*I've been bogged down with work this week, so I must apologize for the stingy number of posts I've been able to write over the last few days. Things will return to normal next week (as I grab back some flexitime)! I've recorded all the interruption coefficients though and, of course, heard lots of biased BBC reporting. I just haven't had the time to sound off about it all. I will catch up with some of the worst examples this weekend (there are many to choose from).
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In lieu of my own posts, here is another fine post from Not a sheep's blog. Here he nails Evan Davis in the act of 'moving the story on' when in becomes too embarrassing for Gordon Brown:
http://notasheepmaybeagoat.blogspot.com/2010/02/bbc-just-see-almost-everything-from.html
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Have a listen to the interview and you'll hear that Not a sheep is spot on:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8509000/8509875.stm
Have a listen to the interview and you'll hear that Not a sheep is spot on:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8509000/8509875.stm
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I have a soft spot for Lord Krebs. I used to love his textbook on behavioural ecology and he talks good sense on such things as 'organic' food.
I have a soft spot for Lord Krebs. I used to love his textbook on behavioural ecology and he talks good sense on such things as 'organic' food.
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Lord Krebs is from a distinguished science family , of course. And a leading researcher in ornithology. It reminded me that I still have a copy of "Ecology" by Charles J. Krebs ( any relation ? ) publ. 1972 from my Zoology undergraduate days.
ReplyDeleteBut, I digress.
Craig, no need to feel guilty about your lack of output. Just keep up the good work.
Thanks for the mention and 'nice goat'!
ReplyDeleteNo criticism from me Craig.
ReplyDeleteYour prodigious output never ceases to amaze, keep it up. After Guido's yours is the first blog I look at each day. Have also added the inestimable 'Not a Sheep" to my bookmarks now.
PS.
I thought long and hard before posting on the Ali Dizaei debacle and then decided against it.
I posted some time ago on the B-BBC site that I had intimate knowledge of what happened up until 2004 having been attached by my organisation to the Met anti-corruption unit for a year.
All I will say is that the conduct of senior figures both in the Met and in the Home Office to ministerial level was an absolute disgrace and one Assistant Commissioner, who was kept out of the loop until Blair said he should be included, was corrupt. That particular AC, on being told of Helios, uttered “Oh dear, have I compromised myself”. That he was allowed to continue and cause mayhem later on was an appalling miscalculation. This paralysis can be laid firmly at the door of McPherson and his kangaroo enquiry.
The BPA is little more than a front for covering up the criminality of ethnic minority officers. Goodness knows, I was involved in so many enquiries on that front, most of which were swept under the carpet
That BBC journalists were in Dizaei's pocket, as is a Guardian journalist, comes as no surprise whatsoever.
Rant over.
Andy C
Thank you Andy. Feel free to rant whenever you like!
ReplyDeleteDid you hear the 'Today' programme's cosy little chat between Brian Paddick and Alfred John of the BPA? (What a pair of plonkers!) This suggests that the BPA will go on and on and on, blaahing away about 'institutional racism'. The unimpressive Sergeant John sounded distinctly tepid about the rightness of the pursuit of Ali Dizaei and very defensive about his organisation's reason for being.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8505000/8505580.stm
Andy C
ReplyDeleteNone of this surprises me, but interesting to get an inside view. I really despair.
Craig
ReplyDeleteBeing where I am now I never listen to BBC Radio or watch their TV. It comes as no surprise to me however that the BBC should pick Paddick to interview. I never met Paddick but an aquaintance worked for him and described him as an unpleasant bully. I may be wrong but I got the impression that if you weren't of his persuasion then he gave you a hard time.
His tenure as Cmdr of the Brixton area was controversial to say the least.
My own feeling is, that like Dizaei, he was promoted to appease him, not through any ability and the chickens finally came home to roost.
His comments at a press conference in the immediate aftermath of 7/7 apppalled me, viz "Islam and terrorism don't go together"
Grant,
If you despair how do you think we felt. After I left the anti-corruption secondment I finished up doing inter-agency facilitation on a plethora of stuff. Just before I retired I saw the most craven piece of kow-towing to the race lobby.
Following a lengthy operation there was sufficient evidence against an Asian officer who had conspired with a drug trafficking gang. In exchange for tip-offs and intelligence to get the competion out of the way and protect the gang he was given his own drug peddling concession.
The Met management's solution to this was to move him out of the area and second him to a recruitment unit focussing on increasing the number of ethnic and minority officers.
Isolated incidence? Unfortunately not.
Thank god I could retire.
I really must drop the subject now before I say too much.
Andy C
Andy C
ReplyDeleteAgain , it doesn't surprise me. But, now you are retired you can write a book about it. On the other hand, maybe better to delete it from your memory !