Rabbit Thought of the Day

I suppose this had to come, I am just surprised that it took so long. His position had become untenable, you can’t go on national TV call your boss a racist and expect to carry on in your job. He should have waited until the outcome of the tribunal before making statements like he has. Unfortunately if they are true or not he has not done himself any favours in the way he has conducted himself. This will of course be remembered when the tribunal takes place and may work against the both of them.  

The UK's most senior Asian police officer has been "relieved of his command", the National Black Police Association (NBPA) has said. The decision came after Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur lodged a £1.2m racial discrimination claim against the Metropolitan Police (Met). Commissioner Sir Ian Blair made the decision after meeting with Mr Ghaffur and his lawyer at Scotland Yard.

The Met has said Mr Ghaffur has been put on "authorised leave of absence".

The chairman of NBPA, Alfred John, said it was "disappointed" with the "unprecedented decision".

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur lodged the claim against the Met with an employment tribunal on 22 August.

He claims he was discriminated against on grounds of race, religion and age.

In a statement Sir Ian Blair said he made the decision after the recent press conference by Mr Ghaffur on his race claim case against the Met.

"It is also clear this is having a negative impact on the London 2012 Olympic Security programme and risks undermining confidence in it," the statement said.

"Certainly, it is the case that the interests of Londoners are not being well served by this current situation. "Accordingly, I have decided that, for the time being, AC Tarique Ghaffur be temporarily relieved of his responsibilities although he will remain an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police Service. "The decision has nothing to do with his actions in filing the ET application or the fact that he has made the allegations which are the subject matter of the ET claim.

"Rather, my decision results from the way in which he has chosen to conduct himself, for example by the manner in which statements were made in his press conference, and in conducting a media campaign, both personally and through the advisors and organisations supporting him."

Sir Ian added the Met wants to "find a way to resolve his issues through a mediated process". Mr Ghaffur is head of security planning for London's 2012 Olympics.

During the period of Mr Ghaffur's absence Dept Asst Comm Chris Allison will take over the command of Central Operations, including the contribution to Olympic security, Sir Ian said. Mr John, from NBPA, said: "We are disappointed by the move of the Commissioner to do that. "His message to his employees and the people of London is very clear - you can come and work for us but don't make any complaints if you are black, Asian or Muslim because the organisation will get you."

Mr John said the Met's move was a "completely unprecedented decision" and he described it as "stealth suspension".

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson backed Sir Ian's decision saying it is in the best interests of policing in London. He said: "This is a necessary move in order to restore confidence that the operational efficiency of the Met Police is not compromised."

On Caz’s search for a good University I now know my next visits; apparently I am taking her to Nottingham, this Saturday and Leicester the following Saturday, so that’s my weekends sorted out for the near future. Her dad is then taking her to Cambridge, Canterbury and Winchester the following weekends after that. She has to submit her application form to UCAS (I think that’s the correct term) by the end on October (I think), I am not too clued up on this University stuff, being as thick as brick and very little intelligence.

I have just about caught up after my two holiday; out of the 185 emails I received while I was away I have now reduced the list down to 12 that require my attention. I have also completed my time sheet and submitted my expense and mileage forms. So I am fairly pleased with myself and by the close of play tonight I will have sorted out everything that I need to do to bring me up to date.

I thought it might have taken me longer to sort out (it usually does) but there are no problems to look at, it must be some kind miracle. But IO am not complaining, it looks like I may have to go to London on Thursday, but that’s not bad it will make it a nice quiet day.  

We seem to be doing very well in the Paralympics already we have nine gold medals in total medal haul of 20, we are now second in the table behind China who have a total of 33 medals including 10 gold medals.

I must admit I haven’t watched very much of the games due to other commitments. But from what little I have watched I have been very impressed with the courage and commitment of all the athletes involved. I did watch the 13 year Eleanor Simmonds win gold in the 100m and watching her interview after the race nearly brought me tears.

The only unfortunate thing is the athletes do not gain enough recognition ok, the games are being televised by the BBC, but the actual coverage is far less than then the mare abled bodied athletes which is a shame and indicates that we still have a problem with discrimination in this country.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Three Chinese men have been spared jail after they smuggled a ball of depleted uranium into the country, ignorant the 274-kg (604 lb) shiny lump was a health threat, local media reported.

The three scrap merchants bought the ball of low-radiation uranium metal in Kyrgyzstan last year, haggling a dealer down to a price of $2,000 (1,136 pounds), the official news website of China's far northwest Xinjiang region (www.tianshan.com) reported.

They smuggled it into China, evading customs checks but apparently ignorant the interesting metal could be dangerous. One of them hid it in his father-in-law's home in Xinjiang.

"They were surprised that at night when the lights went out the treasure sparkled and glittered, and Wang chipped a piece from it and kept it beside his bed, sometimes playing with it," the report said of one of the men.

Twice as dense as lead, depleted uranium is the substance left after the more highly radioactive parts are extracted. It is used in armour-piercing ammunition.

Contact with the skin is usually not harmful, but it can damage kidneys, lungs and other organs if it enters the body. Determined to make a dollar from their find, the men decided to have the ball priced by an expert and Wang took a piece thousands of kilometres (miles) to Beijing.

"To prevent the sample being lost or stolen on the way, Wang used tape to stick the unidentified treasure to his body, and it never left him day and night," the report said.

But the three traders' hopes for riches evaporated after an expert identified the substance as degraded uranium, and the men were arrested on suspicion of smuggling.

Last month, a prosecutor decided not to charge the men, accepting their argument that they did not know what they had smuggled.

To date, the three had shown no "physical abnormalities," the report said.

Surely this is not the type of material you can pick up at your hardware shop or scarp metal merchant is it, I know that you can't make a bomb (dirt bomb or a nuclear device) but come on surely it must be a restricted material, well I would have thought so anyway.

Humans have been painting their bodies since they've been cave dwellers, and Canadians take this ancient art to a whole new level at Body Gras.

"When the artist's canvas is the flesh of a model, it's a tremendous challenge on both ends," says spokeswoman Dawn Tyndall.

Artists have to start slapping on coats of paint hours before the first spectators arrive to skirt Canadian indecency laws, because these models aren't wearing much at all -- and it can take six hours or more before the models are transformed into wild animals, mythological creatures, and other wild figures that defy explanation.

"We believe the human form is to be respected, honored and accepted and not hidden away as if there's something wrong," Tyndall says.

In 2008, Body Gras joined the "World Bodypainting Festival" -- an international competition started in Austria in 1996. It now attracts hundreds of artists and models, and tens of thousands of spectators all over the world.

I seem to have the missed the cut off day for expenses which is a bit of a bugger but not to worry, I fill in the forms and send them in, but I don’t think I will get paid until the end of October, which is not too much of problem it not a lot any way this month I only a made two trips by train and one trip by car so its going to break the bank.

I never heard how the interview went last Thursday, the agency phoned and said that despite her efforts she was unable to get hold of anybody in th HR department, so my fingers are still crossed and I am still playing the waiting game.

I managed to get out on bike again last night, I must admit I prefer to do my exercise first thing in the morning, I could only do the short route last night it was getting dark and even though I did have reflective fluorescent jacket on my bike doesn’t have lights. But I have asked for a set of lights for my birthday which is tomorrow (I still haven’t received any cheques yet guys, hope you forgotten to send them) so I should be ok in future.

Today is the official weigh in again with the nurse, but I don’t think I have quite made my target, I was hoping to lost another 3 pounds this week, but when I stepped on the scales this morning I wasn’t there, this week I have only managed a pound two at best, but I will have to wait and see.

Andy Murray was totally out classed last night in the final of the USA at Flushing Meadow; he was beaten by Roger Federer in straight sets, Federer who won his fifth straight US Open title was at his best to beat Murray in straight sets.

But the way Murray played in this competition shows he has the skill and tenacity to win a major a title it just a matter of when.

Am back to the office after a break of over two weeks I have finally managed to get back to the place I love so dearly (not quite!). I was of cause back to work yesterday but I went straight to site and the day was a great success. I had allowed two days to complete the work and despite the material turning up late we still managed to complete about 75% of the work so unless anything goes drastically wrong the guys should be finished about lunch time today.

I did review my emails last week to see if there was any urgent items that needed to be addressed and couldn’t see any, but now I, back in the office I will be able to go through them in detail and carry out  any actions required, that should take me, probably the rest of the day, and then there are all the other things that crop up so my close of play tomorrow I should have finally caught up. Why does it always seem to take top long before you get back into the swing of things.