Oregon Designates Official State Microbe
Beating Hawaii and Wisconsin to this important milestone.
State and Local Government
Official State Crap Update: Connecticut Punts the Wright Brothers
Here's the problem with trying to maintain a comprehensive list of the dumb things legislatures do: they keep doing them. It was just a few days ago that I posted "Official State Crap: Connecticut," the most recent in the remarkably…
Do the Refs Have a Signal for the “Shorts-Holding” Penalty?
While browsing North Carolina's code of regulations last night, likely making me the only human ever to do so of his own free will, I noticed they have some pretty extensive rules governing mixed-martial-arts matches. It was news to me…
Mississippi Finishes Up the Paperwork on 13th Amendment
A mere 148 years after the end of the Civil War, Mississippi has become the last state to send in its paperwork on the 13th Amendment, which as you may recall was the one that abolished slavery. AMENDMENT XIII Passed…
Official Homeland Security Advice: Run & Hide
Well, gosh, this is helpful. Via the Disinformation blog, here's an instructional video produced by the Mayor's Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security in Houston, described as a "Department of Homeland Security Grant Funded Project of the Regional Catastrophic Planning Initiative"…
San Francisco Passes Weiner Proposal
Well, by the narrowest of margins (6-5), San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted on November 20 to pass Supervisor Scott Weiner's controversial ordinance requiring people to wear pants in public. Under the newly added Police Code Section 154: A person…
Governor Says He Didn’t Know About Safety Chief’s Driving Record (Which Wasn’t Good)
Her driving record includes seven accidents, four speeding violations, two failures to stop for a police officer, one failure to stay in her lane, one driving without registration or license in possession, and one driving without wearing a seat belt….
City Pays Protection Money to Stop Serial Litigant
Like California's "Unfair Competition Law," a favorite of consumers outraged by such things as sailors fraudulently marketing crunchberry-flavored cereal and soap that did not attract women as allegedly promised, disability-access laws are also frequently misused. Access for the disabled is a…
Texas Settles With Previously Dead Voters
According to the Austin American-Statesman (via Courthouse News), the lawsuit filed by Texas voters who had been told they were "potentially deceased" has been settled. See "'We're Not Dead, Say Texas Voters Informed They Were Dead," Lowering the Bar (Sept….
“We’re Not Dead,” Say Texas Voters Informed They Were Dead
Well, they marked a ballot in the wrong column, at least, which is pretty much the same thing in Texas.