Nanny State News: Headlines Big Government Doesn't Want You to Read or Believe

Check out our daily dose of Nanny State insanity plucked from deep under the radar of the liberal media. We serve it up hot and fresh daily, so be sure to bookmark us: nannystateliberationfront.net/category/on-the-front-lines/

Judge Schools Cop for Violating Citizen’s 1st and 2nd Amendment Rights
Reason.com; July 9, 2010
“[T]he First Amendment protects the sole individual who may be a gadfly, kook, weirdo, nut job, whacko, and spook, with the same force of protection as folks with more majoritarian and popular views,” U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett disciplined Osceola County, Iowa, Sheriff Douglas Weber for violating a citizen’s right to freedom of speech by denying him a carry permit based on his “weird” political activism.

Governor Gives Blessing to Churchgoers Packing Heat

FOXNews.com; July 8, 2010
“Gov. Bobby Jindal gave his blessing this week to churches, synagogues and mosques to allow concealed handguns on their premises, overturning a state ban.”

Smokers Face Discriminatory Hiring Ban at Hospital

CNN; July 8, 2010
“From personal experience as a physician, some of the best nurses happen to be smokers … Are you willing to hire staff that is not the best qualified simply because you’re trying to make this point about how bad smoking is,” asked Dr. Michael Siegel, a Boston University professor of public health.

Soda Tax Losing Steam Nationally

Stateline.org via NewJerseyNewsRoom.com; July 8, 2010
Pro-soda tax Stateline.org cries us a river over the beverage industry fighting back against nanny staters trying to legislate what Americans can drink.

Pennsylvania Profits at Nanny State Neighbor’s Expense

UnitedLiberty.org; July 8, 2010
“In order to shore up budget shortfalls and put off making tough choices caused by their own fiscal impropriety, many states are looking at increasing ‘sin taxes,’ such as the cigarette tax. The problem is that when a state is close to a state with a lower tax, people will travel to buy their smokes.”

Kids Shun Vegan Meals Promoted by Anti-Meat Activist Group

Sun Sentinel (Fla.); July 6, 2010
“[O]n a typical day, only about 16,000 of the 160,000 students buying a school lunch will choose vegan fare, even though it generally costs the same as more traditional foods or about 15 cents more. The poor showing flies in the face of a newly-released study of student lunch preferences conducted in Broward schools by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.”

Big Necks Seen as Big Problems for Kids

WebMd.com; July 6, 2010
“The researchers conclude that neck circumference can be used as a reliable tool to identify youngsters with high body mass indexes.” Looking at the kids’ bulging bellies just isn’t enough, so subjecting them to another humiliating measuring method should drive the point home.

City Uses $25 Million in Stimulus Funds to Fight Obesity ‘Epidemic’

Philadelphia Inquirer; July 5, 2010
The City of Brotherly Love is using its piece of the stimulus pie to take a bite out of obesity instead of putting unemployed residents back to work. The Philadelphia jobless rate as of April is 11 percent, but the bigger concern for the city’s nanny state bureaucrats is making sure inner-city kids don’t get fat.