Do You Have a License to be a Clown?

Linda Beaudoin, Former Clown, Calls For Law Mandating Clowns Be Licensed

This is the headline to a story I found at this link here. Some might think that this should have been posted in the breaking news forum, but licensing people to do what is otherwise a right to do is hardly news.

Thanks to horror movies and a few notorious crime stories, plenty of people are scared of clowns. But there is a real danger in allowing hired strangers to have close access to children with minimal review of their backgrounds, Linda Beaudoin, a former clown and child abuse activist, told AOL Weird News.

Of course, it is very often "for the children" that people argue for more intrusive acts of legislation that would violate the rights of an individual. However, it should come as no surprise that a "former clown" honestly believes licensing schemes will somehow keep children safer.

Pediatricians are licensed practitioner's but does that make children any safer? Consider this article and headline:

Pedophile Pediatricians Remain in Shadows

The shock and anger that has cast a dark cloud over this town is not confined to Lewes, Delaware, reports CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford. In doctor's offices in other towns in other cities across America there are predators that parents trust to heal their children, not to hurt them.

Sure you can take their licenses away, but this doesn't stop them from being pedophiles, nor does it necessarily keep them away from children.

Even if your licensed doctor is not a pedophile, consider the very real problem of iatrogenocide. Iatrogenocide is death by doctoring and is the the third leading cause of death in the United States. You have a better chance of being killed by your doctor than you do in an automobile accident. The difference is that if you are killed in an automobile accident and that death was caused due to recklessness, there is a good chance criminal prosecution will take place, but death by doctoring? Far less likely that these reckless killers will be brought to justice, which essentially makes their license a license to kill.

I have made my arguments against licensing schemes before, and I know doubt will continue to make them, but only a "former clown" could offer up such an amusing anecdote to illustrate the absurdity of licensing schemes.

Clowns should be banned immediately they scare the living crap out of me and make me think of sadistic serial killers.

ditto on clowns

the are creepy and they look like pedos.

clowns are from a bigone era and need to go the way of the dodo bird.

but a license great more big government.

one day we are going to need a license to goto the bathroom

we already need a license to get married

we need a license to drive a car.

you need a license to use a ham radio

when does it all end.

stupid is as stupid does.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


Interesting post, JPZ. First off, it is about money (fees) ... and relieving your power (with respect U.C.C.) to the governing body. Second, the pretext is almost as absurd as it is stereotyping a specific population. Not to be a jerk to anyone, however, the obvious group that could be brought into the fold are Catholic priests - and I am not being smart, only commenting on what I read in the MSM and on alternative sites. Should we license Catholic priests (maybe they are)?

Ridiculous. But, I guess this is consistent with the times.

Ridiculous call and just more revenue from struggling artists. I ll bet shes the spokesperson for the regulatory authority wannabes. In Australia we have whats called a blue card. If you work around kids you must have one it contains all the background checks etc.
Regulating a dying art with some governing body will be the death of it. Next they will be trying to tells the clowns what jokes are appropriate and what are not!!!
Enough with the regulations and people crying its for the protection of children to get these draconian laws passed.
I grew up in a family of 10 kids. Our parents taught us at a young age how to discern dodgy behavior from adults and it kept us safe. It wasn't some dush in an office collecting more tax for the right to do art.
Just like people calling for a register regulation body to be allowed to do planking.

Why is it that hollywood can turn something that was created for joy laughter and happiness int osomething creepy and dodgy for children?) Steven King you have a lot to answer for!!!!
Ok well Steven King is ok but I hope you get the point.

No, if I want to paint my face up and run down the street dressed tackily, then let me! What about class clowns ? They're bigger clowns then the clown itself.

I hate clowns.

I don't trust them. I just know that they're hiding something under all the make-up.

Creepy little buggers.

I'm OK with Clowns, they are fun. Not sure how the topic immediately morphed from Clowns to Pedophiles. Strange.

Now Mimes, that is another story. They totally creep me out

reply to post by MaskedDebater

I'm OK with Clowns, they are fun. Not sure how the topic immediately morphed from Clowns to Pedophiles. Strange.

The topic is not about clowns, it is about licensing schemes. When licensed pediatricians are discovered to be pedophiles, it tends to undermine the usefulness of licenses.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


Apologies then. Must have been that word Clown in the thread title that threw me. Doesn't help with my fear of Mimes though. I suppose I took creative license with my reply within this discussion forum. Hope that is allowed.

So now ON TOPIC:

When licensed pediatricians are discovered to be pedophiles, it tends to undermine the usefulness of licenses.

Ummmm. So if they are found to be pedophiles, wouldn't they lose their "license" and no longer be allow to practice medicine? I think I'm OK with licensing if it's purpose is to insure a quality standard for expertise or competency within a given field. I'd be more inclined to favor a licensed pilot or plumber than a non licensed one.

Just my opinion of course unless this is just meant to be another anti government rant thread.

/MD

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


I am beside myself JPZ, this not about child safety, it's about another way to make money.

We are living in an age where we are taxed to death, pay fee's to death, the police state is well and surviving, it is us who are not.

The powers that be are chipping away little by little, day by day hoping no one will notice and they would be right, no one is noticing, isn't' that how Hitler did what he did, people not paying attention.

Clowns today and having to have a license to raise children tomorrow.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention my friend.

Originally posted by MaskedDebater
reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux

 

Apologies then. Must have been that word Clown in the thread title that threw me. Doesn't help with my fear of Mimes though.

I suppose I took creative license with my reply within this discussion forum. Hope that is allowed.

I can't speak for this site, but - and ironically so - as far as I am concerned creative license is always allowed in any of the threads I have authored.

I don't fear mimes as much as I hold a strong distaste for them. Even so, I would never in a million years ask that governmental licensing schemes be placed upon them. There is a Grand Canyon of difference between creative license, and legal license.

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
reply to post by MaskedDebater

 

I'm OK with Clowns, they are fun. Not sure how the topic immediately morphed from Clowns to Pedophiles. Strange.

The topic is not about clowns, it is about licensing schemes. When licensed pediatricians are discovered to be pedophiles, it tends to undermine the usefulness of licenses.

It doesn't undermine the usefulness of licenses at all, in fact, it just goes to show that licenses are not for the purpose of protecting the public; they are for creating revenue for the government and restricting the supply of whatever is licensed.

It is fitting that you bring up the licensing of doctors in this thread; it was the AMA who most blatantly used their licensing power to limit the supply of doctors in this country and are probably most a fault for the spiraling costs of healthcare in this country today.

Medical Costs and the Impact of the
Subsidization of a Cartelized Industry

The rise in the cost of medical care is said to be out of control and somewhat of a mystery. However there is really no mystery involved. It is is due to the subsidization of an industry which there is effectively a cartel operating to restrict the supply of medical practitioners.

Around 1900 there was a concerted effort on the part of physicians in the U.S. to restrict the supply of doctors; as they termed it, "To practice professional birth control." First campaigns were conducted in every state to require doctors to pass an examination in order to practice medicine in that state. That was easy for everyone to accept as reasonable. However it is one thing for the government to create a program of certification and yet another thing to create licensing. Certification provides consumers with information whereas licensing is always a vehicle for restricting supply. In the case of physicians it was then specified that in order to take the examination a candidate had to be a graduate of an accredited medical school. Somehow that deviated from the goal of requiring competency for medical practioners. But most would accept that as probably basically wise. Then came the clencher. Who was to be the accrediting agency for the the medical schools. The task was given to a committee of the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA is basically the union for doctors, or perhaps more accurately the guild for the doctors.

Representatives of the state AMA committees with the power to lift the accreditation of medical schools went around to those medical schools telling them that it did not think they could not do an adequate job of training the number of doctors they were training and that half that number was more suitable. The medical schools had no choice. The lifting of their accreditation would eliminate all demand for their services.

The AMA quickly reduced the number of medical schools and students from 160 schools with 28,000 students in 1904 to 85 schools with only 13,800 students by 1920. Their ultimate goal was to have only 31 schools with 2000 students graduating per year.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I thought the clown license and the lying license was given automatically to a person upon being elected to a political office.

Sorry sarcasm got the better of me .

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


I used to dress up as a clown years ago,I was never a
professional though.I would mostly dress up during
halloween and would be out in public with full face make-up.
The kids' would swarm all around me when I was dressed up
as a clown.They really liked the bicycle horn I would honk at
them.
My costume involved wearing red converse high tops,black tophat,
red wig with bald top,full face make-up,bicycle horn,colorful,loose
clothing.I haven't dressed up as a clown since 1997 or 98.I do miss it.

reply to post by mamabeth


So, if this law passes and you decide to dress up as a clown, I wonder if you would be charged with impersonating a clown?

Interesting that the first few replies were very passive aggressive and avoided the issue at hand....governmental (rather bureaucratically controlled society) authority over free persons.

It would seem either people wish to ignore it and chalk it up as everyday American life or are too scared to realize that we have licensend ourselves to the point that it is beyond ridiculous....more ludicrous!

reply to post by ownbestenemy


maybe they know more about clowns than they tell us?


john wayne gacey anyone?

Originally posted by MaskedDebater
reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux

 

Apologies then. Must have been that word Clown in the thread title that threw me. Doesn't help with my fear of Mimes though. I suppose I took creative license with my reply within this discussion forum. Hope that is allowed.

So now ON TOPIC:

When licensed pediatricians are discovered to be pedophiles, it tends to undermine the usefulness of licenses.

Ummmm. So if they are found to be pedophiles, wouldn't they lose their "license" and no longer be allow to practice medicine? I think I'm OK with licensing if it's purpose is to insure a quality standard for expertise or competency within a given field. I'd be more inclined to favor a licensed pilot or plumber than a non licensed one.

Just my opinion of course unless this is just meant to be another anti government rant thread.

/MD

edit on 2-6-2011 by MaskedDebater because: add content

mimes!!!!!

reply to post by fooks


Who is "they"? I am one that doesn't buy into the whole "they" notion. I am merely pointing out how this site is 1% discussion of the actual content and 99% of the thread title.