….at least in restaurants.

“No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off of such premises,” the bill, A. 10129 , states in part.

The legislation, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation.

This is extraordinarily stupid. I’m curious if Ortiz has ever prepared a meal in his life.

Ortiz is probably the most paternalistic legislator in America. I wrote about him in a piece for Forbes back in 2005.

The all-time nanny might be New York State Democratic Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. In 2004 Ortiz introduced a law that would require every car sold in New York to come equipped with an ignition interlock device. Motorists would need to blow into a tube and pass an alcohol breath test before the car would start, then perform the test again every 20 to 40 minutes.

In just the first four months of 2005 Ortiz has introduced laws that would ban all cell phone use while driving (including hands-free); ban pornography from newsstands; force consumers to show two forms of identification when using a credit card; test all public school children for diabetes; ban expiration dates on retail gift certificates; ban alcohol billboard advertisements within a mile of every school and day care center; require nutritional labeling on restaurant menus; measure the fat of every public school student; and impose a “fat tax,” not just on junk food but also on “videogames, commercials and movies.”

The salt ban is nutty. But I included all of the items in the graph above because back in 2005, they all seemed pretty nutty, too. Scary how many of them have now either been enacted or are being given serious consideration by local, state and federal lawmakers.

Even with video, I’m still not sure I believe that this actually happened. If it did, pretty amazing.

School Dorm Snake Game – Watch more Funny Videos

Over at Hit & Run, I’ve posted on new developments in both the Cory Maye case and in the ongoing Steven Hayne saga. Hold on to your hats, here, but both developments are actually positive.

The new series from David Simon and Ed Burns, creators of The Wire and Generation Kill, premieres next month on HBO. I guess the gist is that it will look at the music scene in post-Katrina New Orleans. Can’t wait. Here’s the first (rather cryptic) teaser.

• USA Today tracks the remarkable recent progress toward the legalization of marijuana.
• The Catholic church can’t bring itself to defrock priests who diddle little boys, but it’s perfectly willing to expel a little girl from private school because her parents are lesbians. (Standard libertarian disclaimer: The church is free to make its own policies about its schools. And I’m free to criticize it for those policies.)
• Sean Penn not only continues to defend tyrant Hugo Chavez, but suggests imprisoning American journalists who criticize Chavez.
• D.C. councilman who pushed smoking ban now asks for exemptions for his favorite events.
• This is just a damned nice story. Conan is great.
• Panel recommends D.C. cop who brought gun to a snowball fight get a 10-day suspension.

I’ll be at the Wolftrap in Vienna, Virginia tonight to see Joe Henry.

So here’s a little bonus music blogging:

My crime column this week looks at a couple of scandals to hit NYPD in recent weeks—one alleging that police commanders were pressured to downgrade or bury actual crimes, and another that rank-and-file cops are given arrest and citation quotas.

• My favorite line graph.
• The myth of the sacrifice of public service. The benefits disparity is incredible.
• Arizona Supreme Court appoints special prosecutor to investigate complaints against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
• “Reason Saves Cleveland” makes front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Story here.
• L.A. murder rate drops to lowest level since the 1950s.
• Great story about former “sweatshop” workers in China using their earnings to start new businesses, build new wealth.

There are no dead dogs, lying informants, or flash grenades, but this story from Greensburg, Indiana, really captures the mundane stupidity, utter dissonance, and day-to-day waste of resources that is America’s drug war. Seems that last week a concerned citizen called a tip line to report some young people smoking pot at the house next door.

Here’s what happened next:

The caller advised that there was suspicious activity, strange noises and unusual odors coming from the apartment. When GPD officers arrived, the strange smell was identified as “burnt marijuana,” Chief Heaton reported.

After identifying the apartment that was emitting the odors, the GPD attempted to make contact. But inside the apartment, no one answered.

Working quickly to establish probable cause, the officers sought to obtain a search warrant from the office of the Decatur County Prosecutor.

In the interim period before the warrant was granted, the GPD kept a secure perimeter around the residence, making sure that no one went in or out of the apartment, Chief Heaton explained.

“It definitely tied up our units (for about two hours),” Heaton said.

The search warrant was secured and served at 1:23 a.m. Tuesday. Upon gaining entry to the apartment, the police found marijuana and proof of marijuana consumption and the five suspects were arrested.

Four of the five perpetrators were charged with “visiting a common nuisance,” and one was charged with misdemeanor possession. One was also charged for failure to appear on a separate warrant.

The Greensburg Daily News dutifully adds that the “watchful citizen’s” tip “brought the Greensburg Police Department closer to exterminating the drug problem in the city.”

Yeah. Good luck with that.

The genius viral marketing campaign I Love Local Commercials makes a spot for a little shop in my native state.

Pretty amazing.

“Good Man,” by Josh Ritter. The Animal Years is one of my ten favorite albums. The perfect CD for a long drive. Almost perfect all-around.

Police in Tennessee raid wrong side of a duplex, throw residents to the floor at gunpoint, manage to handcuff a recovering cancer patient. According to the residents and their neighbors, they then scratched off part of the address on the duplex to cover their mistake. They did get their guy in the end, though. He was selling pot.

(Via Pete Guither.)

• This “Al Qaeda Seven” nonsense is shameful. Good on Walter Dellinger and Peter Keisler for denouncing it. And why hasn’t William Kristol been shamed out of public life? In a just world, he and Naomi Klein would be vying for a slot on Celebrity Apprentice.
• Indiana seventh grader suspended after turning down drugs from a classmate.
• Uh-oh.
• Why does the GOP refuse to take seriously one of its few serious politicians?
• Yes, flipping off cops should be legal. Generally stupid, but legal.
• The science news cycle.
• So we’re still granting Blackwater billion-dollar contracts?

…you’re probably a cat.