First they took our toilets

Now they want to get their hands on our shower heads.

Via

'Red tape holds the nation together!'

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More government intrusion

John Tierney (here and here) writes about the retrial of Dr. William Hurwitz, who's being prosecuted for prescribing pain killers to patients. Hurwitz was convicted for drug trafficking in 2004 under a federal law that goes after doctors who prescribe quantities of pain killers that the Drug Enforcement Administration has decided are unreasonable.

The verdict vindicated the Drug Enfrocement Administration’s strategy of using the power of drug-trafficking laws against doctors prescribing opioids even when there was no evidence (as in Dr. Hurwitz’s case) that they were getting a cut of the illegal sales. Karen Tandy, the D.E.A. administrator, praised the 25-year sentence imposed on Dr. Hurwitz by saying he “was no different from a cocaine or heroin dealer peddling poison on the street corner.”

Since then, though, there have been a couple of different opinions about the intepretation of federal drug law. Last year the Supreme Court ruled that it applies to doctors only when they’re guilty of “drug dealing and trafficking as conventionally understood.” And an appeals court ordered a retrial for Dr. Hurwitz because the jury should have considered whether he acted in “good faith.”

Dancing in the streets

Can cost you $5,000 a day in Pinal County, Arizona where a restaurant owner is being blamed for his patrons' dancing feet. Outdoor dancing, you see, is against the law in Pinal County.

But there's more to this story than meets the eye.

There have been no complaints against San Tan Flat for dancing, but both the county and Bell have received noise complaints about the live music. The restaurant has not been cited for noise because the volume has been within acceptable levels.

So the county got noise complaints, and my guess is that one of the complainers had some strong political pull (or else they would never have pursued it this far). Particularly since this is not a population-dense area, and there is little housing directly nearby (see Google satellite map, just click on satellite in the upper right to see all the surrounding, uh, dirt). I mean it's right next to an airport, for god sakes. Thus, wanting to satisfy what could only be a high-profile complainer, the county moved in and pulled out the rubber glove and gave the restaurant a good probing. And, since it is impossible to be in compliance with every stupid ordinance on the books (many conflict, so that you can't be in compliance) the city found something they thought they could make stick. The only issue I can't decode is whether they are trying to use this as a bargaining chip to get operating hour or noise level changes, or if they are using it a s a club to close the place down. It probably depends mostly on how much juice the key complainer has who is driving this.

I can’t say I’m surprised

It seems the UK is “having difficulties” establishing a database of fat schoolchildren, partly because parents are opting out of the system.

The largest database of its kind in the world, the NCOD was set up by the government as a tool with enormous potential for tracking and analysing trends in childhood obesity, and tackling this major public health problem.
Parents were asked for their consent to having their children measured, and the report said: "There is anecdotal evidence of higher rates of opting out of the measurement process among heavier children, which is supported by the findings of this analysis. This means the figures obtained from the NCOD are likely systematically to underestimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity."

Notice how they’re sure that all the fat kids are opting out. Clearly the point of compiling this database is to reaffirm the government’s belief that the UK’s schoolchildren are overwhelmingly pudgy.

But you know, even if my kid had 5 percent body fat, I wouldn’t give the government that information. Aside from the fact that I have serious doubts about the so-called obesity epidemic, this data gathering exercise is a huge intrusion. What happens after they get all the facts and figures? Will the government come round and check to make sure the lunch I’m packing is nutritionally sound?

Besides, even if your kid has to be hoist with a crane on a scale, just how effective do you suppose government intervention would be at changing that?