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Brickbats

Brickbats: January 2022

Peter Bagge and Charles Oliver | From the January 2022 issue

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BB1 | Illustrations: Peter Bagge
(Illustrations: Peter Bagge)

The Court of Appeal for Nova Scotia ruled in August that Lorne Grabher's last name could be interpreted as a call for violence against women and so he has no free speech right to a vanity license plate with his last name.

The city of San Francisco has spent three years and half a million dollars so far designing and deploying the perfect garbage can. The board of supervisors has voted to spend $427,500 to build five prototypes each of three models designed by a firm hired in 2018. In the meantime, the estimated cost to mass produce whichever model city officials ultimately choose has risen from $1,000 apiece to at least $2,000 and possibly as much as $5,000.

A British court sentenced Simon Silwood to eight weeks in jail in September for racially abusing a West Bromwich Albion soccer player over the internet. Silwood was upset after the team lost a match. He posted on a Facebook group that midfielder Romaine Sawyers, who is black, should receive the "Baboon d'Or" award, a reference to the Ballon d'Or trophy awarded annually to the best soccer player. Silwood claimed he meant to post buffoon but misspelled it bafoon, which autocorrect then changed to baboon.

Illustration: Peter Bagge

Officials at Bigelow High School in Arkansas ripped out two pages from the 2020–21 yearbook before delivering copies to the students who paid for them. The pages had a timeline of major events from the school year, including the first U.S. death from COVID-19, riots following the police killing of George Floyd, the death of Alex Trebek, Apple's market valuation topping $2 trillion, and NASA flying a drone on Mars. East End School District Superintendent Heidi Wilson justified the move by citing "community backlash." But in response to an open records request by the Arkansas Times, the school system said there were no emails or other records related to complaints about the pages.

Residents of Durham, Ontario, will have to keep records of anyone who comes into their home for a social gathering, no matter how small, to stem the spread of COVID-19. Homeowners must turn that information over to the health department within 24 hours if requested. Those who do not comply face a fine of up to 5,000 Canadian dollars ($4,031).

Illustration: Peter Bagge

In Florida, Sarasota County School Board Vice Chairwoman Jane Goodwin cut off the microphone and had police escort out speakers who criticized individual school board members during a recent meeting. Goodwin said there would be "no public assaults and no public attacks" on elected officials. She defined an "assault on a board member" as "anything critical" of that board member.

People living in an apartment complex in New South Wales, Australia, which has been locked down because of COVID-19, said officials are searching through their deliveries and seizing alcoholic beverages. New South Wales' health department admits it is trying to limit the amount of alcohol that residents of the building can drink to "ensure the safety of health staff and residents." Residents are limited to six beers or mixed drinks, one bottle of wine, or one bottle of distilled spirits a day.

Illustration: Peter Bagge

A Savannah-Chatham County, Georgia, special education teacher has been charged with felony cruelty to children for using zip ties to bind a student in her classroom. Elizabeth Louise Board, a teacher at Godley Station School in Savannah, reportedly tied a boy to his chair and to a table.

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NEXT: The History and Politics of Public Radio

Peter Bagge is a contributing editor and cartoonist at Reason.

Charles Oliver is a contributing editor at Reason.

Brickbats
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  1. CindyF   3 years ago

    "New South Wales' health department admits it is trying to limit the amount of alcohol that residents of the building can drink to "ensure the safety of health staff and residents." Residents are limited to six beers or mixed drinks, one bottle of wine, or one bottle of distilled spirits a day."

    "....to ensure safety" is going to be the excuse going forward for every executive order these dictators impose on their nation's citizens. Their p.r. department (known more generally as the media) will just nod their heads and repeat the narratives as required. The U.S. governors and mayors watch and learn from other countries to see how far they can push. So far, it's obvious they can push pretty far.

    1. The Great Negro   3 years ago

      Fuck safety.

      1. Utkonos   3 years ago

        Anyone who can’t dance around safety regs is no friend of mine.

        1. NicoleWilson   3 years ago

          I have received exactly $20845 last month from this and home job. Join now this job and start making extra cash online HAf by follow instruction

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  2. Utkonos   3 years ago

    You know who else had a last name which could be interpreted as a call for violence?

    1. Vernon Depner   3 years ago

      Caesar?

      1. The Great Negro   3 years ago

        Romero?

    2. mad.casual   3 years ago

      Sargent Slaughter?

  3. kevrob   3 years ago

    Residents are limited to six beers or mixed drinks, one bottle of wine, or one bottle of distilled spirits a day.

    Is that per capita? From what I can tell, Aussies were averaging just over 2 standard drinks per day, pre-pandemic.

    https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/rise-spirits-total-alcohol-consumption-steady [ 9/09/2019 ]

    You'd think it would be more, but Tee-totalers bring the average down

  4. seo   3 years ago

    super fast money earning online job to flood the cash in your bank acc every week. from this only by working for 2 hrs a day after my college i made $17529 in my last month. i have zero experience when i joined this and in my first month i easily made $11854. so easy to do this job and regular income from this are just superb. want to join this right now? just go to this web page for more info.===))> http://www.now37.com

  5. jimc5499   3 years ago

    I'd be curious to see more specifics on the design of San Francisco's trash cans. If I remember correctly the trash collectors are City employees. If the design is to streamline the collection of trash, these cans could be an investment not a luxury. I wonder who's raising the issue? Could it be the Trash Collector's Union trying to protect their members and their member's overtime?

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