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Readers Speak Out! (Comment ratings removed)

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Speak out 4.15‘Readers Speak Out!’ is a chance for our readers to express their opinions on local or national issues that have not been covered by The AV Times.

We only ask that you refrain from using obscenities or racial slurs, from engaging in personal attacks on other commenters (name-calling) and from knowingly posting false information.

Additionally, comments made solely to point out someone’s grammar or spelling errors will be removed, and so will blanket condemnations of entire races, ethnicities, and religions.

Comment Rating system removed

You may have noticed that we’ve removed the feature that allowed readers to give the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to comments. We’ve gotten complaints on this feature since we implemented it, mainly from readers who felt like their comments were being unfairly flagged by other readers with an “agenda.” This is not the reason why we removed this feature. We removed the Comment Rating system because it conflicted with a security feature just implemented this weekend. Since many of you hated the Comment Ratings anyway, you may be relieved to find out that we’ve discontinued it.

If you think we should bring this feature back, let us know. We’re open to bringing it back in a slightly different form.

Let your voice be heard… Speak Out!

Previous related articles:

Readers Speak Out! (Important Message)

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71 comments for "Readers Speak Out! (Comment ratings removed)"

  1. Why isnt there a story regarding the fallen Sargent from Plamdale? She was a member of our community and died protecting our country. She is article worthy.

  2. Re: the dead Boston bomber. What’s all this to-do about where to bury, or who is to say a few words over the corpse? I say throw the corpse in some obsure pit, full of swine blood and entrails, and have done with it. An appropriate resting place for this American killing jihadist.

  3. We do not have a television station that reports BREAKING NEWS. Why? Channel 3 doesn’t…
    I’ve seen serious looking crimes with a whole of police presence, but it never appeared on the A.V. Times.
    The L.A. news stations have BREAKING NEWS. I saw a whole lot of police, ambulances at a big apt. complex on E. Avenue K and 15th St. East. This was last night. The sheriff had their guns drawn with 2 guys laying face down on the sidewalk. Then I saw 3 ambulances drive in, but no news report appeared here. It was scary because cars kept driving by when the sheriff had guns drawn. I didn’t know whether to just stop or not for fear of getting shot by a stray bullet. There was no directing he vehicles so we just drove by. The helicopter was also involved, but not the spy plane in the sky. Did the spy plane stop?
    Please report up to date BREAKING NEWS because it may help warn us to stay away from a certain area…

    • Nadia

      Sadly, all the news media out here are on a limited budget or just don’t have the resources. news organizations like the AVT only have a couple of reporters and photographers.

      The incident that you mention (if my memory serves me) was 2 gang bangers charged with attempted murder (or something like that)
      They only use the helicopter when it’s available (which is rarely). it’s better than Lancaster’s spy-in-da-sky because it has a light it can shine down. The $million airplane (aka LEAPS) may or may not have been flying at the time. It’s used for tracking purposes. It can’t maneuver in like the chopper can.

      • I love the fact that we can get news without having to pay the AV Press! Love it! So hey, even if you miss a few stories here and there……Thanks!

    • I agree Nadia.
      We had cops all over our neighborhood early Saturday morning. The cops asked my husband if he had seen anyone out of place walking or running.
      Apparently, someone did a armed robbery of Walmart on Valley Central. Wonder if that will be on the news Monday.
      Last weekend, I drove to the Mall in Palmdale. As I was parking my car, I kept hearing a horn honking. There was a woman sitting in the car next to my space and she had called 911.
      A small child (2-4) had been left in a car and he couldn’t get out. My car thermometer showed 98 and the little boy was all sweaty.
      Fire, Rescue and LASD came quickly and rescued the boy. His father came out of the Mall and I think was arrested.
      I never saw anything about that incident.

  4. Why r we bringin a polluter like BYD here?
    Fears Over Battery Plant Plans

    Residents of southern China say a planned battery factory could poison local water supplies.

    Residents of the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen are mounting a vocal campaign against plans to build a battery plant in their neighborhood, following a slew of cases of lead poisoning in children across the country in recent months.

    The plant is scheduled to be built, beginning next year, by China’s BYD Group, which numbers among its shareholders U.S. market guru Warren Buffett. If it goes ahead, it will export state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries around the world.

    But residents of Shenzhen, a city of 10 million people, say they are concerned that it sits too close to reservoirs which supply the city with drinking water.

    They say BYD has already sparked pollution concerns at some of its other Shenzhen facilities.

    A private homeowner in Shenzhen’s Longgang district surnamed Li said people in his neighborhood have been complaining for two years about foul smells issuing from an industrial plant also run by BYD, but without result.

    “We have complained many times, and every time the environmental protection department knows it’s coming from BYD as soon as they get our call,” Li said.

    “They are lagging behind on a number of [environmental] standards,” he said. “They have been tested a number of times, and told they have passed, but that they have to make improvements.”

    “I don’t understand this … because a lot of elderly people and children from our residential complex have been feeling unwell, and have gone to the hospital to get treatment.”

    A local spokeswoman for the environmental group Greenpeace surnamed Jiang said the Longgang BYD plant was known to be emitting pollution into the atmosphere.

    Local media have reported a sharp rise in patients in recent months at the nearby medical clinic.

    An employee who answered the phone at the plant said he hadn’t heard of any complaints from local residents, and that no one had reported any sickness as a result of its emissions recently.

    Environmental crisis

    Chinese officials have warned that the country is facing a “grave” environmental crisis, with more than half its cities affected by acid rain and one-sixth of its major rivers too polluted even to water crops with.

    Three decades of breakneck economic growth have taken their toll on the country’s natural resources, sparking a huge increase in public unrest linked to environmental degradation and health problems caused by pollution.

    BYD announced the plans to build what it calls “the worlds’ largest battery plant” in May, following a surprise change to zoning regulations on the plot of land it owned.

    According to an April report issued by China’s cabinet, the State Council, BYD planned to invest more than 8.2 billion yuan (U.S. $1.3 billion) in its “new energy” projects, including 7.8 billion yuan (U.S. $1.2 billion) on the lithium ion battery plant in Shenzhen, and 372 million yuan (U.S. $58.1 million) on a solar cell facility.

    A Shenzhen resident and protester surnamed Zhou said the plot of land earmarked for the plant lay between the Bingkeng, Tongluojing and Sanzhoutian reservoirs, amid a network of channels supplying water to Shenzhen.

    “Two of those reservoirs supply drinking water to us here in Shenzhen,” Zhou said. “I heard that there would be a lot of heavy metals involved in a battery plant … which [raises questions about] environmental protection.”

    “This is a huge hidden danger: a time bomb,” he said. “That is why those of us who live nearby are very worried.”

    Lead poisoning

    Battery makers and lead and zinc smelting plants have been blamed for a wave of lead poisoning cases affecting thousands of children across China in recent years, sometimes sparking violent protests.

    And Chinese children who suffer lead poisoning as a result of industrial pollution are frequently sent back to live in contaminated environments and refused treatment, according to a recent report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

    The plans for the plant are causing great concern and widespread speculation, local people said in recent interviews.

    A residential landlord surnamed Yin said there were currently a large number of residential blocks under construction in the area around the proposed BYD plant, which would provide homes for up to 100,000 people when they were finished.

    “A lot of people are talking about this now, and the key factor is the battery plant,” Yin said. “Recently a customer took a liking to an apartment, but they are now waiting to see whether the battery plant goes ahead before they buy it,” he said.

    Ordinary Chinese people are becoming increasingly active in support of environmental issues in recent years.

    Shenzhen-based rights activist Xiao Chun said an growing number of ordinary Chinese were now prepared to stand up for the environment.

    “The residents of Shenzhen are standing up one by one to protect their own environment,” Xiao said. “This sort of courage on their part will contribute to a better society.”

    “The government should back them up, not suppress them,” he said.

    Moves to cut down some of Nanjing’s iconic “wutong” trees sparked protests in the eastern city ahead of the G20 international monetary conference in March.

    And thousands gathered in the northeastern port city of Dalian in August to call on the government to close down a petrochemical plant that made paraxylene (PX), a toxic and carcinogenic substance.

    The protests, which resulted in a promise to close the plant from the city’s leaders, echoed a similar movement in the southeastern port city of Xiamen in 2007, when the municipal government backed down on a planned PX plant following massive popular anger and demonstrations.

    Reported by Bi Zimo and Wen Yuqing for RFA’s Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

    • Hmmm. Parris is no fool. He’s worked hard to get the BYD plant built in Lancaster and, then, if it does cause health problems down the road HE’LL FILE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. It’s a win/win for His ***holiness.

      Would that surprise anyone who knows Rex?

  6. this just in from the Wall Street Journal-

    U.S. Eyes Pushback On China Hacking .

    By SIOBHAN GORMAN
    WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is considering a raft of options to more aggressively confront China over cyberspying, officials say, a potentially rapid escalation of a conflict the White House has only recently acknowledged.

    The Obama administration is considering a raft of options to confront China more aggressively over cyberspying, officials say, a potentially rapid escalation of a conflict the White House has only recently acknowledged. Siobhan Gorman reports. Photo: Getty.
    .Options include trade sanctions, diplomatic pressure, indictments of Chinese nationals in U.S. courts and cyber countermeasures—both attack and defense, officials said.

    Officials said such a counterpunch, while likely not imminent, would be the natural culmination of a carefully choreographed escalation of warnings in recent weeks from President Barack Obama and top administration officials. The escalation was launched with a secret démarche, or formal diplomatic protest, to the Chinese government in January, officials said.

    A military unit in Shanghai believed to be behind some of the attacks, according to private security firm Mandiant Corp.
    .The decision to go on the attack offers further evidence that cyberwarfare has become a central element of diplomacy. Other examples include what U.S. officials say were Iranian-sponsored cyberattacks on U.S. banks and assaults on South Korean companies, blamed by Seoul on North Korea. Iran and North Korea have denied any role in the attacks.

    Earlier this month, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the U.S. and China would form a working group to address cybersecurity, formalizing China’s recent statements that it would be willing to meet regularly on the issue. However, U.S. security officials remain skeptical that attacks they say come from China will cease, contending that China is stealing trade secrets as part of plans to bolster its industry.

    Repeated Warnings
    May 2012 U.S. provides detailed evidence to Chinese government of cyberespionage against U.S. companies.
    July National Security Adviser Donilon raises cybersecurity concerns privately with China.
    Summer U.S. companies bring complaints of Chinese hacking to federal agencies.
    January 2013 U.S. issues formal démarche to China on cyberespionage.
    February President Obama signs executive order to bolster cybersecurity.
    Feb. 28 China’s Ministry of Defense says two military websites were the targets of numerous cyberattacks in 2012, most originating in the U.S.
    March 11 Mr. Donilon calls on China to investigate and stop cyberspying.
    March 12 Director of National Intelligence James Clapper places cybersecurity at top of his list of national-security threats.
    March 14 Mr. Obama raises cybersecurity in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
    April 13 Secretary of State Kerry says the two countries will create a working group on cybersecurity.

    .Before now, U.S. government officials and corporate executives had been reluctant to publicly confront China out of fear that stoking tension would harm U.S. national-security or business interests.

    Current and former officials said the shift turned on two developments: new intelligence showing the Chinese military directing cyberspying campaigns, and a sudden change in U.S. companies’ willingness to acknowledge Chinese cyberincursions.

    so what do we do? we go and recruit chinese business to open next door to lockheed and northrup grumman?

  7. Why is it that our wonderful mayor tells us to speak up for ourselves, our community, and our neighbors but as soon as we do we are put on disregard. We call law enforcement who says they will get there when they can to just not show. The city says they are ticketing everyone to get the renters out and they caused the issues in the first place. Maybe our mayor should take a step off his pedestal for a change and do some work in our community!

  8. How did they catch the suspect in Boston without LEAPS?How did they catch that suspect in Boston without LEAPS?Because they do not need LEAPS.Because they do not need LEAPS. They are not stupid and corrupt enough to spend $90,000 a month on a useless plane.That just makes money for a few.That just makes money for a few.No to LEAPS.No to LEAPS.Yes to sherriffs.Yes to sherriffs.

    • Turd. Turd. Reading your posts is a pain in the @$$. Reading your posts is a pain in the @$$. Why do you duplicate every sentence? Why do you duplicate every sentence?

    • Turd, I was wondering about LEAPS today as I read the story about Ralph’s Grocery Store being robbed on Friday. If the camera can zone in on a specific location within seconds, why didn’t LEAPS see where the robber went? There always seems to be an excuse or worse yet, no explanation at all.
      With all the robberies (emergencies) being called in all the time, why aren’t we hearing anything about LEAPS? The plane sees the suspect and watches where he (she) goes and gives A CAR the location so the whole station doesn’t have to respond.

      • I don’t believe LEPAS is actually flying anymore. City officials wouldn’t admit it anyways. I used to always see it in the sky, now I don’t see it anymore.

        • We can only hope that LEAPS is grounded.We can only hope that LEAPS is grounded.But we are on the hook for $90,000.00 a month.For 10 years.For 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.$90,000.00 a month for 10 years.

    • the answer to LEAPS is pretty simple. Just like an unnamed person inside City Hall IT made clear to, ill lay out here, LEAPS main purpose is for Pilots to get flight hours in.Everything else discussed is a just a distraction….

  10. I wonder how many times the Boston bombers mumbled ‘allah akbar’ when they planted their bombs, then hung around to watch them explode. Nice job, INS, you’re doing a great job. Islam: the kind, peaceful religion.

    • You don’t know what happened. These boys might have been molested, bullied, etc. Innocent until proven guilty. Don’t be so judgemental!! You fool.

      • What? Cause innocent people run around throwing bombs and shooting at cops….
        Put your head back in your arse…..

        • Wait until the FACTS come out. They are immigrants…do you have something against immigrants???? We are a nation of immigrants!!!!! Celebrate it.

          • Hey bruce, get back to your knitting or what it is you do and quit aggravating the good citizens.

          • Nothing against immigrants….Got a huge problem with anybody who is a RADICALIZED Muslim, blows up innocent Americans, kills a cop, carjacks a guy, shoots at cops, throws small IED’s at cops….Thats what I have a problem with… Dont give me the innocent til proven guilty crud. Evil exists in the world and today the good guys showed the bad guys that there is a price for attacking America…The only thing I will be celebrating tonight is that one of them died and we have one to interrogate…
            By the way the government agrees with me, thats why the one who is alive will not be given Miranda and there is a team of interrogators that cant wait to make him wish he died.
            Now if you excuse me. I need to free up a hand so I can clean my gun, eat my steak and watch something patriotic…..
            On a side note I predict many Americans are going to change their views on gun control and immigration…..

    • how about the feds who were told about the older brother by a “foreign government” several years ago and found nothing. Don’t you think maybe they should have kept him on a list and checked out his activity every now and then? after 9-11 I thought they were being more proactive, jeesh.

    • You seem to be confused. The INS and Islam had NOTHING to do with the bombing. It was 2 brothers who made a choice to be anti American. There are plenty of American born terrorists all around us. Gangs members are terrorists….and we are losing that war.

      • Islam had nothing to with it? Islam played a very large role in this unless you choose to ignore the fact that he posted videos of radical Islam speakers, spent 6 months in the stronghold of Russian Islam extremists, was against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was questioned by the FBI at the behest of a foreign country over ties to radical extremist. Islam had everything to do with this.

        • Of course the family doesn’t want to think the bombers are responsible for their own decisions and actions… Just because people use religion as their “justification” does not mean the religion itself is to blame. It is extremism that is to blame, regardless of base ideology.

  11. I don’t get how Jodi Biers only gets 6 years to State Prison when she was at fault 100% and killed an innocent person on impact!

  12. I am happy the “thumbs” system is gone, Siskel and Ebert would be rolling in their graves if they saw how the system was abused here :)

    Seriously though, when someone dies in a car wreck and someone posts a simple RIP message and that gets “thumbs down” votes, then there is a problem. I personally think there is a handful of trolls or 11 year olds who just enjoy giving any post a thumbs down just for fun.

    How about having a “thumbs up” option only?
    Or even better, how about instead of (or in addition to) a comment section, how about you add a real forum to this site? With registration, avatars and signatures and stuff.

  15. Whats the point in asking readers to speak out of if:
    a. comments are moderated
    b. comments cannot be rated
    So much for freedom of speech!

  16. AV Times thanks for keeping us informed of our community news. I hope to see more coverage regarding the economic boom in Lancaster such as the construction of the City of Hope, new Kaiser hospital, BYD electric bus manufacturer, new shopping center at L and 60th West, etc. These are all good economic indicators for our community. Also, home prices are going up! There seems to be low inventory, especially on the West side. Richmond American homes completed their community and left the AV – Did the new solar requirement scare them off?

  18. Censorship. Get used to it. It’s part of the hope and change that everybody voted for…twice.

  19. bring it back it it shows who is really reading the comments and some start really good debates

  20. Thank you AV times… now to follow up with your standards and be consistent with them! read the posts!….If anyone posts any RUDE,INSENSITIVE, DISTASTEFULL, NASTY, or disrespectfull comments, REMOVE THE POSTS!!…WARN THE POSTER…if that doesn’t stop them Ban them!….you own this site, you make the rules! just like facebook and other social media AND other web site administrators hold the right to control content and Behavior!!….BE Better, Step Up! and bring some class and tact to represent the Antelope Valley….Thank You for a good job in keeping us updated and informed with the happenings in OUR Community!

    • #Madison
      I think the only thing that needs to be moderated is wrong spelling. Other than that keep the site in line with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

  21. It was kind of annoying to see comments hidden due to the ratings, but, it is still moderated, so people will still see only the censored comments.

  22. Thank you AV Times for allowing us to read about what goes on in the valley, you publish events before the AV Press and it is refreshing to know first hand. I always go here for the latest in news and updates….please continue to do an excellent job we do appreciate it

  23. Thanks for removing the thumbs up and down, now people can have their voice heard without being hidden from view.

    • Hidden from view??? Don’t you mean without getting their feelings hurt with a thumbs down? Just more censorship.

      • Since people don’t know the real us, the thumbs simply meant that our comments were getting to them. I feel everyone has the right to make a free judgement and comment as long as it is not nasty.