Strange things governments do...

Denials of disability allowances in the town of Basildon, England, near London, are handled at the Acorn House courthouse, on the fourth floor, where afflicted people who believe they were wrongly rejected for benefits must present their appeals. However, in November, zealous government safety wardens, concerned about fire-escape dangers, closed off the fourth floor to wheelchair-using people. Asked one woman, turned away in early February, "Why are they holding disability tribunals in a building disabled people aren't allowed in?" (As I raise my hand and say "I know, pick me, I know...)

Among the helpful civic classes the city government in Oakland, Calif., set up earlier this year for its residents was one on how to pick locks (supposedly to assist people who had accidentally locked themselves out of their homes), and lock-picking kits were even offered for sale after class. Some residents were aghast, as the city had seen burglaries increase by 40 percent. Asked one complainer, "What's next? The fundamentals of armed robbery?" -Apparently Oakland is competing with San Fransisco for the title "Dumbest City Government in California".

"We Must Kill This Legislation Because Too Many People Are for It'

The North Carolina House of Representatives Rules Committee took the unusual step of pre-emptively burying a bill to legalize prescription marijuana  WRAL-TV (Raleigh-Durham) reported Rep. Paul Stam's explanation: Committee members were hearing from so many patients and other constituents (via phone calls and emails) about the importance of medical marijuana to them that the representatives were feeling "harassed." Makes sense to me. The last thing a politician wants to do is pass a law people support….

Not the government exactly, but –very interesting…. (Read that with a German accent)

One of the many decisions greeting the Pope is whether to officially recognize Patron Saint of Hand gunners. According to legend, St. Gabriel Possenti rescued an Italian village from a small band of pillagers and rapists in the 19th century by shooting at a lizard in the road, killing it with one shot, which supposedly so terrified the bandits that they fled. No humans were harmed, activists now point out, signifying the handgun was obviously a force for good. The head of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society has noted that, however far-fetched the "lizard incident" may be, it was rarely questioned until U.S. anti-gun activists gained strength in the 1980s.

 Live Long and Prosper...