luka

Well-known member
That's not what you were saying on the bell curve thread Tea. Just putting it out there. People can make their own minds up.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
part of the problem of talking about 'intelligence' in the first place is that it's an essentially contested concept
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
That's not what you were saying on the bell curve thread Tea. Just putting it out there. People can make their own minds up.

You weren't "just putting it out there" though, were you? It's pretty obvious what you're doing.
 

luka

Well-known member
Yes, I agree. It was obvious. But it's allowed under the rules. I'm not tampering with the evidence.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
That thread's from thirteen years ago. I've read a fair bit more about the subject since then.
 
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luka

Well-known member
Still useful context for the discussion outside of any -Gotcha!- style fun that's involved.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
At the risk of sounding like I'm hedging my bets, it's one of those words where it really does depend on exactly what you mean by it.

"Race", in the sense that biological racists mean the word - as a hangover from the 19th century before modern genetics existed, and meaning "distinct 'breeds' of people each descending from a single ancestral population and with well-defined characteristics" (like breeds of dogs or horses) - doesn't exist. That doesn't mean you can't use the word in the everyday sense of a "multiracial" population in a city or whatever.

OTOH, I think some people take "race doesn't exist" to mean "heredity doesn't exist", which obviously isn't true either.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
There was something on twitter linking Sabisky to LD50 Gallery and all that dark enlightenment stuff. I’ll try and find it.

Goddamn nerds. I bet Josef K is kicking himself.
 

luka

Well-known member
There was something on twitter linking Sabisky to LD50 Gallery and all that dark enlightenment stuff. I’ll try and find it.

Goddamn nerds. I bet Josef K is kicking himself.

Comelately already linked to it a day or two ago
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
Cummings is effectively an internet bogeyman/troll come to life and taken over the country. No one in place to stop him as of yet though.
 

version

Well-known member
Priti Patel accused of bullying staff in ‘toxic’ Home Office

Priti Patel has attempted to oust her most senior civil servant after a toxic clash at the top of the Home Office.

Multiple sources inside the department have accused the home secretary of bullying, belittling officials in meetings, making unreasonable demands and creating an “atmosphere of fear”.

Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, has been dragged into the row after Ms Patel demanded the removal of her permanent secretary, Sir Philip Rutnam. Sir Philip is understood to have raised concerns about Ms Patel’s behaviour within the Cabinet Office. A senior Whitehall source said that the situation had become “completely unsustainable and was going to blow up”. A Home Office spokesman said there had been no “formal” complaints against Ms Patel.

Allies of the home secretary rejected the claims of bullying, saying that while she was a demanding boss she had never been unreasonable. They also attacked Sir Philip, blaming him for the forced resignation of Amber Rudd over the Windrush scandal in 2018.

“The Home Office is dysfunctional and the current permanent secretary had presided over a sacking of a home secretary and accidental deportations,” they said. “If this were any other environment Philip Rutnam would not only be sacked he’d be denied a pension. The lack of accountability in the civil service is deeply troubling and the prime minister will not accept this in the long term.”

Matters are understood to have come to a head last week when a senior Home Office official collapsed after a fractious meeting with Ms Patel.

The official had been working through the night attempting to reverse a High Court ruling barring the deportation of 25 foreign criminals to Jamaica. At a meeting the following morning he was confronted by the home secretary, who demanded to know why the department had failed to reverse the ruling. He fell ill later during another meeting and was taken to hospital, where he was found to have a sodium deficiency.

Sir Philip is writing to all members of the senior civil service in the department highlighting the dangers of workplace stress. He has also made clear that they could not be expected to do unrealistic work outside office hours.

Ms Patel is understood to have successfully asked for another senior official in the department to be moved from their job.

The row came to light as the Home Office released its new immigration policy. Ms Patel said that eight million “economically inactive” adults could take the place of low-skilled foreigners. Critics said official figures showed that the vast majority of these people were students, sick, looking after relatives or retired.

Several sources told The Times that a number of the Home Office clashes had involved demands from the home secretary, some of which were considered illegal by officials. In one meeting in October that included Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Ms Patel allegedly questioned why the police could not use force to stop Extinction Rebellion shutting down central London during protests. A Home Office source said: “Sir Philip and [she] have fundamental disagreements about the rule of law. He’s committed and she isn’t. She’s belittled him and caused consternation, and she frequently encourages behaviour outside the rule of law.”

Another former official accused Ms Patel of pitting officials against each other and being angry and aggressive in meetings. A third source said she was rude and an “extraordinary person to work for”. They added: “No one can see how this is going to be resolved. It is going to blow up sooner or later.”

A former official said that Ms Patel had lobbied No 10 in an attempt to get Sir Philip removed from the department but without success. “They didn’t want to create a narrative of them against the civil service,” the source said. She was not, however, making unreasonable demands, as the Home Office was a “big delivery department” that had to create a new immigration system in less than 12 months and hit ambitious police recruitment targets. “She is working seven days a week. It is the nature of the job that some antisocial hours are going to be required,” the source said.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We have not received any formal complaints and we take the welfare of our staff extremely seriously.”

Behind the story: Usually a quiet word sorts it out Priti Patel is not the first cabinet minister to fall out with their permanent secretary. However, no one has done it so spectacularly and publicly. In the past such tensions have been handled in time-honoured Whitehall fashion. The minister would have a quiet word with Downing Street. Downing Street would have a quiet word with the cabinet secretary who would have a “difficult” conversation with the permanent secretary.

Within reason the minister would get their way and the offending permanent secretary would “retire” or be advised to think about other opportunities. There have been several recent examples of this. When the coalition came to power in 2010 tensions quickly emerged in several departments. Michael Gove, the education secretary, became infuriated with his permanent secretary Sir David Bell who he (and his then adviser Dominic Cummings) believed was dragging his feet on their reform agenda. At the Home Office, Theresa May and her advisers become unhappy with their top official, Dame Helen Ghosh.

In both cases the system took care of the problem. Dame Helen became head of the National Trust. Sir David became vice-chancellor of Reading University. Even Downing Street is not immune. David Cameron asked the cabinet secretary to ease out Lord Kerslake, the head of the civil service, in 2014 after he repeatedly clashed with the Cabinet Office minister, Lord Maude. In that case there was an apparent quid pro quo and Lord Maude was moved from his job shortly afterwards.

The difference with Ms Patel is that the clashes have not only been with Sir Philip Rutnam but other senior officials as well. Downing Street has put no pressure on Sir Mark Sedwill to intervene. As a result tensions have simply got worse and too many people have witnessed confrontations to keep a lid on them any more.

Even if he is the wronged party, Sir Philip’s position is probably untenable, but unless she makes friends rather than enemies quickly Ms Patel’s days will be numbered too.
 
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