I've seen several stories over the past weeks that make me wonder how much longer Europe can persist in its current form. Here are four from England that made me shake my head:

• An English teen was told to remove the English flag he had spread out in the back of his car because it could be considered racist toward immigrants or risk a 30 pound fine. And yes, he was driving in England.

• A woman with a 2-foot high swimming pool was told by local health and safety officers that she needed to get a lifeguard or purchase special insurance. 

• A man wearing an Optimus Prime <a Transformers robot> t-shirt was refused access to a flight at Heathrow until he agreed to change the shirt. Apparently the picture of the robot's arm/gun was deemed too much of a threat to the flight. 

• And finally, two American Christians were threatened with arrest on the charge of a "hate crime" for passing out leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of England.