Comments on: The Transatlantic Government-Incompetence-and-Stupidity Contest: The U.S v. U.K.

By: The United Kingdom Boldly Rejoins the Government Incompetence and Stupidity Contest | International Liberty

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:59:32 +0000

[...] bizarre examples I cited was from England. It showed how a local government decided to install the most pointless sign in the history of the [...]

By: Betty

Betty — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:47:44 +0000

I wonder if anyone ever thought some joker just put the sign there that he swiped from some other place?

By: Stories Like this Lead Me to Think there’s No Hope for the United Kingdom « International Liberty

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:25:37 +0000

[...] The most useless sign in the history of the world. [...]

By: JoeBB

JoeBB — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:40:01 +0000

Actually the sign was put their to notify the dogs where the toilet is.

By: JoeBB

JoeBB — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:38:03 +0000

The grass patch is bigger than my yard.

By: Emmet

Emmet — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 14:12:28 +0000

well … at least the grass patch is bigger than the sign …

By: Political Correctness Run Amok: Some Private Sector Contestants for the U.S. vs U.K. Stupidity Contest « International Liberty

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:40:20 +0000

[...] The most useless sign in the history of the world. [...]

By: Philip Ngai

Philip Ngai — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 21:48:25 +0000

I see no incompetence in the situation with the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford. They were constructed as single hulled oilers which became illegal with the Exxon Valdez. We as a nation made that decision and scrapping ships such as the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford are part of the price of that decision.

http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/T99032456.html

By: The U.K.’s Upside-Down Approach to Crime: Shoot a Burglar, Go to Jail « International Liberty

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:32:40 +0000

[...] The most pointless sign in the history of the world. [...]

By: Kenneth Bullard

Kenneth Bullard — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 04:08:49 +0000

You can’t correct stupid. These examples show how far ideousy can go when it reproduces. The dumb are getting dumber and apparently the insane are running the asylum. We can’t survive the invasions of the jackass fools from la la land!

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:38:10 +0000

But the trash is OK ….

By: The United Kingdom Is Doomed by a Perniciously Wimpy Form of Political Correctness « International Liberty

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:07:27 +0000

[...] The most useless sign in the history of the world. [...]

By: It's Time to Trim The Fat | I. M. Citizen

It's Time to Trim The Fat | I. M. Citizen — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:19:43 +0000

[...] 30% off on vaccine projections. Have you heard of the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford naval vessels? Some $600 million wasted. Most would agree the government was slow to react to the BP spill, [...]

By: The Government Needs An Enema | I. M. Citizen

The Government Needs An Enema | I. M. Citizen — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:02:49 +0000

By: The Government Needs An Enema - FREEDOM BUNKER

The Government Needs An Enema - FREEDOM BUNKER — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:31:13 +0000

By: Considering Ron Paul | I. M. Citizen

Considering Ron Paul | I. M. Citizen — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:14:43 +0000

[...] was 30% off on vaccine projections. Have you heard of the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford naval vessels? Some $600 million was [...]

By: Considering Ron Paul « White House 2012

Considering Ron Paul « White House 2012 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:35:37 +0000

[...] was 30% off on vaccine projections. Have you heard of the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford naval vessels? Some $600 million was [...]

By: Why I Could Support Ron Paul, Reason #1 |

Why I Could Support Ron Paul, Reason #1 | — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:15:47 +0000

[...] was 30% off on vaccine projections. Have you heard of the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford naval vessels? Some $600 million was [...]

By: Gringo Infidel

Gringo Infidel — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:47:31 +0000

Brilliant work! The whole political correctness rubbish has poisoned society. “Multi-culturalism” has utterly failed and will continue do so because it cannot be imposed by legislation from talking heads more concerned with their poll results than reality.

Get rid of the lot.

By: Gary J. Mallast

Gary J. Mallast — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:19:58 +0000

Actually, the most stupid sign I ever saw was during a visit to Texas around 25 years ago. Periodically I would spy a sign along Lone Star freeways, “Texas Roadsigns are Meant to Be Obeyed. Texas State Law.”

If they weren’t, then why did they put them up?

How are you to respond to merely directional signs like “Dallas Next Right.”?

By: The Never-Ending Battle Between the U.S. and U.K. for Stupidest Government Policy « International Liberty

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:24:30 +0000

[...] Since then, we have found new examples of brain-dead government and jaw-dropping political correctness from England, including an effort to stop children from watching Olympic shooting events and (what must be) the most pointless sign in the history of the world. [...]

By: More “Success Stories” from the So-Called Stimulus « International Liberty

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:24:43 +0000

[...] almost think, after reading stories like this, that government was incompetent at being incompetent. And you’d be right. Rate this: Share [...]

By: Another Edition of the “Government Stupidity and Incompetence” Contest « International Liberty

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:21:50 +0000

[...] series comparing foolish government policies (previous editions include the U.S. v Germany and the U.S. v. the U.K.), let’s figure out whether California or the European Union is more worthy of [...]

By: Government Reality… « Ryeder's Weblog

Government Reality… « Ryeder's Weblog — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:10:22 +0000

[...] American Thinker International Liberty The Breath-Taking Incompetence of Our American Government Our [...]

By: IRONMANAustralia

IRONMANAustralia — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:37:26 +0000

@Quentin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lush/52805877/

By: Monday Grab Bag of Links … | The Pretense of Knowledge

Monday Grab Bag of Links … | The Pretense of Knowledge — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:05:26 +0000

[...] / Govt. Justice Done in Louisiana! Whuda Thunk? Transatlantic Government-Incompetence-and-Stupidity Contest: The U.S v. U.K. Cop Threatens to Murder Motorist Over Legally Concealed Weapon TSA worker stole watches, debit card [...]

By: Quentin Langley

Quentin Langley — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:37:12 +0000

As a Brit, I agree with Daniel. To give the Americans the benefit of the doubt, let’s assume they thought that some benefit would derive from their decisions at the time they made them. The British decision in this instance must have been obviously stupid at all stages. There is an apocryphal story of a council in the North of England which once put up a sign saying “please do not throw stones as this sign”.

By: IRONMANAustralia

IRONMANAustralia — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:24:37 +0000

To be fair, I assume there is waste in any industry, and that naval engineering is no exception. We’re all familiar with economic decisions where going back is smarter than going forward. Considering the time-scale these kinds of projects operate on, I’m surprised to hear this kind of thing is considered especially unusual actually.

After having read that article I’m still not clear on the details, and I’m not saying that there isn’t cause for criticism, (sounds very likely), but I wouldn’t want to wind up knee-jerk thinking like a Leftist hippie douchebag who stands at the back of a factory and complains about the waste coming out the drain pipe, (as if any practical production process can, or should, result in zero waste). On a side note, they also tend to fail to notice that the total waste is less at the back end of the factory than it would be if everyone were doing the same thing individually over a wider area – but there’s no concentration of goop to point at like a sanctimonious jackass. Reminds me of how some clowns thought having some kind of foundry in every backyard was a great idea.

Okay, that kind of waste is a little different, but it’s the same mentality. You can’t make an omelette … And I’m sure those same Pinkos would complain about food going to waste in the West when there are starving kids in Africa, blah, blah … or want a planned economy because the creative destruction inherent in a Free Market can be pointed at, and the whole system characterised as “inefficient”.

Sure you don’t want ANY waste in an ideal world – just for economic reasons. But in that context, cutting a few hundred million loss on projects of that scale sounds as if it could well be one perfectly valid economic option on the table of whomever is making the decision. Didn’t Governor Christie recently get applauded for shutting down some project or other in NJ? How much money had they already spent on that?

I’m just pointing out that standing there saying, “We got nothing for our money!” would be a mischaracterisation of what’s actually going on. I’d certainly like to hear more details about how this actually happened, and who is to blame rather than just have you point and say, “Look the bureaucrats flushed a bazillion dollars!”