Golly (4/14) British police phoned Donald Reynolds and told him he couldn't have Sunday lunch with his family. They needed to see him at the shop he owned immediately, so he raced there fearing the worst. But when he arrived he found that the emergency was three "golly" dolls displayed in his window. At first, Reynolds thought it was a joke, but the police told him it wasn't a prank. They were going to seize the dolls. Gollies, short for golliwog, are based a once-popular series of children's books, and the images are derived from a caricature of a minstrel-show performer in blackface. Someone had complained about the dolls, and police warned him if he put them back, he could face charges under race-hate laws. But after weeks of investigation, police returned the dolls and informed Reynolds he could continue to sell them, but they also offered "suitable advice about the sensitivities of placing such items on display."
www.reason.com this is a GREAT libertarian (small L) website. they are kind of the populist version of cato.org (the latter being more wonkish and academically based) in terms of libertarian opinion i disagree with the libertarians on many policy issues, but i find them (in general) very fair minded, especially in their relatively evenhanded criticisms of both democrats AND republicans when either side tends to value their power over that pesky thing called the constitution for example, reason came out with great articles on why McCain-Feingold was blatantly unconstitutional, why the Federal actions against medical marijuana clinics in california were unconstitutional, and the horrors of Kelo (which i also agree are uncosntitutional). reason.com roooools