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No stain on their character then

The National Black Police Association had to accept an inquiry into its financial record keeping

Following an internal review and a Home Office audit of the financial management of the NBPA, in August 2007 the IPCC confirmed it would undertake an independent investigation. This examined the actions of three serving police officers, one retired police officer, one member of police staff and one retired police staff member. Ms Naseem Malik, IPCC Commissioner said: “The investigation did not find evidence of misconduct by any serving or retired UK police officer or police staff member. “However, the record keeping within the NBPA during this period was so shockingly poor it is simply not possible to account for significant amounts of expenditure. Our evidence showed that these accounting failures allowed a culture of extremely poor practice by some individuals. This poor practice involved significant public funds and a registered charity. It could have been stopped at an earlier stage if the Home Office had carried out its responsibilities as the main funder more effectively. Ms Malik's statement “The investigation did not find evidence of misconduct by any serving or retired UK police officer or police staff member." amuses me. The intent is to depict an organisation where the members are as pure as the driven snow (windblown soot?). The fact they did not find any guilty person or person is down to the way the organisation was run not because none was corrupt. So, if no one nicked it - where did the money go? A little work by a forensic accountant would have reconstituted the accounts sufficiently for someone to be caught red-handed. (black-palmed?)

Look carefully at the words that the US President used about the former prime minister Blair yesterday:

I want to thank my good friend Tony Blair for coming today, somebody who did it first and perhaps did it better than I will do. He has been an example for so many people around the world of what dedicated leadership can accomplish. And we are very grateful to him.

Those words – and they are pretty remarkable words – point to only one conclusion. They say that Obama takes Blair seriously as a centre-left leader. Perhaps what he takes seriously is merely Blair's mastery of political rhetoric and communications skills rather than his policy record – why else, some might argue, would a politician who has become president because of his opposition to the Iraq war be at ease with one who was intimately involved in waging it? But perhaps the words say something deeper. Perhaps they also say that Obama grasps that Blair's experience can have lessons for other centre-left leaders like himself who are trying to sustain coalitions of support and carry out effective political leadership in countries (of which the US and the UK are certainly two) where the record of past failure is greater than the record of past success.

Not my deduction - comes from the Grauniad

No comment needed

Stay away

The continuing efforts by Debbie Purdy to get clarification of the DPP's attitude to those who might be deemed guilty of assisting in a suicide really annoy me. She failed to get the answer she wanted and has now taken her, to me, needless campaign to the Court of Appeal. She wants to know if her husband, the Cuban violinist Omar Puente, will be prosecuted if he helps her to travel abroad to die in Switzerland, where the practice is legal. She is seeking guidelines from the Director of Public Prosecutions as to his policy on the circumstances in which a person would be liable to prosecution for helping another commit suicide. In England and Wales, aiding and abetting suicide is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The DPP has shown his hand by not pursuing action against UK citizens who have done just what she is contemplating. He cannot state a policy all the while the aiding and abetting suicide legislation remains law but he can get around it by declaring prosecutions as not in the public interest. The risk there is that he may incite those with very firm views against self-determination to demand he justify his not in interest opinion and have his attitude overturned.

When I married, I took a vow about supporting my spouse in sickness and in health. Were I in Mr Purdy's shoes, I would make it very clear to my wife that I would do anything and everything in my power to support her wishes in this matter. From such experience as I have had in life after the death of a close relative, my incarceration or not would be very small potatoes. I will not be so sanctimonious as to plead that my oath before God over-ruled my observance of the law of the land but I reckon it would make a good defence.

Were I able, I would counsel Debby to let sleeping dogs lie. If she does stir up sufficient mud as to obscure common sense, the remainder of her life will be spent in fear and worry. In addition, she will set a precedent for others in her position. She and her husband should be enjoying today and not worrying about tomorrow - seems God has already ordained what happens then.

Wal-mart woes

Back in the day, as some say, I was a heavy user of Wal-mart whenever I was in America. The range and depth of stuff they stocked was amazing. I was first attracted by the ease with which one could inspect and handle a range of shotguns and sporting rifles. Not because I would have been able to purchase one but just for the illicit thrill of getting hands on.

Whenever I mentioned these visits to my hosts or other Americans, it was expected by me that I would hear just what a terrible organisation Wal-Mart was. Exploitation of the employees, unfair work practices, harsh terms imposed upon suppliers - almost everything was wrong. It did not dissuade me from shopping there; just that I kept quiet about it in polite company.

So, interesting to read an account of an undercover but frank stint as an employee. Maybe they have improved as a result of the criticism I found or they were never that evil anyway. Just another reason for me to rue the fact that I shall never get back to visit America. Though, I have to concede that there is still opposition to my Shopper's Paradise.

"Be prepared" be buggered.

Dramatic warnings about heavy snowfall started to appear yesterday morning. Sure enough, the day dawned with that sort of translucent light through the bedroom window and, sure enough, a carpeting of snow lay all around.As is usual, a slight fall of some 2 inches (five centimeters for the cognoscente), brought almost everything to a swift halt. All London buses - off. London Underground that has open air bits - Off. Major rail networks - Shut down. Airports either closed or reduced to just one runway with consequent cancellations of flights out to allow aircraft already in the air to land. Schools are closed and police and traffic organisations are issuing dire warnings not to travel if one's journey is not essential. The news broadcasts are talking of Arctic Blizzard conditions. The country is at a standstill

I have lived in countries where the snowfall was reported in feet not inches. Vehicle radiators froze up as the vehicle was being driven. Battery acid froze and burst the battery casings. Bare skin stuck on exposed metal. None of these places could be said to be modern in terms of road quality or simple technology such as gritting. But life went on. People moved about - the oxen provided motive power. Animal furs gave protection from the wind. But, life went on. No hiatus as we have here with a dusting of snow and the best of modern machinery to cope with the cold.

I suppose we might get some benefit from the weather conditions. Wildcat strikes have spread very quickly and the protesters are on the march. Hopefully, some will decide that their journeys are not essential. The problem seems to have started after the Italian company IREM won a £200m construction contract and supplied its own permanent workforce. It is understood 100 Italian and Portuguese workers are already on site and 300 more are expected in the coming days and weeks. Doubtless, the contract was placed on lowest cost criteria and the incoming workers are cheaper that UK employees. The actual cause of the action seems confused but that has never deterred the Great British Worker. There is a ghost hovering here like something from Elsinore; fuel distribution may be disrupted. Just in time to add to the misery of the old and handicapped who have trouble meeting fuel costs.

One thing the dispute is doing is to increase disenchantment with the current Government amongst those traditionally its supporters. So, a small benefit there then. I see little chance of the Conservative party hastening the demise of NuLabour as it was dictated by Blair and as it is now under Brown. Cameron has almost the status of the Invisible Man. This was emphasised when he recruited William Hague as the Senior member of his Cabinet and old toughie Clarke to oppose Lord Meddlesome. It is almost as if he has put them into position to further opposition to Brown's team rather than be personally involved. His Party give serious - almost dramatic - accounts of the damage that Labour is doing to the future financial standing of the country but allows these to continue. Ensuring that the situation and damage gets worse by the day.

Satire

but all good satire is based upon something that could well come about.

Government officials have announced that the historic Isle of Wight town of Shanklin has been selected as Britain’s first set-aside town. During the next six months the municipality and surrounding villages will be evacuated, businesses will be closed and utilities will be cut off. The area will then be left to lie fallow for a two year period.

Set-aside is an old farming method where a field is left unused, or fallow, for a period of time to allow the soil to replenish nutrients and thus remain fertile for the next phase of crop rotation. In 2007 a government think-tank hit upon the idea of using this technique to revitalise parts of the country during recession.

‘This is a radical new form of urban regeneration,’ explained a Whitehall spokesman. ‘Once Shanklin has been set-aside, the area will no longer be subjected to the every-day wear and tear that afflicts other urban areas. There will be no demand for precious fuel resources, traffic congestion will ease and housing problems will be non-existent. In short the town will have time to draw breath.’

Purpose-built camps are being built in disused airfields across the country to house the residents of Shanklin, where they will be provided with food and water for six weeks before ‘making their own arrangements’. Opposition to the scheme has been surprisingly muted although under new legislation, Shanklin’s dispossessed lose their citizenship during the fallow period, so the town’s population are not eligible to take part in national politics. But one visitor to Shanklin found it very unsettling; ‘It is like a ghost town. Nobody on the streets, all the shops shut; nothing happening anywhere,’ he reported, unaware that the scheme hasn’t actually started yet.

Bleary-eyed Blears

From a pronouncement from the blessed Hazel

3) Make campaigning fun. Campaigning is like sex – if you’re not enjoying it, you’re not doing it right. It should never be a drudge. Make sure there’s plenty of meals, drinks, social events, and a campaign HQ with plenty of tea and biscuits. Tap into the enthusiasm of young people with blitzing and street stalls. High energy, high impact, low cost.

Well, I suppose I can see what she is getting at. However, I have to admit that my experience of sex did not include all of the delights she lists. Campaign HQ? - cannot see my blonde tolerating that.

Moaning Yorkshiremen

Not the original but because we know the Python original, all the funnier.

Tough job ahead

A panel of the great and the good were asked what they saw as tasks of the new Met Police boss.
Interesting and surprisingly waffle free,

NHS Expansion

No - not a self-portrait of me. An introduction to a very perception post by a well trusted blogger.

Read it - you will be amazed. Or, possibly, not.

Cost benefit analysis

I grew up in an atmosphere where sex was rented. Luckily it did not rub off (well, not very much anyway) on me but I can see the attraction of renting. I had a look at the McCartney and Mills relationship. After 5 years of marriage, he paid her $49 Million!

Assuming he got sex every night (which us men know would have never happened), it ended up costing him $26,849 each time he had sex with his wife. A really high class prostitute (OK, sex-worker for the nervous) apparently cost $4,000. The hooker is on the right and the wife on the left. So, no great debate there then. And no risk of getting splinters under your toe-nails! Even if you threw a 100% tip in for 'specials'. you are well ahead. On the face of it, renting wins all hands down. There is a web site that assists in showing the true cost of a girl friend.

I have to admit that no all prostitutes look as good as the one in my comparison. But at $4,000 a tussle one is pretty sure to find something. And ponder this as well - there are a heck of a lot of wives who look like the Jumping Cricket.

Unto them that hath shall be given?

A Californian woman who gave birth to octuplets earlier this week already has six children, US media has reported. The eight babies were delivered nine weeks early by Caesarean section in a hospital near Los Angeles on Monday. The mother has not been named, but US media is quoting family members as saying she already has six other children, including twins.

The Los Angeles Times later carried an interview with a woman identified as the babies' grandmother, who said her daughter already has six young children and never expected fertility treatment she had received would result in eight more babies. She said that doctors had given her daughter the option of reducing the number of embryos, but she had declined.

Officials at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, near Los Angeles, said the woman was already 12 weeks pregnant when she came to them. Despite media questioning, the hospital has declined to say whether the mother became pregnant through fertility treatments.

Well. I do not know how much of this is based on fact. I cannot imagine why a woman with six children would even share her bed with a male still less seek fertility treatment. I understand that the odds of producing that many embryo naturally are many millions to one. So, what the heck were the fertility clinic people thinking when they took her on? The woman cannot have been struck with a warm glow of maternal desire; she had six children and would have known full well what a further eight would entail. Check on that but I bet she will do very well from advertising deals. A slightly arcane point is that her husband is a civilian contractor in Iraq; a job with a higher than average risk of sudden death which would just about wipe out the security of the family.

There is now updated information about this woman. Some form of pathological condition that makes her want children. Keep her away from me please!

Sombre warnings

Was it ever more pertinent to say the following? :

I warn you that you will have pain – when healing and relief depend upon payment.

I warn you that you will have poverty – when pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a government that won’t pay in an economy that can’t pay.

I warn you that you must not expect work – when many cannot spend, more will not be able to earn. When they don’t earn, they don’t spend. When they don’t spend, work dies.

I warn you that you will be quiet – when the curfew of fear and the gibbet of unemployment make you obedient.

I warn you that you will be homebound – when fares and transport bills kill leisure and lock you up.

I warn you that you will borrow less – when credit, loans, mortgages and easy payments are refused to people on your melting income.

• I warn you not to be ordinary
  
• I warn you not to be young
  
• I warn you not to fall ill
  
• I warn you not to get old.

Raging Bull

This is shown here to celebrate the lady getting an Award for her performance. No other motive for the video. Believe me!

Never mind which knife - which bowl?

So, you have met this incredible Japanese maiden. Not a one night stand.Not a bath-house babe. Just a very nice girl. Two or thre dates in she says "You wanna come meet my Mum Dad?" If the relationship is to continue, there can only be the one answer.

So, in best bib and tucker, you turn up at what is quite an impressive house. This girl is looking more attractive by the minute. She has told you that her parents are Old Japan so you have revised the courtesies and a few phrases in Japanese. All seems well. Then, a meal is suggested. The door rolls back and the dining room is revealed. It is an on the floor job but they have provided a low table for you to save the cramp that comes five minutes after the Japanese-kneel posture.

Then you see the meal!



So, where to start? Japanese food comes in extremes - very hot and spicy, very salted, very many things and all without any real indication of the traps set for Western palates. Luckily, Japanese Miss knows her Old Japan etiquette and selects something and offers it to you. The next trial is the sake. This, like modern-day vodka comes in many flavours. The one thing in common is that all are 200% proof alcohol. Put it in your Zippo if the lighter fuel is missing. They can down large quantities; the merest sip does for most of us.

I think I upheld the flag for the New World. I was invited back a time or two but fate intervened and I was posted to Korea. Local girls who could be described as 'nice' there were few and far between but at least they ate American food!

Auschwitz

There seems to be a mass of discussion about the fate of the infamous concentration camp complex erected with the sole purpose of disposing of human beings. Over a million of them.

I remember the wave of horror that went through the free world when reports of these places appeared on our cinema screens. There was no convention then of sparing viewers distressing scenes. Bulldozers were used to shovel piled up bodies into mass graves. The 'living' were also shown in great detail. In some camps - mostly those opened up by Americans - the locals were ordered to attend and see what had gone on in these barbed wire enclosures where trains had run in crowded with humans and out empty. I was twelve years old.

What went on then is truly history. Ancient history. Publicising them and preserving them has served it's purpose. Who now needs convincing of the inhumanity that can spring from a human mind? Those who deny the Holocaust will not change their opinions and they have no influence on me anyway. 

Let them wither away say I. Indeed, level them to the ground and plant a forest of trees. Over a million of them.

Guys over Sixty

Great work by any sky diver - to get these results from a team all over 60 is really exciting. 

Well done blokes!

Sara Payne

The murder of little Sarah Payne was an event that had a great effect upon me at the time. The photograph of a very pretty child was everywhere and the inquiry attracted great attention. However, what really got to me were her parents Sara and Michael. They presented what I thought of as faces of bravery. No mawkish sentimentality; dignity shone through their loss. The broke up some while later but Sara continued to press for changes in the law.

Now she has been appointed Victims Champion. This is a Government post which sees her representing all victims of crime, giving them a voice at a national level. Mrs Payne, who campaigned for a "Sarah's Law" to reveal information on where paedophiles live, said she would challenge "whatever needs to be challenged" in her discussions with ministers.

She said: "Over the last eight years I have been asking for victims to have a louder voice, and for the Government to listen more closely to what they have to say. I am proud I will now be their champion, and welcome my appointment to this very important role. I look forward to bringing the voice of victims and witnesses to the heart of Government."

I hope she gets the support and results she deserves. There can be no better memorial for that lovely little child.