Asbestos and salt: a ridiculous analogy

Michael Bloomberg, chief nanny of New York, while defending his plan to regulate the amount of salt restaurant chefs will henceforth be allowed to put in their dishes: If we know there’s asbestos in a school room what do you expect us to do? Say it’s not our business? I don’t think so. This is an [...]

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As if I needed one more reason to never move to France

A new French law criminalizes “psychological violence” against a spouse or cohabiting partner. Pretty great I say. The French are geniuses. They have already outlawed pesky things like free speech, unsexy clothes and hard work. Now all those domestic arguments must stay within strict rules laid down by the government. Think about all the hours [...]

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Obama’s disturbing choice for NHTSA head

Chuck Hurley’s appointment as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head is a troubling one. Read this great piece by Radley Balko to find out why. As for MADD, they are a perfect example of an organization whose nanny-statism has crossed the line from being annoying to what I can only succintly describe as evil. [In case [...]

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Smoking in Netherlands

The following piece of news seems relevant in the context of my earlier post on tobacco and the illusion of liberty caused by unprincipled value judgements. From the incomparable Reason Brickbats: Dutch police cited a 27-year-old man for smoking a joint in one of Amsterdam’s famous coffee shops. Smoking pot is legal there, but the [...]

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Tobacco is not in

Oregon wants to raise the (tobacco) smoking age to 21. Wait, that can’t be right, can it? Don’t Oregonians love their mountains and their freedom? I mean, come on, Oregon  is a pioneer in assisted suicide laws. It was one of the very few states to oppose ski-helmet mandates in an online TIME poll from last week! [...]

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Assorted links

 While GM and Chrysler are in their last throes, Ford is trudging on. Obama may have fired GM’s CEO and told Chrysler exactly what to do but he has had no such luck controlling Ford. The company has refused offers of taxpayer life support and believes it can not only survive this recession but in [...]

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Quebec may make helmets mandatory for skiers

I have written enough in the past about Canada’s (usually successful) attempts to muzzle free speech and monitor thought crimes and enforce some kind of bizarre right to not get your feelings hurt. But this latest proposed law takes policing your head to an entirely different level. I understand that the proposal has been spurred by Natasha [...]

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I can bike in Switzerland without feeling outraged!

In London (my British friend informs me) it is illegal to ride a bicycle without wearing a helmet. I find that amusing because Londoners can jaywalk legally; so it is the precise opposite of California, where helmets are not mandatory for adult cyclists but jaywalking is illegal. Actually I think that both jaywalking  and riding [...]

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Go, suck an egg

From a West Virginia legislator comes this bizarre proposal of banning Barbie dolls because they send the wrong message to young girls etc. I think the Kardashian sisters’ response is the best. From the Fox story: “He can suck an egg, seriously. He’s probably butt-ugly and always wanted a girlfriend that looked like Barbie but [...]

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The Agitator pens a letter on behalf of the greatest swimmer ever

Wow. Dear America, I take it back. I don’t apologize. Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months per year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to [...]

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How the bikers won their freedom

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead. As we all know, governments do one thing really well — telling us how to run our lives. Thus, most places in the world (for instance every US state except [...]

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Anecdotes and proposals on healthcare

I missed this post by Andrew Sullivan from a while back. One reason I’m a conservative is the British National Health Service. Until you have lived under socialism, it sounds like a great idea. It isn’t misery – although watching my parents go through the system lately has been nerve-wracking – but there is a [...]

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Online gambling and the UIGEA

Even in the context of American style conservative nanny-statism, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is an extraordinary law. A direct offspring of the  ”American Values Agenda”, this law, passed in 2006, in combination with the Wire Act effectively prohibits any kind of internet gambling operation in America. The law outlaws games of pure [...]

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“The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is an interesting organization. Ostensibly, its purpose is to be a “strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science”. It publishes a health newsletter and has several programs to educate the public on various issues related to science, nutrition and public health. [...]

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No puffing in Aurora

Even a blogger as jaded as me comes across an instance of nanny-statism once in a while that takes his breath away. Police in Aurora and around the metro area are cracking down on unattended and running vehicles, which police call “puffers,” this week. “The easiest cars to steal are those left running unattended in [...]

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