License to blog?

By William R. Toler

I love North Carolina. It’s a beautiful state, from the miles of beaches on the Atlantic Coast to the hazy hills of the southern Appalachians. But sometimes the idoacy the “powers that be” make me sad to be Tarheel born and bred.

A blogger could be facing jail time. His crime: wrting about the Paleo Diet.

After Steve Cooksey was hospitalized with diabetes in 2009, he decided to fight his ailment by changing his diet, the Carolina Journal reports. After experiencing positive results from the low-carb, high-protein regimen, Cooksey decided to start a blog.

Depsite having a disclaimer at the bottom of his blog stating, “I am not a doctor, dietitian nor nutritionist… in fact I have no medical training of any kind,” Cooksey received a letter from the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition.

Isn’t that nice? We have a Nanny State agency to “protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of North Carolina from harmful nutrition practice by providing for the licensure and regulation of persons engaged in the practice of dietetics/nutrition and by establishing educational standards for those persons.” How did we survive before 1992?

Media bias nothing new

By William R. Toler

The media bias on Rep. Ron Paul when it comes to the presidential election is not a new development. It’s been going on since the last election.

During the 2008 election I watched as Paul was constantly ignored and the networks failed to even mention he was a candidate…much like they’re doing now. I even recorded a video blog to address my concern.

Working for a local television station, I sometimes scan through scripts just to see if he gets a shout out. Usually, I’m disappointed.

It’s not just the “liberal” television news media either. FOX News and conservative talk radio hosts are just as guilty. Personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are loathe to mention Ron Paul. If they do, it’s usually a jab at his stances that don’t fit in with mainstream neo-con political thought.

What is it that draws the crowds and frightens the establishment?

Abortion and bike helmets: A debate of personal responsibilty

By William R. Toler

I’ve often heard from conservatives that you can’t reason with liberals. Even when you use their own logic to try and make them see your point it seems…well…pointless.

The social networking site Facebook has become known for heated discussions of political topics, and I’ve had quite a few of my own. Monday night produced one such debate that could seem to prove, or at least give creedence to, the aforementioned gerneralization.

A former “Commie” cohort–who was a fierce defender of liberty during the sex column debacle at Craven Community College–had posted a video of a guy who had been ticketed for not riding in the provided bicycle lane. After being given the ticket, he shows video clips of himself staying in the bike lane crashing into obstacles…including a police cruiser. After reading a certain comment, my libertarian mind went to work with the personal responsiblity agrument.

Commenter: …but I would have given him a ticket for wreckless riding AND failure to wear a bike helmet.

Me: shouldn’t it be his choice as to whether or not he wants to wear a helmet. If he wants to take the personal responsibilty for his own actions that will not harm anyone…

The ‘Nanny State’ of North Carolina

By William R. Toler

My home state was recently the recipient of an award that’s not so honor-worthy. North Carolina was named Reason.tv’s “Nanny State of the Month” for May 2011.

The reason for Reason’s choice: a 1993 ban on rare hamburgers. According to AOL Weird News, the state has prohibited rare and medium rare burgers served in restaurants across the state “thanks to a state restriction that requires restaurants to cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit.” However, steaks aren’t included in the ban.

“I don’t believe in a nanny state when it comes to food,” said Steven Elliot, a rare burger lover. “I don’t like the government telling us what we can and cannot eat.” Elliot is the founder of RareBurger.com, a website that currently lists two restaurants in the Triangle area where you can order a juicy, red hamburger.

Delaware debacle over basketball goals

By William R. Toler

Residents in a Delaware neighborhood experienced heavy-handed enforcement of a state law, but not without a bit of opposition.

According to an Associated Press story, workers from the state transportation department rolled down a particular street March 25 with a front-end loader and a dump truck and proceeded to rip basketball goals out of several yards. One mom climbed on top of her family’s goal to keep it in tact.

The family had parked their van in front of the goal and was being interviewed by a television station when the crews returned to his home, along with the state police. John McCafferty questioned the state’s motives and was threatened with arrest. His wife Melissa was the perching, protective mother.

His, and other neighbors’, crime: non-compliance with Delaware’s “Clear Zone” law, which prohibits objects (including basketball goals and trees) from being within seven feet from the edge of the pavement in a subdivision.

In the video below, a state worker tells McCafferty that he can keep the goal. Minutes later the goal was dropped into the back of a truck. When he asks what the state is doing with his property, the worker tells him he can pick it up later.

Big Brother and the Nanny State

By William R. Toler

When it comes to the overreaching of government, there are usually two paternal personifications: Big Brother and the Nanny State.

Both are invasive in their own right and typically used in tyranical tandem to undermine the liberty this nation professes to harbor.

The Nanny State monicker is applied to governmental regulations and laws which are supposed to be in the best interest of the populous but often eliminate freedom of choice. These hinderances are usually lobbied for by groups of people who think that they are protecting others who can’t make the decisions for themselves.

Big Brother generally refers to the surveillance and control of the people by the government, deriving its name from George Orwell’s 1984.
Headlines across the country have been rife with recent examples of big government, on local and national levels.

Earlier this month, San Francisco banned Happy Meals. In an effort to combat childhood obesity, the city–at the behest of Nanny State nimrods–enacted an ordiance that prohibits “restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat,” according to the LA Times. The ruling also requires restaurants “to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys.”

Are we really free?

By William R. Toler

Americans, in general, often laud our freedoms. Usually, the freedoms most openly discussed and debated are those guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America.

But it begs to question: Are we really free, or do we just have the illusion of freedom?

Are you free when you have to ask permission to do something? A quick, logical answer would be no.

So, another question arises: Are permits constitutional? My answer is no.

Let’s start with the First Amendment, one of the most mentioned and debated of the lot. We are guaranteed, not given, the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, freedom of religion and a redress of grievances.

If these rights were not infringed, there would be no permits for peaceful protests. Liberals who protest against what they see as unjust wars, and conservatives who protest higher taxation should not have to pay a fee and ask permission to exercise their God-given rights which are protected by the First Amendment.