Check the bbc.
Posted on 03/11/2002 4:04:26 AM PST by maquiladora
A gunman is believed to have taken about 40 people hostage in Amsterdam's tallest building.
The people are being held in the lobby of the Rembrandt Tower office block.
Police are negotiating with the unidentified man who walked into the building shortly after it opened for business.
NOS television said the man was armed with a machine gun. In a statement to the state broadcaster, the man said he is protesting against the "manipulation by the seller of broadband television".
The action could be directed against Philips Electronics, which used to be based in the building until it moved to a nearby office bloc last year.
Some people escaped from the building and were being questioned by police. Hundreds of people apparently remained inside, although it was unknown how many were being directly threatened by the gunman.
Police cordoned off the area. Ambulances and at least four fire trucks were on standby about 100 yards from the building. Rail traffic was diverted around Amstel Station, and the underground suburban rail network was closed.
Check the bbc.
The 135-metre (443-foot) tower is home to around 50 companies, including some of the city's biggest financial firms.
Big names housed there include Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Rabo Securities, and ING bank.
Here is the story:
The man complained about the bigscreen broadcasts. He did not have a 16:9 TV, but a 4:3 TV, so there was black area on the top and the bottom of the screen. He complained about this, but he was not taken seriously.
He wanted to take personel from Philips hostage as a protest, but he went into the wrong part of the building. He decided to take some hostages there instead.
But it's all over now, the guy shot himself!
Wide-screen TV salesmen are pretty manipulative in The Netherlands... Could be true.
I fear if our grievances are not considered there will much resentment and unpredictable events attributed to the freedom fighters in the wide screen world.
/sillyrant off, but the wide screen gripe is legitimate.
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