You might want to express your support for our city's striking laborers with just the big smile and the thumbs-up for the next few days: the police have started fining people who honk in support of picket lines -- but only if the picket lines are in the financial district. People who work on New Montgomery near the Palace Hotel, the police explain, are finding it hard to get their work done with the raucous left-wing noise. "A lot of them are consultants, therapists, they need to talk to people and can't be heard." Why, they could barely get themselves to their fax machines to send twenty letters of protest to the SFPD!

Now, SFist works near the Civic Center, where there's always a protest or three going on and c'mon, the car horns aren't the problem, it's the loud drumming that really gets on the nerves. Nonetheless, the protesters have agreed to stop waving the signs that say "HONK FOR HEALTH CARE," and the fire department has agreed to stop blowing their air horns when they pass by. (Okay, the air horn's a little annoying, we'll admit.)

The police assure us that a short honk will receive "only" a warning, but loud honking will get you a $50 fine and a trip to traffic court. Everyone getting pulled over is getting their license plate written down too. Man, the DPT will get you for anything these days.