The City of Sioux Falls fined West Fargo-based Service Oil Inc. $300 last year for not maintaining its billboard on its otherwise vacant property at I-90 and North Cliff. Last November, Service Oil brought its sign up to code:
FUSF. Classy.
This anti-municipal bird-flipping apparently took eight months to make the news (as if there isn’t enough other news happening this month to occupy our attention). Sioux Falls zoning enforcement chief Shawna Goldammer sounds unfazed:
“It is compliant with the current ordinances for being maintained, and it does advertise a property for sale and for lease,” says Goldammer.
…“We have to be aware of free speech and the first amendment rights,” says Goldammer. “We can’t dictate what the sign says only the signs size and location” [Sydney Kern, “SF Man Questions Meaning Behind Oil Company Sign,” KDLT, 2017.07.18].
Cheers to Sioux Falls for supporting the unpleasant side of the First Amendment and not making a fuss that it would likely lose.
The First Amendment, like all amendments, is not absolute. However, a casual search of state law suggests that our only statewide ban on “profanity” is SDCL 54-4-77, which prohibits debt collectors from “using obscene or profane language.” The words “profanity” and “profane” appear nowhere else in statute. We do have administrative rules explicitly prohibiting profane language during visits to state inmates, in interactions with horse- or greyhound-racing officials or employees or representatives of the racing commission, or when working as a pharmacy technician.
Other statutes restrict “obscene” language (e.g., SDCL 22-24-55 and SDCL 22-24-56 restricting smut on school and library computers SDCL 49-31-32 on obscene phone calls, SDCL 49-31-32.1 banning dial-a-porn), but SDCL 22-23-27(11) defines “obscene” as “appeal[ing] to the prurient interest,” and expressing disgust toward the City of Sioux Falls with this particular phrase hardly rouses “a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion”… at least no more than South Dacola’s reaction, which is to LHFAO.
At least Service Oil gives us some ideas for some Resistance billboards. Gee, President Trumpke—Trump You!
Does FUSF stand for what the complainers think it does or are many involved simply jumping to conclusions?
Could you put that on license plate?
from freedictionary-
FUSF
Acronym Definition
FUSF First Universalist Society in Franklin (Franklin, MA)
FUSF Federal Universal Service Fee
It probably really means what everyone thinks, but there is a fallback definition that actually exists.
I’ve seen one too many wiseacres with “Big Johnson” t-shirts to accept any alt defs for the initials on that billboard. It says what we think it says.
Roger, I’ll bet our motor vehicle division would reject that license plate, citing this rule: “No vulgar words, terms, or abbreviations may be used. The characters in the order used cannot express, represent, or imply a profane, obscene, or sexual meaning.“
I have been collecting photos of wilderness area sculptures in Rapid City (swaztikas, FURC with the middle finger) suggesting a misguided juvenile at large…or skin heads. We have a lotta deep thought in red-neck country.
but nick thinks it means nothing….