Two years ago, shortly after Israel responded to the Nova Music Massacre on October 7th with military force, someone put up a sign in my neighborhood that expressed a very specific opinion about what was happening in the Middle East.
The sign, pictured here, is impossible to miss from the road, and over the last two years, many motorists, cyclists, and dog walkers have complained about its presence, and its sentiment. The city, however, has not 
compelled the owner of the sign to remove it. Though it is very close to the street, the sign is on private property, and the sentiment thereon is clearly protected by the first amendment. Several months ago, however, residents with a different worldview began expressing their displeasure, by leaving bags of dogshit at the base of the sign. Others followed suit, and soon, the leafy hillside on the side 
of the road was covered with brightly colored “protest packages” whose message was no less clear than the words on the sign itself.
None of it was pretty, but the presence of all that dogshit had created a strange equilibrium. For months, the owner of the sign continued to exercise his Constitutional right to publicly condemn the Jews, as offended passersby expressed their own opinion with bags of dogshit. No one got hurt, no property was damaged, and everyone felt heard. Alas, after several months of this mostly fecal protest, the owner of the sign grew weary of cleaning up after other people’s dogs and complained to our elected officials about the sudden littering epidemic that had broken out on the edge of his property. And yesterday, our elected officials responded by adding a new sign to the tableau, imploring the residents to stop littering, or suffer the consequences of violating California Penal Code, 374.4, which I must say made for some interesting reading prior to this post.
This morning, I took a photo of the Anti-Israeli sign and the No Littering sign on my morning ruck. Note the bags of dogshit connecting the two. On the way back home, however, two hours later, I noticed a fresh bag had been draped over the “No Littering” sign, leading me to wonder, what comes next, and how will it all end?
Otherwise, a pretty nice day here in The Golden State.