War and smoking. The dangers.

Now, I’ve been around for a fair few years and had one or two life threatening moments in my career.

Just a simple question. What should I fear the most?

1. Smoking cigarettes and dying at the ripe old age of 65?

2. A 500lb bomb and living to the age of 33?

The heath fascists would say I probably shortened my life by smoking 60 a day whilst the 500lb bombs were raining down. At least I would have died with a smoke wreathed smile on my face.

Life is full of risks, and to be scared to death of risk is to cheapen the very essence of being a sentient being.

That’s why smokers need to chip away at the boundaries of the anti smoking crusade, drip by drip. The answer is as Leg Iron writes, they don’t know who you are.

It’s also a case of embarrassing them in the public eye. Making them looking petty minded, spiteful, and only after money.

Petty minded and spiteful is exposed by the school that decided it’s pupils were going to run around the Medway stealing cigarettes from smokers.

Money is Sandwell council’s decision to prosecute a 70 year old women from dropping cigarette ash.

Believe you me, smokers, this is a war that can be won, just by exposing the righteous for what they are. Petty tyrants that are addicted to control. Just chip away at their power, bit by bit.

Then of course a 500lb bomb on Sandwell council and one on Medway would be so much more satisfying.

PS. If MI5, CIA, SOCA, and any other security service reads this blog. Fuck off.

Oh and before I forget, If you drink or are slightly overweight you’re are next in their sights. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Sandwell council v 70 year old lady.

I wrote a week or two ago, about Sheila Martin, a 70 year old pensioner, who had been given a fixed penalty notice for dropping cigarette ash in the street.

Well the time to pay has now expired and she is facing going to court. If she is convicted she could be fined up to £2,500 and gain a criminal record.

However, hope is not lost. She has some help. Please read about the case over at Anna Raccoon’s blog and maybe we can avert the travesty of justice that could unfold in the coming months.

I don't believe it, Sandwell "Elf" and safety at it again

You couldn't make it up.

sandwell council are at it again:

A pair of friendly gnomes have been banned from a block of Black Country flats under strict new health and safety rules.

It's unbelievable that this council can be so stupid.

Linda Langford has also been told to remove her ‘welcome’ plaque on the grounds it is a fire risk. Sandwell Council insists it is ‘common sense’ to ban the gnomes and a senior councillor defended the move as potentially ‘life-saving’.

The pottery gnomes – one hitting an anvil and the other reading a book – have been outside Miss Langford’s flat in Sedgley Road West, Tipton, since she moved in nine years ago.

and the usual weasel words,

But Sandwell’s housing boss Councillor Mahboob Hussain said: “I have received complaints about items blocking communal areas and I have visited flats to look at the problem.

“I’ve seen people blocking hallways in a manner that is just not acceptable. I’ve seen chests of drawers on landings and plants on staircases. This is about fire regulations. We have to use common sense. If it helps to save one life, it’s worth it.”

The next one will be "think of the cheeeldren". That hasn't been used yet.

UPDATE: The council have apologised to Mrs Langford.

'Sandwell Homes had slightly misinterpreted the policy on items in communal areas.'

The councillor said the authority's aim was to use common sense in identifying fire hazards and to treat each case on its merits.

'Our policy is that as long as there is not an excessive number of gnomes or similar items in communal areas, and as long as there isn't a problem with these items being damaged through anti-social behaviour, they can stay.'

H/T to Big Brother watch & The express and star

Sandwell Council again!

In another act of unbridled idiocy, a Sandwell Jobsworth is at it again.

Kerrie-Anne Hickin was dashing to catch a bus and as she took the tissue out of her pocket it blew away in a gust of wind.

She said the next thing she knew, a warden was at her side at the bus stop writing a ticket.

The more I read about this council, the more I think about stocking up on more piano wire.

The warden was representing Sandwell Council, which faced criticism earlier this month for fining a young mother for feeding the ducks with her son at a park.

And the usual weazle words from the council mouthpiece:

Derek Rowley, a Sandwell Councillor, said: “Survey after survey tells us that litter is a major worry for the people of Sandwell. They tell us they don't want to see litter on the streets of Sandwell.

"We are responding to people's complaints about litter and we have a duty to respond to local people's concerns.”

Please make it stop. I think I'll go and lie down it a darkened room.

The whole article is here.

Council Ducks out of fining Vanessa

On a recent post I highlighted the case of Vanessa Kelly who was given a fixed penalty notice by sandwell council for the Fowl (Pun intended) offence of feeding the ducks at her local park.

Thanks to the help of Big brother watch, Sandwell council have backed down.

Vanessa £75 fine is to be dropped along with similar penalties imposed on six other people in Smethwick Hall Park.

Alex Deane, Director of Big Brother Watch, said:

“We are delighted, if unsurprised, that Sandwell Council have admitted defeat in this matter; and we are glad that Vanessa can go on with her life without this ludicrous fine hanging over her head.

“However I am concerned that Sandwell are still intending to issue fixed penalty notices to people who try and feed the ducks in this park.

“Feeding birds is not a crime and people who do it are not criminals. Until Sandwell and other councils around the country stop trying to criminalise everyday pursuits, there will be more cases just like Vanessa’s.”

Well done Vanessa and BigBrotherWatch