Political Loonies

This headline got my attention:

Florida Conservatives Standing Up For Liberty With New Law to Ban Farm Photo

This is from a blog posting by Matthew Iglesias on the Think Progress blog site:

SB 1246 by Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, would make it a first-degree felony to photograph a farm without first obtaining written permission from the owner. A farm is defined as any land “cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production, the raising and breeding of domestic animals or the storage of a commodity.”

The specific freedom-enhancing element of this particular initiative is that apparently freedom-hating animal rights activists have been known to secretly document farm activities in order to advance socialism. The article quotes Wilton Simpson, “a farmer who lives in Norman’s district” who “said the bill is needed to protect the property rights of farmers and the ‘intellectual property’ involving farm operations.” I sort of suspect he just threw in the spurious intellectual property claim to make me angry.

Since 9/11 I've been bothered by signs popping up on building saying "no photography allowed". I think the signs should be taken down and the local constabulary issued sticks. When somebody shows up at the aforesaid building, the defender of the law should simply poke out their eyes. That is must more "secure" than letting people wander around viewing stuff and memorizing the layout. You can never be "too safe" you know.