The Brits, according to Thomas Sowell, unilaterally decreed slavery to be immoral and sent their warships to enforce their opinion on whomever held slaves. They may be up to it again. Nobility? Or a replay of South Seas Bonds? Or could it be one more instance of a Bose-Einstein Condensate wherein a crisis leads scattered opinions to merge and make a swarm of their carriers!

from Grassfire.org

"The Daily Mail is reporting that Britain's Environmental Audit Committee is pushing the idea that "every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy. Climate Alarmism in England has gotten so bad that the British face the prospects of having to punch their "carbon card" every time they fill up or fly a plane! And don't think for a minute that "carbon ration cards" won't find their way to the Democratic-controlled Congress, especially when all the presidential candidates are pushing Climate Alarmism."

On the other hand...I read too many motorcycle magazines from Brit sources. Despite the web of cameras, hidden or exposed, there has been little effect because every step taken by the Ministry of Transport elicits countermoves from fun-loving cheaters! Irony: the same guys who bust the rules on their bikes become heroes when traditionalists are threatened by someone else's rule-breakers.

Pass out the ration cards and the "weak links" will cheerfully, eagerly cooperate a little bit while cheating like hell...

JimB

References:
Csermely, Peter (2006) Weak Links: Stabilizers of Complex Systems from Proteins to Social Networks. NY: Springer.
Garas, Antonios, Panos Argyrakis, and Shlomo Havlin (2008) The structural role of strong and weak links in a financial network. arXiv 0805.2477v1 [Physics.soc.ph], May 16.
Mackay, Charles (1841/1980) Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. NY: Three Rivers Press.
Sowell, T. (2005) Redneck Blacks and White Liberals. San Francisco: Encounter.
Brody J (2008) Rebellion: Physics to Personal Will. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. (esp chapter 3) http://www.rebellionphysicstopersonalwill.blogspot.com/