7-27-13 Hodgepodge

Theft by Semantics

The kleptocrats who run Kansas City, Missouri, have found a new way to steal money from drivers:

... According to a recent change in the city code, running a red light in Kansas City is now treated as if the owner of the vehicle parked illegally in the middle of an intersection. "The violation is not driving into the intersection but owning a vehicle that is found in the intersection while the light is emitting a steady red light," a city memo said. The fact that this is a parking violation, not a moving violation, means that K.C. doesn't have to bother with figuring out who was driving.

Of course, the justification usually given for red light cameras is safety, despite the fact that they often cause motorists to slam their brakes to avoid tickets, so the fact is that the word games have been going on for quite some time.

Weekend Reading

"Because obnoxious people can't get validation from within themselves, they seek reactions from others by being blowhards." --Michael Hurd, in "Handling Obnoxious People" at The Delaware Wave

"[A]s a matter of general prudence, armed civilians should avoid unnecessary confrontations with others." -- Paul Hsieh, in "The Single Most Important Lesson Gun Owners Should Learn from the George Zimmerman Case" at Forbes

My Two Cents

Micheal Hurd, as always, explains the advice he gives. Regarding not showing a reaction when dealing with obnoxious people, I would imagine that would also entail suppressing the smirk one might make upon realizing that one is frustrating such a person.

Ditching GMail

Google's overall direction seems to be to abandon standard Internet protocols in favor of vendor lock-in and assimilation of any and all services it doesn't kill into a Facebook-like social network. Bearing that in mind, I am always on the lookout for how-to guides such as Max Maznick's "Switching from GMail to FastMail".

--CAV