Oak Park Stops Religious Group From Stringing Fishing Wire All Over Neighborhood

Holy Fishing Wire, Batman!

A religious group wanted to hang fishing wire all over Oak Park, the way they have elsewhere in L.A. They call it an "eruv," and it apparently kills birds, such as hawks, that don't expect to dive-bomb into an invisible wire. Anyway, the neighborhood said "no." For the full story, read the Daily News article.

The two funniest quotations are as follows:

"Is it me or am I the only one that finds this strange?" Carlos Bernal of Oak Park wrote in an e-mail to local officials. "Why don't we install a crucifix at every stoplight? Or the picture of Muhammad at every pedestrian crossing?"

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"It is not some biblical thing that says, `Hang some fishing line.' It's an arbitrary man-made work-a-round," said Susan Flores, a Reform Jew who,like most, does not keep Sabbath. "While you are making stuff up, why don't you make up something that is a little less obtrusive."