Regulation Roundup

It’s been a busy summer for regulators around the world. Here are some of their latest accomplishments:

• In Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, you may not put chairs on the sidewalk for the town’s Fourth of July parade until 6:00 AM on the day of the event.
• Paris police seized 13 tons of tiny souvenir Eiffel Towers. It is illegal to sell them without a permit.
• Fayetteville, North Carolina, is mulling a $75 fee for cab passengers who get sick inside the cars. Drivers currently use their own discretion in such situations.
• Don’t let your grass grow too long in Martinez, Georgia. A compliance officer recently broke into a woman’s home to serve her a violation notice. Finding her asleep in her bedroom, he woke her up by shouting at her.
• By keeping a home test kit for HIV off the market for 24 years, the FDA is responsible for literally thousands of preventable deaths.
• Canada bans foreign strippers.
• It is illegal for New York City cabbies to give rides to prostitutes. Unintended consequence: this will make drivers reluctant to pick up almost any woman in revealing clothing.
• Weston, Florida, bans nightclubs, dance halls, and, strangely, skating rinks.
• Britain’s health and safety nannies strike again: starting pistols are now banned from school track meets because they might scare the athletes.