what is the world coming to?

[shiato storm]

another stealth tax or are they just trying to drive everyone into secret anti-government policy hate machines? oh wait we do that anyway so its no secret.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4734350.stm
and here
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...22/ixhome.html
f*** that! I'd shove the fine right back at the busy-body-jobsworth, with a polite 'F off, you must be joking' remark.
in my mind i have a right to use the english language how ever I wish, if some rozzer hears me swearing during a private conversation with someone else they can s*d off for all i care. take the piss it really does. its the same fine (£80) you get for swearing as you would had you shoplifted something to the value of £500 I believe...I better get lifting then for all the swearing I've done! its just one more step in the lunacy of this gov. against our freedom. ok, i don't condone out and out swearing but police snooping around trying to catch us out in public places when talking privately with some friends really is quite lame. its like an ASBO, they hand them out like sweets. you can't do much these days without infringing some pathetic 'law'...its all bloody barking mad I tell you.
how about messing with the system, swear so loud until your voice hurts, swear some more for good measure, by then you'll have hopefully racked up a few thousand £ worth of fines, why not try a cool million, then see what they do trying to get that out of you! that would make them curse - at that point i'd ask for a refund.

[Howard]

It's gotta be a one-off surely

[Alfie786]

agree with u, out of order they also stated on the news ppl are getting paid more now to cover this what a load of BS.

Pay rise what pay rise never get anything like it to cover the cost of the ever increasing tax costs.

[nichomach]

I note that Dover District Council is a Conservative-led authority, and the spokeswoman is a Conservative councillor, before anyone goes off on one about "this government".

[Spud1]

It's bad enough that swearing is considered a negative thing anyway, the only reason that it is considered negative dates back centuries to when everyone was controlled by religion...now that more and more people can think for themselves why on earth is it still considered 'wrong' to swear?

Giving out fines for swearing - even if its just a local council initiative or whatever is wrong in so many ways. If our society was a purely christian society still then fair enough it would be ok, is in the christian faith swearing/blaspheming(sp?) is a crime against God, but our society today is full of many different religions, and many many people who have no religion. For all these people with no religion there is nothing wrong with using 'swear words'. It's just part of the english language. If they wanted to start doing that then they would have to have one rule for christians, one for muslim, one for agnostic, one for every religion in our society.

Bah If i go on any more I will jsut keep rambling and make no sense, but I think you should be able to see what I am getting at


edit: found a bit more information, technically it IS illegal to swear in public according to UK law. In fact, the UK has a law about causing offence where by anything that may cause offence to anybody is illegal..kind of a stupid law really since that means whatever you do you risk breaking the law. Someone got arrested last year for wearing a Cradle of Flith gig T-shirt which said on it "Jesus is a ****" (fill in the blanks yourself..). Crazy country, I really need to get a job out here in CH after my placement i think..

[Taz]

This made me laugh:

""One of my mates said, 'What have you been up to', and I swore when I replied," he said."

Anwers on a postcard please! Methinks his response was two words with the second word being 'all'.

[nichomach]

...If our society was a purely christian society still then fair enough it would be ok, is in the christian faith swearing/blaspheming(sp?) is a crime against God, but our society today is full of many different religions, and many many people who have no religion. For all these people with no religion there is nothing wrong with using 'swear words'. It's just part of the english language. If they wanted to start doing that then they would have to have one rule for christians, one for muslim, one for agnostic, one for every religion in our society...

OK, swearing and blasphemy are NOT the same; use of the f-word is not blasphemous but may well be considered offensive by many people, as might calling someone a w****r. These objections have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with what might be termed public decency. In fact, from my observation there are a lot of people of no particular faith or who are atheists who are offended by swearing. That doesn't have anything to do with religion. I work with a chap who's an atheist and he strongly objects to people swearing in the street, because he doesn't want his kids to hear it and pick it up.

I'm not happy that this kid got an £80 fine for swearing in a conversation with friends, but trying to make it a religious dispute is frankly wrong-headed.

[smtkr]

Look up "cussing canoeist" to see the American case that caught national attention many years ago (seems like it happened 5-10 years ago).

[TeePee]

This link is a good one!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,38...103681,00.html

I deplore the direction in which British culture is heading. But the solution to these ASBO-kiddies is better parenting, not ridiculous laws that infiringe civil liberties.

[Spud1]

sorry nichomach but I totally disagree on most of that. Swearing is considered offensive today as a direct result of religion, hell most of our morals and laws are a direct result of religion - even if it is not as obvious as it may seem.

Sure these days it might be a social thing, but that is just because of how our society has evolved from being a purely religious society to what we have now (multi cultural, with many different religions). So even though people with no religion etc can still be offended by swearing, the reason for it is still religious at heart.

I guess that almost anything can be turned into a religious dispute, but in this case I think it's justified.

just my 2c though ofc

[nichomach]

OK, point me to the section of the Bible that prohibits the use of the f-word? There isn't one. Swearing and blasphemy are NOT synonymous. It's arguable that SOME of our laws are derived from a religious basis, but hardly most, unless you're arguing that atheists have no problem with murder, theft, assault, fraud etc. Most societies ban these, including avowedly atheist ones. Soviet Russia, for instance, still had laws banning all of these even alongside the ones which made life for anyone who was religious pretty intolerable.

Arguing the historical point is perfectly possible, but ultimately irrelevant; society as it is now is full of people of no particular faith or of many different faiths who find swearing offensive.

[badass]

Heh - as time moves on this country becomes more like the nughtmatre vision of the future in Demolition man.

[5lab]

to be fair, i dont recon this story is fully true. bet theres more to the story than the sole tale of some teenager. i'd like to hear the side of the coppa. i recon he swore straight at him, or having been told not to, in which case a fine is pretty justified..

[spazman]

Late one night in town (i was out drinking) i was waling down the street chatting with some mates, suddenly i was pinned against a wall with my arms behind my back by two burly coppers. The reason they gave was anti-social behaviour, all i had done was maybe say a few naughty words, it was in a private conversation it wasnt like i was bellowing them at the top of my voice at 2pm on a saturday. I wasnt best pleased with the whole situation they let me go under the condition that i went straight home, which i thoroughly ignored.

[Russ]

This link is a good one!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,38...103681,00.html

I deplore the direction in which British culture is heading. But the solution to these ASBO-kiddies is better parenting, not ridiculous laws that infiringe civil liberties.

we know mate, but the parents dont give a toss...

[iranu]

Late one night in town (i was out drinking) i was waling down the street chatting with some mates, suddenly i was pinned against a wall with my arms behind my back by two burly coppers. The reason they gave was anti-social behaviour, all i had done was maybe say a few naughty words, it was in a private conversation it wasnt like i was belloeing them at the top of my voice at 2pm on a saturday. I wasnt best pleased with the whole situation they let me go under the condition that i went straight home, which i thoroughly ignored.

This is the exact reason why I no longer help the police. I avoid them at all costs. Coppers are no longer coppers anymore. You can't have a friendly chat with them, they don't treat you with any respect. They are simply revenue generating government stooges that are so politicised it is not true. They are now robots who cannot judge for themselves how to deal with a situation, they are simply told "you must do x in situation y". They take the hardest line as opposed to realising that the citizen they are dealing with is a human being. This is why they are so heavy handed now and this is why I avoid them. Witness the difference in attitude to policing the hunting demonstrations last year and the cartoon demonstrations this year. Witness the student who was arrested because he called a mounted policeman's horse gay. Overzealous policing on soft targets as opposed to doing their proper job is turning this country's police SERVICE into a revenue force.

Whilst it maybe a criminal offence to swear and cause offense in public this is certainly not enforced. If they wanted to enforce it all they would have to do is to go to the football grounds on a saturday. They could hand £80 fines out like confetti.

Infact I'm almost sure that there was a case in court where the defendant swore and argued that it was such a normal part of his everyday language that he could not be held in contempt of court.