So there's hope we could get shrub indicted after all eh?

Before you all jump on the trash-trashing truck, hear the story about the county adjacent to my own. In King County, WA, USA (Not actually named after Martin Luther King, but the politically correct are trying to change that...) a law was just passed regarding the content of trash. If you place your trash can out on the curb for pickup and it contains more than sixty percent recyclable materials, the garbage folk will 1.) refuse to pick up your trash until you sort through it and remove enough recyclable material such that only 59% remains and 2.) pass on to you a lovely $50 US fine. Perhaps the garbage men (or women) do actually sort the trash by volume and weight before picking it up to check and see if its too recyclable. While its not rediculous to expect people to recycle, this statute and its accompanying circumstances seem to smell rotten.

Just like the "fined for swearing", who knows if the man is telling the truth? He got traced for dumping the letters, but the claim is he dumped bags of rubbish into the bin, for which the letters allowed him to be traced.

As always, these stories may not be reported accurately (I know, what's to say they ever are, at which point how can we ever believe anything?). Reminds me of the man fined for swearing -- we only heard his side of the story, and not the corresponding side (which may, of course, be different!).

@Dawg:

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(Not actually named after Martin Luther King, but the politically correct are trying to change that...

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I know it was only a side-line remark but I just have to ask. WHAT? Are you saying that they, our friendly P.C.Police, want to change the name from simply "King" to "Martin Luther King" County? Or do they want to get rid of the whole King-thing so as not to imply any racial preference either way? Also is there a "Queen" county and is this to be recognised as "Raving"? Would "Monarch of no specifiec gender, race or creed conty" suffice, or is the recognition of a monarchy in and of itself too politicised?

Sorry, had to ask!

@Druid-

The actions of the PC police here are thus: The county was named for another person named King (some polititian or somesuch) when it was founded in the late 1800's. The police are trying to change the county's namesake to Martin Luther King (rather than the name itself). Let's consider the remaining factor when the majority of counties in Washington are named after local Indian erm.... Native American tribes.

but those are competely different matters of another order. I fail to see the connection.

@Dawg: WIth the Mullah on that. Although I do realise that you have not condoned this p.c.policing at all you must admit that the idea of changing "Ding County" to "Martin Luther King County" is pure cobblers. Pure opportunistic agenda wobbling.

Cobblers! 100%

It is because of who the original Mr. King was. A William Rufus De Vane King, an Alabama plantation owner and Vice President Elect in 1852. He died in 1853 and had much to do with the great arguments concerning Slave vs Free states that raged in the early 1800s ... he, with Henry Clay were organizers of the Great Compromise.

So. The county was named after a slaver, so to speak, and it was suggested that this was an anachronism in the State of Washington which was never a Slave state.

And the resolution was made and approved in 1986. So King County Washington has had its namesake redesignated to memorialize Martin Luther King, Jr. instead of William Rufus De Vane King. Washington was not made a State of the Union until Nov. 11, 1889 which tends to make the significance of the original King to Washington State history rather remote.


Edited by - Indy11 on 3/11/2006 7:35:11 PM

you misunderstand me. I meant that the matter of littter fining, however petty it may be, has NO CONNECTION with the far more serious issues of America's history of slavery and the current efforts to redress the historical balance. I failed to see the logical extention from the former to the latter.

@Taw: I believe that would be my fault, having picked up on a remark made earlier made by Dawg regarding the the name of his home county.

@Indy: Ta! Interesting. A total rename which avoided any racial tension could have worked but would A: Require a lot more work in the re-signing and addressing of everything etc, and B: Buried a topic which needed to be faced in favour of not rocking the boat.

Again, 'pologies for dragging it off topic.

Indy- Thanks for the research

Taw- I had no intent to hijack this thread, and I apologize for that. I wanted to pass on some trash related obscurities in my own area and had to tack that on. We'll save this debate for another day. Sorry!

@Dawg: TLR has rules against dropping your rubbish in the wrong forum ya know!