Did you find your way directly here? If so, you might want to
start at the beginning of this saga.
NH Vanity Plate AXDCYF
2002 November 3
Well, the impasse over the plate appears to be
over for now. I originally did ask Virginia
Beecher what rules would permit me to express my
dissatisfaction with DCYF without running afoul of
the rules. She never replied, so other than the DMV's
Initial Plate Search
service that can report H8 not allowed, I'm still
on my own. So I tried to get "AXDCYF," and got it with nothing more
than a chuckle from the town clerk. Despite the violent connotations, it
is an appropriate license plate in NH. Meldrim Thompson ran, and won,
for governor with his slogan "Axe the Tax!" That was some 30 years
ago, and we still don't have an Income Tax. Well, we do have a payroll
tax which is a kissing cousin to an income tax and even more onerous in
some ways.
Here are some comments on the plate:
I suppose I should have seen this result of the
"anti-hate-crime" movement:
*Hating* is now an offense, while actual violence,
performed with an ax no
less, is not! :)
Ummm ok so you had a plate that said h8dcyf now
.. let me get this
straight, you can ax dcyf?? ok this (I'm
laughing my a** off) is
violent isn't it??
Good ole Virginia...
Only until some DCYF nazi sees it and
complains.....
2004 July (or something in that timeframe)
No official complaints yet. I think I should be disappointed,
or maybe upset, but maybe Virginia has learned that
doing favors for the folks at DCYF who don't like my license plates
is a losing proposition.
However, I found a rather interesting indian
battle hatchet drawing in one of my colonial era resources. Interesting
enough so that I paint one (including blood drops) on the back of the car
next to the license plate!
September 2005
It's county fair season! I've been displaying my license plate quilt
at various settings, and this year I've entered it into the Home Arts
competition at the Hopkinton State Fair.
They don't have the best space to display
quilts, but it's judged the Best
in Show and given the best spot in the
hall.
One person who saw it was sufficiently annoyed that he sent me this note:
You are truly pathetic. It's amazing that you could be so
unprofessional, childish and irresponsible, yet still try to come
across like you are defending justice in the name of the law.
He made similar comments on a
TeamWarfare
computer game forum, which
attracted similar comments from other members. When our daughter heard about
this, she pleaded to take them on, and put on such a strong defense some
members had trouble believing she was a high school sophomore. By the time one
of the regulars posted a note about his family's problems with DCYF she had
them pretty well straightened out. There's also some grudging admiration
in a Tribal
War forum.
December 2005
One of Hannah's school friends is in foster care near us. Like many foster
children, she is in yet another placement, but this isn't the place for the
details. The current placement is so restrictive that Michelle is in
virtual house arrest. While the separation from her biological family
was a good thing, she deserves a better fate than this.
My family decides that the best thing to do is volunteer to take her
in. While my sewing room is a very important refuge for me, this is more
important. So Ric and I start taking foster care classes so we can get
foster licenses, I take on the local DCYF people to get them to understand
what is happening and DCYF comes to terms with the entire concept that
not only Public Enemy #1 is right, but that our home would be the best
place for Michelle.
It takes DCYF a little while to realize that they now have some leverage
over us. They do figure it out and one of their demands is that AXDCYF
goes. We decide that the best interests of the child trump
my own right to free speech and acquiesce.
What could I do? I was outnumbered and outgunned;
it was two DMV officers armed with semi-automatic
pistols and a screwdriver, against a middle-aged
housewife armed with a camera and a pet rabbit!
Continue with the next license plate, FIX169C.
Contact Paula Werme, Esq.
or visit her
Law Practice home page.
Contact Ric Werme or
return to his home page.
Last updated 2007 April 4.