The reason: A 1959 law known as the Texas Open Beaches Act. Under the law, the strip of beach between the average high-tide line and the average low-tide line is considered public property, and it is illegal to build anything there.

Over the years, the state has repeatedly invoked the law to seize houses in cases where a storm eroded a beach so badly that a home was suddenly sitting on public property. The aftermath of Ike could see the biggest such use of the law in Texas history.

This is big government run amok. I’m sure they’ll claim that are just trying to prevent people form building near the shore, but there are other ways to do that besides basically stealing someone property.

A better solution would be to have the land owner upon purchase of the property or upon receiving state funds for repair would be to require them to agree that no future payments will be made to the owner in case of storm damage. In addition, the beach front would have to be repaired at the homeowners expense as well. This ensures only those financially well off could purchase the property and that no further tax payer money would be used on their stupidity of building along the shore. This remedy could also be applied to naturally flood prone areas saving the taxpayers billions of dollars.

Illinois kindergartners already faced a lengthy to-do list before they could report to school: mandatory vaccinations, tuberculosis tests, physicals and dental exams. This year, they need to stop at the eye doctor too. A new law requires that kindergartners and students new to Illinois schools receive a complete eye exam—to check for everything from astigmatism to glaucoma—performed by an optometrist or physician licensed to perform those tests. Schools may withhold report cards of students who do not show evidence of the exam by Oct. 15. Illinois already required schools to do basic screening of students’ eyesight in kindergarten, 2nd and 8th grades, leading some medical experts and educators to question the merits of the new law. More extensive eye exams undoubtedly will mean earlier detection of vision problems in some children, they say, but will also increase the expense for some financially strapped families. An eye exam typically costs about $50.

Government just keeps on mandating more and more expenses on top of the never ending taxes. These mandates are on top of all the mandates the schools have to perform already. Of course there are some parents who will never take their kids to the doctor, but that is a small minority. Instead of mandating something for everyone, lets find a way to help those parents who don’t help their kids. We just don’t need all of these government mandates. The government does not need to take care of us all.

Early this year, the Antonios began to notice that some stores and commercial buildings in the neighborhood weren’t being tagged, and they tended to be the ones with murals.

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In no time at all, Los Paisanos market had a praying Virgin Mother on a front corner along with “Jesus Saves.”

On the side of the bright yellow building was a colorful but edgier painting that looked like a two-headed serpent slithering through a junk yard. Just above that was a more traditional rural scene, with a couple of paisanos in sombreros.

——————————–
To the relief of the entire Antonio family, the taggers didn’t come near the mural. But three months into the respite, an even more menacing monster reared its ugly head.

This was a great idea; a business owner found a way to stop all the tagging. He no longer had to go out and paint over the graffiti which guessed was over 100 times. The city should have been thankful for this time and money savings. They weren’t however and threatened fines and jail time.

“ORDER TO COMPLY,” said the letter from the Building and Safety Department, which required the Antonios to remove “excessive signage” under threat of a $1,000 fine “and/or six (6) months imprisonment” for each of four alleged violations.

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Whitewashing that wall was like sending ants an invitation to a picnic. The taggers have been back almost daily, treating the wall like a fresh canvas.
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On some mornings, the Antonios were back out there with a brush, covering up the graffiti, which in Los Angeles can be like taking your own life into your hands. On other mornings, the city would send a crew that has a $500,000 annual contract to remove graffiti, one of more than a dozen anti-graffiti contracts for which the city pays $7 million a year.

Again, government bureaucracy stops individual ingenuity. They spend millions to do this. We have to stop electing officials who disregard private property rights and even common sense.

Health for all is a noble goal, but it is not the job of the federal
government to elevate it to a right of all citizens and non-citizens. This is one more step in a Nannyocracy.

Health care is expensive, but there are ways to lower the cost without
price fixing and rationing. The quickest way to make healthcare more
affordable is to stop all the mandated coverages so that insurance
companies do not have to have different policies and costs based on the
State regulations. Second put consumers back in charge of how much
they pay by having them pay for their own insurance instead of
companies. This gives people the incentive to control the costs
knowing it affects there rates. It also forces healthcare companies to
compete which will also lower costs.

The San Francisco Department of the Environment didn’t even wait for the November Election to demonstrate how life imitates art. Under a proposed law, trash collectors are going to inspect garbage before throwing it in the truck. If you (gasp!) don’t put your recyclable materials into the right containers, you will be warned. You could also draw a fine. “Big Brother is watching.” & “Ve haf vays of dealing mit people like you!”

If you offend three times, you could be fined up to $1,000.

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“We believe mandantory recycling can get us to the next level,” a city spokesperson is reported to have said.

How long before this “mandatory recycling” spreads across the country? How long before the garbage police are used to locate guns owners as suggested by Defense Mechanism? What other things will they be used to police, what church you attend, what you eat or feed your children, or just the amount of garbage? The possibilities are endless and very scary. This is big government gone wild.

Unfortunately, this is not new. The State of Georgia has been doing that for about a decade now.Technorati Tags: Thumb print, Texas DPS, Georgia, drivers license

In the long term, the governor is considering installing speed cameras in each direction of every interstate in the 20 State Police districts across Illinois to raise $50 million a year in revenue — enough for 500 more troopers. The money could support an “elite tactical team” and bolster everything from crash investigations to cold-case murder probes, Trent said.

Currently, camera-equipped vans nab speeders in construction zones, but state law does not allow speed cameras on interstates, Trent said.

In Arizona, 50 speed cameras will be deployed on highways by September with another 50 by January at a cost of about $20 million. The state hopes to raise $90 million a year by imposing $165 fines on vehicles going 10 mph over the speed limit or faster.

Asked what speeds Illinois motorists would have to hit before they would get nailed with a camera violation, Guerrero said, “It would have to be egregious — 80 or 85 mph. We don’t know yet.”

This is already in the process of happening in Arizona. These cameras are just one more example of the money hungry antics of Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois Legislature. It is also one more step down the road of big brother watching everything we do.Technorati Tags: Governor Blagojevich, Arizona, Interstate cameras, speed camers, Chicago gangs

<blockquote>
When the <b>young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him</b>. They <b>never questioned</b> who <b>his friends</b> were or <b>what he really believed</b> in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said “Praise the Lord.” And when the young leader said, “<b>I will be for change and I’ll bring you change,” everyone yelled, “Viva Fidel!”</b>

But nobody asked about the change, so <b>by the time the executioner’s guns went silent the people’s guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him</b>. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I’m back to the beginning of my story.

Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?

Would we?

Manuel Alvarez Jr. Sandy Hook.
</blockquote>

Technorati Tags: <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/Obama” rel=”tag”>Obama</a>, <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/Barack” rel=”tag”>Barack</a>, <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/Fidel” rel=”tag”>Fidel</a>, <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/Cuba” rel=”tag”>Cuba</a>, <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/nannyocracy” rel=”tag”>nannyocracy</a>, <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/nanny state” rel=”tag”>nanny state</a>, <a class=”performancingtags” href=”http://technorati.com/tag/” rel=”tag”></a>

Eighteen pro-lifers participating in the MD Face the Truth Tour were arrested without warning by Hartford County State Troopers in the city of Bel Air, MD on… August 1…. It was during the last tour stop of the week-long event, sponsored by Defend Life when a State Trooper named Bradley approached the group and told them to move and put away their signs or they would be arrested. In an effort to comply, group leader Jack Ames gathered the group and moved down the road, into the city limits of Bel Air…. The group stood peacefully on public property and did not “march” into the street as one news organization erroneously reported. Without warning, an estimated 20 patrol cars arrived on the scene and began arresting pro-life participants without a word. Those arrested were not told what they were being charged with, nor were they read their rights. One of the women who participated in the tour overheard a police radio conversation where an unknown person told the troopers to make the arrests and that they would “figure out later” what charges would be filed…. Two minors in the group were soon released, but the adults were held overnight…. The last of the pro-lifers were released… August 2, at about 10:45 AM. The group was eventually charged with loitering, failure to obey a lawful order, and disorderly conduct.