More from the Petri Dish

More from the Petri Dish...

...that resides where Great Britain used to be. Via The Policeman's Blog comes this cheerful bit of news:

Firefighters attacked at least 40 times a week

By Norman D. Landings ⋅ February 11, 2008

News to me.

Firefighters are being attacked at least 40 times every week, according to shocking new figures published today.

Crews have been pelted with bricks, bottles, burning wood and stones as they try to save lives.

In some cases they have been called to hoax incidents and ambushed, according to the Easy Targets? report, commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union.

In one incident, an entire crew was taken to hospital after a gang armed with sticks and scaffolding poles attacked them.

Unbelievable. Read the Fire Brigades Union web page on this topic.

But here are the key graphs from the story:

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, are four times the number of attacks recorded by the Government and rose by 15 per cent to 1,500 last year in England and Wales. The total for the UK was 2,100 attacks.

In contrast, official statistics claim assaults fell by 68 per cent to just 400 in 2006/07.

Yet we're supposed to believe that the British government reports on violent and gun-involved crime are accurate?

Go ahead. Pull my other leg.

The highest number of attacks was reported in the North-West of England.

Kevin Brown, from the regional FBU, said sometimes youths started fires just so they could target firefighters.

He added: “It tends to be in areas of social deprivation and poor housing, with gangs of youths fuelled by alcohol and drugs. They see the fire service as a target.”

In Tyne and Wear, crews have even been given 'spit kits' so DNA can be collected from those abusing or spitting at them.

I've covered "spit kits" before. As far as I'm concerned, they ought to be given "broken tooth" kits, so they can pick up the fragments of the teeth they knock out of the people who spit on them for proper forensic matching.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Local Government and Communities said they had not studied the report fully but would be happy to hold talks on tackling the problem.

She added: "This is an important issue and one the Government takes very seriously. It is unacceptable that firefighters should have to face such behaviour."

Yes, I'm sure talking will help.

Firefighters called for more protection following the publishing of the report.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said it is almost "beyond belief" that firemen and women can be attacked so viciously while fighting fires and trying to save lives.

"In some areas, attacking fire crews has become a recreational activity with very serious consequences. It cannot be part of anyone's job to face abuse, threats or attacks.

"The Government needs to take a lead rather than sitting on the sidelines ignoring the problem as it is doing in England. It is a different story in Scotland, Northern Ireland and increasingly in Wales where politicians are playing a more direct and active role."

Talking isn't "taking the lead"?

Research by the FBU showed that last October alone there were a series of attacks against crews across England, including:

• A hoaxer luring firefighters to a "car fire" in Cheshire before attacking them with bricks.

•A petrol bomb thrown at a fire appliance in Merseyside as firemen tackled a rubbish blaze.

•A gas cylinder exploded after being planted inside a wheelie bin and set ablaze in Cleveland.

In Lothian and Borders, incidents have included attacks with hammers, bricks, knives, lumps of concrete and coins while one crew reported that a breeze block was thrown off a bridge onto a fire engine.

Firefighters have ended up in hospital as a result of some of the attacks, which have led to delays of hours in attending emergency calls.

A spokesman for the Communities and Local Government Department said the Government believed the safety of firefighters was an important issue and it was "unacceptable" that crews should have to face attacks.

Legislation had been brought in last year to help the fire service take action against people who assaulted firefighters.

The spokesman said the department had not had a chance to consider the union’s report but would be happy to discuss the next steps with the FBU.

No wonder Brits are abandoning their country at the rate of 400,000 a year, while at the same time non-Europeans are streaming in.

When the Geek with a .45 decided to leave New Jersey for Pennsylvania, he wrote:

All I can say is, if you remember and cherish Liberty, and you live in a place like New Jersey, it's high time to get the hell out of Dodge.

JOIN ME.

We're Not Out of The Woods Yet…

We'll be starting the house hunt after the first of the year. With the miniGeeks, we need a bigger place anyway, and shortly, this will all be a bad dream.

The thing is, I don't think that'll be the happy end of the story. I think the story is just beginning to be told.

As I mentioned to Kim, there is a hidden exodus that you won't read about in the papers:


“People are moving away from certain states: not because they've got a job offer, not because they want to be closer to family, but because the state they are living in doesn't measure up to the level of freedom they believe is appropriate for Americans. We are internal refugees.”


The fact that things have gone so far south in some places that people actually feel compelled to move the fuck out should frighten the almighty piss out of you.

(His emphasis.) The fact that people are abandoning their home country over shit like this ought to frighten the almighty piss out of the ones they're leaving behind.

UPDATE: In comments, Kim du Toit councils, "Let 'em sink."

Damn, that's harsh.