I’m only paying half attention to the new at the moment but of thing caught my eye… First Cassy Fiano at Wizzbang points out this little gem of Nanny State insanity from Britain:
Home cooks will also be told what size portions to prepare, taught to understand “best before” dates and urged to make more use of their freezers.
The door-to-door campaign, which starts tomorrow, will be funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a Government agency charged with reducing household waste.
The officials will be called “food champions”. However, they were dismissed last night as “food police” by critics who called the scheme an example of “excessive government nannying”.
In an initial seven-week trial, eight officials will call at 24,500 homes, dishing out advice and recipes. The officials, each of whom has received a day’s training, will paid up to £8.49 an hour, with a bonus for working on Saturdays.
The pilot scheme, which will cost £30,000, could be extended nationwide if it is seen as a success. If all 25 million households in the UK were visited in the same way, 8,000 officials would be required at a cost of tens of millions of pounds.
Peter Ainsworth, the shadow environment secretary, said: “You might have thought, at a time of economic hardship, that spending public money on stating the obvious is hardly a priority. With household budgets under pressure, most people are looking to spend wisely and waste less anyway.”
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “This is a prime example of excessive Government nannying, and a waste of public money and resources. In the grip of a recession, the last thing people need is someone bossing them about in their own kitchen. (emphasis mine)
Amen! We already have big government nannies telling us what types of light bulbs to use, we don’t need them mucking about in our kitchens telling what we can and can’t do.
And on related note – also from the UK. It seems EU government nannies in Brussels want to ban plasma televisions:
Energy-guzzling plasma TVs will be banned in Brussels eco blitz
By , Daily Mail Online, 12th January 2009
The plasma screen television is poised to become the next victim of the battle to curb energy use.
Giant energy-guzzling flatscreens are expected to be banned under legislation due to be agreed by the EU this spring.
Plasma screens have been nicknamed the ‘4x4s’ of the living room because they use up to four times as much electricity and are responsible for up to four times as much carbon dioxide as traditional cathode ray tube sets.
The most energy intensive will be phased out under the new EU standards for minimum energy performance, which will follow the voluntary withdrawal of the traditional 100watt light bulb.
The remaining TVs of all types will have to carry energy rating labels designed to make it easy to distinguish between the best and worst performers.
The bottom line is simple if you give big government liberals and inch they’ll take mile after mile until you can’t change a light bulb without government authorization.