Telling it like it is

We had a nice Christmas break in England, visiting my parents, but at the same time it served as a timely reminder as to the many reasons we emigrated. Amongst the many things I learned new this time around, these few stuck out in particular: 1. If your car is clamped, the clamping company are now free to march you to a cashpoint and demand money under duress. That's nothing more than legalised robbery. 2. Local councils have dozens of "enforcement officers" (read: spies) who are now allowed to enter your house without a warrant and check up on items such as whether or not you have an EnergyStar rated refridgerator. 3. You specifically do not have a right to defend your property any more (it's been written in to law). A couple of high-profile cases were in the new whilst we were there of robbery victims who'd defended themselves, and managed to get themselves sent to jail in the process because the burglars claimed human rights violations. 4. You no longer have ...

The latest high tech plan by the airlines to thwart underpants-bombers? Turn off the moving map display an hour before landing. Yes, that'll do it, because people can't feel the aircraft beginning to descend 30 minutes before landing. And they sure as hell can't look out of the windows to see where they are. Once again, the alleged "terrorists" have won this round. By failing, they've again created typical panic and disruption and draconian (but ultimately useless) rules that we must all abide by. I'd say Terrorist: 10. Rest of world: 0 so far. Why? Well if we'd maintained a level head, we wouldn't need to take our shoes off to get on a plane. Or give up all our liquids. Or suffer the TSA rummaging through our luggage and stealing whatever they fancied. Or have the Patriot act. Or concrete barricades near big buildings. Or any number of other enforced but useless rules and regulations that we have to suffer through. All you have to do is look at ...

Ah yes. Trust the Americans and the TSA especially to overreact to everything. In an "alleged" "plot" to ignite and underpants bomb (seriously), some idiot failed a couple of days ago so now, according to twitter reports, passengers on international flights are not being allows to take any electronic items on board, must be restrained in their seats for the last hour of the flight, and are not allowed pillows or blankets or anything else that might obscure their laps. Yes - because air travel is such an incredibly pleasant luxury as it is. I want to see them enforce the no electronics one - I don't know anyone who would risk putting cellphones, cameras, laptops or anything that valuable in hold baggage;- the TSA would just steal it. Families with kids with gameboys and PSPs - really? Of course security has been stepped up at airports again because again airport security failed - just as it always does. This time, as predicted, it was passenger intervention that...