This week’s stories remind us once again, of how ‘old fashioned’ rational thought is being replaced by ‘progressive’, irrational ideology. The Loony left in its’ mission to create a better, more thoughtful world, continue to cast aside what they consider the useless notions of public consultation, debate and majority consent in favour of their gentler, wiser dictatorial approach. Initially, we at vladtepesblog were reluctant to post these stories, as they may only provide more data for the social engineers of our cities to expand their role of government interference in our personal choices and anything else enjoyable. Concluding they will rail on regardless, we got over it. Enjoy.

#1 From Britain. Mother branded abuser for telling daughter of cesarean. Social workers have placed the five-year old daughter of a professional couple on the child register for ’emotional abuse’ after her mother told her she had been delivered by cesarean. Other allegations against the mother include cuddling her daughter for too long when dropping her off at nursery.  The intervention from Birmingham social services and a subsequent request to hold a child protection conference resulted from allegations which stemmed from the daycare. Friction developed between Mrs. Malik and the nursery after staff reported the child ‘bit her nails’ and was heard swearing.  Birmingham MP John Hemming responded saying ” This whole case is madness as there is no reason for the state to be involved in this little girl’s life in this way”.

#2 From Ottawa. Resident told to erase sidewalk chalk art. On one of the season’s first warm, sunny days, eleven year old Remi Ackert-Fraser made a big chalk drawing of a Canadian flag in front of her home in the Byward Market. The following day, complaints from neighbours led the grade 6 student’s mother Jamine Ackert to wash her daughter’s art away. “My neighbour said, ‘It looks like shit, and you should remove it”. The building’s property manager and the president of the condo association’s board told Ms. Ackert of the complaints citing some had said the chalk art had defaced the property. “What will they do now, asked Ackert, stop hopscotch in the Market?” The Market seems to attract partypoopers, the last being councilor Georges Bedard and his campaign to crackdown on rowdies, bad language and disorderly conduct.

#3 From the U.S. 119 words banned from use by radio broadcasters at WGN Chicago. The CEO of the troubled Tribune Company has made an effort to eradicate 119 all-too common words and phrases from the lexicon of WGN radio reporters dogged by cliches. Staff have also been given ‘bingo cards’ to keep tabs on each others usage and turn in offenders. They are urged to use the cards as a snitching tool to record the precise time and date if a fellow worker is found to be non-compliant.  A memo circulated to staff reads: ” The real goal here is to avoid using words that make you sound like you’re reading instead of talking–that shatter the image that you’re speaking knowledgeably to one person. By not using ‘news-speak’, you enhance your reputation as a communicator”. (Yes, ‘after the break’, ‘after these commercial messages’ and ‘in other news’ are on the list).

#4 From the U.K. Amateur gardeners urged to use peat free compost to lessen carbon footprint. The Environmental Secretary has called for a phasing out of peat compost sold by garden centers to green-thumbed householders by 2020 to combat its environmental impact. The recently launched campaign aims to raise awareness among homeowners of its negative impact and seeks to encourage such gardeners to find peat free alternatives. ” I know that the proposed 2020 phase-out for the amateur market will be challenging, but we know this is what we need to do”, said Environmental Secretary Hilary Benn. (Urges turn into needs and needs turn into bans).

#5 From the U.K. Charcoal next in line for outlaw status; meet Camden’s killjoy barbecue police. Primrose Hill community center in north London has been successfully hosting a summer barbecue festival for the community for three decades. But recent requirements by the Camden Council have dampened the festival’s fun. All staff, volunteers and artists attending must undergo a Criminal Records Bureau check. ‘Under-represented ethnic groups’ must be invited and any volunteer who wishes to man a barbecue stand must undergo a special how-to, health and safety course. All traditional charcoal barbecues have been replaced with gas units in a combined eco-friendly and risk-aversion safety bid with officials sent to ensure only the right kind of barbecue is being used by a qualified burger flipper. These bids are a natural spin-off of local authorities gone mad with ridiculous regulation.

*** And now the story of the week that we didn’t have time to mention……….

From the U.S., Canada and the U.K. New York’s state legislature considers banning salt from restaurants. Chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill that would prevent them from using salt while preparing food in restaurant kitchens. The legislation was brought forward by Felix Ortiz, Democrat Brooklyn, and if passed, would allow fines of $1,000 to be issued to any restaurant found in violation.  “We need to talk of the two ingredients of salt; health care costs and deaths”, Ortiz said adding, ” reducing the content of sodium content of food could save 100,000 lives in the city”. But salt shakers would stay in place on tables. Chefs understand that salt if used properly, is an essential ingredient in cooking, realizing it’s intrinsic ability to enhance natural flavours. It is a rare trained chef who would be advised to omit it’s use. New York chefs have banned together to fight the bill with one saying “modifying sodium intake needs to be home based for optimal health”.

But health lunacy is not confined to New York. Since the Ontario government has banned junk food from schools it has realized it needs to recoup vending revenues lost to the junk food ban. The solution? Replace junk food vending machines with water machines where kids buy ‘chilled’ drinking water. According to liberal logic it works something like this: ban the junk and ‘encourage’ kids to buy healthy water from a $10,000 vending machine, something they can already get from a fountain in the corridor so they can fund previous government idiocy.

If it’s a sniff of clean air you want, why not look to the National Trust in the U.K.? Responding to the high stress level of 74% of Brits, air has been collected in environmentally-friendly British made recycled glass jars providing harried UK workers with an instantly relaxed feeling.

Fresh air from the Lakes

The air collected from the sea side, comes in several scents; lakeside aroma of Windermere, the smell of Townsend, the grass-filled air of Wiltshire and a wood-land scent from Surrey. Wondering if the air was trucked in? Never you mind, the jars can be recycled and filled with jam or preserves. Better yet, why not capture your own fresh air scent, say Bouquet de Bureaucracy or Eau d’ Enviro?