“Something which happens every year has just happened again in parts of the UK.”

I recently watched the superb satire of Chris Morris and his show “Brass Eye” from the late 90′s. It was a fantastic portrayal of news obsessed with having correspondents “on the scene” that just repeat what we have just been told by someone in the studio; the childish use of graphics to illustrate the simple points; and the journalists as actors when they do their walks to camera. If you watched it now without knowing what it was it would probably look more like the actual news that the so-called serious journalism of the BBC and others.

I am not a journalist but I simply have to look out the window to see what the news is telling me. And I would be aware that it going to cause disruption. The “mainstream” news has reached the point of self-parody. The best satirists in the world couldn’t do as good a job as the news itself.

“Local authorities are also tasked with supporting and challenging schools in delivering the Government’s reform agenda and ensuring that progress on remodelling the workforce is sustained and deepened through the effective deployment of teachers, headteachers and support staff.”

Is this even English?

“Procurement is targeted with delivering savings on generic goods and services pan BBC through a comprehensive category management initiative and driving compliance. The Category Manager-Logistics-Ground Transport is responsible to the Head of Production and Logistics and Senior Category Manager, Logistics for:

Developing a strategy for the procurement and development of a supplier strategy for the BBC’s ground transport provision.

Managing the resources needed to procure and develop the ground transport aspect of the Logistics Category.

Influencing key stakeholders and customers pan-BBC……

Competencies:

Using external thinking-builds bridges with useful organisations and innovative thinkers.

Collaborating across boundaries-challenges systems, processes and people that block collaboration.

Leading creativity-fosters imagination, creativity and experimentation.”

-Fire all the sporting directors. Riis is showing the example. It’s good that he admitted now that he has to make the next step which is to quit the sport. How can he be taken credible? He’s admitted to doping and now he wants us to believe he’s going to go back to cycling and this is supposed to make us believe drugs won’t be used anymore? There’s only one solution: he must leave! And along with him all the sporting directors who have been working for the past 10 years have to quit also. They’re the responsible ones. The directors are the ones who blackmail the cyclists they put pressure on the riders to take the epo and all the drugs and the cyclists can’t refuse if they want to ride for the team. These directors are the ones who prolong the system and little by little pressure the pros into it. First you go slowly, then you fall slowly then you realize you’ve thrown everything away. They say to you “here’s your choice: you do want we say or you’re done cycling.”

Jesus Manzano, former pro cyclist.

Jesus Manzano, former pro cyclist and doping whistleblower.

Also included are my close friends, former Belgian champion Eddy Merckx and former Motorola team director Jim Ochowitz.

Chris and I met Michele Ferrari during a training camp in San Diego, California, in 1995. His primary role has always been limited. Since Chris cannot be in Europe on an ongoing basis, Michele does my physiological testing and provides Chris with that data on a regular basis. Chris has grown to trust Michele’s opinion regarding my testing and my form on the bike. And lately, we have been specifically working on a run at the hour record. I do not know exactly when I will do that, only that I will in the near future.

As everyone knows, I am one of the very few riders who have no prescriptions in my health book. I have been repeatedly tested during my career including during the entire 1999 and 2000 Tours de France and most recently during the Tour de Suisse ten days ago.”

*Implicated in organised doping ring in Spain recently. Colleague of Dr Viru who is alleged to have tipped off riders as to when they would be tested.

“It concerns one of the four Spanish Laboratories accredited by the UCI. This laboratory, which is in charge of sending the UCI vampires [doctors] to take the samples during the Vuelta and other races is the same lab that’s in charge of the doctors’ visits to the cyclists. They follow the cyclists and give them the stamp of approval on their licenses.”

“The owner of this clinic, a renowned haematologist, called Walter Viru, who is one of the doctors for Kelme, [in order] to alert them the day before the UCI vampires were coming to take the samples from the cyclists. And he did the same thing with Del Moral, the doctor for the US Postal team and then Discovery, [who is] a good friend of his.”

Viru is one of the doctors implicated in the latest scandal. To think that when Manzano first aired his accusations in public he was derided. Just about everything he has said has turned out to be true. He talks of the cycling ‘Mafia’. I think he is correct on that one. Just think of where we would be if this one rider decided to say nothing. I think every true cycling fan should be thankful he had the courage to speak out.

I sent them an e-mail asking for information on how much they spend on advertising. Thee figures blew me away. They spent an unbelievable £8, 082,722.42 on advertising in several formats during 2007-2008. This represents a £500,000 increase from the previous year. That would be enough to employ almost 400 teachers. The money that is thrown at these education quangos is becoming obscene.

“We are able to provide the cost of taxi travel claimed by Departmental officials from administrative budgets for 2007-08 and 2006-07 as follows:”

2007-08         £247,738
2006-07         £268,857

“The data provided is based on rail bookings dealt with by DCSF’s Business Travel Provider Carlson Wagonlit Travel.  Location details are not recorded for travel using hire car and grey fleet, only the mileage is recorded.

The annual travel costs for rail travel between sites are as follws”

April 08-Feb 09 – £840,984

2007-8 – £834,433

2006-7 £1,254,536

“Details of expenditure on private sector consultants incurred by the Department in 2007-2008 is £4,863,000.00.

The expenditure recorded relates to admin costs and does not include costs that may be charged to a programme account.”

“The Office for Government and Commerce (OGC) framework agreements for Organisational Consultancy ? Organisational Development Education and Children?s Services, provide rates across a range of consultancy grades including Junior Consultant, Consultant, Senior Consultant, Principal Consultant, and Managing Director/Partner.  The daily rates differ for each organisation, but, across all the agreements, the range is £475 to £1900, as at April 2008.”

So we are all losing our jobs because we are not “economically viable” but the department can spend almost £5 million on consultants in one year. The more I look at stuff like this the angrier I get.

Registration: £4.4m

Communications – £3.7m

Regulation: £3.6m

Governanace, fee collection and administration: £3.5

Networks and the TLA: £3.4m Policy and research: £2.5m

So that’s a total of a staggering £21 million of teachers’ registration fees. Of that they are spending £3.7m on “communications” which I assume means advertising etc. Then there all the other departments such as OFSTED and ESTYN, the TDA, the DfES, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and so on. If it wasn’t serious it would be funny.