Them, an' us

'...the public sector is creating jobs'

Well, at least one senior member seems to be doing her bit....er...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6200069/Baroness-Scotland-employed-illegal-immigrant-as-her-housekeeper.html

Another 'fine' (well, we'll see) Baroness Gordon has got us into.

This whole GOAT herd is really showing their mettle.

We'll have to see if, when it comes to the consequences of being in 'ignorance of the law is no excuse', some equal but more elevated members of society are treated more 'sympathetically' by their peers than the lesser orders.

I used to think the appellation Baroness was accorded at the end of a career of talented service. Now it seems to be more at the beginning of one to stuff our Houses with cronies... of evidently less than startling ability.

Guido - ++ Sunlight Reports Baroness Scotland to UK Border Agency ++

Red Rag - Why Baroness Scotland has no defence to the charge of employing an illegal immigrant.

Indy - Probe into law chief's illegal worker

Guido - More

Guid0 - Baroness Scotland Accused of £170,000 Expense Fiddle - Despite giving her his full backing, if Brown thinks Patricia Scotland can remain as Attorney General, he is stark raving mad - yes, well, we'll see, eh?

Guido - Sunday Sleaze Repeat - Hole. Dig.

QUOTE OF THE DAY - Looks can kill

Memo to Labour: please think about how it looks

"Please be mindful about how this looks."

Gould is 22. Her father is Philip Gould, the pollster who can count himself as one of New Labour's founders. Straight out of Oxford and currently a postgrad student at the LSE, her wafer-thin CV includes some work on Barack Obama's election campaign, and a part-time job at Tony Blair's Faith Foundation

Credit where due.

I feel I have witnessed some actual reporting going on after a long while of narratives being enhanced and events interpreted.

However, it still feels quaint that even as I write, the great a good of Labour are still saying 'What Gordon needs to do now...' as if yet another set of deckchairs will make any difference as he sets his moral compass on the next iceberg.

And I doubt having a pretty new thing singing along to the band form the creche is going to help too much, especially when any passengers not already a tad miffed find out she has no clue on anything and is merely there to grab a place on the lifeboats until the next boat comes along.

Only, human. Barely.

Aussie PM Rude Bully of Air Hostess

Needs preserving. I doubt it will make most media, especially some with a highly selective notion of what is and isn't newsworthy when it concerns their mates, though it should.

It also adds another new weasel to the lexicon: 'I'm only human'. Odd, being arude bully to this extent would get most a rather more robust reaction I'd hazard.

Of the people, by the people....

A couple of comments on the Newsnight blog have prompted me to re-engage, if not too supportively...

How much is she (Kirtsy Wark) paid - again?

As we are dealing, again, in class (nominally), it's apparently lacking it, and certainly bad form, to pose such questions to those in the 'Bubble Class' (I made that up... basically the West London/Islington/Westminster politico-media Triangle, with a few, actually a heck of a lot, of offshoots that snake Northwards, by weekly shuttle).

Just ask one P. Mandelson who, according to his reply on SKY this morning 'doesn't read the Daily Mail'. Well, not when it doesn't suit, maybe.

Me, getting back to Aunty's finest, I am simply still getting to grips with the notion of the nighttime floodlight system... for the tennis court... at the overseas villa.

We are truly represented by those who can empathise.

The BBC sometimes seems to take impartiality to an absurdly anarchistic extreme in that if someone asserts a view, the dialectically opposed view must also be heard.

Couldn't agree more, though I may quibble with 'sometimes'.

The Newsnight twofer, combined with the calibre of moderator and the malign editorial umbrella agenda, makes these things hardly worth paying attention to.

Certainly reasoned debate with information and education at its core is suborned at the altar of ratings and sound bites. Plus a few career-enhancing oar stick and stirs by the 'star' to keep things 'sparkly'.

Very few things are black or white. Maybe it is possible to enjoy something that spans the massive views and opportunities inbetween whilst still being as 'colourful' as their market rate broadcast salary targets demand.

Worth a try?