My List of Nanny State
Content
Nanny State
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War On Words: NYC Dept. Of Education Wants 50 ‘Forbidden’ Words Banned From Standardized Tests
http://newyork.cbslocal.com ^ | 03/28/2012 | n/a The New York City Department of Education is waging a war on words of sorts, and is seeking to have words they deem upsetting removed from standardized tests. Fearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests. Among Those Suggested: Birthday celebrations (and birthdays),Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia),Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes,Hunting,Religion,Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan),Slavery,Terrorism....
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Reports: New Jersey Middle School Bans Hugging
CBS New York ^ | 03/22/12 | Unknown MATAWAN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – The new policy at Matawan Aberdeen Middle School has many parents scratching their heads. Last week, excessive hugging and physical contact by sixth and eighth graders prompted the principal to come on the loud speaker and declare a ban on hugging, according to published reports. “It’s stupid, I’ve never heard of such a thing. Why can’t you hug?” one mother told 1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg. “That’s how we grew up, with affection. You hug, you kiss.” “It’s kind of silly,” one man said. “When I was in middle school I hugged my friends — boys and...
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U.K. schools to kids: No best friends for you!
Hot Air ^ | 3/21/12 | Tina Korbe “Best friend bans” — apparently, they’re a thing. Educational psychologist Gaynor Sbuttoni said the policy has been used at schools in Kingston, South West London, and Surrey. She added: “I have noticed that teachers tell children they shouldn’t have a best friend and that everyone should play together. “They are doing it because they want to save the child the pain of splitting up from their best friend. But it is natural for some children to want a best friend. If they break up, they have to feel the pain because they’re learning to deal with it.” Russell Hobby, of...
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Too dumb to check: Bloomberg blocks food donations for homeless due to … salt and fat content
Hotair ^ | 03/20/2012 | AllahPundit I really did think it was too dumb to check. I saw this column in the Post yesterday and passed on blogging it because I figured it’d turn out to be an exaggeration. Nope. That’s what I get for giving the benefit of the doubt to a guy who worries about people on food stamps buying sugary drinks.You might die cold and hungry on the streets of New York, my friends, but at least you won’t have to worry about high salt intake. In conjunction with a mayoral task force and the Health Department, the Department of Homeless Services recently...
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Americans Have Become Compliant-Nanny-statism crippling the spirit, commonsense of the country
FrontPage Magazine ^ | March 16, 2012 | Walter Williams Last month, at a Raeford, N.C., elementary school, a teacher confiscated the lunch of a 5-year-old girl because it didn’t meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines and therefore was deemed nonnutritious. She replaced it with school cafeteria chicken nuggets. The girl’s home-prepared lunch was nutritious; it consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, potato chips, a banana and apple juice. But whether her lunch was nutritious or not is not the issue. The issue is governmental usurpation of parental authority. In a number of states, pregnant teenage girls may be given abortions without the notification or the permission of parents....
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Ma. elementary school changes name of St. Patrick's Day to O'Green Day to be more inclusive
960weli.com ^ | 03/15/2012 | Billy Hallowell St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school. At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, St. Patrick‘s Day has been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.” MassLive.com’s Patrick Johnson calls the move “a...
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Father arrested for girl's picture of toy gun
Calgary Herald ^ | 2/25/2012 | Thandi Fletcher, Postmedia News Daddy, are you mad at me? Those were the first words out of the mouth of a scared little girl to her father when he was released this week after being charged with possession of a firearm because of a picture she drew at school of a man holding a gun - which turned out to be a toy. . . "The kids were scared," said Thaler. "It is a four-year-old that we're taking the information from, but the fact is that this disclosure was very descriptive and very alarming to the officers investigating this." It was a typical day...
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Ma. elementary school changes name of St. Patrick's Day to O'Green Day to be more inclusive
960weli.com ^ | 03/15/2012 | Billy Hallowell St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school. At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, St. Patrick‘s Day has
been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.” MassLive.com’s Patrick Johnson calls the move “a...
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DC Resident Fined for Not Recycling Newspapers
Semi-News/Semi-Satire ^ | 24 Feb 2012 | John Semmens D.C. resident Patricia White has received fines, totaling $2000 for not recycling old newspapers. The Department of Public Works levied the fines after rooting through her trash and finding old newspapers in it. White tried explaining that she didn’t recycle the papers because she had used them in her cat’s litter box. “It’s not that I don’t support the idea of recycling,” White said. “I recycle plenty of other stuff. But I thought who wants to sort through cat sh*t. For health reasons alone I figured it would be better to just trash the newspapers I used in the litter...
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Dad Arrested, Strip-Searched After Daughter Draws a Picture of a Gun in School
Toronto Sun ^ | 2/25/2012 | Kris Sims Jessie Sansone and his family are reeling after he was arrested and strip searched by police after his four-year-old daughter drew a picture of a man with a gun in her Kitchener, Ont., kindergarten class. The 26-year-old father of four said Saturday the sketch was supposed to be him, getting the bad guys and monsters. The school must have thought differently, as after Nevaeh drew it Wednesday, the school contacted Family and Children's Services and they called police. Waterloo Police met Sansone at the school when he tried to pick up his kids he was told he was charged with...
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Obama Administration to Regulate School Vending Machines
Brian Koenig ^ | 2/21/11 | Brian Koenig Michelle Obama is likely bathing in fat-free yogurt and lathering herself with organic beets now that her husband's nanny-state regime is blueprinting revamped nutritional standards for foods that children can buy outside -- no, not inside -- the cafetaria. If confiscating a four-year-old girl's turkey sandwich and force-feeding
her broccoli and turnips isn't effective enough, better go for the vending machines -you know, just in case: Nutritionists say that school vending machines stocked with potato chips, cookies and sugary soft drinks contribute to childhood obesity, which has more than tripled in the past 30 years.
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Mars Inc. drops king-sized Snickers bar as concession to Michelle Obama’s campaign
NY Daily News ^ | 2/17/12 | TAYLOR HOM The chocolate world is in midst of a revolution, and the king-sized Snickers has been dethroned. Mars Inc. announced plans to halt production of any chocolate product that exceeds 250 calories per portion by the end of 2013 in its initiative to fight America's escalating obesity epidemic. The king-sized Snickers bar, which weighs in at a hefty calorie count of 510, will be one of the first to go in the chocolate megacorp's health purge.
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Jamie Oliver’s latest ** panic: ‘pink slime’
Panic On a Plate ^ | Jan 29, 2012 | Rob Lyons Jamie Oliver has won an apparent victory by persuading McDonald’s to remove a form of ‘reclaimed meat’ from its burgers. It’s a victory built on ignorant scaremongering. News from America, where McDonald’s has responded to a segment in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution by removing an ingredient called ‘finely textured lean beef trimmings’ from its burgers. This luxurious-sounding product is in fact another form of ‘reclaimed meat’, where meat processors try to get every last bit of meat from an animal’s carcass. In the segment, Oliver shows a group of parents and children a cow and explains the value of each...
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American School Kids Trash Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Sunday Mirror ^ | 29/01/2012 | Graeme Culliford and Nick Owens It was Jamie Oliver’s toughest challenge... getting US youngsters to ditch junk food and eat a healthier diet. But six months after he convinced an LA school to swap fattening burgers for low-calorie salads, his revamped menu is – literally – being
binned. Hundreds of students at West Adams Preparatory High School, where his hit show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution was filmed, are refusing to eat his cuisine. Instead, bins are overflowing with the TV chef’s veg curries, quinoa salads, Thai noodles and wheatbread burgers. Many youngsters even go without lunch altogether. Anna Redd, a cookery teacher at the school,...
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ID now needed for drain cleaner
qonline.com ^ | January 3, 2012 | Anthony Watt One of Illinois' new laws requires consumers to reach for their identification as well as their cash when they have a clogged drain. 

The law that took effect Sunday requires a valid identification to buy products containing chemicals listed within the Federal Caustic Poison Act in concentrations that require the warning "causes severe burns" on the packaging. Targeted substances include hydrochloric and sulfuric acids. 

Purchasers also must sign a log with their name and address. 

"We're looking at Drano, Liquid-Plumr -- those are the big ones," Rep. Rich Morthland, R-Cordova, said. 

The law was proposed after acid was used as...
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Grandparents kicked out of mall after taking picture of grandson
WNDU.com ^ | 12-23-11 | Brandon Lewis Two grandparents were kicked out of the University Park Mall Tuesday after they took a picture of their visiting grandson in the Food Court. "We were going to take our grandson, he's five and visiting from California, to see Santa and we were just sitting around the table having something to drink, talking about what we were planning and that's when my husband took the picture," said Grandmother Debbie Cassella. Cassella said immediately a mall employee instructed them to stop taking pictures or they would be thrown out of the mall. "I believe she said you can't take pictures at...
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Boy disciplined after waving gun-shaped pizza slice
WKRN TV Nashville ^ | Dec 14, 2011 | Staff
For the rest of the semester, a Rutherford County elementary student has to eat lunch at the "silent table" for allegedly waving around a slice of pizza some say resembled a gun. Nicholas Taylor attends David Youree Elementary School in Smyrna, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. School leaders say the 10-year-old threatened other students at his lunch table with a piece of pizza with bites out of it so it looked like a gun and when asked about it was initially not truthful. Nicholas' mother LeAnn calls her son's punishment "absolutely ridiculous" saying he was just playing around and...
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Because They Can [CONTROL]
National Review Online - The Corner ^ | December 3, 2011 | Andrew Stuttaford Reason’s Jacob Sullum discovers another example of nannies amok: "Yesterday the Boston Public Health Commission voted to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces, including outdoor areas such as restaurant patios. It says it is simply “clos[ing] a loophole” by “treat[ing] e-cigarettes like tobacco products.” But since e-cigarettes do not contain any tobacco and do not generate smoke (merely a propylene glycol vapor containing nicotine), that is a puzzling way to characterize the decision. The official justification for banning smoking in workplaces is protecting employees and other bystanders from the toxins and carcinogens generated when tobacco is burned.
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Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home
The Chicago Tribune ^ | April 11, 2011 | Monica Eng and Joel Hood At his public school, Little Village Academy on Chicago's West Side, students are not allowed to pack lunches from home. Unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria. Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.
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You can't buy that lime... it could be classed as a weapon: Shock for chef shopping at Asda
Daily Mail UK ^ | 11-21-11 | Nadia Gilani
A chef was stunned to find she was almost banned from buying two limes from a supermarket - because they could be classed as a weapon. Marisa Zoccolan, 31, popped into the new Asda supermarket close to her home in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to pick up some groceries, including the citrus fruits. But when she tried to pay for them at the self-service checkout, the message 'amount exceeded, authorisation required' flashed up. An assistant then came over and told her that more than one lime was deemed a weapon - because the citric acid could be squirted in someone's eye.
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Toronto school bans students from playing with 'hard balls'
Global Toronto ^ | November 16, 2011 TORONTO – A Toronto school is no longer allowing children to play with most balls during recess. Earl Beatty Public School sent a letter to student’s homes on Monday informing them of the decision to ban most balls from use on school grounds. According to the letter, over the past few weeks, there have been “a few serious incidents of parents, staff and students being hit by a hard ball or nearly being hit by a hard ball” in the schoolyard. There was no information as to injuries of people hit by hard balls.
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Council Passes Fur Ban on Split Vote [West Hollywood City, CA]
WestHollywoodPatch ^ | November 8, 2011 | James F. Mills West Hollywood made history by once again voting to become the first city in the nation to ban the sale of clothing apparel with animal fur Monday night. But the third time around, the vote showed a City Council deeply divided on the issue. The previous two times, the fur ban has come up for a vote—at the May 16 and Sept. 19 council meetings—the five council members approved the measure unanimously. This time, the ordinance passed with just three votes.
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Over-60 bedroom blockers 'should be taxed out of their homes' to encourage them to leave
The London Daily Mail ^ | October 19, 2011 | Steve Doughty
Older people should be taxed out of their family homes to free up space for younger generations, says a report backed by Labour. It argues that 'empty nesters' in their 60s are taking up too much room and should be 'encouraged' by a new 'land tax' to downsize to smaller homes. The call comes from the Intergenerational Foundation, a left-leaning think-tank that aims to 'promote fairness between generations'. Labour MP Tessa Jowell sponsored the report's launch in a Commons hospitality room yesterday, saying the current situation ran against Ed Miliband's vision for Britain.
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Verizon Now Monitors, Shares User Web Surfing Info
Tom's Guide ^ | October 14, 2011 | Kevin Parrish A new change in Verizon's privacy policy grants it the right to track user browsing habits, app usage and physical location.Like the Eye of Sauron watching over the lands of Middle-earth, Wednesday Verizon Wireless announced that it is now tracking the location of subscriber devices, recording search terms and websites they visit via the wireless network, and recording their app and device feature usage. This information will supposedly be used to make mobile ads more relevant to subscribers, and to be used for "certain business and marketing reports." In a statement announcing its privacy policy changes,
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Children to be banned from blowing up balloons, under EU safety rules
The Telegraph ^ | Oct 11,2011 | Bruno Waterfield
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France bans ketchup in cafeterias
latimes.com ^ France bans ketchup in cafeterias Well, it's allowed with one side dish (guess which one). But putting it on veal or boeuf bourguignon is now interdit at schools nationwide. By Kim Willsher, Los Angeles Times October 6, 2011 Reporting from Paris First France built a wall around its language to protect it from pernicious Anglo-Saxon invaders. Now it is throwing up a shield against another perceived threat to its culture and civilization: ketchup. In an effort to promote healthful
eating and, it has been suggested, to protect traditional Gallic cuisine, the French government has banned school and college cafeterias nationwide
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Emanuel: Wellness program needed for city workers (Fine for not complying)
Daily Herald ^ | 09/16/2011 | AP Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday that taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for city workers’ health care problems that are manageable.Chicago city employees would have to pay $50 per month more for health care if they choose not to participate in a wellness program announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
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Children as young as four reprimanded for racist behaviour (and tagged for "years")
Daily Telegraph ^ | 14 Sep 2011 | Graeme Paton More than 20,000 under-11s were punished for racist and homophobic behaviour in schools last year, according to research. The equivalent of around 100 primary school pupils a day were reported to local authorities after using offensive language in lessons and the playground, it is claimed. In some cases, pupils were reprimanded for relatively trivial squabbles and employing insults such as “gaylord” and “broccoli head”. Researchers said many children – some as young as four – are being reported despite being “unlikely to understand the meaning of these words”. Schools are obliged to report all “hate speech” incidents to local authorities
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Michelle Obama: Red Lobster and Olive Garden Cutting Calories!
Brian Koenig ^ | 9/15/11 | Brian Koenig Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and its sister chains are pursuing a "breakthrough moment" in the restaurant industry, that is, according to Michelle Obama. To Americans who actually like eating food, not so much. (Associated Press) - Darden Restaurants Inc. is pledging to cut calories and sodium in its meals by 20 percent over a decade. Among promised changes for children, a fruit or vegetable side and low-fat milk will become standard with kids' meals unless a substitution is
requested. No more French fries for the little ones unless an adult asks for them. "With this new commitment, Darden is doing...
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UPDATE: Ohio Man Arrested for Spanking Son with Belt
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Ohio_Man_Jailed_for_Spanking_Son_with_ Belt_129701243.html ^ | 9/14/2011 | Sarah Sager/ WSAZ JACKSON COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- A man from Jackson County, Ohio who was arrested for A spanking that some family members say went to far is now out of jail. On Sept. 2, Charley Brown III was arrested in Jackson County, Ohio, for spanking his 6-year-old son with a belt. Click here to find out more! According to the incident report from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Brown was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after his son admitted his father pulled his pants down and spanked him with a belt. Authorities say the spanking left bruising and welts on the...
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Postal workers refuse to deliver Bible recordings because the CDs are ‘offensive’ (UK)
The Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 9/9/11 | Staff Postal workers refused to deliver CDs of Bible readings after deciding they were ‘offensive material’. Several churches had paid for discs with recordings of St Mark’s Gospel to be produced to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. They were due to be delivered to all households on the Channel Island of Jersey, but church leaders were stunned when they were told postal workers would not handle the 45,000 CDs.
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Parents of seven told: Your children are too fat, so you will never see them again (UK)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2033486/Your-children-fatagain.html#ixzz1Wz8CFWxB ^ | 3rd September 2011 | Jane Simpson Four obese children are on the brink of being permanently removed from their family by social workers after their parents failed to bring their weight under control. In the first case of its kind, their mother and father now face what they call
the ‘unbearable’ likelihood of never seeing them again. Their three daughters, aged 11, seven and one, and five-year-old son, will either be ‘fostered without contact’ or adopted. Either way, the family’s only hope of being reunited will be if the children attempt to track down their parents when they become adults.
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Toomey Saves Taxpayers From Goofy Street Sign Mandate
BillLawrenceOnline.Com ^ | 9-2-11 The federal government has rescinded it's bizarre deadline to change all the street signs in the country and credit goes to Sen. Pat Toomey. The Federal Highway Administration in 2009 mandated that street name signs throughout the nation be upper/lower case with a deadline of 2018. For the historically challenged, 2009 is the first year of the Obama era. It would have been a costly and wasteful endeavor with the burden falling on municipal governments. The cost to replace a street sign is about $50. It adds up. The expense to New York City was estimated to be $28 million....
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Morning Bell: Food Regulators Out of Control
The Heritage Foundation ^ | September 1, 2011 | Ericka Andersen First Lady Michelle Obama’s obsession with “childhood obesity” has bothered many since it began two years ago, especially those who think that White House nagging of parents should be reserved for more pressing issues. Now it is getting more serious, with food regulators starting to infringe on the free speech rights of advertisers.In the latest upset, four federal agencies known as the Interagency Working Group (IWG) have delivered a plan to drastically censor food advertisers with products deemed to be “too high” in sodium, sugar, or fat that cater to any viewing audience between the ages of two and 11....
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Canada amends ruling on Dire Straits' song
AP ^ | September 1, 2011
CANADA'S broadcast standards council has amended an earlier ruling that deemed Dire Straits' hit Money for Nothing unfit for radio, saying that while the homophobic slur in the song is inappropriate, it must be taken in context. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had asked for a review of the song after the standards council ruled in January that the British band's song was unfit for radio because its lyrics include a gay slur. The council had responded to a complaint from a radio listener.
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Arrested for Riding Bike To School
Bike Walk Tennessee ^ | August 29, 2011 | Tom_E Could you be arrested for allowing your 5'th grade child to ride her bike one mile to school? That certainly seems crazy as we try to encourage active life styles for our kids. That certainly seems crazy as we try to promote safe routes to school programs. That certainly seems crazy as we talk of an obesity epidemic amongst our children. But that is what police in Elizabethton Tennessee are threatening. Teresa Tryon said, "On August 25th my 10 year daughter arrived home via police officer, requested to speak to me on the front porch of my home.
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London vs. Olympic Shooting - The city’s mayor decides that children shouldn’t watch the sport.
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE ^ | August 26, 2011 | Charles C. W. Cooke London vs. Olympic ShootingThe city's mayor decides that children shouldn't watch the sport. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a mayor in possession of a problem must be in want of a policy. But not all policies are created equal, and almost none are as silly or as counter-productive as the one that London mayor Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday: Children will be barred from watching shooting events at the 2012 London Olympics. The restriction is designed to help stem London’s rising gun-crime rate, and to prevent the “glorification†of firearms. But it is predicated upon a farcical misconception,...
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Concord Cop Threatens Camera-Wielding Lemonade Stand Operator With Wiretapping Charges
Reason ^ | August 24, 2011 | Mike Riggs A Concord man giving away lemonade at a farmer's market was threatened with wiretapping charges last Saturday when he refused to stop filming a police officer and a fellow vendor. Garret Ean didn't have a permit to sell lemonade, which drew the ire of the president of the Concord Farmer's Market. Ean filmed the confrontation, and continued to film when a Concord cop showed up and threatened to arrest him for wiretapping. Photojournalist Carlos Miller (who we interviewed for the November issue of Reason about the war on photography) has the story: The man, whom Ean identified as Steve Blasdell,...
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Capitol Police arrest Lemonade Freedom Day protesters
The Daily Caller ^ | August 20, 2011 | C.J. Ciaramella They set out to sell ice-cold lemonade, but now three Washington, D.C. protesters might need some legal aid. Capitol police arrested three people Saturday afternoon for selling lemonade on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building. They were participating in “Lemonade Freedom Day” — a national demonstration against a spate of recent lemonade stand shutdowns by police and health inspectors.
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City shuts down yard sale for cancer victim
dailymail.co.uk ^ | 18th August 2011 A 64-year-old woman trying to raise money to pay for medical bills incurred in her fight against a terminal form of bone cancer has been told she must stop her garage sales or face a fine. Jan Cline has been selling off her belongings in the backyard for a few weekends after being diagnosed with a type of cancer that eats through her bones and makes walking extremely difficult. But as the bills for treatment pile up, city officials in Salem, alerted by a complaint from a neighbour, say she is breaking the law and have shut the yard sales...
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Now Irvine, CA to ban pet stores
OCR ^ | 8-18-2011 | edcoil
In a letter sent to the Irvine mayor late last month, the Irvine Company said it will no longer lease new space to retailers selling dogs and cats at any of its retail center. The Irvine Company owns Fashion Island in Newport Beach, The Market Place in Irvine and Tustin and Irvine Spectrum Center as well as a slew of neighborhood shopping centers in Orange County.
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Police shut down 4 year old girl's lemonade stand
Omaha.com ^ | 8/2/2011 | Omaha.com CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Police closed down a lemonade stand in Coralville last week, telling its 4-year-old operator and her dad that she didn't have a permit. An officer told Abigail Krutsinger's father Friday that she couldn't run the stand as RAGBRAI bicyclers poured into Coralville. A city ordinance says food vendors must apply for a permit and get a health inspection. Abigail's dad, Dustin Krutsinger, said the ordinance and its enforcers are going too far if they force a 4year-old to abandon her lemonade stand.
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Mother fined $535 after daughter, Skylar Capo, 11, saves endangered woodpecker from hungry cat
http://www.nydailynews.com/ ^ Never let a good deed go unpunished. An 11-year-old Virginia girl trying to rescue a baby woodpecker instead earned her mother a $535 fine when it turned out the bird was a protected species. Skylar Capo saved the bird from the clutches of a cat which was about to turn the feathered friend into lunch. "I've just always loved animals," Skylar told WUSA-TV. "I couldn't stand to watch it be eaten." When she was unable to find the baby's mother, she asked her own mother if they could adopt the orphaned bird.
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Free crack pipes to be made available in Vancouver, Canada
KING 5 News ^ | August 2, 2011 Currently, mouth pieces are available for free, but not the pipes themselves. Officials hope it will reduce exposure to diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis. ... free
heroin needles are also already available around Vancouver at safe injection sites. Free crack pipes are also available to addicts in Seattle
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Michelle Obama unveils $200M California Endowment fresh food financing plan
The Merced Sun-Star ^ | July 20, 2011 | Staff First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled a healthy food financing initiative — the California FreshWorks Fund. A project of The California Endowment and a team of partners, FreshWorks is a $200 million public-private partnership loan fund created to increase access to healthy, affordable food in underserved communities, spur economic development and inspire innovation in healthy food retailing, according to a news release from the endowment. The California FreshWorks Fund (CAFWF) is modeled after the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative and has been developed to align with the National Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The fund will try to make communities across California...
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Police close girls' lemonade stand
onlineathens.com ^ | 7-15-11 MIDWAY — Midway police have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls, saying the stand lacked a business license and required permits. The girls had been operating for one day when Midway’s police chief and another officer cruised by. They had been trying to earn enough money to go to a water park. The girls needed a business license, peddler’s permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year. Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police didn’t know how the lemonade was made, who made it or...
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Air Canada ordered to pay $12K to man who couldn’t order 7Up in French
http://news.nationalpost.com ^ | 07/15/2011 | Ian MacLeod
The Federal Court of Canada on Wednesday ordered Air Canada to pay $12,000 to Ottawa French-language rights crusader Michel Thibodeau in part because when he asked an English-speaking flight attendant for 7Up in May 12 of 2009, he got Sprite. Air Canada was also ordered to apologize to Mr. Thibodeau and his wife Lynda. It is Mr. Thibodeau’s second successful legal action against the airline and its subsidiaries. In 2000, he was refused service in French when he tried to order a 7Up from a unilingual English flight attendant on an Air Ontario flight from Montreal to Ottawa. Mr. Thibodeau...
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Girl with no arms and legs says cheerleading try-out is unfair after she fails to make school squad
Daily Mail ^ | 7/13/11 | John Stevens Nebraska girl born with no arms and legs has blamed unfair scoring after she failed to make her school's cheerleading squad three years in a row. Julia Sullivan, 16, has complained to the school board after she said she was given 'no accommodation for her disability' during try-outs. The wheelchair user did not make the team after she received a low score in the jumps/kicks category of the trials. Miss Sullivan got her highest marks in the communication skills and enthusiasm/spirit categories. The Aurora High School student, who said that she likes to dance, said: 'I just think it would...
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Oak Park Woman Faces 93-Days in Jail For Planting Vegetable Garden (UPDATE)
MyFoxDetroit ^ | 7-8-11 | ALEXIS WILEY http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/julie-bass-of-oak-park-facesmisdemeanor-charge-for-vegetable-garden-20110630-wpms OAK PARK, Mich. (WJBK) - "The price of organic food is kind of through the roof," said Julie Bass. So, why not grow your own? However, Bass' garden is a little unique because it's in her front yard. "We thought it'd be really cool to do it so the neighbors could see. The kids love it. The kids from the neighborhood all come and help," she said. Bass' cool garden has landed her in hot water with the City of
Oak Park. Code enforcement gave her a warning, then a ticket and now she's been charged with a misdemeanor.
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Colorado day-care center proposal: Dolls must represent at least three different races
Denver Westword ^ | 8 Jul 2011 | Michael Roberts Here's an item with the potential for firing up enemies of political correctness: New rules proposed by the Colorado Department of Human Services include a requirement that all day-care centers in the state make available dolls representing three different races. The 98-page document, obtained by 7News, features a slew of rule changes. Among them: children over age two must not be served whole milk without a note from a doctor, kids over age one can't drink more than six ounces of juice per day, TV and computer time will be capped at twenty minutes daily, and staffers must wear clothes...
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FTC Defends Proposed Child-Food Marketing Rules Critics Say Could Kill 'Tony the Tiger'
CNSNews ^ FTC Defends Proposed Child-Food Marketing Rules Critics Say Could Kill 'Tony the Tiger' Friday, July 01, 2011 By Fred Lucas (CNSNews.com) – The Federal Trade Commission is defending its proposals to change food and beverage marketing to children ages 2-17, which industry and legal critics say would lead to the end of iconic commercial characters such Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam and create free speech issues. The proposed “voluntary” guidelines for marketing food resulted from the Interagency Working Group made up of representatives of the FTC, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S....
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San Francisco mulls ban on all pet sales, including goldfish and hamsters
telegraph.co.uk ^
San Francisco mulls ban on all pet sales, including goldfish and hamsters San Francisco, a city named after the patron saint of animals, is considering banning sales of all pets including goldfish and hamsters in a sweeping attempt to end cruelty. By Nick Allen, Los Angeles 4:37PM BST 27 Jun 2011 The ban would cover everything from dogs and cats to snakes, lizards, guinea pigs, parrots, mice and rats. All mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish would be banned from sale in pet stores in what would be the most radical measure of its kind in the Unite States. Those...
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Preschool Bans Use of Words 'Him' and 'Her' (Sweden)
Associated Press - KDVR News ^ | June 26, 2011 | JENNY SOFFEL STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys. From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes. LEGO Group "Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be." The taxpayerfunded preschool which opened last year...
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King Co. requires life vests for swimmers, floaters (UFB!!!)
Seattle PI ^ http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/King-Co-requires-life-vests-for-swimmers1432255.php People who hope to beat the summer heat by swimming, floating or boating on rivers in King County must wear a life vest or face an $86 fine. A divided County Council on Monday passed a personal flotation device ordinance by a five to four vote. Opponents said it was an intrusive move by "big government." "This Council sometimes thinks it's everybody's mom," said Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, who voted "no." Supporters said the new rule will save lives. The law appears to be the first of its kind in the state. Staff with the Municipal Research and Services Center of...
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County shuts down kids’ lemonade stand, fines parents $500 BARF ALERT!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110617/ts_yblog_thelookout/countyshuts-down-kids-lemonade-stand-fines-parents-500 ^ | 6/17/2011 | Zachary Roth A more wholesome American scene could hardly be imagined: a bunch of kids selling lemonade on a summer's day. But local authorities in Montgomery County, Md., saw things differently. They shut down the kids' venture and ended up fining their parents $500. The Marriott and Augustine kids had set up their stand Thursday right next to the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, where the US Open golf tournament has been taking place--bringing thousands of thirsty fans to the neighborhood. The kids planned to send 50 percent their profits to a charity that fights pediatric cancer. But a Montgomery County...
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San Francisco Mulls Goldfish Ban
nbcbayarea.com ^ | June 15, 2011 First kittens, then puppies and hamsters and now goldfish? San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross. The recommendation to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is part of the commission's ongoing efforts to discourage "impulse buys" of animals. The commission's ban would cover pet stores and breeders in the City. It comes after more than a year of study and findings that aquarium fish are often mass bred under inhumane conditions or stripped from the wild.
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School reprimands seven-year-old boys for playing 'army game'(England)
telegraph.co.uk ^ | 31 May, 2011 | Murray Wardrop Staff at Nathaniel Newton Infant School in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, reprimanded the two boys after they were seen making pistol shapes with their fingers. Teachers broke up the imaginary classroom shoot-out and contacted the youngsters’ parents, warning them that such behaviour would not be tolerated. The school, which caters for around 180 pupils aged four to seven, said the gun gestures were “unacceptable” and were not permitted at school. However, parents have described the reaction as
“outrageous”, while family groups warned that “wrapping children in cotton wool” damages their upbringing. Defending its policy, a spokesman for Nathaniel Newton Infant School said:...
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Italian Scientists to Stand Trial for Manslaughter in Quake Case
AAAS Science Mag ^ | May 25, 2011 | Edwin Cartlidge ROME—Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), will face trial on charges of manslaughter with six other scientists and technicians for failing to alert the residents of L'Aquila ahead of the devastating earthquake that struck the central Italian town on 6 April 2009, killing 308 people. The seven experts sit on the nation's major risks committee, and were probed by L'Aquila prosecutors after members of the public complained that it was the committee's reassurances that persuaded them not to leave their homes ahead of the quake
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Two policemen, a patrol car, the force helicopter... because a boy broke a window.
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 25th May 2011 When schoolboy Tom Clarke accidentally kicked his football through a neighbour’s greenhouse, he might have expected a scolding. But 30 minutes later a police patrol car, two officers and the force helicopter armed with thermal imaging cameras were on his trail, in scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood manhunt. And when officers tracked down the 15-year-old, he was told the mishap had been recorded as criminal damage and could be revealed to future employers carrying out record checks. His furious father insists the schoolboy has never been in trouble before and branded the police reaction ‘extremely heavy handed’. But police
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Got chocolate milk? No longer (Minneapolis public schools ban chocolate milk as an option)
Star Tribune ^ | May 20, 2011 | JEREMY OLSON http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/122372854.html
Chocolate milk might be the most popular choice for school lunch -- not to mention milk bubbles and milk mustaches. But soon it will be no choice at all in Minneapolis public schools. [Snip] "Consuming chocolate milk every day can train a child's palate toward sweetened foods," said Rosemary Dederichs, the district's director of nutrition services. The decision is opposed by the Midwest Dairy Association, a trade group of 11,000 dairy farms. While applauding the focus on health, the association noted that chocolate milk sold in Minneapolis schools has less sugar than other versions and only 20 calories more than...
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The death of common sense and how our police are losing the plot
Daily Mail ^ | April 28 2011 | Richard Littlejohn A beach bar singer on the Isle of Wight has been arrested for performing the song Kung Fu Fighting. Simon Ledger stands accused of racially aggravated harassment. He was entertaining a crowd enjoying the Easter sunshine when a man reported to be of Chinese origin took offence at the lyrics and complained to police. Mr Ledger was subsequently int erviewed and is now facing formal charges. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1381373/Kung-Fu-Fighting-racist-rowDeath-common-sense-police-losing-plot.html#ixzz1M17Nu7O1 ~snip~ So what in heavenÂ’s name were the Isle of Wight Plod thinking when they decided to arrest Mr Ledger, who has included the song in his act for years? They...
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N.Y. Law Would Ban Docs From Wearing Ties to Reduce Germs
foxnews.com ^ | 05/05/2011 | n/a Some New York lawmakers are proposing a law that would prohibit doctors from wearing neckties while working. The proposal quotes a study that shows bacteria may build-up on neckties and lead to infection.
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Protecting Muslim Girls From Rape is Now a Crime in Europe
netwmd.com ^ | May 4, 2011 | Phyllis Chesler Freedom of speech and women's rights just took a major hit in Denmark earlier today when the public prosecutor found Lars Hedegaard, the President of the
Danish (and International) Free Press Society, guilty of "hate speech" under section 266b of the Danish penal code. Hedegaard's crime was to note "the great number of family rapes in areas dominated by Muslim culture in Denmark." ...
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US proposes advertisers ditch junk food for kids
Reuters ^ | April 28, 2011 | by Gerald E. McCormick (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday pressured food companies to cut back on aggressive advertising of junk food to kids. The administration issued proposed voluntary principles which would turn children's food advertising on its head by calling for advertisements to be for foods that "make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet" and minimize ingredients that could have a negative impact on weight and health. "The (FTC) commission is aware of the significant impact the proposal would have on the current marketplace. A significant percentage of the products currently marketed to children would not meet the proposed nutrition principles....
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Fabulous! San Francisco to Ban Circumcision? (So what happens to observant Jews?)
Hotair ^ | 04/28/2011 | Jazz Shaw Somewhere in the vast wastelands of the internet there must be a blog which does nothing but monitor the denizens of San Francisco, 24 x 7, to keep track of all the mind boggling things that go on there. If such a portal already exists, I’m sure they’ll be all over this story in no time at all. San Francisco may vote on banning male circumcisionSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A group opposed to male circumcision said on Tuesday they have collected more than enough signatures to qualify a proposal to ban the practice in San Francisco as a ballot measure...
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Flavored Milk Banned in LA School District
Fox News ^ | 04/28/11 | SoCal SoCon
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/04/27/school-chief-sides-celeb-chef-oliverla-food-fight/ The superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District says he wants to stop offering chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk to students as part of an attempt to curb childhood obesity. Superintendent John Deasy appeared with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Tuesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and said he will recommend the ban to the board of education by July.
4. LAUSD to remove chocolate, strawberry milk from schools, superintendent says
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Town Bans Bottled Water Sales
thebostonchannel.com ^ | 04/26/2011 | n/a The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011. "We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord's Town Meeting. Hill said that New York, Illinois and Virginia, as well as more than 100 cities, have taken action to cut spending on bottled water. The measured passed by Concord would allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in town. Only plastic bottles that companies cannot reuse would be banned. "Water...
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Cleveland City Council Decides on Smoking, Trans Fat, Food Trucks
Fox 8 News ^ | 3:36 p.m. EDT, April 26, 2011 | Elisa Amigo City council wants to make Cleveland a healthier place to live and work. Monday night, council approved legislation that will affect how you eat and breathe. "We are going to surpass other cities. We not only have better institutions, we have better people," said councilman Joe Cimperman. Cimperman is sponsoring an initiative called "Healthy Cleveland." Part of his plan includes an outdoor smoking ban. During Monday's meeting, council voted to approve a smoking ban on city-
owned properties, including public parks, pools and picnic areas. "You won't be able to smoke in front of City Hall anymore. You won't be able...
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Senator urges FDA to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes
The Hill ^ | April 19, 2011 | Josiah Ryan Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes. In a letter addressed Monday to the FDA, Blumenthal said the agency should ban menthol cigarettes because they encourage young people to smoke. “The dangers of menthol tobacco products in general, and to our youth in particular, are highly concerning, and provide abundant grounds for FDA to develop a plan that will result in the removal of menthol from tobacco products to protect public health,” Blumenthal wrote in the letter, addressed to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Blumenthal is seeking a ban identical to...
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Michigan: Police Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops
THE NEWSPAPER ^ | April 20, 2011 | swampsniper I don't know anything about this source but this sounds credible. ACLU seeks information on Michigan program that allows cops to download information from smart phones belonging to stopped motorists. The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program. ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed...
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KICKBALL, TAG & CAPTURE THE FLAG LABELED ‘RISKY’ SPORTS BY NY STATE
theblaze.com ^ | 04/19/2011 | Jonathon M. Seidl
New York bureaucrats have decided numerous classic kids games now pose a “significant risk of injury.” What games, you might ask? How about capture the flag, kickball, all forms of tag, and even Wiffle Ball. The New York Daily News reports on how it happened: "The Health Department created a list of supposedly risky recreational activities – which also includes more perilous pursuits like archery, scuba and horseback riding – in response to a state law passed in 2009. The law sought to close a loophole that legislators said allowed too many indoor camp programs to operate without oversight.
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People's Republic of San Francisco Wants Venue Owners to Take Pictures of All Patrons
Economic Policy Journal ^ | 04/18/2011 | Economic Policy Journal The San Francisco Entertainment Commission wants to require all venues with an occupancy of over 100 people to record the faces of all patrons and scan their ID’s for storage in a database which they must hand over to law enforcement on request. The Electronic Freedom Foundation notes what one would think is obvious:
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Electrician Faces Sack For Displaying Christian Cross In His Van
Daily Telegraph(UK) ^ | April 16, 2011 | JOHN ROBERTSON Electrician Faces Sack For Displaying Christian Cross In His Van An electrician and former soldier faces the sack for displaying a small palm cross in the window of his company van. Wakefield and District Housing claims the cross may cause offence Photo: JOHN ROBERTSON 17 Apr 2011 Colin Atkinson, 64, from Wakefield, has been called to a disciplinary hearing at the housing association where he has worked for 15 years. His bosses at the publicly funded Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) have demanded he remove the eight inch long cross made from woven palm leaves that sits on his dashboard....
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Extinguishers banned as a fire safety hazard
Metro.co.uk ^ | April 14, 2011 | Metro.co.uk
Fire extinguishers could be removed from communal areas in flats throughout the country because they are a safety hazard, it has emerged. The life-saving devices encourage untrained people to fight a fire rather than leave the building, risk assessors in Bournemouth decided. There are fears that their recommendation, which has seen the extinguishers ripped out of several private, high-rise flats in the town, could set a national precedent. Under the Fire Safety Order of 2005, fire assessments must be carried out to 'eliminate or reduce risk as is reasonably practical'. But Mike Edwards, who lives in one of the blocks,...
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Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home
Chicago Tribune ^ | April 11, 2011 | Monica Eng and Joel Hood To encourage healthful eating, Chicago school doesn't allow kids to bring lunches or certain snacks from home — and some parents, and many students, aren't fans of the policyA Little Village Academy student cringes at an enchilada dish served at his school. Many students throw away their entrees uneaten and say they would rather bring food from home. The school, though, does not allow students to bring in their own lunches, unless they have a medical condition or a food allergy.
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Boston Mayor Thomas Menino KOs Soda, OKs Alcohol [banned soda, sports drinks and sweetened ice teas]
FOX ^ Boston Mayor Thomas Menino KOs Soda, OKs Alcohol Published April 10, 2011 | FoxNews.com Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has banned soda, sports drinks and sweetened ice teas from city property, according to a recent government press release. In an attempt to reduce the city’s rising obesity rates, Menino has banned all sugary drinks from city vending machines, cafeterias and concession stands, just one day after reaching an agreement with the Boston Red Sox that allows the team to sell mixed drinks at its ballpark. “I want to create a civic environment that makes the healthier choice the easier choice in
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Seattle School Renames Easter Eggs as 'Spring Spheres'
NewsBusters ^ | April 9, 2011 Seattle, Washington sounds like a town competing for the most ACLU-friendly city in America. A public school teacher there told a teenage volunteer she could hand out Easter eggs with candy....as long as she called them "Spring Spheres." Jessica, 16, told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson Show that a week before spring break, the students commit to a week-long community service project. She decided to volunteer in a third grade class at a public school, which she would like to remain nameless.
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Mayor Defends New Health Dept. Policy On French Fries, Bagels & Stinky Perfumes
newyork.cbslocal.com ^ Mayor Defends New Health Dept. Policy On French Fries, Bagels & Stinky Perfumes April 4, 2011 4:58 PM NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended a new set of employee guidelines Monday set forth by the New York City Department of Health. With what appears to be an effort to lead by example, the Health Department’s “Life in the Cubicle Village” includes of list of what employees can eat and smell like ahead of the agency’s move to its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens. “They’ve got to put out some guidelines — how much they’re followed, I...
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CBS Touts FDA Taking On 'Caloric Catastrophe' of Movie Theater Popcorn
Newsbusters ^ | 3/24/11 | Kyle Drennen In a report for Thursday's CBS Early Show, contributor Taryn Winter Brill fretted over the impact of movie theater popcorn on Americans' waistlines: "Have you ever wondered how many calories you're actually consuming in that large popcorn with butter? You probably don't want to know. Pretty soon, though, you may not have a choice." Moments later, nutritionist Katherine Brooking declared the popular concession treat to be "a calorie bomb waiting to explode." Brill then touted a government solution to the problem: "Hoping to defuse this high caloric catastrophe, the FDA is working on a provision in the health care law...
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Foster parent ban: 'no place’ in the law for Christianity, High Court rules
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8353496/Foster-parent-banno-place-in-the-law-for-Christianity-High-Court-rules.html ^ | Feb. 28, 2011 | Tim Ross There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite this country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the established Church, two High Court judges said on Monday. Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson made the remarks when ruling on the case of a Christian couple who were told that they could not be foster carers because of their view that homosexuality is wrong. The judges underlined that, in the case of fostering arrangements at least, the right of homosexuals to equality “should take precedence” over the right of Christians to manifest their beliefs and...
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'Ba Ba Black Sheep' Called Racist
Fox News ^ | Feb 28 2011 Black sheep are on the endangered species list as some children in north Queensland learn to sing Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. The English nursery rhyme may have survived for 200-plus years but political correctness could finally put it out to pasture. Some schools in Britain have banned the song for being racist, but Pelicans Innisfail Child Care allows children to sing about black sheep or rainbow sheep.
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Don’t put wire on your windows – it might hurt burglars!
The Daily Mail ^ | 13th February 2011 Residents in Surrey and Kent villages have been ordered by police to remove wire mesh from their windows as burglars could be injured. Home owners in the villages of Tandridge and Tatsfield in Surrey and in Westerham, Brasted and Sundridge in Kent have said they are furious that they are being branded 'criminals' for protecting
their property. Locals had reinforced their windows with wire mesh after a series of shed thefts but were told by community police officers that the wire was 'dangerous' and could lead to criminals claiming compensation if they 'hurt themselves'.
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Video: Oregon demands 80-year-old barber go back to school (Licensing gone wild!)
Hotair ^ | 02/07/2011 | Ed Morrissey The Institute for Justice will fight another interesting case on business licensing, this time in Oregon, where an 80-year-old barber with 50 years experience has been told he needs to go back to school to qualify for his license. Just as in the case of Louisiana casket makers and tour guides in Philadelphia and Washington DC, licensing laws that threaten to kill a 50-year small business demonstrates the unholy alliance between Big Business and Big Government at the state level: The Wall Street Journal has a timely report on the phenomenon: “Occupations prefer to be licensed because they can restrict...
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Sandwich bag gets boy excluded from class contest
National Post ^ | 31 Jan 11 | Tamsin McMahon A couple in Laval, Que. has sparked a fierce debate over how far schools should go to teach children about environmental responsibility after their six-year-old son was shut out of a kindergarten draw to win a stuffed animal because he had an environmentally unfriendly sandwich bag in his lunchbox.
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Zero tolerance 'insane madness' in Virginia
WorldNetDaily ^ | January 30, 2011 | Brian Fitzpatrick Spotsylvania, Va., high school freshman Andrew Mikel has been suspended for the school year and has been placed in a "diversion program" by police for blowing soft plastic pellets through a pen at three classmates. "I am currently working with the Rutherford Institute, fighting the insane madness of our local school administration
and board," wrote the boy's father, also named Andrew Mikel, to WND. "In early December, my son shot what amounts to a spitwad. They classified the spit wad as a weapon, expelled my son from school the rest of the year, filed assault charges on him with the...
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Bill to Ban Crosshairs
New York Times ^ | January 9, 2011 Representative Bob Brady of Pennsylvania told The Caucus he plans to introduce a bill that would ban symbols like that now-infamous campaign crosshair map. "You can't threaten the president with a bullseye or a crosshair," Mr. Brady, a Democrat, said, and his measure would make it a crime to do so to a member of Congress or federal employee, as well. Asked if he believed the map incited the gunman in Tucson, he replied, "I don't know what's in that nut's head. I would rather be safe than sorry."
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New Government Policy Imposes Strict Standards on Garage Sales Nationwide
Fox News ^ | January 3, 2011 Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign. The "Resale Round-up," launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children's products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don't meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason. The strict standards were set in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act after a series of high-profile recalls of Chinese-made toys.
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Michelle Malkin: This year's top nanny-state busybodies
Washington Examiner ^ | 12/29/2010 | Michelle Malkin It was a nefarious year for nettlesome nosy-bodies employed by the Nanny State. Here are the top power-grabbers of 2010 who just can't leave us alone: -- New York
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Two feet of snow paralyzed trains, buses, plows and emergency vehicles in the Big Apple this week... -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He proposed meddling mileage taxes, mused about a system to track drivers' routes, lobbied for high-speed rail boondoggles and promoted a "livability initiative" to limit suburban growth and force dwellers into public transportation. Then America's driving czar floated a plan earlier this fall to disable...
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Mass. School Requires Permission Slips to Recite Pledge of Allegiance
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 10:35:19 AM · by Bloody Sam Roberts · 19 replies FoxNews.com ^ | 12/22/2010 | Todd Starnes The principal of a public school in Brookline, Mass., is asking parents to fill out permission slips before their children can participate in a weekly recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Gerardo Martinez, the principal of The Devotion School, informed parents that the school would begin reciting the pledge in January over the public address system. Attached to the letter was a form that asked parents to check either: "Yes, my child will participate in the weekly Pledge of Allegiance" or "No, my child will not participate in the weekly Pledge of Allegiance." "I urge you to have a conversation...
Overcriminalizing everyday life--It's unjust to make a federal case out of minor infractions
Two former U.S. attorneys general are urging House Republicans to adopt a new rule in the new Congress to rein in federal criminal charges. It's an important step to protect innocent Americans from the net of an overzealous government leviathan .The recommendation from Edwin Meese III and Richard L. Thornburgh would require that every bill creating a new or enhanced federal criminal penalty be referred to the House Judiciary Committee for review of its criminal-law provisions. For instance, if a bill defines a new violation to be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and punishes violators with criminal penalties,...
City Council passes an ordinance banning selling of cats, (Austin TX)
community impact news ^ | Thursday, 16 December 2010 | Kate Hull \
Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse
KOCO.com ^ | December 16, 2010 Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse Federal Examiners Say Religious Decoration Inappropriate PERKINS, Okla. -- A small-town bank in Oklahoma said the Federal Reserve won’t let it keep religious signs and symbols on display. Federal Reserve examiners come every four years to make sure banks are complying with a long list of regulations. The examiners came to Perkins last week. And the team from Kansas City deemed a Bible verse of the day, crosses on the teller’s counter and buttons that say "Merry Christmas, God With Us." were inappropriate.
: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2010/12/blame-big-governmentyour-dity-dishes#ixzz18PA3IAyw The next great government crusade will be against soap. The president will appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission, which will determine that soap releases polluting grime into the ecosystem, leads to aquifer depletion, and contains fatty acids that laboratory studies have shown to be acidic and not fat-free… P.J. O’Rourke
Michelle Obama on Deciding What Kids Eat: ‘We Can’t Just Leave it Up to The Parents'
CNS News ^ | 13 Dec 2010 | Penny Starr Speaking at Monday's signing ceremony for the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act”-a law that will subsidize and regulate what children eat before school, at lunch, after
school, and during summer vacations in federally funded school-based feeding programs--First Lady Michelle Obama said of deciding what American children should eat: “We can’t just leave it up to the parents."
Campus Christmas Carols Silenced After Non-Christian Complaints
The Blaze ^ | December 10, 2010 | Meredith Jessup For nearly 15 years, the Pulliam Hall clock tower on the campus of Southern Illinois University has played Christmas carols. But this year, after a few complaints, the bells have been briefly silenced while the school tries to expand its melodic tradition to include a more diverse selection of music. “We took the music off the clock tower as a result of some complaints we received that religious music was offensive to non-Christians,” SIU Chancellor Rita Cheng told KFVS. The local CBS affiliate reports that SIU administrators agreed Friday to start playing “secular holiday songs” until a more “multi-cultural mix”...
Video: Los Angeles bans new fast-food restaurants in South LA
Hotair ^ | 12/20/2010 | Ed Morrissey “This is not an attempt to control what food people put in their mouths,†LA city council member Jan Perry insists, but of course the new ban on new fast-food restaurants in South LA is exactly that. Perry just wants to “diversify their food options,†but apparently doesn’t trust residents to do that for themselves and so wants to limit their options — presumably to higher-priced restaurants that may or may not open in their neighborhoods. After all, it’s not as though there is a shortage of leasing space in these parts of America’s #2 city.
Florida School Bans Christmas… And Christmas Colors
gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com ^ | 12/02/2012 | Jim Hoft
It begins… A Florida school not only banned Christmas but banned everything associated with Christmas including Christmas colors… Because someone might be offended.
Boss orders female staff to wear red bracelets when they are on their periods
Daily Mail ^ | November 30, 2010 | Ian Sparks A boss in Norway has ordered all female staff to wear red bracelets during their periods - to explain why they are using the toilet more often. The astonishing demand was revealed in report by a workers' union into 'tyrannical' toilet rules in Norwegian companies. The study claimed businesses were becoming obsessed with lost productivity due to employees spending too much time answering the call of nature.
U.S. cities forced to spend millions changing street signs... because they are in capital letters
UK Daily Mail ^ | November 30, 2010 | Daniel Bates Cash-strapped cities and towns across America are having to pay out millions of dollars on new signs under orders of the federal government - because they are the wrong letter size. Washington officials have demanded that every single street sign in the nation which is currently in capitals must be replaced because they are supposedly too hard to read. In their place will be new signs with the same green background and the same font, the only difference being that they are in lower-case letters.
San Francisco overrides mayoral veto, bans Happy Meals with toys
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/11/23/california.happy.meals.ban/index.html ^ (CNN) -- The San Francisco, California, Board of Supervisor banned most McDonald's Happy Meals with toys Tuesday. Despite objections and ridicule from opponents, the vote overrode the mayor's veto and officially approved the ban.
Meet the man behind SF's proposed circumcision ban
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail? entry_id=77266#ixzz15aY6W4pe ^ It's not every day we phone an average San Francisco resident to ask about foreskin. In fact, it's no day. Ever. Until now. But Lloyd Schofield's used to such calls because he's collecting signatures to get a circumcision ban on the city ballot in November 2011. "Someone else told me they were calling me at 11 o'clock for an interview," he said. "I might have to - I hate to say it - cut you short." We love it when interview subjects make our jokes for us! Schofield's ordinance would outlaw the procedure throughout San Francisco,
Cops Shut Down Child’s Bake Sale [Operating w/o license!]
Tood Starnes ^ | 11/15/10 A New York lawmaker is under fire for calling the police on a pair of 13-year-olds selling homemade baked goods in a local park. Andrew DeMarchis and Kevin Graff were just trying to earn some pocket change by selling an assortment of cupcakes, brownies and Rice Krispies treats in a Chappaqua park. But the middle school entrepreneurs were shut down by local police at the request of New Castle Councilman Michael Wolfensohn. He called the cops because the boys were operating a business without a license, according to The Journal News. “The police offer was extremely pleasant,” Suzanne DeMarchis told...
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/suffocated-by-red-tape-12-ridiculousregulations-that-are-almost-too-bizarre-to-believe
#1 The state of Texas now requires every new computer repair technician to obtain a private investigator’s license. In order to receive a private investigator’s license, an individual must either have a degree in criminal justice or must complete a three year apprenticeship with a licensed private investigator. If you are a computer repair technician that violates this law, or if you are a regular citizen that has a computer repaired by someone not in compliance with the law, you can be fined up to $4,000 and you can be put in jail for a year.
#2 The city of Philadelphia now requires all bloggers to purchase a $300 business privilege license. The city even went after one poor woman who had earned only $11 from her blog over the past two years. #3 The state of Louisiana says that monks must be fully licensed as funeral directors and actually convert their monasteries into licensed funeral homes before they will be allowed to sell their handmade wooden caskets. #4 In the state of Massachusetts, all children in daycare centers are mandated by state law to brush their teeth after lunch. In fact, the state even provides the fluoride toothpaste for the children. #5 If you attempt to give a tour of our nation's capital without a license, you could be put in prison for 90 days. #6 Federal agents recently raided an Amish farm at 5 A.M. in the morning because they were selling "unauthorized" raw milk. #7 In Lake Elmo, Minnesota farmers can be fined $1,000 and put in jail for 90 days for selling pumpkins or Christmas trees that are grown outside city limits. #8 A U.S. District Court judge slapped a 5oo dollar fine on Massachusetts fisherman Robert J. Eldridge for untangling a giant whale from his nets and setting it free. So what was his crime? Well, according to the court, Eldridge was supposed to call state authorities and wait for them do it. #9 In the state of Texas, it doesn't matter how much formal interior design education you have - only individuals with government licenses may refer to themselves as "interior designers" or use the term "interior design" to describe their work. #10 Deeply hidden in the 2,409-page health reform bill passed by Congress was a new regulation that will require U.S. businesses to file millions more 1099s each year. In fact, it is estimated that the average small business will now have to file 200 additional 1099s every single year. Talk about a nightmare of red tape! But don't try to avoid this rule - it is being reported that the IRS has hired approximately 2,000 new auditors to audit as many of these 1099s as possible. #11 The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin makes it incredibly difficult to go out of business. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee requires you to purchase an expensive license, you must submit a huge pile of paperwork to the city regarding the inventory you wish to sell off, and you must pay a fee based on the length of your "going out of business sale" plus a two dollar charge for every $1,000 worth of inventory that you are attempting to sell off. #12 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is projecting that the food service industry will have to spend an additional 14 million hours every single year just to comply with new federal regulations that mandate that all vending machine operators and chain restaurants must label all products that they sell with a calorie count in a location visible to the consumer.
McDonald's slams San Francisco ban on Happy Meals
Yahoo News via AFP ^ | November 3, 2010 | Grant Junkie Fast food giant McDonald's said Wednesday it was "extremely disappointed" at a ruling by San Francisco authorities banning high-calorie Happy Meals, which entice children to eat with free toys. The response came after the Californian city's board of supervisors voted to forbid restaurants from giving gifts with meals that contain too much fat and sugar. "We are extremely disappointed with this decision.
It?s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for," said McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud. Happy Meals, which typically come in a colorful cardboard box packed with a burger, a drink, fries and desert, are...
SA) Health department warns those who feed the hungry (PERMIT now required to give away food)
San Antonio Express-News ^ | 10/07/2010 | By Brian Chasnoff - Express-News Robert Smith sat on the porch of Catholic Worker House on Wednesday morning, hungry and sipping a cup of coffee. The nonprofit, close to downtown, had been a reliable source of free, hot meals for hungry people for 25 years until the city's health department showed up in August and warned it to shut down because it lacked a licensed kitchen. “Man, it's been hard out here, and nobody's serving nothing,” said Smith, 54, who is not homeless but can't afford food. It's getting harder. Metro Health officials paid a visit Tuesday evening to those handing out food under U.S....
SAN FRANCISCO: Plan to limit toys with meals faces 1st test {Unhappy Meals}
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/25/10 | Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer San Francisco's proposed crackdown on promotional toys in Happy Meals and other fast-food offerings aimed at kids will bolster the city's reputation as either an out-of-control nanny state or a bold watchdog for public health, depending on who is doing the judging. The proposal, which will have its first public hearing Monday, wouldn't ban the popular toy giveaways outright but would make it illegal for kids' meals to come with prizes if the food exceeds city-set limits on calories, fat, salt and sugar. The restaurant industry has been lobbying hard to defeat San Francisco's proposal, but also is exploring a...
Six British Men Arrested After Quran Burning
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/six-british-men-arrested-after-youtubequran-burning/19645884?test=latestnews ^ LONDON (Sept. 23) -- Six men from northern England have been arrested after they filmed themselves burning a copy of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 and then posted the footage on YouTube. The two-and-a-half-minute video (which can still be seen on YouTube) starts with a gang of men, wearing keffiyeh-style face masks made from dishcloths, waving the holy book in front of the camera. The group's apparent leader then declares, "This is the Quran, right, it's full of ----. We are going to burn this mother------." The men dance on the book, douse it with gasoline and set...
Three-year-olds being labelled bigots by teachers as 250,000 children accused of racism (UK)
MailOnline ^ | 9/23/2010 | Laura Clark Teachers are being forced to report children as young as three to the authorities for using alleged ‘racist’ language, it was claimed last night. Munira Mirza, a senior advisor to London Mayor Boris Johnson, said schools were being made to spy on nursery age youngsters by the Race Relations Act 2000. More than a quarter of a million children have been accused of racism since it became law, she said. Spied upon: 'Racist language' by children must be reported. (Posed by models) Spied upon: 'Racist language' by children must be reported. (Posed by models) Writing in Prospect magazine, she said:...
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Children's health keeps FLOTUS up at night
ABCNews ^ | September 14, 2010 | Arlette Saenz ABC News’ Arlette Saenz reports: First Lady Michelle Obama discussed the need to improve childhood obesity rates and promote a healthy lifestyle at a young age with attendants of today’s plenary session of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 2010 Policy Conference. “It’s an issue that keeps me up at night, not just as First Lady, but as a mother, and that is the health of our children – in particular, the epidemic of childhood obesity in America today,” Mrs. Obama said.
100903 FTC Subpoenas 48 Food Companies Regarding Marketing to Kids Advertising Age ^ | 9/1/2010 | Rich Thomaselli NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Federal Trade Commission is once again handing out subpoenas to companies that market food to children and teens. Three years after initially delivering what is technically known as "orders to file special report" to 44 marketers, the FTC last week began sending subpoenas to 48 companies in order to prepare a follow-up to its 120-page report issued in 2008, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities and Self-Regulation." "This is a follow-up to measure the effects that self-regulation has had over the last three years," said Carol Jennings, spokeswoman for... 100824 Is “Happy Birthday” Song Insensitive? Fox News ^ | 8/24/10 | Todd Starnes A ban on singing “Happy Birthday” lasted all of four days at Chesterfield Elementary School in Missouri after angry parents bombarded the school with complaints. “Singing is not permitted due to the sensitivity of all student beliefs,” wrote Principal Jodi Davidson in a letter to parents dated August 13. On August 23 Davidson sent another letter reversing the policy noting that students “are permitted and encouraged to sing the happy birthday song in the classroom.” However, students will not be permitted to sing the traditional song in the cafeteria and all birthday treats must be individually
100819 Roadside crosses for fallen Utah police unconstitutional, court rules Daily Caller ^ | 08/19/10 | Warren Richey A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that roadside crosses erected to memorialize fallen Utah Highway Patrol officers violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of government endorsement of religion. The Denver-based 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that the 12-foot-high crosses bearing the name and badge number of deceased officers sent an unconstitutional religious message to motorists on the state’s highways. “We hold that these memorials have the impermissible effect of conveying to the reasonable observer the message that the state prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion. They therefore violate the establishment clause of the federal constitution,” the appeals... 100810 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2567987/posts A group of high school students attending a conservative leadership conference in Washington, D.C. said they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a June 25 visit to the Lincoln Memorial.
“They told them to stop singing,” said Evan Gassman, a spokesman for the Young America’s Foundation. “I was taken aback. You wouldn’t expect a display of national patriotism to be censored." ... “If their idea of civil disobedience is singing the national anthem, then so be it,” Gassman said. “Let them disobey.” The crime was "singing it loudly".
100708 San Francisco considers ban on small pet sales http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2549181/posts 100701 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2545489/posts A Boise mother loses her parental rights battle at the Federal Court Wednesday afternoon. In 2002, Corissa Mueller brought her baby to St. Luke's Hospital with a fever. The doctor wanted to perform a spinal tap to test for Meningitis, and Mueller wanted a second opinion. Within hours, police and child services were called-in and Mueller lost custody of her child. The test was done anyway and the little Taige only had a cold. Mueller believes the hospital went too far, but the jury didn't agree. It took 16 days for the jury to unanimously decide that the Mueller's constitutional rights were not violated. 100701 Ban to begin on phosphate-laden dishwasher soap (WA and OR tomorrow) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2544721/posts
100627 California would become the first state to ban grocery, liquor and drug stores from providing free paper or plastic bags under legislation pushed by Democrats and supported by RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15384532?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1
100627 EU to ban selling eggs by the dozen: Shopkeepers’ fury as they are told all food must be weighed and sold by the kilo
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1289882/EU-ban-selling-eggs-dozenShopkeepers-fury-told-food-weighed-sold-kilo.html 100623 Group will sue McDonald’s over Happy Meal toys http://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_15352263 Warning Label on our Constitution: Wilder Publications “This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.” Keren, a Berkeley store owner has agreed to stop selling candy bars and sodas to school children in the morning. Pepe was happy to sell the kids his homemade refreshments from his cart. In the UK parents must get pedophile permits to give rides to children other than their own. This is probably one LA hasn’t thought of yet. In Europe the public has been asked to snoop on their neighbors and turn them in if they are still using incandescent light bulbs. I’m sure California will follow. We have been asked to turn in our fellow Americans to whitehouse.gov if they are conservatives. In the UK, Scouts will no longer be allowed to bring their penknives. Again in the UK, fathers will get six months paternity leave. They just raised our cigarette tax by $1.00. They now tax our soda. All food and drinks in LA County facility vending machines must now meet state nutrition guidelines. The federal government is now targeting garage sales and church bazaars for selling unsafe used toys and clothing. Kids were told they had to wear a phallic looking helmet to ride bikes. Now there are so few bike riders that the schools don’t even bother putting in bike racks. They took swing sets off the school yard.
Children at school are not allowed to play on the “apparatus” after school unless they have a parent there. Our cars become almost worthless when they can no longer pass the smog test. I say almost, because we can sell them to illegal aliens that use them as throw away cars. You need a permit to park in the forest, so now our kids can only see nature thru a car window. Kids are required to take a motorcycle class to ride off-road. That sport is dying. A fishing license costs too much for most people. Water rationing is killing our yards. We are forced to use light bulbs that literally tell us to call Hazmat for cleanup should one break. Environmental laws have forced thousands of businesses to close, move to other states, or just let the Chinese do the manufacturing. Two million people marched on D.C. September 12, 2009 to tell the government they don’t want a nanny.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/compact_fluorescent_light_bulb.html CFL manufacturers claim that a 13-watt CFL emits the same amount of light as a 60watt incandescent, but it doesn't seem to work that way in the real world. I've been in CFL-lit hotel rooms where I need a flashlight to read my dog-eared copy of The Road to Serfdom. Warm-up time: it takes up to 5 minutes for a CFL to reach full strength, which may be related to the point above (why CFLs seem less bright). My friend has installed them in a hallway where illumination is needed only for the thirty seconds it takes to navigate the staircase. Not ideal when Grandma visits and can't see the skateboard on the stairs. Few CFLs last for their advertised lifetimes of five years or more. Many people report replacing them after one year, making those return on investment numbers a bit less rosy. Using them in ceiling fixtures, on dimmers or timers, and for less than fifteen minutes per use reduce their life. CFLs contain mercury and should be returned to a hazardous waste center for disposal. Studies assume a 25% recycling rate, with the rest going into landfills. (The Westinghouse website recommends recycling only when disposing of "a large quantity" of fluorescent tubes and doesn't mention how to dispose of their CFLs.) According to a 2008 Yale study, burning coal to supply electricity to incandescent bulbs emits more mercury per bulb than a CFL contains, but regions that rely on cleaner fuels like natural gas experience greater mercury contamination with the introduction of CFLs. Why would environmentalists advocate to bring a toxic product into every home? Cleaning up a broken CFL doesn't require a haz-mat team, but you have to take significant precautions to avoid mercury contamination of living areas. Manufacturing CFLs is labor-intensive. No CFLs are made with expensive U.S. labor; most are made in China, where hundreds of factory workers in CFL plants have been hospitalized for mercury poisoning. The last major light bulb factory in the U.S., a GE plant in Winchester, VA, closed earlier this month. CFLs require six times as much energy to manufacture as incandescent bulbs, not to mention -- if you're concerned about such things -- the carbon footprint of shipping them from China. CFLs appear to cause migraines and epileptic seizures in a small number of people. Other health risks are being studied. CFLs work poorly in cold temperatures -- as a wintertime front porch light, for example. In cold climates, the heat of incandescent bulbs is a useful -- if inefficient -byproduct.
CFLs degrade the quality of the electric current (so-called "dirty electricity" with uneven sine waves) on a circuit into which they are plugged, causing problems for other electronic devices and possible health hazards to humans.
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War On Words: NYC Dept. Of Education Wants 50 ‘Forbidden’ Words Banned From Standardized Tests
http://newyork.cbslocal.com ^ | 03/28/2012 | n/a The New York City Department of Education is waging a war on words of sorts, and is seeking to have words they deem upsetting removed from standardized tests. Fearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests. Among Those Suggested: Birthday celebrations (and birthdays),Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia),Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes,Hunting,Religion,Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan),Slavery,Terrorism....
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Reports: New Jersey Middle School Bans Hugging
CBS New York ^ | 03/22/12 | Unknown MATAWAN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – The new policy at Matawan Aberdeen Middle School has many parents scratching their heads. Last week, excessive hugging and physical contact by sixth and eighth graders prompted the principal to come on the loud speaker and declare a ban on hugging, according to published reports. “It’s stupid, I’ve never heard of such a thing. Why can’t you hug?” one mother told 1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg. “That’s how we grew up, with affection. You hug, you kiss.” “It’s kind of silly,” one man said. “When I was in middle school I hugged my friends — boys and...
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U.K. schools to kids: No best friends for you!
Hot Air ^ | 3/21/12 | Tina Korbe “Best friend bans” — apparently, they’re a thing. Educational psychologist Gaynor Sbuttoni said the policy has been used at schools in Kingston, South West London, and Surrey. She added: “I have noticed that teachers tell children they shouldn’t have a best friend and that everyone should play together. “They are doing it because they want to save the child the pain of splitting up from their best friend. But it is natural for some children to want a best friend. If they break up, they have to feel the pain because they’re learning to deal with it.” Russell Hobby, of...
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Too dumb to check: Bloomberg blocks food donations for homeless due to … salt and fat content
Hotair ^ | 03/20/2012 | AllahPundit I really did think it was too dumb to check. I saw this column in the Post yesterday and passed on blogging it because I figured it’d turn out to be an exaggeration. Nope. That’s what I get for giving the benefit of the doubt to a guy who worries about people on food stamps buying sugary drinks.You might die cold and hungry on the streets of New York, my friends, but at least you won’t have to worry about high salt intake. In conjunction with a mayoral task force and the Health Department, the Department of Homeless Services recently...
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Americans Have Become Compliant-Nanny-statism crippling the spirit, commonsense of the country
FrontPage Magazine ^ | March 16, 2012 | Walter Williams Last month, at a Raeford, N.C., elementary school, a teacher confiscated the lunch of a 5-year-old girl because it didn’t meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines and therefore was deemed nonnutritious. She replaced it with school cafeteria chicken nuggets. The girl’s home-prepared lunch was nutritious; it consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, potato chips, a banana and apple juice. But whether her lunch was nutritious or not is not the issue. The issue is governmental usurpation of parental authority. In a number of states, pregnant teenage girls may be given abortions without the notification or the permission of parents....
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Ma. elementary school changes name of St. Patrick's Day to O'Green Day to be more inclusive
960weli.com ^ | 03/15/2012 | Billy Hallowell St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school. At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, St. Patrick‘s Day has been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.” MassLive.com’s Patrick Johnson calls the move “a...
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Father arrested for girl's picture of toy gun
Calgary Herald ^ | 2/25/2012 | Thandi Fletcher, Postmedia News Daddy, are you mad at me? Those were the first words out of the mouth of a scared little girl to her father when he was released this week after being charged with possession of a firearm because of a picture she drew at school of a man holding a gun - which turned out to be a toy. . . "The kids were scared," said Thaler. "It is a four-year-old that we're taking the information from, but the fact is that this disclosure was very descriptive and very alarming to the officers investigating this." It was a typical day...
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Ma. elementary school changes name of St. Patrick's Day to O'Green Day to be more inclusive
960weli.com ^ | 03/15/2012 | Billy Hallowell St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday rooted in Christian values, however secular celebrations are also regularly held to commemorate the day. In fact, for a great many, the religious tones aren’t even a consideration, as alcohol, Shamrock shakes and other fun-filled elements regularly dominate the day’s observations. Somehow, though, the holiday is reportedly still too religious for one Massachusetts elementary school. At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, St. Patrick‘s Day has
been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.” MassLive.com’s Patrick Johnson calls the move “a...
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DC Resident Fined for Not Recycling Newspapers
Semi-News/Semi-Satire ^ | 24 Feb 2012 | John Semmens D.C. resident Patricia White has received fines, totaling $2000 for not recycling old newspapers. The Department of Public Works levied the fines after rooting through her trash and finding old newspapers in it. White tried explaining that she didn’t recycle the papers because she had used them in her cat’s litter box. “It’s not that I don’t support the idea of recycling,” White said. “I recycle plenty of other stuff. But I thought who wants to sort through cat sh*t. For health reasons alone I figured it would be better to just trash the newspapers I used in the litter...
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Dad Arrested, Strip-Searched After Daughter Draws a Picture of a Gun in School
Toronto Sun ^ | 2/25/2012 | Kris Sims Jessie Sansone and his family are reeling after he was arrested and strip searched by police after his four-year-old daughter drew a picture of a man with a gun in her Kitchener, Ont., kindergarten class. The 26-year-old father of four said Saturday the sketch was supposed to be him, getting the bad guys and monsters. The school must have thought differently, as after Nevaeh drew it Wednesday, the school contacted Family and Children's Services and they called police. Waterloo Police met Sansone at the school when he tried to pick up his kids he was told he was charged with...
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Obama Administration to Regulate School Vending Machines
Brian Koenig ^ | 2/21/11 | Brian Koenig Michelle Obama is likely bathing in fat-free yogurt and lathering herself with organic beets now that her husband's nanny-state regime is blueprinting revamped nutritional standards for foods that children can buy outside -- no, not inside -- the cafetaria. If confiscating a four-year-old girl's turkey sandwich and force-feeding
her broccoli and turnips isn't effective enough, better go for the vending machines -you know, just in case: Nutritionists say that school vending machines stocked with potato chips, cookies and sugary soft drinks contribute to childhood obesity, which has more than tripled in the past 30 years.
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Mars Inc. drops king-sized Snickers bar as concession to Michelle Obama’s campaign
NY Daily News ^ | 2/17/12 | TAYLOR HOM The chocolate world is in midst of a revolution, and the king-sized Snickers has been dethroned. Mars Inc. announced plans to halt production of any chocolate product that exceeds 250 calories per portion by the end of 2013 in its initiative to fight America's escalating obesity epidemic. The king-sized Snickers bar, which weighs in at a hefty calorie count of 510, will be one of the first to go in the chocolate megacorp's health purge.
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Jamie Oliver’s latest ** panic: ‘pink slime’
Panic On a Plate ^ | Jan 29, 2012 | Rob Lyons Jamie Oliver has won an apparent victory by persuading McDonald’s to remove a form of ‘reclaimed meat’ from its burgers. It’s a victory built on ignorant scaremongering. News from America, where McDonald’s has responded to a segment in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution by removing an ingredient called ‘finely textured lean beef trimmings’ from its burgers. This luxurious-sounding product is in fact another form of ‘reclaimed meat’, where meat processors try to get every last bit of meat from an animal’s carcass. In the segment, Oliver shows a group of parents and children a cow and explains the value of each...
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American School Kids Trash Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Sunday Mirror ^ | 29/01/2012 | Graeme Culliford and Nick Owens It was Jamie Oliver’s toughest challenge... getting US youngsters to ditch junk food and eat a healthier diet. But six months after he convinced an LA school to swap fattening burgers for low-calorie salads, his revamped menu is – literally – being
binned. Hundreds of students at West Adams Preparatory High School, where his hit show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution was filmed, are refusing to eat his cuisine. Instead, bins are overflowing with the TV chef’s veg curries, quinoa salads, Thai noodles and wheatbread burgers. Many youngsters even go without lunch altogether. Anna Redd, a cookery teacher at the school,...
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ID now needed for drain cleaner
qonline.com ^ | January 3, 2012 | Anthony Watt One of Illinois' new laws requires consumers to reach for their identification as well as their cash when they have a clogged drain. 

The law that took effect Sunday requires a valid identification to buy products containing chemicals listed within the Federal Caustic Poison Act in concentrations that require the warning "causes severe burns" on the packaging. Targeted substances include hydrochloric and sulfuric acids. 

Purchasers also must sign a log with their name and address. 

"We're looking at Drano, Liquid-Plumr -- those are the big ones," Rep. Rich Morthland, R-Cordova, said. 

The law was proposed after acid was used as...
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Grandparents kicked out of mall after taking picture of grandson
WNDU.com ^ | 12-23-11 | Brandon Lewis Two grandparents were kicked out of the University Park Mall Tuesday after they took a picture of their visiting grandson in the Food Court. "We were going to take our grandson, he's five and visiting from California, to see Santa and we were just sitting around the table having something to drink, talking about what we were planning and that's when my husband took the picture," said Grandmother Debbie Cassella. Cassella said immediately a mall employee instructed them to stop taking pictures or they would be thrown out of the mall. "I believe she said you can't take pictures at...
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Boy disciplined after waving gun-shaped pizza slice
WKRN TV Nashville ^ | Dec 14, 2011 | Staff
For the rest of the semester, a Rutherford County elementary student has to eat lunch at the "silent table" for allegedly waving around a slice of pizza some say resembled a gun. Nicholas Taylor attends David Youree Elementary School in Smyrna, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. School leaders say the 10-year-old threatened other students at his lunch table with a piece of pizza with bites out of it so it looked like a gun and when asked about it was initially not truthful. Nicholas' mother LeAnn calls her son's punishment "absolutely ridiculous" saying he was just playing around and...
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Because They Can [CONTROL]
National Review Online - The Corner ^ | December 3, 2011 | Andrew Stuttaford Reason’s Jacob Sullum discovers another example of nannies amok: "Yesterday the Boston Public Health Commission voted to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces, including outdoor areas such as restaurant patios. It says it is simply “clos[ing] a loophole” by “treat[ing] e-cigarettes like tobacco products.” But since e-cigarettes do not contain any tobacco and do not generate smoke (merely a propylene glycol vapor containing nicotine), that is a puzzling way to characterize the decision. The official justification for banning smoking in workplaces is protecting employees and other bystanders from the toxins and carcinogens generated when tobacco is burned.
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Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home
The Chicago Tribune ^ | April 11, 2011 | Monica Eng and Joel Hood At his public school, Little Village Academy on Chicago's West Side, students are not allowed to pack lunches from home. Unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria. Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.
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You can't buy that lime... it could be classed as a weapon: Shock for chef shopping at Asda
Daily Mail UK ^ | 11-21-11 | Nadia Gilani
A chef was stunned to find she was almost banned from buying two limes from a supermarket - because they could be classed as a weapon. Marisa Zoccolan, 31, popped into the new Asda supermarket close to her home in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to pick up some groceries, including the citrus fruits. But when she tried to pay for them at the self-service checkout, the message 'amount exceeded, authorisation required' flashed up. An assistant then came over and told her that more than one lime was deemed a weapon - because the citric acid could be squirted in someone's eye.
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Toronto school bans students from playing with 'hard balls'
Global Toronto ^ | November 16, 2011 TORONTO – A Toronto school is no longer allowing children to play with most balls during recess. Earl Beatty Public School sent a letter to student’s homes on Monday informing them of the decision to ban most balls from use on school grounds. According to the letter, over the past few weeks, there have been “a few serious incidents of parents, staff and students being hit by a hard ball or nearly being hit by a hard ball” in the schoolyard. There was no information as to injuries of people hit by hard balls.
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Council Passes Fur Ban on Split Vote [West Hollywood City, CA]
WestHollywoodPatch ^ | November 8, 2011 | James F. Mills West Hollywood made history by once again voting to become the first city in the nation to ban the sale of clothing apparel with animal fur Monday night. But the third time around, the vote showed a City Council deeply divided on the issue. The previous two times, the fur ban has come up for a vote—at the May 16 and Sept. 19 council meetings—the five council members approved the measure unanimously. This time, the ordinance passed with just three votes.
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Over-60 bedroom blockers 'should be taxed out of their homes' to encourage them to leave
The London Daily Mail ^ | October 19, 2011 | Steve Doughty
Older people should be taxed out of their family homes to free up space for younger generations, says a report backed by Labour. It argues that 'empty nesters' in their 60s are taking up too much room and should be 'encouraged' by a new 'land tax' to downsize to smaller homes. The call comes from the Intergenerational Foundation, a left-leaning think-tank that aims to 'promote fairness between generations'. Labour MP Tessa Jowell sponsored the report's launch in a Commons hospitality room yesterday, saying the current situation ran against Ed Miliband's vision for Britain.
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Verizon Now Monitors, Shares User Web Surfing Info
Tom's Guide ^ | October 14, 2011 | Kevin Parrish A new change in Verizon's privacy policy grants it the right to track user browsing habits, app usage and physical location.Like the Eye of Sauron watching over the lands of Middle-earth, Wednesday Verizon Wireless announced that it is now tracking the location of subscriber devices, recording search terms and websites they visit via the wireless network, and recording their app and device feature usage. This information will supposedly be used to make mobile ads more relevant to subscribers, and to be used for "certain business and marketing reports." In a statement announcing its privacy policy changes,
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Children to be banned from blowing up balloons, under EU safety rules
The Telegraph ^ | Oct 11,2011 | Bruno Waterfield
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France bans ketchup in cafeterias
latimes.com ^ France bans ketchup in cafeterias Well, it's allowed with one side dish (guess which one). But putting it on veal or boeuf bourguignon is now interdit at schools nationwide. By Kim Willsher, Los Angeles Times October 6, 2011 Reporting from Paris First France built a wall around its language to protect it from pernicious Anglo-Saxon invaders. Now it is throwing up a shield against another perceived threat to its culture and civilization: ketchup. In an effort to promote healthful
eating and, it has been suggested, to protect traditional Gallic cuisine, the French government has banned school and college cafeterias nationwide
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Emanuel: Wellness program needed for city workers (Fine for not complying)
Daily Herald ^ | 09/16/2011 | AP Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday that taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for city workers’ health care problems that are manageable.Chicago city employees would have to pay $50 per month more for health care if they choose not to participate in a wellness program announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
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Children as young as four reprimanded for racist behaviour (and tagged for "years")
Daily Telegraph ^ | 14 Sep 2011 | Graeme Paton More than 20,000 under-11s were punished for racist and homophobic behaviour in schools last year, according to research. The equivalent of around 100 primary school pupils a day were reported to local authorities after using offensive language in lessons and the playground, it is claimed. In some cases, pupils were reprimanded for relatively trivial squabbles and employing insults such as “gaylord” and “broccoli head”. Researchers said many children – some as young as four – are being reported despite being “unlikely to understand the meaning of these words”. Schools are obliged to report all “hate speech” incidents to local authorities
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Michelle Obama: Red Lobster and Olive Garden Cutting Calories!
Brian Koenig ^ | 9/15/11 | Brian Koenig Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and its sister chains are pursuing a "breakthrough moment" in the restaurant industry, that is, according to Michelle Obama. To Americans who actually like eating food, not so much. (Associated Press) - Darden Restaurants Inc. is pledging to cut calories and sodium in its meals by 20 percent over a decade. Among promised changes for children, a fruit or vegetable side and low-fat milk will become standard with kids' meals unless a substitution is
requested. No more French fries for the little ones unless an adult asks for them. "With this new commitment, Darden is doing...
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UPDATE: Ohio Man Arrested for Spanking Son with Belt
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Ohio_Man_Jailed_for_Spanking_Son_with_ Belt_129701243.html ^ | 9/14/2011 | Sarah Sager/ WSAZ JACKSON COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- A man from Jackson County, Ohio who was arrested for A spanking that some family members say went to far is now out of jail. On Sept. 2, Charley Brown III was arrested in Jackson County, Ohio, for spanking his 6-year-old son with a belt. Click here to find out more! According to the incident report from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Brown was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after his son admitted his father pulled his pants down and spanked him with a belt. Authorities say the spanking left bruising and welts on the...
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Postal workers refuse to deliver Bible recordings because the CDs are ‘offensive’ (UK)
The Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 9/9/11 | Staff Postal workers refused to deliver CDs of Bible readings after deciding they were ‘offensive material’. Several churches had paid for discs with recordings of St Mark’s Gospel to be produced to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. They were due to be delivered to all households on the Channel Island of Jersey, but church leaders were stunned when they were told postal workers would not handle the 45,000 CDs.
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Parents of seven told: Your children are too fat, so you will never see them again (UK)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2033486/Your-children-fatagain.html#ixzz1Wz8CFWxB ^ | 3rd September 2011 | Jane Simpson Four obese children are on the brink of being permanently removed from their family by social workers after their parents failed to bring their weight under control. In the first case of its kind, their mother and father now face what they call
the ‘unbearable’ likelihood of never seeing them again. Their three daughters, aged 11, seven and one, and five-year-old son, will either be ‘fostered without contact’ or adopted. Either way, the family’s only hope of being reunited will be if the children attempt to track down their parents when they become adults.
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Toomey Saves Taxpayers From Goofy Street Sign Mandate
BillLawrenceOnline.Com ^ | 9-2-11 The federal government has rescinded it's bizarre deadline to change all the street signs in the country and credit goes to Sen. Pat Toomey. The Federal Highway Administration in 2009 mandated that street name signs throughout the nation be upper/lower case with a deadline of 2018. For the historically challenged, 2009 is the first year of the Obama era. It would have been a costly and wasteful endeavor with the burden falling on municipal governments. The cost to replace a street sign is about $50. It adds up. The expense to New York City was estimated to be $28 million....
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Morning Bell: Food Regulators Out of Control
The Heritage Foundation ^ | September 1, 2011 | Ericka Andersen First Lady Michelle Obama’s obsession with “childhood obesity” has bothered many since it began two years ago, especially those who think that White House nagging of parents should be reserved for more pressing issues. Now it is getting more serious, with food regulators starting to infringe on the free speech rights of advertisers.In the latest upset, four federal agencies known as the Interagency Working Group (IWG) have delivered a plan to drastically censor food advertisers with products deemed to be “too high” in sodium, sugar, or fat that cater to any viewing audience between the ages of two and 11....
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Canada amends ruling on Dire Straits' song
AP ^ | September 1, 2011
CANADA'S broadcast standards council has amended an earlier ruling that deemed Dire Straits' hit Money for Nothing unfit for radio, saying that while the homophobic slur in the song is inappropriate, it must be taken in context. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had asked for a review of the song after the standards council ruled in January that the British band's song was unfit for radio because its lyrics include a gay slur. The council had responded to a complaint from a radio listener.
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Arrested for Riding Bike To School
Bike Walk Tennessee ^ | August 29, 2011 | Tom_E Could you be arrested for allowing your 5'th grade child to ride her bike one mile to school? That certainly seems crazy as we try to encourage active life styles for our kids. That certainly seems crazy as we try to promote safe routes to school programs. That certainly seems crazy as we talk of an obesity epidemic amongst our children. But that is what police in Elizabethton Tennessee are threatening. Teresa Tryon said, "On August 25th my 10 year daughter arrived home via police officer, requested to speak to me on the front porch of my home.
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London vs. Olympic Shooting - The city’s mayor decides that children shouldn’t watch the sport.
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE ^ | August 26, 2011 | Charles C. W. Cooke London vs. Olympic ShootingThe city's mayor decides that children shouldn't watch the sport. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a mayor in possession of a problem must be in want of a policy. But not all policies are created equal, and almost none are as silly or as counter-productive as the one that London mayor Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday: Children will be barred from watching shooting events at the 2012 London Olympics. The restriction is designed to help stem London’s rising gun-crime rate, and to prevent the “glorification†of firearms. But it is predicated upon a farcical misconception,...
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Concord Cop Threatens Camera-Wielding Lemonade Stand Operator With Wiretapping Charges
Reason ^ | August 24, 2011 | Mike Riggs A Concord man giving away lemonade at a farmer's market was threatened with wiretapping charges last Saturday when he refused to stop filming a police officer and a fellow vendor. Garret Ean didn't have a permit to sell lemonade, which drew the ire of the president of the Concord Farmer's Market. Ean filmed the confrontation, and continued to film when a Concord cop showed up and threatened to arrest him for wiretapping. Photojournalist Carlos Miller (who we interviewed for the November issue of Reason about the war on photography) has the story: The man, whom Ean identified as Steve Blasdell,...
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Capitol Police arrest Lemonade Freedom Day protesters
The Daily Caller ^ | August 20, 2011 | C.J. Ciaramella They set out to sell ice-cold lemonade, but now three Washington, D.C. protesters might need some legal aid. Capitol police arrested three people Saturday afternoon for selling lemonade on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building. They were participating in “Lemonade Freedom Day” — a national demonstration against a spate of recent lemonade stand shutdowns by police and health inspectors.
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City shuts down yard sale for cancer victim
dailymail.co.uk ^ | 18th August 2011 A 64-year-old woman trying to raise money to pay for medical bills incurred in her fight against a terminal form of bone cancer has been told she must stop her garage sales or face a fine. Jan Cline has been selling off her belongings in the backyard for a few weekends after being diagnosed with a type of cancer that eats through her bones and makes walking extremely difficult. But as the bills for treatment pile up, city officials in Salem, alerted by a complaint from a neighbour, say she is breaking the law and have shut the yard sales...
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Now Irvine, CA to ban pet stores
OCR ^ | 8-18-2011 | edcoil
In a letter sent to the Irvine mayor late last month, the Irvine Company said it will no longer lease new space to retailers selling dogs and cats at any of its retail center. The Irvine Company owns Fashion Island in Newport Beach, The Market Place in Irvine and Tustin and Irvine Spectrum Center as well as a slew of neighborhood shopping centers in Orange County.
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Police shut down 4 year old girl's lemonade stand
Omaha.com ^ | 8/2/2011 | Omaha.com CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Police closed down a lemonade stand in Coralville last week, telling its 4-year-old operator and her dad that she didn't have a permit. An officer told Abigail Krutsinger's father Friday that she couldn't run the stand as RAGBRAI bicyclers poured into Coralville. A city ordinance says food vendors must apply for a permit and get a health inspection. Abigail's dad, Dustin Krutsinger, said the ordinance and its enforcers are going too far if they force a 4year-old to abandon her lemonade stand.
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Mother fined $535 after daughter, Skylar Capo, 11, saves endangered woodpecker from hungry cat
http://www.nydailynews.com/ ^ Never let a good deed go unpunished. An 11-year-old Virginia girl trying to rescue a baby woodpecker instead earned her mother a $535 fine when it turned out the bird was a protected species. Skylar Capo saved the bird from the clutches of a cat which was about to turn the feathered friend into lunch. "I've just always loved animals," Skylar told WUSA-TV. "I couldn't stand to watch it be eaten." When she was unable to find the baby's mother, she asked her own mother if they could adopt the orphaned bird.
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Free crack pipes to be made available in Vancouver, Canada
KING 5 News ^ | August 2, 2011 Currently, mouth pieces are available for free, but not the pipes themselves. Officials hope it will reduce exposure to diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis. ... free
heroin needles are also already available around Vancouver at safe injection sites. Free crack pipes are also available to addicts in Seattle
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Michelle Obama unveils $200M California Endowment fresh food financing plan
The Merced Sun-Star ^ | July 20, 2011 | Staff First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled a healthy food financing initiative — the California FreshWorks Fund. A project of The California Endowment and a team of partners, FreshWorks is a $200 million public-private partnership loan fund created to increase access to healthy, affordable food in underserved communities, spur economic development and inspire innovation in healthy food retailing, according to a news release from the endowment. The California FreshWorks Fund (CAFWF) is modeled after the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative and has been developed to align with the National Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The fund will try to make communities across California...
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Police close girls' lemonade stand
onlineathens.com ^ | 7-15-11 MIDWAY — Midway police have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls, saying the stand lacked a business license and required permits. The girls had been operating for one day when Midway’s police chief and another officer cruised by. They had been trying to earn enough money to go to a water park. The girls needed a business license, peddler’s permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year. Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police didn’t know how the lemonade was made, who made it or...
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Air Canada ordered to pay $12K to man who couldn’t order 7Up in French
http://news.nationalpost.com ^ | 07/15/2011 | Ian MacLeod
The Federal Court of Canada on Wednesday ordered Air Canada to pay $12,000 to Ottawa French-language rights crusader Michel Thibodeau in part because when he asked an English-speaking flight attendant for 7Up in May 12 of 2009, he got Sprite. Air Canada was also ordered to apologize to Mr. Thibodeau and his wife Lynda. It is Mr. Thibodeau’s second successful legal action against the airline and its subsidiaries. In 2000, he was refused service in French when he tried to order a 7Up from a unilingual English flight attendant on an Air Ontario flight from Montreal to Ottawa. Mr. Thibodeau...
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Girl with no arms and legs says cheerleading try-out is unfair after she fails to make school squad
Daily Mail ^ | 7/13/11 | John Stevens Nebraska girl born with no arms and legs has blamed unfair scoring after she failed to make her school's cheerleading squad three years in a row. Julia Sullivan, 16, has complained to the school board after she said she was given 'no accommodation for her disability' during try-outs. The wheelchair user did not make the team after she received a low score in the jumps/kicks category of the trials. Miss Sullivan got her highest marks in the communication skills and enthusiasm/spirit categories. The Aurora High School student, who said that she likes to dance, said: 'I just think it would...
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Oak Park Woman Faces 93-Days in Jail For Planting Vegetable Garden (UPDATE)
MyFoxDetroit ^ | 7-8-11 | ALEXIS WILEY http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/julie-bass-of-oak-park-facesmisdemeanor-charge-for-vegetable-garden-20110630-wpms OAK PARK, Mich. (WJBK) - "The price of organic food is kind of through the roof," said Julie Bass. So, why not grow your own? However, Bass' garden is a little unique because it's in her front yard. "We thought it'd be really cool to do it so the neighbors could see. The kids love it. The kids from the neighborhood all come and help," she said. Bass' cool garden has landed her in hot water with the City of
Oak Park. Code enforcement gave her a warning, then a ticket and now she's been charged with a misdemeanor.
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Colorado day-care center proposal: Dolls must represent at least three different races
Denver Westword ^ | 8 Jul 2011 | Michael Roberts Here's an item with the potential for firing up enemies of political correctness: New rules proposed by the Colorado Department of Human Services include a requirement that all day-care centers in the state make available dolls representing three different races. The 98-page document, obtained by 7News, features a slew of rule changes. Among them: children over age two must not be served whole milk without a note from a doctor, kids over age one can't drink more than six ounces of juice per day, TV and computer time will be capped at twenty minutes daily, and staffers must wear clothes...
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FTC Defends Proposed Child-Food Marketing Rules Critics Say Could Kill 'Tony the Tiger'
CNSNews ^ FTC Defends Proposed Child-Food Marketing Rules Critics Say Could Kill 'Tony the Tiger' Friday, July 01, 2011 By Fred Lucas (CNSNews.com) – The Federal Trade Commission is defending its proposals to change food and beverage marketing to children ages 2-17, which industry and legal critics say would lead to the end of iconic commercial characters such Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam and create free speech issues. The proposed “voluntary” guidelines for marketing food resulted from the Interagency Working Group made up of representatives of the FTC, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S....
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San Francisco mulls ban on all pet sales, including goldfish and hamsters
telegraph.co.uk ^
San Francisco mulls ban on all pet sales, including goldfish and hamsters San Francisco, a city named after the patron saint of animals, is considering banning sales of all pets including goldfish and hamsters in a sweeping attempt to end cruelty. By Nick Allen, Los Angeles 4:37PM BST 27 Jun 2011 The ban would cover everything from dogs and cats to snakes, lizards, guinea pigs, parrots, mice and rats. All mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish would be banned from sale in pet stores in what would be the most radical measure of its kind in the Unite States. Those...
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Preschool Bans Use of Words 'Him' and 'Her' (Sweden)
Associated Press - KDVR News ^ | June 26, 2011 | JENNY SOFFEL STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys. From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes. LEGO Group "Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be." The taxpayerfunded preschool which opened last year...
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King Co. requires life vests for swimmers, floaters (UFB!!!)
Seattle PI ^ http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/King-Co-requires-life-vests-for-swimmers1432255.php People who hope to beat the summer heat by swimming, floating or boating on rivers in King County must wear a life vest or face an $86 fine. A divided County Council on Monday passed a personal flotation device ordinance by a five to four vote. Opponents said it was an intrusive move by "big government." "This Council sometimes thinks it's everybody's mom," said Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, who voted "no." Supporters said the new rule will save lives. The law appears to be the first of its kind in the state. Staff with the Municipal Research and Services Center of...
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County shuts down kids’ lemonade stand, fines parents $500 BARF ALERT!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110617/ts_yblog_thelookout/countyshuts-down-kids-lemonade-stand-fines-parents-500 ^ | 6/17/2011 | Zachary Roth A more wholesome American scene could hardly be imagined: a bunch of kids selling lemonade on a summer's day. But local authorities in Montgomery County, Md., saw things differently. They shut down the kids' venture and ended up fining their parents $500. The Marriott and Augustine kids had set up their stand Thursday right next to the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, where the US Open golf tournament has been taking place--bringing thousands of thirsty fans to the neighborhood. The kids planned to send 50 percent their profits to a charity that fights pediatric cancer. But a Montgomery County...
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San Francisco Mulls Goldfish Ban
nbcbayarea.com ^ | June 15, 2011 First kittens, then puppies and hamsters and now goldfish? San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross. The recommendation to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is part of the commission's ongoing efforts to discourage "impulse buys" of animals. The commission's ban would cover pet stores and breeders in the City. It comes after more than a year of study and findings that aquarium fish are often mass bred under inhumane conditions or stripped from the wild.
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School reprimands seven-year-old boys for playing 'army game'(England)
telegraph.co.uk ^ | 31 May, 2011 | Murray Wardrop Staff at Nathaniel Newton Infant School in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, reprimanded the two boys after they were seen making pistol shapes with their fingers. Teachers broke up the imaginary classroom shoot-out and contacted the youngsters’ parents, warning them that such behaviour would not be tolerated. The school, which caters for around 180 pupils aged four to seven, said the gun gestures were “unacceptable” and were not permitted at school. However, parents have described the reaction as
“outrageous”, while family groups warned that “wrapping children in cotton wool” damages their upbringing. Defending its policy, a spokesman for Nathaniel Newton Infant School said:...
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Italian Scientists to Stand Trial for Manslaughter in Quake Case
AAAS Science Mag ^ | May 25, 2011 | Edwin Cartlidge ROME—Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), will face trial on charges of manslaughter with six other scientists and technicians for failing to alert the residents of L'Aquila ahead of the devastating earthquake that struck the central Italian town on 6 April 2009, killing 308 people. The seven experts sit on the nation's major risks committee, and were probed by L'Aquila prosecutors after members of the public complained that it was the committee's reassurances that persuaded them not to leave their homes ahead of the quake
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Two policemen, a patrol car, the force helicopter... because a boy broke a window.
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 25th May 2011 When schoolboy Tom Clarke accidentally kicked his football through a neighbour’s greenhouse, he might have expected a scolding. But 30 minutes later a police patrol car, two officers and the force helicopter armed with thermal imaging cameras were on his trail, in scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood manhunt. And when officers tracked down the 15-year-old, he was told the mishap had been recorded as criminal damage and could be revealed to future employers carrying out record checks. His furious father insists the schoolboy has never been in trouble before and branded the police reaction ‘extremely heavy handed’. But police
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Got chocolate milk? No longer (Minneapolis public schools ban chocolate milk as an option)
Star Tribune ^ | May 20, 2011 | JEREMY OLSON http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/122372854.html
Chocolate milk might be the most popular choice for school lunch -- not to mention milk bubbles and milk mustaches. But soon it will be no choice at all in Minneapolis public schools. [Snip] "Consuming chocolate milk every day can train a child's palate toward sweetened foods," said Rosemary Dederichs, the district's director of nutrition services. The decision is opposed by the Midwest Dairy Association, a trade group of 11,000 dairy farms. While applauding the focus on health, the association noted that chocolate milk sold in Minneapolis schools has less sugar than other versions and only 20 calories more than...
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The death of common sense and how our police are losing the plot
Daily Mail ^ | April 28 2011 | Richard Littlejohn A beach bar singer on the Isle of Wight has been arrested for performing the song Kung Fu Fighting. Simon Ledger stands accused of racially aggravated harassment. He was entertaining a crowd enjoying the Easter sunshine when a man reported to be of Chinese origin took offence at the lyrics and complained to police. Mr Ledger was subsequently int erviewed and is now facing formal charges. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1381373/Kung-Fu-Fighting-racist-rowDeath-common-sense-police-losing-plot.html#ixzz1M17Nu7O1 ~snip~ So what in heavenÂ’s name were the Isle of Wight Plod thinking when they decided to arrest Mr Ledger, who has included the song in his act for years? They...
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N.Y. Law Would Ban Docs From Wearing Ties to Reduce Germs
foxnews.com ^ | 05/05/2011 | n/a Some New York lawmakers are proposing a law that would prohibit doctors from wearing neckties while working. The proposal quotes a study that shows bacteria may build-up on neckties and lead to infection.
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Protecting Muslim Girls From Rape is Now a Crime in Europe
netwmd.com ^ | May 4, 2011 | Phyllis Chesler Freedom of speech and women's rights just took a major hit in Denmark earlier today when the public prosecutor found Lars Hedegaard, the President of the
Danish (and International) Free Press Society, guilty of "hate speech" under section 266b of the Danish penal code. Hedegaard's crime was to note "the great number of family rapes in areas dominated by Muslim culture in Denmark." ...
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US proposes advertisers ditch junk food for kids
Reuters ^ | April 28, 2011 | by Gerald E. McCormick (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday pressured food companies to cut back on aggressive advertising of junk food to kids. The administration issued proposed voluntary principles which would turn children's food advertising on its head by calling for advertisements to be for foods that "make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet" and minimize ingredients that could have a negative impact on weight and health. "The (FTC) commission is aware of the significant impact the proposal would have on the current marketplace. A significant percentage of the products currently marketed to children would not meet the proposed nutrition principles....
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Fabulous! San Francisco to Ban Circumcision? (So what happens to observant Jews?)
Hotair ^ | 04/28/2011 | Jazz Shaw Somewhere in the vast wastelands of the internet there must be a blog which does nothing but monitor the denizens of San Francisco, 24 x 7, to keep track of all the mind boggling things that go on there. If such a portal already exists, I’m sure they’ll be all over this story in no time at all. San Francisco may vote on banning male circumcisionSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A group opposed to male circumcision said on Tuesday they have collected more than enough signatures to qualify a proposal to ban the practice in San Francisco as a ballot measure...
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Flavored Milk Banned in LA School District
Fox News ^ | 04/28/11 | SoCal SoCon
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/04/27/school-chief-sides-celeb-chef-oliverla-food-fight/ The superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District says he wants to stop offering chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk to students as part of an attempt to curb childhood obesity. Superintendent John Deasy appeared with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Tuesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and said he will recommend the ban to the board of education by July.
4. LAUSD to remove chocolate, strawberry milk from schools, superintendent says
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Town Bans Bottled Water Sales
thebostonchannel.com ^ | 04/26/2011 | n/a The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011. "We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord's Town Meeting. Hill said that New York, Illinois and Virginia, as well as more than 100 cities, have taken action to cut spending on bottled water. The measured passed by Concord would allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in town. Only plastic bottles that companies cannot reuse would be banned. "Water...
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Cleveland City Council Decides on Smoking, Trans Fat, Food Trucks
Fox 8 News ^ | 3:36 p.m. EDT, April 26, 2011 | Elisa Amigo City council wants to make Cleveland a healthier place to live and work. Monday night, council approved legislation that will affect how you eat and breathe. "We are going to surpass other cities. We not only have better institutions, we have better people," said councilman Joe Cimperman. Cimperman is sponsoring an initiative called "Healthy Cleveland." Part of his plan includes an outdoor smoking ban. During Monday's meeting, council voted to approve a smoking ban on city-
owned properties, including public parks, pools and picnic areas. "You won't be able to smoke in front of City Hall anymore. You won't be able...
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Senator urges FDA to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes
The Hill ^ | April 19, 2011 | Josiah Ryan Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes. In a letter addressed Monday to the FDA, Blumenthal said the agency should ban menthol cigarettes because they encourage young people to smoke. “The dangers of menthol tobacco products in general, and to our youth in particular, are highly concerning, and provide abundant grounds for FDA to develop a plan that will result in the removal of menthol from tobacco products to protect public health,” Blumenthal wrote in the letter, addressed to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Blumenthal is seeking a ban identical to...
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Michigan: Police Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops
THE NEWSPAPER ^ | April 20, 2011 | swampsniper I don't know anything about this source but this sounds credible. ACLU seeks information on Michigan program that allows cops to download information from smart phones belonging to stopped motorists. The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program. ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed...
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KICKBALL, TAG & CAPTURE THE FLAG LABELED ‘RISKY’ SPORTS BY NY STATE
theblaze.com ^ | 04/19/2011 | Jonathon M. Seidl
New York bureaucrats have decided numerous classic kids games now pose a “significant risk of injury.” What games, you might ask? How about capture the flag, kickball, all forms of tag, and even Wiffle Ball. The New York Daily News reports on how it happened: "The Health Department created a list of supposedly risky recreational activities – which also includes more perilous pursuits like archery, scuba and horseback riding – in response to a state law passed in 2009. The law sought to close a loophole that legislators said allowed too many indoor camp programs to operate without oversight.
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People's Republic of San Francisco Wants Venue Owners to Take Pictures of All Patrons
Economic Policy Journal ^ | 04/18/2011 | Economic Policy Journal The San Francisco Entertainment Commission wants to require all venues with an occupancy of over 100 people to record the faces of all patrons and scan their ID’s for storage in a database which they must hand over to law enforcement on request. The Electronic Freedom Foundation notes what one would think is obvious:
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Electrician Faces Sack For Displaying Christian Cross In His Van
Daily Telegraph(UK) ^ | April 16, 2011 | JOHN ROBERTSON Electrician Faces Sack For Displaying Christian Cross In His Van An electrician and former soldier faces the sack for displaying a small palm cross in the window of his company van. Wakefield and District Housing claims the cross may cause offence Photo: JOHN ROBERTSON 17 Apr 2011 Colin Atkinson, 64, from Wakefield, has been called to a disciplinary hearing at the housing association where he has worked for 15 years. His bosses at the publicly funded Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) have demanded he remove the eight inch long cross made from woven palm leaves that sits on his dashboard....
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Extinguishers banned as a fire safety hazard
Metro.co.uk ^ | April 14, 2011 | Metro.co.uk
Fire extinguishers could be removed from communal areas in flats throughout the country because they are a safety hazard, it has emerged. The life-saving devices encourage untrained people to fight a fire rather than leave the building, risk assessors in Bournemouth decided. There are fears that their recommendation, which has seen the extinguishers ripped out of several private, high-rise flats in the town, could set a national precedent. Under the Fire Safety Order of 2005, fire assessments must be carried out to 'eliminate or reduce risk as is reasonably practical'. But Mike Edwards, who lives in one of the blocks,...
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Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home
Chicago Tribune ^ | April 11, 2011 | Monica Eng and Joel Hood To encourage healthful eating, Chicago school doesn't allow kids to bring lunches or certain snacks from home — and some parents, and many students, aren't fans of the policyA Little Village Academy student cringes at an enchilada dish served at his school. Many students throw away their entrees uneaten and say they would rather bring food from home. The school, though, does not allow students to bring in their own lunches, unless they have a medical condition or a food allergy.
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Boston Mayor Thomas Menino KOs Soda, OKs Alcohol [banned soda, sports drinks and sweetened ice teas]
FOX ^ Boston Mayor Thomas Menino KOs Soda, OKs Alcohol Published April 10, 2011 | FoxNews.com Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has banned soda, sports drinks and sweetened ice teas from city property, according to a recent government press release. In an attempt to reduce the city’s rising obesity rates, Menino has banned all sugary drinks from city vending machines, cafeterias and concession stands, just one day after reaching an agreement with the Boston Red Sox that allows the team to sell mixed drinks at its ballpark. “I want to create a civic environment that makes the healthier choice the easier choice in
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Seattle School Renames Easter Eggs as 'Spring Spheres'
NewsBusters ^ | April 9, 2011 Seattle, Washington sounds like a town competing for the most ACLU-friendly city in America. A public school teacher there told a teenage volunteer she could hand out Easter eggs with candy....as long as she called them "Spring Spheres." Jessica, 16, told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson Show that a week before spring break, the students commit to a week-long community service project. She decided to volunteer in a third grade class at a public school, which she would like to remain nameless.
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Mayor Defends New Health Dept. Policy On French Fries, Bagels & Stinky Perfumes
newyork.cbslocal.com ^ Mayor Defends New Health Dept. Policy On French Fries, Bagels & Stinky Perfumes April 4, 2011 4:58 PM NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended a new set of employee guidelines Monday set forth by the New York City Department of Health. With what appears to be an effort to lead by example, the Health Department’s “Life in the Cubicle Village” includes of list of what employees can eat and smell like ahead of the agency’s move to its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens. “They’ve got to put out some guidelines — how much they’re followed, I...
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CBS Touts FDA Taking On 'Caloric Catastrophe' of Movie Theater Popcorn
Newsbusters ^ | 3/24/11 | Kyle Drennen In a report for Thursday's CBS Early Show, contributor Taryn Winter Brill fretted over the impact of movie theater popcorn on Americans' waistlines: "Have you ever wondered how many calories you're actually consuming in that large popcorn with butter? You probably don't want to know. Pretty soon, though, you may not have a choice." Moments later, nutritionist Katherine Brooking declared the popular concession treat to be "a calorie bomb waiting to explode." Brill then touted a government solution to the problem: "Hoping to defuse this high caloric catastrophe, the FDA is working on a provision in the health care law...
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Foster parent ban: 'no place’ in the law for Christianity, High Court rules
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8353496/Foster-parent-banno-place-in-the-law-for-Christianity-High-Court-rules.html ^ | Feb. 28, 2011 | Tim Ross There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite this country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the established Church, two High Court judges said on Monday. Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson made the remarks when ruling on the case of a Christian couple who were told that they could not be foster carers because of their view that homosexuality is wrong. The judges underlined that, in the case of fostering arrangements at least, the right of homosexuals to equality “should take precedence” over the right of Christians to manifest their beliefs and...
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'Ba Ba Black Sheep' Called Racist
Fox News ^ | Feb 28 2011 Black sheep are on the endangered species list as some children in north Queensland learn to sing Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. The English nursery rhyme may have survived for 200-plus years but political correctness could finally put it out to pasture. Some schools in Britain have banned the song for being racist, but Pelicans Innisfail Child Care allows children to sing about black sheep or rainbow sheep.
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Don’t put wire on your windows – it might hurt burglars!
The Daily Mail ^ | 13th February 2011 Residents in Surrey and Kent villages have been ordered by police to remove wire mesh from their windows as burglars could be injured. Home owners in the villages of Tandridge and Tatsfield in Surrey and in Westerham, Brasted and Sundridge in Kent have said they are furious that they are being branded 'criminals' for protecting
their property. Locals had reinforced their windows with wire mesh after a series of shed thefts but were told by community police officers that the wire was 'dangerous' and could lead to criminals claiming compensation if they 'hurt themselves'.
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Video: Oregon demands 80-year-old barber go back to school (Licensing gone wild!)
Hotair ^ | 02/07/2011 | Ed Morrissey The Institute for Justice will fight another interesting case on business licensing, this time in Oregon, where an 80-year-old barber with 50 years experience has been told he needs to go back to school to qualify for his license. Just as in the case of Louisiana casket makers and tour guides in Philadelphia and Washington DC, licensing laws that threaten to kill a 50-year small business demonstrates the unholy alliance between Big Business and Big Government at the state level: The Wall Street Journal has a timely report on the phenomenon: “Occupations prefer to be licensed because they can restrict...
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Sandwich bag gets boy excluded from class contest
National Post ^ | 31 Jan 11 | Tamsin McMahon A couple in Laval, Que. has sparked a fierce debate over how far schools should go to teach children about environmental responsibility after their six-year-old son was shut out of a kindergarten draw to win a stuffed animal because he had an environmentally unfriendly sandwich bag in his lunchbox.
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Zero tolerance 'insane madness' in Virginia
WorldNetDaily ^ | January 30, 2011 | Brian Fitzpatrick Spotsylvania, Va., high school freshman Andrew Mikel has been suspended for the school year and has been placed in a "diversion program" by police for blowing soft plastic pellets through a pen at three classmates. "I am currently working with the Rutherford Institute, fighting the insane madness of our local school administration
and board," wrote the boy's father, also named Andrew Mikel, to WND. "In early December, my son shot what amounts to a spitwad. They classified the spit wad as a weapon, expelled my son from school the rest of the year, filed assault charges on him with the...
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Bill to Ban Crosshairs
New York Times ^ | January 9, 2011 Representative Bob Brady of Pennsylvania told The Caucus he plans to introduce a bill that would ban symbols like that now-infamous campaign crosshair map. "You can't threaten the president with a bullseye or a crosshair," Mr. Brady, a Democrat, said, and his measure would make it a crime to do so to a member of Congress or federal employee, as well. Asked if he believed the map incited the gunman in Tucson, he replied, "I don't know what's in that nut's head. I would rather be safe than sorry."
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New Government Policy Imposes Strict Standards on Garage Sales Nationwide
Fox News ^ | January 3, 2011 Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign. The "Resale Round-up," launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children's products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don't meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason. The strict standards were set in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act after a series of high-profile recalls of Chinese-made toys.
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Michelle Malkin: This year's top nanny-state busybodies
Washington Examiner ^ | 12/29/2010 | Michelle Malkin It was a nefarious year for nettlesome nosy-bodies employed by the Nanny State. Here are the top power-grabbers of 2010 who just can't leave us alone: -- New York
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Two feet of snow paralyzed trains, buses, plows and emergency vehicles in the Big Apple this week... -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He proposed meddling mileage taxes, mused about a system to track drivers' routes, lobbied for high-speed rail boondoggles and promoted a "livability initiative" to limit suburban growth and force dwellers into public transportation. Then America's driving czar floated a plan earlier this fall to disable...
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Mass. School Requires Permission Slips to Recite Pledge of Allegiance
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 10:35:19 AM · by Bloody Sam Roberts · 19 replies FoxNews.com ^ | 12/22/2010 | Todd Starnes The principal of a public school in Brookline, Mass., is asking parents to fill out permission slips before their children can participate in a weekly recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Gerardo Martinez, the principal of The Devotion School, informed parents that the school would begin reciting the pledge in January over the public address system. Attached to the letter was a form that asked parents to check either: "Yes, my child will participate in the weekly Pledge of Allegiance" or "No, my child will not participate in the weekly Pledge of Allegiance." "I urge you to have a conversation...
Overcriminalizing everyday life--It's unjust to make a federal case out of minor infractions
Two former U.S. attorneys general are urging House Republicans to adopt a new rule in the new Congress to rein in federal criminal charges. It's an important step to protect innocent Americans from the net of an overzealous government leviathan .The recommendation from Edwin Meese III and Richard L. Thornburgh would require that every bill creating a new or enhanced federal criminal penalty be referred to the House Judiciary Committee for review of its criminal-law provisions. For instance, if a bill defines a new violation to be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and punishes violators with criminal penalties,...
City Council passes an ordinance banning selling of cats, (Austin TX)
community impact news ^ | Thursday, 16 December 2010 | Kate Hull \
Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse
KOCO.com ^ | December 16, 2010 Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse Federal Examiners Say Religious Decoration Inappropriate PERKINS, Okla. -- A small-town bank in Oklahoma said the Federal Reserve won’t let it keep religious signs and symbols on display. Federal Reserve examiners come every four years to make sure banks are complying with a long list of regulations. The examiners came to Perkins last week. And the team from Kansas City deemed a Bible verse of the day, crosses on the teller’s counter and buttons that say "Merry Christmas, God With Us." were inappropriate.
: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2010/12/blame-big-governmentyour-dity-dishes#ixzz18PA3IAyw The next great government crusade will be against soap. The president will appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission, which will determine that soap releases polluting grime into the ecosystem, leads to aquifer depletion, and contains fatty acids that laboratory studies have shown to be acidic and not fat-free… P.J. O’Rourke
Michelle Obama on Deciding What Kids Eat: ‘We Can’t Just Leave it Up to The Parents'
CNS News ^ | 13 Dec 2010 | Penny Starr Speaking at Monday's signing ceremony for the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act”-a law that will subsidize and regulate what children eat before school, at lunch, after
school, and during summer vacations in federally funded school-based feeding programs--First Lady Michelle Obama said of deciding what American children should eat: “We can’t just leave it up to the parents."
Campus Christmas Carols Silenced After Non-Christian Complaints
The Blaze ^ | December 10, 2010 | Meredith Jessup For nearly 15 years, the Pulliam Hall clock tower on the campus of Southern Illinois University has played Christmas carols. But this year, after a few complaints, the bells have been briefly silenced while the school tries to expand its melodic tradition to include a more diverse selection of music. “We took the music off the clock tower as a result of some complaints we received that religious music was offensive to non-Christians,” SIU Chancellor Rita Cheng told KFVS. The local CBS affiliate reports that SIU administrators agreed Friday to start playing “secular holiday songs” until a more “multi-cultural mix”...
Video: Los Angeles bans new fast-food restaurants in South LA
Hotair ^ | 12/20/2010 | Ed Morrissey “This is not an attempt to control what food people put in their mouths,†LA city council member Jan Perry insists, but of course the new ban on new fast-food restaurants in South LA is exactly that. Perry just wants to “diversify their food options,†but apparently doesn’t trust residents to do that for themselves and so wants to limit their options — presumably to higher-priced restaurants that may or may not open in their neighborhoods. After all, it’s not as though there is a shortage of leasing space in these parts of America’s #2 city.
Florida School Bans Christmas… And Christmas Colors
gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com ^ | 12/02/2012 | Jim Hoft
It begins… A Florida school not only banned Christmas but banned everything associated with Christmas including Christmas colors… Because someone might be offended.
Boss orders female staff to wear red bracelets when they are on their periods
Daily Mail ^ | November 30, 2010 | Ian Sparks A boss in Norway has ordered all female staff to wear red bracelets during their periods - to explain why they are using the toilet more often. The astonishing demand was revealed in report by a workers' union into 'tyrannical' toilet rules in Norwegian companies. The study claimed businesses were becoming obsessed with lost productivity due to employees spending too much time answering the call of nature.
U.S. cities forced to spend millions changing street signs... because they are in capital letters
UK Daily Mail ^ | November 30, 2010 | Daniel Bates Cash-strapped cities and towns across America are having to pay out millions of dollars on new signs under orders of the federal government - because they are the wrong letter size. Washington officials have demanded that every single street sign in the nation which is currently in capitals must be replaced because they are supposedly too hard to read. In their place will be new signs with the same green background and the same font, the only difference being that they are in lower-case letters.
San Francisco overrides mayoral veto, bans Happy Meals with toys
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/11/23/california.happy.meals.ban/index.html ^ (CNN) -- The San Francisco, California, Board of Supervisor banned most McDonald's Happy Meals with toys Tuesday. Despite objections and ridicule from opponents, the vote overrode the mayor's veto and officially approved the ban.
Meet the man behind SF's proposed circumcision ban
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail? entry_id=77266#ixzz15aY6W4pe ^ It's not every day we phone an average San Francisco resident to ask about foreskin. In fact, it's no day. Ever. Until now. But Lloyd Schofield's used to such calls because he's collecting signatures to get a circumcision ban on the city ballot in November 2011. "Someone else told me they were calling me at 11 o'clock for an interview," he said. "I might have to - I hate to say it - cut you short." We love it when interview subjects make our jokes for us! Schofield's ordinance would outlaw the procedure throughout San Francisco,
Cops Shut Down Child’s Bake Sale [Operating w/o license!]
Tood Starnes ^ | 11/15/10 A New York lawmaker is under fire for calling the police on a pair of 13-year-olds selling homemade baked goods in a local park. Andrew DeMarchis and Kevin Graff were just trying to earn some pocket change by selling an assortment of cupcakes, brownies and Rice Krispies treats in a Chappaqua park. But the middle school entrepreneurs were shut down by local police at the request of New Castle Councilman Michael Wolfensohn. He called the cops because the boys were operating a business without a license, according to The Journal News. “The police offer was extremely pleasant,” Suzanne DeMarchis told...
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/suffocated-by-red-tape-12-ridiculousregulations-that-are-almost-too-bizarre-to-believe
#1 The state of Texas now requires every new computer repair technician to obtain a private investigator’s license. In order to receive a private investigator’s license, an individual must either have a degree in criminal justice or must complete a three year apprenticeship with a licensed private investigator. If you are a computer repair technician that violates this law, or if you are a regular citizen that has a computer repaired by someone not in compliance with the law, you can be fined up to $4,000 and you can be put in jail for a year.
#2 The city of Philadelphia now requires all bloggers to purchase a $300 business privilege license. The city even went after one poor woman who had earned only $11 from her blog over the past two years. #3 The state of Louisiana says that monks must be fully licensed as funeral directors and actually convert their monasteries into licensed funeral homes before they will be allowed to sell their handmade wooden caskets. #4 In the state of Massachusetts, all children in daycare centers are mandated by state law to brush their teeth after lunch. In fact, the state even provides the fluoride toothpaste for the children. #5 If you attempt to give a tour of our nation's capital without a license, you could be put in prison for 90 days. #6 Federal agents recently raided an Amish farm at 5 A.M. in the morning because they were selling "unauthorized" raw milk. #7 In Lake Elmo, Minnesota farmers can be fined $1,000 and put in jail for 90 days for selling pumpkins or Christmas trees that are grown outside city limits. #8 A U.S. District Court judge slapped a 5oo dollar fine on Massachusetts fisherman Robert J. Eldridge for untangling a giant whale from his nets and setting it free. So what was his crime? Well, according to the court, Eldridge was supposed to call state authorities and wait for them do it. #9 In the state of Texas, it doesn't matter how much formal interior design education you have - only individuals with government licenses may refer to themselves as "interior designers" or use the term "interior design" to describe their work. #10 Deeply hidden in the 2,409-page health reform bill passed by Congress was a new regulation that will require U.S. businesses to file millions more 1099s each year. In fact, it is estimated that the average small business will now have to file 200 additional 1099s every single year. Talk about a nightmare of red tape! But don't try to avoid this rule - it is being reported that the IRS has hired approximately 2,000 new auditors to audit as many of these 1099s as possible. #11 The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin makes it incredibly difficult to go out of business. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee requires you to purchase an expensive license, you must submit a huge pile of paperwork to the city regarding the inventory you wish to sell off, and you must pay a fee based on the length of your "going out of business sale" plus a two dollar charge for every $1,000 worth of inventory that you are attempting to sell off. #12 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is projecting that the food service industry will have to spend an additional 14 million hours every single year just to comply with new federal regulations that mandate that all vending machine operators and chain restaurants must label all products that they sell with a calorie count in a location visible to the consumer.
McDonald's slams San Francisco ban on Happy Meals
Yahoo News via AFP ^ | November 3, 2010 | Grant Junkie Fast food giant McDonald's said Wednesday it was "extremely disappointed" at a ruling by San Francisco authorities banning high-calorie Happy Meals, which entice children to eat with free toys. The response came after the Californian city's board of supervisors voted to forbid restaurants from giving gifts with meals that contain too much fat and sugar. "We are extremely disappointed with this decision.
It?s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for," said McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud. Happy Meals, which typically come in a colorful cardboard box packed with a burger, a drink, fries and desert, are...
SA) Health department warns those who feed the hungry (PERMIT now required to give away food)
San Antonio Express-News ^ | 10/07/2010 | By Brian Chasnoff - Express-News Robert Smith sat on the porch of Catholic Worker House on Wednesday morning, hungry and sipping a cup of coffee. The nonprofit, close to downtown, had been a reliable source of free, hot meals for hungry people for 25 years until the city's health department showed up in August and warned it to shut down because it lacked a licensed kitchen. “Man, it's been hard out here, and nobody's serving nothing,” said Smith, 54, who is not homeless but can't afford food. It's getting harder. Metro Health officials paid a visit Tuesday evening to those handing out food under U.S....
SAN FRANCISCO: Plan to limit toys with meals faces 1st test {Unhappy Meals}
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/25/10 | Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer San Francisco's proposed crackdown on promotional toys in Happy Meals and other fast-food offerings aimed at kids will bolster the city's reputation as either an out-of-control nanny state or a bold watchdog for public health, depending on who is doing the judging. The proposal, which will have its first public hearing Monday, wouldn't ban the popular toy giveaways outright but would make it illegal for kids' meals to come with prizes if the food exceeds city-set limits on calories, fat, salt and sugar. The restaurant industry has been lobbying hard to defeat San Francisco's proposal, but also is exploring a...
Six British Men Arrested After Quran Burning
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/six-british-men-arrested-after-youtubequran-burning/19645884?test=latestnews ^ LONDON (Sept. 23) -- Six men from northern England have been arrested after they filmed themselves burning a copy of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 and then posted the footage on YouTube. The two-and-a-half-minute video (which can still be seen on YouTube) starts with a gang of men, wearing keffiyeh-style face masks made from dishcloths, waving the holy book in front of the camera. The group's apparent leader then declares, "This is the Quran, right, it's full of ----. We are going to burn this mother------." The men dance on the book, douse it with gasoline and set...
Three-year-olds being labelled bigots by teachers as 250,000 children accused of racism (UK)
MailOnline ^ | 9/23/2010 | Laura Clark Teachers are being forced to report children as young as three to the authorities for using alleged ‘racist’ language, it was claimed last night. Munira Mirza, a senior advisor to London Mayor Boris Johnson, said schools were being made to spy on nursery age youngsters by the Race Relations Act 2000. More than a quarter of a million children have been accused of racism since it became law, she said. Spied upon: 'Racist language' by children must be reported. (Posed by models) Spied upon: 'Racist language' by children must be reported. (Posed by models) Writing in Prospect magazine, she said:...
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Children's health keeps FLOTUS up at night
ABCNews ^ | September 14, 2010 | Arlette Saenz ABC News’ Arlette Saenz reports: First Lady Michelle Obama discussed the need to improve childhood obesity rates and promote a healthy lifestyle at a young age with attendants of today’s plenary session of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 2010 Policy Conference. “It’s an issue that keeps me up at night, not just as First Lady, but as a mother, and that is the health of our children – in particular, the epidemic of childhood obesity in America today,” Mrs. Obama said.
100903 FTC Subpoenas 48 Food Companies Regarding Marketing to Kids Advertising Age ^ | 9/1/2010 | Rich Thomaselli NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Federal Trade Commission is once again handing out subpoenas to companies that market food to children and teens. Three years after initially delivering what is technically known as "orders to file special report" to 44 marketers, the FTC last week began sending subpoenas to 48 companies in order to prepare a follow-up to its 120-page report issued in 2008, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities and Self-Regulation." "This is a follow-up to measure the effects that self-regulation has had over the last three years," said Carol Jennings, spokeswoman for... 100824 Is “Happy Birthday” Song Insensitive? Fox News ^ | 8/24/10 | Todd Starnes A ban on singing “Happy Birthday” lasted all of four days at Chesterfield Elementary School in Missouri after angry parents bombarded the school with complaints. “Singing is not permitted due to the sensitivity of all student beliefs,” wrote Principal Jodi Davidson in a letter to parents dated August 13. On August 23 Davidson sent another letter reversing the policy noting that students “are permitted and encouraged to sing the happy birthday song in the classroom.” However, students will not be permitted to sing the traditional song in the cafeteria and all birthday treats must be individually
100819 Roadside crosses for fallen Utah police unconstitutional, court rules Daily Caller ^ | 08/19/10 | Warren Richey A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that roadside crosses erected to memorialize fallen Utah Highway Patrol officers violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of government endorsement of religion. The Denver-based 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that the 12-foot-high crosses bearing the name and badge number of deceased officers sent an unconstitutional religious message to motorists on the state’s highways. “We hold that these memorials have the impermissible effect of conveying to the reasonable observer the message that the state prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion. They therefore violate the establishment clause of the federal constitution,” the appeals... 100810 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2567987/posts A group of high school students attending a conservative leadership conference in Washington, D.C. said they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a June 25 visit to the Lincoln Memorial.
“They told them to stop singing,” said Evan Gassman, a spokesman for the Young America’s Foundation. “I was taken aback. You wouldn’t expect a display of national patriotism to be censored." ... “If their idea of civil disobedience is singing the national anthem, then so be it,” Gassman said. “Let them disobey.” The crime was "singing it loudly".
100708 San Francisco considers ban on small pet sales http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2549181/posts 100701 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2545489/posts A Boise mother loses her parental rights battle at the Federal Court Wednesday afternoon. In 2002, Corissa Mueller brought her baby to St. Luke's Hospital with a fever. The doctor wanted to perform a spinal tap to test for Meningitis, and Mueller wanted a second opinion. Within hours, police and child services were called-in and Mueller lost custody of her child. The test was done anyway and the little Taige only had a cold. Mueller believes the hospital went too far, but the jury didn't agree. It took 16 days for the jury to unanimously decide that the Mueller's constitutional rights were not violated. 100701 Ban to begin on phosphate-laden dishwasher soap (WA and OR tomorrow) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2544721/posts
100627 California would become the first state to ban grocery, liquor and drug stores from providing free paper or plastic bags under legislation pushed by Democrats and supported by RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15384532?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1
100627 EU to ban selling eggs by the dozen: Shopkeepers’ fury as they are told all food must be weighed and sold by the kilo
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1289882/EU-ban-selling-eggs-dozenShopkeepers-fury-told-food-weighed-sold-kilo.html 100623 Group will sue McDonald’s over Happy Meal toys http://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_15352263 Warning Label on our Constitution: Wilder Publications “This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.” Keren, a Berkeley store owner has agreed to stop selling candy bars and sodas to school children in the morning. Pepe was happy to sell the kids his homemade refreshments from his cart. In the UK parents must get pedophile permits to give rides to children other than their own. This is probably one LA hasn’t thought of yet. In Europe the public has been asked to snoop on their neighbors and turn them in if they are still using incandescent light bulbs. I’m sure California will follow. We have been asked to turn in our fellow Americans to whitehouse.gov if they are conservatives. In the UK, Scouts will no longer be allowed to bring their penknives. Again in the UK, fathers will get six months paternity leave. They just raised our cigarette tax by $1.00. They now tax our soda. All food and drinks in LA County facility vending machines must now meet state nutrition guidelines. The federal government is now targeting garage sales and church bazaars for selling unsafe used toys and clothing. Kids were told they had to wear a phallic looking helmet to ride bikes. Now there are so few bike riders that the schools don’t even bother putting in bike racks. They took swing sets off the school yard.
Children at school are not allowed to play on the “apparatus” after school unless they have a parent there. Our cars become almost worthless when they can no longer pass the smog test. I say almost, because we can sell them to illegal aliens that use them as throw away cars. You need a permit to park in the forest, so now our kids can only see nature thru a car window. Kids are required to take a motorcycle class to ride off-road. That sport is dying. A fishing license costs too much for most people. Water rationing is killing our yards. We are forced to use light bulbs that literally tell us to call Hazmat for cleanup should one break. Environmental laws have forced thousands of businesses to close, move to other states, or just let the Chinese do the manufacturing. Two million people marched on D.C. September 12, 2009 to tell the government they don’t want a nanny.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/compact_fluorescent_light_bulb.html CFL manufacturers claim that a 13-watt CFL emits the same amount of light as a 60watt incandescent, but it doesn't seem to work that way in the real world. I've been in CFL-lit hotel rooms where I need a flashlight to read my dog-eared copy of The Road to Serfdom. Warm-up time: it takes up to 5 minutes for a CFL to reach full strength, which may be related to the point above (why CFLs seem less bright). My friend has installed them in a hallway where illumination is needed only for the thirty seconds it takes to navigate the staircase. Not ideal when Grandma visits and can't see the skateboard on the stairs. Few CFLs last for their advertised lifetimes of five years or more. Many people report replacing them after one year, making those return on investment numbers a bit less rosy. Using them in ceiling fixtures, on dimmers or timers, and for less than fifteen minutes per use reduce their life. CFLs contain mercury and should be returned to a hazardous waste center for disposal. Studies assume a 25% recycling rate, with the rest going into landfills. (The Westinghouse website recommends recycling only when disposing of "a large quantity" of fluorescent tubes and doesn't mention how to dispose of their CFLs.) According to a 2008 Yale study, burning coal to supply electricity to incandescent bulbs emits more mercury per bulb than a CFL contains, but regions that rely on cleaner fuels like natural gas experience greater mercury contamination with the introduction of CFLs. Why would environmentalists advocate to bring a toxic product into every home? Cleaning up a broken CFL doesn't require a haz-mat team, but you have to take significant precautions to avoid mercury contamination of living areas. Manufacturing CFLs is labor-intensive. No CFLs are made with expensive U.S. labor; most are made in China, where hundreds of factory workers in CFL plants have been hospitalized for mercury poisoning. The last major light bulb factory in the U.S., a GE plant in Winchester, VA, closed earlier this month. CFLs require six times as much energy to manufacture as incandescent bulbs, not to mention -- if you're concerned about such things -- the carbon footprint of shipping them from China. CFLs appear to cause migraines and epileptic seizures in a small number of people. Other health risks are being studied. CFLs work poorly in cold temperatures -- as a wintertime front porch light, for example. In cold climates, the heat of incandescent bulbs is a useful -- if inefficient -byproduct.
CFLs degrade the quality of the electric current (so-called "dirty electricity" with uneven sine waves) on a circuit into which they are plugged, causing problems for other electronic devices and possible health hazards to humans.
