Grand Theft

Under most circumstances, I don't have a lot of sympathy for the argument that taxes represent theft by the government; prison should be likened to sanctioned kidnapping, et cetera. But in this case, the charge of theft should be made.

City workers in Tel Aviv found a parked car, erected a handicapped parking sign, re-painted the curb, painted a handicapped logo on the pavement and then had the car towed away. Then, the owner was slapped with a ticket. The only thing that saved her was the fact that the worker's actions were caught on camera from a nearby building.

The city of Tel Aviv's response when confronted with the video evidence? "This was indeed a serious error, and schlemielism that is unacceptable to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality. We apologize for the distress and will examine our conduct for the future, so that these kinds of things won't happen again." That's not acceptable. This wasn't "bungling." It's hard to image that the workers somehow accidentally failed to notice that there was a legally parked car in the spot. Someone should be in jail for auto theft and fraud.