No charges filed?

How about a license suspended?

10 hurt when car slams into Starbucks' patio

An 85-year-old man who drove a car onto a patio at a Starbucks coffee shop and injured 10 people, two of them critically, isn't likely to face charges, police said Saturday.

If this had been someone who'd chugged a Budweiser 2 hours earlier the headline would have been "Drunk Driver Slams into Starbucks" and massive campaigns to lower the legal driving limit from (apparently) .08 to .01 would plague California. Mother's against drunk driving would campaign to raise the legal drinking age to 35 and prohibition would make a comeback.

But some 85 year old who doesn't even speak english ando shakes like a chihuahua trying to tie his shows "misses" the break pedal (which is very wide I might add) and hit the gas pedal (which is very narrow) and slams into a patio (I'm still trying to work this out in my head) and no charges are filed.

I think if I got hit by some nitwit in a car who "accidently" hit the gas, I'd be filing some goddamn charges AND I'd be seeking a civil suit as well. I'm not litigious in general but there comes a point where irresponsibility comes into play. If they don't take his license away, well, I won't be shocked but I will be VERY disappointed.

At least send him back to remedial driving.

Andrea Yates gets no jail time...

...but I'm unsure this woman got ENOUGH time behind bars.

Mother gets 40 years for child abuse

A woman who molested at least one of her five children and prompted four of them to have sex with each other has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

She's still an angel compared to her husband.

In March, Paul Kraft received five life sentences on five rape charges and 96 additional years on 12 charges of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor. He is ineligible for parole.

In an online exchange, Kraft offered to rape his 3-year-old daughter live on the Internet if another person would do the same so Kraft could watch, prosecutors say. The agent contacted Hamilton County sheriff's deputies, who arrested Kraft at home.

There should be a special place in hell for people like this. Death is too good for them. The only thing that can possibly make me feel good about this is the many stories of violent prison rape, especially for child molestors.

Does this mean someone should call Mitt an Ofay?

Massachusetts governor apologizes for 'tar baby' comment

Gov. Mitt Romney has apologized for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby" during a fundraiser with Iowa Republicans, saying he didn't know anyone would be offended by the term some consider a racial epithet.

Black leaders were outraged at his use of the term, which dates to the 19th century Uncle Remus stories, referring to a doll made of tar that traps Br'er Rabbit. It has come to be known as a way of describing a sticky mess, and has been used as a derogatory term for a black person.

Outside of a classic SNL bit with Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase, I've never heard tar baby used as a racial slur. I've also never heard it used as a way of describing a sticky mess but I can see THAT as being a more common usage. Apparently the same thing happened in May when Tony Snow used the term.

I happen to think the black leaders in question are overreacting a bit. Now, if the head of the Big Dig project had been black, it can see people being critical. It's not like he said, "The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that nigger as I can."

For the record, I've never heard anyone use the term ofay either.

And for those of you who want to know what else not to say here is List of ethnic slurs. George Carlin, eat your heart out.

Must See TV

This video, as reported to me, was shown on Al Jazeera TV. The speaker is Wafa Al Sultan, an Arab American psychologist
from Los Angeles.

http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null

castup.net, btw, is registered to someone in Israel. No telling how long this will stay up on the site but it's worth watching.