No Sirens Warned Downtown of Tornado
Minutes before a deluge of rain and hail hit the south Decatur neighborhood of Oakhurst on Saturday, a siren sounded a steady wail.

A man's voice boomed: "Attention. A tornado warning is in effect for Agnes Scott College. Seek shelter now. I repeat: A tornado warning is in effect."

Perched atop a college library, the siren didn't reach only students. It also delivered the primary warning for residents nearby who were not tuned in to a television, radio or the Internet.

Agnes Scott's siren is a rare piece of equipment in DeKalb County, which dismantled its outdoor siren system years ago. Fulton County did the same, citing upkeep costs.[...]

State emergency officials do not track who sounds what sirens or where. [...] "We feel that is a local decision."

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ.) is one of the most libertarian, or libertarian-leaning, members of Congress. The four-term congressman is a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, which pushes for libertarian ideas within the GOP, and he is earning a national reputation for his outspoken and controversial opposition to GOP drunken-sailor-type spending. In fact, the small-government lobbying group Citizens Against Government Waste recently dubbed him a "taxpayer superhero." Prior to entering Congress, Flake was head of Arizona's free-market Goldwater Institute.

In January, the libertarian magazine Reason asked Flake to name the three worst bills recently inflicted upon us by Congress.

Here are Flake's choices and explanations.

1. The Farm Bill: "Both the House and Senate versions of the farm bill extend subsidies, distort markets, and hamper future free trade agreements, and the final bill is only likely to get worse in a conference committee. Sugar growers who didn't get what they wanted in the initial legislation are urging conferees to repeal portions of NAFTA."

2. The Omnibus Appropriations Bill: "Congress rolled 11 appropriations bills into one massive package and passed it in late December. House members had less than 24 hours to read the legislation before we voted on it. We're still finding out what's actually in the bill. But we do know it contained nearly 12,000 earmarks. That was reason enough to vote 'no.'"

3. Economic Stimulus Package: "Any time Republicans and Democrats can so easily agree on legislation as expensive as this, it's not a good sign. Rebates look to me like an admission by Congress that perhaps the federal government shouldn't have taken that money in the first place. Hopefully, Congress will keep this in mind as the Bush tax cuts get set to expire."

(Source: Reason magazinehttp://reason.com/news/show/124973.html )