune. What do they do with their home and possessions whilst they are away and until when, since they don't know when they will or even whether they might be back.

They might well commit suicide. They are going to lose absolutely everything. They will undoubtedly be forced into a 'plea bargain'.

A Northampton couple say they could be extradited ‘any day now’ after they heard their case will not be heard at the Supreme Court.

Paul and Sandra Dunham are being pursued by the US Department of Justice over a claim they embezzled more than one million US dollars (£605,000) in illegitimate expense claims.

They ‘vehemently’ deny 12 charges of fraud but say they would be willing to face trial in the UK as they would be entitled to Legal Aid for their defence.

However extradition laws would require the Dunhams to be flown over to the US and kept in detention there for at least 12 weeks before their trial.

Today the High court has ruled their appeal against the extradition will not be heard in the Supreme Court.

The news has come as a devastating blow.

Mr Dunham said: “The problem we have now is that we could be extradited any day now.

“All we know for sure is that this has to happen within the next 28 days, we’ll put on the plane and sent back to the US.”

He continued: “It’s gone on for so long now it is beyond comprehension - it is incredible how corrupt the whole process is.”

Until 2010, Mr Dunham was chief executive, president and 20 per cent shareholder of PACE, a US company manufacturing soldering irons for the electronics industry.

Eric Siegel, the son of PACE founder, the late William Siegel, is pursuing the pair over alleged improperly claimed expenses arising from their relocation from the UK to Maryland.

The Dunhams have never been allowed to see the charges they are faced with and say it makes it ‘impossible’ to prepare their defence.

They have now written to the Home Office requesting that it allows them a further 14 days make a ‘rule 39’ application to the European Court on Human Rights.

But Mr Dunham believes the British Government is doing all it can to protect the extradition laws with the US, which were changed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to enable the swift deportation of terrorists.

He said: “We feel like we are sacrificial lambs to this process.

“I am not over dramatising this at all - but what the High Court told us was they acknowledged that we wouldn’t get pre-trial bail, that the detention facility is likely to be of a harsh condition, that we would be separated and they would have unsatisfactory medical facilities.”

This morning Mr Dunham was driving to Milton Keynes to deliver the bad news to his 84-year-old father.

“He finds it very hard to comprehend, he said. “In this country we work on the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty.”

Michael Evans, of Kaim Todner Ltd, the Dunhams’ solicitor, said: “The High Court dismissed the Dunhams’ applications to the Supreme Court having earlier found that it is “clear” the Dunhams would not get pre-trial bail; that the detention facility regime is plainly “harsh” and that the treatment of Mr Dunham’s mental health might be unsatisfactory.

“The considerable damage to the Dunhams caused by their extradition is believed in law to be a price worth paying in order to honour our US treaty obligations.

“Yet again, the 2003 Extradition Act has brutal effect.”

Tony Blair's Labour government created the 2003 US-UK Extradition Act in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The law allows the U.S. to extradite UK citizens for breaking American laws, even if the offence was committed in Britain -- even if it was committed in Britain by a UK citizen.

The Dunham's have a Facebook page. As I write it has not yet been updated with their bad news.

Since they have a house and home with furniture, cars, dogs, an 84 yr old father some 18 miles away, and are likely to be extradited any minute, i guess they have loads of arrangements to make - and not a lot of time to now go updating the Facebook stuff.

http://www.facebook.com/TheDunhams

or

https://www.facebook.com/TheDunhams

What about their human rights, or does that only apply to foreigners?

The legislation dates back to when Blair was Bush's poodle. The biggest complaint about the law is that it is one sided. The burden of proof is greater for the UK to get extradition. Saying that, we have refused extraditions to the US. The most well known was the guy with Aspergers; Gary McKinnon or similar.

If you want to see something sad and touching then watch the excellent film just starting on BBC2

The boy in the striped pyjamas

What every way you look at it , its againist their human rights , its your worst nightmare.

http://money.aol.co.uk/2014/04/10/dying-government-scientist-judged-fit-to-work-by-atos/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cukt3%7Cdl7%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D256462

Watching Panorama on benefit caps , what a mess. this it what happens when you let things get out of hand over decades

300% increase in homeless since IDS introduced the Benefit cap.

Shame on this Government.

Shame On Boris Johnson who said ethnic cleansing wouldnt happen in london.

Shame on Nick Clegg saying their were safety nets.

Shame on The Job Centre directing Londers to Birmingham and other parts of the UK.

Shame on Camoron for looking after the rich and sweeping the underclass under the carpet.

Shame on the middle class of london for allowing Houses to be bought by Rich Foreigners in london and left empty for most of the year.

39482

Alders post 39482, this isnt an isolated case thousand on thousand have been in the same situation and have comitted suicide or just given up all hope and died.

This is a rotten firm but more guilty are the DSS who kept the ATOS contract back in 2010 when it was clear to everyone the company and the system was not fit for purpose.

Re: Heartbleed Bug: Current web site status on patching and recommendations

Info taken from: http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/which-sites-have-patched-the-heartbleed-bug/

Site Qualys Confirmation from site
Google Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Facebook Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
YouTube Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Yahoo! Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Amazon Pass Was not vulnerable
Wikipedia Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
LinkedIn Pass Was not vulnerable
eBay Pass Was not vulnerable
Twitter Pass Was not vulnerable
Craigslist Pass Awaiting response
Bing Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Pinterest Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Blogspot Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
CNN Be on alert Awaiting response
Live Pass Was not vulnerable
PayPal Pass Was not vulnerable
Instagram Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Tumblr Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Espn.go.com Pass Awaiting response
Wordpress Pass Awaiting response
Imgur Pass Awaiting response
Huffington Post Be on alert Awaiting response
Reddit Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
MSN Pass Was not vulnerable
Netflix Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Weather.com Be on alert Awaiting response
IMDb Be on alert Awaiting response
Yelp Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Apple Pass Was not vulnerable
AOL Pass Awaiting response
Microsoft Pass Was not vulnerable
NYTimes Pass Awaiting response
Bank of America Pass Was not vulnerable
Ask Be on alert Awaiting response
Fox News Pass Awaiting response
Chase Pass Was not vulnerable
GoDaddy Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
About Be on alert Awaiting response
BuzzFeed Pass Awaiting response
Zillow Pass Awaiting response
Wells Fargo Pass Was not vulnerable
Etsy Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
XVideos Be on alert Awaiting response
Walmart Pass Was not vulnerable
CNET Pass Was not vulnerable
Pandora Pass Was not vulnerable
xHamster Pass Awaiting response
PornHub Pass Awaiting response
Comcast Pass Awaiting response
Stack Overflow Pass Awaiting response
Salesforce Pass Was not vulnerable
Daily Mail Be on alert Awaiting response
Vimeo Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Conduit Pass Awaiting response
Flickr Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Zedo Be on alert Awaiting response
Forbes Be on alert Awaiting response
LiveJasmin Be on alert Awaiting response
USPS Be on alert Awaiting response
Indeed Pass Awaiting response
Hulu Pass Awaiting response
Answers Pass Awaiting response
HootSuite Pass Was not vulnerable
Amazon Web Services Pass Awaiting response
Adobe Pass Awaiting response
Blogger Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Dropbox Pass Awaiting response
Reference.com Be on alert Awaiting response
AWeber Pass Awaiting response
UPS Pass Awaiting response
CBSSports Pass Was not vulnerable
Googleusercontent.com Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Feedbin Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
Pinboard Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
GetPocket Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
IFTTT Pass Vulnerability patched. Password change recommended
PayScale Pass Was not vulnerable
This list is going to be live and constantly updated; please return to view the latest information as we get it.

300% increase in homeless since IDS introduced the Benefit cap.

And what exactly does that figure mean? 300% of 1 or perhaps 300% of 1000? The figure is meaningless and typical of media hype. Only a gullible idiot would pick out that comment as noteworthy.

As for the benefit cap, brilliant. Why should these families, most of which seem to be over sized (7 in one case, 9 in another) live on benefits. The fact they are allowed to do so is a disgrace. Personally I have no sympathy for people who cannot afford the children they produce with such financial irresponsibility.

Is ATOS being paid on target's to get people off sickness benifit , don't they have to have indepentent medical checks made. Same as you have when claiming invalid care allowance.

The benefit cap is also supported by the Labour party an 70% of the public. It is a policy that Labour has wanted to implement for years, but were too afraid to.

Alders sorry yes they are being paid to get as many off benefits as possible and secretly their are hidden targets set by IDS department. .

An administrator from ATOS (not always medicaly qualified) carried out the assessment asking certain questions to which answers were required and the answer placed into a data base and at the end of the medical an overal score churned out by the computer.

The score then passed onto the DECISION MAKER at the local DSS and they then make the decision based on all evidence presented by the claimant.

ATOS have now withdrawn or will do in the near future and a replacement is being sought.

The problem being that the descriptors provided by the DSS in the ATOS test are not flexible enough and claimants have been treated like robots..........hence some people like the chap you mention above didnt pass the ATOS test although to anyone with thier head screwed on can see they are not fit for work.

Hays the bedroom tax is not supported by Labour and Labour have stated they would not move people out of london. Their would be a safety net.

The Rich Will Destroy London Like They Destroy Everything Else
Posted on April 6, 2014 by johnny void

1-hyde-park

One Hyde Park, where flats cost £100 million and no-one lives in them.
It is difficult to imagine a more grotesque situation than entire streets full of mansions lying empty in Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Kensington whilst just down the road the number of people sleeping in shop doorways soars. But this is the sad reality of a reckless free-market economy which turns our homes into just one more commodity to be gambled with by the rich.

It is impossible to guess just how big the London housing bubble will get, and how far outside of the capital the impact will stretch. The news that house prices have risen by 18% in just one year should chill everyone who hopes to continue actually living in the city.

London’s housing market is being turned into a billionaire’s casino, and as more money pours in those returns will keep getting bigger. Or at least they will until someone blinks. And then the whole sorry scam will come crashing down, leaving the not quite so obscenely rich – who thought they were the players – discovering that they have been well and truly fucking played.

The end result could be a disaster as London is split between a minority of buy to let landlords, who have several homes, and tenants with none who can no longer afford the rents demanded to compensate for mass negative equity.

The real fucking tragedy though is that the only thing worse than the bubble bursting is prices continuing to soar. Already most of the capital is unaffordable for those on low incomes. With housing benefits now capped far below rents in many areas, the vast majority of London’s private tenants are only a P45, an illness, or an accident away from being socially exported from the capital.

As prices soar the creative heart of London will be ripped apart. The days when young people could come to the capital, live in a squat, or a cheap if grotty shared house in somewhere like Hackney or Brixton are already long gone. It is no surprise that beyond over-hyped internet start ups and hipster twats, London’s cultural life is decaying from the bottom up – those at the top just can’t see it yet. Artists, actors and musicians will be forced to join the exodus out of the city along with street cleaners and care workers.

Social housing is now being re-structured as a stepping stone for young middle class professionals, with laughably called affordable rents set at 80% of soaring local rental markets. Many of those who already have a council flat are being bedroom taxed out of the capital. When these tenancies end, these homes too will convert to ‘affordable housing’ in many boroughs – which means they will be unaffordable for most people.

The problems do not end there. Hundreds of thousands of children are currently growing up in social housing in London who will never be able to afford to live here when they have families of their own. Meanwhile as the so-called ‘generation rent’ approaches old age, few will have pensions which cover London rents. The housing crisis in London is only just beginning.

Yet to hear the debate about London’s housing problems you would think the problem only affects ‘young professionals’ hoping to get on the housing ladder. It is as if the rest of us – millions of us – do not exist. The people who built this city, clean it, drive the buses and look after its children are being quietly abandoned with no thought at all to our lives, housing needs or futures.

Across London, from Deptford to Tottenham, luxury flats are springing up like a virus – the first warning to the poor that this is no longer our town. There was a time when gentrification took a couple of decades, areas like Notting Hill did not become the playgrounds of the rich overnight. Now as soon as a Foxtons opens next to the launderette you know you’re fucked.

When this onslaught is finally complete London will die. No-one wants to live in a city full of braying chinless wankers jabbering into smart phones about house prices all day. A global city of the super rich may sound like a utopia to the likes of Boris Johnson or the toffs in government. But they will destroy London like they destroy everything else. The end result will be a city that may have lots of places to buy fucking artisan cupcakes or quaff Champagne, but it will be a place with no soul. Their money will not be able to fix that.

Exec,

Thanks for the list.

Very useful!

QT

Martin Sorrell best panellist