[Sizable arrests of Gang Members]

They've been working on this for a few years now, I know.

[Law and Order - What would you do?]

Can you give me some more details about how that would mess with your livelihood?  If someone at your bar got through using a fake ID, do you face sanctions?  Otherwise, wouldn't he just be helping you get extra customers?

If the city or the state decided to get snotty and do a round-up of people in the establishment, they could certainly cite the establishment and any servers or bartenders who sold products to people with false ID. If you make a "good-faith" effort to determine if an ID is fake, you're in good shape. If they really wanted to come after you though, they could say that, since you've had instruction in recognizing fake ID, you should have known that these were fakes. Furthermore, IDs (in Minnesota, anyway) are scanable and unless these were extremely well done IDs, they won't scan. You're probably going to be asked why you don't have a scanner.

 

First offense in this case would net the establishment an administrative fine, and a misdemeanor charge for the server. It is also an alcohol-related offense, so if the server is on probation for any past alcohol related things, that could be trouble. By the third offense, though, it's suspension of the establishment's liquor license.

 

The place I work, this scenario probably wouldn't occur. Plus, in Minneapolis, I'd like to think that the authorities have better things to do. However, the MPD runs a series of ID stings each year, which is actually more of a ID checking compliance test, and there are certainly bars around colleges who target a younger demo. This is a big issue for them. At a college bar I worked at quite a few years ago, we supposedly served some kid with a fake ID. Her parents called the bar and threatened to sic the cops on us if we served their daughter again. We did the rational thing and asked for her actual name, the name on her fake and a good quality picture of her. The parents gave us the name on the fake, but nothing else.

 

Stuff like this is a good rationale for treating every cop you know like a king, if you're in the bar/restaurant biz. They won't cut you any breaks, per se, but they will try to see things your way.

[Law and Order - What would you do?]

As a guy who has more than a little sympathy for kids can't legally drink until they're 21 (and more than a little disdain for the alliance of groups who got this country to this state of affairs), I am on the side of long probation, lots of community service, and, ideally, expungement from the record after probation is completed.

 

However, as a manager of a bar and restaurant licensed by the state, I would love to see this kid serve a little prison time (or county jail time) in addition to the punishment I stated above. Some idiot with a computer and illegally obtained templates has the ability to mess with my livelihood? Stow him away for a while; if he doesn't offend again, restore his civil rights and expunge his record.

 

The marijuana discussion is another thing entirely. At some point, this country should get realistic about pot and move to decriminalize it. Of course, Cubs fans should get realistic at some point, too.

[Putting the "pop" in your soda...]

3 rules I live by

 

1.Never get into a land war in asia

2.Never bet with a sicilian when death in on the line

3.Dont argue with SS2k5

Good rules.

 

Two minutes worth of laughter good, actually.

[ESPN "error"]

Thanks, Deadspin!

[Thought Experiment]

An important detail though. What if the 2 yr old is already dead? It doesn't mention that the 2 yr old human is alive, but it does mention that the blastulas are frozen and "would" be able to grow into normal children. If I already know that about the blastulas, that means that someone must have already given me that information or I wouldn't know that. I would also have been told then if that 2 yr old human baby was dead or alive and what it was doing there and why it was left alone in a fertility clinic.

I believe that question is answered by the premise of the hypothetical. I'll paraphrase, "you have a chance to save the two year old..."

[Thought Experiment]

Why is the 2 yr old in a room all by itself?

Details.

 

I'd save the child, no question.

[US view of Islam declining]

When someone gets on a plane, nobody expects terrorists to take over the cockpit and fly it into a skyscraper.  That's news.

 

When American soldiers invade another country, one expects that they'll meet resistance in one form or another and that they'll incur casualties.  Daily front-page news stories that include a tally of soldiers lost mainly serves political purpose.  You mean that soldiers are being killed in a war?  No way! 

 

Is that clear enough?

Sorry for the piling on, but, what you would like to see reported from Iraq?

 

How is it not news whan US Servicemen and Servicewomen die in a military action?

[Dubai Ports selling out]

Sounds like the deal's dead for now.

 

Or, as I believe Rex first suggested, this whole thing could be a cynical ploy (my words, not Rex's) to allow GOP legislators to break with the President in a way that won't hurt the party or country, but will help their individual re-election chances.

[Peter King article on SI.com about the Sox]

You can't compare 2005-2006 to 1983-1984.  The Sox lost the ALCS in 1983, they didn't go 11-1 in the postseason.  Seaver was the main offseason acquisition compared to (Thome, Vazquez, Mackowiak, Cintron). Big difference.

 

1984 Starting Rotation:

Hoyt

Bannister

Seaver

Dotson

Burns

 

2006 Starting Rotaion:

Buehrle

Contreras

Garcia

Garland

Vazquez

 

So we know what we have going into 2006, right? If you look at 1984, you had last year's Cy Young (Hoyt), an all-time great who looked to have a year or too left (Seaver), a guy with outstanging physical tools who hadn't been able to put it together (Bannister) and two guys coming off their best years. I like this year's rotation better, too, but there are always question marks.

[Catch-All Anything Thread]

It's like I always say......

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7279844/did/11735125?GT1=7850

Funny, I just got something in my email box that discusses this. The claims about Coke are about 80% jive, as far as I can tell, so proceed at your own risk.

 

This is really an eye opener.... Water or Coke? We all know that water is

important but I've never seen it written down like this before.

 

WATER

 

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

 

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it

is often mistaken for hunger.

 

 

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much

as 3%.

 

 

4.! One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for

almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

 

 

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

 

 

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a

day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of

sufferers.

 

 

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzz short-term

memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer

screen or on a printed page.

 

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon

cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one

is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

 

And now for the properties of COKE:

 

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol

carries two gallons of coke in the truck to remove

blood from the highway after a car accident.

 

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and

it will be gone in two days

 

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into

the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one

hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke

removes stains from vitreous China.

 

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bu! mpers: Rub

the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap

aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

 

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals:

Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble

away the corrosion.

 

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked

in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

 

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into

the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and

bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished,

remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix

with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

 

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke

into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run

through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help

loosen grease stains.

 

9. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

 

 

For Your Info:

 

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.

Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about

4days.

 

 

Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones

and is a major contributor to the rising increase in

osteoporosis.

 

2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the

commercial truck must use the Hazardous material

place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

 

3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to

clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

Now the question is, would you like a coke or a glass

of water?

 

Have A Great Day and Share It With Others

[Peter King article on SI.com about the Sox]

It borders on the surreal to read things like this about the Sox.

 

Team's Biggest Weakness

 

I searched. I hired three private detectives, working 12-hour shifts for three days each. Sorry. We couldn't find a weakness.

 

I realize that praise and criticism are two sides of the same coin. I realize that few people gave the Sox any kind of a chance last year. However, I also realize that I'm extremely fired up for this season.

[stay off the drugs and booze.......]

Is it better to burn out, or to rust?

[Debate about debates, er something]

I don't know, i've never been offended by anything someone said here.

 

but i'm kinda hard to offend.

 

I was offended once. But I was in a pissy mood.

[Kirby Puckett has died.]

When I was 15 I played in a 19 year old league called Thoroughbreds I believe. There were usually a couple of scouts at every game, and sometimes they would ask you to fill out a card with your name, address, date of birth, etc. They would tell the 19 year olds to shave off a year of their age, so they would have a better chance of being drafted or signed. We sometimes played at Triton. I wonder if Kirby was offerred the same advice.

 

I have no doubt he was. I was friends with a guy in College who went to a Mets tryout and took two years off his age, since he was a baby-faced guy. The reasoning is, if you can do something at the tryout, they'll ask you back for more if you're younger. If you hit the longshot odds and get invited to Spring Training, (probably longer than 5,000-1), then and only then will you have to pony up any actual proof of age, like a birth certificate. If they like you enough as a player, they might forgive you the little white lie.

[What the heck]

I guss this post is awash in irony, but the real question is, "why is this news?", or maybe, "Why does anyone not associated with Hood college care?"

[Oscar snub?]

Don't worry Bea will be getting her lifetime acheivement award at the Rexxies next week.

 

"I'd like to thank the acad.. um, Rex!"

[Debate about debates, er something]

I don't post in a lot of these threads for a number of reasons, good and bad. One of the good reasons is that someone who is close to my viewpoint has usually expressed, more eloquently, something akin to my thoughts. There are a good deal of intelligent people here, on all sides of an issue.

 

Which brings me to one of the bad reasons I don't post much. Sometimes intelligence turns into the desire to prove that you're smarter than everyone else, and your arguments are sounder. What really happens, in a lot of cases, is the online equivalent of, "If I'm louder, my argument is better." I'm certain that if we were sitting face to face, we'd agree to disagree and steer the conversation to something we can all agree on, but we don't feel the need to do that here, for whatever reason.

 

Another bad reason I don't feel compelled to post much is that I, too often for my own tastes, can't find anything humorous to contribute. Obviously, that hasn't stopped me this time, but it does a great deal of the time. I honestly think that laughing about the bunch plying their trade on the shores of the Potomac (and then trying to change things, of course) is far better for the soul than b****ing about them.

 

Maybe we all need to realize this: we're probably not going to change anyone's opinion on a subejct by what we post here. It would be nice if someone read a well-reasoned opinion, suppported by incontrevertible facts, and changed their mind, but it probably isn't going to happen. We all have experiences and life lessons that have shaped our worldviews. No offense intended, but I seriously doubt that the musings of someone I know only from the interactions on a baseball message board will change my opinion of (fill in the blank).

[Kirby Puckett has died.]

Wow. I've lived in Minneapolis for a long time, so I've gotten to see a lot of Puckett. The man always hustled; it didn't matter if the playoffs were out of reach or it was the heat of the race, he never cheated the game or the fans.

 

He was a funny guy, too. He bet Bob Costas that if he was hitting .350 when Costas' kid was born, he had to name him Kirby. Costas' son is named Keith Michael Kirby Costas.

 

As for his post-career life, I would add to Rex's comments that Kirby not only had the issues of adjusting to life after baseball, but he had the last 4 or 5 seasons of his career stolen from him by a cruel twist of fate. That had to be doubly hard to deal with.

 

RIP, man.

[Remember to turn off the car]

What's with all the 'stache hate?

[Report: Police Chief stops CPR on Gay Man]

He (chief) obviously knew this individual before their encounter. Either he automatically associated the man's sexual orientation with HIV, which is obviously bad, or had misinformation about the man's status-- which is bad as well. Either scenario, action should be taken. I suppose I'm biased in believing a police chief wouldn't allow a homosexual man to die if he didn't legitmately assume the person were HIV positive. If he simply stereotyped, did he assume nothing would occur afterwards? No bloodwork to back up the claims, or testimony from the dead man's friend?

 

Again, I tie this situation to CPR treatment being denied because the man supposedly had the virus. Not because he was gay.

You're working under one set of assumptions, some of us are working under a different set. Let's go watch Rashomon and see if we can figure this out.

[Report: Police Chief stops CPR on Gay Man]

I guess I don't understand why the guy administering CPR didn't tell the Chief to mind his own damn business and continue with waht he was doing. Was there a threat of arrest or something. It's not really clear to me.

[Report: Police Chief stops CPR on Gay Man]

I don't believe the issue here is blatant discrimination against homosexuals. The article never indicated such. It was misinformation on the possible contraction of HIV from mouth to mouth contact.

 

This thread would have been more accurate if it had been entitled "....Cheif Stops CPR On Man Infected With AIDS."

 

Personally, I would have atleast checked the lip/mouth region for open wounds before attempting resuscitation. If he had blood in his mouth, or an obvious gash or wound, I'm sorry--but I'm not going to attempt reviving the person through their mouth. I'd still continue pressing upon the chest, though. Call me vile or dispicable, but if I'm not a medical personnel with actual experience concerning such patients, he would die before I risk HIV infection.

 

 

One problem. The man didn't have HIV or AIDS. As stated earlier, he was HIV negative.

 

You're right, though. I would certainly be leery giving mouth-to-mouth to a person with open sores, unless I ahd my handy-dandy breathing mask, or unless they were a friend of mine.

[Sox vs. Diamondbacks (3/4, 1:05 P.M. CT)]

This game, this thread and a fantasy auction.

 

Life is good.

[Bush briefed on Levee breaches before Katrina Hit]

Here's a lenghty piece no how royally screwed up the NOPD's command and control was after the storm.

 

A long story deserves a long excerpt, don't you think?

 

The Hurricane Katrina crisis began for Bruneau on Monday, August 29th, shortly after the storm had passed through. A young woman lay dead in the middle of the 1900 block of Jackson Avenue. Her skull was crushed, and a fallen street light, blown down by the ninety-five-mile-an-hour winds, lay beside her. Along Jackson Avenue, people were emerging from shotgun shacks into a world of smashed oak trees and downed power lines. Some of them knew the woman. She had gone out during the storm to buy drugs.

 

Bruneau’s police radio carried reports from the Lower Ninth Ward, three miles away: it was flooding rapidly, from a breach in the so-called Industrial Canal. But that was another district’s problem. Bruneau radioed for the coroner. Nobody showed up. Bruneau called again. Nothing. An hour passed. The dispatcher told Bruneau that floodwater was heading toward him. The Seventeenth Street and London Avenue Canals had breached their levees, and Lake Pontchartrain was pouring into northern New Orleans. Bruneau asked for an ambulance. None was available, because most of them had been moved out of the city before the storm. He asked the dispatcher to try the coroner again, but the coroner’s office was flooded.

 

Bruneau waited by the body for two hours, and finally left it with a patrolman and drove off to another call. When he checked back, in the early afternoon, the woman still lay uncovered on the hot pavement. Standard operating procedure, it seemed, no longer applied. In some nearby storm wreckage, he and the patrolman found a deflated water-bed mattress. Neighbors watched as the two men rolled the woman onto it and hoisted her into the back seat of Bruneau’s unmarked white Crown Victoria. He explained to the neighbors that he planned to deliver the woman to the morgue. “So they wouldn’t think I was up to no good,” he told me. After informing the dispatcher that he had a 29-U, a victim of an unclassified death, in his back seat, he drove to Charity Hospital, about a mile away. Water was approaching the building’s steps, and the doctors and staff members were evacuating. They couldn’t take the body. At Tulane University Hospital, down the street, an emergency-room doctor refused to let Bruneau in the door.

 

By this time, Bruneau knew from police reports that his own house and car were underwater. He parked a few blocks from the Superdome, staring through the windshield at the huge structure rising incongruously from deep water. “I was dazed and confused,” he told me later. All he had was his uniform, the cash in his wallet, and his gun. He didn’t know what to do with the corpse. The entire edifice of city government seemed to have dissolved in the floodwaters. He sat gazing at the Superdome for two hours. Finally, the dispatcher got back to him.

 

“Undo what you did,” she said.

 

“You mean dump the body?”

 

“Undo what you did.”

 

Bruneau drove back to Jackson Avenue. A sergeant met him there with a body bag, and the neighbors watched again as the cops pulled the woman out of the car and onto a strip of grass. They unrolled her from the water bed and zipped her into the bag. This time, Bruneau didn’t know what to say to the neighbors, so he simply drove away. During the days that followed, he headed back toward Jackson Avenue every now and then. The 1900 block eventually lay four blocks into the flood zone, and he stood at the water’s edge and peered through his binoculars. The woman floated this way and that, and came to rest about half a block from where he’d first found her.