Nanny State Tuesdays - Week 3

Phone stamps... the idea alone really removes any need for me to add further comment.


Then you have the massive increased, by various government bodies, requests for information and removal of information from Google specifically. Makes you wonder how many requests companies like Yahoo and Microsoft (who runs Bing) get regarding the same information, and how many of the requests they comply with, doesn't it?


Ok, while this story isn't necessarily nanny state, I think it contributes to it in its own way. After all, fraudulent voting allows groups of people to sway elections. Dead votes, double registration, and now animals. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised given that I live in Washington, home of the Liberal dead voters, though in this particular case it was in Virginia. How many state level elections have been decided by a few hundred votes, sometimes less?


Really, I get that many people hate the idea of being around smokers. Whether it's for the unproven health risks (regardless of what you hear on the news secondhand smoke still has not been proven to cause cancer; it may contribute to it, but it is only one of many factors) or just because people don't like the smell (which I agree with) removing the ability of people to do what they want so long as it's legal and does not hurt, or risk hurting, anyone else is just annoying. This latest bit is a community college (which means it's funded by taxpayer dollars and is thus technically partially owned by the students that attend or their parents) has them planning to ban smoking cigarettes anywhere on campus including a person's own car. If someone is smoking in their car it does not affect anyone except the occupants of that car. They open the door or window, smoke comes out, and then dissipates. It MIGHT affect someone walking by at that exact moment, but that temporary whiff isn't going to hurt anybody other than the minor annoyance of coughing.

If it was a privately funded college they could do whatever they wanted, but as a public institution they should be required to follow all of the state laws without instituting others to further their own goals of societal reform. If the state goes and outlaws smoking (which is Washington I could see happening, loss of revenue or not) that is totally different from a taxpayer funded facility doing so against the wishes of the people who fund it. Anything else and you have tyranny of the majority.