Questing for Atlantis

Glad to see last week’s poll got a nice boost in votes. The winner was the mint mix-up that left a man in prison for 3 months.

For this week there’s:

Taxpayer-Funded Graffiti
The city of Calgary decided to get some “urban street artists” to decorate a wall in its new Shaw Millenium Park. And then were surprised when after supplying free paint and no supervision the entire park was covered in spray painted f-bombs.

Would-be Dutch Sailor Placed in Government Custody
Laura Dekker wants to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world. When she applied to be allowed to miss school to do so the Dutch government decided to place her under government custody and make her undergo examination by a child psychologist.

Council Spends £100,000 – Then Lets Them Die
The Islington Council spent £100,000 of taxpayer funds on a 30ft high wall of plants. Unfortunately they didn’t bother to make sure the sprinkler system was fully functional and all the the plants proceeded to die. Now the wall is a £100,000 eyesore.

Missouri Bans Wrong Plastic
Apparently there’s a problem in Missouri with people leaving styrofoam coolers floating in the river. So the state banned having them while boating. Except they didn’t. Instead of banning expanded polystyrene – styrofoam – they banned polypropylene – what Tupperware is made of.

Police Now Steal From You Too
Police in London have now embarked on an “innovative” new program. If they find your car unlocked and valuables inside the policy is now to seize those valuables. Don’t worry though, they’ll return them immediately if you have an urgent need for them. Great to know they’ll take their own sweet time if they don’t think your need is urgent.

Vote for whichever story you think is the top example of Government FAIL.