UK
More clueless bureaucrats in the UK
Given the recent lack of posts making fun of UK bureacrats I’ve decided to do an omnibus edition to catch up. Here is a round up of pettiness from the past two weeks.
The Hampshire County Council decided that the tinsel adorning the stop sign of a lollipop man should be removed in case it distracts [...]
UK: Welcome mats are health and safety risk
A recent Telegraph story tells of the local council in Gosport deciding that residents of council flats who have welcome mats outside their doors are quite possibly causing safety problems. Not only this, but some renters have been threatened with legal action if they don’t remove the mats. This was opposed by some senior local [...]
Clamp down on petty infractions, but not if it’s an MP
As the CSM suggests, all the zero-tolerance, petty bureaucrats in the UK are allowed to push the citizens around, as long as it doesn’t begin to affect the lifestyles of British MPs.
Counterterrorism unit,
Officers didn’t just search the home of [MP] Damian Green – they arrested him, raided his office, and detained him for nine hours [...]
Tomatoes, Weed, what’s the difference?
A crack team of constables tore apart a Scottish house after mistaking tomato plants for marijuana - explicitly stating their obvious confusion as they burst through the door.
Lulu Matheson had been growing tomatoes on her windowsills and these seemingly set the alarm bells ringing for the local police. Obviously the Northern Constabulary’s training criteria doesn’t [...]
UK: No more cheap booze
The national government in the UK is determined to slap new regulations on drinking to attempt to curb a rise in anti-social behaviour. The suggestions range from a ban on happy hours and ladies nights, along with stringent labeling on cans and bottles.
From the Daily Mail:
Critics of liberalised licensing laws claim the move three years [...]
Thailand dangerous? Telegraph opinion lacks perspective…
The Telegraph has recently reported that Thailand is to be considered one of the most dangerous travel destinations on earth right now, right up there with places like Afghanistan, Palestine, Somailia and the Sudan.
The Telegraph must be edited by people who’s detection of hyperpole must be stunted through a lack of logic or common sense. [...]
British clown music a danger to the public, especially children
I know that I seem to be picking on British public policy quite often, but it’s just so easy. From a link off the Reason Brickbats page comes this astounding obtuse abuse of civic power.
Zippos Circus clowns were banned from playing musical instruments because the Birmingham City Council told them the music contravened the Licensing [...]
UK says littering should maybe not be considered terrorism
In a landmark psuedo-decision the national government of Britain has decided to stop equating littering with terrorism. It is now safe enough to litter since the government has suggested that surveillance tools and regulations used to attempt to stop terrorism are a bit much when it comes to more mundane offenses - offenses such as [...]
London boroughs fighting musical terrorism
In a huge push to ensure the safety of chemically enhanced ravers all over the London, police are targeting live music performances that don’t comply with new strict discloser rules.
Detective Superintendent Dave Eyles of London states:
Music promotions attract people who have a propensity to use violence. That’s not speculation. We have a duty to prevent [...]
Britain to Lojack fatties in war on obesity
Ok, the title is a bit hyperbolic but in Britain is now promoting a new scheme to tag and track people in an effort to improve health by targeting obesity. In addition to the tags, which track calories and exertion, marketing campaigns and fitness facilities will be deployed to round out the effort. They feel [...]
Gestational diabetes and lower test results
In a study from Université Laval, researchers compared the language skills of children from mothers with gestational diabetes (GD) to a control group. While nothing in the summary shows specifics, children whose mothers had GD exhibit poorer results on tests of verbal vocabulary and grammar. These findings are tempered by suggestions that:
…the impact of pregnancy-related [...]
King Charles? Nay says I
So Canada has been a constitutional monarchy since inception in 1867. Through that there have been kings and queens with actual influence and those that mostly faded away. I’d suppose that QE II has skated the fine line between the two general possibilities - facing impending irrelevance with grace, good breeding, and poise …
… Unlike [...]
UK to fine running motorists…
…who are stuck in traffic jams. The incredible British nanny-state has decided to levy fines of £20 on drivers who happen to have their cars running while stuck in traffic. This is likely to:
make a wholesale change in the behaviour of people who are already under stress or,
piss loads of people off and likely cause [...]
2 for 1 better than half price
The Guardian reports that Broadspeed.com significantly improved sales by changing their tactic from half-price to two-for-one:
Empson said: “It was amazing. We had been trying to sell those cars online at half price for nearly a month and they were selling, but it was nothing special. But when we made the deal two-for-one, we got 22,000 [...]
Health and safety chiefs ban poetry group
From the Ananova news site in the UK, a poetry group has been banned from a pub in Ely, Cambridgeshire, that regularly showcases live music. Environmental health officer Elizabeth Bailey says:
We have licences for all sorts of reasons - fire and police need to check it is safe - it is not just us being [...]
Boozing and baby
A new study in the International Journal of Epidemiology suggests that having a couple of drinks a week during pregnancy isn’t the danger that some politicized folks would have you believe. What’s quite interesting is that in the past it’s been quite difficult to find studies that looked at (the likely majority of) women that [...]
Less smart but more average
Right outta the Economist. Sounds like true a true socialist utopia - redistribution of education to the point that average intelligence drops.
Based on Professor Michael Shayer’s 30+ year study, the Economist article suggests that while the average has dropped:
More than a fifth of youngsters got high scores [in 1976] …Now only a tenth do… and [...]
