07-19-2011, 11:21 AM
I think we all knew that, whether or not Murdoch might be to our taste, such a powerful organisation, ought never to own so much. From that power flows the churlish attitudes of successive governments, and also the weakening of understanding about 'hospitality'.
I witnessed this at work, for the Lord Chancellor's Dept. We used to use a firm of brokers, and a firm of solicitors, if none other was involved. These firms would hold an annual bash, and my colleagues excitedly went off and enjoyed themselves. I never did, reasoning that these people did not spend their money for no reason. Perhaps I was a bit of a spoil-sport: in one case, a client whose pension had to be redirected to me, was also entitled to 200 cigarettes a month., Embassy, as she had worked for a tobacco company. You could not get the company to give money in lieu, and of course you could not sell them; nor did the Nursing Home where she was want them. So I took it upon myself to buy them, as I smoked then, and added cash to her account. All very stuffy; but I noticed that if you did not draw the line very tightly, soon people had no idea what a line was, and the actions of these police do not surprise me---it is not dishonesty once you have forgotten the idea that you don't get anything at all, save your salary. It is v simple.
I witnessed this at work, for the Lord Chancellor's Dept. We used to use a firm of brokers, and a firm of solicitors, if none other was involved. These firms would hold an annual bash, and my colleagues excitedly went off and enjoyed themselves. I never did, reasoning that these people did not spend their money for no reason. Perhaps I was a bit of a spoil-sport: in one case, a client whose pension had to be redirected to me, was also entitled to 200 cigarettes a month., Embassy, as she had worked for a tobacco company. You could not get the company to give money in lieu, and of course you could not sell them; nor did the Nursing Home where she was want them. So I took it upon myself to buy them, as I smoked then, and added cash to her account. All very stuffy; but I noticed that if you did not draw the line very tightly, soon people had no idea what a line was, and the actions of these police do not surprise me---it is not dishonesty once you have forgotten the idea that you don't get anything at all, save your salary. It is v simple.