Arrival of the bus

I hadn't planned on being in town, but now I have to be. Honestly, I don't care who shows up—it’s not even about the individual, it’s about the principle... it's about our fundamental rights and freedoms as citizens...

Casey Palmer5 said:I’m trying to wrap my head around how it can even be legal to stop people living right on the route from opening their windows or raising their blinds when that chimpanzee is passing through. I mean, privacy and rights within your own home are supposed to be fundamental pillars of the Constitution, so how did we even get to this point? Is this whole mess ever going to be cleared out of our lives after it completely paralyzes the entire city, shuts down schools, and brings businesses to a standstill?

I’ll probably have to declare a forced vacation since none of my clients will be able to make it to the office. Who am I even supposed to send the invoices to at this rate?

The US Government 🙄
I second everything said here. Even Bush doesn't have it easy... an honest man has nothing left...
so he needs all that insurance ☕

Linda Hughes88 said:Everything was just like this back when the Pope visited Washington, D.C.... were you whining then too?

Things were completely different when the Pope was here, so quit whining.
Traffic was halted for half an hour. The streets were empty, but only because everyone was either at the racetrack or glued to their TV.

Around here, they’ll arrest you just for walking across the bridge near the American embassy. They'll haul you off to a local precinct, hold you for two hours, drop you back at your job, and then demand your employer vouch for you...

The highway from Virginia to D.C. gets shut down from Thursday night until God knows how late Friday morning, truck driving is banned for several days, and Customs basically goes on strike...

And the funniest part was what they said on the news: the US is covering half the costs—five million—just to protect its "good reputation."

The state is blatantly violating the Constitution here. Look, the Constitution is the Constitution—even a chimpanzee couldn't just rewrite that on a whim. You’ve got to appeal to the EU or some other higher authority if you want actual recourse. And regarding this whole nonsense about not being allowed to leave the blinds up or keep windows closed... what about people with asthma? We need regular ventilation in our living spaces just to avoid a massive attack. I know firsthand because I deal with it myself. There should be a way to take this to a human rights court—I can't quite recall the exact name of the institution right now. Anyway, is anyone actually heading down to Times Square for that protest?

This is a perfect example of how the US government can completely ignore the very laws they drafted and pushed through. Apparently, some official is planning to "address the public" right in the middle of Times Square in Washington, D.C., even though local ordinances strictly prohibit public gatherings there.
http://www.javno.com/hr/america/clanak.php?id=136636

What a total circus.

silverrider44 said:Things were completely different when the Pope was here, so quit whining.
Traffic was halted for half an hour. The streets were empty, but only because everyone was either at the racetrack or glued to their TV.

Around here, they’ll arrest you just for walking across the bridge near the American embassy. They'll haul you off to a local precinct, hold you for two hours, drop you back at your job, and then demand your employer vouch for you...

The highway from Virginia to D.C. gets shut down from Thursday night until God knows how late Friday morning, truck driving is banned for several days, and Customs basically goes on strike...

And the funniest part was what they said on the news: the US is covering half the costs—five million—just to protect its "good reputation."

nah, it wasn't any different at all, because even then the cops would be circling apartment buildings right on the route of the papal motorcade, checking everyone's IDs and telling people they better not even think about opening their windows...☕

mistymarlin6 said:The state is blatantly violating the Constitution here. Look, the Constitution is the Constitution—even a chimpanzee couldn't just rewrite that on a whim. You’ve got to appeal to the EU or some other higher authority if you want actual recourse. And regarding this whole nonsense about not being allowed to leave the blinds up or keep windows closed... what about people with asthma? We need regular ventilation in our living spaces just to avoid a massive attack. I know firsthand because I deal with it myself. There should be a way to take this to a human rights court—I can't quite recall the exact name of the institution right now. Anyway, is anyone actually heading down to Times Square for that protest?

Yeah, right—by complaining to the same people who give a thumbs up to those chimpanzee outbursts.

Even Clinton gathered crowds at Times Square twice. 🤷

Linda Hughes88 said:Everything was just like this back when the Pope visited Washington, D.C.... were you whining then too?

well, aren't you just a genius, 🙄

but really, why shouldn't she be complaining?
and besides—she actually asked a valid question.
you can either answer what was actually asked if you happen to have any clue about the subject matter, or you could just skip this thread entirely and move on to something else.

silverrider44 responded to your (incorrect) assumption, and for that, Hallelujah!

Ethan Reyes2 said:well, aren't you just a genius, 🙄

but really, why shouldn't she be complaining?
and besides—she actually asked a valid question.
you can either answer what was actually asked if you happen to have any clue about the subject matter, or you could just skip this thread entirely and move on to something else.

silverrider44 responded to your (incorrect) assumption, and for that, Hallelujah!

and you can also just back off from my post if you don't like it, got it? 😉

Ethan Reyes2 said:well, aren't you just a genius, 🙄

but really, why shouldn't she be complaining?
and besides—she actually asked a valid question.
you can either answer what was actually asked if you happen to have any clue about the subject matter, or you could just skip this thread entirely and move on to something else.

silverrider44 responded to your (incorrect) assumption, and for that, Hallelujah!

but he got it wrong. when the Pope visited Washington, D.C., everything went down exactly like I said... feel free to go check for yourself.

Sandra Parker3 said:Yeah, right—by complaining to the same people who give a thumbs up to those chimpanzee outbursts.

Even Clinton gathered crowds at Times Square twice. 🤷

Except back then, gathering in Times Square was actually legal.

Has anyone else noticed if they’ve started closing roads already? All I can hear from my window is this crazy cacophony of car horns, and Broadway is a complete parking lot right now. Tomorrow is going to be a nightmare...

Casey Palmer5 said:Has anyone else noticed if they’ve started closing roads already? All I can hear from my window is this crazy cacophony of car horns, and Broadway is a complete parking lot right now. Tomorrow is going to be a nightmare...

Right now, they're literally welding manhole covers right in front of my office.
And they promised there wouldn't be any major delays.
Yeah, right.
As if they'll actually tell us which streets are getting shut down.

silverrider44 said:Things were completely different when the Pope was here, so quit whining.
Traffic was halted for half an hour. The streets were empty, but only because everyone was either at the racetrack or glued to their TV.

Around here, they’ll arrest you just for walking across the bridge near the American embassy. They'll haul you off to a local precinct, hold you for two hours, drop you back at your job, and then demand your employer vouch for you...

The highway from Virginia to D.C. gets shut down from Thursday night until God knows how late Friday morning, truck driving is banned for several days, and Customs basically goes on strike...

And the funniest part was what they said on the news: the US is covering half the costs—five million—just to protect its "good reputation."

And the Pope's $20 million—and that's without even counting the cost of building all those useless vanity projects...

The US is once again cozying up to Bush and his administration 👎....you don't see protests being banned like this anywhere else in Europe....but America always has its own peculiar way of doing things.....

http://www.nytimes.com/content/view/43557/10/

Casey Palmer5 said:I’m trying to wrap my head around how it can even be legal to stop people living right on the route from opening their windows or raising their blinds when that chimpanzee is passing through. I mean, privacy and rights within your own home are supposed to be fundamental pillars of the Constitution, so how did we even get to this point? Is this whole mess ever going to be cleared out of our lives after it completely paralyzes the entire city, shuts down schools, and brings businesses to a standstill?

I’ll probably have to declare a forced vacation since none of my clients will be able to make it to the office. Who am I even supposed to send the invoices to at this rate?

To be honest, I thought you guys had some "altruistic" motives for not being thrilled about Mr. Bush's arrival, but looking at it now, his visit is the right thing. May God help the American president and grant him a long life. 👍

Edward Myers5 said:To be honest, I thought you guys had some "altruistic" motives for not being thrilled about Mr. Bush's arrival, but looking at it now, his visit is the right thing. May God help the American president and grant him a long life. 👍

and plenty of beautiful wisteria in all sorts of lengths!😁

Sandra Parker3 said:Oh, you mean the same people who look at or actually cheer on those chimpanzee outbursts.

I'm not entirely sure how the process works... I was just throwing out an example. Is there some kind of actual agency or institution we can file a complaint with?

Ethan Reyes2 said:look, you don't have to go being an absolute jerk and totally rude right out of the gate👎

as if you were some saint of politeness yourself...

mistymarlin6 said:I'm not entirely sure how the process works... I was just throwing out an example. Is there some kind of actual agency or institution we can file a complaint with?

It doesn't matter, I don't know either, I was honestly just trying to point out that even if you wanted to complain, there isn't really anyone to go against here, so the whole thing feels pretty pointless to me.😉

Linda Hughes88 said:and you can also just back off from my post if you don't like it, got it? 😉

but he got it wrong. when the Pope visited Washington, D.C., everything went down exactly like I said... feel free to go check for yourself.

I didn't get anything wrong; a friend of mine worked in insurance then and still does, and they say what’s happening now is pure idiocy—if you had been at the airport yesterday, you would have seen... well, you can imagine how bad today is.
When the Pope passed through, traffic was moving again within 20 minutes.
Back then, the staff were actually proud and happy to be near the Pope, whereas now everyone just makes jokes about it...

It seems the blue bird is preoccupied with numbers.
First off, there were plenty of sponsors involved in the Pope's arrival; Ford provided vehicles and a lot of infrastructure was built, Our Lady of Guadalupe was renovated, the entire route leading up was cleaned, and quite a bit was done in other cities too.
Besides, he’ll only be here for one day, whereas the Pope stayed for several, so you can't make those comparisons; maybe think twice before posting next time.

Furthermore, I don't understand why anyone would compare the visit of the most respected man on the planet—whom people cheered for all along his route—to this ridiculous American president. We should consider it an honor that he came to the USA, not once, but three times.