DISQUS

dancing Queen (and RH),
After putting Thank You For Smoking on my list of films to see (thanks to you) I failed to catch the Austin Powers reference (along with the films) and am mortified to have thought you to be so thick as to have missed my point when it is I who is the dull one. Maybe I'm wrong about everything else too. Horrors.

dancing Queen,
#1 Please note my moniker is Mr. Suspicious and not Dr. Evil.
#2 I have no new company.
#3 You do not know me.
#4 Forming a phoney non-profit IS diabolical and has been and is being done. (See the saga of Jack Abramoff for a primer)
#5 It does work. The successful ones don't get caught and become famous.
#6 You won't find ME out, much less someone who is bent on illegal activity.
#7 I have no idea who Mini Me is.
#8 You should not be such a sloppy reader. We are actually on the same side.

How the wind doth blow.

So if I'm Evil, Inc. and want to push my project through I will form a locally run non-profit "Citizens For Home Depots In Your Neighborhood" and pump it full of payola exempt from scrutiny? Isn't this going to be a loophole? Why shouldn't Everyone lobbying have to report? Shell organizations or non-profits with ulterior agendas would become the norm. Just a thought.

And NOW the city is pushing to expend millions on a Cultural Affairs Bureau? What will it take to get a mob outside of City Hall? How crazy are these politicians?

Yeah, "boat" is so diminutive.

In an exclusive interview today, City Hall Manager Pat West has denied there is a plan underfoot to take the Queen Mary to India for recycling.
"This is a ridiculous notion," he said, "We haven't closed any contract for transporting the old Queen anywhere and there would be issues as to proper disposal of hazardous wastes to consider even if we wanted to. Additionally, we'd have no replacement boat in the wings--if Boston officials are implying otherwise in regard to "Old Ironsides" we've yet to hear back, I assure you."
"We must take into account the entire port plan before making decisions involving just one element. We intend to work with the boat people far in advance of any departure to assure a seemless transition in any event. It must all be part of the package."
Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal refused comment on the story siting a potential conflict of interest although did confirm contacts in India were negotiating with her office in regard to the disposition of certain boat fixtures when the deal is sealed.
When contacted, Mayor Foster shot down the reports stating, "It would be a shame if the infrastructure bond doesn't pass, but the boat's fate is hardly sealed, yet."
Councilwoman Shipske also declined to be quoted for this piece but indicated she was in contact with various ethical expert authorities.

Well then it ain't gonna happen John B.
You're dreaming. Pretending really. Ever hear of realpolitik?
It isn't healthy to be so deluded.
I vote but it never does any good. There are too many people eager to believe in phoney John Edwards types apparently because he has good hair and talks a good game. I spotted him for the lying fake he is years ago.
By the time Obama or McCain gets in it will likewise be too late for people to change their votes to candidates who have lost in primaries long ago.
Shame that people can't learn. Shame they never will. Best to acknowledge it and live in the real world. As Spengler commented,"Optimism is cowardice".
Have a nice day.

Sorry bill90814---I gotta side with Rachel and Clayton Williams on this one. If rape is inevitable, you may as well lay back and enjoy it. Learn Espanol and eat more tacos, dude. It doesn't pay or make you look cool to hang onto all that obsolete patriotic gibberish. Get on the One World bandwagon. America is what's wrong with the world, after all. Comprende?

Wasn't Dick Ray one of the original members of the Fantastic Five back when the series first started? I mean before it was reduced to the Fantastic Four.

Rohrabacher failed to have our local officials arrested and tried for their malfeasance over the last twenty years. This is true. He's not talking now because he's ashamed of his weakness. It's all his fault, really. He should have have seized control of the LB government years ago. You should have pointed this out long ago. Did you collude with him? How much did he pay you Marina? Next year we should put Compton and Hawaiian Gardens in his district. That would really fix his wagon. Why don't you make up for your failings and accomplish this Marina?

Marina,
"Juan, we should not (do not!) have to choose between having an art museum and a library. Any self-respecting city of this size has both."

---That's just it, Marina, this is not a self-respecting city and therefore cannot handle the complexities of maintaining an art museum. We should have Sotheby's or Butterfield's sell off the artwork and use the proceeds to clean off the roof of the library and fund modifications. This would be a better use for the value of the museum contents than waiting for the rest of it to be stolen by the same criminals who are still at large.

OK, I know the councilpeople are reluctant to make the bag men sign a roster since it might make it easier for us to "follow the money", but maybe they could make a temporary rule that lobbyists lobbying against the lobbyist registration measure have to register just this once while we think about it.
I know this won't happen, of course, since it might lead to our finding out who wants to get their hands on the Lincoln Park/Civic Center/Library property.

This comment has been flagged as inappropriate.

Get these people away from our public properties. Get them away from the city accounts. Get them out of office and preferably out of town. I've heard enough bullshit now. Stop these scummy thieves before we have nothing left.

Sorry for the above. Wrong thread. Meant for "War on Books"...but then these issues do bleed into each other a lot. Seems to be all about money and who gets it, who loses it, who deserves it, who is owed it, who wants to keep it, and who is stealing it.

This library boondoogle is just the latest scheme to enrich the insiders at the expense of the public. It’s wonderous to me that so many are ready to buy into the absurd “turd” accessment of the facility.
The building leaks when it rains. OK. You remove the dirt and debris from the roof and seal it. You don’t spend millions to tear it down or remodel it–especially since it means there will effectively be no library until taxpayers are browbeat and guilt tripped into spending more mega-millions to replace something they already own.
What exactly is wrong with the people in this community that they can’t think for themselves anymore?
What percentage of the population thinks it a good idea to pay Acre’s of Books 2.8 million dollars to go away?
Why is the main library suddenly a “turd” that needs abandonment?
Sometimes I wonder if something isn’t being put into the drinking water around here. People wouldn’t knowingly take Stupid Pills, would they?
Think of what, if you MUST spend money we don’t have, we could spend it on that makes SENSE!

This library boondoogle is just the latest scheme to enrich the insiders at the expense of the public. It's wonderous to me that so many are ready to buy into the absurd "turd" accessment of the facility.
The building leaks when it rains. OK. You remove the dirt and debris from the roof and seal it. You don't spend millions to tear it down or remodel it--especially since it means there will effectively be no library until taxpayers are browbeat and guilt tripped into spending more mega-millions to replace something they already own.
What exactly is wrong with the people in this community that they can't think for themselves anymore?
What percentage of the population thinks it a good idea to pay Acre's of Books 2.8 million dollars to go away?
Why is the main library suddenly a "turd" that needs abandonment?
Sometimes I wonder if something isn't being put into the drinking water around here. People wouldn't knowingly take Stupid Pills, would they?
Think of what, if you MUST spend money we don't have, we could spend it on that makes SENSE!

Well, 40 posts and no one has been falsely accused of being a racist yet? Remarkable.

howardx
B. Albert clearly needs no sockpuppets.

howardx--"typical weasel move. you are unworthy of my continued attention."

Translation: You've kicked my candy ass on everything I've tried to put by you and I wish I'd never heard the name B. Albert.

The old National Lampoon magazine cover showing the revolver aimed at the nice doggie's head with the admonition to buy the copy or be responsible for the execution of the pooch is an apt comparison for the announcement that the main library must be closed unless (it is implied) higher taxes are voted in. It's all about, as they cynically say, "the children".
I suggest, for the children's sake, we stand up on our hind feet and say NO to this despicable blackmail and demand a city leadership that is not utterly contemptible. Cut your damn salaries and exhibit some public shame for your abject failure before even expecting the time of day from the citizenry. Stop giving money and favors to the people who are giving YOU money for influence. Politicians on the take are the lowest form of life imaginable. Better yet, just get out of the offices you have disgraced. The people hate you.

B. Albert has taken up so much of his time explaining things here that it really isn't fair to him.

<<>>
The millions spent in support of illegal aliens and their children are millions that must be cut from the budget elsewhere. That seems pretty simple to understand. This would include the money for paying librarians.

<<>> People who don't read don't need a library--especially if it's full of books
written in a foreign language used by people they are supplanting.
As a heavy user of the main library I can tell you it provides more bang for the buck than any other city expenditure I know of--outside of possibly the water dept. or police and fire--all of whom are overpaid. It is one of the few city run institutions I am relatively satisfied with.

I know a number of "illegals" and personally like them as people, incidentally, probably moreso than the average citizen. One is a widowed woman in her late 30's who makes a living doing janitorial work at a rate of about $12/hr.
She owns a modest house here she's lived in for several years and through her bank (WAMU) also bought one on spec in Utah that appreciated dramatically after her purchase. Her bank then convinced her to buy yet another Utah property in 2005. I observed this situation develop and warned her that this sort of thing must necessarily end badly for everyone but she listened to her banker friends and now faces foreclosures since $12/hr is not adequate to meet
obligations in a market that has discovered limits. She is not the only illegal I know who has played the real estate market. Many people now want to be helped out with "gov't action"--which means, of course, that I should pay
more taxes to bail them out even though I've been priced out of the real estate market for many years now since I have insisted on being fiscally responsible. My new higher taxes (even if in the form of higher rent my landlord will charge to pay his higher taxes) are partially to be used to artifically support the housing prices that prevent me from actually buying a house of my own. Why buy a house in a country run by crazy people anyway?
I don't really blame illegals for this problem. I blame the citizens and politicians of this country who refuse to take the time to find out what is going on. I blame the knee-jerk reactionaries who want to constantly call reasonable people names like "racist fucks" for pointing out what should already be obvious to a logical mind.

howardx,
If you read the report issued by CIS they claim illegal immigrants are fleeing states like Arizona and Oklahoma for states that don't care what their legal status is, i.e. California. If the illegal population is indeed dropping, it is not dropping in states such as California or in cities such as Long Beach.
B. Albert--you are a Great American.

Can't I even get agreement to fund feasibility studies for this? Where are the Boosters when you need them...
I’ve been stumped for some time as to why all the folks wanting more tax revenue and development have not undertaken to get the harbor area enclosed by the breakwater filled in so the oil island personnel could drive to work and as well create several square miles of newly developable land. The folks who want open ocean at our doorstep would have it as well…even if it starts as a coastline of steep rock, some innovative barriers could encourage the natural deposition of beachhead over the years. Somewhere within that vast expanse of new property, of course, a site for Acre’s next storefront will be situated. All those Belmont Shore folks would have a claim to actually being the Gateway to the New South Beach. This project should be covered by the necessarily relaxed coastal regs being currently promoted. It's all win-win-win. You’ve just got to think outside the box a little. Save the breakwater and bring surfing back to LB. You’re welcome.