1. I've just finished reading John le Carre's The Mission Song (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 2006), and as always it was an excellent and enjoyable read. Once again this work of "fiction" of his had all the resonance of the reality I've been experiencing. Not the factual detail but the similar pattern of attitude of being outside the law, manipulative, exploitive and dedicated to one's own corrupt self interest with the power to ensure that there is no responsibility required and no accountability to mar the results whatever that might be. The Home Office is the same and has now been labelled "dysfunctional" and "not fit for purpose" by the current Home Secretary which has disarmed everyone and permitted the Home Office to function as always. I highly recommend this as an excellent read and food for thought.

The war for resources and private exploitation/gain at the expense of the weak or weakened continues unabated. The great problem for all is that this is becoming a self destructive act on the part of anyone who thinks s/he can gain wealth in this manner for it is fast destroying the planet. This will ultimately be a poetic justice which will tragically affect everyone and not just the bad guys. The real question remains about whether or not the human animal with all his/her abilities can function in a manner that is suitable to communal survival and consistent with living at one with nature? Two events have occurred in the past 24 hours which illuminate this ongoing problem: 1) the carnage in Baghdad and 2) the death by radiation poisoning of a former KGM official who was more lately critical of the machinations of the Russian intelligence service(s). He told it like it was with results that carry with it overtones of The Mission Song.

2. Baghdad has suffered the greatest single loss of life in a day since the invasion almost four years ago.

Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, November 24, 2006; Page A01

Assault on Iraqi Civilians Is Deadliest Since 2003

By Sudarsan Raghavan and Nancy Trejos

Baghdad, Nov. 23 -- A barrage of car bombs, mortar attacks and missiles battered the Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City on Thursday afternoon, killing at least 138 people and injuring more than 200, in the single deadliest assault on Iraqi civilians since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

The highly orchestrated attacks on the stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr threatened to unleash yet another cycle of reprisal killings and push the country closer to all-out civil war. The attacks, targeting the heart of Baghdad's Shiite community, seem designed to stoke the sectarian rage gripping Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/23/AR2006112300399.html

3. Swamping all news reporting today on BBC News24 has been the unraveling of the apparent assassination by radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko who apparently died a very painful death drawn out over some three weeks.

BBC News Friday, 24 November 2006, 20:05 GMT

Radiation found after spy's death

Mr Litvinenko's condition deteriorated rapidly in hospital Radiation briefing

Police probing the death of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko have found above-normal levels of radiation at three locations in London.

Mr Litvinenko's death has been linked to the presence of a "major dose" of radioactive polonium-210 in his body.

Scotland Yard confirmed traces were also found at his home, a sushi bar and a hotel, but the risk to others was said by health experts to be very low.

The Kremlin has denied UK citizen Mr Litvinenko's claims it was involved.

The traces were found at the Itsu sushi restaurant in Piccadilly, the Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square, and at Mr Litvinenko's home in Muswell Hill, north London, Scotland Yard said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6180682.stm