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From Reason Mag Brickbats

Television Detectives (1/26)
Paul Oldham doesn't own a television and doesn't want one. But he can't seem to convince the British government of that fact. He keeps getting demands from the government that he pay his television license fee, which funds the BBC. And when he writes back that he doesn't have one, they tell him to expect a visit to his home. The government also requires retailers to report everyone who buys a television. Some 3 million Britons have their homes searched for a television each year. The government sent 20 people to jail for not paying the fee in 2003.

Speak No Evil (1/25)
Telling a mother-in-law joke or quoting parts of the Bible could earn a person prison time and a hefty fine in France. The nation has responded to rising reports of anti-gay crimes by banning insults against women and gays. Remarks "tending to denigrate homosexuals as a whole" when uttered in public or made in print will be met with fines of up to 45,000 euros and up to one year in prison. The law has been opposed by Reporters Without Borders, religious groups and even the national commission on human rights who say it is overbroad. Gay groups and feminists say the law will only be used to prosecute "genuinely scandalous" remarks. But some gay groups also say they consider any claim that homosexuality is abnormal to be a prosecutable offense.

Stuck On You (1/24)
Lawmakers in Rio de Janeiro have banned shoe glue and some solvents because some children were sniffing them to get high. "Shoe glue serves a good purpose when used by shoemakers, but it also is an extremely strong narcotic and its free sale contributes to the moral degradation of youths and boosts crime levels," said the law's author.