“And when Gartocharn Primary School in Dunbartonshire secured the services of the London Olympics chief starter for their own sports day, the school must have thought it would be an extra special occasion. But the school had not reckoned with the administrative power of health and safety council officials, who banned Alan Bell from firing a pistol at the event in case the sound frightened the school’s children.” That’s dailymail.co.uk documenting the continued downward spiral of (once) Great Britain. As one sane parent told the Mail, “Anyone who believes they would be frightened by a starting pistol has never experienced the noise at a typical three-year-old’s birthday party.” Drool Britannia.

28 COMMENTS

  1. /headdesk

    I heard someone say once that the sound of a starting pistol provided a nice jolt of adrenaline to get you started down the lane, and that the modern day electronic “BOOP” sound just couldn’t compare.

      • ANd here I was thinking I beat this. All I had to do is read the “boop” and I had to fight the urge to strip down and swim 100 meters. Good times, Co-ed Swim practice was all it took to get me hooked on the sport as an impressionable 13yr kid.

  2. “Daddy, what’s that he’s holding in his hand?”
    “That’s a handgun, son.”
    “A handgun? Aren’t they banned?”
    “Well yes, dear, but this is a special model. It shoots blanks not bullets.”
    “Dad, what’s a bullet?”
    “Oh Jeez”

    • I agree. in a society where guns are common, people realize there is no need to be afraid when a non idiot is using it. (especially a gun with blanks)

  3. For the love of…the more i read articles like this, the more i believe that people nowadays are spiraling further downward into a bottomless pit of stupidity…”cant have pencils in school, sharp point could hurt someone”…

  4. From an empire so vast that the sun never set upon it with hardy people who kept the stiff upper lip through WW2, to a global laughingstock.

    As the saying goes, it can happen here too.

    • after hearing all of the bs “its bushes fault” once again with this F&F i sincerely believe this is the direction some in this country want to take. i listened to Washington journal call in program on cspan radio this morning driving to work, and there were numerous callers asking for the assault weapons ban with the most ridiculous reasoning for it.

      • Yes, well, as the Gallup poll from September 2011 showed, 46% of adult males in the country own at least one gun and 23% of adult female do as well. Seeing the current trend, by the end of this year I’d say 50% of males and 30% of females wouldn’t be an unrealistic expectation.

  5. Wasn’t there an article about Colombian cocaine growing operations posted before this one? It’s not listed anymore.

  6. George Orwell, who despised authoritarianism and pervasive government surveillance (and who once shot an elephant as a colonial policeman) is turning over in his grave.

  7. Just wait until they ban starter guns at this summer’s Olympics. Wouldn’t want to start a stampede.

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