YOB Meat II: "Why can't we be more like the Brits?"

Oh dear! I seem to have touched upon a sensative subject for the Brits!
It seems that YOBs are a serious crime-prevention problem, so they have devised a special punishment for them: The "ASBO". This is an "Anti Social Behavior Order", which might be called a "Restraining Order" in the USA.

Asbowatch VI: In the summertime:


One shopping mall has determined that their greatest anti-social problem is YOBS, who typically wear hooded sweatshirts or billed caps. So they have established a policy to forbid entry to people who are wearing these EEEVIL Clothing Accessories. ("Guns don't kill people; caps kill people. Oops! Wait a minute ... guns kill people too!")

If you show up at this mall wearing a cap, you will be subject to ... an ASBO!

Unfortunately, the YOBs laugh at this.

However, elderly people receive ASBOs also, for almost any reason (including feeding the pigeons ... I swear I am not making this up!) While the ASBO may not deter YOBS, it has the effect of restricting anti-social behavior among the elderly of England. Other anti-social behaviors cited in the article include sunbathing in a thong bikini (if you're a 60 year old male) and throwing rubarb at your sibling.

("Hat" tip to Kevin Baker of The Smallest Minority)

YOBs are so common in England, they even have their own comic strip:


It's a little bit of "Sound of Music", British style: "How do you solve a problem like Maria", but without the music and with more Nazi's:

Home Office minister launches war on 'culture of disrespect'

Teenage yobs are to be forced to wear US-style uniforms as they carry out community service punishments under plans for a new high-visibility crackdown on public disorder.

The move, echoing American chain gangs whose members wear orange jackets to shame them publicly, will be highly controversial and could risk reprisals.

But Home Office minister Hazel Blears argues justice must be seen to be done in the battle against what the government calls a 'culture of disrespect' - ranging from swearing, spitting and neglectful parenting to petty crime and violence.

In her first interview as the new minister for antisocial behaviour, Blears also suggested parents should enforce sensible bedtimes for children and restore 'structure' to family life, such as eating meals together. They should also be alert to what children wear following debate over teenagers wearing 'hoodies' to avoid CCTV identification.

Minister for Antisocial Behavior? My, the brits are really getting tough on crime, aren't they?

But some members of government don't expect these extraordinary measures to have much effect on the "YOB Problem":

... (Conservative Party "Shadow Home Secretary") Mr Davis said: "Labour have been in power for eight years and what have they done? They have permitted 24 hour drinking, let over one hundred thousand prisoners out of jail early, whilst at the same time making the life of a police constable on the beat more and more difficult."

He told conservatives.com: "An idea like this may well make a minor contribution to public confidence, but it will not make up for eight years of neglect of law and order."

Did I say something about "Music" and "Yobs"?

The Beautiful South serenades the English in all their shabby splendor; Black Box Recorder finds the sad side of sadism

It's a concept which clearly applies:



But wait! The government is going to save you!

Blair promises crackdown on Yobs

(the link may not work ... the article is a week old, and no longer available except through a search)

Promoting respect towards others and clamping down on yobbish behaviour will be the key theme of a third term Labour government, Tony Blair said today.

The prime minister said it had been made clear to him during the campaign that people had real concerns about behaviour on the streets and in classrooms.



Promising a "bold programme" for the new parliament, Mr Blair said people were "fed up with street corner thugs" and respect for others would be a central plank of this parliament.

He said there were "root causes" of yobbish behaviour and binge drinking - including poor parenting - and parents should back teachers, not children, if they were reprimanded at school.

Mr Blair said that Labour would "sit down with head teachers" to make sure they had all the powers they needed in the classroom to deal with problem children.

Yeah, right.

He also lent his support to Bluewater shopping centre's decision to ban individuals who wear clothing that deliberately obscures their face, such as a hooded top and a baseball cap, saying: "I actually agree with it".

I actually am impressed. Okay, so perhaps not 'actually'.

One of the key things was to make "people feel safe and in control" and ensure a "modern society free from prejudice but not free from rules, he added.

It was important that "decent law abiding people aren't put in fear and frightened of going down to the shop", he said.

That sounds good. What are you 'actually' going to do about it?

Mr Blair was scathing of the European parliament's decision yesterday to vote for the removal of the 48-hour working week opt out saying that Europe "simply cannot afford to give up our flexibility" in the global economic market.

He had "no intention whatsoever" of abandoning the opt-out, adding that he believed the UK had a blocking minority on the council of ministers.

Woops?
Wait a minute here, Tony. You've already pledged to give more authority to the teachers, but you didn't say anything about giving more power to the parents to bring their yobbish kids under control. Now you're arguing to defend the 48-hour working week?

Has it occurred to you that the people who have to work 48-weeks are the ones who aren't at home six days out of every week are the parents who can't control their kids?

Maybe you should rethink your position. What's more important? Six-day workweeks, or getting your Yobs under control?

Never mind, I think we get the idea.