Nanny Knows Best

I found an interesting blog called "Nanny Knows Best" and it highlights Britain's path towards a pervasive nanny state. Below is an excerpt from a recent post expounding on recent "expenses" by Members of Parliment:

Listening to our "walking dead" Prime Minister the other day, prattling on about how "the system" (wrt MPs' expenses) was at fault for the claims for floating duck islands, fake mortgages, moats etc I was struck by how what the PM said exemplifies the very heart of the problem of the Nanny state.

The PM ignored the fundamental issue, it is not the system that is at fault but the people. It was not compulsory for our MPs to claim for duck islands and moats, they did so voluntarily and with gusto!

The PM and these greedy MPs are using the "procedures" argument as a defence, in exactly the same manner that a doctor, social worker, police officer, teacher, FSA CEO or council officer uses "rules and procedures" to justify what they do and to justify their mistakes.

How many times have we heard the phrase "we followed the procedures"?

This should be an interesting blog to follow on occasion, mostly since I don't in Britain. Unfortunately things happening across the pond also wind up here in the USA. Let us hope not.

Stress Canary

Stolen from JCG3

I have a new definition… I was surprised when wikipedia and even the urban dictionary didn’t have a definition for the term “stress canary”.

Stress Canary - noun

1. the person on a team or project that feels the effects of stress well before anyone else
2. a modern version of a canary in a coal mine, someone who reacts to stress as an early warning signal