One of the times I was pulled over, it was for riding on the sidewalk. The officer told me that cyclist's must use the road just like cars, because a bicycle is considered a vehicle. First off, I never would have known that because I have ridden my bicycle on the sidewalk past hundreds of police officers in my life time, and none of them stopped me (except for this douche).

Secondly, it was 3 in the friggin' morning!! How many pedestrians do you think are taking a stroll down the sidewalk that early? Furthermore, I know for a fact that he didn't pull me over for riding on the sidewalk, he pulled me over because I was riding a bicycle at 3 in the morning (with a backpack on). He probably thought that I might have drugs or something, and so decided to stop me, and then threw out some bullshit reason as to why he pulled me over when he found out I wasn't transporting drugs.

I hate Orange County police officers!

has anybody try to videotape or voice record any of the police officers?

That is utterly ridiculous, X!!

WTF?? I know most cops are good, but there are some REAL douchebags out there as well! Fucking disgrace to the badge!!! There should be someone you could complain to....but that'd probably be an even bigger nightmare.

Well Carmageddon officially starts tonight in which they are closing the 405 freeway for the weekend. Thankfully I never use that freeway but it is one of the busiest in the L.A. area. I've not been following all the details but the news here is really building this closure up. I heard that there might be "block" parties on/by the off-ramps. Don't know if that's true.

The radio station is giving away Carmageddon survival kits" including, snacks, water and a road map circa 1950's to help you get around using side streets. They are actually encouraging people to stay home and relax the weekend because evidently that freeway is extremely busy even during the weekends. God, I'm glad I don't travel anywhere near it. It's gonna make every other freeway in the area and even nearby side streets extra busy.

Btw, Jet Blue was offering $4.00 fares (sold out now) to/from the L.A. - Long Beach area. And, several bicyclists said they can ride that same distance in the less time than it takes to fly Jet Blue. So Jet Blue offered a plane seat for another passenger to fly and see if that person arrives at the destination before or after the bicyclists.

I don't have any links because I just hear these tidbits on the news. I'll try to find some though and add to this post to anyone who might be interested.

TIS

Here on the East Coast, I just watched a feature on ABC's "Nightline" about the 405 closure. They said that ten miles of the road would be out of commission. Seems like this is going to affect a lot of people.

But they never actually said why the freeway is being closed. There was a reference at the beginning of the story to summertime being the time for road construction, so I'm assuming that's the reason. But nothing at all was specifically said in the news report. Just sloppy reporting, I guess.

Paris Hilton tweeted that she will be staying home this weekend. Tom Hanks advised people to avoid the 405. Erik Estrada filmed a public service TV commercial.

In addition to avoiding the freeway, alternative forms of transportation are also being encouraged.



Hmmm... Looks like the end of civilization as we know it!

Signor V.

SV,

It's my understanding that the 405 is closed because they are tearing down the Mullholland bridge to eventually widen the freeway. The reports today have everything quite quiet with no major "freakouts".

Take a look at this clip from a BBC broadcast. It's short, it's self-explanatory and it's hilarious. What an embarrassment for the reporter.

TIS



http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_lea...urn=mlb-wp12777

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, WILL WEISSERT The Associated Press 2011-07-17

LOS FRESNOS, Texas — Police wearing berets and bulletproof vests broke down the door of a Guatemala City apartment in February hunting for illegal drugs. Instead, they found a different kind of illicit shipment: 27 immigrants from India packed into two locked rooms.

The Indians, whose hiding space was furnished only with soiled mattresses, claimed to be on vacation. But authorities quickly concluded they were waiting to be smuggled into the United States via an 11,000-mile pipeline of human cargo — the same network that has transported thousands of illegal immigrants from India, through Central America and Mexico and over the sandy banks of the Rio Grande during the past two years.

Indians have arrived in droves even as the overall number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. has dropped dramatically, in large part because of the sluggish American economy. And with fewer Mexicans and Central Americans crossing the border, smugglers are eager for more "high-value cargo" like Indians, some of whom are willing to pay more than $20,000 for the journey.

So how many of you are roasting in the triple digit temps? I heard on the news where somebody baked chocolate chip cookies on the dashboard of her car.

It's been beautiful but unseasonably cooler with temps in the high 80's. Normally we are well into the 90's and 100's. Fingers crossed we can continue with this. I won't hold my breath though. Our summer heat goes well into September so I'm sure it's coming.

To those of you in the boiler room, I hope it ends very soon.

TIS

It's in the high 90s this week - a cooling trend.

No relief in New York until Sunday, when it finally goes below 90 degrees. It's 100 now, with a "heat index" of 110.

Very dangerous heat, but my lunatic 82 year old father was in my yard this morning robbing my tomatoes. Crazy old goat. Arthur Spooner has nothing on my Pop.

It was briefly over 100 degrees. One person died.

Power Outages and Heat

Did you guys hear about the bombing in Oslo?? Also, a man opened fire at a youth camp and the police think it is related to the bombing.

Wow, I don't know much about Norway but you never hear any kind of issues in the news about Norway of all places. At least not that I'm aware of.

TIS


http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-rocks-central-oslo-norway-pms-office-134903379.html

I heard there could be over 80 dead. This is a terrible tragedy. What's really sad is that nobody has mentioned this story, but Amy Winehouse's death gets a thread of its own. A crack whore celebrity grabs the headlines from this incident that resulted in the most deaths in Norway since World War II.

85 at the youth camp.

I have to agree with you about the Winehouse story. It is a shame where our interests sometimes lead us.

Wasn't Heath Ledger's death due to a combination of prescription drugs??? Or was he a known "druggie?" His death did surprise me.


TIS

My mom got a new laptop yesterday and my sister is saying she's messed it up already. haha. She said her screen is like a quarter inch column and she doesn't know how she did it. Any suggestions?

Just try rebooting or go to the Control Panel and access the system and security troubleshooter.

looks like you posted in the wrong thread lol. anyways though as far as i can remember, i never heard that ledger was a druggie.

SUNDVOLLEN, Norway (Reuters) - Norway mourned on Sunday 93 people killed in a shooting spree and car bombing by a Norwegian who saw his attacks as "atrocious, but necessary" to defeat liberal immigration policies and the spread of Islam

Such a terrible waste. All those lives cut short, and for no reason, simply the random act of a mad man.

A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows a 49 percent increase in emergency department visits for drug-related suicide attempts for women aged 50 and older.

And women aged 40-69 are more at risk of killing themselves than other women, according to new research on age-specific suicide rates between 1998 and 2007. In 2007, this age group made up 60 percent of the 7,328 suicides reported among women.

But why middle-aged women? It could just be a question of numbers: One in four adults in the U.S. has a treatable mental health condition, and middle-aged women are one of the fastest-growing populations in the country.

So remember a couple weeks ago when I told my story about being harassed by my local police department, so bad that the last time I got stopped, the officer threatened to "crack my skull" if I didn't keep my mouth shut? Well, they have struck again...only this time they literally cracked a man's skull. I'll post the story and let the video and photo speak for themselves:

Source: Huffington Post





Let me warn you, this photo is EXTREMELY graphic, so I will embed it within a spoiler for those who don't wish to see the devastation these animals rained upon this poor man:



I was very familiar with Kelly Thomas, as he liked to hang around the Target I work at, as well as the 7-Eleven right across the parking lot from my Target. I've given him some spare change on more than one occasion, and despite some eccentricities, he was harmless for the most part. And even if he was guilty of breaking into cars and stealing stuff, does that warrant a death sentence, courtesy of the men and women sworn to protect and serve? This dude was small, about 5'8, and 120 lbs, at most. I cannot believe that 6 police officers were unable to detain him, and that they needed to repeatedly hit him with their Tasers and batons. Apparently, in Fullerton, California, being in possession of stolen property is punishable by death at the hands of our police department. I am disgusted...

i hope that those bastards lose their badge, and end up being in jail for years.

Freakin' disgusting abuse of authority!

I'm sure most cops are just fine, but sometimes I really think an IQ & Psych eval should be required for jobs of authority (if they aren't already)

NO special treatment should be granted to the scumbags involved!

Must have been like a pack of hyenas. "What a field day for the heat." Manslaughter charges seem appropriate.

Al Pacino's 21 year old daughter, Julie, was charged with DWI after getting caught in a NYC checkpoint near the Holland Tunnel.

Pacino admitted to cops that she had three beers and smoked some weed.

Oh no, really? Not funny I guess, but part of me wants to laugh for some reason. I wonder if dad smoked the weed with her. LOL

I don't know that I ever saw a picture of Julie. Does she look anything like her dad?


TIS

Here's a recent photograph - I'm just not exactly sure how recent.

Signor V.

Thanks SV. She's a nice looking girl but I can't say she looks like her dad, do you think?


On a similar note, did you hear that Clark Gable's grandson was arrested in L.A. for shining a laser light at a police helicopter? Nice looking boy. Do you think he resembles his grandfather?

TIS

http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/07/30/california.gable.grandson/index.html

Frankly TIS, I don't give a damn!