Free Republic

Chinese authorities ‘arrest’ Ronald McDonald statue Chinese authorities weren’t lovin’ Ronald McDonald this week, hauling away a statue of the clown that was blocking sidewalk foot traffic. Uniformed code enforcement officers in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou ripped the Ronald McDonald figure off its base, leaving only his big red shoes behind, as shoppers in the Huadu District of commerce hub Guangzhou looked on in amazement Sunday. The city had been warning operators of this McDonald’s that its statue was hindering pedestrian traffic, according to state organ the People’s Daily. “We’ve asked them to remove the Ronald McDonald statue...

Jeremy Trentelman’s cardboard fort for his kids came with windows, trap doors and a green slide. Then the city of Ogden, Utah, gave him 15 days to take it down. With the help of their kids Max, 3, and Story, 2, Trentelman and his wife, Dee, cut and taped the cardboard to build two towers, trap doors, tunnels, and a slide. They built the whole thing last week with the help of their friend, Byron Owens, and his two kids Satoria and Oliver in Ogden, Utah. His friend’s daughter also wrote a sign on the door of the fort reading,...

Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” But in 2007 the Florida Department of State reported it had received and processed 5,504 new laws. But in addition to laws there exists a multiplicity of departments that create rules having the force of law and that are enforceable by fines or imprisonment. There are, for example, regulations governing the size, quantity and type of fish you can catch. If you’re in possession of an undersized lobster you’re subject to a fine even if you bought it at the grocery store. If you’re a visitor and you’ve...

Code Enforcement Officer Walks Into Home Monday morning, Erica Masters was sleeping in her bed when Columbia County Code Compliance Officer Jimmy Vowell came to serve a violation notice for her grass being too long. Erica caught the whole incident on tape. "He let himself in and actually came through the house and into my bedroom. And yelled at me to wake me up, to let me know that I needed to come back outside and sign the violation notice." Erica says she was freaked out seeing a stranger in her doorway. "I woke up, I didn't have my glasses...

LA County Finds Health Code Violations in Skid Row LOS ANGELES (AP) — The city of Los Angeles is violating the county health code for hazardous conditions on Skid Row, including nearly 90 rats' nests, a dozen hypodermic needles and piles of human excrement and trash on sidewalks, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has found. The notice of violation stems from an extensive Health Department inspection last month of the 10-block area of downtown Los Angeles that houses the nation's densest population of homeless people, most of them mentally ill and substance abusers. Health officials ordered the...

Bigfoot takes free speech claim to NH high court Bigfoot is taking his First Amendment case to New Hampshire’s top court. When Jonathan Doyle of Keene donned a Bigfoot costume and set out to videotape staged sightings of the fabled ape-like creature on Mount Monadnock two years ago, state park officials put the kibosh on his escapades, saying Doyle and his friends had failed to pay $100 for a special-use permit 30 days in advance and secure a $2 million bond. But such requirements stifle free speech and artistic expression and are too broad to pass constitutional scrutiny, say Doyle...

On this day of a 265 point drop on top of a net 850+ drop over the past 8 days (12,724 to 11,866) the next question overlying the US Economy is where will be the July 2011 Employment figures (June 2011 = 9.2%). A constant comment from the private sector appears to be the burden of government regulation. In the coming months and years, the business community is facing an enormous slew of known and probable regulations as created by an activist government ideology, ranging from Dodd-Frank Financial Reform & Obama Health Care to EPA Carbon Reduction & Dept. of...

<p>SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) - Barbershops with traditional spinning poles violate a city law against revolving signs, city officials say, and code-enforcement officers are cracking down.</p> <p>They visited three barbershops last week and told them to get rid of the spinning poles.</p>