Rob's Blog

Jack Straws self defence law review might be welcome step in the right direction, but undoubtedly won’t go far enough. Until I’m certain of being least as well armed as the criminal I’m up against, I’m going to think twice about intervening. This might go some way to explaining why women can be attacked on trains and a carriage full of people ignore what’s going on.

Private police forces are springing up in Rio de Janeiro because the government police aren’t doing the job well enough.

For as long as anyone can remember, the cracked asphalt soccer field in the Roquete Pinto slum was off-limits to children — “reserved” by gangs selling marijuana and cocaine. Then, a few months ago, a mysterious squad of beefy men with submachine guns started patrolling on foot, and the drug dealers disappeared.

It’s working, but the state likes to maintain its monopoly on the use of force, and the state doesn’t like it.

“It’s the state that establishes law and order, not the militia,” said Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state. “We won’t accept this under any conditions.”

But it’s working so well that for now authorities have no choice but to turn a blind eye.

Link via Spontaneous Order.

Heather Mills has been receiving death threats. A “panic alarm” might have been installed in her home. Police have been briefed and are ready to provide an immediate response.

I’m sure that will be very comforting when she’s being stabbed or bludgeoned or lying in a pool of her own blood. How immediate can a police response be? Unless she’s got a policeman by her side 24 hours a day, not immediate enough. Why can’t they stop being so wishy-washy and allow her to take measures to defend herself?

It’s almost as pathetic as giving rape alarms to prostitutes in Suffolk.

The correct thing to do when someone is trying to kill you is not to call the police or sound your rape alarm, it’s to shoot your attacker in the face.

Another landlady has defended her property against burglars.

Feisty landlady Mo Richards, 58, grabbed the shocked raider, flung him on to a bed and held him until police arrived.

The 5ft 4in Aikido brown belt remembered her martial arts training from 30 years ago when she found the intruder under her daughter’s bed.

On the TV she said she wouldn’t recommend other people try the same thing as she could only do it because of her training. Presumably she recommends they hide in a corner while burglars walk away with their stuff. I recommend that people too weak or infirm to use martial arts shoot burglars in the face.

More of this type of thing:

A Philadelphia Gas Works field worker shot and wounded one of two teenagers who held him up at gunpoint in Southwest Philadelphia yesterday, police said.

And less of this type of thing, please:

PGW spokesman Doug Oliver said company policy prohibits employees from having “unauthorized weapons” at any PGW work area.

Lucky he wasn’t following company policy, really.