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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 08:40 pm |
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Got this off another board...
"Profit$ versus lives"
It was reported tonight on ABC News that Yahoo is aiding the Chinese government by giving up information gained through their site. That means political dessidents are being imprisoned or killed. When confronted with this, they said, "We must cooperate with the Chinese government or we can't do business there."
My question is, "HOW MUCH FUCKIN' MONEY DO THESE PEOPLE NEED?"
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 11:50 am |
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I live 2 blocks from this place (1 south, 1 west) and I can hear the racket at this place almost every night. Worse on the weekends. Gone out to do yardwork on a Saturday or Sunday morning and had to pick up someone's used rubbers. People leaving the place have been pretty noisy. Dogs go crazy in the middle of the night, it's usually some idiot coming home from this place talking loud that stirs 'em up...
They did need to clean up their act a bit. It has gotten better lately.
Bar owner, police battle
Monrovia officials deny harassment at landmark hotel
By Molly R. Okeon Staff Writer
Pasadena Star-News
MONROVIA - The owner of the Aztec Hotel and attached Brass Elephant bar believes local police and city officials are unfairly pegging a bad reputation on her bar in the hopes it will close.
But the very people she thinks are out to get her say they are only trying to help her manage her bar better for the sake of the neighborhood and the community.
In 2000, Kathie Reece-McNeill paid $1.5million for the Aztec Hotel, listed on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a local landmark by the City Council in 2003.
It was built in 1925 by English architect Robert Stacy-Judd, who wanted to bring Mayan and Aztec design into the 20thcentury, according to Glen Duncan, project manager for the hotel's restoration grant.
Over the years, the hotel saw much success, but prior to Reece-McNeill's reign the building had become a "flophouse for drug addicts" where "people were sleeping in the basement," Duncan said.
Reece-McNeill said she has worked hard to clean up her building. Aside from the current restoration project, she has issued a dress code for the bar and hired a security force to watch not only the bar but the surrounding streets at night.
She has been in touch weekly with a Monrovia community policing officer, with whom she discusses issues and problems of security. Monrovia police Chief Roger Johnson said his department has provided her with as much assistance as possible.
"We provided training for their security people for identification of gang members, narcotics and recognizing public intoxication," he said. "We're trying to help her get better at managing her bar."
But, Johnson says, problems with the bar came to a head in December 2004 after police received calls about loud music coming from the rear of the property, screaming, traffic violations, urinating and depositing of trash - alcoholic beverage cans and bottles and used condoms - on surrounding properties.
"Just in the last 12 months, the activity really smacks of a bar operation ... not being managed properly," Johnson said, citing incidents of serving customers who were intoxicated, DUIs and fights.
In mid-December, a man shot several rounds into the front of the bar early one Sunday after security would not let him in. A woman was struck in the arm with shrapnel but was not taken to the hospital.
"I don't think that's her (Reece-McNeill) fault at all, I don't think anybody's indicated that," Johnson said of the incident.
Reece-McNeill and more than 40 others attended a Jan.17 City Council meeting in support of the Aztec.
"They've taken situations that have occurred that have absolutely nothing to do with the bar and use them to make it look like it does have something to do with the bar," Reece-McNeill said. "I think they would prefer that the Aztec Hotel and the Brass Elephant don't exist."
She describes the bar as being much like one on the TV sitcom "Cheers," where people of all backgrounds mingle.
But lately, she said, the atmosphere has been disturbed by constant police presence - in the parking lot, in surrounding streets and in the bar itself - and four inspections by code enforcement since November of 2004.
"They want to blame every single thing on the Brass Elephant," she said. "They've done a smear campaign over the years."
Dick Mountjoy, a former state lawmaker and Monrovia mayor and city councilman, said he enjoys spending time at the hotel and bar. He said it was once a "seedy place" and that Reece-McNeill "really cleaned it up."
"I think that there has been some extra enthusiastic enforcement," he said, adding he has faith any injustices done to the business will be worked out by the City Council.
Johnson said that Reece-McNeill has been marketing what's going on at her establishment as "police harassment or harassment on the part of the city."
"The bottom line is, no harassment is going on at all," he said. "The Police Department is responsible for helping to maintain the public peace and make sure Kathie's bar operation doesn't adversely affect the neighborhood."
He said any bar which is receiving as high a call volume as the Brass Elephant has - 479 calls since 2000 - is going to receive some extra police attention.
"We will continue to monitor the activity at the Brass Elephant until the bar operation comes into compliance with what the law requires," he said.
Monrovia Mayor Rob Hammond said police and city staff are simply trying to make sure the business runs in a manner not detrimental to the community.
"While there have been great strides in making the environment better, there is a ways to go, and the city will do whatever they can to help the business owner succeed," Hammond said. "We are not trying to close anybody."
Hammond points to the fact that the City Council approved a Mills Act contract for the establishment, which provides property tax relief at a cost to the city to help preserve the structure's historic nature.
Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa said he is disturbed by nature of the problems happening at the bar. He pointed specifically to the shooting.
"I think the gun was fired at their building," he said when told Reece-McNeill had said the shooting was not the fault of the bar. "It didn't go down the street, make a turn and end up lodged in their facility. That argument doesn't wash."
Due to calls from neighbors and notification by Monrovia police, the Brass Elephant is now under investigation by state Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control. Anthony Posada, supervising investigator from the El Monte office, said no administrative action has been taken against the bar, as the department is still in a "fact-gathering stage."
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 934 |
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 02:21 am |
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Abo wrote: Hey Man. I'm with YOU. Time for "LITTLE BOY" and FAT MAN". Bring back ENOLA GAY. Abo
Man Abo, you are old.....LOL Nowadays they dont use a plane, they just push a button and it launches right out of the ground........Probably in Daves back yard....LOL
Just kidding about the "old" remark....
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 01:31 am |
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| Speaking of Enola Gay...Did you ever listen to the song Enola Gay by O.M.D (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark)??? Great song...
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Abo
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 12:58 am |
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marc wrote:
Yeah...Time to push the button and be done with these people....Enough is enough....
Hey Man. I'm with YOU. Time for "LITTLE BOY" and FAT MAN". Bring back ENOLA GAY. Abo
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 12:39 am |
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| We could host all the Winter Olympic Skating events there...
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 934 |
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Posted: Sun Feb 12th, 2006 12:37 am |
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weasle wrote: then tell them first , bunch of terrorest attacks the us , and we find out which country it originated from , they will be nothing left but molten sand . my 02. Dont sand turn to glass when alot of heat is applied? I say lets give them alot of glass to walk on....JMHO
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weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 11:03 pm |
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| its a vicious circle , we give our money to our , FRIENDS , saudia arabia (ect) for their oil and they turn around and help finance the , wackos fighting us in iraq. we ought to get out and let them fight it out amongest them selves . save a hell of a lot of american lives. then tell them first , bunch of terrorest attacks the us , and we find out which country it originated from , they will be nothing left but molten sand . my 02.
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Mikey
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 11:01 pm |
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Andy wrote:
I say we convert all our vehicles to ethanol which we can manufacture from corn and other plant matter here. Natural gas for heating can be made from bio waste such as sewage and garbage. Motor oil from corn and soy, then screw all the damn Muslim countries and stop buying oil. But I guess the wealthy oil men ( the Bush family ) wouldn't want to do that as they're making too much money from pumping oil out of the ground.
Let all these S.O.B's revert back to the sand from which they came and play with their camels. Let them live in their tents on rugs in the sand, who needs them...
Maybe this should go to the soapbox???
If this is too harsh, delete it... Just gotta bitch!!!
Your fine Andy..just dont post any anti Muslim cartoons..or else Carl might get his server torched..LMAO..
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Andy
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 10:04 pm |
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I say we convert all our vehicles to ethanol which we can manufacture from corn and other plant matter here. Natural gas for heating can be made from bio waste such as sewage and garbage. Motor oil from corn and soy, then screw all the damn Muslim countries and stop buying oil. But I guess the wealthy oil men ( the Bush family ) wouldn't want to do that as they're making too much money from pumping oil out of the ground.
Let all these S.O.B's revert back to the sand from which they came and play with their camels. Let them live in their tents on rugs in the sand, who needs them...
Maybe this should go to the soapbox???
If this is too harsh, delete it... Just gotta bitch!!!
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 08:54 pm |
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| Yeah...Time to push the button and be done with these people....Enough is enough....
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Mikey
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 08:37 pm |
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| Those people are nutz....It was a friggin cartoon...How about we put them on trial every time they persecute a christian or a jew??..How about when they burn the US flag..we drop a bomb on them??...Just goes to show you the fanatics are looking for the smallest excuse to start something..lets give em what they want..a holy war..When they see the mushroom cloud..they will all go.. "holy shit"..JMHO
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 08:32 pm |
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Fuck em...Freedom of free speech and the press...Damn rag heads...
Saudi Cleric Demands Trial Over Drawings
By ABDULLAH SHIRI, Associated Press Writer
Saudi Arabia's top cleric called on the world's Muslims to reject apologies for the "slanderous" caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed and demanded the authors and publishers of the cartoons be tried and punished, Saudi newspapers reported Saturday.
Thousands of Muslims, meanwhile, took to the streets in London and several other European cities to protest the drawings that were first published in a Danish newspaper in September and recently reprinted in other European publications. One depicted the prophet with a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse.
Denmark also announced it has temporarily withdrawn its ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia because their safety was at risk in the wake of the controversy.
Speaking to hundreds of faithful at his Friday sermon, Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Seedes, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, called on the international community to enact laws that condemn insults against the prophet and holy sites.
"Where is the world with all its agencies and organizations? Is there only freedom of expression when it involves insults to Muslims? With one voice...we will reject the apology and demand a trial," Al Riyad, a Saudi daily newspaper, quoted al-Seedes as saying.
Al-Seedes said the cartoons "made a mockery" of the Islam and the Prophet and called them "slanderous."
A diverse crowd ranging from teenagers in jeans and T-shirts to women in head scarves gathered in Trafalgar Square in central London. Many carried placards reading "United Against Islamophobia."
"It was absolutely wrong to publish the cartoons," said Ihtisham Hibatullah, media director for the Muslim Association of Britain, one of the protest organizers.
But he said demonstrators also wanted to send the message that "the clash of civilizations is only promoted by fringe minorities. We see the future as one of dialogue between practices, cultures, faiths and ideologies."
Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry. No major British newspaper has reproduced the caricatures, and the country had seen only small demonstrations before Saturday.
Noisy but peaceful rallies also were held in Turkey, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Germany, France and elsewhere, although the Middle East was largely calm, a day after demonstrations by thousands of Muslim worshippers emerging from Friday prayers.
Protesters in the Turkish capital of Ankara stomped on Danish flags and shouted, "We will not forgive the ones who humiliated our prophet!"
Arab governments, Muslim clerics and newspaper columnists have been urging calm in past days, fearing that recent weeks of violence have only increased anti-Islamic sentiment in the West.
So far, eleven people have been killed in the protests — all during three days of riots this week in Afghanistan. A 12th person died in Nairobi Friday when he was hit by an ambulance rushing away a wounded person.
Denmark's embassy buildings in Syria, Iran and Indonesia had been targeted by angry mobs and the Foreign Ministry said it was withdrawing Danish ambassadors from all three countries.
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the cartoons in September, has apologized for offending Muslims but stood by its decision to print the drawings, citing freedom of speech.
The newspaper's culture editor, Flemming Rose, who was in charge of the drawings, went on indefinite leave Thursday but many Muslims said that would do little to quell the uproar.
The paper has denied that Rose was ordered to go leave because he suggested reprinting Holocaust drawings solicited by an Iranian newspaper, setting off a dispute earlier this week with Jyllands-Posten's editor-in-chief.
"He was not forced out," said the paper's spokesman, Tage Clausen. "He's on vacation, that's all."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the controversy over the cartoons has created unprecedented tension between the Islamic and Christian world.
"For the sake of global peace and safeguarding of our commonly held values, I believe it has now become essential that the statesmen and politicians act with wisdom and commonsense," he said in a letter published in Turkish media and sent to U.N. member nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and NATO.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reiterated that many Muslims consider the cartoons an insult to their faith, but he called on Muslims to forgive those who have sincerely apologized.
"Reprinting the cartoons in order to make a point about free speech is an act of senseless brinkmanship," he said in a commentary in the International Herald Tribune.
"It is also a disservice to democracy. It sends a conflicting message to the Muslim community: that in a democracy it is permissible to offend Islam. This message damages efforts to prove that democracy and Islam go together."
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jeffy ole boy
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 02:58 pm |
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| DAMM, what an oversite on the value of that home! I've heard of that happening before. Probably won't be the last.. LOL Outragious tax liability as the result.
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Feb 11th, 2006 02:28 pm |
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Imagine opening your property tax bill and seeing this...
$8 million tax bill for $121,900 home
Glitch creates non-existent revenue; county workers shudder
VALPARAISO, Indiana (AP) -- A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana.
The house had been valued at $121,900 before the glitch.
An outside user of Porter County's computer system may have triggered the mess by accidentally changing the value of the Valparaiso house, said Sharon Lippens, director of the county's information technologies and service department.
County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million.
Most local officials did not learn about the mistake until Tuesday, when 18 government taxing units were asked to return a total of $3.1 million of tax money. The city of Valparaiso and the Valparaiso Community School Corp. were asked to return $2.7 million. As a result, the school system has a $200,000 budget shortfall, and the city loses $900,000.
The homeowner, Dennis Charnetzky, declined to comment about the situation to The Associated Press on Friday.
Lippens said her agency identified the mistake and told the county auditor's office how to correct it. But the $400 million value ended up on documents that were used to calculate tax rates.
Officials struggled to figure out how the mistake got into the system and how it could have been prevented. City leaders said Thursday the error could cause layoffs and cost-cutting measures.
Lippens said the outside user changed the property value, most likely while trying to access another program while using the county's enhanced access system, which charges users a fee for access to public records that are not otherwise available on the Internet.
Lippens said the user probably tried to access a real estate record display by pressing R-E-D, but accidentally typed R-E-R, which brought up an assessment program written in 1995. The program is no longer in use, and technology officials did not know it could be accessed.
The county treasurer said his office spotted the $400 million error after it caused an improper billing, but apparently it wasn't corrected elsewhere.
"It didn't get fixed all the way," Murphy said.
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Feb 10th, 2006 09:42 pm |
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| That came up in the conversation with the OL last night. She mentioned Seattle. I mentioned the yearly rainfall... End of discussion... LOL
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jeffy ole boy
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Feb 10th, 2006 09:10 pm |
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marc wrote: Dave wrote: LOL... Seattle would be nice. I have an older sister and BIL that live about an hour north (Oak Harbor) Dave...Way to much rain out there..... Wouldn't be able to ride much with all that rain.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Feb 10th, 2006 08:42 pm |
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Dave wrote: LOL... Seattle would be nice. I have an older sister and BIL that live about an hour north (Oak Harbor) Dave...Way to much rain out there.....
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jeffy ole boy
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Feb 10th, 2006 08:24 pm |
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| Be fun to use an old discarded pc for target practice..
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Feb 10th, 2006 07:32 pm |
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Old Computers Contain Personal Information, Expert Warns
Data Could Be Used By Identity Thief
UPDATED: 7:14 am PST February 10, 2006
When you buy a new computer, many times you donate or throw out the old one.
Albuquerque television station KOAT found that practice could be risky, because personal information can remain on a computer even though the owner thought it was already deleted.
Computer expert Randy Price walked the station through an example of what someone might be able to find.
Price clicked on one file on a discarded computer that revealed some very personal information.
"I find pictures of driver's licenses, pictures of Social Security cards," Price said.
If that information makes its way into the wrong hands, it could make someone a victim of identity theft.
Price also said dragging unwanted files into the recycle bin doesn't completely erase some information.
Experts are able to find everything buried in the hard drive.
"It's right out there in the open," Price said. "They could use it themselves, sell it to other people, distribute it randomly."
Price suggested removing and destroying the hard drive before getting rid of it. With an intact hard drive, thieves could be able to access private information, Price said.
http://www.nbc4.tv/irresistible/6904328/detail.html
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