One would think that SCO would eventually understand the signs of the times - but that is not the case.
What does a state do that gives itself an Information Freedom Act (the name is already laughable) according to which it grants citizens rights to inspect files? It hides behind fees.
Even before the consultation on the Information Freedom Act, it was already clear that authorities would be able to charge fees of up to 500 euros for satisfying the citizens' interest. However, a clause has now surprised, according to which even the inspection of files directly at an office should result in fees between 15 and 500 euros.
Because that's the easiest way, at least you can still make money from the curious and annoying citizens. A general obligation to publish and store in publicly accessible digital archives would have been much too sensible, but this is much more German.
News from the energy policy chicken coop - Nuclear power yes, but not in NRW. Or maybe yes. In any case, the decision of the federal government applies. But maybe not. And anyway - let's swap nuclear power plants for fuel cells. Or maybe the other way around? Doesn't matter, let's just keep talking, maybe no one will notice that we have no idea.
Concentrated incompetence. Don't worry, they will surely ruin NRW. It would be a laugh if we couldn't completely bankrupt ourselves among the federal states.
Again something from the land of the free and the stupid. James Moore is on the No-Fly-List. He is one of the authors of the book "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential". And he is not allowed to fly.
From his phone call with the responsible hotline in Washington:
"I'm sorry, sir," she said. "There seems to be a problem. You've been placed on the No Fly Watch List."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm afraid there isn't much more that I can tell you," she explained. "It's just the list that's maintained by TSA to check for people who might have terrorist connections."
"You're serious?"
"I'm afraid so, sir. Here's an 800 number in Washington. You need to call them before I can clear you for the flight."
Exasperated, I dialed the number from my cell, determined to clear up what I was sure was a clerical error. The woman who answered offered me no more information than the ticket agent.
"Mam, I'd like to know how I got on the No Fly Watch List."
"I'm not really authorized to tell you that, sir," she explained after taking down my social security and Texas driver's license numbers.
"What can you tell me?"
"All I can tell you is that there is something in your background that in some way is similar to someone they are looking for."
"Well, let me get this straight then," I said. "Our government is looking for a guy who may have a mundane Anglo name, who pays tens of thousands of dollars every year in taxes, has never been arrested or even late on a credit card payment, is more uninteresting than a Tupperware party, and cries after the first two notes of the national anthem? We need to find this guy. He sounds dangerous to me."
"I'm sorry, sir, I've already told you everything I can."
"Oh, wait," I said. "One last thing: this guy they are looking for? Did he write books critical of the Bush administration, too?"
Well. Or it is like suggested in the comments - it is his hat.
Apart from his humor which he has kept, he also has a small nugget of information for us:
I have been on the No Fly Watch List for a year. I will never be told the official reason. No one ever is. You cannot sue to get the information. Nothing I have done has moved me any closer to getting off the list. There were 35,000 Americans in that database last year. According to a European government that screens hundreds of thousands of American travelers every year, the list they have been given to work from has since grown to 80,000.
80,000 people are on the American No-Fly-List - which is then given to other countries to prevent these people from flying there as well. Without control of this list, without a judge, without conviction, simply based on an arbitrary entry. And I have the suspicion that everyone is obediently cowering and participating in this madness ...