For a couple of bits from across the pond,

we turn to the Englishman:
First, on pest control,
SINCE the Scottish Parliament building was opened in 2004, its officials have been battling against constant bombardment from winged menaces.
Now Holyrood bosses have finally admitted the only way to tackle the pigeons and stop them fouling the building is to introduce their own air force. They have asked falconers to tender for what could be a £40,000 contract to chase off the pigeons.

But the idea, originally conceived by independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald, has been taken up on the condition that the bird of prey used does not actually kill any pigeons.
Well, I guess they could do surgery on the bird brains(the falcons, not the morons in charge of this. Although surgery on their brains would actually be a good idea) to change their behavior, but then the animal rights nutters would have further conniptions, so...

On involuntary servitude, it seems Brown likes the idea of a Brown Youth Corps(Shirt color? Three guesses) just like Obama's:
PM Gordon Brown intends to force every teenager in the country to carry out 50 HOURS of work to help the community.Last year the PM proposed the idea of a National Youth Service, which would channel young volunteers into community work. But now he plans to make it compulsory and include it in Labour's next election manifesto...."By building from compulsory citizenship studies in the 14-16 curriculum, we can create an expectation of national youth community service."
That's 'expectation' as in "Do your forced service or go to jail", something along those lines, I'd guess.

And last, looks like Napolitano has brethren in England as far as deciding who the 'enemy' is:
We were all shocked by the number and seriousness of injuries inflicted on demonstrators that day, and looking back, it is amazing that there were not more serious consequences. We are the first to echo the view that policing these events is fraught with difficulty, yet exactly one week after this incident 20,000 of us demonstrated in Brighton at the Labour Party conference. Tensions were high and the opportunity for ‘flash points’ even more numerous than before, but this time with real anger added to the mix. Sussex Police handled the event to perfection. It was controlled and peaceful; there were no arrests and no injuries, which suggests a clear distinction between the attitude of rural and urban police officers.

What is most worrying is that despite a detailed investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) nothing much seems to have changed within the Metropolitan police.
I guess the Met sees people of a more traditional mindset as just as big a threat as Napolitano does.