Monday, 27 August 2012 09:20
'Thelma Taormina keeps a pistol at her Houston-area home to protect against intruders. But one of the last times she used it, she said, was to run off a persistent utility company worker who was trying to replace her old electricity meter with a new digital unit.
"This is Texas." she declared at a recent public hearing on the new meters. "We have rights to choose what appliances we want in our home."
A nationwide effort to upgrade local power systems with modern equipment has run into growing resistance in Texas, where suspicion of government and fear of electronic snooping have made a humble household device the center of a politically charged showdown over personal liberty.'
Monday, 27 August 2012 08:58
'Councils have lobbied the Government for the right to fine drivers who make illegal turns, encroach on yellow boxes or drive in bus and cycle lanes.
Ministers indicated they were “sympathetic” to the plans amid growing concerns from motoring groups that councils would use them as a “cash cow”. The Coalition had promised to end the “war on motorists” when it came to power.
Local authorities already have the power to fine motorists for parking illegally. However, they now want the same powers as authorities in London to fine motorists for other offences.'
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