When you go to the self check-out line at the Taj maTeeter on Friendly Avenue, scan who is in line behind you before you start to scan your groceries.  It might be Sour Bob.  If it is, you'll want to follow his concise guidelines... or else.

I have linked to Sour Bob under "new finds" (thanks Bruce) but I won't read him often because laughing that hard makes me spew things on my monitor and simply wears me out.

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Do not make the mistake of thinking that Commissioner Billy Yow is an aberration in Guilford County, he has a lot of fans... or at least his t-shirt does.  Internet surfers continue their attempts to locate an outlet selling the racist message but they find me instead.  I saw two guys wearing the shirt at Lowe's on Battleground Ave. last Saturday.

On March 20th I posted that I had received over 75 visitors who were looking for information on Yow's version of "freedom of speech", I am now over 200 and counting.  Cone, how many do you estimate on your site?

For those of you who find this weblog by typing in "Billy Yow t-shirt", "Buy Billy Yow t-shirt" and any variant of the phrase, please comment below as to your interest in the subject: 

Are you looking for information because the shirt enrages you... or because you agree with its message?  If you could buy one, where will you feel comfortable wearing it?  District 5, or elsewhere?  How do you account for the fact that there has only been one signed "letter to the editor" in support of Yow and dozens that condemn him - all signed?  Do you want to own one of the shirts because white hoods are soooo 1960's?

If you are looking to buy one of the damn things, why don't you just call Yow on the phone or send him your order via email?...  because he ain't got no website, Bubba.  His home number is 336-674-2149.  His email is billyyow@bellsouth.net.  I'm sure he would love to hear from you.

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Over the years my neighborhood, and many others, have appealed to Greensboro's Department of Transportation (GDOT) to install speed humps on some of our streets to slow traffic.  It is not unusual for cars to travel in excess of 45 mph along our narrow streets that are used as a "cut through" for folks trying to avoid collector street stop lights.

We have been repeatedly rebuffed.  The standard reason that GDOT gives for not installing speed bumps on residential streets is the City's liability for damages... to the speeder.   They claim that if a car is traveling too fast and hits a speed bump then careens out of control thereby causing damage to the speeding car or nearby property - the city could be liable for those damages.  I'm not making this up.

The N&R carries an AP story today that may turn the tables on the liability question.  The American Journal on Public Health has published a definitive study (free abstract) that shows that when speed humps are installed on residential streets, car vs children injuries/deaths decline by over 40%.

June Tester, the study's lead author says, "One of the reasons this research is important is that a lot of times there are things that seem intuitive."  Indeed... speed bumps are an "intuitive" measure, but for many years GDOT has consistently placed the City's financial liablity concerning speeders above the safety of children through a policy that is way out of whack with the best interests of the community.

If, after GDOT has been apprised of the study, a child is injured (or worse) by a speeding car in a street section where a neighborhood has requested a speed bump, the question of liability might be looked at in a whole different light by the courts.  If the City refuses to install a neighborhood requested speed hump, and a child is killed because of a speeding car that would otherwise have been slowed by the requested speed hump... who is liable then?

Speed humps (and their evil twin, speed "bumps"), as a traffic slowing measure, have been used in the private sector forever.  It is time for Greensboro to change its policy to reflect not only common sense, but now, proof of their effectiveness.  The lives and health of our (my) children are at stake.

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