I came across two interesting articles in The Guardian today, written by a Brit living in Montgomery County, Maryland. The first is about the requirement, for prospective driver’s licensees in Maryland, to attend a drugs-and-alcohol education course. The second is about Montgomery County’s attempts to regulate smoking in private homes. Both are interesting, and illustrative of why I won’t live in that state.

Aside: Santa Claus has been stricken from the holiday program in one Montgomery County town, too, after a couple of people complained that Jolly Old St. Nick made them “uncomfortable”. John Ashcroft makes me uncomfortable, can we do something about that? (Note, 3 December: Santa actually did show up in the end, and was welcomed by all. There was even some great footage on local Washington TV of several Santas attacking someone who was there spouting anti-Semitic gibberish with a bullhorn.)