Now that the minor matters of crime, illegal immigration and official corruption are completely solved, Houston’s city council can finally focus on the stuff that really matters:
The mismatched news racks that clutter Houston sidewalks, never before regulated or even counted, would have to be similar in size and identical in color under an ordinance presented to the City Council this week.
It would require news organizations to register each rack with the city, use boxes meeting certain size and material specifications and paint them all a matching dark green. The plan is likely to pass, and some newspaper distributors are complaining about it.
Registered news racks. Now let’s hear from your friendly, neighborhood nanny-statist:
“It will make a big difference in how things look downtown,” said Bob Eury, director of the Downtown Management District, who supports the ordinance. “What is totally out of control right now is the outrageous cacophony of color and size.”
Got that? Some private citizens want to distribute literature from red boxes. According to local government, that’s “outrageous.” He did have one thing right, though. Newspaper distribution is “out of control” — it is out of the control of government.
And that’s exactly where it ought to stay.
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Gubmint run amuck. Got their noses where they don’t belong….AGAIN!
Newspaper/Comical distribution numbers are a farce!
“outrageous cacophony of color and size”…
Some would call that diversity.
First again?
Can I go for the trifecta?
Dang it!!!
#2 and 3 Mikey51: Gotcha!
Slow fingers make for second places!
25 years from now, Wino’s front webpage will be a real curiousity:
http://houviews.blogspot.com/
The Government is going to save me from smoking, transfats, and odd size ugly news racks.
To bad my odds of being murdered or robbed on the way home are so high.
I’m with Shakespeare.
But after we kill all the lawyers, we’ll start on the aesthetes.
Why don’t they use it as a revenue base and tax their existance on the sidewalks. And just to make it better, tax based on circulation and box size.
And so if I’m looking for a Greensheet, I can no longer tell from across the street whether rack #4 is what I want? I’ll have to cross street corners unnecessarily because some council member wants to communize the paper racks to make them all the same size and color? If they have that much freakin’ time, I could use someone to clean my house.
Robert, as far as I know, they do.
If they don’t require a city permit, I would be shocked.
#5 Shannon
Exactly what I was thinking: “I wonder how much I can get for my ‘Houston Perspectives’ photograph once the boxes are outlawed.”
Whoever heard of folks using different colors for the same thing? I mean, just go down any soda aisle at Krogers, and you’ll see identical colors and shapes for every drink.
And cars? I saw one guy with a red car followed by a guy with a green car. How hideous!
Houses? My neighbor has a grey house. Mine is the soon-to-be-standard “Houston Yellow,” as is only right.
Uniforms next? How about flowerbeds?
I’m all with them. Let’s eliminate all color and individuality in all respects of our lives before this trend becomes entrenched.
#6 trl
Actually, it’s good news on the crime front. (I read the article, and even blogged about it.)
You’re much more likely to be murdered. If you survive, though, you’re less likely to be robbed. Doesn’t that make you feel better?