Of Koi Carp and Big Government
A delightful story - from Neoneocon - of a tank of fish in a restaurant posing a serious threat to an American Eco-System.
The state of Maine had confiscated ten koi, a variety of carp that Cuong Ly, Vietnamese emigrant and owner of the China Rose Restaurant, had put on display in the restaurant’s aquarium tank.
So what was the problem with Ly’s ten fish, safe in their tank at the China Rose? Koi, if released, threaten native fish, and Maine has a law against doing so?
Ly never had any intention of releasing his fish, but the state was worried anyway.
The Maine koi concern was about some sort of accidental release, or perhaps theft of the fish and then a release–although why someone would steal a fish in order to release it is a bit obscure.
The final, happy, solution was a padlock on the fishtank. Straightforward, no? So why did the regulators have be taken through a legal battle before it was agreed.
Why does it remind me of the UK Health and Safety culture?
In the UK, there may be a chance for a move more efficient local government. The bid to control galloping government in Hammersmith and Fulham is a good start. What we need next (in addition to Blair and Brown in the dustbin) is a government that simply believes in letting local councils do their job. It will not happen under Labour.
Original story in the Boston Herald.
Tags:Galloping Government, Hammersmith and Fulham, Humor, Humour, Koi Carp, Maine, Neoneocon, New Hampshire, Pooch, Transatlantic Matt Wardman
[tags] Galloping Government, Hammersmith and Fulham, Humor, Humour, Koi Carp, Maine, Neoneocon, New Hampshire, Pooch, Transatlantic Matt Wardman [/tags]
Categories: Humourous
