Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Laura who muses is back from vacation (making my reading day much happier, with apologies for such a self-centered remark), and she reports that San Francisco's mayor, he of Kimberly Guilfoyle and gay marriages fame, has proposed that the City monitor people's garbage in order to be sure it is being sorted correctly. New York's Mayor Bloomberg has cracked down on notoriously appalling behaviors such as smoking and making lots of partying noise outside bars and taverns, honking too often in traffic, trans-fats, and so on. Aside from issues such as freedom even to harm oneself, many of his targets are so subjective that it's impossible to know how one measures "ok" vs. "sanctionable."
Meanwhile, some other cities seem to be jumping on this wave. Canton (Ohio) and Poughkeepsie (NY),for example, have new city ordinances that threaten homeowners with fines that increase from $250 to $1000 for insufficiently short grass. One wonders what the job description looks like of the person who has the responsibility of measuring the glass. And talk about subjective!
Did I miss noticing that these cities have all become crime-free and dirtless and perfect from a quality-of-life standpoint?? Because, here's the thing: if there are still murders and burglaries and robberies, if there are still rodents biting children and landlords who fail to make basic repairs to plumbing and heat, if there are still inequities in hiring practices and courtroom proceedings, then these procedures are not merely foolish but actually out of line and downright unethical and wrong.
Meanwhile, some other cities seem to be jumping on this wave. Canton (Ohio) and Poughkeepsie (NY),for example, have new city ordinances that threaten homeowners with fines that increase from $250 to $1000 for insufficiently short grass. One wonders what the job description looks like of the person who has the responsibility of measuring the glass. And talk about subjective!
Did I miss noticing that these cities have all become crime-free and dirtless and perfect from a quality-of-life standpoint?? Because, here's the thing: if there are still murders and burglaries and robberies, if there are still rodents biting children and landlords who fail to make basic repairs to plumbing and heat, if there are still inequities in hiring practices and courtroom proceedings, then these procedures are not merely foolish but actually out of line and downright unethical and wrong.
Labels: modern culture, ranting, ridiculousness
Permalink | 
| posted by jau at 2:48 PM
jau — at 5:56 PM, August 05, 2008:
— at 8:20 PM, August 05, 2008:
| posted by jau at 2:48 PM
3 more:
jau — at 5:56 PM, August 05, 2008:
Oh fun and games with double negatives. What they mean is that the grass has to be short enough - if it's not short enough (i.e. insufficiently short, i.e. too long) then the owner gets fined. Argh.
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— at 8:20 PM, August 05, 2008:
This would be bad news for my neighbor and I as we've been cutting our lawns less in order to save money on gas.
Plus, this policy will contribute to, gasp, global warming. People will be forced to mow their lawns more often than they might have. Thus, burning fossil fuels in the form of gasoline or coal at the power plant if they have an electric mower and producing CO2. Oh, the horror!
Plus, this policy will contribute to, gasp, global warming. People will be forced to mow their lawns more often than they might have. Thus, burning fossil fuels in the form of gasoline or coal at the power plant if they have an electric mower and producing CO2. Oh, the horror!
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Missy http://missyisms.typepad.com
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