One Man's Game Is Another Puritan's Vice
Internet cafes are shut down after raids:
The Mobile County Sheriff's Office and the Alabama Attorney general Wednesday shut down two businesses where patrons used computers to participate in Internet sweepstakes, authorities said.Mutual consent, check. Caveat emptor, check. Sanctimonious busy-body neighbors, double check.No arrests were made in Wednesday's raids, but at least 60 computers and other items were being catalogued and confiscated from Lisa's Internet Cafe on U.S. 90, just outside Theodore, and Jackie's Internet Cafe on Schillinger Road. Arrests may follow after a lengthy investigation, authorities said.
Fortunately the State was able to intervene and prevent these non-violent individuals from doing other anti-social activity, such as: invade a country, levy taxes, or confiscate property. As H.L. Mencken would say: "Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
Comments (7)
Curt Howland
[sarcasm]Which province of China is "Mobile" in? It seems I've heard of the Chinese communist authorities doing this several times before. [/sarcasm]
Published: November 25, 2005 5:51 PM
averros
Well, China does not have monopoly on human stupidity...
Published: November 25, 2005 9:17 PM
Lajiri Cabrera
Oh no! What are the sweepstake-addicts going to do now to get their fix? Drive 35 minutes East into Biloxi, MS?
Way to go Alabama! I hope Jay Leno gets his hands on this news.
Published: November 26, 2005 1:04 AM
Curt Howland
China doesn't have a monopoly on intrusive government busybodies, either.
Published: November 26, 2005 1:18 PM
averros
Curt - that, too. As the years go by, I'm seeing more and more all-too-familiar features of the Soviet way of life around me... In fact, nowadays in many respects US looks like USSR more than Russia or China do.
Published: November 26, 2005 10:21 PM
Lowell R.
Averros,
We probably don't limit as many things here, but we sure are more self-righteous about it.
Published: November 26, 2005 11:29 PM
averros
Mmm... actually I don't see anything bad about self-righteousness in its direct meaning -- recognising oneself as a self-sufficient moral being, having capability to judge what's right and what's wrong without reliance on the "divine will", "tradition", "vox populi", or other forms of the self-serving intellectual fraud promulgated by the powers-that-are.
It is the failure to apply reason and willful ignorance which gives self-righteousness the bad name.
Published: November 28, 2005 1:10 AM