Category Archives: Nanny State

Dublin Dog Poop Regulations Are Even Stricter than Vienna’s

Posted on July 20, 2011 | Comments Off on Dublin Dog Poop Regulations Are Even Stricter than Vienna’s

After reading the recent post on Vienna’s dog poop regulations, a friend sends along this photo from Dublin, Ireland (click to enlarge):


Comments Off on Dublin Dog Poop Regulations Are Even Stricter than Vienna’s

Posted in Nanny State, regulation

Tagged , , ,

Regulation of the Day 185: How to Wear Pants

Posted on July 19, 2011 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 185: How to Wear Pants

Collinsville, Illinois officials know that when you look good, you feel good. That’s why they are now regulating the height at which people shall wear their pants. Some young people these days prefer to wear their pants somewhat low. This fashion trend is no doubt a direct reaction against World War II-era fashion, when men wore their pants much higher.

According to the new dress code regulations, Collinsville residents must not wear their pants more than three to four inches below the waist. First-time offenders get a $100 fine. A second offense nets a $300 fine and 40 hours of community service. There is no corresponding regulation for wearing pants super-high.

Collinsville regulators do not unanimously favor the new rules. Bob Knable, the city manager, has apparently heard of opportunity costs. Police forces only have so much time and resources. He points out that time officers spend eyeing peoples’ pants is time not spent on more serious matters.

Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 185: How to Wear Pants

Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Tagged , , , , ,

Regulation of the Day 184: Picking up Dog Poop

Posted on July 18, 2011 | 2 comments

A Vienna, Austria man was recently jailed for not picking up after his Great Danes. Having solved Vienna’s other problems, the city council recently passed new dog poop regulations. These include government-employed “Waste Watchers.” According to the Austrian Times, these “work from six a.m. to 11 o’clock at night handing out fines of up to 2,000 Euros for breaches in the law on dumping of waste and fouling of walkways.”

The 52-year old man was fined €1,380. When he told a court he could not afford the fine, he was jailed for two days.

As part of its new dog poop initiative, the government installed plastic bag dispensers throughout the city. Dog owners are required to use the bags to clean up after their dogs and place the final product in government-provided waste bins.

The offending man pleaded that his two Great Danes are simply too much for the plastic bags to handle. Great Danes can weigh as much as 200 pounds, and are prolific eaters.

The man should think about providing his own bags if the city’s aren’t up to the job. It is less than courteous for him to just leave the mess on the sidewalk. But a fine of up to €2,000 and possible jail time? That’s overkill.

2 Comments

Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Regulation of the Day 183: Throwing Wet Sponges

Posted on July 11, 2011 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 183: Throwing Wet Sponges

Apparently British regulators don’t think their subjects are sponge-worthy. A long-running annual carnival event in Ulverston where participants throw wet sponges at each other was shut down last week by health and safety regulators.

They feared that the sponges would pick up dirt and grit from hitting the ground. Subsequent throws could then injure participants. Somebody could lose an eye.

The waterfight did happen as scheduled, fortunately. Instead of sponges, the combatants used Super Soaker squirt guns, which apparently comply with British health and safety regulations.

Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 183: Throwing Wet Sponges

Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Tagged , , ,

Regulation Roundup

Posted on June 28, 2011 | Comments Off on Regulation Roundup

With the unemployment rate still over 9 percent, regulators have been very busy tending to their own job security. Here are some of their more recent make-work programs:

-In King County, Washington, swimming without a life vest is punishable by an $86 fine.

-New food regulations in New York would make it illegal to cut cheese in farmer’s markets.

-A new California regulation would require retailers to provide seating for cashiers.

-The Consumer Product Safety Commission adopted voluntary new standards for cribs in 2008. Now it has decided to make them both mandatory and retroactive. That means that roughly 100,000 unsold cribs currently sitting in stores will have to be thrown away. Hopefully smaller retailers can survive the hit.

–San Francisco is poised to ban goldfish.

-New EU regulations would require farmers to look after their pigs’ emotional well-being.

–A weakened version of Texas’ TSA pat-down ban passed both houses of the state legislature. TSA agents found guilty would face up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The loopholes in this version appear large enough that it would do little to stop the pat-downs. Other states are considering similar measures.

Comments Off on Regulation Roundup

Posted in Nanny State, regulation

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Lessons in Entrepreneurship: Lemonade Stand Edition

Posted on June 17, 2011 | 2 comments

Jennifer Hughes is in charge of issuing permits for Montgomery County, Maryland’s government. She told WUSA, a local tv station, that it is “technically illegal to run even the smallest lemonade stand in the county, but inspectors usually don’t go looking for them.” Some enterprising children recently set up some lemonade stands outside of the US Open, which is played in Montgomery County. They plan to donate the money they make to charity. Officials quickly shut down the stands and fined the childrens’ parents $500.

After a round of bad publicity, the County rescinded the fines. They are also allowing the children to re-open the lemonade stands, so long as they’re on an out-of-the-way road.

It’s good that these children are learning about entrepreneurship and running a business at such a young age. One worries, though, about the lessons Montgomery County is teaching them.

2 Comments

Posted in Nanny State, regulation

Tagged , , , , , ,

CEI Podcast for June 9, 2011: The Other Black Friday

Posted on June 9, 2011 | Comments Off on CEI Podcast for June 9, 2011: The Other Black Friday

 

Have a listen here.

The World Series of Poker is underway. The tournament is perfectly legal. And anyone over 18 can play poker in a casino. But it has been illegal to play the game online since April 15, now known to poker fans as Black Friday. Policy Analyst Michelle Minton goes over the controversy and explains why prohibition doesn’t work.

Comments Off on CEI Podcast for June 9, 2011: The Other Black Friday

Posted in CEI Podcast, Nanny State, regulation

Tagged , , , , , ,

Regulation of the Day 176: Cooking a Burger

Posted on May 23, 2011 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 176: Cooking a Burger

In North Carolina, it is illegal to cook a burger to an internal temperature under 155 degrees. Rare and medium rare burgers are banned from the state’s restaurants. As regulator Larry Michael told AOL News, “According to North Carolina rules, a hamburger is cooked properly when it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit[.] There are no exceptions.”

Actually, there are. People cooking at home can still legally cook there burgers to whatever temperature they like. And a kind of rare burger black market has emerged. Regular customers who have built up a degree of trust with the staff can order a rare burger. But they’ve taken to speaking in code. The server will say that they’ll make the burger as pink as they can, just in case food inspectors are within earshot.

The reason they have to so circumspect is because openly giving customers what they want could cost the owners their restaurant license. Maybe it would be better to let adults set their own risk preferences. I personally prefer my burgers cooked medium. But if someone else wants to order a rare burger and is willing to bear the small risk of catching E. coli, let them. The only loser is the regulator who would have to find a more productive line of work.

Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 176: Cooking a Burger

Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Tagged , , , , , ,

CEI Podcast for May 5, 2011: Salt

Posted on May 5, 2011 | Comments Off on CEI Podcast for May 5, 2011: Salt

Have a listen here.

A new study says that high-salt diets may not be as harmful as once thought. Research Associate Daniel Compton takes a look. He also points out that, even if salt is a health hazard, regulating salt intake probably won’t work as planned.

Comments Off on CEI Podcast for May 5, 2011: Salt

Posted in CEI Podcast, Nanny State, regulation

Tagged , , , , ,

Regulation of the Day 170: Kinder Eggs

Posted on May 3, 2011 | 2 comments

Kinder eggs are a type of candy that enjoys worldwide popularity. They are chocolate eggs with a plastic shell underneath the outside layer of chocolate. After kids enjoy the chocolate, they can open up the plastic shell and find a toy inside. They are especially popular around Easter.

They are also illegal in the United States. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have declared the toys to be a safety hazard. Children could choke on them.

A third agency, Customs and Border Patrol, confiscates about 25,000 kinder eggs per year. Most people know that kinder eggs aren’t actually a choking hazard, so they don’t know about the ban and think nothing of bringing some home from a trip.

NRO’s Mark Steyn recently had just such a run-in when he and his children returned from a trip to Canada:

My kids asked the CBP seizure squad if they could eat the chocolate in front of the border guards while the border guards held on to the toys to prevent any choking hazard — and then, having safely consumed the chocolate, take the toys home as a separate item. This request was denied.

As I noted in a previous Regulation of the Day:

According to WebMD, 66 to 77 children under 10 die every year from choking on food in the U.S. That’s out of more than 42,000,000 children under 10, according to my calculations from U.S. Census data.

That means your child’s odds of choking to death on food are about 1 in 545,000. And that’s assuming 77 deaths, the high end of the range. Little Timmy is literally more likely to be struck by lightning (1 in 500,000) than choke to death on a hot dog.

I’m sure that CPSC, FDA, and CBP would love to credit their diligence in enforcing the kinder egg ban for those reassuring numbers. But common sense says they shouldn’t.

2 Comments

Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Tagged , , , , , ,