Baltimore

rip http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-ducks0909,0,6920729.story

Good riddance to a dumb idea that had NOTHING to do with Baltimore.

cp has the better scoop:

Others, however, say the company's move was timed to squelch a workers' vote on joining the steelworkers union. Jeanne Williams, nicknamed "Captain Smiley," has worked as a Ride the Ducks boat captain since 2003. She says safety concerns led other captains and mechanics to ask the United Steelworkers Union to represent them in negotiations with Ride the Ducks. She says long hours and neglected maintenance on the boats gave them concerns over passenger safety.

"We sought union representation from the United Steel Workers," she says, "not for money, but because we were concerned for the safety of the vehicles, ourselves, and our passengers. Management had ignored that. . . . I think they clearly got the message that we fully intended to vote for the union, and we would win the vote, so this was their last-ditch effort to stop that."

Williams says she and other employees learned of the closing Tuesday morning, when they received a UPS package outlining severance benefits, which she described as "generous," that included an agreement not to speak publicly about the circumstances of the closing. "I'm obviously not going to be signing that," she says.

Phil Ornot, district organizing coordinator for the United Steelworkers union, says he was contacted by Baltimore duck boat captains about safety issues on the boats, and filed a petition with the Review Board. Ornot says he attempted to speak with company representatives but wasn't given an opportunity.

"The company is claiming economic conditions here, tourism is down, all this kind of stuff," Ornot says. "Even if that was the case, in many places we sit down and we work with employers who have problems. The unions fight to keep jobs, and sometimes you have to sacrifice, and just hope for better times. The company never gave these people that opportunity, or gave United Steelworkers the opportunity to sit down and discuss that.

"It's just a typical story of a bigger company that is going to fight, and not let these people have a voice," Ornot says. "Their issues were not monetary at all—it was not benefits, it was not health care, not pension. All it was was over safety."

yeah, lol @ sun basically reprinting press release

http://www.ridetheducks.com/images/corporate/rtd_corporate_mp_tagline.gif

thanks for killing this after i moved, assholes

i see these ducks all the time. those people are crazy.

i was wondering why my monthly strongo sightings on charles st. had ceased, when'd you move dude

for some reason Three Word Username being totally aggro about the duck tour is cracking me up

Traumatized by a duck tour I went on in Boston when I studied at Harvard, wherein people who spoke more than one language were treated as three-headed magicians. Also that shit had NOTHING to do with Baltimore.

i started listening to lungfish and it's really making me think about baltimore

Student Fells Intruder with Samurai Sword
Man Killed after Having Hand Chopped Off by Johns Hopkins Undergrad, Baltimore Police Say

(AP) Baltimore police say a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate student armed with a samurai sword killed an intruder he discovered in his garage.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says campus security and an off-duty city officer responding to a call for a suspicious person heard screams to call police around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of University Parkway.

Guglielmi says the student told a man he found inside his garage to leave and the man accosted him. That's when Guglielmi says the student defended himself, cutting off the man's hand and causing a severe laceration to his upper body.

He says the man died on the scene, but police are not yet releasing his name.

Police are interviewing the student and his three roommates and are talking to prosecutors about whether to file charges.

Here are some pretty important detail from The Sun that AP doesn't have:

Detectives were still interviewing the student and his three roommates Tuesday morning, Guglielmi said. Burglars had already stolen two laptops and a Sony PlayStation from the student's home Monday, according to Guglielmi.

...

The suspected burglar, whose name was not released pending notification of next of kin, had prior convictions for breaking and entering and had just been released Saturday from a Baltimore County facility, Guglielmi said.

not important

Other articles say that the student went down to the basement with three other students to investigate the noise. I'm wondering if the "four-on-one" aspect will lead to criminal charges or not; press statements from the police are deliberately uncertain at this point. Considering that it was a burglar breaking and entering, self-defense is clear, but those numbers could influence how this is interpreted.

lol at the sun basically outlining the best course of action if YOU TOO want to learn to wield a sword lethally. Expect related articles in the future, I imagine.

The sword police recovered from the scene, with a sharp blade and ribbon-wrapped hilt, is a replica of a historic samurai weapon. Though a real one would cost thousands of dollars, Guglielmi said, this one probably cost a few hundred.

The police spokesman said the student who wielded the weapon had no advanced sword training. "He wasn't a ninja," Guglielmi said.

Other articles say that the student went down to the basement with three other students

http://thecia.com.au/reviews/t/images/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-3.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHmLtiai_IE

i used to live on that block. theres a hospital right there but im guessing no one offered him a tourniquet

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2009/09/sword_killings_not_uncommon_in.html

http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/AskNinja_ChrisFarley.gif

book fair!!!!!!!!!

wooooOOOOOOOooooo

"celebrity" sighting in dukem
http://www.citypaper.com/sb/166567/bestturnoff.jpg

lol

citypaper.com/sb/166567/bestturnoff.jpg

walking home from farmers' mkt a car pulled over and a lady with bleach blonde hair said "do you kneow where old town mall is at" haha. the place to be on a sunday morning.

October 14, 2009
Three shootings over a three-minute span early Wednesday in separate sections of Baltimore left two men dead and a third suffering from a gunshot wound to his face, according to police.

October 21, 2009
Three men shot, 1 fatally, outside East Baltimore gas station

October 22, 2009
Five men shot in city during four-hour span

it happens ˘\(o_º)/˘

Someone was shot in the eye a few blocks from my house last week. I'm in Gwynn Oak, and we get crime around here all day, but haven't heard of a shooting in a while.

also october 16

Two men were shot about 9:30 a.m. Thursday near a Baltimore subway station on North Avenue, according to police. Officers responding to a call for shots fired in the 1600 block of W. North Ave. found a 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound to one of his legs. Another man, 22, was found at the bottom level of the Penn North station, also with gunshot wounds to the leg. The victims were being treated at an area hospital. Police had no suspects and knew of no motives.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1229540/Top-ugliest-buildings-world-unveiled--beautiful-cities.html

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/20/article-1229540-074C207A000005DC-118_634x352.jpg

i really like it but i love brutalism so :(

so i guess this guy is now this guy? watch out for ilm-type obsessive creep-os ya'll they might shoot u!

God that's awful. That guy taped some of my shows, and he seemed quite normal. Scary and sad.

wow

holy shit holy shit holy shit

I know Jeff, saw him at tons of shows and met his girlfriend a couple times, this is absolutely awful :(

btw am0n you may have a point because i feel like shooting you right now

sorry

*puts kevlar on*

haha it's alright

There's a taper here in Chicago, too. I will be on the lookout.

groan

when is the mayor gonna go to jail

hmm never lol

n/m i just wanna know if i'll be able to ebay my limited edition sheila dixon recycling bin for $$$

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z938JqcWtNw

ATOM09 (10 hours ago) Show Hide
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Ya'll better leave Sheila alone. Sheila will kick your butt. She hard and she can fight. Go Sheila!

moviedan (6 hours ago) Show Hide
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@atom09

Go Shelia - straight to the unemployment line! Thieving bitch.

DatbeRight (11 hours ago) Show Hide
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She double G. Ghetto and Guilty!!!! Ignant fool!!!! Plea deal? Throw her sorry azz in jail!!!!

whoooOOOOOooooaaaa http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.heat08jan08,0,3210171.story