Two items, late in the day
It's late. I need to think more before writing about the district attorney's refusal to prosecute a case in which signs were illegally posted on utility poles. See this story in today's Oregonian. The ordinance prohibiting such postings may be unconstitutional, saith the DA.
I tear down these signs all the time. Ripped down about eight (an employment agency pitch) this very day and called the number on the sign to tell one "Alice," who answered, that I had done so. My defense is the self-same ordinance.
And the DA won't prosecute? Am I now the one who is guilty for removing Alice's signs?
I have consulted one of the best and most convenient legal minds I know about this matter and will report my findings tomorrow. I may also put in a call to Michael Schrunk, the DA himself. I may want to post my own signs on the utility poles in front of his house. "Prosecute this! Mr. Schrunk."
This could get weird. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, there are two items late in this bizarre weather day to be considered. Neither has to do with the weather, even with thunder and lightning outside my window.
The first is this statement from "Time and the Art of Living" by Robert Grudin. That's a book I've referred to before and recommend highly for bursts of mind stretching.
The statement: "The mind is as limited by what it rebels against as it is by what it accepts."
Item two is how Michael Thomas Ponder figured out where I was last week. Here, in his own words, is his explanation.
"It was an open book test right? Using the power of Google I searched
for Blue Horse using island & WA as key words since it looked like a San
Juan island setting. Restaurant & lodging listings popped up and once I
saw Ganges Rd, I figured I was on the right path with your Indian
clue...."
To see the clues, visit the original post. The answer, lest you have forgotten or didn't care or weren't here for the explication, was Salt Spring Island and its Ganges Harbor in British Columbia.
I tear down these signs all the time. Ripped down about eight (an employment agency pitch) this very day and called the number on the sign to tell one "Alice," who answered, that I had done so. My defense is the self-same ordinance.
And the DA won't prosecute? Am I now the one who is guilty for removing Alice's signs?
I have consulted one of the best and most convenient legal minds I know about this matter and will report my findings tomorrow. I may also put in a call to Michael Schrunk, the DA himself. I may want to post my own signs on the utility poles in front of his house. "Prosecute this! Mr. Schrunk."
This could get weird. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, there are two items late in this bizarre weather day to be considered. Neither has to do with the weather, even with thunder and lightning outside my window.
The first is this statement from "Time and the Art of Living" by Robert Grudin. That's a book I've referred to before and recommend highly for bursts of mind stretching.
The statement: "The mind is as limited by what it rebels against as it is by what it accepts."
Item two is how Michael Thomas Ponder figured out where I was last week. Here, in his own words, is his explanation.
"It was an open book test right? Using the power of Google I searched
for Blue Horse using island & WA as key words since it looked like a San
Juan island setting. Restaurant & lodging listings popped up and once I
saw Ganges Rd, I figured I was on the right path with your Indian
clue...."
To see the clues, visit the original post. The answer, lest you have forgotten or didn't care or weren't here for the explication, was Salt Spring Island and its Ganges Harbor in British Columbia.
Labels: District Attorney Michael Schrunk, Robert Grundin, Salt Spring Island
posted by Rick Seifert at
9:37 PM
2 Comments:
R.S., There are three types of media consumers:
The ones who are so fed up with the issues that they choose not to give issues anymore attention.
The ones who consume them out of curiosity and habit, then proceed to move on with their daily routines - unaffected.
And last but not the least – the ones who can always see beyond what is given them and engage on the topic.
From what I sense in your writings – you definitely belong to the last type. Allow me to return the favor.
First off, it is quite obvious that the issue you raise in your opening paragraph will eventually lead to the arguments of Freedom of Speech. To start, let me define two factors that mitigate this endless debate: Freedom and Free Will.
Freedom and free will are two different subjects commonly mistaken for the other. Often, and once these two are confused, principles will definitely go wrong in asserting constitutional rights (if only the majority of Americans are gifted with a second language, the translation will be enough for them to tell the difference).
Freedom (against everyone’s expectations and belief), is always governed by rules. And yes it is limited - abuse of freedom constitutes punishment. Only a government (root word – GOVERN) can define what “freedom” is. The government that guarantees freedom to its constituents also sets the limit to how much freedom its constituents can have.
Free Will is up to us – it is always our option to obey or break the law.
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse” - It is a moral responsibility to know the rules.
Instruction manuals teach us how to operate an instrument. Rules are agreed upon to set conditions in a game. There are maps to guide travelers to a particular direction that leads to a destination. And laws exist to put everyday life into order.
Scare Tactics? – Fear is an important ingredient in the exercise of control. Fear of the law invokes threat to our daily privileges of existence. And threat is an effective motivation to put people into order.
Yet, to abide by the law is hard and law abiding people often feel bitter for those who do not. No traffic police (root word - policy) will pull us over and give a citation for good driving each time we chance upon them. They can only guarantee the prosecution of those who don’t. This is the only consolation the judicial process can offer its “Law Abiding Citizens”. We should therefore celebrate for each one caught and incarcerated. It is our only prize to claim as reward for being obedient.
I honestly can not agree with the tag “One Size Fits All” on a T-shirt (for the obvious reason it won’t fit an infant), so I keep reflecting - should the Law be of equal stance to everyone it rules over?
As always, argument in a judgment requires identification of reason and excuse. An excuse needs “a result that is beyond control” to qualify. A reason is always debatable as there can be thousands of them in number. The same goes on how a mistake differs from an offense. An offense is a deliberate violation of an existing law. A mistake is unintentional - forgivable.
The jury system, with its crucial selection of members, was devised to impartially qualify any questionable action into a crime. Often, the Judge is merely an instrument in the final administration of the Justice. Any civilized society knows how to process injustice. The majority of opinions will eventually gather to correct an error. This is one law of nature -our personal assurance against miscarriage of justice.
Still, for a society to be considered civil comes with its own standards (this was evident during a celebrated case of a “brutal” arrest of a Blackman by white policemen. The acquittal of the accused officers rallied the rage of the black population in Los Angeles. Justified? Yes. Civil? No. Why? Because they resorted to violence).
Anarchy is a state of lawlessness. The final option of the vicious.
Finally, the most powerful of all laws combined is the Law of Cause and Effect. It cannot be stopped or reasoned with. It is the only law that is always guaranteed to happen. It does not require any jury or judicial system. It applies itself immediately to everyone, regardless of age, race, opinion, and reasoning ability – One Size Fits All.
...oh and yes, like MTP, I used google to look for a match utilizing the Blue Horse picture you posted. I too chanced upon a Saltsprings site - an art museum if I remember it right(but missed Ganges Rd.). I hesitated though, because the image of the Blue Horse logo I saw was different from the one pictured at the gate. The landscape and the boats on the harbor of Wisconsin eventually became my guess.
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