Barry Manilow Deployed Against Loud Teens

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Monday, June 5, 2006

Is Barry Manilow a deterrent against teen mischief?

Sick and tired of souped-up cars with loud engines and pulsing music? Barry Manilow may be the answer. Officials in one Sydney district have decided to pipe the American crooner’s music over loudspeakers in an attempt to rid streets and car parks of hooligans whose anti-social cars and loud music annoy residents and drive customers from businesses. Following a successful experiment where Bing Crosby music was used to drive teenage loiterers out of an Australian shopping center several years ago, Rockdale councilors believe Manilow is so uncool it might just work.

Of course, this might be considered cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned by the 8th Amendment in the United States. Is there nothing in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that prevents this sort of thing?

This reminds me of the United States decision to deploy hard rock music against Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in an attempt to force him out of sanctuary at the papal Nunciatura. It worked.

Update: OTB Commenters John Burgess and Donald Sensing observe that the Noriega story is apocryphal and that the music was blared to prevent media eavesdropping on negotiations, not–as widely reported–to drive Noriega nuts.

OTB

Barry Manilow Deployed Against Loud Teens

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