Michael You probably know that the legal framework here in the U.S. depends heavily on the state you're currently in. Our home state of California, for example, is very quick to pass laws that (allegedly) serve to protect the public, which is why conservative voices give it the label "Nanny State".

An example from recent times: As an old penny-pincher, I almost always buy dairy products at the Aldi-like supermarket "Trader Joes" here in San Francisco. Butter, which is otherwise extremely expensive in America (about $10 per pound), here only costs about $3.50 per half pound. The brand "Kerrygold" from Ireland comes as an import to the U.S. and tastes great, and is also sold unsalted, while otherwise American supermarkets mainly offer salted butter.

Recently, from one day to the next, the Kerrygold butter had disappeared from the refrigerator shelves. Well, such things happen from time to time due to supply shortages, like recently there were no eggs or toilet paper during the pandemic crisis, so I grudgingly bought the slightly more expensive American butter. But after weeks, when the Kerrygold butter was not only missing from Trader Joe's, but also from the organic supermarket Rainbow, Whole Foods and even our megamarket Costco, I decided to get to the bottom of the matter.

Turns out that California had enacted a new law, "Assembly Bill 1200", on January 1, 2023, restricting the chemical compound "Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances" (PFAS) from use in wrapping of edible goods in foil paper. Unbeknownst to me, the Kerrygold Irish people had mixed the devilish compound into their silver and gold packaging, and due to the new law, they stopped delivery of their butter to the U.S.! There were promises that Kerrygold butter should be available for sale again soon, in a new paper wrapper.

Similar restrictions apply to old-fashioned light bulbs: As you can see in Figure 2, Amazon is happy to ship these to less restrictive states like Kentucky, but refuses to send any to California.

Another "aha" moment is the sale of lighter fluid, also known as butane. Four years ago, the overzealous politician Grayson came up with the idea of drafting a law to regulate the sale of this fuel in California - allegedly many hash oil producers used it for the illegal manufacture of their hippie products. The law was promptly accepted with some modifications (Grayson also wanted to set up a database with all the sold butane bottles, but that was rejected) by the California Senate and Governor Newsom put his seal on it. Although the text of the law explicitly excludes refill cans for lighters and my crème brûlée burner, Amazon stubbornly refuses to deliver refill cans to our address in San Francisco 3. Even locally, you have to search for a long time to find a bottle for sale in our supermarkets.

In Mid-February, San Franciscans were rubbing their eyes to some surprising news: in the relatively quiet residential "Sunset" area of San Francisco, home to a mainly Asian population, suddenly a random house exploded and burst into flames, as seen in the video. It turned out that the tenant there had been running a drug manufacturing lab! Thick barrels of chemicals and large-scale giant gas cylinders with butane were revealed. Representatives of the Nanny State were amazed to learn that criminal drug manufacturers do not order small bottles of lighter fluid, but get the raw materials in a more efficient way. You never stop learning!

Greetings from the Central Office of the Asylum

Angelika and Michael

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Lost Coast for the Third Time
  	Heavy California Rain
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  	Top Product: Selfie Mirror for the System Camera
  	Corona finally caught up with us
  	Declaration of goods upon entry