Thinking about Jimmy Crow

[Chris]

Charles Taylor's bemusement over the changing of his message is simply a case of him being caught, inadvertently, by one of my Spam traps. There are certain words, drug names and phrases of a sexual-medicinal nature which frequently occur in advertisements of an unwanted nature. At one time a lot of such advertisers were registering themselves on the board. These words are harmlessly changed to tcp. As most of you know TCP is a common pungent smelling medicinal disinfectant.

[Nick Jackson]

if you wish to check out the veracity of the instances I quoted along with a thousand more examples of bureaucratic mindlessness take a look at http://nannyknowsbest.blogspot.com/

And it reports exactly the same as the BBC:
Children unable to race on donkeys at Llandudno Donkey Derby because no insurance company would cover it. There is no mention that "the donkeys are no more in Llandudno", as you report, simply that children are unable to race on them at one charity event during the year which does not take place on the sands but at Bodafon Fields, which is just off the promenade. I think Llandudno's two donkey families – one of whom has been there as long as Punch – are still going strong. I'm taking two rather small people to ride them next week.

[billywand]

Hi all,

Regarding pollitical correctness, there is an organisation called "The Campaign Against Political Correctness" which is well worth being part of if you value your rights to enjoy yourself and have a bit of fun.

Their web site is www.capc.co.uk

There is an interesting article from the Telegraph a couple of years ago re Punch, which some may, but others may not be aware of.

[Tony James]

........usually quote either health & safety or the need for public liability insurance which then proves unobtainable.

So another aspect of life bites the dust - donkeys in Lllandudno, balloon animals in Tesco, flower beds in Devizes, Mathew Street Festival in Liverpool, the name Fat Buddha Chinese restaurant in Durham and those are just the last few days.

Please don't misquote me. I never detailed anything about any of the recent bannings and happenings. I simply listed them.

Now it is up to individuals to either take seriously these and a thousand other examples - mostly quite potty but nevertheless they happen and affect many - or bury their heads in the sand and convince themselves they haven't really happened or if they have, they are meaningless.

Until of course they come home to roost. The Tesco policy appears - according to the BBC the other morning - not to permit balloons to be used by in-store entertainers. And what next?

Donkeys were banned in Llandudno just as the lady in Devizes has been banned from tending flower beds which people in that area have done - for no pay - since time began.

The Mathew (thanks for the spelling correction) Street Festival has been banned according to Liverpool Council with all the health and safety emphasis you would expect.

And Durham City Council have banned a Chinese restaurant owner from calling his business The Fat Buddha as it may offend Buddhists who are roaring their heads off because they have these statues in their own homes and they call them - Fat Buddhas!!!!!!

I wish I had the confidence to put on the blinkers and bat on regardless. Lots of people did that in the 1930s and look where it got them.

[Chris]

Tony please don't just state things as fact. Donkeys were not banned in Llandudno. Children were not allowed to ride on donkeys in a race because adequate insurance was refused for that one event. That is not banning donkeys in Llandudno.
Even your very biased source only says this: "the donkey derby has been banned by Nanny's minions in Llandudno.
The donkeys were due to be ridden by around 40 children the other week at a series of races organised by Llandudno Rugby Club"

Your posting "so another aspect of life bites the dust - donkeys in Llandudno....." was meant to suggest that the seaside donkey rides had been banned. They were not.

Donkeys and Donkey Rides are alive and well and trotting on Llandudno sands, as they have been since the end of the 19th century.

They are probably getting a touch tired.



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[Tony James]

You may have jumped to that conclusion and I concede I might have been more explicit but I treated the matter as just one of many examples which I also listed similarly briefly. There was no intention to mislead. There would be no point.

Were you aware for example that Cheshire County Council's licences for village halls preclude magicians from using rabbits or doves or any other livestock? Every hall has the conditions of the license in a plastic folder attached to the noticeboard bearing a copy of the licence. Or at least they are required to have.

I'm not aware of any inspector having caught a magician breaking the rules......so far...........

Do change your mind Chris and take a look at

http://nannyknowsbest.blogspot.com/

and I am confident you too will be surprised at the vast number of examples of bureaucratic interference in normal people's everyday lives.

It's neither gloom nor propaganda. It's a reflection of how life has become and the petty dictatorship which affects us all, privately and professionally.

[CharlesTaylor]

Thank you, Chris, for the explanation of tcp. I didn't know it was of that use! We have a TCP here that is used as a cleaning agent commonly for washing walls before painting.

Charles

[Chris]

Tony: If you read my previous posting you would know that I had looked - I must have done since I quoted from it. A quite dreadful example of bias and deliberate distortion.

And of course it is propaganda.



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[johnstoate]

In response to Tony's comments I would just like to remind the board of the Colchester fiasco. As you may recall, a few years back Colchester council banned Punch within the borough, because it was felt that it promoted domestic violence!! - The gutter (popular?) press got hold of it, and the whole thing became something of a 'cause celebre' - Which was ok, everybody laughed, that was that. Trouble was, I (for one) lost a lot of bookings in the following weeks due to councils deciding that they should be seen to be supporting their colleagues, or just didn't want the potential 'hassle' Some of them have never relented. I mention this just by way of a warning against burying one's head in the sand, True, these are 'silly season' stories. They are ridiculous and stupid, but so are some people in authority!!

[Nick Jackson]

Were you aware for example that Cheshire County Council's licences for village halls preclude magicians from using rabbits or doves or any other livestock?

No, I wasn't. Goodness me, the world is going mad. They'll be banning children from working 18-hour shifts in mines next. And soon men will have to stop beating their wives.

Tony, how you can quote Chesire County Council's regulations, which I presume are connected to their concern for animal welfare – as examples of Nanny State – that's how I'm reading it – is beyond me.

[Professor Eek]

One of my lines before shows is for Guardian (Gruniad) reading parents to remove there children immediately as the show will involve death, mayhem and chaos - it usually gets a cheer from the adults when told that it is a 'traditional' (includes 'violence') show

I'm very encouraged by the lack of PC'ness around

[Miraiker]

John
"the Colchester fiasco" you speak of is the same one I spoke of where it was the councillor that went and not the Punch & Judy.
It's just more interesting for the press to talk about the P & J which people like to hear about, than to speak of a local councillor having to resign which is pretty dull stuff.
We have regular bookings for this council in Colchester park throughout the summer.
Punch & Judy still rules here.

[johnstoate]

Glad to hear it, Miraiker, However, the knock-on effect still restricts the amount of work I get from local authourities, I used to have loads of repeat work, now I get very little!

[Chris]

And you are blaming that on something that didn't happen John? Since others are getting local authority work might there not be some other explanation?

I agree with Eek that in the real world there is little evidence for any taste for Political Correctness. However it is always possible to find, or invent instances of it if you want to, and along with the EEC, and the Nanny State, PC is a regular source of material for the "can you believe this?" type of newspaper filler beloved by journalists. Usually if you delve into the background you find there is little basis for the stories. They depend on the fact that most people readily accept what they read and don't investigate further.

I've said before that if we ourselves propagate spurious Punch-under-threat stories we do ourselves no favours.



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[johnstoate]

OOh, sorry, all - rest edited out by me, untill such time as I've had time to consider!