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Another Definition of “the Public Good.  “

McQ notes a trend here in NY: [1]

The Nanny State is alive and well and further developing [2] in New York.

Walk, jog or bicycle across a New York street with an iPod plugged in your ears and you could get slapped with a $100 ticket under a new law proposed by a legislator from Brooklyn.



State Sen. Carl Kruger’s bill would also outlaw the use of cell phones, Blackberries, video games or other electronic devices when crossing the street.



He cited the death of a 21-year-old man who was listening to music when he stepped off a curb and was hit by a bus in Brooklyn in September, and the death of a 23-year-old iPod listener last month.



“If you’re so involved in your electronic device that you can’t see or hear a car coming, this is indicative of a larger problem that requires some sort of enforcement beyond the application of common sense,” Kruger said.

Not said, of course, is that thousands, perhaps millions, successfully negotiated street crossings within that same time period while doing any of the above things Kruger wants to ban. These sorts of laws seek to treat everyone as though they were as stupid as the 2 who managed to kill themselves. That is the epitome of Nanny State thinking.

Actually, I head about this a few minutes ago while listening to WABC/77… the Senator is on, just now, at around 9 eastern. The host, whose name escapes me at the moment, is incredulous.  I think, justifiably so.

I’d make a call to the place but I figure my chances are positioned between a snowball and hell to get in down there on their switchboard.  What what I say if I actually got on the air there?  I would respectfully ask the senator a series of questions along these lines…

*Are we now going to ban conversations in cars?

*Are we are going to ban pretty girls from walking down along the sides of city streets?  Or good looking men, for that matter.

*Are we now going to ban advertising which is designed for drivers to read?

*Are we going to ban car radios ?

All these things and quite a bit more, constitute distractions. They are not even much of the leap from the logic (sic) the senator is using.  So why does the senator’s bill, not include a ban on these things?  After all, the public safety depends on it.