BH favourite Sir John Beddington has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon. I kid you not.
Sir John Beddington, the former UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA), has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (Kyokujitsu Chu-Jusho) from the Emperor of Japan.
The award was apparently prompted by Sir John's advice to the British Embassy and UK expats in Japan after the Fukishima incident.
...Sir John participated in four telephone conferences during which he provided information and engaged in Q&A sessions with both embassy staff and UK citizens in Japan. Transcripts and recordings of the conversations, along with other statements, were published on the embassy website for public view and made available through social media. This allowed people to hear directly of any possible implications and understand what constituted the “reasonable worst-case scenario.”
I wonder which of the teleconferences got him the neck ribbon?
Joking aside, I remember the calm official response to Fukishima from the UK, which was a welcome antidote to the hysteria from the green media blob, so one can hardly argue with the recognition.