From Bankable Insight:
1. Collecting rainwater
If you live in Oregon, don’t even think about diverting that rain water on your property into any sort of container. One Oregon man was sentenced to 30 days in jail because he had three ponds on his property. His ponds were deemed “illegal reservoirs.” According to a really stupid law in Oregon, all water is publicly owned. Anyone who wants to store water has to get a special permit from the state. So, by having a pond which collected rain water, this poor man was convicted of stealing water from the people of Oregon. The ongoing legal battle demonstrates the unintended consequences of declaring water a publicly owned good. Maybe he could sue the people of Oregon for constantly raining their water over his property.
2. Raw milk
There is only one thing standing between those who don’t believe in pasteurizing their milk and consumers eager to buy it: the law. Because if not for federal agents with guns, the world would descend into a raw milk drinking binge, which is all part of the Amish’s master plan. In reality, many people prefer raw milk, and those all-natural, earthy folk known as the Amish love to make it. But that’s just too bad, because the feds said so. In 2011 they actually conducted a sting operation on Amish farmers and busted them for selling milk to their neighbors. Milk their neighbors wanted and were happy to buy. Armed agents took down this threat to America, and ensured the Amish will continue their distrust of all things ‘English.’
3. Mandatory Recycling
When the left gets an idea, they usually aren’t happy until everyone is forced to comply. Recycling, the great energy expending, tax dollar eating, politically correct way to waste resources. Even if we all like the idea, usually recycling is an expensive process that uses more energy than it saves. Landfills, which are generally derided as “toxic,” actually produce ethanol which is used to produce electricity. But inparts of Florida, if you don’t recycle you can be fined up to $1000 (I guess that will help offset the cost of recycling). In some parts of Massachusetts, you have to affix an individualized sticker onto your garbage, so they can be sure you are not throwing away recyclables. Because heaven forbid a Pepsi bottle gets put in the wrong bag.
4. Lemonade Stands
Lemonade stands are a rite of passage. They are many kids’ first experiences in earning money. From coast to coast, American kids love to take lemonade mix from their parent’s cupboard, and sell it for a quarter or fifty cents a cup. But now from coast to coast, uniformed men with guns have been cracking down on this scourge of undocumented labor and profits. It appears that the prospect of children making measly amounts of money is just too much for officials to bear. These kids need to be taught a lesson good and early about the regulatory nightmare of a country they will be working in when they get older. In this way, a lemonade stand is still a good life lesson, whether your kid see profits or jack-booted thugs trading over his dreams.
5. Bible study
In some places it is illegal to hold gatherings of a certain amount of people without a permit. This is what landed one Phoenix, Arizona man a 60 day jail sentence and $12,000 in fines. His crime? Holding Bible studies at his home. The City claimed it had concerns for the people attending, that they would have ability to exit in case of fire. The city is obviously trying to shake down whomever it can for revenue. It obviously hasn’t read the First Amendment, which protects not only religious liberties, but the right to assemble. The city has made it clear the family can hold services or run a church on their property if they’d like, they just need to pay off the right people—I mean, they just need to get the right permits.
6. Gardens
Zoning laws are becoming nothing more than a way for bullies to interfere with people’s lives. This is just another example. In many communities, having a garden is a regulated enterprise. One such community in Tulsa, Oklahoma demanded all plants not for human consumption be kept under 12” tall. Even though Denise Morrison’s plants were all edible; lemon, stevia, garlic chives, grapes, strawberries, apple mint, spearmint, peppermint, an apple tree, walnut tree, pecan trees, for example, the city decided she was in violation and ripped up her entire garden while she watched in tears. She tried to get the courts involved, but they asked her to come back at a later date. Before her court date arrived, city bureaucrats had already destroyed her garden.