What does your town (or others) ban?

Mulberry trees are illegal here.

My neighbor has one that hangs over into my yard. It was at some point in the past butchered by someone with poor pruning sense, so I can't stand to look at it in winter. It's almost as ugly as the pollarded mulberries in my in-law's housing tract back in Hemet, CA. However, I'm not telling, as I like my neighbors.

Plastic grocery bags and pumping your own gas are the first two that come to mind....

Plastic grocery bags are about to become a thing of the past on the island of Hawaii. (County ordinance, not state-wide.) Seat-belt laws rigidly enforced. (I'm against them; if I want to put my life and limb at risk while driving, that's my business and no concern to the authorities.) Hands-free driving mandatory. You better not be holding a cell phone to your ear.

But the most shocking ban of all is the total illegality of any sort of gambling. There are no Megabugs tickets nor any other scratch tickets sold here. That's why the airlines do such brisk business on Honolulu-Las Vegas flights. It's a gold mine. Hawaiians love to gamble but the puritanical pain-in-the-arse missionaries decided way back when that gambling is somehow sinful (I wish they could show me the passage in the Bible where it says that) and there ain't no bettin' on nuttin' here.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am personally not a gambler. Doesn't do a thing for me. But I think the ban is just foolishly wrong!

It always seems weird to foreign eyes, this town-level law making that goes on in the US. I wonder how many Americans realize it doesn't happen anywhere else?

I agree with this one 100%



There are lots of things that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible, which are against Christian principles. For example, the damage that gambling can do e.g. the loss of money by people ill able to afford it is something that can be seen as a social evil. Likewise alcohol. However with these two I would leave it the individual to choose. I would tax the profits of these activities.

Unleashed cats.

Here is a link to a piece I had published in NEWSWEEK on the issue.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1994/02/20/letting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag.html

Concord really needs to get over itself.

Next week, Bloomberg's infamous large size soda ban will most likely will pass its vote:

http://able2know.org/topic/191421-1;

Another famous Bloomberg ban: trans fats, http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/17/nycs-trans-fat-ban-worked-fast-food-diners-are-eating-healthier/;

Rudolph Giuliani's Ferret ban, http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/ferrets/a/ferretbanNYC.htm;

Yes, I know it confuses many Europeans that something which is perfectly legal in one jurisdiction can be actionable (and punishable) under the law in a neighbouring one. It makes life interesting.

Yeah - I agree I am not big on bans- but on the gambling side of things then what do the Catholics do in regard to Bingo then? Around here (and this makes me laugh), it is a huge money maker for Catholic Churches and schools. I remember a friend of mine whose child went to Catholic school - the parents had to volunteer for something. My friend used to volunteer for Bingo. He would give out the cards, and he said they had some sort of scratch tickets or something as well.

And to figure - it was huge part of the Revolutionary War....(for freedom???)

I forgot to mention the biggest bans here in NYC:
smoking bans in restaurants, bars, and public work spaces

And Bloomberg's recent smoking ban evolution:
public parks.
http://www.nycgovparks.org/facility/rules/smoke-free
Of course, enforcement on the smoking ban in the public parks like Bryant Park need to be upheld with a greater degree. I'm happy with this kind of social restriction. One day (I believe) that our next Bloombergian mayor will make NYC the first major city to ban the sale and smoking of cigarettes altogether. But that's a relative pipe dream.

Smoking bans are now common place almost every where - this is one of those bans I support. In this case, because smoking impacts the people around them. It is almost like by smoking in these places you are banning fresh air so it is like a ban to prevent a ban (although my thinking is always a bit weird).

But in reality - the only bans I can see supporting are those due to then direct impact of people around them. For example, banning smoking in people's individuals houses wouldn't be right as it only impacts the people who live there. Whereas banning smoking in public work places, directly impacts the other workers.

And the ban on large soda is plain old stupid. Although I rarely drink soda - if some one is dumb enough to drink down a whole 5 liters of soda in one sitting then the deserve to be obese.