Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2009 April 8-31

Boston officials have mandated that all the taxis in the city must have hybrid engines by 2015. Owners say this will force them to spend $30,000 each to replace their cars with new hybrids, rather than buy used police cruisers when the cars wear out, as they've been doing. Meanwhile, city officials say they intend to switch their fleet to hybrids or alternative-fuel cars, but have imposed no deadline on themselves.

China's Jiansgu provincial government has banned people from posting "personal" information about officials on the Internet. The move comes after someone posted photos of a local official wearing an expensive watch and smoking costly cigarettes and asking how he afforded such luxuries on his civil servant's salary.

Hannah Patricia Humphris hasn't owned a TV since 1978. But that hasn't stopped British authorities from sending her letters for the past five years demanding she pay mandatory TV license fees. Humprhis told them she had no TV, then offered to let them search her house. But when they threatened her with fines. She told them to take her to court. Finally, after the media reported the harrassment, the government said it would stop demanding she pay the fee.

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill that would amend its child porography laws to also include people over 60 and the disabled, even if they are mentally competent. The bill would ban people from making or distributing "with lascivious intent" any films or videos showing the elderly or disabled nude.

Marissa Miller, 15, was frightened when a prosecutor told her she could face criminal charges because nude photos of her were found on someone's cell phone. She was also confused, because she knew she hadn't let anyone take nude photos of her. It turned out the "nude" photo showed her and a friend at a slumber party from the waist up. Both were wearing bras. That little fact didn't stop Wyoming County District Attorney George P. Skumanick from threatening to charge both girls with sexual abuse of a minor unless they took a class on pornography and sexual violence.