Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Via Rottweiler, a sordid tale of rules trumping things they ought not. It involves a rescue boat, and it seems the time line looks like this:
June 11: General purpose semi-inflatable lifeboat at Hope Cove suspended from active service by the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency because of concerns about the structural integrity of the hull.
August 12: A 13-year-old schoolgirl is swept out to sea 150 yards. Hope Grove Station Officer Ian Pedrick asks the Coast Guard for permission to use the boat to rescue her, then loses radio contact.
What happens next is where it starts to get a little silly…
The four-strong crew braved heavy surf to help save the girl, but their courage was not appreciated by their bosses at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Their boat has been confiscated and locked up, and their station officer and his crew, who are all volunteers, are now under investigation following the rescue.
Now villagers say a holidaymaker could die because of what they say are “health and safety rules gone mad”.
I’m impressed that, if you read the original article to the end, you see some pencil-neck bureaucrat is dishing out some sound bite justifying this lunacy by saying “The health and safety of the boat crews and those who they may render assistance to is of paramount importance.” What a fascinating piece of logical warp this is. So let me get this straight — if the boat isn’t there, the swimmer dies, but of course the swimmer does not fall under the definition of “those who they may render assistance to” and so, in that manner, “those who they may render assistance to” are doing just great because the MCA had the wisdom and foresight to make sure this dead swimmer, who is dead, was not being rendered assistance.
I realize this is an imperfect analogy because when the boat caught up to the girl, it seems she was being rendered assistance by a diver. But I don’t really know what exactly that means. There is nothing in the article to indicate there was serious merit to these concerns over the hull integrity; the boat had been credited with over 91 rescues without any safety-related incident; and common sense seems to declare rather forcefully that a swimmer in trouble will have a much better chance with the boat than without it.
The operation was a complete success; the patient died.
Misha titles his own post “Let ‘er drown!” And that reminds me of a line from one of the greatest war movies ever made:
Aid: This is from General Alexander, sir…reminding you that you are not to take Palermo.
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.: Send him a message, Cod. Ask him if he wants me to give it back.
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The article you quoted left out a bunch of info that makes the story even worse (and yes, no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse):
The boat had been written up in June, and was awaiting repair–which was to be done by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Weeks passed with no action by the MCA, and the town’s volunteer crew realized that if they waited too much longer summer–the swimming/rescue season–would be over. So the crew chipped in about $4,000 of their own money to have the repairs done themselves.
But U.K. regs required that the boat be inspected before it could be returned to service. And guess who the inspecting agency is? Yep, the same MCA that couldn’t get around to repairing it in the first place.
When the girl got swept out to sea the rescue crew duty officer reportedly tried to radio for permission to launch without the required inspection but couldn’t get through. Being standup guys, they launched anyway. And as you noted, three hourse later the local MCA pencil-neck confiscated their boat.
This is a classic example not just of bureaucratic sloth but also of the ridiculous jealousy bureaucrats exhibit when anyone shows them up or accidentally treads on their turf. IMHO, people like this should be shot straight away. (okay, maybe a bit of hyperbole there)
And we’re seeing more of this *class* of behavior in the U.S. every day.
- sf4 | 08/16/2008 @ 12:52