Thursday 5 July 2012

Scenes We Should Be Deeply Ashamed Of

"We... were told to sit in rows and not talk to each other. There was a small area of the motorway where we were told to sit and stay."
This, apparently, is how we treat innocent members of the public these days ... over something as inoffensive as an e-cig.




Well done terrorists our benevolent government, you've won.

There is so much wrong with this, just where does one start?

UPDATE: Via Leg Iron, the Daily Mail carries an understatement of heroic proportion.
Although Britain is on a high state of alert in advance of the Olympic Games, Staffordshire police were last night facing accusations of gross over-reaction.
"17 police cars and vans, 13 fire engines, four ambulances and even the military"? You don't bloody say!


35 comments:

…Zaph said...

I've said this on some blogs already, and Leg Iron of course said it first in one of his blog entries, but it bears repeating once again…

"The human race is over. The humans lost."

Consider me fully detached from society. And good riddance to it.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Isn't there something a bit Guantanamo Bay about those pictures? Utterly shameful, and that's without counting the cost of everyone else who was held up by closing the motorway for hours.

Also, defending the hideous rabbit who reported something so pathetic and not apologising in the strongest terms. "Proportionate response"? Oh FFS! 

Tom said...

It puts new meaning into the coined phrase to beware of the "Smoke Police". I guess they really mean what they say, when they say no-smoking, they MEAN no-smoking, including at the pointed end of a SWAT team rifle squad in order to enforce it. ASH must be giddy with delight about now.

moonrakin said...

Having seen my local force's Armed Response Unit  "in action" at the end of my street about 18 months ago - I would say that it is simply a matter of time before some adrenaline addled gung-ho halfwit blows a hole or several in Joe Public.

As I commented earlier - I don't think we'll see who called it in.

The gits in the MSM are entirely happy to run this sandwiched between terrorist arrests in London and "immigration problems wiv foreigners coming in"

Just seen this little headline

moonrakin said...

More MSM "we wuz 'fraid for our lives stuff..."

I suppose I can see their point if they knew anything about firearms safety and the standards of same in provincial police forces.....

Dick_Puddlecote said...

"I would say that it is simply a matter of time before some adrenaline addled gung-ho halfwit blows a hole or several in Joe Public."
Or Jean Charles de Menezes, even. 

Just more incompetent idiots who will never learn.

Best said...

I expect that if it had been a 'real' cigarette then we would have had fighter jets sent in and nuclear missiles on standby.
E-cigs will now be banned and ASH is delighted.

Scud One said...

So, the story so far is someone sees 'vapour' emanating from someone else's bag aboard a 'Megabus'. Shit scared witness to this terrifying spectacle doesn't do the normal human thing and say...'Ohh, yer bag seems to be on fire" but slinks back and makes a clandestine call to the cops (wide eyed with terror, hand over mouth) that the bus is obviously about to be blown to Timbuktu... 
"999, which service do you require?"
"Err...anti terrorist squad?"
"I'll put you through"
(Vivaldi's four seasons for 5 minutes)
"Hello...anti Terry unit. How can I help?"
"Sm...sm...sm...smmmmoke!"
"Alright mate, calm down. Where are yer?"
"Dunno...I'm on a bus."
"Where?"
"About 4 rows from the back."
'Nah...not you, the bus."
"M...M...M...motorway."
"Hmmm...right. Here's what I want you to do. Slink up the aisle..."
"Slink up the aisle?!"
"Yeah...slink up the aisle without drawing attention to yerself and 'and yer phone over to the driver."
"Err...Ok".

Our concerned citizen makes his way gingerly up the aisle without drawing attention to himself and nudges the driver to accept his phone...

"Fuck off."
"It's...it's very important."
"So's not crashing with a bloody phone in me hand."

Eventually...without causing any untoward attention from onboard terrorists at all....

"Hello? Driver?"

Pah! Absolute bollocks! This is just another little mind f*** pre-planned with no props spared...forensic tents, sniffer dogs, fire appliances, ambulances, helicopters, cordoning tape and of course the bastard media to cover it all....conveniently played out just beyond the toll booths for maximum, dramatic effect. We're terrified! Honestly...we really are fucking terrified! http://iamfuckingterrified.com/

Just a thought, but is it actually possible for an 'un-manned' e-cig to belch 'vapour' through a bag?...I'm rather thinking that it isn't.

Tony said...

You're right Dick it has a real Gitmo feel to it, absolute insanity, but this is what the fake war on terror has created. Madness and insanity like this and people scared of their own shadow, it's all complete and utter bullshit.

An interesting stat is that on average in the 21st century more people are killed by insect stings and drowning in the bath per year than they do by terrorism, this makes for a very interesting read: http://www.prisonplanet.com/report-more-people-killed-by-bees-drowning-in-bath-than-from-terrorism.html

We're all being conned and the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Sadly the bullshit is only going to get worse too.

Citizen of the UK said...

The statement from the police on tv said that it was a health product to help people stop smoking. I do not understand how clouds of vapour could come from an e-cig as it only produces the vapour when the user inhales through it, i have had an e-cig for years and never had any problems like what was described by the media. It is more likely that it was a pharmaceutical anti-smoking inhaler which i understand has a pressurised container inside and would have been likely to produce clouds of vapour if it had a fault. The use of the terms "fake cigarettes" and "electronic cigarettes" in their reporting is also questionable.

Was it a set up by the anti-smoking lobby with an aim to get e-cigs banned?

Smoking Hot said...

No way in hell would l have meekly sat down in the middle of the M6 just because some muppet in a uniform told me to. lt wouldn't have been because of bravery l'd do such a thing, it would be because l'd be so pissed off with the whole bloody farce.

You may be right Dick that the government has won judging by these pics but not with me they ain't ... l'll go down fighting and yes, l do mean it.

JuliaM said...

Even more disturbing are the number of idiots who try to defend this in the comments with 'What if it'd been real!' and 'They have to do this!' and 'We should support out police as they try to keep us safe!'...

Ben Palmer said...

I presume they suspected a bomb in one of the passengers luggage. Did they think that any of the people sitting or standing next to the bus would have been spared if a bomb had exploded inside the bus?
So many officials, so little brain!

Furor Teutonicus said...

It was a planned "set up". NO bastard gets THAT much co-ordination from a gen 999 call. You would be lucky to get the police and fire-brigade to arrive in the same bloody STREET half the time. As to the ambulance....HAhahahaha!

MarkWadsworth said...

Agreed, the whole thing is bizarre, FT thinks was planned as a show of force. Hmmm. That might impress the general public but proper terrorists won't be fooled. Icing on the cake is that they blame it on a "fake cigarette" (the BBC's words).

John said...

A new slant on the ever popular false flag operations. The tying of ASH to this summers much anticipated 'Anti Terrorist Games' is a cracking idea. That'll scare the shit out of even more slaves as the Games media organs are proving via their comment boards.

Furor Teutonicus said...

Thinking about this fiasco. If this is going to be the response to EVERY report of a wee bit of smoke in a bus, then we, smokers, could disable London COMPLETELY.

All it needs is four or five people from different areas to get on busses at the same prearanged time, light up, and WHAMO! The BRITISH police are tied up for hours, let alone just London....

But hey, I would not REALLY suggest any one actually DO such a thing....WOULD I now?

The Front Line said...

Various companies such as coach operators are now considering bannning E Cigs joining such as Wetherspoons and others.
Therefore ,as E cigs do not have a HEALTH profile any reader with an
IQ of more than 50 may assume "smoking bans " are a means to another
end.
Maybe some Control Pharisee can answer the following question I have
begged of Politicians,Health Pros and sundry "Experts" this past 6 years
"Why cant I smoke in an old disused garden shed 20 yards down at the bottom of the backyard of my local pub,between the wheely bins"
I have to accept my superior educational background has not made me aware of the ignorance and apathy of the many who fall for lies and
nonsensical laws.
Yet we have the "elite" of the pro ban league ,such as CAMRA,still
cringing out their justification.

We who would fight,why are we so few?   

David said...

Assuming that the report of vapour coming out of a bag is correct, this must mean that the efag was faulty - perhaps the 'on' button if it had one, or a problem with the battery/atomiser connection.

ASH have warmed to the e fag concept of late, but this incident plays right into their hands. Expect to see them reiterate calls for regulation of e fags, whereby 'dangerous' unlicenced products will eventually be regarded as counterfeit. Furthermore, once Big Pharma gets the monopoly, it'll be interesting to see its reaction to healthist demands for taxation of recreational nicotine. 

The war with tobacco companies is as much about who profits from nicotine than health. Probably far more.

Pre Hastings said...

Thank goodness it was only an E-CIG
Just imagine the scenario had it been a REAL FAG
Low flying Squadrons of Typhoons,Chinooks landing on roundabouts,
Frigates on th Trent,Commons in all night sitting,BBC cancelling Wimledon,
flogging re introduced for lax coach drivers,ASH at the barricades ,
Liberal Democrats in self scourging protest in Trafalgar Square,The
Guardian with a 100 page pull out supplement on Saturday
Not forgeting a full sitting of the Security Council at the UN
It could have been worse,it could have been in one of the backward
Celtic fringe Wastelands Ireland,Scotland and Wales,they would have had
a Blackout and Curfew.

Saxon Shield 

Hemmingpurr said...

Love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Sorry, Scud, you got stuck in the spam filter for some reason. 

Excellent post. :)

truckerlyn said...

"E-cigs will now be banned and ASH is delighted."

My thoughts, exactly!  E-cigs will now be banned in all the same places that normal cigs are!

What an absolute load of Muppets!

As for the police?  I wouldn't trust them with a water pistol and I would also think twice about calling them if I was in trouble or danger!

Like Matrons in hospital, bring back the good old fashioned style of policing, where there are local bobbies who know their patch, what goes on it and knows the locals who also know and respect him!  Nowadays there is no respect for the police because they don't earn it and respect, in my book, has to be earned!

Bloody shambles!

truckerlyn said...

If it were me I would be more scared of the police, particularly the armed ones!

As for an 'un-manned' e-cig to belch vapour on it's own - I don't know, but if it did, surely the obvious thing to do is to remove the battery! 

truckerlyn said...

Good thought!

truckerlyn said...

About par for the course!

truckerlyn said...

ASH don't seem to mind about the avalanche of counterfeit cigs that will flood the country when the plain packaging law is passed on their recommendation, though, do they!

truckerlyn said...

In fact, FT, what a great diversion tactic for ACTUAL terrorists to use in and around London during the Olympics!  And, it's been handed to them on a plate by our own, so called, security forces!

David said...

Whilst we're on the subject...

Anyone tried boosting the strength of a proper fag by inoculating it with juice? Depending on the dose the effects of one fag could last all day, maybe longer....

Could work out a lot cheaper and mean less trips to the naughty shed.

 

Witchfinder General said...

Joykillers are on the rampage
One of BBCs coven of levellers blithers.
"
But body language expert Judi James says people should tread carefully. Even someone putting an unlit cigarette in their mouth can upset people nowadays, she says. Anyone wanting to smoke an e-cigarette at work should inform colleagues first what they're doing.
In a restaurant it's more complicated. Short of getting up and announcing to the assembled diners that it's a "fake fag", it may be necessary to go outside. "These days the baddies are the ones smoking the fags. So I almost feel these fake cigarettes have got to be smoked in a smoking area."

After £27 Billions worth of total blarney about "Health Hazards" it boils
down to , some people dont like to see others smoking even anything
which looks like a cig

So if anything which anyone is doing offends me I can ask them to go
outside and do it......Oh what a door thats opened
Any suggestions ,folks.............ANY!


An Old Contemptible 

Tom said...

That's actually not a bad idea for anyone owning both a pub and a private residence nearby, out back, adjacent to or upstairs above a pub. The pub sells the drinks and if you want to do carryout, it's a small refundable deposit charge on the glasses, which is refunded when the glasses are returned. What someone does, off premises in a private residence is entirely within the letter of the law, thus smoking ban for pubs eliminated.

SteveW said...

"
perhaps the 'on' button if it had one, or a problem with the battery/atomiser connection"

More likely to just burn out the atomiser with very little vapour produced - the suction/airflow is integral to the proper functioning and vapour production.  I'm very sceptical of this having been an E-cig at all.  I did get one to 'pop' quite dramatically, but I needed to wire the atomiser up to an old Hi-Fi amplifier and give it a bit of a hit.

Tony said...

Here is a superb take on it Dick, I would recommend adding this to your blog rounds, this guy does sature with many a hint of truth like no other: http://thesatirestall.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/paranoia-attack-closes-m6-motorway.html?m=1

David said...

Since I posted I read that the guy may have been hiding the e fag in a bag whilst using it. I guess in the absence of the smell of tobacco, others on the bus who were unaware of e fags genuinely wondered what the hell he was doing...

Bob. said...

I personally think it was a secret service set up ordered by the government for 2 reasons.
Reason 1: to check out the police reaction to a possible terrorist threat, not only to check on how quickly and hard they come down on a possible threat and to show prospective terrorists what they are likely to be upagainst.
Reason 2: to set public awareness of what the anti smokers see as a further target of possible public healh risk so they can TAX the crap out of E cigs like they do on ordinary cigs to regain the millions lost from smokers turning to vaping.
What else can they super tax next?????????