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Nightmare
Lyran Alliance
Kommandant-General
Joined: 03-May-2002 00:00
Posts: 2214
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 Posted: 13-Oct-2003 11:37 Post subject: "Real" Super-Hero in London... |
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Car Owners' Hero Dresses for the Job
BY SARAH LYALL, The New York Times
LONDON, Oct. 2 — As is so often the case, the trickiest part came when he had to explain himself to his family.
"I got kind of a lukewarm response," said the masked Englishman who calls himself Angle-Grinder Man and who has been trawling London for four months dressed in a homemade superhero outfit, complete with gold lamé underpants and cape, removing the security boots from people's illegally parked cars.
"Any parent who gets a phone call from his son saying, `Oh, you might see me in the newspaper; I'm a superhero wheel clamp vigilante' — it might take them a little while to formulate their views," he said in an interview.
As a one-man vigilante force, Angle-Grinder Man, who takes his name from the boot-destroying circular saw he wields, has made only a modest impact: by his own estimates, he has freed about 20 cars so far (he does it only part time).
But his campaign against the city's effort to immobilize cars for parking violations and other infractions has touched a nerve in a city of strict parking regulations, zealous traffic police officers, ubiquitous speed cameras and car owners increasingly aggrieved at what they believe is mean-spirited law enforcement.
Although he hardly melts into the background, particularly when he switches on his noisy machine, Angle-Grinder Man has so far managed to elude the authorities by a mixture of luck, cunning and quick work: once he gets going, he can liberate a car in less than a minute. He does not accept money and says his main motivation is "anger at how politicians in this country treat people in general, but particularly in regard to motoring regulations."
Needless to say, the police are not amused. "Both Angle-Grinder Man and the owner of the vehicle could be charged with criminal damage if the driver admitted they consented to the act," a Scotland Yard spokesman told The Evening Standard.
Interviewed in the London office of The New York Times, Angle-Grinder Man was coy about his civilian identity. He said he had been threatened and harassed, mostly by private outfits that charge for removing the clamping devices. He is currently unemployed, but living on the savings he has accumulated from jobs that have reportedly included office clerk and entertainer at children's parties.
Long-haired and lanky, he is becoming well known in some parts of south London. About a month ago, 25-year-old Petite Tendai arrived home to find a boot on her illegally parked car. ("There were no signs saying `no parking,' " she declared.) She had barely begun to rail at the injustice of it all when Angle-Grinder Man suddenly appeared.
"Basically, he jumped out of his car in his outfit and said, `If anyone can, Angle-Grinder Man can,' " Ms. Tendai said in a telephone interview. "Then he just started sawing it off. It was wicked." He was gone almost as quickly as he came. "It was just a `good luck,' and what-not, and then he was off," she said.
Angle-Grinder Man was spurred to activism when his car was booted and he was told that it would cost £95 (a little over $150) to free it. "I was fuming inside," he said. He rented a circular saw for about £30 and did the job himself. He taped a photograph of the sawed-up clamp to his windshield, along with a note saying, "Please don't clamp me because I've got an extremely sensitive nature."
The sign proved a hit, although he had to remove it, he said, "when a guy on a motorbike in traffic nearly fell off his bike, he was laughing so hard." But Angle-Grinder Man knew he was on to something. "There was so much injustice out there," he said.
It took him some time to hone his look, and he rejected a number of color schemes before settling on blue and gold. "There's no school you can go to to learn how to be a superhero," he said. Perhaps most crucially, he found the perfect roll of gold lamé fabric at a flea market ("I had to hold it up and ask the girl how much did she think I would need to make a cape," he said).
For the boots, he spray-painted a pair of cowboy boots gold. The underpants are a pair of bikini briefs covered with the flea-market lamé. The gloves came from a piercing-and-fetish shop. Angle-Grinder Man designed the logo himself, proudly gluing the letters "AGM" onto the costume. "I wanted to have a balance between the political side and the comedy side," he said.
His Web site and his hot line for distressed car owners have drawn hoax messages, threats and dozens of fan notes, including one from a man who noted approvingly, "It's time we had a gay superhero."
For the record, "I'm a heterosexual superhero," Angle-Grinder Man said, "although I have no problem being a gay icon."
After the interview was over, Angle-Grinder Man strode into the street in full regalia, wheeling the suitcase full of civilian clothes he planned to wear on the train home later. Watching his gold cape glitter and swirl heroically in the afternoon light, Judith Smith, a sales clerk who said she had been following Angle-Grinder Man's exploits on his Web site, pronounced herself a big fan.
"I think he's extraordinarily attractive," Ms. Smith said. "Especially the golden knickers."
10-07-03 14:59 EDT
Copyright © 2003 The New York Times Company.
note: You'll have to register to read it on NY Times web edition, so I pasted it instead. The article really exists.
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Alexander
Heavy Horse Merc Brigade
Commanding Officer
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 828
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 13-Oct-2003 12:19 Post subject: RE: "Real" Super-Hero in London... |
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Silly Brits.
It's hard to believe that they used to control a large chunk of the world...
Alexander
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Commanding Officer, North West Armoured Cavalry
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Sir Henry
Team Bansai
Senior Tech Specialist
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 13-Oct-2003 13:32 Post subject: RE: "Real" Super-Hero in London... |
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That was then, this is now......
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Sir Henry
A Dragon in the disguise of a bunny, is still a Dragon.
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Daphne Wilde
Star League Defense Force
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 19-Sep-2003 00:00
Posts: 425
Location: United States
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| Posted: 13-Oct-2003 15:47 Post subject: RE: |
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well we have Anna N. Smith, food wasting t.v. programs (while the rest of the world at min. goes hungry) And now a terminator one step away from being our Prez. ( well almost.) Is it no wonder we have followed the brits down that silly road, all I know is it will be dumber and stupider than the last thing / things I have heard / seen
[ This Message was edited by: Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde on 2003-10-13 15:49 ]
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Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde
504 Para. 82 Div.
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Major
Joined: 04-Mar-2002 00:00
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 00:52 Post subject: RE: |
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Have you seen the Mr. Bean spy movie? The biggest spate of cheers and applause is the car chase scene where he blows away the traffic camera with a guided missile.
I've heard about those cameras, and yes it is wonderful for law enforcement. But I think that any govt that would use those things or be eager to stick those clamps on people's cars at any excuse are badly underestimating the stress and anger factor.
Sooner or later, people who can't even drive around on their daily business without knowing most of their path can be observed by faceless govt agent via traffic cameras are going to feel they're being watched on purpose, that their govt is looking for excuses to screw them over, those car clamps are just evidence that their govt really is out to screw them over and drain their wallets at every flimsy excuse. For a time Big Brother style govt can keep a population in control through fear, but sooner or later it will turn into deep and abiding anger.
Especially is that govt is sucking their wallets dry with parking and traffic fines that the people cannot defend themselves against without taking it to court over the course of months if not years, like those car clamps.
A few of the cities in America who have tried those camera have lost in court. I think the ruling was that an officer has to actually be there and witness the infraction. Some faceless non-police academy graduate playing with a remote camera from 30 miles away didn't cut it.
For myself, I think if those cameras ever showed up in my town, I would have have no problem with investing in a good pump shotgun and taking those things out late at night. And car boots are supposed to be used for repeat offenders who have a lot of unpaid tickets, not for somebody who happened to park in a no parking zone on that one day.
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Major
Joined: 04-Mar-2002 00:00
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 01:11 Post subject: RE: |
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Arnold can't be the President, he's not a native born citizen. Governor is the highest office he can get elected to.
And yes, much of the rest of the world is hungry. This is in spite of the good old USA spending over 50 years and God knows how much money trying to help 3rd world countries become competent enough at farming to feed themselves. And yet they have yet to manage to learn some basic land management and crop rotation in so many countries. Farming is probably the 3rd oldest profession after hunting and prostitution and yet these 3rd worlders can't seem to master this skill no matter how many Peace Corps workers try to teach it to them.
Yes, people elsewhere in the world are going hungry. But that's not our fault and not our problem either. We spent all that time and treasure helping them out of goodwill and charity and they learned nothing, improved themselves little if at all. And most of their countries do nothing in gratitude but spew hatred at us.
I feel sorry for them, but their problems are their problems. Not ours.
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"Those who beat their guns into plows will plow for those with guns..." -Thomas Jefferson
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Daphne Wilde
Star League Defense Force
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 19-Sep-2003 00:00
Posts: 425
Location: United States
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 02:43 Post subject: RE: |
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Not going to get any argument from me about that. far as I am concerned they can either do it themselves or go the way of the Dodo. I to am tired of the rest of the folks on this little blue mudball complaining about what we have and what they don't. fornicate 'em all! Let them finialy get off their peasant arses and do somthing with their land and lives instead of whining like puppies.
( can you tell I am in a bad mood? about to go "discuss" somthing and have my dander up right now. belive me folks when I am done you shall hear ALL about it. one way or another. My promise to Bob!)
[ This Message was edited by: Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde on 2003-10-14 02:45 ]
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Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde
504 Para. 82 Div.
Io
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Sir Henry
Team Bansai
Senior Tech Specialist
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 07:56 Post subject: RE: |
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Quote:
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On 2003-10-14 02:43, Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde wrote:
Not going to get any argument from me about that. far as I am concerned they can either do it themselves or go the way of the Dodo. |
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I truely hate that phrase. I hated in Indiana Jones and I continue to loathe it......
You know our forefathers did eradicate other Species too. Can't anyone use the Passenger Pidgon instead of the dodo.....
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Sir Henry
A Dragon in the disguise of a bunny, is still a Dragon.
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Alexander
Heavy Horse Merc Brigade
Commanding Officer
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 828
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 09:25 Post subject: RE: |
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We have those red-light cameras to catch people who run the lights at intersections, and photo-radar to catch speeders. Basically just a big money grab.
And now the city is telling us we can't smoke anywhere other than in our own houses really.
Alexander (feeling like a child again)
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Alexander
Heavy Horse Merc Brigade
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 09:27 Post subject: RE: |
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A big reason why there are still people going hungry has little to do with themselves, and more to do with their governments. More interested in waging war with their equally poor neighbors, and stealing food shipments for themselves and their armies.
Alexander
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Daphne Wilde
Star League Defense Force
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 19-Sep-2003 00:00
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 13:17 Post subject: RE: |
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I will assume that everyone has read Orwell's "1984" . ( If not go get it along woth "animal farm" very inlightining reading on what can happen and what shouldn't)
The Dodo ( I get in so much trouble these days becouse of animals) Reference was becouse I remember them from Midway Is ( pbs not history channel, wich is an age reference..........  ) belive it or not, even though I like the Indy movies, I know about most of the things in them long before they came out.
As for the rest, I will only echo your statments becouse To add to them will just be parroting you while changing the words. somthing I am loath to do.
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Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde
504 Para. 82 Div.
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Sir Henry
Team Bansai
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 13:40 Post subject: RE: |
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Daphne, I loathe that book more than any book I've ever read. I had to read that garbage 5 times in school and hated every minute of it.
I detest pessimistic dogma, beat like a year dead Horse.
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Sir Henry
A Dragon in the disguise of a bunny, is still a Dragon.
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Daphne Wilde
Star League Defense Force
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Joined: 19-Sep-2003 00:00
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 16:45 Post subject: RE: |
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I Never said it was a good book ( 1984 ) just seems that some of the things that were in it are all around us right now and subtracting the obivious bad FX's it could almost be present day america...................almost. 
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Lt.Col.Daphne Wilde
504 Para. 82 Div.
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Pinhead
The Bloody Clans
Joined: 25-Feb-2002 00:00
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 17:42 Post subject: RE: |
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>>>A big reason why there are still people going hungry has little to do with themselves, and more to do with their governments. More interested in waging war with their equally poor neighbors, and stealing food shipments for themselves and their armies.
Alexander <<<<
Alexander,
The Government is either a force of the folks it governs, or should be actively worked against to replace by the people it is harming. Please forgive me if I find it rather irritating that we send young men and women to "free" people living in oppressive regimes, because their Gov. is starving them. Please forgive me if I feel no desire to donate my time or money to help them either.
I just wish American Politicians would learn that we will not win the World's hearts by interferring with their daily choices.
Pin
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Major
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| Posted: 14-Oct-2003 22:08 Post subject: RE: |
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Actually I just now remembered a little bit more about the traffic camera cases I mentioned that were here in the US. They were shot down in court in a couple of east coast places because the people suing over them were able to prove that their local govt. had installed them for the sole purpose of generating more money without calling it a tax, and had nothing to do with a desire for traffic safetly, law enforcement, etc. Which I gather is the same problem in England.
It was just another form of extortion at the hands of your govt. Like having to pay to register your car every year or be punished with fines if you drive it anyway.
When it comes to 3rd World govts, I equate them with their people. If you want your govt gone, get rid of it yourself, it is not Uncle Sams job to just give those people freedom, they should earn it just like our ancestors did.
Take Iraq, I was all for invading it and esp. for turning it into a democracy. But mainly because Saddam was a threat to people outside his own borders. Had he stayed within his borders, never invaded Kuwait, harbored terrorists, built bioweapons, tried to build nukes, etc. Then inviading Iraq would not have been in our national interest and getting rid of Saddam would have rightly been the Iraqi people's problem and not ours.
As for feed the stupid people missions in the 90s. The military hated those. Sure we fed Haiti for a while but we couldn't stay there forever. And what are they now but dirt broke and starving anyway? I think their problem is that they keep making babies like crazy when their island can't grow enough food. That and the loonies they let run the place.
Meanwhile, our soldiers were not reenlisting since they hated much of what they were doing and knew it was all useless to begin with and also that the money for these missions was coming out of the spare parts and training budget which was doing our military a lot of damage. Anyone remember a news story from a year or two before Clinton finally left? The army's annual ready report rated most of their divisions as unfit for combat, the first time that has happened since at least the post-Vietnam years when US warships often sat at dock for lack of enough crew to operate them at sea.
Fortunately, if cruelly, this starving stupid people problem may well solve itself over the next few decades as they all seem to be too stupid to use condoms too. (And as we've seen in the news lately, the Pope and company are not helping this problem at all telling 3rd worlders not to use condoms) Something like 2/3 of Haiti has AIDS or HIV now, eventually their island will have no problem feeding whatever is left of them.
Jamaica has marketed itself for years as an adult playground where anything goes as long as you brought cash. But you couldn't pay me to go there since the majority of the island is now said by the UN to be HIV positive.
I read an estimate once that within 50 years, there may be no Thais in Thailand, same reason. No doubt the Chinese will be pleased to gain the extra elbow room.
And of course, the continent of Africa shows every sign of likewise being open to a new era of pioneers and settlers from the West.
Of course, if we don't start taking care of business along our own borders, many of these stupid people may well wind up fleeing here and handing their deaths to us too.
[ This Message was edited by: Gunslinger Patch on 2003-10-14 22:10 ]
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