Longrider

In the wake of the recent Da Vinci Case verdict, it seems to be open season for arrant stupidity.

A Russian art historian has accused The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown of plagiarism, just days after a British court rejected a similar claim.

Mikhail Anikin, from St Petersburg, said he would sue Brown if he did not receive an apology and compensation.

He claims Brown stole his idea that Leonardo Da Vinci was also a theologian and his Mona Lisa portrait was an allegory for the Christian Church.

I am beginning to wonder just how our ancestors rubbed enough brain cells together to scramble down from the trees – given the level of tommyrot trotted out by people who clearly should know better. Yes, indeed it would be nice as Mikhail requested, to be credited for ones ideas:

Mr Anikin, a Da Vinci expert at the Hermitage Museum, said he had shared his ideas with colleagues at a museum in Houston, Texas, in 1998.

He said one of the them had asked if he could pass on the ideas to a friend who wrote detective novels.

“I gave permission, but asked that this author indicate in his book that the idea had been mine,” Mr Anikin told Agence France Presse.

Nice, yes, but not essential. Mikhail, if you are, by some remote chance, reading this, do yourself a huge favour and save yourself a wad of money and repeat after me:

There is no copyright on ideas, there is no copyright on ideas, there is no copyright on ideas…

Got it?

Now playing: The Eagles - Lyin Eyes

Further to yesterday’s post on the water shortage informers, the Grauniad picks up the story:

Hidden beneath the tranquil surface of the south-east’s pony paddocks and quiet hedgerows, a troubled people are secretly seething. Curtains are twitching and plans of sweet revenge are being hatched. Residents are queueing up to inform on neighbours. In short, England is turning into a nation of snitches.

Good start – nice use of the word “snitches” as it provides just the right level of negative undertone. Then it goes downhill rather:

Even tiny Folkestone and Dover Water, which services 65,000 households, has taken three calls since its ban began last week. Unfortunately, all three reported fellow villagers for actions not actually banned. Still, hats off for laudable civic mindedness.*
(* My emphasis)

What the fuck?! Snitching on ones neighbours for doing nothing wrong is not, by any remote stretch of a fevered, over active imagination, civic mindedness! It is nasty, vile, petty, spiteful, nosy, interfering tittle-tattling. Civic mindedness, it most certainly is not. Jesus H Christ on an inverted pogo stick! What is wrong with these people?

Paula Campbell, a spokeswoman for Three Valleys Water, which services 3m households in north London and the home counties, says its best informant is a “very keen” woman who increases the scope of her surveillance by snooping as she takes her daily jog. (”She says she is exhausted from all the running,” Ms Campbell report). Gardeners on her route beware - she has shopped several since the ban began just over a week ago, and is on the lookout for more. It is not known whether “supergrass” showers, or for how long, on her return home.

This woman is not to be lauded – she is as described in my previous paragraph – everything to be despised about modern Britain. Has she nothing better to do? Clearly not. The Gestapo would have been pleased with her efforts. They would probably have promoted her.

When a state slides into totalitarianism, those petty individuals who are otherwise unremarkable and unfulfilled, seize an opportunity to further themselves at the expense of others. There is power to be had and these nonentities grasp it with avaricious claws; these small, petty people who otherwise lack the talent and ability to become noteworthy for their own achievements. History is repeating itself and it is not a pretty sight. Britain is rapidly becoming a place where I don’t want to live. My grandfathers’ generation’s sacrifice is being betrayed by its inheritors.

“We are not trying to be Big Brother in terms of of policing,” Ms Campbell says.

That is almost funny… Almost.

Apparently the Australians have been doing this for some while. The footnote to the article cites an online discussion about dobbing in a water wastrel:

“Tell your neighbour that their garden is completely unsuitable in terms of water consumption and that it shouldn’t take priority over people,” he exhorts. “Then tell them to expect a fine in the post. In fact, just give me their details and I will dob them in.”

To which “Margie” responds, rather sagely: “Just be careful that he doesn’t dob you in for something in turn.”

That tends to be a lesson learned the hard way.

[Update] I see that Mr Eugenidies has his own preferred solution to Ms Supergrass:

In any civilised country, of course, this woman would have been found hanging from a length of garden hose days ago.

Now playing: The Moody Blues - I Know You’re Out There Somewhere

In the south east of England, hosepipe bans have been introduced to cope with the unfortunate water shortages caused by the incompetence and irresponsible lack of maintenance by the water companies concerned a lack of rain. This is bad enough. It is also too bad that people ignore the ban thereby affecting their neighbours adversely. But, worrying is the willingness of neighbours to report others to the authorities for their transgressions.

More than 1,600 neighbours have reported each other for breaking hosepipe bans in the South East.

Is it me, or is there something deeply disturbing about people who will report others to the authorities? Has nothing changed since the Gestapo and Stasi used such tactics? It’s not just water, of course. We are being encouraged to report people who evade tax and cheat the benefits system. Yes, I know these are antisocial behaviours (whereas being a Jew or political dissident wasn’t). However, the authorities should be doing their own work, not using us as unpaid informants. And, if it is hosepipe bans today, will it be ID card refuseniks tomorrow? You see, it is all too easy for political dissidence to become antisocial behaviour in the eyes of the authorities and for that message to be subtly passed onto the masses. Tomorrow’s refuseniks may well be viewed with the same disdain as todays water gluttons and tax cheats.

And if you are a refusenik, you’d better watch out for those twitching curtains.

[Update] Somewhat prophetically, This from Guy Herbert over at Samizdata:

One has to conclude that isn’t really the point. The point is to get members of the public to adopt official attitudes, and engrain them by providing a mechanism to rehearse, to act out, concern. It is for to prove you are a compliant member of society by watching others carefully and reporting deviant behaviour.

Hat tip Mr Eugenidies.

According to IT Week, companies signing up to use the Stasi Database will have to cough up for the privilege. Duh, well, who’da thought it?!

Speaking exclusively to IT Week, [Katherine] Courtney said the exact pricing will depend on the final operating costs, but insisted that the government would not treat it as a money-making opportunity. “Obviously we are a non-profit-making organisation [and] it is in everybody’s best interest that people want to use the system.”

Indubitably… :dry: It will be in our best interests to use the system because the government will make operating outside it damn near impossible.

Courtney also argued that the benefits for firms using the system, such as the ability to secure high-value web transactions, would outweigh any potential costs.

Yeah, right… from the government department that can’t manage its own costs.

How’s this for a radical idea? We all save business heaps of money by not using the scheme in the first place and therefore avoid them wasting all that cash licensing or whatever, that ultimately will be paid by the consumer anyway (us, that is). See, whichever way it pans out we end up footing the bill.

So, let’s save our money by not playing. Sounds reasonable to me. :devil:

[edit] Before anyone is even vaguely tempted to take seriously anything Katherine Courtney says, she was a runner up in the “worst public servant” category in Privacy International’s 2004 Big Brother awards.

Runner-up:. Katherine Courtney, Director, Identity Cards Programme, Home Office, and Stephen Harrison, Head, Identity Card Policy Unit, Home Office

Ms Courtney and Mr Harrison have the honour of being the first-ever joint nomination for a UK award. They are the largely invisible figures behind the National Identity Card scheme and have steered the project since its inception in 2002. They were, of course, just following orders.

This woman represents the very worst of the state; and the state is not your friend.

Now playing: Gustav Holst - Neptune, The Mystic

Via Chris over at Strange Stuff a response by Hannah Pool on the case I discussed last week. Chris dissects Hannah’s prejudices nicely. However I want to add my tuppennyworth given the stupidity of an article that is riddled with non sequiturs:

You have to hand it to Judge Finestein, he has single-handedly reminded us all precisely how naff the phrase “political correctness gone mad” is. In fact it’s impossible to utter those four little words without inadvertently painting yourself as some sort of Victor Meldrew character.

No, it is not naff (if only it was). Unfortunately thanks to the inane prejudices and knee-jerk stupidity of people like Hannah Pool, it is a reality that we have to face day in day out, where taking excessive offence and demanding public retribution and grovelling apology at every little slight has become de rigeur. (When did our skins become so thin?) This behaviour has become so ingrained in our collective psyche that a playground spat – ugly though it is – is blown out of proportion and ends up before the beak. If that turns us into Victor Meldrews, it is people such as Ms Pool we have to thank for it. I for one am tired of hearing nonsensical accusations of “institutional racism” where there is no such thing. Or, worse, hearing the term racist used where it is entirely inappropriate. As an aside, how often do we hear those advocating immigration control referred to as racists? Race has nothing to  do with it, yet it neatly demonises the accuser’s opponents. Okay, back on subject.

“I was repeatedly called fat at school. Does this amount to a criminal offence? This is political correctness gone mad, it’s crazy,” he said. Ah yes, that old chestnut. When will people realise racism is not just about the words said but the history of oppression behind those words.

A history of which these boys will be insufficiently mature to be aware. Incidentally, calling someone “bin laden” isn’t racist, but that’s nit picking, I guess. :dry:

That said, I am in part agreement with Finestein in as much as I don’t think prosecuting 10-year-olds for racist language, no matter how foul, is particularly helpful (their parents perhaps). But presumably that’s not actually what happened. One moment the boys were happily abusing each other in the playground the next they were up in court? I doubt it somehow.

In which case, Ms Pool is not in part agreement, but in complete agreement with the judge, because that is all that he is saying. As for “playground one minute, court the next”, that is likely to be exactly what has happened given our politically correct world where insulting someone on the basis of race sets lips-a-pursing followed by the mindless rush to censure and prosecute to the maximum, out of proportion to the original offence. The school should have dealt with this – it should never have got to the CPS in the first place.

The CPS has issued a statement saying the three boys involved were offered a formal reprimand (an official slap on the wrist, that is) but only two accepted, the other offender’s family preferring that he go to court and chance his luck by pleading not guilty. Still the CPS’s fault now?

Unequivocally, yes. By taking the chance of court, the child now does not, like his playmates, have a criminal record for life. His parents made the right decision. When presented with this sorry episode, the CPS should have dismissed the complaint as a waste of their time. The complainant should have felt the full wrath of the law for wasting police and CPS’ time. It won’t happen unfortunately, but if it had, frivolous cases such as this would mean that two 10 year old boys wouldn’t have criminal records for a playground spat and Judge Finestein wouldn’t be making judgements that offend the politically correct ears of Hannah Pool.

Now playing: Fleetwood Mac - Mystified

Over at The England Project, a somewhat pessimistic variation on the seven ages of man. It’s a short piece but do pop over and have a gander.

“Up until the age of 5 or so your time is pretty much your own. If you were more conscious of the fact you would look back on this period fondly…

…From 65ish onwards you will wonder where all the time went, wish you had developed some other kinds of interests to help you pass your time and then you will die.”

Having a somewhat dark humour, I enjoyed it in a strange sort of way. But Feck me! It is depressing. I think maybe I should go put my head in the oven now and get it over with…

This week’s britblog roundup is up.

According to this interesting article in the Observer today, thousands of motorists are cheating the plethora of speed cameras that, ostensibly in the name of road safety, plague our highways and byways.

The scam involves offenders registering their cars at one of a network of ‘mass-mailing’ addresses used legitimately by businesses instead of at their own homes. When the driver triggers a camera, the penalty notice is sent to the mass-mailing address. Police seeking the motorist find only a shopfront where nobody lives.

Ah! I would have thought, though, that tracing the owners of the mail boxes was possible for the police, no? Maybe a job for the new model police force, then?

Anyway, that aside, the increase in scams such as this (cloning is another) are directly proportional to the attempts by the state to impose itself on our daily lives. It is, after all, human nature. And this is at least recognised in the article:

Edmund King of the RAC Foundation said the incentives to cheat could have increased because more offences were now enforced by camera: ‘It’s not just speed cameras people are trying to avoid: in London it’s things like the congestion charge, bus lane enforcement with bus cameras, and yellow box junction enforcement.’

Yes, quite. While enforcing rules is necessary – after all, if you aren’t going to enforce, then there’s no point in the rule – the reliance on technology simply means that people will take the time and effort to find workarounds. Some will themselves involve technological solutions. Others, such as this one will be devastatingly simple and difficult to resolve. And, the greater the efforts to enforce, the more valuable the workarounds become.

The home office, however, has the answer:

A Home Office spokesman said the national identity register being introduced to back up planned ID cards would help,

Now, why did I know they were going to say that? If there were doubts about function creep with the NIR, they are now dispelled. It will be the panacea for the crime du jour. Whenever there is a “problem” the home office will flash its ID card and Stasi database as the “solution”.

The last word goes the the disreputable DVLA – yes, the folk that lose your driver categories and then deny that it was their lousy database that was responsible, you know, the people with a database with around 40% accuracy.

A Department for Transport spokes-man said the DVLA database was ‘97.5 per cent accurate’.

Yes. And the Iraqi army really did beat back the Infidel Americans at the gates of Baghdad.

[Edit] I see Tim has picked up on this, too.