Nanny state

[Flyfisher]

Apparently the imminent smoking ban is to be accompanied by the legal requirement for no-smoking signs to be displayed at the entrance of all "enclosed public spaces". This will include all publically accessible heritage sites and buildings and will, of course, greatly enhance the natural ambience of such places :roll:

If this trend of 'negative signposting' becomes firmly established we'll be completely over run by bl**dy signs everywhere! What next? 'Mugging Prohibited' signs? 'No Shoplifting in this area'? 'Armed Robbery Prohibited In This Bank'? 'No Murdering'? 'Defacing This Notice Prohibited'?

I despair

 

[Matt Green]

From what I saw in Cheltenham yesterday:

"All attempts to kill this fungus are strictly prohibited. It is already dead."

would have saved a listed building from having it's walls bored with a 12mm masonry bit at 200mm centres and water-based fungicide pumped into them.

 

[Nemesis]

But someone made money out of it...

 

[another_richard]

I once saw a sign of a handgun with the standard red X over it on a bank door in Bulgaria in the early 90s.

We were sitting outside waiting for the bank to open.

The sign worked, we saw a car pull up and a group of heavies put their weapons in the boot (machine gun and pistols).

 

[CHRIS]

I have had to put stickers in my company trucks as it is a place of work!!!!!

 

[Flyfisher]

Have you found any space among all the other stickers explaining to your drivers that they mustn't use mobile phones while driving, must observe the prevailing speed limit, must stop at red lights, must not overtake on a blind bend etc etc.

The world is going mad - or is it just Britain?

PS: talking of signs and guns, I used to be amazed at the number of road signs in the USA with bullet holes in them. I don't know if it's everywhere, but it's certainly very common on the rural roads in Virginia and Maryland. But I guess it's OK because I've never seen any 'No Shooting At Roadsigns' signs :?

 

[Penners]

'Defacing This Notice Prohibited'

The more mature among the assembled company may remember a brilliant cartoonist called Timothy Birdsall, who was in the Cambridge Footlights with people like Peter Cook and Eleanor Bron. He was later featured regularly in Private Eye and was the resident cartoonist on That Was The Week That Was. Sadly, he died of leukemia at the age of just 26.

He originated the above joke with a cartoon of a tortoise looking glumly and a signboard that read: "Do not throw stones at this notice".

It seems that these notices are a fait accompli, so we can't prevent their appearance. But I do hope that someone forms a band of vigilantes who will go round setting fire to any signs that say "We should like to politely thank our valued patrons for not smoking within this establishment", or any similar PC bo***cks.

NO SMOKING seems to me to convey the message perfectly adequately.

 

[Penners]

PS: I understand that if you have builders in to work on your house, it then becomes a place of work. So you have enforce the no smoking policy, and put up the appropriate signs.

Oh, give me strength.... :roll:

 

[CHRIS]

I bet there is a huge pile of butts just before the M4 bridge going into Wales where everyone chucks them out!!!!!!

 

[Flyfisher]

Continuing the signs theme (well it's raining and miserable outside), I found the following gem from a Grauniad article here:

Whilst walking in a wood some years ago on Midhurst Common, I came across a sign attached to a telegraph pole which read, "This pole complies with all rules and regulations appertaining to poles"

Now that could really open the door to compliance signs all over the place!

 

[skier-hughes]

I wonder if there is a regulation that says 6' poles should be 6'... if so how does a telegraph pole comply with all pole regulations?

 

[Flyfisher]

Perhaps there are no "regulations appertaining to poles", in which case the notice would be correct :wink:

More seriously, the CE marking of goods sold within the EU is a symbol that effectively means the same thing as the pole notice example, i.e. that the product meets all the relevant standards for that product. If you want to know the details, the manufacturer has to supply a 'declaration of conformity' on request (assuming it's not already in the instruction manual), which will list the relevant standards.

As for 6' poles, I suspect there is already a regulation that says they must be actually be 1828.8mm (within the EU anyway) :roll:

 

[Nemesis]

Seen on a packet of sleeping pills - Warning this product may cause drowsiness...

 

[Penners]

Oh no - any minute now we're going to get the peanuts one. You know, "...may contain nuts".

I can think of any number of establishments where that warning might apply.

 

[Penners]

I bet there is a huge pile of butts just before the M4 bridge

Please just reassure me that you are talking about cigarette ends.

 

[bower1]

Oh no - any minute now we're going to get the peanuts one. You know, "...may contain nuts".

That one is not as silly as it sounds, as peanuts are not technically nuts.

 

[alice]

I teach in a high school in Texas. It is illegal to enter the campus with a concealed handgun and shoot the students and teachers. I have a sign in my classroom that informs said shooters of the law and the consequences. I feel much safer now.

alice

 

[Flyfisher]

The 'concealed weapons' laws in the US have always intrigued me. What's the rationale for it being OK to carry a weapon in full view but carrying a concealed weapon is illegal (though not in all states I understand)?

Perhaps it's to protect potential muggers? It would be unfortunate to attempt to rob someone only to be shot after they draw their concelaed weapon. Most unsporting and unfair (and no doubt you could find a lawyer to defend the assailant on that basis as well :roll: )

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I think we should have a competition to design the best 'no smoking' sign to place on the front doors of all those lovely Georgian properties.. how about a special one for no. 10---------

 

[alice]

I'm sure there's a rationale for the concealed weapons laws here, if you can separate "rationale" from "rational".

alice