A Stitch in Haste

--Is it a proper function of government to criminalize male public shirtlessness? (Via QuizLaw.)

--Special Follow-Up Question: Any hard-core libertarians want to take up the topic of female public shirtlessness and gender-based discrimination between the two?

--Does James Dobson speak for you?

--Who says the dollar is weak?

--Which aspect of the U.S. Naval Academy is more bizarre: compulsory prayers or compulsory tomfoolery?

--Who said this, and in what context?

So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.

--Who accused whom of being "like the baseball player who charges kids for their signature"? (Via C&F.)

--Who accused whom of having a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution and of "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter"?

--Speaking of the Constitution and fruitcake: Cruel and unusual breakfast?

--Speaking of breakfast, another Special Pride Month Question: "Where Do Homosexuals Get All Their Energy?"

--Speaking of energy: WUI?

--Which religious sect is, somewhat ironically, the latest to insist that marriage in California should be restricted to one man and one woman? (Hint: Think "one" man and "one" woman.)

--Is it a smart idea for the New York City government, facing an imminent financing crisis due to Wall Street's losses and layoffs, to propose a new tax on some of those very same Wall Streeters?

--How does it "foster tolerance" or -- "celebrate diversity" or whatever -- for public schools to ban Father's Day cards?

Local authorities defended the change, saying teachers needed to act "sensitively" at a time when many children were experiencing family breakdown and divorce.

--Which one "Biblical superpower" would you most like to have? (Via Fark.)

--A Special Pride Month Question: "Does This Shirt Make Me Look Gay?"

--Who is describing John McCain's record on gay rights as simultaneously "mixed" and showing "enormous political courage"?

--Why do China's authoritarian rulers hate puppies and kittens?

--What word on a placard did authorities in Scotland recently censor?

--Are consumers more irrational about gas prices or about free ice cream cones?

--A Special Guest Question: "Do Nerds Like Cheese More than Ordinary People?"

--How many bloggers around the world have been arrested for "exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments"?

--If the government is entitled, as some health care socialists argue, to control eating habits and ban certain foods because they supposedly "strain the health care system," then is it also entitled to outlaw body piercing for the same reason? (Via Kevin, MD.)

--Should nurses who earn a "doctor of nursing practice" degree be prohibited from calling themselves "doctor"? (Also via Kevin, MD.)

--Third verse, same as the first?

--A Special Guest Question: "What are the most meaningful compliments you ever received?"

--Is it a proper function of government to ban keeping goats as pets ("quieter than dogs and make much less mess")?

--Is it a proper function of government to forbid a couple from naming their daughter "Elvis"? ("Elvis is a first name of a masculine type and as such may, in light of standard practice, be considered clearly inappropriate as a first name for a woman.")

--Special Follow-Up Question: Even if the answer is somehow "Yes," then should the government entity making such a determination be the Taxation Board? (Via QuizLaw.)

--A Special Guest Question: "What is it with Che and the Left?"

--The House That Taxpayers Built?

--Special "Commencement Season" Question: What exactly is the point of honorary degrees? (Especially when they sometimes come back to haunt you.)

--How do China's authoritarians keep their oppressive censorship apparatus glued together?

--Why is Tivo teaming up with Focus on the Family to sponsor a (no-gays-allowed) "Superdad" contest for Father's Day? (This question is now moot. Or not. I can't tell anymore.)

--Special Replacement Question: If dolphins are so smart, why do they leave trash in their igloos?

--A Special Guest Question: What would make the Constitution the legitimate law of the U.S. in 12,008, binding on our descendants and the intelligent metal bugs who have also been made "persons" by the 28th Amendment?

--Who is the sexiest geek alive, at least this month?

--Special Follow-Up Question: Whom would you nominate for "sexiest geek alive"?

--Which organization is accusing which other organization of being "the most dangerous organization in America"?

--Is it a proper function of government "to encourage the display of the flag of the United States on Father's Day"?

--Why bother at 2-5?

--Special Follow-Up Question: Is it ever mathematically possible, given the structure of parimutuel betting, for a Show bet on a horse to pay more than a Win bet on the smae horse for the same amount? (I honestly don't know the answer to this one.)

--A Special Guest Question: Whatever happened to self-cleaning clothes?

--What are our good friends Kiki and Bubu (from this old post) reading now?


--Can you guess what group uses this logo? (Hint: Like Kiki and Bubu, they like to quote from Orwell.)

--Special Follow-Up Question: Why are they patting themselves on the back right now?

--Is it a proper function of government to investigate the rising price of Snickers bars?

--Just how "principled" is Bob Barr's position on repealing DOMA? Stated differently, how old is it?

--What's another word for "a sheepskin placed on a horse's back to prevent chafing"?

--Which country's attorney general warned that human rights must not become "a religion for fanatics"?

--You might "measure a life in love," but how do you measure a minor league baseball career?

--How does someone get a 5.89 GPA (i.e., when did schools start offering both "Honors" and "AP" classes; what exactly is the difference)?

--Should the student who got the 5.89 GPA lose valedictorian status, and a taxpayer-funded scholarship that goes with it, because she graduated in three years rather than four:

But a school district policy states: "The valedictorian shall be the eligible student with the highest weighted grade-point average for four years of high school."

The dispute over Anjali's status as valedictorian comes down to interpretation: Does four years mean calendar years of school attendance or does it mean completing the credits it takes most students four years to earn?

(Justice Scalia unavailable for comment.)

--How can this be the case...

State officials say it is the local school district's responsibility to determine the highest ranking student, and the state has no authority to get involved.

...if the state is the entity creating, funding and remitting the scholarship?

--What are the policy implications of this Fark comment:

I remember taking study halls because they had no effect on GPA. Sure, I would have loved to take the auto repair or shop classes, but getting an A in those would lower my precious over inflated 5.X GPA.

--How did this 16-year old, graduated-in-three-years loser, who couldn't even keep his Honors Sash on straight, wind up as a graduation speaker with only a 4.3 GPA?


(I think I still have the speech somewhere in my archives. Maybe I'll post it someday.)

--Do you recognize the title reference?

--A "proper function of government" question in three parts:

1. Is it a proper function of a state government to ban or otherwise regulate "early termination fees" for cell phone contracts?


2. Is it a proper function of the federal government, in the form of the FCC, to pre-empt such state laws?


3. If your answer to questions #1 and #2 are both "No!" then which is the worse abomination (i.e., the louder "No!")?

(Via ACSBlog.)

--Why do people refer to "shark-infested waters"? How can sharks be an "infestation" in their natural habitat?

--Which New York State bureaucrat described his job as "a step above voodoo"?

--Is it a proper function of government to impose (de facto if not de rigueur) maximum age limits on social networking sites (i.e., if you're 36 and on MySpace, then you "must" be a sexual predator)? (Via Techdirt.)

--Should it be a crime to blow a kiss to a police officer?

--Special Bonus Question: Should said police officer attempt to handcuff said kiss blower (14 years old, incidentally) if said kiss blower's wrist is in a cast? (Hint: Said police officer is now a former police officer).

--Is it a proper function of government to designate "Frank Sinatra Day"?

--What happens when you call Scientology a "cult" in the U.K., even if you're only 15 years old?

--A Special Trick Question: What's the difference between 23° Fahrenheit and 23° Celsius?

--What will or won't the Democrats be eating at their party's convention in Denver? (Via QandO.)

--A Special Guest Question: "If a retiring congressman from a safe district cannot muster up the gumption to oppose an admittedly bad bill that contains a hefty tax hike, what does that mean for the state of Congress?"