Saturday, July 23, 2011

Greetings fellow Bizarros:

You picket their hotel and they turn on the heat lamps during a 100 degree day. That's the Chicago way.

It's a long way from the Pinkertons and the strike busters, but one Chicago hotel is not about to give picketers an easy time.

Hotel workers at the Park Hyatt on Michigan Ave. kicked off a day-long strike Thursday morning to protest the working conditions of housekeepers. The strike coincides with housekeeper protests at Hyatts in nine other cities after 22 months of stalled contract negotiations.

And they picked one of the hottest days in a decade to do it. Temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees. And just to make sure the picketers were nice and toasty, the hotel turned on the outside heat lamps above their picket line used for guests during the winter.

"This is one of the hottest days of the summer," said Daniel Medina, 42, a bellman at the Park Hyatt for two years. "I work at that door every single day and only in winter time do those need to be turned on. Somebody did it on purpose. It's ridiculous."

Medina said the lights do not turn on automatically and that only bellhops, doormen and engineers access the room that controls the heat lamps. He said there was no way it could be inadvertent.

Of course it was an accident. An oversight by someone. And as soon as the hotel was alerted to the fact that heat lamps were on they turned them off and handed out water...an hour later.

Bizarrely,
Lewis

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*-- Man crashes 'lemon' into dealership cars --*
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - A man said he crashed his van into six cars at a New Hampshire car dealership because the dealer refused to take his "lemon" vehicle back. David Cross of Salisbury, Mass., was charged with six felony counts of criminal mischief. He said his wife purchased the van Monday at the Portsmouth Used Car Superstore and he soon discovered the vehicle had major problems including a broken odometer, the Portsmouth Herald reported Thursday. Cross said his mechanic recommended he "take it back," but the dealer refused to refund his money and told him he was "stuck with it." Cross said he brought the van back to the dealership just before midnight Monday night and drove it into six cars. "I hit the first $25,000 car I could see," Cross said. "I didn't hit a car under $20,000. Then I moved a van that they wouldn't come down on the price for. I moved it with the lemon they sold me. I just held it to the floor until I couldn't move it anymore. I took out seven vehicles, including my own." Cross said he flagged down a police cruiser and told an officer "the deal." He was arrested and released on his own recognizance.

*-- 11-year-old crashes car into water pipe --*
BRANDON, Fla. - A Florida man was arrested on child neglect charges after allowing his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter to drive, authorities said. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Donald Leet, 37, allowed the girl to drive her mother's sport-utility vehicle with a 7-year-old girl in the vehicle Tuesday and she crashed into a water pipe near the First Baptist Church of Brandon about 7:30 p.m., The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Thursday. Leet told deputies he decided not to drive because he had consumed a glass of wine with his dinner and had a suspended license. The girl told deputies Leet was teaching her to drive. "You are going to make me lose my job," Leet was quoted by a report as telling deputies. "Why don't you arrest a rapist or murderer instead of me. You're an illiterate southerner. You don't know anything. You only have a high school diploma. You're dumb." Leet was charged with two counts of child neglect and was released after posting $4,000 bail Wednesday.


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*-- READER COMMENTS --*
In many areas, laws have been passed making taking pictures of cops illegal. they don't like being recorded and have seen to laws that make it a crime. -Lori Bres
[Well, cops don't make laws, and where such laws don't exist they just lie to the citizens and confiscate their cameras anyway.]

Lewis; Oh no, is it true that too much Internet porn can make me stupid? Damn it, guess I'll just have to be stupid then. I've already paid for it, so do you think I can stop when Im just a bit dimmer? Since I'm asking you this question maybe I'd better stop, huh?

Lewis, I hope he got all that on camera. The police obviously don't like being videotaped even though every cruiser is equipped with video cameras to video us to be used in a court of law. Yeah, I feel safe. -Wes
[Occasionally those dash cams backfire on the police. I just watched an incredible dash cam video of an Ohio cop who arrested a man who had a concealed weapon permit. After the citizen TOLD the cop that he had a gun and a permit for it, the cop went insane, arrested the man and threatened to kill him three times...while he was in custody. Search for the cop's name, Daniel Harless, if you want to watch an unbelievable video.]

I just imagine if you would take the time to ride around in a police car for one evening, observing the crap they have to put up with, ( not even taking into account the danger to their lives) you wouldn't make such a sarcastic remark about feeling safe. Come to Florida, ride around with the police here, where there has already been over 10 of them killed this year. Lewis, you should always be on the side of the law, no matter if a man got his camera busted. Big deal compared to a life? Hope you will re-consider your statement and your attitude. Regards, Rose Davey
[I know police do a dangerous and dirty job, and I don't want to have to go chasing down rapists, drug dealers and murderers myself. But like I have written before in this very publication, way too many cops are tax collectors, thugs and hired muscle. It is dangerous to give a man a gun and too much authority over the citizenry.]


As for the person being tazered by the police, I read a story where a court found it illegal to video the police while they are doing their job. This should raise red flags in all Americans, and citizens of all other countries. If it is illegal to video the police, then we are rapidly heading towards a police state. -Danny
[There are a few states (including Illinois) that have what they call "wiretapping laws" which were originally designed to protect people from having phone conversations recorded without their permission. So technically, it is only sound that is illegal to record. Police now use this law to protect their asses.]

*-- END OF READER COMMENTS --*
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