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Post by RS Davis on Jun 30, 2004 17:12:49 GMT -5
One thousand people signed a petition asking Great Britain's Royal Mail not to close a post office in Brightside, Sheffield. They then dropped the petition in the mail to postal headquarters. It never got there. The post office gave the person who collected and mailed the signatures 12 first-class stamps in compensation and promised to look into the matter, if the petition hasn't arrived in another three weeks. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 1, 2004 14:42:19 GMT -5
Robert Davies may go to jail because he sold a fish he caught. He caught the fish, a sturgeon, in Swansea Bay, Wales. Sturgeon is "royal fish," meaning they belong to the crown under British law. Davies says he offered it to the queen, as required by law, and she turned it down. So he sold it at auction. But sturgeon is also classified as endangered under British law, and it's illegal to sell them. However, if he'd kept the fish or given it away there would have been no problem. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 2, 2004 15:01:30 GMT -5
China has reportedly ordered the family of AIDS activist Hu Jia to have him committed for psychiatric care. His family says they see no signs of mental illness in him. But if they refuse, the government will do so. He has been under house arrest since trying to meet with the U.S. ambassador to China. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 7, 2004 1:22:25 GMT -5
Landowners and developers in Wyoming and other Western states say that federal rules to protect the endangered Preble's mouse have cost them more than $100 million. But genetic testing now shows the Preble's mouse doesn't exist, or rather, it's nothing more than the Bear Lodge meadow jumping mouse which is common and isn't protected under the Endangered Species Act. But environmental groups now say that rather than remove the Preble's mouse from the threatened list, the government should also list the Bear Lodge mouse. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 7, 2004 15:47:57 GMT -5
If you are thinking about having your nose bobbed or your breasts enhanced, you may want to go to New York or Philadelphia or even Miami. Anywhere but New Jersey. The state Legislature recently passed a budget that includes a 6 percent tax on cosmetic surgery that does not prevent or treat disease. Doctors say that enforcing the tax will reduce patient privacy, since they'll have to open their records to state tax officials. That budget also includes a 3.5 percent tax on ambulatory care facilities. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 8, 2004 19:41:33 GMT -5
The Paris city council has asked the mayor to ban SUVs from the streets of the French capital. "They're dangerous to others and take up too much space," said deputy mayor Denis Baupin. Still, the city doesn't have the power to ban them outright, so it's looking at ways to reduce pollution and ease traffic flow, ways that would restrict SUV use. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 10, 2004 12:00:21 GMT -5
Slobodan Milosevic has had his bank account frozen, and his funds may be seized for war reparations. That's Slobodan Milosevic the Munich bus driver, not the former Yugoslavian president on trial for war crimes. Slobodan the bus driver has tried to convince the bank he isn't a criminal. "I tried to explain that in Serbia my name is common as Hans Schmidt here, but they told me Hans Schmidt was not a war criminal," he said. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 12, 2004 21:37:16 GMT -5
Singapore has banned tobacco advertising for almost 30 years. It has also barred smoking in most buildings that are open to the public. But some people continue to smoke. So now it has mandated that all cigarette packs carry graphic images of what smoking can do. Packs will now feature rotten teeth and diseased organs as well as a smoker on his deathbed. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 13, 2004 15:43:50 GMT -5
The organizers of the International Festival for Peace and Civil Liberties want the city of Savannah to pay them $2,000 to cover their losses. They had originally planned to pay for the festival by selling t-shirts and posters. But only 150 people showed up. Still, the organizers say their festival was the reason there was no violence during the G8 summit. The city has already waived $2,100 in permits fees and refunded the maintenance deposit. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 14, 2004 14:48:55 GMT -5
Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are proposing a bill that would forbid doctors from refusing to treat someone based on that person's job, political positions or history of litigation. The law is a response to some doctors refusing to treat patients with a history of suing for malpractice, lawyers who have represented such patients, and politicians who oppose tort reform. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 15, 2004 18:06:21 GMT -5
Critics are asking why the government of Queensland, Australia, gave a local recording company a $140,510 grant. But they seemingly aren't as upset by taxpayer subsidies to a private business as they are by the fact that business released a record titled "My Dad is a F... Porn Star." One opposition member of Parliament has accused the government of funding obscenity. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 17, 2004 2:39:00 GMT -5
Massachusetts has banned smoking in all bars, restaurants, workplaces and many other buildings open to the public. Previously, many cities in the state had allowed smoking in bars and restaurants that were open only to adults or that had special ventilation equipment. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 20, 2004 2:12:04 GMT -5
About 70 percent of all crimes reported to police in China last year went unsolved, according to Reuters. The poor health of police may play a role in that figure. The Ministry of Public Security tested 400 police officers from across the country and found 30 percent had cardiovascular disease, 40 percent had high blood pressure, 30 percent had gastroenteric disease and 16 percent had hepatitis. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 21, 2004 2:02:14 GMT -5
When Louise Jones pulled up to her Kansas City home, she accidentally honked her horn. That didn't sit well with a police officer who was sitting in a patrol car parked nearby. He went to a call at another house, then returned to Jones' house and gave her a ticket for honking. She says he grabbed her. The officer says she resisted him. Whatever happened, the officer then shocked the 68-yer-old woman twice in the chest. When her husband came downstairs to see why his wife was screaming, they were both arrested. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Jul 21, 2004 18:10:33 GMT -5
Transportation Security Administration acting chief David Stone testified before Congress that Delta, Continental, America West, Jet Blue and Frontier airlines, as well as airline reservation centers Sabre and Galileo International gave the TSA passenger data including home phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and health information. Stone said the companies didn't notify passengers the information was being given to the government or seek their permission. That contradicts previous sworn testimony from TSA officials as well as statements from airline officials. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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