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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
 Posted - 05/06/2005 : 13:35:25
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I just saw, on Court Tv's news update, that a man who used shoe polish to write "Big Lie" across a salt stain on the concrete of an overpass that some had hailed as an image of the virgin mary may be charged with destruction of government property.
How does shoe polish hurt an overpass? Or is the "virgin mary" the property "destroyed"?
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trish |
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Boron10
Religion Moderator
USA
1266 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2005 : 16:58:34 [Permalink]
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| I am fairly certain the qualifying factor is that it costs money to return the overpass to its original state. Since the act was done willfully, the man can be charged. |
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2005 : 17:32:21 [Permalink]
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But what would be the original state, totally clean concrete? Or salt-stain intact?
Do the statutes distinguish between temporaty and permanent materials, say, chalk which will dissolve in the next rain, or spraypaint, which definitely takes a bit of work to remove [though they usually don't remove it where I live, they just paint over it]
Another problem is, if the salt stain remains, becoming a shrine, would it be a hazard to traffic? |
trish |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2005 : 17:59:33 [Permalink]
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The city had a worker go out and paint over the whole salt stain (and shoe polish).
I'm going to guess that this will save the city a lot of money over time, in that they'll be able to take back their barricade(s) and not have cops patrol there as often anymore, but, technically, since the "big lie" made them send a worker and buy some paint, the bureaucrats may not see the larger savings behind the small expense. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2005 : 18:06:33 [Permalink]
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| I'm really curious if anyone knows if there is a distinction between writing on walls with chalk and spray paint. I once had occasion to write on an overpass with chalk, in an attempt to discourage people gathering there and drinking beer. I had no idea that this might be classified a crime, or even a misdomeaner. |
trish |
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2005 : 18:22:18 [Permalink]
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| I would think the guy who put up shoe polish did the highwy dept a favor - giving them an excuse to paint over the salt stain - it the shoe polish hadn't been applied, I could see believers crying discrimination if the salt stain alone had been painted over. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2005 : 18:38:14 [Permalink]
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| Spray paint coats the concrete, and may be harful to it. I remember discussions about that in the local papers regarding such "art". Humidity would get locked in behind the paint, and the concrete can't "breathe" as it should, opening up for fungus and stuff. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
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"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
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Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2005 : 06:44:03 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by trishran
I would think the guy who put up shoe polish did the highwy dept a favor - giving them an excuse to paint over the salt stain - it the shoe polish hadn't been applied, I could see believers crying discrimination if the salt stain alone had been painted over.
Update to the story.
Religious schmuck #4,502 used paint remover to clean off the image which was painted over. It's already a hazard to navigation. Round here, they don't bother painting concrete. They'd just leave it and start ticketing believers for mucking up traffic. They've added tables with rows upon rows of candles. The gullible ... I mean stupid.... I mean devinely inspired are already bringing their sick children for healing. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2005 : 07:44:11 [Permalink]
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| And for an earlier discussion of this and other Virgin Sightings, see this thread (images are on page 2)... |
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2005 : 14:18:31 [Permalink]
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As someone who spent a miserable child because my seven digestive tract birth defects went undiagnosed, I can barely contain my disgust and fury that people would drag their kids to dubious images in expectation of a cure, but don't bring them to a doctor because it violates their faith.
The nuns and parents always said, "No normal child gets that many stomach aches, you must be lying!" without ever noticing that I was ill just as much weekends and summers. When I vomited [frequently], I was told that vomiting was merely another form of rebellion. |
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2005 : 15:34:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer:
Religious schmuck #4,502 used paint remover to clean off the image which was painted over. It's already a hazard to navigation. Round here, they don't bother painting concrete. They'd just leave it and start ticketing believers for mucking up traffic. They've added tables with rows upon rows of candles. The gullible ... I mean stupid.... I mean devinely inspired are already bringing their sick children for healing.
Imagine if these people spent that time and energy in a library or a classroom reading a science book instead of hanging out under a bridge burning candles and worshiping a stain. Maybe then their lives wouldn't be so pitiful that this kind of nonsense seems necessary to them. |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2005 : 18:24:46 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by trishran
I just saw, on Court Tv's news update, that a man who used shoe polish to write "Big Lie" across a salt stain on the concrete of an overpass that some had hailed as an image of the virgin mary may be charged with destruction of government property.
You know, at first I thought the defacer was some rational guy who had just had enough nonsense in his town and decided to end the silliness. It seemed somewhat extreme, but I could understand the frustration. However it occurs to me, I'll bet dollars to donuts that the vandalist is actually an evangelical christian who thinks it's the worship of the Virgin Mary that's the "Big Lie." They accuse Catholics of worshipping false idols and claim that all "apparitions" of Mary are the workings of Satan.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 05/09/2005 18:25:59 |
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2005 : 14:50:01 [Permalink]
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| I wouldn't be surprised |
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