Now, I have no great opinions for or against Think Tanks. What does grip my pipe though is busy-bodies offering opinions from ivory towers. The source of funding for the Tank is rarely divulged or investigated by those who pick up on these ‘learned comments’ and run with the ball – generally to the detriment of the team effort. Here are a couple of ‘reports’ and also this:
“Government must do more to consult business to ensure that Britain is fully prepared to deal with the threat from terrorism according to a report published today by Demos, the leading independent think tank. Joining Forces: From national security to networked security, argues that central government, the Police and Security Service need to work more closely with business in planning for and responding to terrorists attacks.
“It is time to dispel the dangerous myth that government has a monopoly over security”, says the report’s author Rachel Briggs, Head of International Programmes at Demos. “The unwritten, unspoken assumption remains that government leads and business follows; that government has a monopoly on useful information and intelligence; and that ultimately it is the state that ‘delivers’ security for the UK.”
Exactly what those with experience of business can contribute to the national fight against terrorism escapes me. I am unable to think when my job would have been made redundant or easier just by having some over-fed, pin-striped, Director of Finance standing by my shoulder. His umbrella might deal with some of the backwash from water-cannon but little else. The Bosses are there to increase benefit to shareholders. That is what makes their minds tick. They could only bring this attitude to terrorism. The disclosures of the last couple of days in the case of the waxed Brazilian show just how complex are the news management skills still less the direction of anti-terrorist forces. The idea of three hours lunches in COBRA scares me.
Just to counter any slight suspicion that all I do is moan, think about this:
When a 9-year-old Florida girl disappeared from her bedroom last week, the sheriff's office coordinating the search for her immediately posted a front-page alert on its website.
In the following days, countless sites around the country -- charitable organizations, churches and other groups -- joined the search for Jessica Lunsford. The sheriff's department received at least 300 tips, and dozens of sites posted details about Jessica on the web in the form of brief alerts or, in some cases, lengthy and regularly updated discussions of her case.
And while she's still missing, the sheriff's department says the internet has proven to be a powerful tool in trying to find her.
"It's very safe to say that it initiated a lot of our tips," said Gail Tierney, the public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff's Office in Florida. "It's multiplied many times over the number of websites out there (that) have also included her description and photo and contact information. So it's been kind of a force multiplier for us." This is somewhere that business might assist in carrying the news on their own intranets.
Time for a bit of light relief methinks. This snippet is about a guy who got fed up living in a red-light area. Police did nothing so he took his video camera onto the street and filmed some in-car action. Damn sight more amusing than in-car with Schumacher I bet. Police get the tapes and prosecute. He even offers a service where wives can give him details of hubby’s car and she will be first to view any film. Ooh Ooh – Big Brother watch out!
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