A cop with a very poor memory

From my forthcoming memoirs: The Peculiar Mid-Life Crisis of Hengist McStone

 

My  grandmother always told me first impressions count . So here I record my first impressions of Malcolm Wheeler.

MW : I'm Detective Sergeant Malcolm Wheeler.

I was familiar with the name. A month earlier I had made a Data Protection Act enquiry to the County Council and a Detective Sergeant Malcolm Wheeler (Thames Valley Police) appeared inexplicably to take part in a meeting as far back as January, why this man was pursuing me was a mystery. I was answering bail, it was November 8^th 2012 and Malcolm Wheeler had chosen to come out of the shadows.

Me : Could you tell me how long you've been involved in your investigation?

Malcolm Wheeler couldn't. I pressed the point and this is the answer I got.

MW : Since instigation

Me : And when was that?

MW : Can't remember.

Me : You don’t have a very good memory for a policeman do you.

 MW: I deal with a lot of cases.

Malcolm Wheeler got up and left the room to consult the file, he returned with his assistant Rebecca Spall, whom it should be noted is not a police officer she is a “Designated Investigator” basically a private detective employed by the Police.* I had asked to see her warrant moments before and she did not carry one. Malcolm Wheeler leafed through a thick file which he didn’t show me, he pointed to something on a page.

MW : “There 14th June . Referral from Social Services”

Me : You're lying

'This is a corrupt police operation and you are a corrupt policeman' I told him. Malcolm Wheeler didn't ask why I could be so sure and made no attempt to clear up any misunderstanding.  Malcolm Wheeler smirked and pointed out that because he is a sergeant I would have to complain to the Divisional Inspector who isn't in the building, he is in High Wycombe today. Or to his boss. Offering his bosses card with her mobile phone number on it he asked me which would I prefer. You ask too many questions Mr Wheeler, I replied.

Back in reception I made it clear I wanted to lodge the information before I left the building. Out of a door on the other side of the room came Thames Valley's finest. Now whatever your views on the police you have to have respect for a black woman police sergeant. She was very helpful and played it straight. I told her I had a long list of complaints, including one against the custody sergeant at 9 am on the day they arrested me so I could be complaining against her 'I'm not a custody sergeant' she said. I told her what Detective Sergeant Malcolm Wheeler was saying and faltered 'Im saying he's lying, now is that worth writing down ?' Immediately she said yes, It was a moment to leave all other complaints to one side and I followed her instruction to use the phone in reception and I would be given the URN number.

So it's been recorded by Thames Valley police that Detective Sergeant Malcolm Wheeler is lying. I wonder how they will respond.





* A quick google suggests “Designated Investigators” may be peculiar to Thames Valley Police. Be particularly alert to cops employing private detectives in Thames Valley.

Aylesbury Justice Part I

From my forthcoming memoir, "The Peculiar Mid-Life Crisis of Hengist McStone"

In the churchyard of Saint Mary’s Denham, behind the vestry is a recumbent gravestone for the Marshall family. Buried beneath it are Emanuel Marshall and six others.

Passage of time has weathered the slab but a helpful plaque is maintained by somebody, it reproduces the odd words on the grave.

BENEATH THIS STONE LAY THE REMAINS OF EMANUEL MARSHALL, AND CHARLOTTE, HIS WIFE, ALSO MARY ANNE, HIS SISTER, AND MARY, THIRZA AND GERTRUDE, HIS CHILDREN. WHO TOGETHER WITH HIS MOTHER MARY MARSHALL, WERE ALL BARBAROUSLY MURDERED ON SUNDAY MORNING MAY22nd 1870 BY JOHN OWENS, A TRAVELLING BLACKSMITH, WHO WAS EXECUTED IN THE COUNTY GAOL AT AYLESBURY AUGUST 8^th 1870

We learn more about the murderer than about the poor souls interred there. In my mind it raises doubts. With all those heavy tools I’d have thought a blacksmith wouldn’t travel to find work. They were barbarously murdered, but is there any other kind? Anyhow John Owens was hanged , seventy-eight days later, not much time for a judicial decision on a capital crime back in those days.

 

The never ending War on Science at The Australian

When the mood takes me I like to add links to Skeptical Science's Global Warming Links Directory. I only ever add skeptic links, that's because I'm not sure that I'm scientifically literate enough to spot a bias in pro-AGW material. So I read a lot of skeptic material, which I have to say I'm largely sceptical of myself. Now here's some words from the GWPF website that just caught my eye "Even with the impact of climate change on extreme weather, the best advice is it will be several decades before science is able to unpack the impact of climate change from natural variability."

I filed that under 'It's natural variability', but perhaps I should have added a new skeptic argument to reflect the way natural variability has been couched in an uncertainty argument over time. I'd like to ask the author Graham Lloyd of The Australian why his is the best advice.

Lloyd isn't denying AGW but I wonder whether never ending nuanced scepticism from journalists is worse.

Another made up fact from anti-windfarm activists

UKIP climate advisor Ben Pile (science qualifications nil) tries his hand at propaganda filmmaking* to loud applause from the climate *skeptic* blogosphere.  But skepticism was put on hold when this howler made it through editing:

"We could see a change in surfing here as a result of this proposed development it just fills me with horror. There are some people who are going to be affected directly by the construction of these turbines out there which will lead to a reduction in the amount of energy so there'll be certain beaches mostly on the South Wales side that will actually start to notice a change in the impact in the size of waves that they're getting I believe."(14:30)

I've tweeted Ben a couple of times asking to see the science to back that claim up, but no answer. So let's see what surfing activist group (yup there are active surfers) Surfers Against Sewage say "To date, there is no evidence that offshore wind farms interfere with the size or shape of waves used for surfing."

My comment pointing this out on the film's website hasn't made it through Ben's moderation. So much for debate and supporting assertions with facts.




*Lost Horizons it's here it's 30 mins long and it's rubbish.

Is Anthony Watts airbrushing his past ?

Watching Anthony Watts on PBS Newshour I was struck  by how reasonable Anthony appeared. He stressed at least three times how he agreed Global Warming exists, and his account of his past was shall we say surprising. Anthony mentions James Hansen's testimony to Congress in '88 and claims that he was motivated by it.  So the viewer could be forgiven for thinking that Anthony has taken a measured path from AGW proponent to skeptic over the years.

But surely theres something missing. What about Anthony's denial of global warming? He seems to be airbrushing that out of the record. I tried to post a message on the open thread on his blog asking how he got from Leipzig Declaration signatory to his current oh-so-reasonable stance. It hasn't made it through moderation.

Ironic how climate denial blogs claim their view is being suppressed yet are quick to censor any dissent or probing questions.

IMHO it's a worthwhile question. Conceding the world is warming but taking the stance that warming is insignificant is much more nuanced than his flat denial of the consensus back in 1995. We need to know whose judgment to trust and it seems Anthony can't account for his earlier stance.  How can we take Anthony Watts seriously now ?

Lewandowsky's Conspiracy Paper : Im the Outlier

I'm normally a big fan of Prof Stephan Lewandowsky's work, but this time I'm not so sure. Lewandowsky's conclusion is roughly that people who don't accept the scientific consensus on climate change are more likely to accept modern day conspiracy theories like the moon landing was a hoax.

The argument goes climate deniers also support conspiracy theories which are all obviously wingnut fodder and so their climate denial can be dismissed too.  But it relies on these conspiracy theories to actually be wingnut fodder. And in my head there's still room for my cherished skeptical view of the Warren Commission report and support of the scientific consensus on climate change.

So for the record here's my thoughts on three conspiracy theories.

If the Apollo moon landing were a hoax, why didn't the Russians who were tracking Apollo by radar and at the height of the cold war call it out?

But  I simply don't buy the lone gunman theory, did you know Richard Nixon was in Dallas November 22nd 1963 ? That has to be suspicious.

I've got an interesting angle on Roswell too.  There was no UFO crash , but the authorities conspired to make it look like a UFO crash to mitigate loss of business from the closure of the military base.

  An Alien at Roswell. Good for Business 

Ok Ive not bothered to search for evidence for that one, and perhaps for 'authorities' you could read 'conspiracy theorists' themselves . But it's no bad thing that conspiracy theorists challenge everybody else's view, and for that they really don't deserve the bad press . Perhaps today's conspiracy theorist is tomorrow's Revisionist Historian. So let's stop comparing climate deniers to conspiracy theorists , it's not fair on conspiracy theorists.

Update: 

Apparently this is what the McDonalds in Roswell looks like. I rest my case. (h/t Wake and Wander )

Climate *skeptics* don't doubt CO2 is a greenhouse gas, except when they do

I'm not welcome at Bishop Hill so when Andrew Montford posts some nonsense (which is pretty frequent) I have to note my corrections here.

Today Monty posts a bit of a cosy chat with Canadian industry frontman and faux environmentalist Patrick Moore. Moore begins thus : "What most people don't realize, partly because the media never explains it, is that there is no dispute over whether CO2 is a greenhouse gas, and all else being equal would result in a warming of the climate."

Really? I'm always a tad suspicious of anyone beginning their argument with 'this is what it's not about'.

Over on the right hand side of Monty's blog are the links to what Monty optimistically calls 'Science Blogs' . They include Lucy Skywalker author of an essay called "The lynching of innocent CO2" and peddles the old CO2 lags warming line. Or there's a link to the unfortunately titled No Tricks Zone which lists all these posts on CO2 and GHG so they don't miss a trick. Or there's a link to the absurdly self important Climate Realists hosting John O'Sullivans claptrap such as "Solar Ovens Prove Greenhouse Gas Theory is cooked " Oh puuuhleeeeeeez, is any further explanation necessary? No.


Odd how skepticism of CO2 being a greenhouse gas is so easy to find amongst *skeptics* also telling us that's not in dispute.  File it under the inconsistency of climate change denial.


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