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.

Dreams.

I thought we had the Law and Order Party in place, or were the promises made before the last election, just fairy stories for the gullible?

It would seem to me, with the increasing likelihood of public strife and criminality due to ongoing economic "recession", that reduction of "on the ground" policing numbers will be a folly.

Not against "cutting down" waste, reducing costs of "resourcing", or increasing other "efficiencies", and think these factors should always be considered.

But, any organisation of the size which the Police Authority is, needs an efficient "bureaucracy", or "administration".

Collation of data leads to successful apprehension of "criminals", but is also needed for "protection" of the police against "false" claims for compensation. Unfortunately, and increasing problem with a litigious society.

Also, look at those "necessary" increases in the investigation costs of the "Phone hacking" affair/s.

(Look at the cost of kicking some of the details into the long grass to "save money".)

I think this government is beginning to realise some the responsibilities and "problems" of being in "charge",

I think thinking before knee jerk responses based on outdate ideology may be appropriate/

I hope that Cameron doesn't have to make too many more "mistakes" in order to learn.



====================

Now we know why the government is relaxing/clarifying how much force we can use to both defend ourselves and our homes. It is because we will end up being more self policing than the police themselves.
I know from experience that often when the police look to cut backroom waste, and believe me there is plenty to cut, they often end up cutting the front line more or at least as much.
The reason being that the decision makers are those of high rank, and where do most of these high rankers hide (sorry mean work), thats right in those back room officers.
One major point is 'statistics'. At least 25% of all police work is filling in forms that are nothing more than fulfilling the governments want for figures.
When I retired in 2003, I can state with full confidence that on average each job took at least 3 times as long to complete as when I started my career in 1977.
A simple what was then called 'Breach of the Peace or Drunk and Disorderly' required 4 very simple forms to complete the court file. When I left a Section 5 Public Order (the equal of a B of P or D and D) took 17 completed forms.
A simple theft in 1977 took either 4 or 5 forms (memory not as it was) not counting statements, in 2003 it took 23 plus statements.
I kid you not on both these instances.

Also every station had cells and counter staff where prisoners were dealt with (they are now called custody suites). The staff being bought in from other duties at the smaller stations, if there were any prisonres. If no prisoners, they were out policing the streets.
Now due to 'efficiency measures' bought in about 15 years ago, there are often only 2 to 3 custody suites in any 1 police force area.
This can mean that you can be miles away from such suites.
I can recall many an instance were I made an arrest which required a trip of 36 miles to a cell block (I never called them suites). The prisoner was deposited, then I had to return to the arrest area to obtain statements, (or you found someone else take them and bring them to you, which was difficult), so that was another 36 miles, returning to interview (36 miles) then returning back to your station (36 miles). So in total 144 miles to deal with 1 simple offense. In fact the furthest part of my force area was 41 miles from the nearest cell block.
In the old days of the cell blocks being connected to every station total mileage was a very small fraction of those totals.
So a job that took around 1 to 2 hours max in 1977, could take a whole 8 hour shift in 2003, and I have been old that it has got worse since then.
There are many other examples of such ridiculous policy.
Governments insatiable appetite for form filling takes priority, crime detection comes a poor second
Efficiency, don't make me laugh!

One thing's for sure, the double quote mark will never be out of a job while Fred's around.

Which is odd considering that in most cases single quotes or italics would be correct as the words and phrases are mainly not quotes.

Can I quote you on that!

Ah, I've got it now - Fred's quoting himself.

Amazing that it was 42 years ago - on this day.

.

Yes - I vividly remember watching it with my Dad.

Posting 11756

Data collection is never an irrelevancy.

It may be considered irrelevant at the time of collection, or when wishing to obtain a specific goal.

However, seemingly irrelevant observations collected initially are often recognised later as being important.

Hence, why detailed collection of scientific observations, etc is important.
(Some considered the storage of DNA 10-20 years ago an irrelevancy, but in recent years have help to solve crimes of that period.)

In a computerised society, duplication of inputting of data for a single record, can be, or should be, minimal.

One of the problems Greek appears to be describing, is the lack of sophistication of the software programme, to collect the information and present it on updating screen, and correlation of information on screen.
-----------------------------

As far as the re-organisation, co-ordination and logistics of current working procedures are concerned, any implementation of new ideas should be only after due thought, and generally after small piloted test runs. This can reveal weaknesses in the new processes.

The theory of bigger is cheaper and better is not always valid, except on paper.)

The problem is recent governments (including this one) rush to get ill thought out theories into the market, without considering long term or more global effect of the changes, The instigators often moving on during the chaos to other posts.

Reorganisation and revaluation of procedures within any organisation can be, if managed appropriately valuable and invigorating, but to do so should take in to consideration information from those who will be involved in implementing those changes. They, the workers at all levels should be consulted and consideration of views considered.

I hated paper work until a computer help me to write and record information efficiently. (Ie. without too many embarrassing spelling problems and lousy syntax.)
While I was working, I relied heavily on memory in order to record events and actions and, luckily, rarely called to justify them. I am thankful that I do not have to account for my actions in the current working atmosphere.

.

NM.

Agreed.

Being paranoid I have never been let down.

========

Chomsky.

In my early ramblings came across references to his work, but never sat down and tried to swallow them.

I think that the value of his work was to listen to the words of myself and others when pontificating and often laugh at myself and question others.

Can be useful or a pain.

Ps, According to my family I have only been right four times.#









I have four daughters!

Can someone translate that ?

Im not in Freds good book.

He has taken to many pills.

11 Most Useful Pompous Words
Hobbledehoy A gawky adolescent boy; a callow youth. (As used in Trollope: In truth, they are not as yet men, whatever the number may be of their years; and, as they are no longer boys, the world has found for them the ungraceful name of hobbledehoy.)

Ergasiophobia - Fear of, or aversion to, work. (Not the same thing, mind you, as simple laziness.)

Afflatus A sudden rush of divine or poetic inspiration. (Especially felicitous when such inspiration is accompanied by bloating or gas, as it so often is.)

Hebetate - To grow dull or stupid.

Colposinquanonia - Estimating a woman's beauty based on her chest. (Alas, a common folly, particularly in America.)

Cachinnation - Loud or hysterical laughter.

Napiform - Shaped like a turnip. (You would not believe how many things are shaped like turnips, just waiting to be identified with this word.)

Charientism An artfully veiled insult. (Known in some communities best left unmentioned as a neg. )

Foofaraw Excessive or flashy ornamentation; a fuss over a trifling matter. (As used in the immortal and never answered Kent Brockman question from the Simpsons: Argle-bargle or foofaraw?)

Melolagnia Amorous feeling inspired my music. (Im not sure if a word exists for odors smellolagnia, perhaps but it certainly should.)

Adoxography - Skilled writing about an unimportant subject. (Especially useful for the Internet age, as well as for all manner of squibs.)

Fed Prepares for Doomsday as Debt Deadline Nears
Thursday, 21 Jul 2011 07:35 AM
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The Federal Reserve is actively preparing for the possibility that the United States could default as a deadline for raising the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit looms, a top Fed policymaker said on Wednesday.

Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, said the U.S. central bank has for the past few months been working closely with Treasury, ironing out what to do if the world's biggest economy runs out of cash on August 2.

"We are in contingency planning mode," Plosser told Reuters in an interview at the regional central bank's headquarters in Philadelphia. "We are all engaged. ... It's a very active process."

Plosser said his "gut feeling" was that President Barack Obama and Congress will come to an agreement to increase the Treasury's borrowing authority in time to avert a default on government obligations.

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Obama was due to meet with top Republicans in Congress on Wednesday to discuss the latest attempts to end the dispute over raising the country's debt ceiling, a row which has raised the prospect of the Treasury Department running out of money to pay its bills next month.

The Treasury has repeatedly said default was unthinkable and that there was no alternative to raising the debt ceiling. Plosser's remarks marked the most extensive public comments yet on preparations for a default from a U.S. official.

A Treasury spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

One aspect of the Fed's contingency planning is purely operational: the Fed is developing procedures about how the Treasury would notify it on which checks would get cleared and which wouldn't, Plosser said.

The Fed effectively acts as the Treasury's bank -- it clears the government's checks to everyone from social security recipients to government workers.

"We are developing processes and procedures by which the Treasury communicates to us what we are going to do," Plosser said, adding that the task was manageable. "How the Fed is going to go about clearing government checks. Which ones are going to be good? Which ones are not going to be good?"

"There are a lot of people working on what we would do and how we would do it," he said.

Plosser added that there are difficult questions that the Fed itself had to grapple with.

The Fed lends to banks at the discount window against good collateral. But what happens if U.S. Treasuries no longer fit that bill?

"Do we treat them as if they didn't default, in which case we would be saying we are pretending it never happened? Or do we treat them as if they defaulted and don't lend against them?" Plosser said. "Those are more policy questions."

Plosser, who was a vocal critic of some of the Fed's extraordinary lending during the financial crisis which he said veered into fiscal policy and risked the central bank's independence warned it would be crucial for the Fed not to do the Treasury's work for it.

"We have to be very careful that we don't become, that we don't conduct fiscal policy in this context," he said. "That we don't substitute for the inability of the Treasury to borrow in some circumstances."

INCLINED TO TIGHTEN

Plosser, a noted policy hawk on inflation, argued the Fed might need to raise interest rates before the end of the year, despite recent evidence of renewed economic weakness.

He said he expects the economy to grow at a 3-3.5 percent annual rate over the second half of 2011 with the jobless rate declining to around 8.5 percent by year's end.

"The more my forecast comes to fruition the more I'm going to feel like we may have to act," said Plosser, who is a voting member of the Fed's monetary policy-setting committee this year. "I'd like to have a little more confidence in that forecast."

_______________________________________________________
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Plosser pinned the slowdown in economic growth over the first half of the year to "easily identifiable" factors, such as weather, a spike in oil prices and supply disruptions from Japan's earthquake. He also cited uncertainty stemming from Europe's fiscal morass and the wrangling over U.S. debt in Washington.

"I don't see the fundamentals of the economy as changed that much," he said. "Yeah, there's been some shocks and disruptions, but the underlying forces that are going to cause us to continue a slow, moderate recovery are still in place."

That said, the Fed, which is charged with ensuring financial stability, would clearly feel the responsibility to step in as a lender of last resort if markets seized up after a U.S. default, he added.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke last week warned that a default could have "catastrophic" effects on financial markets.

Plosser, a former dean of the Simon School of Business at Rochester University, was more circumspect.

"It could be very bad. At some level we don't really know what the consequences could be. It could be very serious. It could be less serious. Do we really want to run that experiment?"
2011 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Read more: Fed Prepares for Doomsday as Debt Deadline Nears
Important: Can you afford to Retire? Shocking Poll Results

..Beckham: Only One Team In Manchester

Sky News 22 minutes ago

..
Beckham: Only One Team In Manchester
....David Beckham claims Manchester City will never overtake Manchester United, saying: "There's only one team in Manchester".

The former United midfielder is set to come up against City when they play Beckham's LA Galaxy in a pre-season friendly at the weekend.

Beckham insists the Premier League's big spenders are not on course to become the city's most successful team.

"They've got strong people behind them as a club," Beckham told Sky Sports News, "but they're never going to be Man United. I've always said that.

"They might be a threat against teams this season and in seasons to come, but Manchseter United have got the history, Manchester United have got the silverware over the last 20 years.

"I'm a Man United fan, so I'm always going to say that. There's only one team in Manchester, but Man City I'm sure will be a team to look at going forward."
...

....A former News Of The World executive has been sacked by The Sun after serious allegations of wrongdoing relating to his time at the Sunday title, Sky sources say.

The employee dismissed is thought to be Matt Nixson, who had been features editor at The Sun since last January.

It is understood he was escorted out of the newsroom by four security guards and his computer seized.

It came as a former editor and a former legal boss at the NOTW claimed James Murdoch was "mistaken" in a statement about phone-hacking he made to a parliamentary committee.

Colin Myler, the now-defunct tabloid's editor in 2005, and its then international legal manager Tom Crone made the claim in a joint statement.

They say they had told Mr Murdoch of an email that contained transcripts of 35 hacked telephone messages between former Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor and PFA legal advisor Jo Armstrong.

The significance of the e-mail is that it casts doubt on the original NOTW defence that it was a lone rogue reporter, Royal Editor Clive Goodman, who used private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to hack phones.

Mr Murdoch told the Commons culture and media select committee he had not been aware of the email when approving an out-of-court settlement for Taylor.

The email was sent to Mr Mulcaire by an unnamed junior reporter at the NOTW, featuring the line "Hello, this is the transcript for Neville" - referring to Neville Thurbeck, the NOTW's chief reporter in 2005.

Mr Myler and Mr Crone's statement says: "Just by way of clarification relating to Tuesday's CMS Select Committee hearing, we would like to point out that James Murdoch's recollection of what he was told when agreeing to settle the Gordon Taylor litigation was mistaken.

"In fact, we did inform him of the 'for Neville' email which had been produced to us by Gordon Taylor's lawyers."

During the select committee meeting, MP Tom Watson had said: "James... when you signed off the Taylor payment, did you see or were you made aware of the full Neville e-mail, the transcript of the hacked voicemail messages?"

Mr Murdoch said: "No, I was not aware of that at the time."

Mr Watson replied: "But you paid an astronomical sum, and there was no reason to."

Mr Murdoch then said: "There was every reason to settle the case, given the likelihood of losing the case and given the damages-we had received counsel-that would be levied."

Responding to the statement from Mr Myler and Mr Crone, News Corporation have said James Murdoch sticks by his testimony.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the Culture Committee, told Sky News his committee would be asking James Murdoch to respond to the claims by Mr Myler and Mr Crone.

He said that during Tuesday's hearing Mr Murdoch had promised to write to the committee answering those questions he was unable to answer in his evidence and he would now be asked to answer the Myler/Crone claims in his letter.

But Mr Whittingdale said the committee would not be calling James Murdoch to appear before the committee again since Parliament is now in recess.

A fleeing Taliban, desperate for water, was plodding through the desert of Afghanistan when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he hurried towards the object, only to find a little old Jewish man at a small stand selling ties.


The Taliban asked, Do you have water?


The Jewish man replied, I have no water but I do have a selection of ties. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5.


The Taliban shouted, Idiot! I do not need an over-priced tie. I need water! I should kill you, but I must find water first!


OK, said the old Jewish man, It does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie and that you hate me so much. I will show you that I am bigger than that. If you continue over that hill to the east for about two miles, you will find a lovely restaurant. It has all the ice-cold water you need. Shalom.

Muttering, the Taliban staggered away over the hill to find the restaurant. Several hours later he staggered back, looking like a dried prune and almost dead. He says, Your f***ing brother won't let me in without a tie!