Bureaucrats gone wild 2

Science project prompts SD school evacuation (H/T Instapundit via BoingBoing)

Students were evacuated from Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School in the Chollas View neighborhood Friday afternoon after an 11-year-old student brought a personal science project that he had been making at home to school, authorities said.

Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said the student had been making the device in his home garage. A vice principal saw the student showing it to other students at school about 11:40 a.m. Friday and was concerned that it might be harmful, and San Diego police were notified.

…

The student will not be prosecuted, but authorities were recommending that he and his parents get counseling, the spokesman said. The student violated school policies, but there was no criminal intent, Luque said.

So what kind of science projects should be done now?

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Minnesota bars beat smoking ban

UPDATE: Jo Egelhoff at FoxPolitics has a different view of a smoking ban.

This is hilarious.

The smoking ban, passed by the Legislature last year, allows actors to light up in character during theatrical performances as long as patrons are notified in advance.About 30 bars in Minnesota have been exploiting the loophole by staging the faux [Ed.-My readers will know I think that this is pronounced “foh” and not as liberals think it is pronounce “fox.” Or, perhaps, they think we don’t know how to pronounce it since one local blogger made the mistake of spelling “voilá” wrong.] theater productions and pronouncing cigarettes props, according to an anti-smoking group.

Legislators just love these little loopholes which more often than not come back to bite them in the butt. Yet they continue to do it. Then they have to close these loopholes which lead to more loopholes and this is why we have 200 page bills that legislators then do not have enough time to read.

“It’s too bad they didn’t put as much effort into protecting their employees from smoking,” grumbled Jeanne Weigum, executive director of the Association for Nonsmokers.

Well, let’s see. If they don’t want to work in this environment, they should change jobs. Isn’t this what we told pharmacists who wanted conscientious exemptions from filling certain prescriptions and doctors who, in conscience, couldn’t perform abortions? What’s the difference?

The Health Department this week vowed to begin cracking down on theater nights with fines of as much as $10,000.

“The law was enacted to protect Minnesotans from the serious health effects of secondhand smoke,” Minnesota Health Commissioner Sanne Magnan said. “It is time for the curtain to fall on these theatrics.”

Theatrics? Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. I hope somebody takes these fines to court and wins.

Proving anew there’s no business like show business, Anderson said her theater-night receipts have averaged $2,000 — up from $500 right after the ban kicked in. Similarly, Bauman said revenue at The Rock dropped off 30 percent after the ban took effect, then shot back up to normal once the bar began allowing smoking again.

Wait, wait, wait. Did I read that correctly? They lost money? I thought smoking bans were supposed to be a boom for business.

Obesity may be hard-wired in the brain

So don’t be passing any prejudicial laws against it.

Obesity may be hard-wired into the brain from birth, according to a new animal study released Tuesday that appears to bolster the notion that some people are more prone to pile on the pounds than others.