Brickbat: Why So Serious?

Police in Surrey, England, arrested Mark Worsfold for not smiling while watching an Olympic cycling event. Police say his demeanor made them fear a "possible breach of the peace." Worsfold says he has Parkinson's, which makes his face rigid.

Brickbat Archive

Comments

[Whiterun Guard]

You know who else had a demeanor that made police fear a "possible breach of the peace"...

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Every Juggalo ever?

[invisible furry hand]

So much to ponder in this extract:

Mr Worsfold admitted he could now see the funny side.

"It's ironic that I'm a national referee and registered instructor in Taekwondo and have in a small way helped select and train our current Olympic hopefuls," he said. "I have a number of police officers as students in my martial arts clubs.

"I have many years' experience in the military, security and surveillance industry, as a law enforcement officer for Surrey, and am currently a Surrey Police Community Speedwatch co-ordinator.

[Whiterun Guard]

Stiff upper lip.

[Jordan]

Good lord. Are there any Brits who aren't bootlicking dipshits? He can see the "funny side" in being arbitrarily arrested? Disgusting.

[VG Zaytsev]

He finds getting ass raped in jail hilarious.

[PS]

Meh, I'm not a huge fan of the Brits in general, but they aren't exactly into bootlicking. There's a very strong anti-authoritarian streak there (why punk took off there rather than in the US) and the class system has mostly been dismantled for a long time.

There are plenty of incidents in the US where people's response is that of bootlicking.

[PS]

Ooops that was supposed to be in response to Sloopy.

[Killazontherun]

Who said you could take time to write that? Airstrip One doesn't paint itself, you know.

One word, Blair. You tolerated that Whole Statist degenerate.

Another word, Obama. Oops, you may just have a point.

[JD the elder]

I am going to have to disagree a bit with that. IMO, it's precisely _because_ the UK was more traditional and conformist that punk started there: it was a reaction to social strictures. It wasn't as necessary in the US because there was less to rebel against in the first place.

[Paul.]

There's a very strong anti-authoritarian streak there

If you can find it and point it out, let us know.

When the British government passed a law demanding that all companies save all email and forward it to the government, the only complaint was about the cost. Not a single person asked if they had the right.

And cameras. And license plate scanners. And their hyperventilating over weapons of any kind. The list goes on.

[Los angeles lawyers]

Amen, it's a devil face.

[Bee Tagger]

Worsfold says he has Parkinson's

Yeah, are you gonna trust a guy who wouldn't even smile at an Olympic cycling event in his home country?

[Longtorso]

Worsfold says he has Parkinson's

Do you know who else had Parkinson's?

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Self-Godwining for the Godwin!

[sloopyinca]

When your entire national identity is centered upon bowing to another man/woman because of the womb he/she fell out of, it's no wonder you are a bootlicking subservient toady to the total state.

The entire British Empire is a mockery of freedom and individual self-determination. Anyone that would willingly bow to another man because of his parentage is not fit to wipe a free man's ass. Fuck this guy and fuck Britons in general for their willing obeisance to "royalty."

[Suthenboy]

Well sloopy....I jumped right to the bottom of the comments to bang out .....what you said.

So...I am seconding. Fuck England.

"The entire British Empire is a mockery of freedom and individual self-determination."

"...not fit to wipe a free man's ass."

A++

[Skip]

At least the British never called their God-King a lightworker.

[Romulus Augustus]

The horrors of not respecting the Queen. Here's story of a rude American:
When I used to go to England on business, my English contact's son was coach of Eton's rowing team. One year they had a rowing assistant come over from Yale. So, the boats are rowed up the Thames by Windsor Castle and the coaches bicycle along a path by the river. Yalie went first and my guy's son went with the second boat. When they get to the other end of Windsor, the Brit says to the Yalie, "Did you see that woman on the path?" Answer: "The one with the corgis and head scarf? Yeah,I said 'how you doing today' as I rode by." The Brit was aghast -"That was the Queen, not some castle servant. I dismounted when I saw her, bowed and we chatted a bit about the prospects for the rowing team

[VG Zaytsev]

Agreed.

I don't get the modern American infatuation with Britain in general and royalty in particular.

That country has been a fucked up mess for going on a millenium and smartest thing that anyone from there ever did was gtfo.

[Killazontherun]

don't get the modern American infatuation with Britain in general and royalty in particular.

Judging from thirty years of People magazine covers, and the tears over Lady Died A Whore, I suspect it is only a woman thing. The same with the infatuation with the family of manwhores and rapist from Massachusetts.

[Jose Chung]

John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume, etc. were subjects of the British Empire yet each of them contributed mightily to the cause of individualism (and don't get me started on Guy Fawkes). Disparaging an entire nation of people in order to make a point about one person kinda defeats the idea that people should be judged based on individual character and action.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Very good point. Sometimes it's easy to get whipped into a collectivist frenzy. Even (especially?) on HyR.

[Robert]

The entire British Empire is a mockery of freedom and individual self-determination.

Compared to where?

When you take the long view, that sure doesn't seem anywhere close to the truth. AFAICT, northern Europe -- British Isles, Scandinavia, Denmark, Holland, Baltic states (coming to a sharp halt in the west at Prussia) -- was the cradle of liberty as we know it. Yeah, there's Switzerland in there, separated from the rest, but as a general rule Britain was in the thick of the peoples who over the past millenium really pushed freedom forward.

It's not like the British invented nobility or castes. Rather, they were in the forefront of limiting what was otherwise the worldwide tendency toward distinction by blood.

[Robert]

Darn, how could I forget to mention Iceland? Eh, a bit far away y derivative.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And even if it wasn't due to Parkinsons? If he just wasn't smiling, would that have been more difficult to accept after the fact?

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Glad to see Britain's so far along toward a true Pre-Crime Unit reality. Well done, chaps!

[Brian from Texas]

"I sentence you to hang by the neck until you cheer up! LOL!!"

Any true fan of Monty Python will know where I got that.

[sloopyinca]

You got it from a Monty Python skit is my guess. Except for the LOL part of course. You got that from a tween girl.

[invisible furry hand]

i thought this was from anonbot, having become fully self-aware. Only the name gave me pause - but would a self-aware bot call itself KangaBoo?

[Rich]

officers made an arrest to prevent a possible breach of the peace.

We don't need no stinkin' pre-cogs!

The man was in possession of a number of [rubber] knives.

See? SEE?! The police's sizing up of his "manner" was correct!

[SugarFree]

Just have the NHS give him tetanus. Problem solved.

Of course, the NHS could probably fuck up giving him a disease.

[invisible furry hand]

This plant is the most-likely candidate for the "sardonic herb," which was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in pre-Roman Sardinia.

Jeepers!

[SugarFree]

Did you click through to the plant?

This plant is the most-likely candidate for the "sardonic herb," which was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in Phoenician Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death. Criminals were also executed in this way.

[invisible furry hand]

That's because they didn't have Obamacare

[sloopyinca]

*narrows eyes-shakes fist*

[sloopyinca]

If Romney and Ryan have their way, ^^this^^ will replace Social Security and Medicare.

/Tony and Palin's Assplug.

[invisible furry hand]

Tony and Palin are sharing assplugs? Moar government will fix that.

[TangaBooo]

Those dudes seem to know what time it is wow.

http://www.Anon-at.tk