Ban The Cartoonists!

At least it didn't happen in Tennessee.

But in Kentucky, a legislator is pushing a bill to define an editorial cartoonist as a lobbyist and hence ban them from attending legislative sessions. State Rep. Jim Gooch is not amused by cartoons nor by opinions, as Sue Sturgis reports at Facing South.

"They want to hurt your credibility. They do it by either trying to make you look stupid or corrupt."

Darn those people who use the evils of wit and pencils!!! And what about the children? A child might run with a pencil in hand and fall and put their eye out! And then, there's a paper cut threat!

Sturgis reminds readers Rep. Gooch has also held hearings on the topics of Global Warming but failed to invite anyone from the scientific community. One imagines a person could testify "Shoot, it looks purty nice outside to me!" and thus end the debate.

Dangerous Clothes

Play-Doh, wires, and a peg board - that was enough to send security staff at Logan Airport into a paranoid state of hyper fear, fingers twitching on their triggers. A female M.I.T. student, who had been wearing the wires and peg board zip-tied to her sweatshirt, is labeled a bomb hoax threat terrorist. Maybe it was just a bad week to have the last name of Simpson.

"She's extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used. And she's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

I would have imagined security staff at Logan, of all places, would be trained to observe and recognize what a bomb would look like. Especially as Logan is on a high threat level status. Wonder what would happen if someone was seen wearing those sneakers that have teeny lights in the heels of their shoes? I think an indication of how much this case was overblown can be found in the judge's decision to put Simpson's bail at $750. I would expect the entire case to be dropped.

It's true that funky fashions are often seen as a threat, just ask someone who wears their pants hanging half off their ass. Some say these pants threaten society and laws are being passed to ban low-slung baggy apparel. Will you feel safe if that happens?

"And let's spend a lot of taxpayer money to enact the laws and enforce them. That'll show these teenagers who wears the pants."

Will you be able to wear your "Don't Tase Me, Bro!" t-shirt without being seen as a threat? Could you freely wear a shirt that had lettering reading "This Shirt Is Illegal"?

Did it all go downhill straight to the hottest part of hell when the days of Statutes of Apparel disappeared?

"The English Sumptuary Laws were well known by all of the English people. And they were strictly obeyed! The penalties for violating Sumptuary Laws could be harsh - fines, the loss of property, title and even life."

See also the laws for men's clothes.