tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58479044054281856802013-05-24T06:00:17.632-07:00Things to see and do in Glendale, California. A repository of local knowledge.Scottnoreply@blogger.comBlogger633125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-3367536770391121562013-05-01T03:47:00.000-07:002013-05-01T12:06:33.672-07:002013-05-01T12:06:33.672-07:00<div class="p1"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zdANVusOzJ0/UYDhIUnHpcI/AAAAAAAAEVc/5nT0jbFd8RQ/s1600/zarehapology.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /><img border="0" height="125" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zdANVusOzJ0/UYDhIUnHpcI/AAAAAAAAEVc/5nT0jbFd8RQ/s200/zarehapology.png" width="200" /></a>A week after Zareh Sinanyan <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">admitted responsibility for the hateful online comments</a> first reported here nearly two months ago, he finally&nbsp;<b>publicly apologized for the content of those comments at last night's City Council meeting</b><b>:</b></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> </div> <div class="p1"> <i>“I apologize to anyone who might have been offended by my past comments. I am truly sorry. Many have said they look forward to my future performance, and as I have said many times, my performance will speak for itself. When I appeared before the council as a candidate and addressed the subject of these blog posts, I explained that they were not me, they were not reflective of my character. That was true then, just as it is now. I am here to serve the people of Glendale. All of the people. It truly does not matter to me if you are Armenian, or Latino, or Anglo, or Korean; it doesn’t matter if you’re gay, or straight. And it doesn’t matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu. As my life experiences have demonstrated, the only thing that matters to me is that I want to serve Glendale. Working together to improve our homes is who I am. That is reflective of my character, and I fully welcome and invite people to use this standard to measure my success and effort.”</i></div> <br /> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p2"> Good apology; it's frankly amazing he didn't give it two months ago instead of <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-still-hasnt-denied.html">attacking and obfuscating</a>. The apology begins at <a href="http://glendale.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=12&amp;clip_id=4155">approximately minute 32 of last night's meeting</a>.</div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <i>(update: <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-818-0501-for-the-first-time-glendale-councilman-apologizes-for-vulgar-online-posts-from-dais,0,7024546.story">the News-Press just put up their story on the apology</a>.)</i><br /> <i><br /></i></div> <div class="p1"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /> <br /> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/dQac0LsQOUY" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com25http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/05/zareh-sinanyan-finally-apologizes-for.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-82415319558943469602013-04-23T02:05:00.001-07:002013-04-23T11:13:26.276-07:002013-04-23T11:13:26.276-07:00The <a href="http://www.armeniangenocidemuseum.org/">forthcoming Armenian Genocide Museum of America</a> in Washington, DC, has&nbsp;produced a powerful short video with the message that <b>a genocide denied is a genocide repeated</b>:<br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/f7FEx04lNmo" width="640"></iframe> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> The efforts to build the museum are being led by the <a href="http://www.armeniangenocidemuseum.org/">Armenian National Institute</a>, which has <a href="http://www.armenian-genocide.org/">an excellent website with information about the genocide,&nbsp;in which the Ottoman Turks are well documented to have killed approximately 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920</a>. Glendale's annual Armenian genocide commemorative event is April 24th at the Alex Theatre<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (04/23 update. <a href="https://twitter.com/MyGlendale/status/326753855368998914">The City of Glendale now says</a> "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17.99715805053711px; white-space: pre-wrap;">there are no more tickets for the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Event on 4/24. There will be a stand-by line that evening at the Alex Theatre for tickets."</span>)</span></i>. The flyer for that and other city commemorative events is below:<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7f7MbxznjE0/UXZIFeYocAI/AAAAAAAAEVM/3wVB7o4tqyY/s1600/2013genocidecommemorativeevents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7f7MbxznjE0/UXZIFeYocAI/AAAAAAAAEVM/3wVB7o4tqyY/s640/2013genocidecommemorativeevents.jpg" width="505" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The Glendale News-Press also has an article with information about a number of other commemorative events this week:</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0420-armenian-genocide-commemoration-events-scheduled-citywide,0,6070666.story">Armenian Genocide Commemoration Events Scheduled Citywide</a></li> </ul> <div> <i><br /></i></div> <div> <i>(Hat tip to my friend Edlin, who is involved with outreach efforts for the new museum and sent me the video. You should also check out another non-profit she's involved in called <a href="http://www.onearmenia.org/"><b>One Armenia</b></a>, which uses crowd-funding and transparent reporting to support various environmental, humanitarian and cultural projects in Armenia.)</i></div> <div> <i><br /></i></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/c3sl_T8ezHs" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com1http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-genocide-denied-is-genocide-repeated.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-32430400836932658112013-04-20T10:28:00.000-07:002013-04-20T10:44:45.071-07:002013-04-20T10:44:45.071-07:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkz-D5jC65c/UXLNSp4XXvI/AAAAAAAAEU8/s5XhtYuFJt0/s1600/zarehoncouncil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkz-D5jC65c/UXLNSp4XXvI/AAAAAAAAEU8/s5XhtYuFJt0/s200/zarehoncouncil.jpg" width="200" /></a>In response to <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-818-0417-online-comments-come-back-to-haunt-newly-elected-glendale-councilman,0,695004.story">deeply felt criticism</a> of his&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">hateful online comments</a>&nbsp;from <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-818-0417-online-comments-come-back-to-haunt-newly-elected-glendale-councilman,0,695004.story">members of the gay and Muslim communities at his first ever city council meeting</a>, Glendale City Council Member Zareh Sinanyan has now publicly admitted responsibility and expressed regret for those comments.<br /> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkz-D5jC65c/UXLNSp4XXvI/AAAAAAAAEU8/s5XhtYuFJt0/s1600/zarehoncouncil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a> <br /> He was particularly moved by the eloquent words of Glendale High student Zehra Siddiqui, who noted that Muslim students in Glendale are often bullied for their religion, and that it's important for role models in the community to take responsibility for their actions, whether good or bad.<br /> <br /> From <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0421-zareh-sinanyan-admits-racist-remarks-expresses-regret,0,5980028.story">Ron Kaye's column in the Glendale News-Press</a>:<br /> <div> <br /></div> <div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i><span style="font-family: inherit;">"She was the one who got to me. After she spoke all I could think about was, 'Why would I say something that would insult someone like her?' I would just hope that she would forgive me, I didn't mean those things. They were obviously made in anger.</span>&nbsp;</i></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I will do my best to represent her to the best of my abilities. I see her as the future of America. By my actions, I will show who I really am, that those words are not me."</span>&nbsp;</i></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clearly, Sinanyan will be living in a fish bowl for quite a while, at the center of tensions over the ascendance of Armenians in the political, economic and cultural life of a city that was very different a quarter century ago when his family arrived in the area.</span>&nbsp;</i></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For him, and for Glendale, this presents a great challenge to overcome divisions and a great opportunity to move forward and build a greater city together.</span></i></blockquote> </div> <div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> I absolutely agree with the closing line. I hope Sinanyan will continue in the spirit of healing and accountability and fully defuse tensions&nbsp;<b>by also apologizing for&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-still-hasnt-denied.html">attacking others, including me, rather than immediately taking responsibility for the comments he has now admitted to writing</a>.</b> If he offers such an apology, I will consider the matter resolved and wish him best of luck on the council.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> Sinanyan is smart and was well prepared at the community forums. We both share a sincere interest in South Glendale issues and I'm sure he can put this behind him, both for his own good, and the good of the city.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> Zareh, get in touch: <a href="mailto:tropicostation@gmail.com">tropicostation@gmail.com</a>.</div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">PREVIOUSLY:</span></span><br /> <br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments</a></span></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Endorsement</a></span></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Sinanyan Scandal Updates, Detailed Responses to His Defenders</a></span></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Why It's Unlikely a "Hacker" Was Responsible for Alleged Sinanyan Comments</a></span></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations</a></span></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em 15px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-still-hasnt-denied.html">Zareh Sinanyan Attacks, But Still Hasn't Denied Writing Hateful Comments or Apologized For Them</a></li> </ul> </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/uSn3PcEtwzg" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com16http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-29534867395558242862013-04-09T01:08:00.002-07:002013-04-23T01:05:07.306-07:002013-04-23T01:05:07.306-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>*4/19/13 UPDATE: <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments</a></b></i></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/" target="_blank">Glendale municipal election is over</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dailynews.com/glendale/ci_22938974/controversial-candidate-lead-glendale-council-seat">Zareh&nbsp;</a><a href="http://www.dailynews.com/glendale/ci_22938974/controversial-candidate-lead-glendale-council-seat">Sinanyan has secured a place on the Glendale City Council</a>. A mere&nbsp;<a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/" target="_blank">356 votes separated him</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2001-05-19/news/export38085_1_sentencing-misdemeanor-charges-chahe-keuroghelian" target="_blank">Chahe Keuroghelian</a>, who came in fourth. Voter turnout was low, at an estimated 18.2% of registered voters.</span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://burbankblog.blogspot.com/2013_03_31_archive.html" target="_blank">The Burbank Blog</a>&nbsp;did a write up on the election results&nbsp;<a href="http://burbankblog.blogspot.com/2013_03_31_archive.html" target="_blank">that I highly recommend reading</a>.</span></div> <div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’ve also read the&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html" target="_blank">hateful comments</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html" target="_blank">every available piece of evidence</a>&nbsp;shows were written by Zareh Sinanyan over a period of several years. Not because I or anyone else says so, but <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html">because the allegations are verifiable using cached versions of both the comments and Zareh’s confirmed online accounts</a>. If you haven’t read my previous posts on the allegations, please read them now to understand why this is serious:</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> </div> <ul> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html">Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Endorsement</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html">Sinanyan Scandal Updates, Detailed Responses to His Defenders</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.html">Why It's Unlikely a "Hacker" Was Responsible for Alleged Sinanyan Comments</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.html">Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations</a></span></li> </ul> <div> </div> <div> <b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Neither Sinanyan, nor anyone else has provided one shred of evidence challenging his authorship of the comments.</b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white;">All it would have taken to fully exonerate Sinanyan was documentation from Google that his account had been hacked for the period in question.&nbsp;</span>When asked <u>directly</u> if he wrote the comments, Sinanyan (campaign motto: "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=340338786078086&amp;set=pb.308626332582665.-2207520000.1365362157&amp;type=3&amp;src=https%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-frc3%2F892216_340338786078086_1244825443_o.jpg&amp;smallsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ash3%2F5553_340338786078086_1244825443_n.jpg&amp;size=1582%2C2048" target="_blank">Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Glendale</a>"),&nbsp;<a href="http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2013-03-16/opinion/tn-gnp-0316-editorial-worst-kind-of-electioneering_1_zareh-sinanyan-high-drama-public-record" target="_blank">gave one of the most misleading non-denials the world has ever seen</a>.&nbsp;</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Truly, the video must be seen to be believed:</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aLO1xieK3BI?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">So just to be crystal clear on this:</span><br /> <b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></u></b> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><u>Sinanyan has neither denied writing <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">the hateful comments</a>, nor apologized for their content.</u></b></span><br /> <b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></u></b></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Rather than responding to the evidence against him, Sinanyan and his supporters accused&nbsp;anyone drawing attention to the comments of conducting a&nbsp;<a href="http://asbarez.com/108768/effort-to-unseat-sinanyan-fails/" target="_blank">“well-funded, well-organized racist smear campaign</a>."&nbsp;Sinanyan himself, on the record, at a city council meeting, claimed that an anonymous source on *my blog* claimed their goal was to “take the Armenian community in general down.”&nbsp;<b>This is 100% factually untrue.</b>&nbsp;It was a cynical lie, meant to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151312461531820.1073741825.594316819&amp;type=3" target="_blank">bully me</a>&nbsp;and others who would demand an explanation into silence, close ranks within the Armenian community, and polarize Glendale along ethnic lines. I cannot find words to express my disgust.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The attacks directed at Councilmember Laura Friedman were far worse. For example, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;v=g5-QwlInzLo#t=1432s">in an Armenian-language interview on Horizon TV</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZarehSinanyanForGlendaleCityCouncil/posts/183515785129494" target="_blank">posted on his official campaign Facebook page</a>, Sinanyan compared Friedman to a Turk who doesn't care about Armenians* (minute 24):</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>SINANYAN: "And do you know what is unfortunate, maybe she has a small group of people with Armenian names, who aren't really true Armenians, they give her political legitimacy. In other words, you know when you meet some Turks and the first thing a Turk will say to an Armenian - and this is a really well known thing - is you're Armenian? I have many Armenian friends. And this is like Laura Friedman."</i></span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">In Glendale, saying something like that is inflammatory and inexcusable. It should be denounced in the strongest possible terms by any organization or political candidate with a shred of decency**. The only reason these shameful tactics continue is because members of the community who should know better - most appallingly,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=344858075626157&amp;set=pb.308626332582665.-2207520000.1365354502&amp;type=3&amp;theater" target="_blank">The Glendale Teacher’s Association</a>&nbsp;- remained silent.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> </div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">So where does that leave us? It leaves me embarrassed for Glendale by what can only be explained by either tacit acceptance of bigotry or ignorance, enabled by low turnout. Local elections have a far bigger impact on day to day life than national elections, and proportionally, your vote is thousands of times&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/american-news-consumers-have-gained-the-world-but-lost-their-backyards/274229/" target="_blank">more important to the outcome</a>. Yet hardly anyone pays attention. Sinanyan was voted for by approximately 4% of Glendale's population. If you're catching up on this now and stayed home during the election, you deserve some of the blame.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Sinanyan will be sworn in at the <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/mgmt-svcs/press_release.aspx?AnnouncementID=1071">City Council Reorganization meeting on April 15th</a>.</span><br /> <b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b> <b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Until Sinanyan takes responsibility for his actions and apologizes for both the comments***&nbsp;and the cynical, divisive response to a scandal of his own making, the community must continue to demand an explanation from Sinanyan for his behavior.&nbsp;</span></b><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QzEybHCU8Uk/UWO_GGKIWfI/AAAAAAAAEUw/iJLu8Cyhnlc/s1600/100percentzareh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QzEybHCU8Uk/UWO_GGKIWfI/AAAAAAAAEUw/iJLu8Cyhnlc/s320/100percentzareh.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PREVIOUSLY:</span></span><br /> <br /> <ul> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html">Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Endorsement</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html">Sinanyan Scandal Updates, Detailed Responses to His Defenders</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.html">Why It's Unlikely a "Hacker" Was Responsible for Alleged Sinanyan Comments</a></span></li> <li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.html">Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations</a></span></li> </ul> <div> </div> <div> </div> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">notes:</span></i></span><br /> <i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">* I had this translated by two different Armenian-speaking friends to verify the context and accuracy of the translation.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">** Here’s a challenge for my Armenian-speaking readers: if you see anyone involved with Glendale politics saying something hateful in Armenian language media, record the TV program or save the article and <a href="mailto:tropicostation@gmail.com">send it to me</a>&nbsp;with a summary in English. I will have an Armenian speaker verify the accuracy of the content and, if it is offensive, will post the original media together with an English language transcript so that the community at large can judge for themselves. Alternately, if you see a non-Armenian candidate using racially charged or discriminatory rhetoric towards Armenians and have a recording or a quote in English language media, send me that too. There should be one standard for hateful racial rhetoric in Glendale, not an English-language standard and an Armenian-language standard. Such rhetoric should be universally condemned.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">*** Or provides actual exonerating evidence!</span><br /> <div style="color: #500050;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div style="color: #500050;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: black; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: black; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</span></a></div> </div> <div style="color: #500050;"> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/J6M8iouAupk" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com42http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-still-hasnt-denied.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-26529705104926894882013-03-28T10:12:00.001-07:002013-03-28T10:12:08.939-07:002013-03-28T10:12:08.939-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vR6vLI1L-eg/UVR4THAACPI/AAAAAAAAEUc/qsZrdnp590k/s1600/johnwaynehome.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vR6vLI1L-eg/UVR4THAACPI/AAAAAAAAEUc/qsZrdnp590k/s200/johnwaynehome.png" width="150" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="p1"> This <a href="http://www.redfin.com/CA/Glendale/404-N-Isabel-St-91206/home/7159335">Redfin listing caught my eye</a>:&nbsp;</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> "Astonishing craftsman duplex in the heart of Glendale. The front house has been completely remodeled. Must come to see. John Wayne's childhood home."</blockquote> <div class="p3"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> John Wayne was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne">born in Iowa</a>, but <a href="http://stevesomething.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/homes-of-the-western-stars-the-john-wayne-tour-2/">moved to Glendale when he was four</a> and attended Wilson Middle School and Glendale High School, where he played football for the 1924 champion team. Legend has it that a local fireman first called Wayne "L'il Duke" because Wayne always walked to school with his dog, Duke.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/1KoGYhkrvCQ" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/john-waynes-childhood-home-in-glendale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-61321288046061524162013-03-27T12:29:00.005-07:002013-03-28T19:06:12.290-07:002013-03-28T19:06:12.290-07:00<div class="p1"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PbmduvJKUZY/UVMgl9pC8iI/AAAAAAAAEUE/HnSOQJ8focg/s1600/engelfriedmannajarian.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>I went to two&nbsp;<span style="text-align: center;">community forums, have personally spoken with most of the candidates, have been <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.html">attacked at a city council meeting by one of them</a> (!), and talked to dozens and dozens of Glendale residents about who they support and why. And of course, I've been watching the incumbents on the dais for years.&nbsp;</span>The research phase is over.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> Here are the conclusions I've come to and why. I've also linked to the <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/tn-gnp-0323-glendale-newspress-announces-election-endorsements,0,5641127.story">Glendale News-Press endorsements</a> so you can see what they have to say.<br /> <br /></div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p2"> <b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/MeetCandidates_CityCouncil.aspx">CITY COUNCIL</a></span></b><br /> <b><br /></b> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xu3e_EmqnCQ/UVMrgWlpoUI/AAAAAAAAEUM/Ij34hnAAJo0/s1600/engelfriedmannajarian_bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xu3e_EmqnCQ/UVMrgWlpoUI/AAAAAAAAEUM/Ij34hnAAJo0/s640/engelfriedmannajarian_bar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> I endorse&nbsp;<b><a href="http://www.votelaurafriedman.com/">Laura Friedman</a></b>,&nbsp;<b><a href="http://www.samengelforcitycouncil.com/">Sam Engel</a></b>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<b><a href="http://araforcouncil.com/">Ara Najarian</a></b>&nbsp;for City Council. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekV1Tp5IIIs">Particularly at the candidate forums</a>, they were much, much better informed than the rest of the field; usually by a large margin. The incumbents have a huge advantage in that they have been dealing with these issues day in and day out for four years, but in my opinion none of the non-incumbents besides Engel (and occasionally&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kedikian.com/">Roland Kedikian</a>*) showed they could handle the complexities of managing our fine city.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> <br /></div> </div> <div class="p1"> I disagree with what&nbsp;<b><a href="http://araforcouncil.com/">Ara Najarian</a></b>&nbsp;<i>says</i>&nbsp;pretty frequently, but he usually&nbsp;<b>votes</b>&nbsp;the right way, and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=najarian+mta&amp;rlz=1C1ARAB_enUS498US498&amp;aq=f&amp;oq=najarian+mta&amp;aqs=chrome.0.57j0j62l3.1401&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">his position on the board of the MTA</a> is good for Glendale. Even though I disagree with him sometimes I respect his capabilities.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> In her four years on the council&nbsp;<b><a href="http://www.votelaurafriedman.com/">Laura Friedman</a></b>&nbsp;has developed <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2011/04/great-day-for-glendale.html">a strong record of bike and pedestrian advocacy</a>, <a href="http://gateprojects.org/">support for the arts</a>, and, with Ara, helped <a href="http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2013-02-17/news/tn-gnp-0217-glendale-tries-to-maintain-its-economic-balance_1_balanced-budget-redevelopment-loan-entire-city-budget">balance the city’s budget</a> by negotiating for city employees to pay more of their pension costs while reducing salaries and maintaining the high level of services we expect in Glendale.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <b><a href="http://www.samengelforcitycouncil.com/">Sam Engel</a></b>&nbsp;recently retired from years of service to the city as <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/planning/neighborhood_services.asp">Neighborhood Services</a> Administrator, and at the candidate forums showed a detailed understanding of Glendale issues and neighborhoods. I believe his years of experience would be an asset on the council. He and Laura are also the only City Council candidates to be endorsed by the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lacdp.org/endorsements/">LA County Democratic party.</a><br /> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-0323-endorsement-for-glendale-city-council-friedman-najarian-and-engel,0,1245623.story">Glendale News-Press Endorsement of Ara Najarian, Laura Friedman and Sam Engel for City Council</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/MeetCandidates_CityClerk.aspx">CITY CLERK</a></span></b><br /> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="p1"> I'm voting <b><a href="http://ardyforcityclerk.com/">Ardashes Kassakhian</a> </b>for City Clerk. Ardy has encouraged me many times over the years to post more items encouraging voter registration and participation at city meetings and events, and has taken many proactive measures to promote the city and make public information available online. I believe him to be an honest and competent City Clerk.&nbsp;</div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-0323-endorsement-for-glendale-city-clerk-kassakhian,0,5984632.story">Glendale News-Press endorsement of Ardy Kassakhian for City Clerk</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/MeetCandidates_GUSD.aspx">SCHOOL BOARD</a></span></b><br /> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> I've paid less attention to this than the city council race, but after talking to many people who pay closer attention to the school board than I, I am comfortable voting for incumbents&nbsp;<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joylene-Wagner-for-GUSD-Board-of-Education-2013/500246950022017?ref=stream">Joylene Wagner</a></b>, <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WaltersForSchoolBoard2013">Chris Walters</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.greg2013.com/">Greg Krikorian</a></b>...and newcomer&nbsp;<b><a href="http://dan4office.com/">Dan Cabrera</a></b>. Of course, you can only vote for three, but I've heard many good things about the incumbents and think Dan Cabrera is a great guy. So there you go.<br /> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/BallotMeasures2013.aspx"><b><span style="font-size: large;">BALLOT MEASURES</span></b></a><br /> <br /> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <b><span style="font-size: large;">YES on Measure A</span></b><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #535353; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><i>"Shall the Charter be amended to convert the position of City Treasurer from elected to an appointed position; the appointment be made by the City Manager; be at-will; that the City Manager may assign certain duties to other deputies or the Director of Finance; that the minimum qualifications shall be in the Charter by reference to the Government Code; that the bond and oath of the City Clerk be filed with the City Attorney?"</i></span><br /> <b><br /></b> For me, the best case for Measure A is this particular election: there's only one candidate for treasurer who is even willing to run! The person entrusted to manage the city's money should be the best person in a pool of qualified applicants, not literally the only person willing to run for office.<br /> <br /> <b>Cities with appointed treasurers also pay significantly less to borrow money</b>. From the <a href="http://www.nber.org/digest/may10/w15643.html">National Bureau of Economic Research</a>:<br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Cities with elected treasurers also had more debt on average, were more likely to have directly elected mayors and clerks, and had lower per capita income and a less educated population – all of which could also influence borrowing costs. Controlling for those factors, <b>cities with appointed treasurers paid 13 percent less</b> to borrow than cities with elected treasurers.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> To get at the issue of causality, this study further refines the sample to examine the 31 cities that held a referendum during the period to replace an elected treasurer with an appointed one. Ten cities approved such a change. From that sample, he finds that <i><b>cities spend 23 percent less to borrow money if they have an appointed treasurer</b>.</i></blockquote> <br /> Councilman Dave Weaver wrote <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-0322-in-favor-of-measure-a,0,5497248.story">a letter in favor of Measure A</a> to the News-Press that I would recommend reading.<br /> <br /> <i>Official Measure A arguments (all links are PDFs):</i><br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ArgumentinFavor_MeasureA.pdf">In Favor of Measure A</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ArgumentAgainst_MeasureA.pdf">Against Measure A</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ImpartialAnalysis_MeasureA.pdf">Impartial Analysis of Measure A</a>&nbsp;</li> </ul> </div> <div class="p1"> <i><br /></i> <i>Glendale News-Press endorsement:</i><br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-0323-no-on-measure-a-in-glendale,0,450980.story">No on Measure A</a>&nbsp;(their original endorsement said that the council would appoint the treasurer, it has since been updated to reflect that the city manager would appoint the treasurer with the approval of the council)</li> </ul> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <b><span style="font-size: large;">YES on Measure B</span></b><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #535353; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><i>"Shall the Charter be amended to update accounting provisions to eliminate obsolete funds and to reflect generally accepted accounting principles, to ensure proper accounting by establishing separate water and electric utility funds, and to clarify existing language regarding fund transfers?"</i></span></div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <br /> Measure B brings existing city budget and utility revenue accounting and transfer practices up to date with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. We should eliminate the contortions required to conform with accounting practices last defined in an era when it was still a great idea to put <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/lampposts.aspx">swastikas on lamp posts</a>.<br /> <br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Official Measure B arguments (all links are PDFs):</i><br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ArgumentinFavor_MeasureB.pdf">In Favor of Measure B</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ArgumentAgainst_MeasureB.pdf">Against Measure B</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ImpartialAnalysis_MeasureB.pdf">Impartial Analysis of Measure B&nbsp;</a></li> </ul> <i><br /></i> <i>Glendale News-Press endorsement:</i><br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-0323-yes-on-measure-b-in-glendale,0,6919522.story">Yes on Measure B</a></li> </ul> <div> <br /></div> </div> <div class="p1"> <b><span style="font-size: large;">NO on Measure C</span></b><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #535353; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><i>"Shall the Charter be amended to reflect the correct title of the Director of Finance, remove obsolete language regarding petty cash handling, require that the budget be adopted by June 30, and eliminate inefficiencies in bond sales by allowing flexibility?"</i></span></div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <br /> I'm voting no on Measure C because it opens the door for conflicts of interest by Wall Street firms seeking influence in municipal elections. The SEC has called the municipal bond market <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/business/sec-urges-reforms-of-municipal-bond-market.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">"illiquid and opaque"</a> and <a href="http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/municipalsecurities.shtml">their investigations</a> have found that bond firms made pay-to-play political contributions to get contracts, engaged in questionable sales practices and excessively marked up bond prices. Though Measure C may have some other benefits, those must be weighed against the risk of possible future malfeasance.<br /> <br /> <br /> <i>Official Measure C arguments (all links are PDFs):</i><br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ArgumentinFavor_MeasureC.pdf">In Favor of Measure C</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ArgumentAgainst_MeasureC.pdf">Against Measure C</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/pdf/2013/ballotmeasures/ImpartialAnalysis_MeasureC.pdf">Impartial Analysis of Measure C</a></li> </ul> <i><br /></i> <i>Glendale News-Press endorsement:</i><br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-0323-no-on-measure-c-in-glendale,0,2154918.story">No on Measure C</a></li> </ul> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /> <b>FOR MORE INFORMATION:</b><br /> <br /> Visit&nbsp;<a href="http://glendalevotes.org/">GlendaleVotes.org</a>, the&nbsp;City of Glendale's official election portal. The <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/">Glendale News-Press</a> has also been doing excellent election coverage, <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0323-glendale-newspress-announces-election-endorsements,0,1842171.story">here are their endorsements</a>. <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/mailbag/">The "mailbag" section has also recently been full of arguments for and against just about everyone and everything</a>, I'd recommend reading those letters as well to get a good range of opinions. You can watch the City Council and City Clerk candidates in action at the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekV1Tp5IIIs">League of Women Voters candidate forum on Youtube</a>.<br /> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> </div> <div class="p1"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.glendalevotes.org/"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Now get out there and vote on April 2nd!</span></b></a></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xu3e_EmqnCQ/UVMrgWlpoUI/AAAAAAAAEUM/Ij34hnAAJo0/s1600/engelfriedmannajarian_bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xu3e_EmqnCQ/UVMrgWlpoUI/AAAAAAAAEUM/Ij34hnAAJo0/s640/engelfriedmannajarian_bar.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Though I am not endorsing him in this election, I want to give an honorable mention to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kedikian.com/">Roland Kedikian</a>. I believe that in this election, Sam, Ara and Laura are a better choice, but he impressed me at the forums with his reasoned thinking and dignified manner. I hope he stays involved with city politics.</span></i><br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><br /></b></div> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/X8pBkMob7pA" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com12http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/tropico-stations-2013-glendale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-1012615278629412502013-03-26T10:32:00.002-07:002013-03-26T22:08:33.140-07:002013-03-26T22:08:33.140-07:00<br /> <div class="p1"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f47bVkKgWss/UVHYtroxVHI/AAAAAAAAETs/2MRvJpUmf9U/s1600/grandcentral_dc3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f47bVkKgWss/UVHYtroxVHI/AAAAAAAAETs/2MRvJpUmf9U/s320/grandcentral_dc3.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SujLp8X03HA/UVHWyaH_jlI/AAAAAAAAETA/_JzwHtWA5uM/s1600/grandcentralproject-diagonal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Airport_(United_States)">The Grand Central Air Terminal</a>, the elegant but long-neglected centerpiece of Glendale’s role&nbsp;in&nbsp;aviation history, is finally going to get the restoration it deserves. Glendale’s Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to approve Disney’s plan for the restoration of Grand Central, which includes extensive structural stabilization and seismic upgrades, restoration of the exterior and rehabilitation of significant interior spaces so the building can be adaptively reused as a visitor center, offices and event space for the surrounding Disney Grand Central Creative Complex. According to the <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/packets/HPC_042505/Grand_central_Air_Terminal.pdf">2000 agreement between Glendale and Disney</a>&nbsp;(pdf link), limited public access is required, probably through a reservation system. There will be a media wall and interpretive displays illuminating the history of Grand Central. Excitingly, many of the renderings show an airplane out front. An actual airplane (or two!) in front of Grand Central would provide historical context in a way no media wall can.</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--eJJEV_P6AE/UVHWyCT7oII/AAAAAAAAES0/1g19qOdwdJs/s1600/grandcentralproject-wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--eJJEV_P6AE/UVHWyCT7oII/AAAAAAAAES0/1g19qOdwdJs/s640/grandcentralproject-wide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> I spoke at the meeting to comment on the Grand Central Air Terminal proposal. Here's what I said:</div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> I really like the proposal. I have 3 comments:&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> 1. I understand that Disney is only required to provide "limited public access" through a reservation system, but I would hope that as a gesture of goodwill toward the community Disney will increase the scope of public access and not require reservations to visit the terminal. Perhaps in addition to the historical displays they could even add rotating exhibits of items from the Disney Archives, <a href="http://herocomplex.latimes.com/uncategorized/disney-archives-disney-museum-glendale-disney-history/">which are located nearby</a>, to encourage the public to visit and learn about the rich history of both the Grand Central Air Terminal and the Walt Disney Company. I recently visited the Reagan Library, and there was a temporary exhibit of Disney memorabilia there that was very well attended. It would also be great if local non-profits such as <a href="http://ascenciaca.org/blog/">Ascencia</a> or <a href="http://www.glendalehistorical.org/">The Glendale Historical Society</a> could use the event space for fundraisers in what will be the most beautiful and historic building in Glendale.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> 2. In the proposal, having a plane on the taxiway is presented as a mere "possibility." Having a plane out front is a fantastic idea that instantly provides historical context in a way no "media wall" possibly can. I would recommend at least two planes: a twin engined <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3">DC-3 airliner</a>, which occupies the taxiway in many of the <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f47bVkKgWss/UVHYtroxVHI/AAAAAAAAETs/2MRvJpUmf9U/s1600/grandcentral_dc3.jpg">most iconic photographs of the Grand Central Air Terminal</a>; and also a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CDUQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLockheed_P-38_Lightning&amp;ei=wtlRUcCHCMmiigLXi4CoDw&amp;usg=AFQjCNGUFsYkpX3P2JLiZdKElScRtOJ_wQ&amp;sig2=X7P7elYoVjZqNW7OH10Zsw">P-38 Lighting</a>*, the sleek twin-tailed fighter that operated from Grand Central in great numbers during World War Two.&nbsp;</blockquote> <div style="text-align: center;"> <i>A P-38 flying out of Grand Central.&nbsp;</i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--VX9SJogk_Q/UVHYtjKLsNI/AAAAAAAAETw/pb5wDnN0Gfs/s1600/p-38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--VX9SJogk_Q/UVHYtjKLsNI/AAAAAAAAETw/pb5wDnN0Gfs/s640/p-38.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> 3. I also would like to suggest allowing limited public access to the control tower itself, which the proposal mentions cannot be "legally" used as it contains only one means of access. I'm not sure if the city could grant an exemption of some kind to allow access, or perhaps visitors could sign a waiver before entering. I'm sure the views from up there are great. It would be especially cool if that area were restored to the way it looked when Grand Central was a functioning airport and give visitors an evocative glimpse into this piece of Glendale, and now Disney, history.</blockquote> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> The HPC approved the project unanimously with 2 conditions -- that Disney add a beacon element to the control tower, and use glass in one area for historical accuracy -- and 2 considerations, which the commission cannot require Disney to do but request they consider: allow greater public access than required in the 2000 development agreement and place an airplane of the appropriate period on the site.</div> <div class="p2"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> The Air Terminal building and control tower at 1310 Air Way is just about all that remains from Glendale’s <a href="http://laist.com/2008/06/14/laistory_grand.php">once thriving Grand Central Airport</a>. Grand Central was the departure site for the nation’s first regularly scheduled coast to coast flight, piloted by Charles Lindbergh. Other famous names in aviation who flew from Grand Central include Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Jack Northrop and Howard Hughes. The airport became a military base during WWII, and was used to train pilots to fly the P-38 Lightning fighter. The airport closed in the late 1950s and the area has been offices and warehouses ever since. The Air Terminal building itself fell into disrepair in the early 1990s, and Disney purchased the building in 1997.<br /> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> Some plans and renderings from the proposal are below.<br /> <br /> I highly recommend looking through the whole report, there are many great details:</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/packets/HPC_032513/7a.pdf"><b><i>Staff Report and Disney Proposal for Grand Central Air Terminal Renovation Project (PDF link)</i></b></a></li> </ul> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="p1"> <b>After the restoration, Grand Central will once again be the most beautiful and historic building in Glendale. I just hope the public can visit!</b></div> <div> <br /></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ogG4UCkid9E/UVHWyXJWA4I/AAAAAAAAES4/WlP0649Ij8g/s1600/grandcentralproject-21_siteplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ogG4UCkid9E/UVHWyXJWA4I/AAAAAAAAES4/WlP0649Ij8g/s640/grandcentralproject-21_siteplan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6DJpEMeYk64/UVHWy6o72CI/AAAAAAAAES8/FGwscmznzdI/s1600/level1floorplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6DJpEMeYk64/UVHWy6o72CI/AAAAAAAAES8/FGwscmznzdI/s640/level1floorplan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZaG6yixNOeY/UVHX3qD3krI/AAAAAAAAETc/V6cOkZdS2H4/s1600/southelevation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZaG6yixNOeY/UVHX3qD3krI/AAAAAAAAETc/V6cOkZdS2H4/s640/southelevation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> </div> <div class="p1" style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-duYI_StZBzU/UVHX3DXIIRI/AAAAAAAAETU/YWG6L9tarE8/s1600/beforeafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-duYI_StZBzU/UVHX3DXIIRI/AAAAAAAAETU/YWG6L9tarE8/s640/beforeafter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GFvVsKH0xF4/UVHX3s_FrQI/AAAAAAAAETg/4kuSIEg4qE8/s1600/palette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GFvVsKH0xF4/UVHX3s_FrQI/AAAAAAAAETg/4kuSIEg4qE8/s640/palette.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="p1" style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> previously:</div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> </div> <div class="p1"> </div> <ul> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-zeppelin-over-glendale-and-ill-fated.html">A Zeppelin Over Glendale and the Ill-Fated Slate Dirigible Company</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2011/11/future-of-grand-central-air-terminal.html">The Future of The Grand Central Air Terminal (and Vintage Warplanes Over Glendale)</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2008/11/grand-central-air-terminal-1940.html">Grand Central Air Terminal, 1940</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2008/05/grand-details.html">Grand Details</a></li> </ul> <br /> <br /> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <br /></div> <div class="p1"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* <a href="http://ardyforcityclerk.com/">City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian</a> is an aviation buff and has been saying a P-38 should be out front for years, so credit to him for that. I also know that P-38s are staggeringly rare, a replica would be fine, perhaps with the markings of a unit that actually flew from Grand Central during WWII.</i></span></div> <div class="p1"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div> <div class="p1"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/rcZEg9Zkfe8" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com4http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/glendale-approves-disneys-grand-central.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-38250943600475646242013-03-25T20:30:00.002-07:002013-03-25T20:43:57.154-07:002013-03-25T20:43:57.154-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WeX3t3L0TDo/UVEV6x9rAXI/AAAAAAAAESk/VAhuIgNkgzU/s1600/glendale+roof+car.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WeX3t3L0TDo/UVEV6x9rAXI/AAAAAAAAESk/VAhuIgNkgzU/s640/glendale+roof+car.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/03/glendale_car_roof_photo_cadillac.php">Cadillac Ends Up on Glendale Rooftop (LA Weekly)</a></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/lQg_gKIpEUQ" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-solar-wont-work-in-glendale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-83077040557927170542013-03-25T20:22:00.002-07:002013-03-25T20:41:54.197-07:002013-03-25T20:41:54.197-07:00<br /> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RSwMphSRT4Y/UVESIAryocI/AAAAAAAAESQ/9TZwyck9BvQ/s1600/thevision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RSwMphSRT4Y/UVESIAryocI/AAAAAAAAESQ/9TZwyck9BvQ/s320/thevision.jpg" width="320" /></a>Tomorrow night the Glendale City Council will review an initial concept presentation exploring the idea of capping the&nbsp;134 freeway to create park space between Central and Glendale Avenue, similar to <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=312">Seattle's Freeway Park</a>, <a href="http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/">Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway</a> and the <a href="http://www.park101.org/">proposed park over the 101 Freeway in Hollywood</a>. Hopefully people will come speak at the meeting and <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/mgmt-svcs/city_council.aspx">send the council letters</a> in support of a project along these lines that would create more badly needed park space in Glendale. The funding to explore the idea came from a grant front the<a href="http://www.scag.ca.gov/">&nbsp;Southern California Association of Governments</a>, and has been led Glendale's mobility planner&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/planning/bioMichaelNilsson.asp">Mike Nilsson</a>&nbsp;in conjuction with planning and urban design consultants&nbsp;<a href="http://www.melendrez.com/">Melendrez</a>. Seeing something of this scale come to fruition would take many years, but the project is set up in phases that can be implemented if the support is there within the community.<br /> <br /> Here's the staff report with the details:<br /> <br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/council_packets/Reports_032613/CC_8b_032613.pdf">Space 134 Project Concept (PDF link)</a></li> </ul> <br /> <br /> Renderings of the idea and possible short and long term implementations of the concept:<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2PjZJoVFPWQ/UVESIAlTkhI/AAAAAAAAESY/G5qtBUgFCE8/s1600/newparkrendering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2PjZJoVFPWQ/UVESIAlTkhI/AAAAAAAAESY/G5qtBUgFCE8/s640/newparkrendering.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7-65DQGVLfo/UVESGlUaaaI/AAAAAAAAER4/qjxhekyLvpE/s1600/1-5years.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7-65DQGVLfo/UVESGlUaaaI/AAAAAAAAER4/qjxhekyLvpE/s640/1-5years.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PDdnuJu_xK0/UVESG55gF6I/AAAAAAAAER8/3i2vM14DL58/s1600/5-10years.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PDdnuJu_xK0/UVESG55gF6I/AAAAAAAAER8/3i2vM14DL58/s640/5-10years.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vz27q873PJY/UVESGjcmOBI/AAAAAAAAER0/xG-03UTnDF8/s1600/20years.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vz27q873PJY/UVESGjcmOBI/AAAAAAAAER0/xG-03UTnDF8/s640/20years.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kD2Ye-oHXHs/UVESH0puy4I/AAAAAAAAESM/bxfK6vAaSck/s1600/circulation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kD2Ye-oHXHs/UVESH0puy4I/AAAAAAAAESM/bxfK6vAaSck/s640/circulation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/so803e0pnYw" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com4http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/glendales-space-134-freeway-park.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-77671123241541852032013-03-14T13:52:00.004-07:002013-04-20T10:40:47.603-07:002013-04-20T10:40:47.603-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i style="text-align: left;"><b>*4/19/13 UPDATE:&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments</a></b></i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i style="text-align: left;"><br /></i></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aLO1xieK3BI?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></div> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>City Council Candidate <a href="http://www.votezareh.com/">Zareh Sinanyan</a>&nbsp;took the opportunity to clear the air Tuesday night against allegations that he was responsible for <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">a large volume of hateful comments</a> on Youtube over a period of several years. <a href="http://glendale.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=12&amp;clip_id=4085">You can stream the full meeting if you wish</a>. This exchange begins at approximately 2:51.</i></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARA NAJARIAN</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once and far all, let’s be clear about it. Zareh, you deny these comments, is that correct?</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ZAREH SINANYAN</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mr. Najarian, I answered the question twice. One correction; I was appointed to <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/community_development_block_grant_advisory_committee.aspx">CBDG</a> in 2008 by Bob Yousefian; Ms. Friedman removed me in 2009, you merely reappointed me. Thank you. I answered the same question, I’m happy to talk about city issues, but I can’t be brought back to answer the same question over and over again. I stated in my paper, that's it, I answered. So, with that in mind... [moves to sit down]</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LAURA FRIEDMAN</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wait, wait - you said they're ‘not you.’ Did you write those posts? Did you write any of the Youtube posts that were attributed to you?”</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ZAREH SINANYAN</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It’s not a simple question. It’s not a simple question.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LAURA FRIEDMAN</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How is that not a simple question?</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ZAREH SINANYAN</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It’s not a simple question because…I don’t know what I’m looking at. I don’t know what I’m looking at because…a certain blogger, who’s related to you, very closely, keeps threatening that there are more posts, that these are posts, that there’s this, there’s that…this happened, that happened. So…unless I see what it is that I’m being faced with, I’m not answering that question more so than I’ve already answered it.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LAURA FRIEDMAN</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are several Youtube comments on that blog with your name on them. I’m sure you saw those. Did you write any of those posts that have your name on them that were on that blog? It’s a very simple question.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ZAREH SINANYAN</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Personally I haven’t been on <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/">that blog</a>, nor do I care to, but I know what’s on it because it’s been conveyed to me. I answered the question, you can ask me five more times, and you’re going to get the same answer.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LAURA FRIEDMAN</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You’re not denying having written any of those?</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ZAREH SINANYAN</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I told you that these are not <a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Difference_between_a_statement_and_a_comment"><span style="color: #990000;">my statements</span></a>, they don’t <i>reflect</i> me, they don’t <i>reflect</i> my qualities…</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LAURA FRIEDMAN</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I understand they "don’t 'reflect' your qualities," but did you <u>WRITE</u> them?</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ZAREH SINANYAN</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I am telling you that I am investigating this issue and trying to understand. You’re asking me to answer about something… [indignant] they don’t <i>reflect</i> me, I don’t write stuff like that. You can’t bring one person who will say that Zareh talks like that, Zareh acts like that, Zareh writes like that. That’s the point.</b></span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <i>previously:</i></div> <br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <ul style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"> <li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #444444;">Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments</span></a></li> <li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #444444;">Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations</span></a></li> <li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #444444;">Sinanyan Scandal Updates &amp; Detailed Responses to His Defenders</span></a></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.html">Why It's Unlikely A "Hacker" Was Responsible For the Alleged Sinanyan Comments</a></span></span></li> </ul> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> <div> <br /></div> </div> <br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/6vemAo5_PBU" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com24http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-12677731757088564012013-03-11T03:51:00.002-07:002013-04-20T10:40:52.480-07:002013-04-20T10:40:52.480-07:00<i><b>*4/19/13 UPDATE:&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments</a></b></i><br /> <span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: arial;">If City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan </span><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html" style="font-family: arial;">chooses to deny the allegations that he made dozens of obscene Youtube comments</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> in front of the </span><a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/council_packets/Reports_031213/CC_8b_031213.pdf" style="font-family: arial;">City Council on Tuesday night</a><span style="font-family: arial;">&nbsp;(PDF) rather than apologizing and moving forward with his campaign, I'm guessing he will claim some variation on "I was hacked!"</span><br /> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> There are two possible scenarios that explain the events we’ve seen. One in which Sinanyan is responsible for the comments, and one in which a supposed “hacker” is responsible.</div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> A commenter named D. Johnson on the <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0307-glendale-council-candidate-accused-of-making-misogynist-and-threatening-comments-online,0,92247.story">Glendale News-Press article</a> makes a concise case against a supposed “hack” quite nicely, that I've expanded on:</div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Five years ago, someone named "Zareh Sinanyan" posted a comment on YouTube that said, among other things, <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--0stYbz7Y70/UTaoGEdqujI/AAAAAAAAENA/PmvQarnTdeE/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+2.JPG">"your entire family is composed of whores and ****suckers." In that same 5-year-old comment thread on YouTube, that same "Zareh Sinanyan" also said "I'm a business litigator"</a></span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, there are only a few possibilities here:</span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The comment was posted 5 years ago by the same Zareh Sinanyan now running for Glendale City Council</span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. The comment was posted 5 years ago by some other Zareh Sinanyan, not the person currently running for Glendale City Council, but also a business litigator</span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. The comment was posted 5 years ago by some nasty person using the name "Zareh Sinanyan", knowing that Zareh Sinanyan would be a political candidate sometime in the future, and that the comment could then be used to smear him</span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. The comment was posted anonymously 5 years ago under a pseudonym that due to Google+ and YouTube interaction later became linked to the real name of Zareh Sinanyan</span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The simple fact is that makes #4 by far the most likely option is that <b>the comment was posted to YouTube 5 years ago</b> - unless you believe that YouTube, which is owned by Google, the world's largest and most secure website, is in on the "conspiracy."&nbsp;</span></blockquote> <br /> <div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <b>Additional evidence against the possibility of a nasty person impersonating Mr. Sinanyan is that somehow, that person would need to:</b></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <ul style="font-family: arial;"> <li>fluidly write hundreds of comments in a mix Russian, Armenian and English, <a href="http://www.garrett-tully.com/Bio/ZarehSinanyan.html">the exact languages Mr. Sinanyan speaks</a></li> <li>in addition to the <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0KhGVvy6f7I/UT2x4XekeWI/AAAAAAAAEQU/QiK7oDkMK7c/s1600/littleC.jpg">vulgar and racist posts</a>; have the literary imagination to write dozens of comments about Armenian and Russian history, completely <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sFjRoMKo-_c/UT2x4K9WLCI/AAAAAAAAEQA/GEw8LjDZwPY/s1600/jazzorchestra.jpg">banal posts</a> (<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P1dVp-0cKc0/UT2x4fmk40I/AAAAAAAAEQY/ooK6oqTwAtc/s1600/niceribeye.jpg">“Wow, ribeye steak in Yerevan!”</a>), and otherwise maintain a lively online life with lots of back and forth comments on dozens of threads over a half a decade period</li> <li>somehow get into Mr. Sinanyan’s Google account to merge it with the Youtube account WITHOUT Mr. Sinanyan knowing or realizing the two had been merged, since Mr. Sinanyan apparently continued to use the Google account normally after the two were merged</li> <li>break into Mr. Sinanyan’s absolutely 100% verified Facebook account in September to leave a <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4WBWEK0LuJI/UT2x4LgIHyI/AAAAAAAAEQI/0idr3nJe-ww/s1600/facebookmongoltatar.jpg">comment referring to “Mongol Tatars,”</a> a favorite enemy of the Youtube persona</li> <li>change the username of the Youtube account from <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWoAGprpcEI/UT2riGWhUPI/AAAAAAAAEPw/Jd_rXALWjJo/s1600/+zarehyoutube.jpg">“Zareh Sinanyan”</a> to “Thomas Paine” and then <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nD71TYFDHB8/UT2x4F6E0II/AAAAAAAAEQE/gAGyNXlfhSE/s1600/lightbulb.jpg">“Lightbulb”</a></li> <li>Change the name used on the Google account linked to the Youtube account to "Thomas Paine," and <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0307-glendale-council-candidate-accused-of-making-misogynist-and-threatening-comments-online,0,92247.story">send an official campaign related e-mail via Sinanyan’s personal e-mail address to the Glendale Association of Realtors that linked Sinanyan’s e-mail address to the renamed “Thomas Paine” account</a></li> </ul> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <b>More things that don't make sense if an impostor was involved:</b></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> Why would any impersonator conduct a thorough cover-up of the damaging posts right after the e-mail with the tip had been circulated but before most of the public was aware of the allegations?</div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> Would an impostor really go to the trouble of creating FIVE YEARS worth of fake posts, then not leave them up online for the world to see?&nbsp;Wouldn’t they leave them up instead of hoping local media could put the pieces together using incomplete cached versions of the comments? I’ve found dozens of very nasty posts in the cached versions of the comments, but those who viewed the original e-mail and looked through the full set of comments made by the Youtube account before the cover-up saw many, many more incriminating posts that were deleted and not cached.</div> <div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> Which explanation is most likely to be true?</div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> As with any event that one does not personally witness, you can only verify information to a degree of probability based on the evidence available. And every single piece of publicly available evidence in this matter thus far points to a high probability that Mr. Sinanyan was responsible for the content of the posts and attempted to hide his connection to the Youtube and Google account when knowledge of the obscene comments became public.</div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> previously:</div> <br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sinanyan Scandal Updates &amp; Detailed Responses to His Defenders</a></li> </ul> <br /> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/H6VCf9kDox0" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com24http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-5810695380910524052013-03-11T03:04:00.001-07:002013-04-20T10:41:00.450-07:002013-04-20T10:41:00.450-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWoAGprpcEI/UT2riGWhUPI/AAAAAAAAEPw/Jd_rXALWjJo/s1600/+zarehyoutube.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWoAGprpcEI/UT2riGWhUPI/AAAAAAAAEPw/Jd_rXALWjJo/s320/+zarehyoutube.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <i><b>*4/19/13 UPDATE:&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments</a></b></i><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the wake of the scandal that <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">broke here Tuesday</a> linking City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan to a large volume of obscene comments on various websites, additional prominent political leaders have rescinded their earlier support. In addition to <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html">Congressman Adam Schiff</a>, <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22752518/web-slurs-linked-candidate-glendale-city-council?source=most_viewed">Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, and Paul Krekorian have also all retracted their endorsements</a>. To Sinanyan’s credit, he has promptly removed references to them from his <a href="http://www.votezareh.com/">official campaign website</a>. The ongoing scandal has since been covered in the <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22752518/web-slurs-linked-candidate-glendale-city-council?source=most_viewed">Daily News</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0307-glendale-council-candidate-accused-of-making-misogynist-and-threatening-comments-online,0,92247.story">Glendale News-Press</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2013/03/morning_buzz_friday_3813.php">LA Observed</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://laist.com/2013/03/08/how_james_franco_is_pissing_off_his.php">LAist</a>.</span><br /> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p3" style="font-family: arial;"> <span class="s1">Most importantly, it was covered <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/council_packets/Reports_031213/CC_8b_031213.pdf">in this agenda item for this Tuesday’s City Council meeting</a>&nbsp;(PDF), where the City Council will inquire into whether Mr. Sinanyan authored the comments.&nbsp;</span>Mr. Sinanyan serves as a commissioner at the pleasure of the council, so if a majority of the council believes it’s likely he is responsible for the comments and that it is damaging to the reputation of the city to have him continue as a <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/community_development_block_grant_advisory_committee.aspx">Community Block Grant commissioner</a>, they are free to remove him from his appointed position.</div> <div class="p3" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> Among Zareh supporters in the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5847904405428185680&amp;postID=7573107855021387703">comment section</a> on my previous posts (<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">first post</a>, <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html">second post</a>) there there have been five main defenses against the allegations. As it is impractical for me to respond to each individual comment, here are the main defenses I've heard and a detailed response to each one.</div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <i>**warning: many of the image links below contain offensive content**</i><br /> <br /></div> <div class="p2" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i>1. It was a smear campaign by an anonymous source/shady political operative/Turkish Intelligence!</i></b></div> <div class="p2" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> While I’m sure Mr. Sinanyan does have political enemies, and the timing is potentially damaging to his City Council campaign, these observations do nothing to challenge the volume of third-party evidence that shows that he is very likely to have said was is alleged to have said. As I documented in my previous posts, I did not publish any information from the original anonymous e-mail that was sent to many in Glendale without investigating it myself, verifying the links between the account that made the comments and Sinanyan's confirmed accounts and describing my process. The <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0307-glendale-council-candidate-accused-of-making-misogynist-and-threatening-comments-online,0,92247.story">Glendale News-Press also investigated the claims and came to similar conclusions</a>. Every bit of information alleged in the initial anonymous e-mail was verifiable by third party sources with no stake in the election, including the cached files of several of the world’s largest and most secure tech companies. The technical skills required to uncover the comments initially weren’t hacker-level ninjitsu - anyone who has ever used a search engine could find them just as easily by simply typing the candidate’s name into Google or Yahoo. It would be a smear campaign against Mr. Sinanyan if the allegations weren’t true, but as one commenter noted, using someone’s racist and vulgar statements to portray them as being racist and vulgar isn’t a smear; it’s accountability.</div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> And yes, I did get a comment blaming it on Turkish Intelligence, as well as numerous anonymous comments decrying the anonymity of the original tip with no apparent sense of irony.</div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i>2. He was only attacking people who were denying the Armenian Genocide.</i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i><br /></i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> This was claimed by the highly partisan <a href="http://asbarez.com/108696/smear-campaign-against-sinanyan-muddies-glendale-elections/">Asbarez Armenian newspaper</a>. They are correct that some posts were on videos and comment threads that discussed the Armenian genocide,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.armenian-genocide.org/">in which the Ottoman Turks are well documented to have killed 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920</a>; but many of the disturbing posts were on videos and topics unrelated to the horror of the genocide, including <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rrR_SFXT-MA/UT2oe391QJI/AAAAAAAAEPg/lgAaLVQfvoU/s1600/ripyourlegoff.jpg">MMA videos</a>.</div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i>3. The comments weren’t really so bad! Who hasn’t gotten into a heated argument online?</i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i><br /></i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> I certainly have. But not like <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9cCLuyjSlAs/UT2oTjcocKI/AAAAAAAAEPY/onix1fiqvkA/s1600/shutyourtrapeducation.jpg">this</a>, <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E3New-zIEs4/UT2oRFdLkXI/AAAAAAAAEO4/0Sr-p5eEKkw/s1600/fckyrmonkey.jpg">this</a> or <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MB2Hw-nDwbY/UT2oRXK6W3I/AAAAAAAAEPA/zZgWUCfwG4w/s1600/inyourmouthfilthy.jpg">this</a>. Especially disturbing are the numerous posts referring to Muslims as <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xMH1F2Erddk/UT2oRgdBjII/AAAAAAAAEPM/B4fYbd4dY5c/s1600/respectragheadcockroaches.jpg">“raghead cockroaches”</a> and wishing them death. I have many, many more examples of these comments that will <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yz4twCtzkRE/UT2oRWI3ZVI/AAAAAAAAEO8/PDwo3ToDStM/s1600/filthyss.jpg">singe your hair</a>. The sheer volume and inventiveness of obscenity is stunning. If you think this is acceptable language for a candidate for higher office, so be it, but it would be far-fetched for Mr. Sinanyan to claim that he didn’t know that city commissioners and candidates for elected office would be held to a higher standard of behavior than the average Youtube flame-war participant.</div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i>4. Perhaps Sinanyan wrote the comments, but an anonymous hacker got into his home computer and made them public! That hacker should be prosecuted!</i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i><br /></i></b></div> <div class="p4" style="font-family: arial;"> The allegations in the initial anonymous e-mail had nothing to do with linking the comments to a specific computer or IP address; the allegations are linked to Sinanyan via his <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CDUQFjAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fplus.google.com%2F117266331896532127161&amp;ei=E6Y9Ucf2BKKGyAG8o4CQDw&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEuvjKW-FqPwWl8j3ElfdZLatlFg&amp;sig2=AOn-z9JLZSFogLi6-xApjw">Google account</a>, which he could log into from any computer he had access to. The comments themselves were openly published online and didn’t require any “hacking” to view - they were all freely visible under Mr. Sinanyan’s name. Additionally, the connections shown between the Youtube account and the Google account were all made using information that Mr. Sinanyan himself had chosen to make public in various online profiles, no special access or “hacking” required.</div> <div class="p4" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p4" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i>5. He didn’t write the comments at all - he was hacked by an impostor!</i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <b><i><br /></i></b></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> This is the big argument that keeps coming up, so I've written <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.html">a post with an analysis of why a "hack" of the necessary scope and duration is highly unlikely</a>.</div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> <br /></div> <div class="p1" style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/TKXJvFscM_I" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com6http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-15295344838223304802013-03-07T14:19:00.001-08:002013-04-20T10:41:06.440-07:002013-04-20T10:41:06.440-07:00<i><b>*4/19/13 UPDATE:&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments</a></b></i><br /> <br /> <a href="http://schiff.house.gov/">Congressman Adam Schiff</a> has officially withdrawn his support for Glendale City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan in light of the allegations <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">that became public at Tuesday's City Council meeting</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> From Patrick Boland, Communications Director for Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank):<br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> "When this issue was brought to his attention on Tuesday, Congressman Schiff immediately directed his staff to inform the Sinanyan campaign that he was withdrawing his endorsement. &nbsp;In the letter to the Sinanyan campaign from his campaign, Schiff confirmed that he could not support anyone who made such deeply offensive and bigoted statements."</blockquote> The letter sent by Congressman's staff is below:<br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> "It has been alleged that Mr. Sinanyan may have posted deeply offensive and bigoted &nbsp;messages on websites and social media platforms. &nbsp;We certainly hope that this is not the case, and that he has no connection to the vile comments that are being attributed to him.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Until this matter is resolved, however, Mr. Schiff must withdraw his endorsement and ask that his name not be included on any campaign materials. &nbsp;The comments alleged are deeply disturbing and not befitting any member of the public let alone one seeking to &nbsp;represent the city on an elected body."&nbsp;</blockquote> <br /> Here's some background <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">on the allegations that I published on Tuesday</a>: I received a tip about the comments on Monday morning via an anonymous e-mail. I know others in Glendale received the same e-mail, and I've had several people contact me this week (before I published my post) asking if I knew about the alleged comments. So I didn't uncover the comments per se, though I was the first person to publish them besides Sinanyan himself. When I first received the e-mail, I checked and verified that all of the comments were online from the account linked to Sinanyan's name, that all of the timestamps were correct (since some of the posts go back five years), and I verified that all of the information in the screen captures I received was accurate and not Photoshopped. And indeed, all of the comments were publicly available online at Youtube at that time, with that time stamp information, under the name Zareh Sinanyan. I also looked at other comments made by the same account, and there were dozens, maybe hundreds of additional comments, all similarly vulgar. By Monday afternoon the comments started disappearing from YouTube, presumably as Sinanyan got word that people were poking around his comment history. Also, I believe that for most of the account's history, it was an "anonymous" account -- but that Sinanyan <a href="http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/youtube-attempts-privacy-balancing-act-in-push-for-google-plus-usernames.php">unwisely chose to link his YouTube account to his Google Plus account</a>, which retroactively revealed him as the author of the formerly anonymous comments.<br /> <br /> I also would also like to highlight criticism of the allegations from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5847904405428185680&amp;postID=7573107855021387703">the lively comment section</a> under the <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html">initial post</a>:<br /> <br /> <b>Anonymous <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html?showComment=1362682426276#c2782144663085182080">commented</a>:&nbsp;</b><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i>"I can't believe the amount of people who have given these accusations any real merit. What if I took your name and doctored comments on your behalf, passing them out to your neighbors saying you're a thief? What would you do?<br />These are a fool's attempt to discredit Zareh, who is the right choice for this city."</i></blockquote> <br /> To address the very valid concerns of this commenter:<br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> I fully agree with you that it would be terrible if someone doctored comments to incriminate a candidate. I am very concerned about that very possibility when dealing with anonymously sourced information. As a result, I took extensive steps to verify myself that all of the comments in the screen captures I received were accurate with what had been published online over a period of many years. In doing so, I concluded that the images I received were not doctored, that the comments were easily findable, on many sites, and part of a much larger pattern of vitriolic comments going back years. Most of the trail of comments is still online in some form. Googling "Zareh Sinanyan" and various obscenities yields many results on many sites over a long period of time.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Additionally, I checked Sinanyan's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=13&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CEQQFjACOAo&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fplus.google.com%2F117266331896532127161&amp;ei=zA05UbaoKKHtygGZnoHYBg&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEuvjKW-FqPwWl8j3ElfdZLatlFg&amp;sig2=BQdLrWMwwDaiM08OAuKhcg">Google+ profile</a>&nbsp;(The name has since been rather preposterously changed to "Thomas Paine," but the original name is still visible in Google searches. The Youtube account is part of his Google+ Profile), and it lists his Google + connections as M Toumajan, Hovanes Manucharyan, Sarkis Jacob Babachanian, and Stepan Boyajian. I checked&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/zareh.sinanyan?fref=ts">Sinanyan's Facebook profile</a>&nbsp;-- the completely official profile through which he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZarehSinanyanForGlendaleCityCouncil">comments on his campaign</a>&nbsp;-- and&nbsp;<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-97xLRoEHBnA/UTkNcIXnC4I/AAAAAAAAEOo/qKsnJlDXtBQ/s1600/zareh_googleplus-FBprofile+links.jpg">every single one of those people is Facebook friends with Zareh through his official Facebook account</a>.</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> This proved to me that it was overwhelmingly likely that the Youtube account belonged to the same Zareh Sinanyan and not an impostor or someone with the same name.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> respectfully,&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Scott Lowe<br /> Tropico Station</blockquote> <br /> The Sinanyan campaign has not addressed the matter publicly. The Glendale City Council will be inquiring into the matter at next Tuesday's council meeting.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /> <br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/fC11D_Ym87E" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com28http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-75731078550213877032013-03-05T19:11:00.000-08:002013-04-20T10:41:10.869-07:002013-04-20T10:41:10.869-07:00<i><b>*4/19/13 UPDATE:&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/04/zareh-sinanyan-admits-responsibility.html">Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments</a></b></i><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ld322NHAHs/UTayFeQxq5I/AAAAAAAAEOU/xcU7CIIibGc/s1600/z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ld322NHAHs/UTayFeQxq5I/AAAAAAAAEOU/xcU7CIIibGc/s200/z.jpg" width="133" /></a></div> Glendale City Council candidate <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZarehSinanyanForGlendaleCityCouncil">Zareh Sinanyan</a>, who has garnered an impressive amount of <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0223-plenty-of-cash-is-on-hand-for-glendale-campaigns,0,479637.story">financial</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZarehSinanyanForGlendaleCityCouncil">political support</a>, rather foolishly, and under his own name*, appears to have left an astonishingly <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MB-osS0gp5Y/UTaoHLpK5bI/AAAAAAAAENk/GL7UCDsFfwE/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+8.JPG">filthy and vitriolic</a> trail of <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bwuG06yn5v0/UTaoGJuOcvI/AAAAAAAAENE/42Qa0v14RKc/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+3.JPG">vulgar</a>, <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vV_cg0WrAPs/UTaoGpPKXGI/AAAAAAAAENQ/8AgNelY0jQo/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+4.JPG">bullying</a>, <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sqxmFNGJcME/UTaoHLYn9rI/AAAAAAAAENY/sNBFmhQrbPw/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+7.JPG">homophobic</a>, <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fFKmA36PSPQ/UTaoGMhvZkI/AAAAAAAAENI/DJ49n4IrZjw/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+1.JPG">anti-Muslim</a>, and <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vWyzGUlkz4Q/UTaoGrGM1rI/AAAAAAAAENM/hrbKUUgeLec/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+5.JPG">racist comments</a> on youtube going back 5 years. I understand that people get worked up online sometimes, but man, these are pretty <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--0stYbz7Y70/UTaoGEdqujI/AAAAAAAAENA/PmvQarnTdeE/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+2.JPG">astoundingly vile</a>. In light of these comments, I won't be voting for Zareh, which is too bad, as he made a good impression on me at the candidate forums. Many of the comments have since been deleted, but before they were removed I did verify that they were online from the account linked to his name -- specifically the comment where, in the course of a rant, <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--0stYbz7Y70/UTaoGEdqujI/AAAAAAAAENA/PmvQarnTdeE/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+2.JPG">he mentions being a business litigator</a>. Take a look at the comments and see for yourself. The comments go back over five years, so if someone was to try to frame him, they would have to go back in time to do it. The screen captures below are also but a small sampling of the comments left -- most have since been deleted, but there were hundreds. At the Glendale City Council meeting tonight, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZarehSinanyanForGlendaleCityCouncil">Sinanyan's removal</a>&nbsp;from the Community Development Block Grant committee was added to the agenda for next week's council meeting. Zareh will be there to defend himself, so the meeting promises to be quite interesting.<br /> <ul><ul><ul> <li><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--0stYbz7Y70/UTaoGEdqujI/AAAAAAAAENA/PmvQarnTdeE/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+2.JPG">Zareh Comments 01</a></li> <li><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bwuG06yn5v0/UTaoGJuOcvI/AAAAAAAAENE/42Qa0v14RKc/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+3.JPG">Zareh Comments 02</a></li> <li><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fFKmA36PSPQ/UTaoGMhvZkI/AAAAAAAAENI/DJ49n4IrZjw/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+1.JPG">Zareh Comments 03</a></li> <li><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vWyzGUlkz4Q/UTaoGrGM1rI/AAAAAAAAENM/hrbKUUgeLec/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+5.JPG">Zareh Comments 04</a></li> <li><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vV_cg0WrAPs/UTaoGpPKXGI/AAAAAAAAENQ/8AgNelY0jQo/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+4.JPG">Zareh Comments 05</a></li> <li><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7XiHQ69uv1I/UTaoGxaTARI/AAAAAAAAENU/bGmWfJhltF0/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+6.JPG">Zareh Comments 06</a></li> <li><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sqxmFNGJcME/UTaoHLYn9rI/AAAAAAAAENY/sNBFmhQrbPw/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+7.JPG">Zareh Comments 07</a></li> <li><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MB-osS0gp5Y/UTaoHLpK5bI/AAAAAAAAENk/GL7UCDsFfwE/s1600/ZS+Hate+Speech+Screencap+8.JPG">Zareh Comments 08</a></li> </ul> </ul> </ul> <div> <br /></div> <div> <a href="http://xkcd.com/202/">XKCD said it best</a>:</div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ8KUEOHvH0/UTaw1sZKHCI/AAAAAAAAEOI/WqYQeTEp-yw/s1600/youtube.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ8KUEOHvH0/UTaw1sZKHCI/AAAAAAAAEOI/WqYQeTEp-yw/s640/youtube.png" width="332" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <i>*I believe that for most of the account's history, it was an "anonymous" account -- but that Zareh <a href="http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/youtube-attempts-privacy-balancing-act-in-push-for-google-plus-usernames.php">unwisely chose to link his YouTube account to his Google Plus account, which retroactively revealed him as the author of his &nbsp;formerly anonymous comments</a>.</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <b><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.html">UPDATE (WITH VIDEO) -</a></b></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; text-align: start;">City Council Candidate&nbsp;<a href="http://www.votezareh.com/" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Zareh Sinanyan</a>&nbsp;took the opportunity to clear the air at last Tuesday's City Council meeting against allegations that he was responsible for&nbsp;<a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">a large volume of hateful comments</a>&nbsp;on Youtube over a period of several years.&nbsp;<a href="http://glendale.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=12&amp;clip_id=4085" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">You can stream the full meeting if you wish</a>. This exchange begins at approximately 2:51:</i></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; text-align: start;"><br /></i></div> <br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aLO1xieK3BI?rel=0" width="420"></iframe> <br /> <div> <br /></div> </div> <br /> <i><br /></i> <i><br /></i> <i>related:</i><br /> <br /> <ul style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"> <li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/adam-schiff-withdraws-sinanyan-city.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations</a></li> <li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/sinanyan-scandal-updates-detailed.html" style="color: #6e6e6e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Sinanyan Scandal Updates &amp; Detailed Responses to His Defenders</a></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-its-unlikely-hacker-was-responsible.html">Why It's Unlikely A "Hacker" Was Responsible For the Alleged Sinanyan Comments</a></span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyan-defends-himself-against.html">Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Comment Allegations</a></span></li> </ul> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /> <br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/-XmBuNg3Hqk" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com59http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/03/zareh-sinanyans-infamous-alleged.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-89536594583957385252013-01-28T04:23:00.001-08:002013-01-28T04:25:17.843-08:002013-01-28T04:25:17.843-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKwMOB1yNXA/UQSSY4Y57wI/AAAAAAAAEKw/fngj2-Gvla4/s1600/+firetrucks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKwMOB1yNXA/UQSSY4Y57wI/AAAAAAAAEKw/fngj2-Gvla4/s200/+firetrucks.JPG" width="150" /></a>I was riding my bike at the north end of <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/parks/GlendaleNarrowsRiverwalk.aspx">Glendale Riverwalk</a> this Sunday&nbsp;when I heard the judder of anti-lock brakes followed by several loud, dull metallic crashes. I walked to the Victory Boulevard bridge over the 5 freeway and saw evidence of a terrible multi-car accident - two vehicles had veered into Griffith Park and crashed into trees, one of them was crunched into a tree and another was overturned on its side. There were at least 4 other vehicles stopped nearby. At least one person was trapped in a vehicle. A CHP patrol car pulled up, then countless fire trucks, ambulances, supervisor vehicles, park rangers, etc. The firefighters cut away the warped door from the gold Ford Fusion and removed the trapped woman. I couldn't see exactly what happened to the SUV - several firefighters surrounded it and were doing something with an axe, but I wasn't close enough to make out the details. I haven't been able to find any more info about the accident, I hope everyone made it out okay. If you know more about the accident please post in the comments.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VMk6r9UWy9E/UQSSZb3sEEI/AAAAAAAAEK8/o6arSH1x1bg/s1600/DSCN1696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VMk6r9UWy9E/UQSSZb3sEEI/AAAAAAAAEK8/o6arSH1x1bg/s640/DSCN1696.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this photo you can see a woman trapped in the gold Ford Fusion.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z8dZybeYMVg/UQSSZScwbsI/AAAAAAAAEK4/51z_RWzRljo/s1600/DSCN1681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z8dZybeYMVg/UQSSZScwbsI/AAAAAAAAEK4/51z_RWzRljo/s640/DSCN1681.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I believe the woman in blue is a nurse who stopped to help.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qi4BsUn5_4A/UQSSZnByPlI/AAAAAAAAELA/T27TBIRn2Ms/s1600/DSCN1698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qi4BsUn5_4A/UQSSZnByPlI/AAAAAAAAELA/T27TBIRn2Ms/s640/DSCN1698.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jDBMTvqDySg/UQSSagIp9oI/AAAAAAAAELM/53C7H2WV9Ng/s1600/DSCN1699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jDBMTvqDySg/UQSSagIp9oI/AAAAAAAAELM/53C7H2WV9Ng/s640/DSCN1699.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq0OPQWeIV8/UQSSarZVjZI/AAAAAAAAELQ/Hp3mJWWlRvM/s1600/DSCN1700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq0OPQWeIV8/UQSSarZVjZI/AAAAAAAAELQ/Hp3mJWWlRvM/s640/DSCN1700.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-49ZgPe9sojA/UQSSa9-l85I/AAAAAAAAELY/-LWNZky5NBI/s1600/DSCN1705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-49ZgPe9sojA/UQSSa9-l85I/AAAAAAAAELY/-LWNZky5NBI/s640/DSCN1705.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rULM8YVoMPQ/UQSSbaSjOgI/AAAAAAAAELo/llYdlFKh1xw/s1600/DSCN1713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rULM8YVoMPQ/UQSSbaSjOgI/AAAAAAAAELo/llYdlFKh1xw/s640/DSCN1713.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PgxDjaWFP-I/UQSSbkqvt4I/AAAAAAAAELs/gsDFfeM0H3w/s1600/DSCN1715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PgxDjaWFP-I/UQSSbkqvt4I/AAAAAAAAELs/gsDFfeM0H3w/s640/DSCN1715.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76f48eGFFXg/UQSSb1-ut1I/AAAAAAAAELw/zN7Diw8oL5g/s1600/DSCN1719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76f48eGFFXg/UQSSb1-ut1I/AAAAAAAAELw/zN7Diw8oL5g/s640/DSCN1719.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/BjepAMuOnkM" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/01/photos-crash-sends-two-vehicles-flying.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-5612695210646447352013-01-22T23:27:00.001-08:002013-01-22T23:27:48.369-08:002013-01-22T23:27:48.369-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBOrf-fs8js/UP-NsMB8GwI/AAAAAAAAEGE/DkIVrgcAevk/s1600/DSCN1659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="471" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBOrf-fs8js/UP-NsMB8GwI/AAAAAAAAEGE/DkIVrgcAevk/s640/DSCN1659.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> On Sunday I was walking along the LA River when I saw this formation of three business jets - likely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_Citation_Mustang">Cessna Citation Mustangs</a> - accompanied by a single prop plane. I've never seen business jets in formation like this before. My guess is the prop plane was photographing the jets for promotional photos, probably over the Hollywood sign, as the formation looped around Griffith Park several times.<br /> <br /> Other interesting aircraft I've spotted over Glendale include:<br /> <br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2009/04/b-2-stealth-bomber-over-glendale.html">the B-2 Stealth Bomber</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/09/spectacular-photos-of-space-shuttle.html">the Space Shuttle</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/10/president-obama-in-skies-above-glendale.html">two Presidential helicopters</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-zeppelin-over-glendale-and-ill-fated.html">a zeppelin</a></li> <li><a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/01/blimps-and-helicopters.html">a blimp and several helicopters</a></li> </ul> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><br /></b></div> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="color: #6e6e6e; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/fbs54-seZKY" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/01/formation-of-jets-flying-over-griffith.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-29202506683275899372013-01-16T23:38:00.000-08:002013-01-22T23:31:35.059-08:002013-01-22T23:31:35.059-08:00<span style="font-family: inherit;">A friend asked how to enter the <a href="http://www.thelariver.com/guide/biking/glendale-narrows-elysian-valley-bike-path/">LA River Bike Path</a> if you're coming from Glendale. Several of the entrances aren't well marked, so I made <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205712076018827082994.0004d3758f22b9111574c&amp;msa=0&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=34.132552,-118.267994&amp;spn=0.068204,0.109863&amp;z=13&amp;source=embed">an annotated Google Map</a>:</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="480" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205712076018827082994.0004d3758f22b9111574c&amp;msa=0&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=34.132552,-118.267994&amp;spn=0.068204,0.109863&amp;z=13&amp;output=embed" width="640"></iframe><br /></span> <small><span style="font-family: inherit;">View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205712076018827082994.0004d3758f22b9111574c&amp;msa=0&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=34.132552,-118.267994&amp;spn=0.068204,0.109863&amp;z=13&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">LA River Bike Path Entrances near Glendale</a> in a larger map</span></small><br /> <small><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></small> <b><span style="font-family: inherit;">via Fairmont flyover/Glendale Riverwalk:</span></b><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Towards the north end, you can take the <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/photos/tn-gnp-0909-flyover-pg,0,3966656.photogallery">Fairmont flyover bridge</a> from Glendale towards Dreamworks. The bridge, which looks like a freeway bridge but <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottlowe/6257012068/in/set-72157627921286624">is in fact perfectly legal to bike on</a> (and almost entirely empty), will deposit you on Flower near Dreamworks. From there, you can enter the brand new (and lovely)&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/parks/GlendaleNarrowsRiverwalk.aspx">Glendale Narrows Riverwalk</a>, which ends at the Bette Davis Picnic Area. Cut across the park, cross the Riverside Drive Bridge towards Griffith park and you're at the northernmost entrance to the bike path.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <b><span style="font-family: inherit;">via Chevy Chase:</span></b><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Take Chevy Chase Drive west until you hit the river. You'll find the newly expanded and re-landscaped <a href="http://militantangeleno.blogspot.com/2012/05/north-atwater-park-up-close-and.html">North Atwater Park</a>. You can ride the east bank of the river alongside the <a href="http://www.lacp.org/Articles%20-%20Main/MountedPlatoonOpenHouse.html">LAPD stables</a> and the <a href="http://www.golf.lacity.org/cdp_los_feliz.htm">Los Feliz par 3 golf course</a>, which will deposit you&nbsp;a block away from the Los Feliz Blvd entrance to the bike path.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>via the Sunnynook Footbridge:</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">From Los Feliz or Glendale Blvds, take Valleybrink or Glenfeliz to Sunnynook Drive and head west. You'll find a footbridge that connects to the bike path.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>from Glendale Blvd:</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Stay right (heading UNDER the bridge) at the split for the Hyperion Bridge. The entrance is on your right - watch out for the lip of the curb.</span><br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS_uFa-j5Y4/UP-RbKWMwnI/AAAAAAAAEHA/crAsao_7GyY/s1600/DSCN1650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS_uFa-j5Y4/UP-RbKWMwnI/AAAAAAAAEHA/crAsao_7GyY/s200/DSCN1650.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the hole in the fence just south of Los Feliz<br /></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>BONUS - to access the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottlowe/sets/72157629411175575/">quiet, pretty, not-really-a-bike-path route on the&nbsp;</a></b></span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottlowe/sets/72157629411175575/">eastern bank of the river</a>&nbsp;between Glendale Blvd and Los Feliz Blvd:</b><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;">you have a few options:</span><br /> <ul> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Sunnynook Footbridge (see above)</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">A hole in the fence (!) just south of Los Feliz Blvd</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the south side of Glendale Blvd you can walk UNDERNEATH the Hyperion Bridge (it can be a little creepy) and you'll be right on the eastern riverbank.</span></li> </ul> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">I regularly walk the scenic east bank between Los Feliz and Glendale Blvd and wish there was a more welcoming way to access it than looking for a hole in a fence or ducking under the Hyperion Bridge. Get on that, city of LA!</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS_uFa-j5Y4/UP-RbKWMwnI/AAAAAAAAEHA/crAsao_7GyY/s1600/DSCN1650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p3WV7xw6CNg/UP-RbThtAOI/AAAAAAAAEHE/NSF_KEXM-B8/s1600/DSCN1646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p3WV7xw6CNg/UP-RbThtAOI/AAAAAAAAEHE/NSF_KEXM-B8/s640/DSCN1646.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let me in!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook!&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/v7fJqOWZc9M" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com1http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/01/accessing-la-river-bike-path-from.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-17542784151217028572013-01-08T03:34:00.003-08:002013-01-08T04:47:27.158-08:002013-01-08T04:47:27.158-08:00I'm heartbroken to hear that <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-huell-howser-20130108,0,1021100.story">Huell Howser has died</a>. &nbsp;We should all follow his example and explore our communities with open hearts and minds.<br /> <br /> Here are some places Huell visited in Glendale:<br /> <br /> A "carnival of belly dance" at the Glendale Civic Auditorium -<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YqOS55Z3NB0" width="640"></iframe> <br /> The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.harpcenter.com/">Sylvia Woods Harp Center</a>, which used to be located on Glendale Avenue. &nbsp;(The Sylvia Woods Harp Center is no longer at that location, but is still in business online and <a href="https://www.harpcenter.com/category/sylvia-woods-harp-showroom">by appointment in La Crescenta</a>.)<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ha7gjDR-y4w" width="640"></iframe><br /> <br /> Huell did an entire show on pita bread, which included a visit to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/phoenicia-glendale">Phoenicia Restaurant</a> on Central Avenue. (low-quality video)<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RIlolK3pDSU" width="640"></iframe><br /> <br /> Huell donated his archives (<i><a href="http://takesunset.com/2010/04/the-volcano-house-50451-silver-valley-newberry-springs/">as well as a Bond-villain worthy modern house on top of a volcano in the middle of the desert</a>!</i>) to <a href="http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/">Chapman University, which maintains a website with full video of many (but not all) of his programs</a>. Here are the Glendale-specific episodes available online at the Chapman site:<br /> <br /> <ul> <li><a href="http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2012/12/09/glendale-californias-communities-114/">Glendale (California's Communities)</a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2012/10/24/music-store-visiting-822/">Larry Larson Music Store (Visiting)</a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2012/10/16/quilt-show-visiting-1814/">The Glendale Quilt Show (Visiting)</a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2004/08/12/huell-howser-tuba-christmas-californias-gold/">Tuba Christmas at The Alex (California's Gold)</a></li> </ul> <br /> The archive also has <a href="http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2012/10/04/portos-bakery-visiting-1105/">an entry for a visit to Porto's</a>&nbsp;but the video link wasn't working. I'd love to see that episode and see behind the scenes there. &nbsp;I know Huell made many other stops in Glendale, including visits to Forest Lawn and <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2008/04/secret-life-and-cemetery-of-leslie-c.html">Leslie Brand's secret pyramid grave</a>. &nbsp;Hopefully those episodes make it online soon. &nbsp;Where else did he go in Glendale? &nbsp;Let us know in the comments.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: initial;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/Bkf8-BdN1dM" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2013/01/huell-howsers-visits-to-glendale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-68492777204398608012012-10-21T19:09:00.001-07:002012-10-21T19:11:40.029-07:002012-10-21T19:11:40.029-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I went for a hike up to Mt. Hollywood today. &nbsp;The cloudy skies made for some great photos. &nbsp;Here's a panorama looking all the way from Glendale to the Hollywood sign.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://broadcastflash.com/hugemthollywoodpanorama.jpg"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2i08drdWEQ/UISqUcuQJyI/AAAAAAAAECA/1UdN_QPMFq0/s640/1-hugemthollywoodpanorama.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMfHgUI0HKs/UISnmgIUicI/AAAAAAAAEBM/RAxq1hmipS0/s1600/1-DSCN1374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMfHgUI0HKs/UISnmgIUicI/AAAAAAAAEBM/RAxq1hmipS0/s640/1-DSCN1374.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1PlrWhMng68/UISnnseTqoI/AAAAAAAAEBU/8YS-DalXysQ/s1600/2-DSCN1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1PlrWhMng68/UISnnseTqoI/AAAAAAAAEBU/8YS-DalXysQ/s640/2-DSCN1381.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AW-LwfhAlTo/UISnokr7tyI/AAAAAAAAEBc/xLri35bGhT8/s1600/3-DSCN1384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AW-LwfhAlTo/UISnokr7tyI/AAAAAAAAEBc/xLri35bGhT8/s640/3-DSCN1384.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AADwQHslDsg/UISnpWLmHDI/AAAAAAAAEBk/I8M4HxDsm08/s1600/4-DSCN1387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AADwQHslDsg/UISnpWLmHDI/AAAAAAAAEBk/I8M4HxDsm08/s640/4-DSCN1387.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> &nbsp;A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Long-EZ">Rutan Long-EZ</a> aircraft -</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N98AqQ5nTmc/UISnqBUD-_I/AAAAAAAAEBs/i-RhScRub3Y/s1600/5-DSCN1404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N98AqQ5nTmc/UISnqBUD-_I/AAAAAAAAEBs/i-RhScRub3Y/s640/5-DSCN1404.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/t06O1VchcvM" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/10/photos-from-gorgeous-hike-griffith.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-10799660928194159712012-10-21T18:42:00.002-07:002012-10-21T18:43:25.221-07:002012-10-21T18:43:25.221-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">The <a href="http://www.loveride.org/menu_flash.htm">Love Ride</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">is a massive charity motorcycle ride that originates at <a href="http://www.glendaleharley.com/">Harley-Davidson of Glendale</a> and ends with a big concert and party at Castaic Lake. I walked over and checked out the scene on San Fernando Road this morning. This year, they were raising funds for the <a href="http://www.uso.org/">USO</a> to support the troops.&nbsp;</span></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zu6f0a-1kro/UIShh1GulSI/AAAAAAAAD-0/Al7ttzT8lQw/s1600/08-DSCN1341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zu6f0a-1kro/UIShh1GulSI/AAAAAAAAD-0/Al7ttzT8lQw/s640/08-DSCN1341.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> MC Jay Leno with assorted celebs, including car customizer George Barris, Robert Patrick, Antonio Sabato Jr, one of the guys from Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Lorenzo Lamas.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4gEDQ4astMA/UIShlanSRlI/AAAAAAAAD_M/guGVJgmRkCc/s1600/11-DSCN1369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="460" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4gEDQ4astMA/UIShlanSRlI/AAAAAAAAD_M/guGVJgmRkCc/s640/11-DSCN1369.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> big crowd</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WJc9UI8wqTk/UIShi6Y-v4I/AAAAAAAAD-8/iyH5oundY0g/s1600/09-DSCN1354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WJc9UI8wqTk/UIShi6Y-v4I/AAAAAAAAD-8/iyH5oundY0g/s640/09-DSCN1354.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> This Native-American themed bike was my favorite:</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ivuY1Li_PIw/UIShaKxhErI/AAAAAAAAD98/JK9C9DqqSLY/s1600/01-DSCN1296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ivuY1Li_PIw/UIShaKxhErI/AAAAAAAAD98/JK9C9DqqSLY/s640/01-DSCN1296.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MirCgqG9okg/UISjtWUrM3I/AAAAAAAAD_c/uoJzH8_qGD8/s1600/2-DSCN1301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MirCgqG9okg/UISjtWUrM3I/AAAAAAAAD_c/uoJzH8_qGD8/s640/2-DSCN1301.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gfvci3Y8JoU/UISjsQUTZdI/AAAAAAAAD_U/n88ZmLqdqCk/s1600/1-DSCN1300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gfvci3Y8JoU/UISjsQUTZdI/AAAAAAAAD_U/n88ZmLqdqCk/s640/1-DSCN1300.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WDKsWgtM4tI/UIShbDpYAxI/AAAAAAAAD-E/GC0_Ec3FRYg/s1600/02-DSCN1303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WDKsWgtM4tI/UIShbDpYAxI/AAAAAAAAD-E/GC0_Ec3FRYg/s640/02-DSCN1303.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6X1QJNLXaQc/UIShcFFDVmI/AAAAAAAAD-M/T8XNhM_uUtg/s1600/03-DSCN1305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6X1QJNLXaQc/UIShcFFDVmI/AAAAAAAAD-M/T8XNhM_uUtg/s640/03-DSCN1305.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yuvS32t5c5s/UIShdRIDKKI/AAAAAAAAD-U/ah6vGbZpTjA/s1600/04-DSCN1308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yuvS32t5c5s/UIShdRIDKKI/AAAAAAAAD-U/ah6vGbZpTjA/s640/04-DSCN1308.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-taFgzAjlDmQ/UISheqQvw6I/AAAAAAAAD-c/rbi6mueWWxQ/s1600/05-DSCN1311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-taFgzAjlDmQ/UISheqQvw6I/AAAAAAAAD-c/rbi6mueWWxQ/s640/05-DSCN1311.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hR4ef2OqB1M/UIShgmSaSPI/AAAAAAAAD-s/DjLRKv5PIjc/s1600/07-DSCN1328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hR4ef2OqB1M/UIShgmSaSPI/AAAAAAAAD-s/DjLRKv5PIjc/s640/07-DSCN1328.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> MC Jay Leno introduces legendary car customizer <a href="http://www.barris.com/">George Barris.</a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wbdDIIIyhjw/UIShkF6VldI/AAAAAAAAD_E/d6YSWdJB6mQ/s1600/10-DSCN1361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wbdDIIIyhjw/UIShkF6VldI/AAAAAAAAD_E/d6YSWdJB6mQ/s640/10-DSCN1361.JPG" width="578" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wdhoZECVT8s/UIShfkXfbwI/AAAAAAAAD-k/tPJao4eWamM/s1600/06-DSCN1322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wdhoZECVT8s/UIShfkXfbwI/AAAAAAAAD-k/tPJao4eWamM/s640/06-DSCN1322.JPG" width="548" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/l0ij1UcI87M" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/10/photos-from-love-ride-29-harleys-galore.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-27843974659701207422012-10-21T16:40:00.002-07:002012-10-24T10:43:33.785-07:002012-10-24T10:43:33.785-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> This afternoon I was at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale_(Amtrak_station)">Glendale Train Station</a> taking some photos when I heard helicopters in the distance. &nbsp;I looked up and saw two Sikorsky Sea King helicopters approaching. &nbsp;As they drew closer, my jaw dropped as I could see they both bore the distinctive markings of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_One">Marine One</a> -- the helicopter used by the President of the United States. &nbsp;For security reasons, Marine One always flies with a decoy/back-up twin. &nbsp;This sighting easily ranks with the <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/09/spectacular-photos-of-space-shuttle.html">Space Shuttle Endeavour</a> and the <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2009/04/b-2-stealth-bomber-over-glendale.html">B-2 stealth bomber</a> as the most exciting aircraft I've spotted above Glendale.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>*Update: </b>I spoke too soon! When I originally wrote this post, I assumed that President Obama was actually in one of the helicopters, but after researching his schedule, he is at Camp David today. &nbsp;From what I've gleaned so far, the helicopters are on a practice run for a future presidential visit.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <b>*Update #2:</b> Sunday's sighting of a pair of "Marine One" helicopters is explained: <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/10/obama-will-travel-5300-miles-today/58307/">President Obama is going to be on The Tonight Show in Burbank on Wednesday 10/24</a>;&nbsp;the helicopters were on a practice run.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div> <h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{&quot;type&quot;:1,&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;K&quot;}" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;"> <span class="messageBody" style="color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38;"><span class="userContent">&nbsp;</span></span></h5> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dqt9F5CQnM4/UISFxzM1o-I/AAAAAAAAD74/YzBymZpJtLU/s1600/1-DSCN1440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dqt9F5CQnM4/UISFxzM1o-I/AAAAAAAAD74/YzBymZpJtLU/s640/1-DSCN1440.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MC_pebn-CJM/UISFy-tNFSI/AAAAAAAAD8A/m0IjAwVPJH8/s1600/2-DSCN1444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="498" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MC_pebn-CJM/UISFy-tNFSI/AAAAAAAAD8A/m0IjAwVPJH8/s640/2-DSCN1444.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fvaCGFIh7-U/UISF1HkPn0I/AAAAAAAAD8I/Bg82M_Fk6oU/s1600/3-DSCN1449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fvaCGFIh7-U/UISF1HkPn0I/AAAAAAAAD8I/Bg82M_Fk6oU/s640/3-DSCN1449.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/bprbuLOEPd4" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/10/president-obama-in-skies-above-glendale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-75179746215528319932012-09-21T14:08:00.000-07:002012-09-21T14:08:23.264-07:002012-09-21T14:08:23.264-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> These are my photos of the Space Shuttle Endeavour taking a victory lap around Los Angeles before being moved to its permanent home at the California Science Center. &nbsp;My initial plan was to go to the Griffith Observatory, but I heard it was incredibly crowded so I went to Elysian Park, which turned out to be a great spot. &nbsp;It was truly awe-inspiring to see the Shuttle in flight.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bg0tMu4MM0I/UFzVo4zD_GI/AAAAAAAAD5s/MKbaIqxSHSs/s1600/01-DSCN0733a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bg0tMu4MM0I/UFzVo4zD_GI/AAAAAAAAD5s/MKbaIqxSHSs/s640/01-DSCN0733a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfKybM24qWY/UFzVpQW5uKI/AAAAAAAAD50/VuvzIXxo8FE/s1600/02-DSCN0737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="524" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfKybM24qWY/UFzVpQW5uKI/AAAAAAAAD50/VuvzIXxo8FE/s640/02-DSCN0737.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sk5pCKppKrs/UFzVqHt7HaI/AAAAAAAAD58/lHY5uxdLrO8/s1600/03-DSCN0749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sk5pCKppKrs/UFzVqHt7HaI/AAAAAAAAD58/lHY5uxdLrO8/s640/03-DSCN0749.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9JW20Rq8GfQ/UFzVq9XLHSI/AAAAAAAAD6E/wrD-jGRXUss/s1600/04-DSCN0752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9JW20Rq8GfQ/UFzVq9XLHSI/AAAAAAAAD6E/wrD-jGRXUss/s640/04-DSCN0752.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s3130d-aJlQ/UFzVrhMG2oI/AAAAAAAAD6M/NTnaIAJA80w/s1600/05-DSCN0755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s3130d-aJlQ/UFzVrhMG2oI/AAAAAAAAD6M/NTnaIAJA80w/s640/05-DSCN0755.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OaplLLapam4/UFzVse3LygI/AAAAAAAAD6U/T_GK-MoevKE/s1600/06-DSCN0770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OaplLLapam4/UFzVse3LygI/AAAAAAAAD6U/T_GK-MoevKE/s640/06-DSCN0770.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h3_ohaDEAgE/UFzVs1EQp7I/AAAAAAAAD6c/nB6xW1wuQTA/s1600/07-DSCN0774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="474" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h3_ohaDEAgE/UFzVs1EQp7I/AAAAAAAAD6c/nB6xW1wuQTA/s640/07-DSCN0774.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1kehbK32CQ/UFzVtfGGgUI/AAAAAAAAD6k/LJoi2bsxG7o/s1600/08-DSCN0779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="504" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1kehbK32CQ/UFzVtfGGgUI/AAAAAAAAD6k/LJoi2bsxG7o/s640/08-DSCN0779.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YBERXAIrr54/UFzVt2R9AWI/AAAAAAAAD6s/ChO09V3sjw8/s1600/09-DSCN0786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YBERXAIrr54/UFzVt2R9AWI/AAAAAAAAD6s/ChO09V3sjw8/s640/09-DSCN0786.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> My vantage point in Elysian Park:<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4IcmJS_npMQ/UFzVuRhQntI/AAAAAAAAD60/a4UFQQ-HMu0/s1600/10-DSCN0720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4IcmJS_npMQ/UFzVuRhQntI/AAAAAAAAD60/a4UFQQ-HMu0/s640/10-DSCN0720.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/otOQOKBubSY" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com4http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/09/spectacular-photos-of-space-shuttle.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-53004042345559147862012-09-18T09:58:00.002-07:002012-09-18T09:58:49.795-07:002012-09-18T09:58:49.795-07:00 <br /> <div class="p1"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_MR-GlxIBak/UBC1XfhNjxI/AAAAAAAADwY/7pTQHBFafew/s1600/DSCN7367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_MR-GlxIBak/UBC1XfhNjxI/AAAAAAAADwY/7pTQHBFafew/s200/DSCN7367.JPG" width="200" /></a>Curious to see inside the <a href="http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/07/exploring-restored-seeleys-building.html">restored Seeley's Building</a> at Brand and San Fernando&nbsp;Road? &nbsp;Come to the Grand Opening event tomorrow. From the press release:</div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Glendale, California, September 12, 2012 - After 6 long years and a $8,000,000 restoration/redesign, the historical Seeley's Furniture building is celebrating its heritage and evolution with the grand opening of 'Seeley Studios', a modern and urban remodel of the historical building for use as creative office and live/work space. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 and will feature live paintings, artist galleries, music, entertainment, a ribbon cutting ceremony and more.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> The Seeley Building was originally built in 1925 and underwent a Deco/Modern make-over in the 1940's for George Seeley and his furniture warehouse. The building sat untouched for another 65 years before it was converted to urban office space for creative tenants by Live Work Loft. The building will open publicly on Wednesday for the first time in over 18 years since Seeley's Furniture first closed its doors after 60 years in business.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Glendale residents and business owners are welcome to the event and are encouraged to celebrate a historic part of the city being transformed into chic modern live/work and creative space. The architecture and individual spaces will be open for viewing, and many units will house premium artwork from the most creative spirits in Glendale and Los Angeles.&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Come and enjoy exhibits and installations from more than thirty prominent artists, some of whom have exhibited in LACMA and MOCA Geffen, as well as other galleries and museums worldwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Historic Seeley Building Artwalk&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Wednesday<br />September 19th, 2012<br />Seeley Studios<br />1800 S. Brand Avenue<br />Glendale, CA 91204&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> 3pm- 9pm Artwalk<br />9pm-12pm After Party<br />Hosted food and drinks&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote> <div class="p5"> More details are available on the Facebook Page for the event:</div> <div class="p5"> </div> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/380931325309469/">Seeley Artwalk and After Party</a></li> </ul> <br /> <div class="p5"> <br /></div> <div class="p6"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <br /> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/AZpwlWBOYq0" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/09/seeleys-building-grand-opening-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-71616727360474924962012-09-07T19:01:00.001-07:002012-09-07T19:01:34.749-07:002012-09-07T19:01:34.749-07:00<h3> <span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Glendale has a long history of <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-0908-eggthrowers-chased-attacked-by-drivers,0,5810161.story">bizarro driving stories</a> - my personal favorite is this one from </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;"><b>November 22nd, 1914</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">.</span></h3> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rl3A6P3ubSc/UEqdw7jfN7I/AAAAAAAAD3U/QkoIobrg5Wk/s1600/BIKEBREAKSLIONSSLEEP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rl3A6P3ubSc/UEqdw7jfN7I/AAAAAAAAD3U/QkoIobrg5Wk/s640/BIKEBREAKSLIONSSLEEP.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">GLENDALE, Nov. 21st</span></span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">The sleep of a lion was disturbed, a street was converted into a milky way, three motorcyclists were injured and four vehicles damaged here as the result of two accidents here last night.</span></span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Irwing van Osdoll and Mason Morris, both of this city, were riding on a motorcycle, tandem fashion, last night, when they crashed into an unlighted wagon of the <a href="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~esthersgenealogypage/al_g_barnes.html">Barnes circus</a>, just leaving town, on Central Avenue.</span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">So vociferous were the protests of the lion in the cage of the wagon on being disturbed in its slumber that its roars attracted several score of persons from the neighborhood.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">They found the young motorcyclists stretched out and to secure an ambulance, John Galt, janitor at the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495733@N05/4630677155">Glendale Union High School</a>, leaped into the saddle of his motorbike and speeded to the police station. &nbsp;At Central Avenue and Seventh Street he crashed into a dairy wagon.&nbsp;</span></span>&nbsp;</blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">The motorcycle was wrecked and the wagon overturned, spilling milk in all directions. &nbsp;Mr. Galt Suffered lacerations of the hands and face.</span></blockquote> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uL5IXBKd_pI/UEqmEqzXdiI/AAAAAAAAD4U/PiXQASvXXkE/s1600/circus008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uL5IXBKd_pI/UEqmEqzXdiI/AAAAAAAAD4U/PiXQASvXXkE/s640/circus008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">And we finally know who John Galt is!</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></span></a></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/fgVJLPlsyKw" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/09/glendale-driving-in-1914-lions-speeding.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5847904405428185680.post-8489864730704074472012-08-21T04:12:00.000-07:002012-08-21T04:12:30.321-07:002012-08-21T04:12:30.321-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Night owls, rejoice! &nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/C-plus-24-Hour-Craft-Coffee/162244113912523">C Plus 24 Hour Craft Coffee</a>&nbsp;opened last week at Brand and Cypress to serve top notch coffee from roasters such as <a href="http://www.groundworkcoffee.com/">Groundwork</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.handsomecoffee.com/">Handsome Roasters</a> 24 hours a day. I stopped by tonight at 2AM to enjoy a super strong iced coffee and the cool night air while catching up on late night reading. &nbsp;In addition to the excellent coffee, C Plus features free wifi, plenty of power outlets, and a well curated punk rock playlist.</div> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OTx_cRR4j2o/UDNgxBr-gVI/AAAAAAAAD2Q/OF8vx-3LqsM/s1600/DSCN0561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OTx_cRR4j2o/UDNgxBr-gVI/AAAAAAAAD2Q/OF8vx-3LqsM/s640/DSCN0561.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> True 24 hour hangout spots are rare in Glendale: off the top of my head, I can think of <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/conrads-restaurant-glendale">Conrad's</a>, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/shakers-glendale">Shakers</a>, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-citi-glendale">Pho Citi</a>, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/ihop-glendale">IHOP</a>, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/yoshinoya-beef-bowl-restaurant-glendale">Yoshinoya</a>. &nbsp;Are there others I'm missing? &nbsp;There are a few 24 hour fast food drive-throughs, but that's about it. &nbsp;South Glendale does at least have three good late night (until around 2am) taquerias:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-sauz-tacos-glendale">El Sauz</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-el-tapatio-glendale">El Tapatio</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/victorias-tacos-and-grill-glendale-2">Victoria's Tacos</a>.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/C-plus-24-Hour-Craft-Coffee/162244113912523">C Plus (+24 Hours &nbsp;+Craft Coffee)</a><br /> <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1302+South+Brand+Blvd,+Glendale+CA+91204&amp;hnear=1302+S+Brand+Blvd,+Glendale,+California+91204&amp;gl=us&amp;t=m&amp;z=16">1302 South Brand Blvd, Glendale CA 91204</a><br /> (818) 396-7362<br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <br /></div> <div> <b style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="color: #6e6e6e; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TropicoStation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Like Tropico Station on Facebook&nbsp;<i>- I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day</i></a></span></b></div> </div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tropicostation" style="color: #6e6e6e; text-decoration: none;">Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter</a></div> </div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TropicoStationAGlendaleBlog/~4/3wQ2K83Q6nQ" height="1" width="1"/>Scottnoreply@blogger.com0http://tropicostation.blogspot.com/2012/08/24-hour-craft-coffee-comes-to-south.html