Drawing the line

     Is it possible that folks in California have finally had enough of Big Brother?
      In recent years, the Golden State has become infamous as a testing ground for new limits on personal freedom. California led the nation with seatbelt and helmet laws, as well as strict emission controls which effectively banned some brands of imported cars and motorcycles. Radios on the beach? Bottles of beer? In some parts of California it's even illegal to cook outside over a charcoal grill.
      Public resistance was slow to mobilize. But as the dragnet spread wider, the first spark of resistance did appear in recent weeks (and from an unexpected quarter), when Los Angeles banned leaf-blowers. The gardeners whose jobs depend on such equipment promptly staged noisy blow-ins, and even went on hunger strikes.
      Then, on Jan. 1, a new state law went into effect, banning smoking in all bars and card rooms. Bar owners reported business reductions of 30 to 70 percent.
      But then a funny thing happened. To all appearances, Californians just snapped.
      "Barely a month into California's ban on smoking in bars, the law is being attacked, defied and just plain ignored in a backlash that has spread from neighborhood watering holes to the state Legislature," reports the San Jose Mercury News.
      So loud and widespread has been the civil disobedience that the state Assembly on Jan. 28 voted to scrap the law for at least two years. Not only that, it appears freedom may be contagious. On the same day, the Assembly voted to once again allow adults to choose for themselves whether to ride motorcycles without safety helmets.
      Of course, neither of those votes is yet confirmed by the state Senate, or signed by Gov. Pete Wilson. But the trend, however tentative, is encouraging.