Recently, a South Carolina judge ruled that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance. The issue was before him because state police — apparently with little else to do — have been raiding private poker games,…
I love a good legislative fight. Not the kind where they debate stuff — the kind where everybody ends up involved in an actual bench-clearing brawl. Unfortunately for C-SPAN's ratings, these things only seem to happen overseas. Last May, I…
While Sweden's parliament was on the right side of this dispute, you would think it might have more important things to do than get involved in a fight over who should be invited to an eight-year-old's birthday party. I know…
The Wall Street Journal reported in October that an ethics committee in Switzerland has interpreted that country's constitution to require respect for the dignity of plant as well as animal life. Among the committee's conclusions: it is "morally impermissible" to…
The city council of Lynwood, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, is the latest to join the crusade against sagging pants. Reports said that the new city ordinance would impose a $35 fine on anyone found to be showing more than three…
The U.S. Congress, which some of you may remember as a third branch of government, roused itself this week to override President Bush’s veto of a popular farm bill. That was the plan, at least, until somebody noticed that they…
I’m starting to think it is the purpose of a house of representatives (using lower-case there to mean, generically, that half of a bicameral legislature, not a specific house that happens to be full of representatives) to pass utterly stupid…
On April 22, a bill that would have ended the scourge of droopy pants throughout Louisiana failed in the state senate. This was lamented by the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Derrick Shepherd (D-New Orleans), who said the state should take a…
On March 3, the town board of Huntington, New York took decisive action to maintain public order by banning the sale of Silly String within 1,500 feet of a parade route. It joined several other U.S. communities in doing so….
On January 18, Kentucky State Rep. Charles Siler introduced a bill that would designate Kentucky Fried Chicken (specifically, Original Recipe) as the state’s "official picnic food." The provision itself is just one sentence, but the preamble offers some interesting details:…