Court disappoints dozens of atheists

Spaghetti, apparently, might be the food of the gods, but is not God itself, a federal court in Nebraska has ruled:

(RNS) A federal court has ruled that the Flying Spaghetti Monster, referred to as “His Flying Noodliness” by fans and followers, is not, alas, the object of a real religion.
In a 16-page decision, the U.S. District Court of Nebraska ruled on April 12 that Pastafarianism is satire, not sacred, and that anyone who thinks it is a religion has made an error “of basic reading comprehension.”
“This is not a question of theology,” the ruling reads in part. “The FSM Gospel is plainly a work of satire, meant to entertain while making a pointed political statement. To read it as religious doctrine would be little different from grounding a ‘religious exercise’ on any other work of fiction.”
The Flying Spaghetti Monster was born in Kansas.
The Tuesday (April 12) ruling came in response to a prisoner’s request to have Pastafarianism recognized as his religion, which would entitle him to Pastafarian literature and trappings. For example, Pastafarians sometimes wear colanders on their heads.

Pastafarians actually are atheists mocking actual religions and religious beliefs. Their "gospel" is mildly amusing, but is in no danger of being mistaken for religious doctrine. I have no objections to FSM followers doing their thing, but I think the court properly ruled that they deserve no protections under the Constitution. Thank God this case wasn't heard in California.

Hat tip to Legal Insurrection.

I guess bullets are safe from the EPA for the moment

A federal appellate court handed down a decision two days before Christmas that I almost forgot to blog about, but since it deals with a topic near and dear to my heart, I will do so a little late:

A federal appeals court denied a lawsuit Tuesday by environmental groups that the EPA must use the Toxic Substances Control Act regulate lead used in shells and cartridges.
"We agree with EPA that it lacks statutory authority to regulate the type of spent bullets and shot identified in the environmental groups’ petition," Judge David Tatel wrote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The problem here for the enviroterrorists was that they sought the regulation of the lead in spent bullets. No one could figure out how the EPA could regulate that, or what would give it the legal authority to do so. The legal authority of the EPA is of no interest to the enviroterrorists who basically are attempting to drive us into a vegetarian Stone Age. It has never been about "green," else why would the enviroterrorist sue to stop hydropower, solar, wind and nuclear energy plants, among a zillion other things? They're not really interested in stopping pollution, even spurious "carbon pollution," one of the great all-time lines of BS ever.

They are suing to stop progress and to institute government control over every aspect of American life. Doubt that if you like, but everything the enviros sue to stop is something that makes life better for people. If you want to argue that bullets don't make life "better" for people, note that they weren't suing to outlaw bullets. A little thing called the Second Amendment prevents that. But they wanted what they always want as a "remedy" to the latest problem they've made up: more government regulation, control and taxation.

Fortunately, and inexplicably, the EPA argued against the enviroterrorists in this case, probably a first for the Obama administration. The EPA, itself populated by a pretty good percentage of environuts, usually prefers the "sue and settle" approach. In that method, a so-called environmental group sues the EPA over some thing or another, the EPA and its enviro friends agree to a settlement, the judge enters an order approving the settlement and -- Voila! -- by virtue to the power of the court to enforce its orders, the EPA achieves regulation that it didn't have the legal authority to achieve on its own. Then they usually give a cushy job to one of the enviro group's officers. Happens a lot, and most people aren't even aware it's going on. Glad they got stopped this time.

You can read the entire decision here.