Another Cock and Bull story...sadly this one's true

It's said that the term "Cock and Bull" derives from the town of Stony Stratford - a place now swallowed by the ghastly wen that is Milton Keynes:

One of Stony Stratford’s many claims to fame is as the place of origin of the term 'Cock & Bull Story', recognised throughout the English-speaking world.

This dates back to the late 18th/early 19th centuries, at the height of the great coaching era, when Stony Stratford (which is located on the old Roman Road of Watling Street, latterly the A5) was an important stopping-off point for mail and passenger coaches travelling between London and the North.

Travellers on these coaches were regarded as a great source of current news from remote parts of the country - news which would be imparted in the town's two main inns, The Cock and The Bull.

Stony Stratford established its place by being a place of welcome, a little town where travellers could kick off the dust of the road, lean back, have a beer or two, something to eat and, yes, a smoke. Now one jumped up little Town Council burgermeister, puffed up with righteousness, wishes to put an end to that idea of of being a place of welcome:

A Buckinghamshire town is considering banning smoking from its streets.

Councillor Paul Bartlett has proposed a new bylaw to outlaw smoking in any public place in Stony Stratford. If the plan is approved by the town council, smokers who light up in public in the town could face on-the-spot fines.

"Stony Stratford is a historic town which is blighted by cigarette butts," said Mr Bartlett.

"The plan that I am trying to put forward is for smoking to be banned in public in the High Street, surrounding streets, and preferably elsewhere as well."

"Why should people be able to smoke in my face and spoil the environment?," he added.

I could observe that making smokers stand outside in the street rather than comfortably ensconced in the bar wasn't a great help. But it seems that Mr Bartlett wants it stopped because, you know, he doesn't like it. Forget about the damage it might do to the businesses in Stony Stratford - we can't let people smoke in Mr Bartlett's face now can we!

I despair, I really do. Sometimes I want to cry. However, there are Town Council elections next year - Mr Bartlett represents Stony Stratford South East. Given a candidate and a concerted effort we can be rid of this nannying fussbucket.

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Nannying planners in Wrexham want to ban food outlets near schools

Wrexham's councillors are considering whether to adopt a new rule effectively banning new fast food outlets near schools:

The guidance, which is currently out for consultation, would prevent takeaway outlets from gaining planning permission within 400 metres of a school or college. The move has been prompted by a report from governmental advisory service Public Health Wales, which found that around one in four eightand nine-year-olds in the Wrexham County Borough Council area is either overweight or obese.

Why do I think this is just an exercise in making planners and councillors feel good and actually it won't make a blind bit of difference to the fatness of Wrexham's school children?

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You WILL be happy - we will make you so!

The more I read about this obsession with “happiness” the more it sounds like some sort of hippy cult. Here’s the founder (or one of them) of “Action for Happiness”, which describes itself as a movement of people committed to building a happier society:

Lord Richard Layard, co-founder of Action for Happiness, said: ‘Our movement is based on a simple idea – if we want a happier society, individuals have got to create more happiness in the world around them. We want millions of people around the world to form Action for Happiness groups to do just that – using the tools which we are able to provide. This is a movement for radical cultural change which can provide the basis for a better culture in the 21st century.’

Now I’m in favour of smiles, hugs and cheering each other up – but forming some kind of “movement” to promote happiness is just creepy. And – if the state gets involved – quite scary. Welcome to our nascent Brave new World!

Our world is not the same as Othello's world. You can't make flivvers without steel-and you can't make tragedies without social instability. The world's stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can't get.

Some people seem to want a world with no tears, no anger, no edge, no grit in the shoe. It would be a dead world.

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