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DragonCon 2008 Photos have been posted here and here! See pics from 2007 and 2006.
Anime Weekend Atlanta 2008 Photos have been posted here.
Judge throws out saggy shorts case.
RIVIERA BEACH, Florida — A judge says Riviera Beach's "saggy pants" law is unconstitutional in the case of a 17-year-old who spent a night in jail for having his underwear showing. Labels: court drama, Florida, nakedness, youth news
And a public defender said her office wants to get the law tossed altogether.
Julius Hart was charged Wednesday when an officer spotted him riding his bicycle in the 2800 block of Lakeshore Drive with 4 to 5 inches of blue and black boxer shorts sticking out of his black pants.
A first offense carries a $150 fine or a requirement of community service; only habitual offenders face the possibility of jail time.
But, a report said, the charge against Hart meant a violation of his probation on a marijuana possession charge, so he went to jail.
"Somebody help me," Palm Beach Circuit Judge Paul Moyle said.
"We're not talking about exposure of buttocks. No! We're talking about someone who has on pants whose underwear are apparently visible to a police officer who then makes an arrest and the basis is he's then held overnight, no bond. No bond!" the judge exclaimed.
"Your honor, we now have the fashion police," public defender Carol Bickerstaff said. "Our office really does intend to appeal this ordinance, which we believe is totally unconstitutional."
Moyle ruled the law unconstitutional "based on the limited facts of this case." Instead of issuing bail, the judge released Hart on his own recognizance.
Asked how this will affect the law overall, Riviera Beach's city attorney deferred to the police legal counsel and the mayor, Bishop Thomas Masters. Masters referred calls to city spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown, who said the city hadn't yet seen the ruling and couldn't comment.
Technically, the charge is not yet dropped; a new arraignment is set for Oct. 5.
"The first time I saw this particular fashion, I disliked it, and then I realized I'm getting old," Bickerstaff told the judge.
"You can have Speedo underwear, which is way less than boxer shorts, and that is perfectly legal, but boxer shorts, with pants over them, is not?" Moyle asked.
Bickerstaff quipped, "It's like a Monty Python skit."
City voters had approved the law in March by a 72 percent tally, after Masters lobbied heavily for it, helping collect 4,769 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.
The saggy pants fad surfaced in jail, when juvenile offenders wore overly large prison garb that sagged, exposing their underwear. It later became a fashion statement among rappers and remains popular in urban communities across the country.
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Shota lieks money money, yeah yeah
OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say an 8-year-old boy was handing out hundreds of dollars in fake $20 bills at an Ocala elementary school. School officials reported the boy to police on Tuesday. Labels: boys, crime drama, Florida, school news
The fake bills were discovered when a child tried to use one to pay for lunch. An administrator then tracked down several other students with fake bills. Those students all identified the boy.
The boy—who was not identified—was turned over to the Department of Children and Families after authorities learned his guardians had warrants for their arrest.
In all, the counterfeit money added up to 44 notes or $880. Police say they don't know who produced the fake currency
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Stalled Fay Soaks Florida
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Emergency crews launched airboats into submerged streets Wednesday to rescue central Florida residents trapped by rising floodwaters from a stalled Tropical Storm Fay, which soaked the state for a third consecutive day. Labels: disasters, Florida, weather
Calling the flooding "catastrophic," Gov. Charlie Crist requested an emergency disaster declaration from the federal government to defray rising debris and response costs. The White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was reviewing the request.
Flooding was reported in hundreds of homes in Brevard and St. Lucie counties, some by up to 5 feet of standing water. In three towns, rising waters backed up sewage systems. It wasn't immediately clear how many residents had been displaced or were stranded, but county officials reported making dozens of rescues.
"We can't even get out of our house," said Billie Dayton of Port St. Lucie, as waters lapped at her porch. "We're just hoping that it doesn't rain anymore."
The storm could dump 30 inches of rain in some areas of Florida and the National Hurricane Center said up to 22 inches had already fallen near Melbourne, just south of Cape Canaveral on the state's central Atlantic coast.
Forecasters originally expected Fay to energize over the ocean and possibly become a hurricane before landing in Florida for the third time later this week. The erratic storm first struck Monday in the Florida Keys, then veered out to sea before traversing east across the state, briefly strengthening, then stalling. For much of Wednesday, the storm barely moved, dumping inches and inches of rain over coastal central Florida.
If Fay crosses into the Atlantic and strikes Florida again, as expected, it would be just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times. The most recent was Hurricane Donna in 1960, said Daniel Brown, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
In St. Lucie County an estimated 150 residents have been assisted in evacuating by boat or high-clearance vehicle, and water was 3 to 5 feet in some people's homes, Erick Gill, a county spokesman, said.
The Florida National Guard mobilized about a dozen guardsmen and some high-water vehicles to assist with damage assessment and help with evacuations.
Billy Johnson, 45, and his girlfriend walked four blocks through waist-high water to reach rescue vehicles after his Melbourne apartment was flooded with knee-high water.
"Everything I had is all underwater," he said. "You can't grab your food. You can't grab your TV... Grab what you can and go."
For many, however, it was just a major inconvenience.
Steve Grenon, 40, was sitting in the bed of his truck in front of his house. He said he'd been holed up there for two days, unable to leave with water was up to six feet deep in the street in front of him. A dodge sedan was partly submerged in front of him.
"I had no idea what it looked like out there until today," Grenon said.
The storm was 30 miles north of Cape Canaveral at 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Its maximum sustained winds were back up to about 50 mph and it was expected to resume slowly moving north later Wednesday at about 2 mph.
Gill said hundreds of homes had been flooded, though a count was incomplete. Homes also were flooded in Brevard County, said Bob Lay, the county's emergency operations director. Floodwaters also had caused sewage to back up, affecting another 40,000 to 50,000 people in three towns.
Fay formed over the weekend in the Atlantic and was blamed for 20 deaths in the Caribbean before hitting Florida's southwest coast, where it first fell short of predictions it could be a Category 1 hurricane when it came ashore.
Though no one in Florida had been killed, some were close. Joe McMannis, 27, said he jumped into floodwaters to help three people in a submerged truck in Jensen Beach. McMannis said the driver accidentally drove into a retention pond, confusing it for a driveway.
"It pretty much came up to my ears and chin," he said. "I saw this little kid coming toward me so I grabbed him and swam him back to the shore line and went back for the other two guys."
The rain was welcome in dry Florida and Georgia cropland, but could also hurt farmers' production. Forecasters predicted parts of northern Florida could get 10 to 15 inches of rain, while southern Georgia could receive 3 to 6 inches.
"They're probably areas of the state that found the rains very beneficial," said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
But McElroy said the rain could pool around and damage citrus trees and flood pastures and hay fields. He couldn't yet quantify damage.
Before moving east, the storm flooded streets in Naples, downed trees and cut power to some 95,000 homes and businesses. Tornadoes spawned by the storm damaged 51 homes in Brevard County, southeast of Orlando, including nine homes that were totaled. In the Keys, officials estimated 25,000 tourists evacuated.
In Florida communities north of the flooding and in southeast Georgia, storm preparations included canceling school, clearing storm drains and ditches and encouraging mobile home residents to find sturdier shelter.
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Bees!!
Labels: animal news, epic, Florida
DeLAND, Fla. -- A giant cloud of thousands of bees mysteriously appeared and began to swirl in a "tornado pattern" around a Central Florida Mexican restaurant.
Customers at Oxie's restaurant located near Highway 17-92 and Plymouth Avenue in DeLand said they noticed a cloud in the sky and thought it was raining. They then realized, the cloud was a swarm of bees.
"A lot of people said it was bees and ran to their cars," restaurant owner Oxie Ochiana said. "It was scary. I was panicking. I didn't know what to do."
Witnesses said the bees began to swirl like a tornado and menace customers Thursday.
"I looked and it was like a tornado of bees just all around our parking lot, swarming," said restaurant worker Marie Olson.
A crowd formed at a distance to watch the cloud of bees.
"It was crazy," Olson said. "I was shocked. I was surprised to see it. I don't know where they came from, so it was amazing to actually see them like that. It was awesome."
State bee experts said the bees, which were moving from tree to tree, are now resting because they have formed two huge cone-shaped swarms in a tree.
Experts said the bees would likely move out about 24 hours after forming the cones.
However, Ochiana called beekeepers to remove the cones from nearby trees Thursday night.
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Pyro accident during Wrestlemania causes injuries.
What was supposed to be a celebration after another successful Wrestlemania, ended up with dozens of people injured when fireworks and cables landed on part of a near sell-out crowd at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Sunday night. Labels: disasters, Florida, sports news, television
Orlando Fire Department spokesman Greg Hoggatt says a cable holding the fireworks collapsed at the end of the show. The collapse sent sparkles from fireworks into the crowd. He says there were burn injuries, "up and down the stadium."
The show experienced a problem earlier in the show when power was temporarily lost to the lights surrounding the ring, leaving the announced crew confused as to what was going on.
At least 40 people were injured when the fireworks and cable collapsed. Officials say all the injuries were minor, but at least three people were taken to area hospitals.
World Wrestling Entertainment has had serious problems at a pay-per-view event in the past, most notably, the death of wrestler Owen Hart, who fell from a scaffold atop the ring while preparing for a stunt.
The Associated Press reported the phone number for the press relations office at the WWE Corporate Headquarters stayed busy for much of the day. Stadium officials have yet to comment on the story. The WWE typically launches fireworks as a show begins and multiple times during a show as certain wrestlers enter a venue.
The company released this statement on the accident:
"We're investigating the incident and doing everything we can to find out why it happened and to make sure it never happens again. While we apologize to anyone who was injured and/or alarmed by this occurrence, we take solace in the fact that the reported injuries were minor."
Estimates for last night's crowd for Wrestlemania topped 74,000.
(Ed note: I hate TMZ but here is the link to the video. Obviously Undertaker should leave the pyro to his brother, Kane.)
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Quickly all the news that's fit to type in like a few minutes.
* John McCain won the Florida primary in a tight battle against Romney. Labels: colin, democrats, election, Florida, loli, movies, myspace, personal, republicans, secret stash, yaoi
* Rudy 9/11 Gulliani 9/11 is expected 9/11 to quit 9/11 tomorrow.
* Hillary won in Florida for the Dems, but wins no delegates.
* Meet the Spartians STILL hurts days after I saw it.
* There are rumors of Hannah Montana naughty pics on her MySpace. Oh lawd.
* If you ever wanted to see me in a compromising situation...
* You are running out of time for January's Secret Stash.
* Next month's stash is all about love due to the Valentine's Day holiday.
* Yaoi posts may resume tomorrow if I'm feeling like it.
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10 Things I Learned at DragonCon 2007
1. Sometimes leaving the main hotel is a bad idea. Especially in the later parts of the evening, the Fire Marshals in all their grapefruit swaying glory, seemed to rather enjoy shutting off entry to the Hyatt. If you weren't already in, you were locked out for a period of time. Labels: dragoncon, Florida, personal, shota, television, yaoi
2. Going up a few levels in order to catch an elevator up even further is generally not a bad idea. Of course, you run the risk of finding one that is completely full no matter what. The odds do seem to run a bit more in your favor though.
3. Con Suite is cool and all your first few cons, but quite honestly, unless you get there at a random time when they actually have something of substance, just ignore it except for drinks. Do not drink the Energy Drinks however cool their names may sound. Too many of those puppies and you'll be out for the count.
4. "Stars" that charge for autographs are absolute assholes. Ignore them.
5. Furries are annoying overall, but the real obnoxious pieces of shit are those who are in full fursuit and sit in the front row of a panel and mime their over exaggerating expressions completely throughout the hour. Terry Brooks should have come down there and smacked the bitch. I don't care that he's an old man!
6. The Mythbusters Build Team are probably some of the coolest celebrities I've ever had the pleasure of meeting at DragonCon. I got a shirt and they all signed it. Hopefully a picture of the four of us will turn out. *crosses fingers*
7. The Yaoi Panel may not have had much discussion going on during its length, but they did show Level C, parts of Boku No Sexual Harassment, and parts of an uncensored Legend of the Blue Wolves. Apparently the latter is now on DVD. Wow! Sadly, the girl running the panel is also not down with the shota. But she did serve us free booze.
8. If the panel you're waiting for has a line that lasts more than two hours, you probably are into something too mainstream. This may affect your geek-cred. Ghost Hunter programs, I'm talking to you!
9. Even with programming and other things to do spanning three hotels, 40,000+ people is alot of fucking people. And with so many making this their very first DragonCon, I wonder how much bigger this thing is going to get? (It was my 12th Con myself.)
10. Despite attempts to quell such a thing, I did end up having my friend from Fort Lauderdale spend one night with me. Saturday night, he was locked out of his room and I offered him a place to stay. Chemistry reignited and your faithful webmaster played his Seme role once more. While there may be Ye Old Drama™ fallout, I am almost completely sure that this was something that fate had created. We were just merely playing our respective roles.
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What? Nothing about peeing on people who are stung?
For the second Saturday in a row, jellyfish stung hundreds of beachgoers in New Smyrna Beach and sent lifeguards scrambling for more white vinegar, a common salve. Labels: animal news, Florida, health news
"Every guard had to ask for a vinegar restock," said Beach Patrol Capt. Tony Sopotnick. A 16-year-old girl was taken to Bert Fish Medical Center after she went into anaphylactic shock from a sting; otherwise, no one else was seriously injured by the jellyfish, only irritated.
The blooms - which are confined to the New Smyrna Beach area - were likely blown in by southeasterly winds, Sopotnick said. Lifeguards in Daytona Beach and Flagler reported only a few stings.
But, what are they?
"None are washing up on shore," he said, "which is making it difficult to positively identify them."
Beach Patrol officer Elmer Foit guessed the jellyfish might belong to a group known as sea wasps, one of the most venomous jellyfish in the world. The good news is that the sea wasps found here are likely native to the Atlantic Ocean and not as dangerous as their relatives in Australia where a single jellyfish has enough venom to kill 60 people in three minutes.
Sopotnick said the Beach Patrol would contact researchers this week to definitively identify the jellyfish.
People who do get stung should not rub fresh water on the wound because it will reactivate the toxic poisons, Foit said.
Instead, you can take Benadryl or rub cortisone cream on the infected area to soothe the irritation. Or, as patrol officers are resorting to - get bathed in white vinegar.
"It's a little bit like a bee sting," Foit said. "And, for the most part, they're harmless. But they are painful and will leave an itch."
They also leave red welts on the skin. He did say that the majority of swimmers in the ocean did not get stung Saturday.
"We might have had 5,000 bathers " he said, "Only 300 to 400 were stung."
Swimmers Sunday should look for purple flags flying from lifeguard stands, which indicate jellyfish are still invading. Last weekend, they floated away as fast as they came, leaving the area by Sunday.
"It's unusual to have hundreds of stings in New Smyrna and very few on the Daytona side," Sopotnick said. "We will have to see what tomorrow brings."
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The black gay man made me trade money for sex! Promise!
Tampa, Florida -- State Rep. Bob Allen (R), a longtime foe of LGBT rights in Florida, has a bizarre excuse for being charged with offering a male cop $20 for oral sex in a washroom at a park. Labels: crime drama, Florida, government, racial news, republicans, sex
He was busted last month in a sting at Veteran's Memorial Park in Titusville, Florida.
In taped statements made by Allen to police following his arrest and released by the force Allen admits to soliciting the male officer but claims that it was the result of being nervous by the high number of black men in the park.
"I certainly wasn't there to have sex with anybody and certainly wasn't there to exchange money for it," Allen told officers.
Of the arresting officer Allen said in the tape, "This was a pretty stocky black guy, and there was nothing but other black guys around in the park."
He claimed he feared he "was about to be a statistic" would have said anything just to get away.
But on the tape Allen also admits warning the undercover cop that "undercover cops" were in the area and the man should be careful.
"I said they're around here, you ought to know about that."
He only realized he was talking to an officer when he flashed his badge.
The arresting officer's handwritten report on the arrest also was released by the force.
Titusville Officer Danny Kavanaugh who was on plainclothes duty says he observed Allen entering the washroom twice. Kavanaugh said he was drying his hands in a stall when Allen peered over the stall door.
The officer's report said that after peering over the stall a second time, Allen pushed open the door and joined Kavanaugh inside. Allen muttered "'hi,'v" and then said, "'this is kind of a public place, isn't it,'" the report said.
Kavanaugh wrote that he asked Allen about going somewhere else and Allen suggested going "across the bridge, it's quieter over there."
"Well look, man, I'm trying to make some money; you think you can hook me up with 20 bucks?" Kavanaugh wrote in the report that he had asked Allen.
The Republican lawmaker, the report said, replied, "Sure, I can do that, but this place is too public."
According to Kavanaugh's statement, the officer said, "do you want just (oral sex)?" and Allen replied, "I was thinking you would want one."
It was at that point Allen was arrested.
Ironically, Allen was the Police Union's 2007 Lawmaker of the Year.
In the last session of the Florida legislature he sponsored a failed bill that would have tightened the state's prohibition on public sex. He also has been a supporter of amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and has opposed a bill to curb bullying of gay students.
Allen has been charged with solicitation for prostitution, which has a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
Prior to his arrest Allen was a co-chair of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in Florida, a position he has since resigned.
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2 Arrests in Dunbar Village brutal gang-rape
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Mother and son huddled together, battered and beaten, in the bathroom — sobbing, wondering why no one came to help. Surely the neighbors had heard their screams. The walls are thin, the screen doors flimsy in this violence-plagued housing project on the edge of downtown. Labels: boys, crime drama, Florida, raep, shota, women
For three hours, the pair say, they endured sheer terror as the 35-year-old Haitian immigrant was raped and sodomized by up to 10 masked teenagers and her 12-year-old son was beaten in another room.
Then, mother and son were reunited to endure the unspeakable: At gunpoint, the woman was forced to perform oral sex on the boy, she later told a TV station.
Afterward, they were doused with household cleansers, perhaps in a haphazard attempt to scrub the crime scene, or maybe simply to torture the victims even more. The solutions burned the boy's eyes.
The thugs then fled, taking with them a couple of hundred dollars' worth of cash, jewelry and cell phones.
In the interview with WPTV, the mother described how she and her son sobbed in the bathroom, too shocked to move. Then, in the dark of night, they walked a mile to the hospital because they had no phone to call for help.
Two teenagers — a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old — have been arrested. Eight others are being sought.
Welcome to Dunbar Village, a place residents call hell.
(unfortunately alot more graphic details here)
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