Australian town bans bottled water.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 18, 2009 - 59 comments

Despite being a tobacco state, Virginia lawmakers passed a smoking ban today. Their ban covers most restaurants and bars, but permits smoking in private clubs and in establishments that construct separately ventilated enclosed smoking rooms for patrons. You can follow the journey of the bill here.
posted by MaryDellamorte on Feb 19, 2009 - 54 comments

For the past two months, Iraqi interpreters working with US forces have been forbidden from wearing masks. This decision was recently overturned. Ostensibly, this was because the security situation had become better. Some believe instead that this rule was instated to prevent asylum claims. Some think that it reflects traditional army FUBAR decision making. Personally, I think they are becoming more cautious because the back up plan is a piece of junk. [more inside]
posted by marmaduke_yaverland on Dec 6, 2008 - 22 comments

There are many opinions about the nature of Irony. Some think it is having too many spoons. Sometimes it is found in far off places. However, closer to home, we now have an example of Recursive Irony. (YT)
posted by Lord_Pall on Aug 3, 2008 - 34 comments

Product Placement Banned in U.K. Minister says it 'contaminates programs'.
posted by jeremy b on Jun 13, 2008 - 44 comments

Bisphenol A. Canada is banning it in baby bottles, while the California State Senate recently passed a bill to ban it in child care products. Even the US Senate is getting in on the action. Bill Moyers thought it was interesting enough to run this Expose story. In addition to the previously discussed cancer risk, it may also cause obesity. Is this pointless overreaction, or is it an example of government's failure to act [PDF] in the face of industry pressure? The FDA, was, after all, tasked with screening such endocrine disruptors over ten years ago. Previously on the blue and green.
posted by wierdo on May 25, 2008 - 58 comments

Laser pointer import ban in Oz Seems there's been a rash of people aiming laser pointers at planes in Oz. With an incident of a pilot being "temporarily blinded", this action may be a little less...well, as Oz politicians put it, "amusing". Previously. [more inside]
posted by telstar on Mar 30, 2008 - 41 comments

British internet users face ban for illegal downloads. A draft copy of a Green Paper produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was leaked to The Times newspaper which detailed how the government was considering introducing legislation that would require ISPs to take action against users who access pirated material. [more inside]
posted by electricinca on Feb 12, 2008 - 37 comments

Obey the moderator. (SLYT)
posted by PeterMcDermott on Feb 1, 2008 - 20 comments

Germany Seeks to Ban Scientology
posted by chuckdarwin on Dec 7, 2007 - 144 comments

The Algalita Marine Research Foundation's video Synthetic Sea is pretty shocking. "All we can do is stop polluting and hope the system will clean itself up in hundreds of years." So, what will be the fate of the plastic bag until the inevitable ban comes? Should they be Taxed? Should they be Banned ? Should stores charge extra for them? We don't really have a lot of time to argue about it.
posted by chuckdarwin on Jun 27, 2007 - 36 comments

Judge bans the word "rape" from a rape trial. Jeffre Cheuvront, a Nebraska judge, "granted a motion by defense attorneys barring the use of the words rape, sexual assault, victim, assailant, and sexual assault kit from the trial of Pamir Safi—accused of raping Tory Bowen in October 2004." This move follows some tightening of language during trials meant to avoid unnecessarily swaying jury members. But has it gone too far this time?
posted by cmgonzalez on Jun 24, 2007 - 112 comments

As the smoking ban in England looms ever closer, some are considering its possible unintended consequences. Who will be the unintended winners? Wine merchants, chefs, online bingo sites, paparazzi, and people who make outdoor heaters. [Previously]
posted by chuckdarwin on May 23, 2007 - 75 comments

Hot dog joint hit with foie gras fine. The City of Chicago Health Department has issued a citation to a Northwest Side eatery (Hot Doug's, all all places!) for serving foie gras in voilation of the city ban. “People are actually dying from the cold, and I’m getting hassled because of some sausage,” owner Doug Sohn said Friday afternoon...
posted by Durwood on Feb 18, 2007 - 70 comments

Poitin, Hjemmebrent, and Slivovitz are all vying to be the next Absinthe. Though Poitin gets extra points for being banned by a 17th century monarch, they are all part of the very trendy, very quaffable moonshine revival.
posted by huckhound on Sep 21, 2006 - 38 comments

Blogspot, Geocities, and TypePad blocked in India. Indian ISPs, who had been ordered by the Indian government to block certain blogs, have blocked the entire blogspot.com, geocities.com, and typepad.com (by IP), rendering hundreds of thousands of blogs inaccessible in India. The block was ordered by the government apparently because terrorists were using blogs to co-ordinate their activities. Indian bloggers, upset at the blanket ban, have started a wiki to keep track of the situation. They have also created a mailing list to discuss the issue. Some prominent Indian bloggers are also tracking updates. Indian laws require ISPs to install filtering equipment and follow government orders to block sites, or the can lose their licence to operate. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In 2003, the government ordered a block on a Yahoo group that was supposedly anti-national. Indian ISPs ended up blocking Yahoo Groups completely. India's recently introduced Right-to-Information Act, which many bloggers are planning to use, gives the government 30 days to respond to an RTI request. In the interim, despite national and international coverage of the issue from the likes of New York Times (linked earlier), Washington Post, CNN, New Statesman, and WSJ (paid reg. required), these major blogging sites remain blocked.
posted by madman on Jul 19, 2006 - 37 comments

Jewsfilter: Rabbinic Council of America bans smoking for all Orthodox Jews "Jewish law is fully able to incorporate new realities, recognize new and reliable scientific findings, and embrace the need to change heretofore acceptable behavior." Read the full technical legal opinion here. [pdf] Now if only the Orthodox Union would stand up for the LBGT community in same the way that it has for Darfur, stem cell research, heck, even global warming...
posted by ericbop on Jul 7, 2006 - 44 comments

Got that snow, man? Hottest holiday shirt is a snowman. But activists alarmed by hidden message of t-shirt. Meanwhile schools expel evil frosty.
posted by dingobully on Nov 21, 2005 - 34 comments

Are Texans Poised to Ban All Marriage Altogether? A group opposed to the Texas anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative is pointing out that the language in Proposition 2 (one of nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution up for a vote November 8) might actually ban all marriages: gay, straight, whatever. The group -- Save Texas Marriage -- is organizing phone banks, offering signs and fliers, and pointing to language in the measure that would ban "any legal status identical or similar to marriage" without specifying that the ban would apply to gay persons. Prop 2 supporters, of course, are crying foul.
posted by mmahaffie on Oct 26, 2005 - 55 comments

As Brazil Votes to Ban Guns, NRA Joins the Fight. Today an estimated 122 million Brazilians will vote in a national referendum on whether to ban the sale of guns and ammunition to private citizens.
posted by furtive on Oct 23, 2005 - 89 comments

Alabama lawmaker to introduce a novel new way to keep people from catching "the gay". I can hear the ACLU drooling from here. Does the state have any power to limit the books available in a public library?
posted by ozomatli on Feb 9, 2005 - 53 comments

Arnold Signs Prison Smoking Ban
By July 1, 2005, there will be no more cigarette smoking in California's prison system.
Makes sense, no smoking in our bars, no smoking behind our bars.
posted by fenriq on Sep 28, 2004 - 118 comments

FDA bans sexually active gay men from donating sperm and tissues
posted by magullo on May 20, 2004 - 33 comments

Staking out the high moral ground, a bill would punish those wearing low-riding jeans. It seems that Representative Derrick D. T. Shepherd of Louisiana, a Democrat no less, wants to outlaw low slung pants. Plumbers beware, and stock up on Butt-Crack Caulk! Really, don't they have anything better to legislate besides fashion or holidays?
posted by Eekacat on Apr 23, 2004 - 45 comments

Thou shalt not make scientific progress. "Medical research is poised to make a quantum leap that will benefit sufferers from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy, diabetes and other diseases. But George W. Bush's religious convictions stand in its way."
posted by homunculus on Mar 24, 2004 - 45 comments

Vans Stevenson, senior lobbyist for MPAA (the Motion Picture Association of America), was the last to revise a letter California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is to distribute to other attorney generals. Lockyer is the president of the National Association of Attorneys General. - is your government owned? Lockyer receives thousands in campaign contributions from MPAA, RIAA, and '[via: The Register]..corporate and private donations from the major studios, including The Paramount Pictures Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Warner Bros PAC, AOL Time Warner. Senior executives, such as Alan Horn and Howard Welinsky, respectively CEO and senior VP at Warner Brothers..." Adam Eisgrau of P2P United said that "the draft attributed to the attorney general's office contains many significant factual errors, eyebrow-raising metadata, and articulates a very broad expansion in several important respects of product liability and consumer protection law that would have enormous effects..' It's in The NY Times. Slyck has the original document.
posted by giantkicks on Mar 15, 2004 - 3 comments

Bellevue school bans hats, hoods... In order to curtail unproven gang activity, Interlake High School has banned baseball caps, and the wearing of hoods, stemming from alleged gang involvement on the part of a few students. The faculty "believes" there to be gang actvity, and we all know that gangs require hooded-sweatshirt / ballcap uniforms, or you're out... Gang members can usually be singled out due to their poor fashion taste, but it has nothing to do with how they joined. This must be more of that freedom we North Americans seems to endorse so much...
posted by Dark Messiah on Mar 8, 2004 - 63 comments

Birth of a Nation: one of the most controversial films in american history. The film "...was banned in more than a dozen localities (and furthermore has been the most banned film in American history) because of its white supremacist sympathies, racist stereotypes, and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan..." Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy,Marjorie Heins. Given the recent controversy over Gibson's film, where do we draw the line between freedom of expression and censorship? when are these debates influenced by politcal agenda rather than sincere concern?
posted by poopy on Feb 25, 2004 - 27 comments

Pakistan Bans Anti-al-Qaida Operations. Where does the United States go from here?
posted by the fire you left me on Jan 29, 2004 - 15 comments

The Death of the Irish Pub? "The smoking ban is the work of one man, Michael Martin, the Minister for Health and Children, and one of nature's killjoys... He is generally thought to regard the banning of nicotine from Irish pubs as a personal crusade, explaining that he once tried smoking but didn't enjoy it."

The ban was scheduled to start today, but has been delayed until March. It's one thing to have smoking banned in California and New York, but what's the point of pub that's not dark and smoky? And Scotland might be next...
posted by grabbingsand on Jan 1, 2004 - 122 comments

UK bans controversial charity ads In recent weeks, UK newspaper readers have been opening their newspapers to find full-page, colour pictures of a cockroach crawling out of the mouth of a baby. Now the adverts, for children's charity Barnardo's, have been banned. Barnado's maintain that the pre-Christmas ads were justified as "a way of cutting through the apathy."
posted by TheophileEscargot on Dec 10, 2003 - 51 comments

Sex for Money, Money having Sex? Ban on Russian ads depicting euro having sex with dollar. Immoral or are they just dancing?
posted by kodas on Sep 24, 2003 - 14 comments

Bush looks to ban gay marriage and implies gays are "sinners." I'm not surprised; I guess the neo-cons got jittery when Bush refused to do their bidding and have asked for the value of their campaign contributions.
posted by Bag Man on Jul 30, 2003 - 199 comments

Why a ban on spitting is catching in the throats of Chinese. Apparently, spitting in public is very common in China. "They consider phlegm excrement," explained a coworker of mine who recently visited Shanghai. With SARS spreading in airborne saliva and mucous particles (aka respiratory secretions, China has had to tackle the challenge of outlawing a practice as "common as breathing."
posted by scarabic on May 27, 2003 - 33 comments

The Senate bans "partial birth" abortions, but a similar law was struck down in Stenberg v. Carhart . Memo to Mr. Bush: there are other branches of the U.S. Federal Government.
posted by Bag Man on Mar 13, 2003 - 65 comments

No laptops??? How am I going to watch my DVDs? Or, for that matter, get my ego stroked by people ogling my TiBook?
posted by fpatrick on Sep 4, 2002 - 35 comments

No butts about it... Bloomberg plans to ban smoking in small bars and restaurants in NYC. Why not? The pope took it even further. And after all, it won't hurt business owners. Perhaps a better plan would be to limit food portions instead. How do NYC smokers feel about this? I know Carrie Bradshaw will not be too thrilled.
posted by bmxGirl on Aug 9, 2002 - 125 comments

The Website of Anti-Porn Guy Welcome to my site! My name is David McNamara and I am 19 years old. I have 2 cats and I am a senior at Royal Palm Beach High School in Royal Palm Beach, Florida......I want to ban pornography with a 10-year prison term for viewing or participating in pornography, as well as oral and anal sex with a 1-5 year prison term for oral sex and a 1-10 year term for anal sex. I also want to ban the manufacture and sale of contraceptives (birth control) with a prison term of up to 1 year in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000 for violating this ban. None of these laws will be retroactive. Wonder what he's doing now - his site was last updated 12-10-00. Discuss? Dismiss?
posted by Corky on Jul 25, 2002 - 52 comments

Atomic blast licence plates are rejected by state.
"Any reference on a license plate to weapons of mass destruction is inappropriate and would likely offend our citizens."
posted by Mwongozi on Jun 7, 2002 - 12 comments

Remember that Florida Mayor who banned Satan from town? Well, after she got done talking to mass-media syncophants like Dan Rather, her utterly misguided publicist apparently let her talk to the keen and incisive sleuths from Satanosphere, who, as usual, got down to the really important stuff. Like:

matt: ...The one question everybody has for you is this: Are you planning on banning any other major deities or demons? Like Skeletor?

So, will Skeletor be banned forever from Inglis, Florida? Will the ACLU extend Skeletor the same legal protection as it graciously offered Satan? And perhaps most important of all, what about Wil Wheaton?
posted by rusty on Mar 21, 2002 - 13 comments

Town passes law banning nudity... ... but more notable is the section of the law banning erections in males over 10 years old. Why was a law like this needed? (link via Obscure Store)
posted by krewson on Feb 8, 2002 - 15 comments

Olympics ban skate 'porn' I was so looking forward to the Olympics, and they had to do this. ;-( (link courtesy of Daily Rotten)
posted by a3matrix on Jan 17, 2002 - 48 comments

The Taliban has declared the Internet un-Islamic, but elsewhere in the Muslim world, going online is one way to avoid the censors.
posted by KimmishKim on Oct 16, 2001 - 8 comments

When Headlines Go (Nearly) Right The world's most unfortunately named cleric makes a cameo appearance in a row over sex scenes in a film. Can someone persuade me that the Pope didn't make Bishop Sin a cardinal just for these moments?
posted by holgate on Mar 27, 2001 - 7 comments

Saudi Arabia bans Pokemon. La ilaha illalah, Muhammad-ur-rasul-illah, you betcha!
posted by jfuller on Mar 26, 2001 - 6 comments

County Chairman Rich Crotty wants to ban dancing in new clubs. Assistant County Attorney Joel Prinsell said, "There's no constitutional right to dance with strangers."

Another strange anti-drug law for you.
posted by john on Feb 6, 2001 - 9 comments

Minnesota tells prisoners to get rid of soft porn magazines. Hard porn is already forbidden, but now they won't be permitted to have Playboy or Penthouse or the like. Will there be a rise in prison rape?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jan 31, 2001 - 19 comments

UK Govt. votes to ban hunting in England and Wales. Browsing the web last night, several national polls were showing that more of the British Public were against a ban than in favour. Will the MPs who turned up to vote but not to debate (not very democratic?) live to regret their decision as the debate turns from animal welfare to civil rights?
posted by nico on Jan 18, 2001 - 29 comments

Indianapolis minors can't play violent videogames anymore.
posted by skallas on Oct 13, 2000 - 10 comments

Bummer.
posted by highindustrial on Oct 11, 2000 - 18 comments