A legislator who filed a lawsuit against God has gotten something he might not have expected: a response. One of two court filings from "God" came Wednesday under otherworldly circumstances, according to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha.
"This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here poof!" Friend said.
State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued God last week, seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty for making terroristic threats, inspiring fear and causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."
Chambers, a self-proclaimed agnostic who often criticizes Christians, said his filing was triggered by a federal lawsuit he considers frivolous. He said he's trying to makes the point that anybody can sue anybody.
Not so, says "God." His response argues that the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction.
It adds that blaming God for human oppression and suffering misses an important point.
"I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you," according to the response, as read by Friend.
There was no contact information on the filing, although St. Michael the Archangel is listed as a witness, Friend said.
A second response from "God" disputing Chambers' allegations lists a phone number for a Corpus Christi law office. A message left for that office was not immediately returned Thursday.
Attempts to reach Chambers by phone and at his Capitol office Thursday were unsuccessful.
Associated Press Writer Anna Jo Bratton in Omaha contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
_________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
This is a somewhat rough translation I made of an article.
Quote:
From: Aftonbladet 29/9 -07, by Simon Bynert.
Now the EU wants to register which race you belong to.
"This is madness"
The EU wants to decrease discrimination - by registering which race you belong to.
-Soon I suppose they'll start stamping "J"s in Jews' passports again, says Christofer Fjellner (m), member of the European Parliament.
It is in the proposition for the EU's new discrimination directive where the controversial proposition is to be found. Among other things this document says "The European Parliament recommends that all member states collect statistical information about how different races and ethnic groups are represented".
May become law
-It's so that one will be able to measure ethnic discrimination. But it's madness, even if the ambitions are good, says Christofer Fjellner (m).
-The fact that they use the term race alone feels very strange.
Despite this the report was voted through - with a big majority.
It will now go to the European Commission that is likely to present a law proposition.
-If it's voted through the SCB (Statistiska Centralbyrån) will have to start collecting such information and send it to Brussels, says Carl Schlyter (mp), member of the European Parliament.
-This feels very unpleasant, says Cristofer Fjellner.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:55 pm Post subject:
Walker wrote:
This is a somewhat rough translation I made of an article.
Quote:
From: Aftonbladet 29/9 -07, by Simon Bynert.
Now the EU wants to register which race you belong to.
"This is madness"
The EU wants to decrease discrimination - by registering which race you belong to.
-Soon I suppose they'll start stamping "J"s in Jews' passports again, says Christofer Fjellner (m), member of the European Parliament.
It is in the proposition for the EU's new discrimination directive where the controversial proposition is to be found. Among other things this document says "The European Parliament recommends that all member states collect statistical information about how different races and ethnic groups are represented".
May become law
-It's so that one will be able to measure ethnic discrimination. But it's madness, even if the ambitions are good, says Christofer Fjellner (m).
-The fact that they use the term race alone feels very strange.
Despite this the report was voted through - with a big majority.
It will now go to the European Commission that is likely to present a law proposition.
-If it's voted through the SCB (Statistiska Centralbyrån) will have to start collecting such information and send it to Brussels, says Carl Schlyter (mp), member of the European Parliament.
-This feels very unpleasant, says Cristofer Fjellner.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:05 pm Post subject:
Horrible horrible tragedies. Innocent people/children died on the streets of LA yesterday because of other people's stupidities! Don't these yayhoos think of the consequences of their actions??
Quote:
Street race crash kills 5-year-old
LA Daily News
10/10/2007 06:05:40 AM PDT
RESEDA, Calif. - A 5-year-old died Tuesday, hours after suffering critical wounds in a car crash caused by street racers, news reports and authorities said.
The crash, which also critically injured the child's mother and sibling, occurred in the 17000 block of W. Sherman Way at about 3:10 p.m., according to a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman.
The 5-year-old was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center. Fox 11 News reported that the child died late tonight.
The mother was taken by ambulance to Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Her 3-month-old infant was airlifted to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
A spokeswoman for Northridge hospital said the woman lost one of her legs in the accident and the other might have to be amputated.
The drivers of a black Nissan and a red Camaro were street racing, police said. The Nissan's driver was in custody, and police were looking for the motorist behind the wheel of the Camaro, described as an early 1990s model with a black vinyl top, missing a rear window.
The mother and her two children were caught between two parked cars that crushed them when the Nissan plowed into the rear car.
________________
2 men charged after mother and children killed in fiery crash
The Associated Press
10/10/2007 07:24:36 AM PDT
EL MONTE, Calif. - Two men were charged with murder after they allegedly raced through the streets of this suburb east of Los Angeles and caused a fiery crash that killed a mother and her two children.
Martin Morones, 21, and Robert Canizalez, 19, each were charged with three counts of murder Tuesday, the day after the crash. Morones, who fled the scene, is still being sought and was charged in absentia. He also was charged with one felony count of hit-and-run.
The crash occurred Monday evening when a red convertible Ford Mustang allegedly driven by Canizalez and an Acura Legend allegedly driven by Morones sped through an intersection.
The Mustang broadsided a car containing the three victims, El Monte police Lt. Ken Alva said.
Authorities identified the woman as Dora Groce, 41, her son Robert, 8, and daughter Catherine, 4. The three are survived by Stephen Groce, 44. He told the Los Angeles Times he was totally lost without his wife and children.
"You've got an 8-year-old boy and a 4-year-old daughter," he said. "You don't have a lot else to look forward to, they become your life."
The force of crash pushed the family's car 50 feet into a pickup where it burst into flames.
"It was a fierce crash," El Monte Police Detective Ralph Batres said. "The explosion that resulted was immense."
Three people in the pickup suffered minor injuries, police said.
Canizalez's bail was set at $3 million. Morones' car was found abandoned near the scene of the explosion.
This is a somewhat rough translation I made of an article.
Quote:
From: Aftonbladet 29/9 -07, by Simon Bynert.
Now the EU wants to register which race you belong to.
"This is madness"
The EU wants to decrease discrimination - by registering which race you belong to.
-Soon I suppose they'll start stamping "J"s in Jews' passports again, says Christofer Fjellner (m), member of the European Parliament.
It is in the proposition for the EU's new discrimination directive where the controversial proposition is to be found. Among other things this document says "The European Parliament recommends that all member states collect statistical information about how different races and ethnic groups are represented".
May become law
-It's so that one will be able to measure ethnic discrimination. But it's madness, even if the ambitions are good, says Christofer Fjellner (m).
-The fact that they use the term race alone feels very strange.
Despite this the report was voted through - with a big majority.
It will now go to the European Commission that is likely to present a law proposition.
-If it's voted through the SCB (Statistiska Centralbyrån) will have to start collecting such information and send it to Brussels, says Carl Schlyter (mp), member of the European Parliament.
-This feels very unpleasant, says Cristofer Fjellner.
And how do you feel about that?
Well, I agree with this Fjellner dude. What is this shit?
Terrible tragedies that those articles you posted told about. And speaking of tragedies, youths committing violent acts have been in the papers lately. About a week ago three kids aged 15-16 beat another 16-year-old to death.
And a couple of days ago three kids assaulted a disabled man in a wheelchair. They broke into his house and beat him up. Then they went home and had dinner, and then they decided online to beat him up again. The last time they also cut him with a knife. They took pictures of him and of themselves making nazi salutes while the man pleaded for his life. The article didn't say if the victim was an immigrant. His brother said that he, the victim, had just beat cancer and that he'd just learned to walk again. The disabled man was beaten to death and those kids thought it was cool. It makes you wonder where the fuck society is going.
Just in case anyone misses this on the sport forum...
Quote:
Ruthless SA win World Cup
20/10/2007 22:57
Paris - A ruthless South Africa punished England's ill-discipline for a tight 15-6 win over the defending champions in the rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France here on Saturday.
Fullback Percy Montgomery kicked four penalties and 20-year-old centre Francois Steyn one to hand the Springboks their second World Cup triumph after their victory on home soil in 1995.
Despite holding their own for most of the game, England could not avenge the humiliating 36-0 loss to South Africa in the pool stage barely five weeks ago.
They again showed the forward grit and determined defence that saw them record upset wins over Australia and France in the quarter- and semi-finals, but could only notch up two penalties from flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson.
Montgomery opened the scoring with his first penalty in the seventh minute when England centre Mathew Tait slipped on the greasy pitch and held on when caught in possession directly in front of the posts.
England's early aerial bombardment paid off when the ball was worked wide after Mark Cueto and Mike Catt combined to strip JP Pietersen of the ball after an Andy Gomarsall up-and-under.
Bryan Habana put in a bone-crunching tackle on Paul Sackey on the right wing but did not roll away, and Wilkinson nailed a tough penalty from close to the touchline.
Needlessly aimed a cynical kick
But Montgomery restored the deficit after Lewis Moody, in an offside position, needlessly aimed a cynical kick at Butch James.
Jason Robinson, in his last-ever game, then produced a fine try-saving tackle on James after the outside-half had burst through to gather his own chip over England's rush defence.
With both sides seemingly comfortable fielding endless successions of kicks, and physical blanket defences mopping up most darting forwards drives, the game needed a spark from one individual.
Steyn, the second-ever youngest player in a World Cup final, almost provided that with the first decent break of the game, side-stepping three England defenders with a swarm of green jerseys behind him before Wilkinson hauled the centre down.
Pietersen and Os du Randt, the sole survivor of the 1995 World Cup winning-team, both took it on before the ball was swung left, but captain John Smit was halted just two metres short of the line.
Fourie du Preez went close in the ensuing phase but a careless knock-on gave the advantage away with a try looking imminent and alarm bells ringing in the England camp despite some stirring defence.
But the Boks displayed their set-piece power by turning the scrum after it was set for the third time of asking.
Fantastic covering tackle
On their put-in, Danie Rossouw drove impressively from the base of the scrum and Victor Matfield took it on. Hands in the ruck by prop Andy Sheridan gifted Montgomery a third penalty and South Africa a 9-3 halftime lead.
The second period started in dramatic fashion, Tait ducking a high Steyn tackle, and streaking 40m towards the line, rounding Montgomery before being brought down by a fantastic covering tackle by Matfield.
The ball was spun wide and found Cueto with five metres to go to the whitewash, but a desperate tackle by No 8 Rossouw was ruled to have taken the winger into touch although the video replays did not look convincing.
Wilkinson immediately claimed a consolation penalty after the Bok backs were ruled offside in the build-up.
English ill-discipline, this time by Martin Corry with hands in the ruck, was again punished by a fourth Montgomery penalty after another strong break by Steyn.
The youngster then made amends for a missed long-range penalty with a successful 47-metre shot at goal after obstruction in the England backs with just under 20 minutes to go.
South Africa were then content to play the percentage game, clearing their lines effectively and swarming over any English attack in the same manner that saw them progress through the seven-week, 20-nation World Cup unbeaten and deserved winners
_________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Police in Finland have found a suicide note written by an 18-year-old student shortly before he went on a gun rampage at his school and killed eight people.
Pekka-Eric Auvinen said goodbye to his family and explained his hatred towards society, the police said.
Auvinen gave a warning of the shooting in a video posted on the internet.
Wreaths and candles have been placed around the grounds of the school in Tuusula, north of Helsinki, and a national day of mourning has been held.
Local education officials have also set up a crisis centre in a nearby church to help those affected by the tragedy.
'Random killings'
Investigators said Auvinen appeared bent on causing maximum bloodshed when he opened fire with a pistol at Jokela High School on Wednesday morning, killing the headmistress, a nurse and six fellow pupils.
"Auvinen had 500 cartridges on him. Thus far 69 cartridge cases were found in the school building," a police spokesman said, adding that all of the dead had been shot several times.
Detective Superintendent Tero Haapala said Auvinen had apparently selected his victims at random.
"There's nothing that links him with the victims except that they attended the same school," he told the Associated Press news agency.
After police surrounded the school building, Auvinen turned his weapon on himself. He was taken to hospital with critical head wounds and later died.
Det Haapala described the young man as a "lonely rider" who had been bullied by other students at the secondary school, which has 400 pupils between 12 and 18.
He added that the motive behind the attack remained unclear, "but the explanation can be found mainly in his web writings and his social behaviour".
Going by the username Sturmgeist89, Auvinen posted a home-made film called "Jokela High School massacre 11/7/2007" on YouTube showing him pointing a gun and declaring himself a "social Darwinist" who would "eliminate all who I see unfit".
'Day of sorrow'
A national day of mourning was held across Finland on Thursday for the victims of the deadliest peacetime shooting in the nation's history.
Several grieving students laid wreaths and candles around the school, which was still sealed off by police to allow forensic experts to reconstruct the incident.
After a memorial service at Helsinki Cathedral, President Tarja Halonen called on Finns to support each other in a "day of sorrow" for the country
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen described the shooting as a "great tragedy".
"This is an awful day... The shooting has deeply undermined the sense of security in society... Nobody had expected such things," he said.
Following the incident, the Finnish government met in an emergency session to consider tightening school security.
Correspondents say that although gun ownership in Finland is the third highest in the world, incidents of this kind are extremely rare in a country that prides itself on very low levels of violent crime.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:15 am Post subject:
How incredibly tragic. It's so odd to hear news about loners going on killing sprees from other countries. It seems so gosh darn American.
While we're on the subject of seriously fucked up things to do to fellow human beings...
Quote:
Murder Charges in Pregnant Woman's Death
By DAISY NGUYEN
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman accused of running over and killing a pregnant woman after a brawl was charged Wednesday with two counts of murder, prosecutors said.
Unique Bishop also faces three counts of attempted murder on suspicion of ramming three women along with Shontae Treniece Blanche on Monday, said Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney spokeswoman.
Authorities say Bishop, 21, and one of those three women had met at a South Los Angeles gas station to settle a dispute they had over a man. At one point, as many as 30 women were involved in the fight that ensued, with some possibly trying to break it up, police said.
After the woman she was arguing with walked away with Blanche and two others, Bishop became upset and drove a convertible into the four, authorities allege. One of the victims was pinned against another car, and it appears Blanche was dragged by the vehicle, police said.
Police said Bishop told them she was trying to escape the chaotic scene and hit the victims by accident.
Blanche, 22, and her fetus were killed. Her stepmother said she was four to five months pregnant and had just returned from her grandfather's funeral. Authorities brought the second murder count because they considered the fetus old enough to survive outside of the womb, Gibbons said.
Prosecutors filed a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which could make Bishop eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Authorities have not decided whether to seek the death sentence, Gibbons said.
Bishop, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 26.
A representative for Bishop could not be located. It wasn't known whether she had an attorney, and her phone number was unlisted.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:
Has anyone heard about the tiger attack at the San Francisco zoo? A 17-year-old boy was killed and his two friends were mauled, and the tiger was shot and killed by the police when it started running toward them. It's huge news here in SF, of course, but I wondered how widespread this story is.
It was disheartening to learn that our zoo is so substandard -- the wall around the dry moat that surrounds the tiger enclosure is about 3 feet (approx. 1 meter) shorter than what is recommended. Also, the zoo has no surveillance cameras and no intercom system.
The investigation into how the tiger escaped and whether or not it was "taunted" by the three victims is ongoing. They found pine cones and sticks in the moat, which was suspicious, and a shoe print on the guardrail.
Has anyone heard about the tiger attack at the San Francisco zoo? A 17-year-old boy was killed and his two friends were mauled, and the tiger was shot and killed by the police when it started running toward them. It's huge news here in SF, of course, but I wondered how widespread this story is.
It was disheartening to learn that our zoo is so substandard -- the wall around the dry moat that surrounds the tiger enclosure is about 3 feet (approx. 1 meter) shorter than what is recommended. Also, the zoo has no surveillance cameras and no intercom system.
The investigation into how the tiger escaped and whether or not it was "taunted" by the three victims is ongoing. They found pine cones and sticks in the moat, which was suspicious, and a shoe print on the guardrail.
Yes, I read it in the Internet:
Quote:
(źródło: onet.pl)
Tygrys rozszarpał gościa w zoo
Tygrys, który wydostał się z klatki w ogrodzie zoologicznym w San Francisco zabił jedną osobę, a dwie ciężko ranił - powiadomiły miejscowe media.
Do incydentu doszło około godziny 17.00 czasu lokalnego w kawiarni na terenie zoo. Gości ogrodu niezwłocznie ewakuowano, a agresywne zwierzę zastrzelili policjanci.
W grudniu ubiegłego roku w tym samym zoo jeden z tygrysów pokiereszował swoją opiekunkę podczas publicznego karmienia. Wówczas zaprzestano karmienia zwierząt na oczach zwiedzających. Po inwestycjach w środki bezpieczeństwa we wrześniu br. przywrócono tę atrakcję.
I don't know if there was something on the tv because I have not watched tv too much lately. Anyway, yesterday they showed an accident in a zoo (I don't remember where it was): a female orangutan cared for an injured child who fell over the fence in the orangutans' pen.
There was a story on it in the newspaper I work for. _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:14 pm Post subject:
How stupid can this woman be? Why didn't she just have a friend call and inquire about the job before going on her destructive rampage?
Quote:
Disgruntled Worker Accused of Deleting $2.5 Million of Files
By Grayson Kamm
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The target may be high-tech, but the emotion involved is as old as humanity. Spite, anger, and revenge. Police say that's what filled a woman's heart after she picked up the classified ads.
When Marie Cooley came across a job that looked like hers in the classifieds, she admits she was certain she was about to be fired.
So police say late Sunday night, she crept into the Mandarin office where she worked at Steven E. Hutchins Architects.
"She decided to go and mess up everything for everybody," said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson.
Jefferson says Cooley accessed the company's server with her own account. And with a handful of mouse clicks and keystrokes, he says she deleted seven years' worth of architectural drawings.
Seven years of work -- gone in seconds.
The company put the value of the vaporized files at $2.5 million.
"She decided to be spiteful and go in and sabotage the records. And she did a very good job of that," Jefferson said.
According to police, Cooley confessed to the crime. It's a second degree felony that could lay the blueprints for a five-year prison sentence.
Folks at the architecture firm didn't want to talk on camera about the disastrous deletion.
The owner did tell First Coast News that he's paid good money to recover those files and he says he's now managed to get every deleted drawing back from its digital death.
"The lesson to be learned here is that you can't depend on having just one set of records or files and having your employees have access to them. You've got to have some kind of backup," Jefferson said.
And here's the most sobering part: the owner of the architecture firm says Marie Cooley was not going to be fired. He says the job listing was for his wife's business -- not his.
Spanish driver who killed a 17-year old cyclist in a traffic accident is suing the boy's parents for €20,000 (£14,800) for the damage caused to his luxury car.
Businessman Tomas Delgado, 43, claims his Audi A8 suffered €14,000 (£10,400) of damage when he collided with Enaitz Iriondo, who died instantly in the crash on the night of Aug 26, 2004.
Mr Delgado, who faced no criminal charges for the incident despite allegedly travelling at more than 100 mph on a road with a speed limit of 50 mph, is also asking for a further €6,000 (£4,400) to cover the cost of hiring another vehicle while his was being repaired.
Enaitz had been staying at a campsite on a family holiday in the Rioja region at the time of the accident.
He was cycling back alone after a night out with friends and was not wearing reflective clothing or a helmet, according to a report cited by Spanish daily newspaper El Pais.
His family won €33,000 (£24,500) compensation from Mr Delgado's insurance company after the firm acknowledged he had been driving at excessive speed and this could have contributed to the incident.
"I'm also a victim in all of this, you can't fix the lad's problems, but you can fix mine," Mr Delgado told the newspaper, ahead of a court ruling on his claim expected on Jan 30.
The parents of the dead boy said they had previously pitied Mr Delgado for the guilt he must feel at killing their son but were now disgusted that his greatest concern appeared to be money.
"This was the final straw, a kick in the teeth," Enaitz's mother Rosa Trinidad said. "How can someone be so shameless?"
Sick of her defacing magazines and newspapers. She and her whole family need to check themselves into a psych ward and go away for a decade or so. _________________ "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." ---- Groucho Marx
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:41 am Post subject:
Great news! The 3-month old writers strike is expected to end this Wednesday. Hallelujah! It probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you all out there, but over here, the production shutdown has been taking its toll on the local economy. So many people I know have really been struggling these past few months, and I don't mean just the writers and actors, but the stagehands, the hair and makeup people, the set construction crew, the tailors and seamstresses, the chauffeurs, craft services, caterers, food servers, busboys, florists, maids, nannies, gardeners, and everybody else indirectly tied to the entertainment industry, which, in this town is pretty much everybody!
Quote:
Strike takes $2 billion toll
By Paul Bond
Feb 11, 2008
The writers strike that began Nov. 5 wrung $2 billion from the local economy, as much as four times more than the 1988 strike that lasted six weeks longer.
Most of the pain, experts say, was felt by independent contractors, small-business owners and others that have courted TV production crews as favored customers.
The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. estimates that while $733 million in production spending has been lost, another $1.3 billion came from the pockets of the caterers, florists, valets, hotel operators, restaurant workers, costume-house employees and others.
And when production staff gets back to work, they might find themselves dealing with vendors who have stripped their own staffs to a minimum and others that aren't yet back in business.
"No one is saying, 'I'm outta here for good,' but when they do come back, they'll be operating differently," said Mark Deo, executive director of the Small Business Advisory Network.
Deo said businesses learned the hard way that they need a diverse set of customers if they wish to thrive and that depending on the health of a few TV productions just won't cut it.
One husband and wife catering team, for example, shut their business down during the strike and returned to previous careers. They intend on reopening their catering business and broadening their customer base, but decisions haven't been made on how many employees will get rehired.
"You could talk to a hundred other people with a similar story," Deo said.
For the past 14 weeks, dramatic television took the biggest hit, according to Todd Lindgren, a vp at FilmL.A.
Forty-six primetime dramas for broadcast and cable TV were shooting, or set to shoot, in Los Angeles during the strike, but the number trailed off through December, then fell off a cliff in the new year. The last casualty was ABC's "October Road."
Since each episode of each of the 46 shows costs an average $3 million, the absence of dramatic, one-hour TV shows has been sucking $138 million per week in direct production costs from the Los Angeles economy this year.
Plus, according to FilmL.A., each show employed 200 workers, causing up to 10,000 people to be jobless.
There also were 17 half-hour primetime comedies set to shoot during the strike, at a cost of $1.5 million per episode. FilmL.A. figures that shuttering them put 1,500 people out of work and has cost the city's economy $25.5 million per week this year.
When combining a fairly normal November and December with a horrible January and February, permits to shoot dramas in Los Angeles fell 65% during the 14 weeks, from 263 to 91, compared with the same period last year, when there was no strike. Sitcom permits fell 69%, from 59 to 18.
Meanwhile, permits for shooting reality TV shows has increased 8% from 153 to 165, so reality's positive impact has been a mere blip, FilmL.A. said.
Feature films were also up a bit, from 211 to 238, as some studios rushed productions forward in anticipation of work stoppages not only from striking WGA members but also from directors and actors who might also have walked.
But a few more films and reality TV shows didn't come close to making up for the absence of comedy and drama TV which, when added together, has been draining $160 million in direct production spending out of the Los Angeles economy per week since the start of the new year.
"That's a pretty bomb-proof number. Employees are not getting paid," Lindgren said. "But it does not take into account the trickle down effect."
One particularly hard-hit industry in that "trickle down" category is limousines. Experts estimate there are about 1,200 limo companies and 6,000 drivers in Los Angeles.
Alan Shanedling, president of the Greater California Livery Assn., confirms that November and December weren't a problem, but the new year "has been devastating."
Shanedling's own company, Fleetwood Limousine, lost $200,000 in revenue in January alone, and his 34 drivers missed out on $30,000 in tips, money they couldn't spend elsewhere and the cause of more trickle-down pain.
Because of the stripped-down Golden Globes ceremony, for example, several limo companies that were to supply 800 cars saw that business disappear along with 6,400 hours of work for drivers.
The cancellation of the weekslong Television Critics' Assn. press tour might have been an even bigger blow to the limo industry. Shanedling said a single client canceled 180 cars in one day. "Imagine 21 days of that," he said.
And some predict the January TCA press tour might never return.
"I don't know a lot about the details of the strike," Shanedling said. "But I blame both sides. Nobody wins during a strike. History keeps proving that."
Sick of her defacing magazines and newspapers. She and her whole family need to check themselves into a psych ward and go away for a decade or so.
Your not in for much luck then seeing as she "checked out" the other day. I don't get it, one minute she's in a padded cell, the next she's out dancing and having her hair done. I read what that famous hairdresser wrote, something along the lines of Britney had great hair and youthful skin, and while her hair was being done Mum was cooking a meal. Hunkydory. What a bloody farce! Still, you can't believe half of what the reporters say it's usually just a load of crap to sell the papers.
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Sick of her defacing magazines and newspapers. She and her whole family need to check themselves into a psych ward and go away for a decade or so.