Let's let Government take out a tradition, shall we?
After all, they know better than the participants, right?
Let me see I get have this straight - we have guys wanting to wear skirts and long socks, wear funny looking hats with this furry tassle thing hanging down, blowing for all their worth into this bag with hollow sticks coming out of the bag? And the government says that's too dangerous for them?
OK, just a bit of fun - I actually like the sound of bagpipes - and I understand it takes a lot of effort and time to be able to play it well. Here in the US, it OFTEN has been adopted by Police and Fire departments country wide.
Get this - if the government bureaucrats have their way, this classic form of a culture that has captured the hearts of many, may be gone forever.
No, not here. Rather, where it started - in Scotland! In their infinite wisdom and awful overreaching to protect people against themselves, the EU government flunkies have ruled, once again, that people are too stupid to act in their own safey and health. Remember, we are ALWAYS here to help you, and you are risking your hearing (even if voluntarily)(snippets used below):
THEIR high-pitched skirl has put fear into the hearts of Scotland’s enemies and sent sensitive tourists reaching for the cotton wool.
Now, however, the bagpipes are to be quietened by an edict from Brussels.
From this month, pipers must adhere to strict volume limits or risk breaking European Union health and safety laws. Bands have been ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit noise exposure to 85 decibels.
Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw, which rises to 116 decibels.
Pipe majors claim it is virtually impossible to play quietly or to tune a band when the musicians are wearing earplugs, raising the prospect of a cacophony at showcase events such as the Edinburgh military tattoo.
The rules in effect limit practice without earplugs to about 15 minutes a day.
I should complain - here in NH, the Liberal Democrats are also trying to protect us against ourselves - adults just cannot be left alone to figure out what is good for them or not. So, they legislate only what they believe is in our own best interest.Ian Hughes, head of the RAF Leuchars band at an airbase in Fife, claimed the new legislation in effect outlawed bagpipe playing for the first time in more than 250 years.
So, when will they take my keyboard away to protect me from carpal tunnel syndrome? After all, it is for my own good, right (or their's)?
My take on it - let adults pick their own behavior. After all, let consequences follow decisions!
Comments
Posted by: doug | April 21, 2008 7:14 AM