This'll Boil your Blood: Federal Interference in Microbreweries

So here's a good example of a Federal agency out of control. There's a town in the shadow of Mt. Shasta up in far-northern California called Weed - because it was founded by a Mr. Weed, not because of the other thing you just thought of. But that hasn't stopped counterculture enthusiasts from posing with the road sign. Needless to say, enterprising residents have used the name to promote their town tongue-in-cheek, like Vaune Dillman, a "...balding former cop turned saloon owner and then master brewer" - master brewer of Legal Weed beer. Which, of course, is just a joke; it has no illegal substances in it.

So when the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau issued the former officer a warning, he said, "This is ludicrous, bizarre, like meeting Big Brother face-to-face," he grumbled recently. "Forget freedom of speech and the 1st Amendment. They are the regulatory gods, a judge and jury all rolled into one. This is a life-or-death issue for my business." For a conservative, this is an open-and-shut case. Keep the Federal government out of this guy's business!