This month’s killjoys are bent on making the Big Apple dry (or not?), and banning electronic (a.k.a. “fake”) cigarettes from public places (wait, isn’t the anti-smoking movement supposed to help addicts kick the habit?).

But the new year’s top slot goes to the City of Angels mayor who’s cracking down on those naughty devils in the adult film industry by mandating that actors wear condoms (what could possibly go wrong?).

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for January 2012: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa!

“Nanny of the Month” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Opening animation by Meredith Bragg.

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They touch our lives in so many ways, and Reason.tv kicks off awards season by acknowledging those who have devoted their lives to minding other people’s business.

Live (to tape) from the fourth floor of the Sepulveda Center in Los Angeles, it’s the third annual 2011 Nanny of the Year Awards!

These United States have produced many worthy nominees in 2011. Who could forget the city planner who threatened a woman with 93 days behind bars for growing vegetables or the state senator who did his best to outlaw crossing the street while listening to an iPod (shortly before pleading guilty to federal corruption charges).

But this year the golden Nanny goes to the Wolverine state pol who’s bent on making most any kind of teacher-student sex–not just a fireable offense, but a felony, even if the student is older than age 18 or even if teacher and student are middle-aged. (And, in an apparent attempt to secure nanny gold, our winner is also fighting to force school kids to recite the pledge in front of genuine made-in-America flags.)

Presenting Reason.tv’s 2011 Nanny of the Year: Michigan State Senator Roger Kahn!

Approximately 2.45 minutes.

“Nanny of the Year” is written and produced by Ted Balaker, who also hosts. Shot by Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller. Animation by Austin Bragg.

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It was supposed to be a “slice of Americana and of childhood dreams,” says U.S. Army Specialist Mark Grapin, who lives in Fairfax County, Virginia. He’s talking about the treehouse he built for his two sons after returning from his latest tour of duty in Iraq.

What Grapin didn’t expect was that Fairfax County’s zoning board would demand he tear down the treehouse after an anonymous complaint, thus launching the family into an eight-month legal battle.

Grapin went to the local media for help and public outcry turned into an online petition. A neighbor donated trees to cover the treehouse, and the family even received a pro bono lawyer to help win over board members.

Just days before the treehouse was to be torn down, Grapin was able to convince the board to let him keep it on the condition it be removed after five years. Plenty of time, he says, for his sons to enjoy it.

About 2 minutes.
Produced by Joshua Swain.

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This month’s nannies include drug warriors who are hyping fears about “digital” drugs (i.e. not actual physical substances) and fat warriors who are using a talking plate (introducing Mandometer!) to pester chubby folks into eat properly.

But this month’s top dishonors go to the Wolverine State pol whose so-called “Hot for Teacher” bill could end up criminalizing sex between consenting adults of legal age.

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for November 2011: Michigan State Sentator Roger Kahn!

Approximately 1.40 minutes.

“Nanny of the Month” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Opening animation by Meredith Bragg.

Go here to watch previous Nanny of the Month episodes.

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“A smoking ban in bars is saying that adult citizens are not allowed to use a legal substance even though they’re very highly taxed for doing so in a place that is private property,” explains Joe Jackson, the hitmeister behind indelible tunes such as ”Look Sharp!,” “Is She Really Going Out With Him?,” and, yes, “(Everything Gives You) Cancer.”

Jackson’s not a smoker himself but he insists that smoking bans and other for-your-own-good restrictions infantalize us all and challenge basic concepts of freedom. “You’re throwing out the window the property right of the owner of that establishment, freedom of choice, a lot of things, compared to a health risk [from second- and third-hand smoke] that is really unproven.”

Jackson’s antipathy for the creeping nanny state in his native England and his longtime home of New York City led him to write a meticulously researched essay called “Smoking, Lies and The Nanny State.” It also led him to finally flee New York and London, setting up residence in Berlin because there he at least feels like he is relatively “free” and “treated like an adult.”

Jackson sat down with Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie and talked about his frustrations as an anti-smoking ban activist, the “gathering storm of prohibitionism,” and the bold and risky evolutions of his signature musical style over the years.

Runs about 7.30 minutes.

Shot by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein and Anthony L. Fisher. Edited by Anthony L. Fisher.

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Nanny of the Month turns two-years-old this October, and the busybodies who mind your own business show no signs of letting up.

Take formerly dog-friendly New York City which has banished man’s best friend from any establishment that serves food or alcohol (and that includes outdoor patios!). Then there’s Michigan Gov. Rick Snyner who’s tackling childhood obesity by introducing a statewide database to keep anonymous tabs on kiddies’ weight.

But the this very special nanny comes to us from a California city that is fighting (and fining) a couple that hosts Bible studies at home. Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for September 2011: San Juan Capistrano City Attorney Omar Sandoval!

The city slapped Chuck and Stephanie Fromm with fines totalling $300 for violating a municipal code which prohibits religious, fraternal, or nonprofit organizations from meeting on residential property without a conditional use permit (CUP). The Fromm’s gatherings can attract as many as 50 people and the city says that causes parking problems, but the Fromm’s disagree saying there is plenty of parking in their semi-rural neighborhood where large homes sit on even larger lots (the Fromm’s lot includes a corral, barn, and large lawn). The Fromms have held their gatherings since 1994 and say their neighbors support them, except for one woman whose recent complaint sparked city action.

The city is threatening to impose steeper fines if the Fromms continue their un-permitted gatherings, claiming that “zoning and building codes treat residences differently than places of public assembly because of public welfare and safety reasons.”

The Fromm’s are appealing the fines and refuse to apply for a CUP because they could face thousands of dollars in expenses that could include conducting traffic studies and making their home wheelchair accessible.

Next stop is Superior Court.

Approximately 1.20 minutes.

“Nanny of the Month” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Opening animation by Meredith Bragg.

Go here to watch previous Nanny of the Month episodes.

Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions of this video, and subscribe to Reason.tv’s YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when content is posted.

Smoking in bars and restaurants has been banned in New York City since 2003 but Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently added beaches, parks, and pedestrian plazas to the long and growing list of places where smoking is verboten in the Big Apple. “Sin taxes” on cigarettes have driven the average price of a pack to more than $11.

Yet in a city renowned for its innovation and drive, smokers have found ways to work around government attempts at social engineering. These include the booming “loosie” trade, where street entreprenuers risk arrest to sell loose cigarettes for a dollar each on the streets of Manhattan; tobacco crops blooming in Brooklyn; and a thriving Soho bar/restaurant that survived the smoking ban thanks to an obscure grandfather clause.

With so much tax revenue being lost to the black market, and even the green market, perhaps it’s time for a mayor who made billions in the free market to consider allowing business owners to set their own policies, and let the marketplace sort out the demand for smoking and smoke-free establishments.

About 4 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher.

For more Reason.tv on smoking and tobacco, go here.

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