a little courtesy goes a long way

Earlier this afternoon, I was heading out for a bike ride and saw a CDOT guy taking our SOS sign and our neighbor's from our front yards.  I stopped him and asked him why.  He said he'd gotten a lot of complaints about too many yard signs and was removing the ones that were on the parkways.  He recited his bureaucratic spiel about "possible distraction to drivers," "possible tripping hazard," etc. 

Possible tripping hazard?  In the middle of my garden bed?  99% of the time the only person who walks there is ME, and that's when I'm doing garden maintenance, which sure isn't happening at this time of year.

This week a lot of new yard signs HAVE been added - for this weekend's open houses for prospective students at a few local schools, signup for summer baseball and softball leagues, nonprofit fundraisers, a few political campaigns, and our local open space initiative.  The vast majority of these were for nonprofit efforts and would be there for a very short time frame.  Many were for events this weekend.

I made him give back our signs and placed ours on the other side of the sidewalk, closer to the house where it won't be as visible as it was on the corner.  Our neighbor happened to arrive home at that moment, and I handed his signs back to him.

The city expects a lot from us in terms of maintaining the parkways, which are technically city property.  We're expected to mow the grass and keep the parkway neat in front of our house.  Fine, we've got no problem doing that, because it makes our house and neighborhood more pleasant.  City law requires us to clear snow and ice from the sidewalks.  Got no problem with that either, because it's a good neighborly thing that greatly improves quality of life by keeping our sidewalks walkable.  Then they send this guy around to steal items that we chose to place on our parkways, in the middle of the afternoon when day shift workers are generally at work and night shift workers are running errands or sleeping.

Just because it's bureacratically mandated stealing doesn't change what it is: stealing.   How about getting word out through the alderman's office or BAPA and giving us the weekend to move signs instead of just stealing them? 

We appreciate what CDOT does to maintain our roads and other infrastructure.  How about showing some appreciation by giving us a little consideration in return?  Give us reasonable notice (a few days) on things like signs, or non-emergency construction that affects our parkways and sidewalks.  A little bit of courtesy goes a long way. 

stop SOPA day

Do you oppose heavy-handed censorship of the internet? Click here to voice that opposition.

a threat to the First Amendment

Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal. The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site. Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted. If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that.

While I certainly do not agree with some of the nasty stuff that is posted anonymously, I cannot support a measure like this in any form. I consider it a grave threat to free speech.

freedom of speech revisited

A group of Danish newspapers have reprinted the Prophet Muhammad cartoon that sparked rioting in Muslim countries 2 years ago and created a storm of controversy. The occasion for revisiting the issue was the arrest of 3 suspects accused of plotting to kill the cartoonist who drew the bomb-turban caricature, the most controversial of the group.

Many considered the cartoons a slur against Islam. There is no doubt that they are inflammatory, individually and as a collection. In the context of ongoing terrorist threats, I appreciate the fact that those newspaper editors had the guts to print the cartoons, now and 2 years ago. I don't believe that American editors printed them (please comment if you are aware of any who did).

Sometimes free speech loses out to political correctness in America. The voice of moderate Islam tends not to be heard above the din of the extremists. What little is heard suggests that the majority are horrified by the bloody actions of the jihadists. Similarly, moderate Christianity is somewhat invisible in American media, taking a backseat to the antics of the religious right. Free speech helps to keep some balance and ensure that unpopular opinions can still be voiced.

if it's Wednesday, it must be Falun Gong

One of the perks of working in the Loop is all the free entertainment available at lunchtime. I'm not just talking about free concerts at Daley Plaza, the Cultural Center or other places. There's plenty of entertainment to be had thanks to all the political demonstrations at Federal Plaza, Daley Plaza and Thompson Center. Sometimes it's just goofy. Sometimes it's educational.

I work near the Federal Plaza. Over the last few years, I've seen demonstrators for Falun Gong nearly every Wednesday year round. It's usually a small group of demonstrators handing out literature, holding signs, doing slow tai chi to gentle music. It tends to be one of the mellowest protest groups.

I've seen Israelis vs. Palestinians out there. Needless to say it is anything but mellow. Falun Gong draws no police attention. Israelis vs. Palestinians gets a large police presence with barriers. When the Enron/Arthur Andersen debacle was going on, I remember looking out the windows onto Dearborn to see thousands of Arthur Andersen employees pouring out of their office building, across the street from ours, filling the street and shutting down traffic in a large area of the Loop during lunch. Even if you weren't watching, it was hard not to hear the sounds of 6,000 voices.

Aside from political demonstrations, another form of lunchtime entertainment is media campouts around City Hall, the Thompson Center, and the courts at the Daley Center and the Dirksen Federal building. There's been a lot of action lately, with the Conrad Black trial and the Family Secrets trial.

Things have quieted down a bit since most of the action is done with the Black case. Looks like they're waiting for more action in Family Secrets today. I was amused by the appearance of one press photographer, with two enormous Nikons sporting giant telephoto lenses and flashes and two camera bags, all slung across his body, making him look like the photo bandito.

Ah, what entertainment will tomorrow bring?