For This Most Special Day In America

Performance Art In The Paper

Even though I get a copy of the paper at my house every day, I also like to check out articles in the online version of the Review just to view the comments. One of the most entertaining commenters is soccermomsusie.

From an article about snow expected this holiday weekend.

Plowing the streets is one of the most Socialistic endeavors around and is a waste. Think about it. Why should I have to subsidize you losers who are too lazy to go out and buy a 4 wheel drive automobile?

My Hummer has no problem. Its 4 studded tires spinning - erasing bike lanes wherever it goes - on plowed or unplowed streets. It is unfair that the city feels like it has to “level the playing field” for you WELFARE TRACTION QUEENS!!!

Mexican drug cartel possession and use of combat arms.

It almost brings a tear to my eye that the Mexicans cherish their firearm rights! At least they are buying American!

This is making me rethink about them illegally crossing our border. It is comforting to think that there are still people who cherish our Second Amendment so much that they are willing to sneak over to our side to give us a much needed shot of Constitutional firepower.

Even Paul Turner is fair game.

Sunburned whales.

This is just a scam to try to get We The People to buy tanning oil for whales. I know some would like this because of the ironic nature of us capturing whales to give them oil, but can we really afford this?

Look for Greenpeace to spearhead the effort to combat this “problem.” Maybe they are seeking some corporate sponsorship to buy a new condom dispenser for the SS Coppertone Warrior.

The Republican party's plan to derail health reform.

What I look forward to:

1. Elimination of health insurance companies not being able to kick sick people off of their insurance. This just makes sense. Do we other policy holders want to catch what they have?!?

2. Elimination of allowing children up to age 26 to stay on their parents' plan. Once they turn 18, if they want insurance, they should join the Army.

The Rally to Restore Sanity held in Riverfront Park

Okay, I will be honest, there were twice as many people at this event compared to one of our tea party rallies.

HOWEVER, we outweighed them at least two to one.

Working Hard To Destroy Your Health Care...So You Don't Have To

Because it is vital that the so-called "Obamacare" be derailed, Cathy McMorris Rodgers has signed on to an amicus brief filed by the American Center for Law and Justice in federal court supporting Florida’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law.

In other news, American Center for Law and Justice also calls for investigating terrorists on Capitol Hill.

Riding Bikes On Downtown Spokane Sidewalks

I see people riding bikes on downtown sidewalks all the time, but riding on the sidewalk is not permitted in the retail zone as designated by the Spokane Municipal Code. I'm wondering if it's necessary. First of all, I've never seen it enforced. (The city has a bike helmet requirement and the police are too busy too enforce that as well.) Secondly, how do you know where riding on the sidewalk is prohibited unless you read the municipal code? You don't.

Spokane Municipal Code 16A.61.787 states:

No person may ride a bicycle or non-motorized vehicle upon any sidewalk or other pedestrian way within the retail zone of the congested district of the City as defined by SMC 16A.04.010 and SMC 16A.04.020, provided that nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit the riding of a bicycle or non-motorized vehicle upon any sidewalk or other pedestrian way within any area other than the retail zone of the congested district of the City.

And SMC 16A.04.020 states:

"Retail zone of the congested district" means all the area within the congested district bounded as follows:

On the north by the north line of Spokane Falls Boulevard;

On the west by the west line of Monroe Street;

On the south by the south line of Second Avenue from Monroe Street to Washington Street, and the south line of First Avenue from Washington Street to Bernard Street;

On the east by the east line of Washington Street from Second Avenue to First Avenue, and by the east line of Bernard Street from First Avenue to Spokane Falls Boulevard.

The retail zone shall also include both sides of Monroe Street from Main Avenue to Broadway, also both sides of Riverside Avenue, Sprague Avenue and First Avenue from Madison Street to Monroe Street, and both sides of Post Street from Spokane Falls Boulevard north to the Post Street bridge.

It's really difficult to make sense of that without looking at a map.


View Retail Zone - No Bikes On Sidewalks in a larger map

I don't know if posting signs throughout this area is possible--or worth doing. The city should scrap the prohibition of riding bikes on the sidewalk. The remainder of SMC 16.61.787 contains common sense rules concerning bikes yielding to pedestrians, exercising due care and caution, not riding too fast for conditions, etc. which should suffice for enforcement.

*** Update

I should add that I don't condone bikes on the sidewalk anywhere. But since they are allowed on sidewalks in almost all of Spokane, I doubt the need for prohibiting them in the retail zone since it's rarely enforced and extremely difficult to know where the prohibited areas are.

Contemptible Attention Seekers Or Hoax?

A Minnesota couple, Pete and Alisha Arnold, created a web site called Birth or Not on which they have an on-line poll asking, "Should we give birth or have an abortion?"

The couple is currently 17 weeks pregnant and allegedly are unsure if they want to be parents. So they're asking the world if they should give birth or have an abortion. They've been posting pictures of the ultrasound scans of the fetus.

And people are pissed. You can read more about it at the Daily Mail.

Alisha Arnold claims to be 17 weeks pregnant. That would start her pregnancy around the second week of July. I took a look at the domain name registration and found it was created on May 17, 2010.

Why would you create a domain name for this purpose two months before getting pregnant if you weren't sure you were ready to be parents?

Here are some guesses I have.

* Purposely get pregnant and use the web site to decide to have or abort the child, trivialize the decision to have an abortion, and get lots of attention.

* Fake the pregnancy, use the site to trivialize the decision to have an abortion in an attempt to rally the anti-abortion movement, and get people so upset they push for their (Minnesota) legislators to make abortion illegal in their state.

We will find out on December 9 when they must make their decision. I'm betting it's a hoax.

Eh? What Was That?

Overhearing my coworker in the next cubicle on a very short phone call, I was puzzled by the single question that made up the entire conversation.

After they hung up I asked, "Did you just ask someone of they got their hair combed?"

(Surely you can understand my bewilderment and curiosity about calling someone, asking this question and then hanging up. I was at a complete loss trying to come up with a scenario that would result in this strange inquiry. And for good reason I learned.)

"No," they laughed. "I asked if they got their headphones."

So we all had a brief moment of amusement and I got some blog fodder.