A Stitch in Haste

--Who appointed all those liberal, "activist" California judges who just found in favor of same-sex marriage?

--Should it be a crime to lie about having received the Congressional Medal of Honor? (Note: To lie about it to a specific person for a specific purpose — e.g., to get a job — can easily constitute fraud. No issue there. But should the mere act of lying about it, without more, be generally proscribable conduct?)

--A Special Guest Question: "Will Russert offer Libertarian candidate Barr the same Meet the Press platform he gave Nader?"

--Another Special Guest Question: "Why is blackmail a crime?"

--A Special Trick Question: "Who is John Gault?"

--Is it a proper function of a family court judge to sentence a father to 180 days in jail for failing to ensure that his delinquent daughter successfully earn a GED?

--Who called for making it a crime to serve vegetables out of season? ("I don't want to see asparagus in the middle of December. I don't want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home-grown.")

--A Special Guest Question: Who's worse for president? (Be sure to note my succinct response in the comments there.)

--In which state is a candidate for the legislature proposing mandating separate restrooms for gay and straight students? (Hint: It is a state all too familiar with homosexual perverts in public restrooms.)

--What did the Vatican just tell Catholics it was now permissible to do? (Hint: It would seem to contradict Genesis 1:26, but who takes the Bible literally, right?)

--Did global warming cause the Burma cyclone?

--Should the Senate summarily refuse to confirm any more judicial appointees by President Bush? ("[T]he Bush administration and its allies have made a politicized judiciary into an art form.") (But recall this old post.)

--A Special Guest Question: "Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock?"

--Who suggested that not wanting to use PayPal is the functional equivalent of buying heroin? ("We're not allowing people to offer unsafe choices...")

--How can we simultaneously solve both the food price crisis and the mortgage crisis?

--Is it a proper function of government to spend taxpayer money on "all technical and professional means available to rectify" the country's image abroad after a single (albeit horrific) incest scandal?

--Why is the U.S. military stockpiling goats? (Hint: If you've read Atlas Shrugged, then you already know the answer.)

--A Special Guest Question: When [and where] does kinky porn become illegal?

Mrs Longhurst acknowledges that libertarians see her as "a horrible killjoy". ... To those who fear the legislation might criminalise people who use violent pornography as a harmless sex aid, she responds with a blunt "hard luck".

--Who is calling for Grand Theft Auto IV to be reclassified from "Mature" to "Adults Only" — and possibly even for the game to be pulled from the market? (Via Fark.)

--A Specal Guest Question: "Are new mathematical truths discovered or invented?"

--Is it a proper function of the Border Patrol to conduct "spot checks" on a ferry servicing islands in Washington State (i.e., running exclusively within the United States)?

--Is it a proper use of government anti-terrorism surveillance cameras to spy on violators of littering and pooper-scooper laws?

--Which supposedly free nation is allowing one of its local subdivisions to make unlicensed religious conversions a crime?

--Which supposedly free (super-)nation has banned loud bagpipe playing ?

Special Follow-Up Question: Does this amount to a ban on all bagpipe playing? ("You can't play the pipe quietly; they haven't got a volume switch.") (Via Lowering the Bar.)

--Who said the following, and in what context?

"If we don't have some semblance of order, we'd just have a libertarian society where anything goes."

--Is it a proper function of government to forbid a brewer from calling his product "Weed"? Would your answer change if he were based in the town of Weed, California? And would your answer change after being reminded that the government allows a certain other brewer to call its product "Bud"?

--What are the latest recruitment figures from the Culture Wars?

--A Special Guest Question: "If a train heading east leaves Chicago at noon and a train heading west leaves New York an hour later, will that make you any better at math?"

--In which U.S. city did two gay men kissing in public result in a 911 call? ("I imagine you could complain if you like ma'am. We can always send an officer down there.")

--Are dogs proof of intelligent design? (But cf. this post.)

--Is the standardization of widescreen laptops merely an attempt by computer manufacturers to cheat consumers? ("[T]hey can still advertise that they offer 14.1 or 15.4 screens, but the screen area is smaller, and thus they save more money. ... How can laptop manufacturers still claim that they look after their customers when the move to widescreens is clearly a selfish one?")

--Should laws that red-line sex offenders by forbidding them to be within a certain radius of a school apply to Election Day, when the school is the offender's polling place? (Via Sex Crimes Blawg.)

--Why are "suspected sorcerers" in the D.R. Congo being arrested and in some cases almost lynched by angry mobs?

--A Special Guest Question: "Why have the genetic traits predisposing to homosexuality not been eliminated long ago?"

--Who should get to keep the pot?

--Is it a proper function of government to solicit registered voters to help find the mayor's cat?

--Why is it an ethical abomination (and a crime) to give people money for their organs, but not to give them a tax deduction for doing so?

--Are the New York Rangers homophobic?

--Should a public middle school science teacher, in between his curriculum-breaching lectures on intelligent design and "holes in evolution," be allowed to conspicuously display a Bible on his desk?

--Or, as Mr. Theocrat phrases it, "Would we ask a science teacher to remove 'The Origin of Species' from his desk merely because the origin of man has never been proven?" (Via Religion Clause.)

--A Special Passover Question: Should a prison be required to provide Jewish inmates a wider variety of kosher snacks during Passover? (On the list: "grape juice, matzos, macaroons and two types of chocolate" — but not "gelfilte [sic] fish, smoked salmon, chicken and chicken soup with matzos[.]")

--Are we in a "social recession"?

--What will voters in Porterville, California, having solved all other problems, now be asked to decide? (Hint: According to the mayor, the proposal "would not violate [F]irst [A]mendment rights because the decision is up to the voters." ) (Via Religion Clause.)

--What happens when the "War on Obesity" becomes a War on Baby Fat?

--A Special Guest Question: "Can man's best friend be replaced by a prickly pal the size of your palm?"

--A Special Trick Question: Who wrote the following?

With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. Hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

--Can a company "own" a color? ("Cadbury Schweppes has deliberately established a connection between our shade of purple and Cadbury chocolate, and many consumers associate Cadbury purple with Cadbury chocolate.") (Cf., "At UPS, brown is more than a color — it's a tangible asset that people associate with all the things that are good about our brand.") (Via Fark.)

--What did the Alabama House of Representatives, having solved all other problems, recently find time to do for Easter Week?

--Should electric cars be required by law to be noisy? ("The beneficial trend toward more environmentally friendly vehicles has had the unintended effect of placing the blind and other pedestrians in danger.")

--Shouldn't a "right to health care" include a right to a C-section? ("They are 3 times as expensive as vaginal births." Perhaps, but why should that matter if there is a "right to health care"?)

--A Special Guest Question: What might save Red Shirts' lives?

--Is it a proper function of public schools to impose compulsory community service as a graduation requirement? (One example here.)

--Which nation is considering drafting priests?

--Is it a proper function of government to criminalize the sale of toy guns that "looked too real"?

--Phrased differently, are the purported externalities of selling such guns worth $800,000?

--What position is held by the person who said this:

Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value.
(Via Liberty Papers.)

--Is philosophy sexy? ("That whole deep existential torment ... It's good for getting girlfriends.") (Via a sexy philosopher.)

--Is it a violation of copyright to sell a used book? Is it extortion to threaten to sue over it? ("I think [a] number in the high seven figures will be fair enough for me to suddenly catch amnesia.")

--A Special Guest Question: Who has the worst name?

--Special Follow-Up Question: Should the government have the authority to pre-screen potential names?

--To which party does the politician who said this to an atheist belong?

I'm trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois. This is the Land of Lincoln. This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God, where people believe in protecting their children. What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous[.] It's dangerous to the progression of this state. And it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! ... You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.
(Via QuizLaw.)

--What personalized message did Starbucks disallow on a gift card?

--A Special Trick Question: Is the Olympic Torch contributing to global warming?