(formerly)Great Britain drops another notch

[vaskidmark]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285625/Dog-owners-walk-pets-leads-longer-68-face-1-000-fines.html#ixzz0qXwWmk9Q

Wardens in Greater Manchester have been ordered to target anyone using a lead longer than 6ft 8in with the threat of a £1,000 fine.
Officials claim the tough rule - brought in by the last Government - is necessary to prevent dogs roaming out of control and to curb fouling. But they admit there have been no complaints

Anf further:

Earlier this year Newark and Sherwood Council in Nottinghamshire banned dogs altogether in 72 parks with the threat of £75 on-the-spot fines.

On-the-spot fines?!?  Do you get arrested and thrown into the Poorhouse if you don't have the cash on you?

And all this is instead of enforcing the laws they already have against not picking up your dog's poo.

Does anybody still wonder why we threw the bastiges out?  Those repressive taxes, the quartering of troops, and all was bad enough, but "six foot, eight inches" as opposed to six foot, nine inches, or six foot, seven inches?? What's the reason for the odd length - other than they are bonkers?

stay safe.

[Cromlech]

I sometimes believe that the police here (or rather, those that control them) find it easier to make examples of (mostly good) folk that fall foul of unjust, or at the least, less important laws.
Less hassle than going after the real, hardened, violent criminals. Makes them look good too, when they have high arrest rates.

To be honest though, I think most of our police men and women are good guys that are just bound up in so much red tape, paperwork, and are still expected to hit quotas.

[Tallpine]

Does anybody still wonder why we threw the bastiges out?  Those repressive taxes, the quartering of troops, and all was bad enough, but "six foot, eight inches" as opposed to six foot, nine inches, or six foot, seven inches?? What's the reason for the odd length - other than they are bonkers?

Well then, there is that little thing about shooting people down for 17.75" shotgun barrels.   

[Viking]

I sometimes believe that the police here (or rather, those that control them) find it easier to make examples of (mostly good) folk that fall foul of unjust, or at the least, less important laws.
Less hassle than going after the real, hardened, violent criminals. Makes them look good too, when they have high arrest rates.

To be honest though, I think most of our police men and women are good guys that are just bound up in so much red tape, paperwork, and are still expected to hit quotas.

I occasionally read on Coppersblog. Ex-UK copper who moved to Canada. The differences would make one believe he's on a completely different planet. From what I've read, they have a minimum of paperwork, and instead favor such willy-nilly concepts like actually catching criminals and such. He seems happier there than in the UK...

[eyebrows]

6' 8" comes out to about 2 meters. Since it's the UK I would think the law on the books uses 2 meters as the measurement. It is strange that a UK website with UK news would use feet and inches.

[Cromlech]

Most people I know can use Metric and Imperial measurements interchangeably. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the law is written with the metric measurement, as you say.

[Stand_watie]

Most people I know can use Metric and Imperial measurements interchangeably. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the law is written with the metric measurement, as you say.

     The people you know must be a lot better with the metric system than those I have known. Pharmacists and drug dealers seam to have the weight conversions down pat, and hard scientists the distance and temperature conversions, but for the majority of Americans (like me) it seems that the process involves contorting your face into a ridiculous shape and going through a ridiculous mental process of "....o.k., 2.2 pounds to a kilo, so 73 kilos equals x pounds (calculator)..."

[Fly320s]

6' 8" comes out to about 2 meters. Since it's the UK I would think the law on the books uses 2 meters as the measurement.

C'mon, this is England!  They are known for their odd, eccentric measurements.  That 6'8" dimension is probably the width of a standard tractor, or maybe the farthest jump that a Yorkshire Terrier has made in competition. 

[HankB]

The people you know must be a lot better with the metric system than those I have known.

I'm very used to using metric measurements of length - it's part of my job. Likewise weight. And volumes aren't too hard to manage, either.

But for everyday use, I prefer Fahrenheit to measure temperature rather than centigrade (note, I didn't write Celsius) . . . and when checking my tires, I'll stick to PSI, thank you very much . . . you can keep your kilopascals.

So there!

(Wish I had a link to the old SNL skit where they were introducing a metric alphabet . . . )

[Marnoot]

(Wish I had a link to the old SNL skit where they were introducing a metric alphabet . . . )

Transcript of said skit:

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75rdecabet.phtml

[AJ Dual]

Every now and then I've been able to convince some of my more dim-witted compatriots that they need to do "metric time conversions" when dealing with Europe and the "10 hour day". 

Usually the same people I can convince to go out side, look up, and wave after showing them Google Earth, or Google Street View... Even when the pictures aren't from the same season, or noticeably different times of day or weather.

[Scout26]

Transcript of said skit:

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75rdecabet.phtml

Ahhhh, the days when SNL was orginal and FUNNY !!!!


AJ, I've played the "go outside and wave" trick on a whole bunch of people.....Some can even see the others waving.....

[230RN]

C'mon, this is England!  They are known for their odd, eccentric measurements.  That 6'8" dimension is probably the width of a standard tractor, or maybe the farthest jump that a Yorkshire Terrier has made in competition.

A friend of mine in college bought an Austin-Healy.  We were all standing around admiring it and naturally someone asked how many horsepower it was.

Haughty, veddy veddy British-nose-in-the-air-sounding reply:

"We don't measure those in horsepower. We use stone-furlongs per fortnight."

Me go now.

Terry, 230RN

[Fly320s]

Yes, quite.

[Tallpine]

80 inches - not so odd if you look at it that way ... 

Just be careful - nylon leash might stretch to a felonious 80 1/4 "   

[Iain]

It'll be 2 metres, but the Daily Wail will refuse to use any sort of metric measurement.

[Stand_watie]

     I have a suggestion for you Ian, if you ever get bored. I have a fairly good idea of the political/cultural tilt of your main newspapers, because I read them online, but I'll bet a lot of our friends here on the board don't.  If you felt like doing a community service, you could write a review of major British papers, so those who don't could know how much salt to take their articles from British papers with, when they get linked by Drudge.