Tag: licenses

How the authorities might decide your dog is an XL Bully: Key characteristics that could put your pet at risk of the ban

Following the announcement that the American XL Bully dog will be banned by the end of the year, dog owners are wondering how their pets could be affected. 

Dog expert Stan Rawlinson has proposed a Spain-type plan, taking after the Perros Potencialmente Peligrosos (PPP) scheme.

It requires any dog owner that owns a dog with particular characteristics, such as a muscular build, heavy weight over 20kgs, with a wide skull and jaw, muscular neck or convex cheeks to have a paid licence for the dog.

The PPP scheme also requires owners of these dogs to have insurance, proof of vaccinations and attending training classes, for the dog to be microchipped, for the owner to have a clean criminal record, and they can be required to show proof of the licence on the spot or face a fine.

‘The difficulty is we’ve got to understand what makes an American Bully – they’re a crossbreed and a mongrel, the crossbreeds with one other dog, with the base an American Pitbull, which is banned in this country, so [identifying] it shouldn’t be difficult [on that basis],’ he said.

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Senators Call For Government Power To Hand Out Licenses To AI Companies, Curb “Deceptive” Election-Related AI and “Deepfakes”

This week, a Senate Judiciary hearing under the umbrella of the Privacy, Technology and Law Subcommittee became the stage for bipartisan senators to divulge plans aiming to focus on the allegedly looming threats of manipulative artificial intelligence, especially in the realm of elections. Visions for a framework proposed by Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), foresee a new government agency, tasked with issuing licenses to entities working with AI systems.

Simultaneously, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) unveiled preliminary details of upcoming legislation, crafted in tandem with Hawley, along with Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine). This new proposal targets the prospects of AI technologies pervading the electoral process.

Apprehension regarding deceptive generative AI undermining democratic elections took center stage during the Senate hearing, with Klobuchar expressing a sense of urgency given the rapidly approaching electoral calendar.

Specifically, the newly minted legislation, coined the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, is envisioned to clamp down on AI-assisted impersonation of federal political aspirants in campaign ads.

Rendered as an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, this legislation provides a legal recourse in federal court for targeted candidates to counter harmful AI-generated deceptive content.

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Tough on crime Republican busted for having fraudulent license plate on sports car

New York City Council member Vickie Paladino has been outspoken against unregistered vehicles, the need for bicycle license plates and other city requirements, making her knows as a stickler for “law and order.” But according to a report from StreetsBlog NYC, a luxury sports car parked in the Republican’s driveway bears an Arizona temporary license plate that the Arizona Department of Transportation has deemed a fraud.

“The 90-day paper tag — the kind that drivers get when buying a car — lists the same plate number as a real temporary tag that was issued in September 2022, according to Arizona DOT spokesman Bill Lamoreaux. But that real tag expired in December, meaning the one in Paladino’s driveway, which lists an August expiration date, is ‘fraudulent,’ Lamoreaux said,” StreetsBlog reported.

“Paladino said the car belongs to her son, Thomas Paladino Jr., but did not otherwise respond to a request to comment.”

Paladino Jr. denied knowledge of the fraudulent tag.

“I don’t know anything about a fraudulent temporary license plate,” he told StreetsBlog. “I have more than one car, all of which are properly licensed.”

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Rejoice Georgians: You Don’t Need a Government Permit To Advise Breastfeeding Moms

Georgia’s Supreme Court today struck down a state law that required people who provide lactation consulting to obtain costly and time-consuming state licenses.

In a unanimous ruling, the justices determined that a law passed in 2016 unconstitutionally deprived Mary Jackson of work. Jackson had been providing lactation care consulting services for more than 30 years and started a nonprofit, Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE), to provide breastfeeding education.

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs wrote the ruling in Jackson v. Raffensperger, and he was critical of attempts to declare that the state has a “public welfare” interest for every licensing law it passes: “Georgia’s Due Process Clause requires more than a talismanic recitation of an important public interest.” Here the court examined whether the licensing requirement protected the public from unsafe or harmful health practices. They found the state’s evidence wanting:

Certainly, there is nothing inherently harmful in the practice of lactation care, and there is no evidence of harm to the public from the provision of lactation care and services by individuals who lack an [International Board Certified Lactation Consultant] license.

To get this license through a private credentialing body, the court notes, requires 14 different health courses (some college level), 95 hours of training, 300 supervised clinical hours, and up to $700 in costs. Boggs notes in his ruling that only 162 of Georgia’s 470 lactation consultants have gone through the process to get licensing.

The state admitted to the court that they had no evidence that anybody was harmed by unlicensed or incompetent lactation care before or after the law’s passage. An analysis of a version of the law that was considered in 2013 (and not passed) noted that there was no evidence of any harm caused by the state’s failure to license or regulate lactation consultants.

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A Texas roofer tried to help Floridians recover from Hurricane Ian. Then he was arrested because he didn’t have a Florida contractor’s license

A Texas roofer was arrested in Florida for repairing homes without a license in what critics are calling an egregious case of no good deed going unpunished.

Terence Duque, the owner of Duque Roofing, was arrested last Friday for conducting business without a Florida license, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.

Duque is a licensed contractor in Texas. His business was founded in 2008 and is a Platinum Preferred Contractor of the national roofing supply company Owens Corning. He and other Duque Roofing employees traveled to Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian believing that Gov. Ron DeSantis had permitted out-of-state contractors to conduct business in Florida to speed up recovery efforts.

The company has previously assisted with hurricane relief and its website says that employees provide tarps, food, and water for those impacted by severe storms. Posts on social media show that Duque Roofing held a BBQ on Oct. 9 with the help of Miami-Dade County police.

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New Laws Could Force Cyclists to Get Licence Plates and Follow Speed Limits

Under newly proposed regulations, cyclists in the UK may soon be forced to comply with speed limits and required to have license plates or some other way to identify themselves at all times.

The transport secretary told the Daily Mail that we should not “turn a blind eye” to cyclists who break road laws, speed and “bust red lights” and “get away with it” https://t.co/DJm8iCmMgA

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 17, 2022

According to media reports, the government is planning to conduct a review of the legislation governing bike riding in the country. Some people believe that cyclists should be subject to the same laws as automobiles.

The review will also examine whether or not bicycles should be required to have insurance in order to utilize public roadways.

With the rules that are now in place for automobiles, drivers are responsible for any bumps on the road they have and required to carry full insurance in order to drive on public roads.

Cyclists, on the other hand, are not subject to this responsibility.

Conservative MP Grant Shapps, who is also Secretary of State for Transport, has said that he backs changes to the laws to make cyclists more accountable.

“Somewhere where cyclists are actually not breaking the law is when they speed, and that cannot be right, so I absolutely propose extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists,” Shapps said.

“I don’t want to stop people from getting on their bike, it’s a fantastic way to travel, and we’ve seen a big explosion of cycling during Covid and since,” he continued.

“But I see no reason why cyclists should break the road laws and be able to get away with it.”

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Officials Demand Mom Pay Them $5,000 for the Privilege of Selling Homemade Cookies

In the land of the free, attempting to earn money in certain professions without first paying the state for the privilege of doing so can and will get you kidnapped and extorted. These laws are applied to children behind lemonade stands as well as adults selling flowers. The state callously and with extreme prejudice has been documented arresting people, or even beating up women to enforce these licensing laws. As the following case illustrates, even mom’s trying to have a bake sale to raise money for their children’s college fund will be subject to the government’s tyranny.

Recently, the state of New Jersey passed an ordinance that allows folks to sell their home-baked goods for commercial purposes. For $100, citizens of New Jersey can obtain a permit to sell their cookies with a yearly gross income maximum of $50,000. This permit is good for two years.

While this price may seem steep to sell cookies from your home, Maria Winter, a fourth grade teacher in Somerville, just found out that $100 is just the beginning.

When Winter applied for a home-baked license in the city of Somerville, she was told that she had to shell out $5,000 — to sell cookies for her son’s college fund.

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