A Nanny Roundup

Some random short dispatches from the Great Nanny State that is England (and one from Australia, which is rapidly becoming Nanny State Part Two):

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Police in Birmingham, England raid the Prince of Wales pub and perform sobriety tests on the patrons, including making them "walk along a straight line chalked on to the pavement at the rear of the pub". Not drivers, mind you, just people sitting in a bar minding their own business and enjoying their pint. Guess the bobbies decided to give the "yobs" a free night to cause mayhem uninterrupted, while they dealt with the menace that is drinkers at a bar. Good Show!
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Ah, another one from Birmingham, this one from the "patriots" running Birmingham International Airport, where "More than 200 soldiers on their way home from Afghanistan had to strip off their uniforms on the tarmac at Birmingham International Airport and don civilian clothes before being allowed access to the terminal building." On the runway. In December. That's supporting your troops, my good men.
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Dateline, London: It is now illegal in England to market junk food to people under the age of 16. What's the definition of junk food? Why, anything the powers-that-be decide is junk food, thank you very much for asking. Never mind that the products are entirely legal, it seems that the nutrition police just can't seem to allow parents to take responsibility for educating their own children about developing good eating habits. Even this hellaciously draconian ban doesn't go far enough to please the food Nazis:

"Some campaigners say the ban which came into force Monday does not go far enough, calling for a total ban on junk food ads after 9:00 pm."

I suppose the adults soon aren't going to be allowed to decide what they want to eat as well.
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An older couple in Fareham, England, is thrown out of a shopping mall, barred from there for life, and called "terrorists" after surprising their grandchildren in said mall, and taking pictures of their surprised, delighted and happy faces. What a welcoming place to shop. I wonder if they threw Santa's helpers out for taking snapshots of the tots on his lap?
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Australian Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy has announced that "it will be mandatory for all internet service providers to provide clean feeds, or ISP filtering, to houses and schools that are free of pornography and inappropriate material." For the children, of course. What if you don't have kids and don't need or want the filters? Tough. It's up to you to navigate the bureaucracy to find the way to opt out of the scheme. Censorship of an entire country's Web access, courtesy of the Net Nannies. They know best, you see.


It must be really pleasant to be a serf living in those countries today under these increasingly intrusive and freedom-sapping rules and regulations, all done entirely for their safety and security, of course.