Apparently the Conservative government of the UK is in competition with the government of Sanford, Florida for the dumbest government action. The BBC reports: Fuel strike threat: ‘Panic buying’ at petrol stations

Anticipating a strike they describe as “completely wrong”, ministers had called for motorists to keep their cars “topped up” but urged people not to queue.

On Thursday, Energy Secretary Ed Davey said people “just need to do the sensible thing… get a full tank of petrol, not a half-tank.”
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Brian Madderson, chairman of independent retailers’ group RMI Petrol, accused ministers of “making a crisis out of a serious concern” and said they should have sought industry advice “weeks ago” on how to avoid fuel shortages.
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Meanwhile, Edmund King, from the AA, said: “If drivers followed normal fuel-buying patterns there would be no fuel shortage whatsoever.

“We now have self-inflicted shortages due to poor advice about topping up the tank and hoarding in jerrycans.”
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Much attention focused on a suggestion by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude that people store fuel in a jerrycan in the garage. It was later withdrawn, having been condemned as potentially dangerous.

Understand that there has been no decision on a strike by the fuel truck drivers, only a discussion of the possibility. This is the sort of thing that is a standard feature of labor negotiations, and is ‘a serious concern’ to gas station owners, but, at $8.40+/gallon, a lot of purchasing power just got poured into gas tanks. The big oil companies will probably raise the price even further based on these artificial shortages.

The UK government seems hell-bent on driving their economy over the cliff. Another bad quarter and Britain will officially be back in a recession.

The Miami Herald reports on the latest screw-up: Sanford police threaten to arrest reporters

A press release sent out Wednesday said police would arrest journalists who attempt to make contact with city employees during non-working hours. They asked to not approach, call or email the city employees at home.

Some city staffers have been “followed or approached at their home or in settings outside of working hours,” the release said.

“Law enforcement officials will not hesitate to make an arrest for stalking.”

However, the Florida statute on stalking does not include language that would provide special protection to city officials or prevent media from asking questions.

Sanford police did not immediately return any calls Wednesday and Thursday morning.

Do they have any concept as to what this sounds like to the outside world? Do they want people to think that it’s OK to gun people down in Sanford, but if you ask public employees questions you are going to jail?

We are finally seeing some decent tourist numbers, and the jobs that go with them, and now we have to deal with this. Be advised that this is not occurring the Central Time Zone of Florida. We are open for business, and disapprove of anyone shooting people who are not breaking into their house.