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Below is an article from the Denver Post. A staff person wrote the article. If anyone knows any newspaper people from Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Altoona, etc. it would be a plus to have an article like this!
Monday, February 04, 2002 - I confess. Sometimes, when it's very dark, I patrol my neighborhood and rip down those eye-offending advertisements nailed to phone poles. You know the ones. The ones that promise "weight loss in two months" or "work at home" or "health insurance."
I used to feel guilty. Not anymore. It turns out I'm a "sign shark," part of a nationwide underground movement called Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam or "CAUSS." We can't spell "cause," but we have one.
CAUSS was founded in Texas in 1997, dedicated to purging the urban landscape of "the blatant and irresponsible act of placing commercial advertising signs in public places such as on trees, utility poles, stuck in the ground with wire or wooden stakes or even glued to utility boxes."
But, I would ask my lawyer if I had one, aren't we violating someone's right to free speech? Not according to CAUSS. "Street spam is no different than any other litter you see strewn along the streets," advises the group's website (www.causs.org). "You have the right to pick up trash."
A new guerrilla tactic is to leave the sign but slice off the phone number, rendering it useless for the advertiser. Taking down the sign leaves a space for the next spammer.
I'm doing my part. I carry a claw hammer in the trunk of my car, ready to spring into action. Join us!
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