Still think the Nanny State has it all over us?

Some more tidbits from the overflowing rubbish bin that is news from England:


---------- Police in London are now going to be roaming around the city with airport-style scanners to randomly stop and search people, looking for illegal knives. The ones that they supposedly banned the other year. Strangely, only the law-abiding people seemed to have complied with that law, and knife (and gun, for that matter) crime is still rampant there, as now only the thugs and criminals are armed, and they can terrorize the populace to their heart's content without fear of being defended against.

Since England lacks any enumeration of their inherent rights, such as our Fourth Amendment, the goons are free to tackle anyone they wish and shove them through the scanner. Anyone. They. Wish. With no justification, suspicion, or any other reason for the blatant invasion of privacy except that "you look like the next candidate". All done "randomly", of course, although the powers-that-be haven't yet disclosed just how they're going to accomplish that and have their little scheme still be effective without basically searching everyone walking down the street.

"Stop and search has been strongly criticised in the past but police say there is now more support for the action - provided it it is done with sensitivity." (Emphasis mine)

The same sensitivity that Chairman Mao or Stalin showed their peasants on the way to the gulags, I'm sure.

Perhaps the only good thing to come out of this will be the amusement at the thought of watching the cops drag the arched scanners through the streets (yes, they're actually going to use the full-size ones).


---------- A ninety-six year old nearly blind war veteran (a Desert Rat, no less) in Norwich, England has had his garbage collection suspended for two weeks and has been threatened with cancellation of the pick-up entirely. His felony? He put a ketchup bottle (yes, one) into the blue recycling bin instead of he green one.

"They could have knocked on my door and spoken to me about it instead of putting a note on the bin saying they would not empty it."

Nah, that would have required common sense on the part of the local commissars of the Norwich
City Council, and they're probably too busy choosing the next way to waste taxpayer money.


---------- A married Welsh police chief named Terry Grange (I won't even try to spell the town he worked for), accused of using department computers to send sexually explicit emails, as well as spending official money on hotels, meals and drinks for his extramarital lover while on "business" trips, has been allowed to retire with a full pension before the inquiry into his actions even got under way, and faces no further sanctions for his actions.

"The Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Grange for misconduct in public office."

I'd bet there would be plenty of evidence, if the accused was someone who didn't rate getting treated differently than everyone else.

At least one member of the Welsh Assembly has seen through the scheme, and is pretty upset at the special treatment given to the officer:

"But Ms Jones, Plaid Cymru AM for Llanelli, said the "the chief constable is king" culture needed to be changed.
She said: 'This is a senior officer who has behaved very badly indeed, and he's been allowed to walk away absolutely scot-free, and myself and every other ratepayer in Dyfed-Powys will pay for his full pension.'"

Enjoy your "well-earned" retirement, Chief Grange.




Anyone still believe that Great Britain is a shining example of a society that we stupid Americans should aspire to adopt as our own? Bring on the socialized medicine!!