Topics

1

General Discussion / Luscious California is nice but two friends had to help me take care of business

« on: Today at 03:05:10 AM »

...And yes, the first cut is the toughest in my experience over the years but no problems for my good friends, the DeWalt Brothers as they have more than enough power to get the job done...   :

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General Discussion / As a former refugee, it's good to see this

« on: Today at 02:35:17 AM »

 :

Homeless 8-year-old refugee wins New York State chess championship, inspiring viral fundraiser

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General Discussion / So much for Whites will only support Whites, LOL

« on: Today at 02:33:05 AM »

 :

Teen eggs Australian senator who blames Muslims for attack

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General Discussion / Some put her down but I think she looks good

« on: March 14, 2019, 10:59:36 PM »

I would hit it.. :

Sports Illustrated model calls out body-shamers who criticised bikini photo

“I can’t begin to explain how many rude comments I got after I posted this photo about my body,” she said in a video posted to her Instagram stories. “But for the women who I was able to help love who they are more from it, I post without hesitation for myself and for YOU.”

Comments like “gross”, and “that’s a wide load there” were some of the body-shaming lines. “She needs the gym and a good doctor,” another troll wrote.

5

General Discussion / So what's for dinner on Pi day? This ...

« on: March 14, 2019, 10:32:57 PM »

 :

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General Discussion / Sometimes it's good that companies have your info..So Costco and Canagra called

« on: March 14, 2019, 10:30:01 PM »

...and informed me that a product I bought from Costco is under recall due to possible contamination and asked me to return it for a full refund:

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General Discussion / 25 million = $10 billion, don't doubt it as it's beautiful overall with lots of

« on: March 14, 2019, 05:27:43 PM »

...things to do  :

Despite dirty streets, San Francisco tourism at record high



San Francisco tourism levels hit a new record high in 2018 for the ninth straight year, with the number of visitors reaching 25.8 million and annual spending at $10 billion.

Visitors were up 1.2 percent compared to 2017, and spending was up 2.3 percent from the previous year, according data released Thursday by San Francisco Travel, the city’s tourism bureau. Tourism supported 82,538 local jobs, up 1 percent from the previous year.

Average hotel occupancy was 82.2 percent in 2018, down 1.4 percent, a drop attributed to the partial closure of Moscone Center during a $551 million expansion, which was completed in January. The average daily hotel room rate was $264.53, up 6.2 percent.

“While visitor growth last year was modest, we saw a larger increase in visitor spending. We are optimistic for the rest of 2019 and currently have more room nights on the books than ever before, thanks to the recently expanded Moscone Center,” said Joe D’Alessandro, CEO of San Francisco Travel, in a statement.

San Francisco Travel is expecting 26.5 million visitors this year, an increase of 2.5 percent. Spending is expected to rise to $10.3 billion this year, up 3.4 percent.

“San Francisco is an incredible city that continues to draw people from all over to visit and enjoy the city we all know and love. These visitors explore our neighborhoods, shop at our small businesses, enjoy our restaurants, and help support our local economy,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “I am committed to working every day to make our city a better place for everyone, whether they live here or are visiting from the other side of the world.”

The tourism industry generated $771 million in taxes and fees for the city in 2018, up 8 percent from the previous year.

International visitor spending accounted for $4.9 billion of total spending. The most international tourists came from Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. The fastest-growing international markets were Brazil, France, India and Taiwan.

D’Alessandro said international spending was affected by a stronger U.S. dollar, which raised the cost of visits, negative perceptions caused by the Trump administration and rising interest rates.

San Francisco’s street problems — with needles and feces and open-air drug use — have also put off some visitors.

San Francisco International Airport had a record-high 57.8 million passengers in 2018, up 3.1 percent from the previous year.

In 2019, hotel occupancy is expected to rise 1.2 percent to 83.2 percent and the average daily room rate is expected to increase 4.6 percent to $276.66.

8

Marriage & Family Life / Wedding Photo Share

« on: March 14, 2019, 02:25:10 AM »

Attended one of my relative's wedding by the water and it was nice event...

Big A$$ Limo:




Ceremony:














My sandals hanging out with Mama Pacific:






Mama Pacific is pretty calming for these folks too:




Reception:










Nice touch with the Hors d'oeuvre:








Our table:




Dinner time:








Cake time:




Hanging out with Mama Pacific is good as ever  :

9

General Discussion / Pho restaurant Owner resigned after using the N-word

« on: March 12, 2019, 05:52:22 PM »

The owner of a Vietnamese restaurant has resigned after calling an employee the N-word in a text message. “I will never use that word again,” Danh Le tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

Domo Schneckenburg, formerly a Pho Shack general manager at locations in Katy and Sugar Land, Texas, posted Facebook screenshots of a group text between co-owner Le, his associate, and herself right after she quit her job of two and a half years on Friday.

“Domo just called and say she quit,” wrote Le. “I said ok. Thank you. Her last day will be Thursday. Ima call her later and tell her her last day will be today. F*** the [N-word]. Don’t like that b**** attitude anyways.”

“Lmaooooooo,” wrote Domo.

Le wrote back, “Leave the key with Wilber for me. If u want your last check. Close tonight out correctly and professionally .”

“The [N-word] says f*** you,” wrote Schneckenburg.



The 26-year-old wrote on Facebook, “I won’t lie and say I wasn’t surprised by [Le]’s reaction because I was. It was a rude awakening that the stereotypes between black and Asians are still true, New generation or not. Regardless of how long you have known them, how hard you have worked, how trustworthy you have been, whether or not the family knows you, etc. You’re still a [N-word] in their eyes. I guess my first sign should have been when the owners would casually say ‘[N-word]’ until I told them it made me uncomfortable…”

Schneckenburg tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she quit her job partly because Le kept saying the N-word. “When I got the text, I was extremely hurt and angry and I flipped a table over,” she says. “I also called a staff meeting because I wanted everyone to know what the owner thinks of me.”

Le called the police after Schneckenburg flipped the table. The Sugar Land Police Department sent Yahoo Lifestyle a police report that read, “The owner said his manager quit but began yelling in a hostile manner, flipping tables over and broke glasses before leaving. The employee was no longer at the location, and the owner did not choose to file charges. The owner contacted SLPD again on March 9 at about 6 p.m. and said he was receiving threatening messages from his former employee. SLPD has increased patrols at the business.”

Schneckenburg tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she wants people to stop calling the Pho Shack to harass her innocent co-workers. “They are not a part of this,” she wrote on Facebook.

Yelp temporarily suspended the comments section of the restaurant’s page to stop inauthentic reviews, and the private catering company Daddy Duncan’s BBQ ended its partnership with the Pho Shack: “We are aware of recent allegations of racial discrimination at The Pho Shack Sugar Land & Katy,” the company wrote on Facebook Saturday. “We do not condone discrimination in any shape or form. Therefore, we have stopped all business with The Pho Shack as of today.”

Le apologized on the now removed Facebook page of the business. “This is Danh Le. I am here today to apologize for my actions and behavior. I understand your anger towards me and I don’t deserve or expect forgiveness. This is the biggest lesson of my life as I know now how much words can hurt,” he wrote.

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General Discussion / Unlike last year, there's a delay but you can get your lottery tomorrow at 7AM

« on: March 12, 2019, 05:35:28 PM »

...sharp now.. :

Lottery Date Set For Half Dome Permits

Yosemite, CA — After postponing the traditional March 1st date for the Half Dome permit preseason lottery last month, Yosemite National Park officials announce the opening will be held on March 13th, 2019.

Normally the application process runs the entire month of March, but late last month park officials were forced to delay the typical lottery opening date as a transition to a new contract provider was underway. The new preseason application opening date is Wednesday, March 13th, beginning at 7 a.m. (PDT).

In the preseason lottery, 225 permits are awarded for each day that the cables are up. All day use hiking permits are needed to ascend the Half Dome cables, which are usually up from late May until early October. During that time, an additional 50 permits are handed out daily via a lottery.

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General Discussion / Fraud: Rich or Poor, still bad like these University Fakes

« on: March 12, 2019, 05:28:57 PM »

Celebs charged with fraud in buying their children’s admission to top colleges



Federal authorities on Tuesday charged 46 people, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and college coaches and administrators, in an alleged scheme to win admission to prestigious universities for the children of wealthy parents.

At a press conference Tuesday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling called the scheme the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.” Yale, Stanford and Georgetown universities were among the schools identified as having been duped into accepting unqualified applicants.

Lelling said the operation, allegedly run out of a Newport Beach, Calif., college-admissions coaching company, had several parts, including coaching applicants to cheat on SAT and ACT admissions tests and bribing athletic coaches to identify applicants as potential recruits who could be admitted under athletic waivers requiring lower academic standards.

Among those charged in what law-enforcement officials called Operation Varsity Blues are 33 parents, the owner of the California firm, SAT and ACT test administrators, an exam proctor, a college administrator and college coaches. The FBI said that many of the students — some of whom have already graduated — were kept in the dark by their parents and didn’t know about the scheme. No students were indicted.

William Singer, who ran the California company, called Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged with racketeering, money laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Singer, according to Lelling, laundered money he received from parents under the guise of charitable donations. He is one of two charged as co-conspirators who Lelling said he expected to enter guilty pleas Tuesday.

“Between 2011 and 2018, wealthy parents paid Singer about $25 million in total to guarantee their children’s admission to elite schools such as Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, USC, University of Texas, UCLA and Wake Forest,” said Lelling, adding, “We're not talking about donating a building so that a school's more likely to take your son or daughter. We're talking about deception and fraud."

“These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege,” added Lelling. “They include, for example, CEOs of private and public companies, successful securities and real estate investors, two well-known actresses, a famous fashion designer and a co-chair of a global law firm.”

12

General Discussion / "Free pancakes" on March 12th, 2019

« on: March 12, 2019, 01:40:18 AM »

IHOP is offering free pancakes on March 12

On Tuesday, March 12, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., IHOP will host its annual Free Pancake Day campaign to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, including Intermountain Healthcare’s Primary Children’s Hospital.

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General Discussion / Even when there's indisputable facts, some ignorants will continue their cycle

« on: March 11, 2019, 06:18:11 PM »

.. of ignorance instead of taking ownership of their mistakes and learn from it... like Trump for example  :

Donald Trump 'denies calling Tim Cook Tim Apple' despite video footage

14

General Discussion / This is as relevant as the bride-price in 2019

« on: March 11, 2019, 06:11:57 PM »

There may have been a time where spring forward and fall back time changes had some reasons behind it but not anymore... :

Following California, Washington state lawmakers vote to make daylight saving time year-round

Washington, Oregon and California are among more than two dozen states weighing whether to abolish the twice-yearly time change, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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General Discussion / Seems more rampant in SE Asia but I see it here now too

« on: March 11, 2019, 12:03:40 AM »

Must be the 'see' food i.e., crab legs  :

Crab legs sparked a brawl at a buffet. A day later and hundreds of miles away, it happened again.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/08/crab-legs-sparked-brawl-buffet-day-later-hundreds-miles-away-it-happened-again/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b01602efaaa1