And this is what it comes to? The nanny state searching our trash bins to see what recyclable articles we may have missed?Remember the Vital Signs Blog post from last April which alerted you to the city government of Islington (United Kingdom) fining a fellow and giving him a criminal record because he had overloaded his trash bin by 4 inches? A fellow, by the way, who has to try and store his 6-member family's refuse in the one receptacle the insufferable town fathers allow him?
Well, it turns out that the snobby snoops of Islington have committed even more sinister follies. And, if it can be imagined, actions that are even more intrusive, even more unreasonable, even more weird.
Here's the Daily Mail's story about secret raids conspired over and financed by the local city government of Islington, North London. Trash bins along 53 of Islington's streets were searched, extending into the neighborhoods wherein actors, judges and even London's mayor reside. In all, over a thousand homes had their trash pawed over by the council's rubbish spies. (No, that's not fair. The council refer to them, no joke, as "waste professionals.")
Naturally, people were incensed when they learned of this remarkable invasion of privacy.
For instance, TV star Linda Robson was quoted, "That is terrible. How dare they? I recycle but there may have been private things I was throwing away. It is really intrusive. Is nothing sacred?"
Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, Emily Thornberry, expressed worries that serious security issues could have been involved. "High Court judges and High Court appeal judges live in those streets,' she said. "I am sure they are careful but a sheet of paper can easily go amiss, and council officers could have seen them. My concerns are who authorised this and what they do with the stuff. They should have told people what they were going to do."
Su Pollard, another popular British actress lives along one of the raided streets. She was also disturbed by the unwarranted searches. "I am quite incensed. It smacks of Big Brother. One feels like a suspect in some way. There is nothing in my bins that would incriminate me in any way - it's mostly yoghurt pots - but I am terribly uneasy about it."
But the town council snobs? They merely exacerbated the controversy when they affirmed, "No permission was sought from residents as none is required."
Furthermore, it argued, "The operatives involved were waste professionals acting under a strict code of conduct which included the possibility of finding items of a personal nature such as confidential paperwork."
The above sentence is, in itself, so comical that I cant' think of anything with which to further satirize it. But it does leave one with the most vivid word picture, doesn't it?
Liberal Democrat councillor Greg Foxsmith said: 'This is not about snooping into households' bins or invading privacy. It was an investigation into rubbish to see what is being sent to landfill and how much more could be recycled. Rubbish is not looked at individually or records taken - confidentiality is taken very seriously."
Uh huh. What is obviously NOT taken seriously are such archaic ideas as privacy and freedom let alone a responsible philosophy which appreciates both the priorities of political office and the limitation of political powers.
