Silly, Silly Laws

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July 2008
- Calif. Pol Aims to Burst Balloons
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 08 8:55 AM CDT
  
  A California lawmaker is pushing to ban helium-filled foil balloons, blaming the globe-shaped menaces for flying into power lines and causing more than 800 blackouts in the state last year. The bill easily passed the state's senate, but it’s facing an uproar from balloon artists and balloon lovers alike as it awaits an assembly vote, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
May 2008
- Chicago Ducks Foie Gras Ban
  
  newser | Chicago Sun-Times | May 15, 08 1:00 PM CDT
  
  A Chicago restaurant ban on foie gras pate that animal lovers love to hate has been lifted by city legislators after two years. The ban caused widespread derision among foodies, fury in the restaurant industry—and plaudits from animal rights advocates who wanted to save the force-fed ducks and geese whose super fatty livers make the pate. Mayor Richard Daley bulldozed the repeal through the City Council, reports the Sun Times . More »
- US Must End Ban on HIV-Positive Immigrants
  
  newser | Washington Post | May 14, 08 6:06 PM CDT
  
  The US is one of only 12 countries (including Sudan, Moldova and Libya) that flouts UN law by barring HIV-positive visitors or immigrants—and the restriction must end, writes Andrew Sullivan in the Washington Post . The HIV-positive Sullivan, a senior editor at Atlantic magazine, remains in the US only with the help of “great lawyers, a rare O visa…a government-granted HIV waiver” and endless legal fees—and he’s one of the lucky ones. More »
- China Won't Stop Censoring Web for Olympics
  
  newser | Ars Technica | May 8, 08 2:37 PM CDT
  
  China apparently will continue to censor the Internet during August's Olympics, but says the international press will have the access it needs to function, Jacqui Cheng writes on Ars Technica. Officials said they would guarantee as much access “as possible,” but “controls on some unhealthy websites” would continue. In defense, they said, “every country limits access to some websites.” More »
- Fritzl Triggers Change in Austria Sex Law
  
  newser | BBC | May 8, 08 7:41 AM CDT
  
  The Josef Fritzl case has spurred Austrian legislators to initiate changes in sex crime laws to prevent child abuse, the BBC reports. As Fritzl kept his daughter imprisoned as a sex slave, he was granted custody for three of the children he fathered with her— despite a rape conviction. His conviction was wiped off the books after 15 years. Austria now wants to keep sex crime records for at least 30 years. More »
- Ind. Nuns Don't Have a Prayer at Polls
  
  newser | Associated Press | May 7, 08 5:59 AM CDT
  
  A dozen nuns who lacked proper photo ID were turned away from an Indiana voting booth yesterday—by a fellow nun. None of the nuns, all over 80, had a driver's license because they don't drive, and some presented outdated passports, the AP reports. Their convent has launched a major push to arrange for proper ID in time for November's election. More »
- Woman Who Defied Interracial Marriage Ban Dies at 68
  
  newser | Associated Press | May 5, 08 4:11 PM CDT
  
  Mildred Loving, whose challenge to Virginia law led to the Supreme Court decision overturning bans on racially mixed marriage, has died at the age of 68. Loving, who was black, and her white husband Richard pleaded guilty to “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth” before their suit led to a landmark civil-rights ruling in 1967. More »
- Aussies Ditch Dueling Law
  
  newser | Sydney Morning Herald | May 3, 08 12:56 PM CDT
  
  There's no longer a law against challenging somebody to a duel in Queensland, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. As part of an effort to get old laws off the books, the Australian state is also scrapping laws against piracy on the high seas, and mayors will no longer have to read the Riot Act to mobs of angry townspeople before rioters can be charged. More »
April 2008
- Turkey Eases Controversial 'Insult' Statute
  
  newser | Financial Times (UK) | Apr 30, 08 8:06 AM CDT
  
  The Turkish parliament has approved changes to a notorious law that makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness," reports the Financial Times . Ankara legislators today amended the notorious Article 301, reducing the maximum sentence and requiring the justice minister to approve all prosecutions. But while nationalists are outraged, civil rights lawyers call the changes cosmetic at best. More »
- Masseuse Chastity Pants Spark Uproar in Indonesia
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Apr 27, 08 5:25 AM CDT
  
  Reacting to clients’ demands for sex, some Indonesian masseuses have begun wearing locked pants reminiscent of ancient chastity belts, the Los Angeles Times reports. What began as one parlor entrepreneur's idea to deflect pushy clients has spread and may now spawn legislation. But many, including Indonesia's minister for women’s empowerment, are outraged by the idea. More »
- Louisiana Pockets Ban on Droopy Drawers
  
  newser | Times-Picayune (New Orleans) | Apr 23, 08 10:27 AM CDT
  
  A proposed ban on saggy pants didn’t fly in Louisiana, where a Senate panel rejected the legislation as a violation of freedom of speech, reports the Times-Picayune . “This is a situation that is disgusting and needs state attention,” insisted the state senator pushing the bill. “I have the right to walk down the street and not see your dirty drawers.” More »
- Bill Would Defend Troops From Incoming Playmates
  
  newser | Military Times | Apr 23, 08 9:12 AM CDT
  
  A Republican lawmaker wants to keep America's fighting men and women out of harm's way—the harm he says is caused by exposure to incoming copies of Playboy and Penthouse . The Military Honor and Decency Act sponsored by Georgia congressman Paul Broun would tighten existing laws to prevent the magazines from being sold on military bases, reports the Military Times . More »
- NY Stays Calorie-Count Law
  
  newser | Village Voice | Apr 21, 08 5:53 PM CDT
  
  Today a New York judge delayed a law requiring Big Apple eateries to list calorie content on menus. Set to kick in today, the law is now slated to take effect Friday—which gives the city time to sort out a suit by New York restaurants, which are seeking yet another stay. Meanwhile, the Village Voice visits a few restaurants to chat up servers and reconsider TGI Friday's' 2,000-calorie ribs. More »
- Shhh! Europe Law Forces Orchestras to Tone It Down
  
  newser | New York Times | Apr 19, 08 9:46 PM CDT
  
  A new law in Europe to protect employees from ear-damaging noises is stifling a surprise industry—orchestras. Conductors are taking it down a notch to comply, in one case canceling a world premiere because it exceeded the allowable decibels in rehearsal, the New York Times reports. At the Royal Opera House, musicians have to wear earplugs—akin to telling a "race-car driver they have to wear a blindfold," said one oboist. More »
- A Board Rules, and Businesses Balk
  
  New York Times | Apr 19, 08
  
  “I know the city obviously knows what’s best for everybody,” said Daniel Scherotter, the group’s incoming president. “But at a certain point, it gets ridiculous.”The health plan was just one of several laws affecting businesses passed by the Board and the city’s voters in recent years, including ordinances mandating that employers pay for sick leave for employees and one establishing one of the highest minimum wages in the country.
- Finns May Stop (Working) in the Name of Love
  
  newser | Bloomberg | Apr 18, 08 12:35 PM CDT
  
  Finland's citizens will get an extra week of vacation specifically for romance if a proposed bill becomes law, Bloomberg reports. The legislation, which currently has 13 of the 100 required backers, would augment the 25 paid vacation days and 10 public holidays that already put Finns above the EU norm. Slightly more than half of Finnish marriages end in divorce. More »
- Bowl System May Violate Federal Law
  
  newser | Associated Press | Apr 18, 08 11:31 AM CDT
  
  A Congressional resolution could have the Justice Department looking into whether the college football bowl system is illegal, the AP reports. The authors of the resolution say the system restricts trade because only the biggest schools seem to have a shot at being voted into the championship game. A look at the leglsiators' home addresses suggests a personal angle, however. More »
- Media-Shy Scalia Hits Road With 18th-Century Views
  
  newser | USA Today | Apr 18, 08 2:20 AM CDT
  
  After years of courting controversy but shunning publicity, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is about to go on a media offensive, reports USA Today. The conservative Scalia, who has notoriously kept the press away from his public appearances, allowed C-SPAN recently to broadcast a question-and-answer session with students. He'll also appear on 60 Minutes this month. Why? He's plugging a book he co-authored on legal arguments. More »
- Jilted Wife Takes Divorce to YouTube
  
  newser | Associated Press | Apr 16, 08 11:40 AM CDT
  
  Divorce has a new weapon: YouTube. The former-actress wife of a millionaire theater impresario took to the Internet last week in a teary six-minute video in which she claims her older hubby is evicting her from their Park Avenue pad after years of refusing her sex despite owning porn, condoms, and Viagra, the AP reports. May not play in divorce court, but it's scored 287,776 hits. More »
- France Moves to Outlaw 'Inciting' Thinness
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Apr 15, 08 1:50 PM CDT
  
  France’s lower legislative body today approved a law banning the promotion of anorexic behavior, the Guardian reports. Applicable to magazines, advertising and the web, the law can impose up to a $47,000 fine and two years in prison for “excessively inciting others to deprive themselves of food." Directed chiefly towards pro-anorexic websites, the bill could have broad repercussions for fashion. More »