Loss of Freedom Archives - Page 24 of 33

Cleveland to Use Tech to Monitor Residents & Fine People For Not Recycling

Excuse me, but how can it be legal for a city to fine people for not recycling? Cleveland, Ohio, plans to do it and to use high tech devices to monitor residents to determine if they are recycling. According to Cleveland.com: “the city plans to sort through curbside trash to make sure residents are recycling — and fine them $100 if they don’t. The move is part of a high-tech collection system the city will roll out next year with new trash and recycling carts embedded with radio frequency identification chips and bar codes.”

San Francisco MTA Bans Movie Ads with Guns

The Volokh Conspiracy: “the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency doesn’t allow movie ads with guns in them.” UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh says “The policy is unconstitutional, at least as applied to movie ads, because it’s viewpoint-based.”

City Council In Illinois May Ban Eye-Rolling

Forbes: “Citizens’ right to sigh in exasperation also threatened. . . . Reportedly, Darlene Helsop had hoped to speak to the finance committee about its plan to hire a state lobbyist, but wasn’t given the opportunity to do so. She sighed and rolled her eyes, to the great irritation of committee chairman Stephen Hipskind. “Making faces behind the mayor’s back is disruptive, in my opinion,” he said, and he ordered Helsop to leave.” The city council apparently asked its attorney if it could change it rules to ban eye rolling as disorderly conduct.

Picture Police: Picture This, and Risk Arrest

New York Times: “One afternoon, Duane P. Kerzic was arrested by the Amtrak police while taking pictures of a train pulling into Pennsylvania Station. At first, the police asked him to delete the images from his camera, but he refused. He ended up handcuffed to the wall of a holding cell while an officer wrote a ticket for trespassing.”

Big Brother Lunacy – One Child Tangled in Roller Shade Chord Uninjured but Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls 1.3 Million Shades

Government agencies must take action to justify their existence. Agency action usually means loss of freedom and financial harm to the public. One of the most worthless government agencies is the Consumer Product Safety Commission that now sticks its ugly head in all facets of American life. It’s latest target – roller shades used on windows. Regardless of the fact that there is no evidence that any person, child or adult, has ever been harmed by the roller shades, the CPSC recalled 1.3 million shades. Unelected bureaucrats are ruling our lives.

Earth to the CPSC – it is not possible to eliminate every possible threat to children. Here’s the latest CPSC joke tragedy outrage recall:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product. Name of Product: Roman and Roller shades. Units: About 1.3 million (1,160,000 Roman shades and 115,000 roller shades).

Hazard:

Roman Shades: Strangulations can occur when a child places his/her neck between the exposed inner cord and the fabric on the backside of the shade or when a child pulls the cord out and wraps it around his/her neck.
Roller Shades: Strangulation can occur if the shade’s continuous loop cord is not attached to the wall with the tension device provided and a child’s neck becomes entangled in the free-standing loop.

Incidents/Injuries:

Roller Shades: CPSC and Smith+Noble have received a report of a 5-year-old boy in Tacoma, Washington who became entangled in an unsecured continuous loop bead cord on a roller shade in May 2009. No medical treatment was required.
Roman Shades: None.

Here’s a picture of the dangerous shades.