We have met a reasonably fair number of visitors to the USA from other places around the world, and almost all of them have been surprised, if not astonished, at just how thoroughly regulated our society has become.  Many people from foreign lands have misconstrued the stereotypical 'it's a free Country' cliché to mean anything goes.  Well it doesn't.

The latest anecdotal example of a legislative body run completely amok arrives from Minneapolis, Minnesota.   The City Council recently enacted a law which says motorists cannot let their cars idle for more than three minutes, unless they are stuck in traffic.

The Mayor of Minneapolis, R.T. Rybak is quoted as saying the measure was intended to reduce air pollution.   Perhaps there has been some recent study linking air pollution to low IQ's in the area.  Certainly the City government seems to be suffering from pollution induced Declining Intelligence of Population Syndrome (DIPS for short).  We hope medical science finds a cure for DIPS and quickly, because this syndrome seems to be on the verge of a pandemic.

In the Land of the FREE, who the hell are these people to go around trying to regulate our lives so completely that now we need a timer installed in our vehicle so that we don't - God forbid - violate the 3 minute rule and find ourselves charged with Felony Idling.  What's the penalty - Twenty to Life?  Death by lethal injection? 

It's pathetic.  What's more stupid than this?  How about 'we the people' rolling over and accepting this kind of jackass legislation without so much as a whimper. 

If only TheStupidNation.com had more time - we would love to compile a Wiki style compendium of asinine regulations from around the Country.   We also wonder out loud just how many carbon units were burned by the Minneapolis legislative clowns as they considered the law, wrote up the ordinance, held hearings on same, enacted, published, and now enforced.  While we are at it - the stupid Minneapolis City Council may want to consider how much time a police cruiser will idle while the good police officer writes up a summons for idling over the time limit.  THINK about that.  THINK.

So long as a the populace finds this sort of garbage legislation acceptable, we will always be....The Stupid Nation.