Re: continuing proofs America is wacko [2]

by David H Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:54 pm

It's not creeping anymore. It's a full blown pandemic.

And ask the communities and small businesses that Walmart destroys if it's a good life.

...or even the big businesses like Sears, Woolworth, JC Penney, K-Mart. Walmart has achieved critical mass, and now nobody can compete. They've taken over much of the Pharmacy and Optical business, and now are expanding their grocery line to go head-to-head with even the large supermarket chains. This is exactly how unregulated capitalism flows to monopoly, like Amazon online and bacteria in a petri dish.

Now just watch the insurance companies doing exactly the same thing. Mad

by Pettytyrant101 Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:04 pm

And they are doing the same here- as the same company own ASDA who along with a few other 'supermarkets' that sell everything and anything under one roof here in the UK they are slowly killing off whats left of the highstreet. Mad

by azriel Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:45 pm

I hate that ! I hate, & miss, that friendly personal touch. I want to TALK to someone who knows his job, ask that person questions I know he can answer, not, some vacant looking youth who's only working there cos they stopped his JSA & he really doesnt give a shit ! Mad

by azriel Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:47 pm

AND its putting family run businesses out on the dole, families filled with pride, worked in the profession for maybe a 100 years, all lost to fooking not-so-super-supermarkets ! Mad

by Pettytyrant101 Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:13 pm

Yeah it sucks- my town has lost in the past few years Woolworths, two butchers, fruit and veg shop, Blockbusters, and a couple of clothes shops- all of whose goods can be found stacked high and sold cheap at a 'supermarket'.

by halfwise Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:53 pm

New York is still majorly Mom'n'Pop stops, due mainly I think to lack of space to expand. And even though you have to hit 4 different pint sized neighborhood hardware stores before you find the right sized widget, I'll always do that before making the trek to a big store. Funny how big cities can actually do a better job of preserving old time America than the small towns.

by David H Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:09 pm

halfwise wrote: Funny how big cities can actually do a better job of preserving old time America than the small towns.

It's done by consolidating the wealth. It just makes sense that a small shop is going to be more competitive if it's located where there's a thousand times the population density with an average income of several times that of their country cousins.

And still, if you look at the merchandise on the shelves of the little shops, you'll see that a lot of it's coming from Asia and was ordered online from a major international distributor. It's just hard for a small shop to compete in a globalized market.

by Pettytyrant101 Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:23 pm

Very true- if I go to Glasgow or Edinburgh I can spend all day browsing little book and art shops, browse markets (the proper sort with stalls)- all of which were I to do in my home town I would be home again in an hour and 40 minutes of that would have been going there and walking back.

by azriel Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:26 pm

Ditto

by David H Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:40 pm

I'm lucky that, although I'm out in the country, I'm within 3 miles of a little family-run hardware store that sells everything from frying pans to firearms to building materials, with and inventory going back to before WWII. They know where everything is, how to use it, and if they don't have it they'll order it. Our local grocer is the same way (except his inventory isn't as old). I try to give them as much business as I can, though i still find myself in Walmart about once a month. Suspect

by bungobaggins Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:20 pm

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/24435641/2014/01/13/shots-fired-at-wesley-chapel-movie-theater

WESLEY CHAPEL (FOX 13) -

A moviegoer lost his life inside a Pasco County theater Monday afternoon after a dispute over texting with a retired police officer.

According to the sheriff's office, the dispute happened before the 1:20 showing of 'Lone Survivor' had even gotten underway at the Cobb CineBistro at Grove 16 complex on Wesley Grove Blvd.

Investigators say two couples had gotten into an argument over noise.

"The victim was on his cell phone; he was texting. We believe he was making some kind of noise. This noise led to an altercation between the suspect and the victim," Sheriff Chris Nocco explained.

A witness recalled seeing the agitated man -- later identified by deputies as Curtis Reeves -- get up and leave in an apparent attempt to find a manager. When he came back alone, the argument escalated.

Charles Cummings told FOX 13 he heard the victim say he was texting his 3-year-old daughter before Reeves pulled out a pistol.

"Their voices start going up, there seems to be a confrontation, somebody throws popcorn, then bang, he was shot," said Cummings, who was there to celebrate his birthday. "I heard the victim say, 'I can't believe...,' then he fell on us."

"I asked if the guy was OK, and he started gurgling blood and then fell," recalled Cummings' son, who said he ran to call 911.

Both the man, identified by deputies as Chad Oulson, and his wife Nicole, were struck by the single shot. Oulson, 43, was hit in the chest and died, while Nicole was hit in the hand when she put her hand up in front of her husband. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

An off-duty Sumter County deputy inside the theater was able to grab the gun and detain Reeves until deputies arrived, the sheriff added.

Reeves, a 71-year-old retired Tampa police officer, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. A 2005 Tampa Bay Times article also described him as a former director of security for Busch Gardens.

Moments after he was named as the suspect, Tampa police issued a statement saying Reeves had retired back in 1993 as a captain.

"He was instrumental in establishing the department's first Tactical Response Team," the statement explained. "We are not aware of any contact with the department since his departure more than 20 years ago."

Nocco said his detectives considered if this could be a 'stand your ground' case but decided the criteria did not apply.

"It's absolutely crazy it would rise to this level over somebody just texting in a movie theater," he offered.

"I can't believe people would bring a gun to a movie," added Cummings, a Marine who served in Vietnam. "I can't believe they would argue and fight and shoot one another over popcorn or even a cell phone."

by bungobaggins Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:10 pm

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/5202236

Banghead

by halfwise Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:32 pm

Given what they have to deal with, it's a miracle more police don't go off their rockers.

by David H Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:29 am

...but when they do go off their rockers, wouldn't it make sense to take their guns away from them, just for a bit? When two of this officer's exes have gotten protective orders from the court, and he's still carrying a firearm, I'd imagine they're not sleeping too soundly. pale

by bungobaggins Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:44 am

by bungobaggins Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:25 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/ny-congressman-threatens-reporter-capitol-094409287--politics.html

by halfwise Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:19 pm

Sounds like a 1970's New York politico. Nod

Nothing so surprising about that except the decade.

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Feb 16, 2014 6:46 am

"A South Carolina scofflaw movie renter spent a night in jail this week after police busted her for failing to return a Jennifer Lopez movie she rented nine years ago.
WHNS news station cites Finley’s arrest warrant in writing the 27-year-old woman had rented “Monster-in-Law” – a rom-com pairing Lopez with Jane Fonda.
She’d reportedly rented the movie from the now-defunct Dalton Video, and never returned the cassette.
Finley is charged with petite larceny, and more specifically, the now seemingly archaic charge of, “failure to return a video or cassette.”
The charge is a misdemeanor, and police told the news station they had no choice but to serve the warrant for her arrest, no matter how old or outmoded."- Fox News

by halfwise Sun Feb 16, 2014 12:47 pm

About time they got her! Mad

I was wondering why I couldn't get my hands on that video.

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Feb 16, 2014 7:24 pm

She should have been rewarded for saving others the pain of watching a Lopez romcom Nod

by bungobaggins Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:44 pm

Did you guys hear about the George Zimmerman celebrity boxing match?

(No, this is not a joke.)

by Eldorion Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:46 pm

Yes, and it's ridiculous.

Last I heard the promoter said his conscience had (finally) kicked in and it was off, though. That's almost a shame because it would have been funny on some level if Game or DMX had kicked his ass. But really I wish Zimmerman would just shut up and go away instead of being a celebrity for killing a kid.

by bungobaggins Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:46 pm

He's only a celebrity because the media lets him be one.

by Eldorion Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:48 pm

True.

by Pettytyrant101 Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:25 am

No, its not the media's fault. It is your fault.

Zimmerman is only allowed to be a celeb because his face and name sell shit- whether thats more tv viewers or magazine covers or net pages- the buck stops with the consumer on these matters. Meida ain't a charity. So hold your heads in collective shame America! (again) Mad