Dr. Tom

National Bohemian, aka Natty Boh, a beer brewed locally, is quote possibly the most vile liquid ever seen in the history of the world.

The English court system has a rule that, if you bring a lawsuit against a person or corporation and you lose, you're required to pay the legal fees for BOTH parties. (There might be more to it than that -- British posters please add/clarify -- but that's the meat of it.) What it does is cut down on the number of frivolous lawsuits, since you might suddenly have to drop some serious quid on someone else's legal fees. If we had that rule over here (not to get too political, but the Republicans did bring it up for a vote after winning Congress in 1994, but it didn't pass), I think a lot of silly lawsuits would be eliminated. You lost your suit against McDonald's for making you a fat jackass? Pay their $300,000 in legal fees. I'm not saying Stringer's widow shouldn't have sued for anything, but she clearly went overboard, and with a rule like that in place, she probably wouldn't have.

It's refreshing to see people who go lawsit-crazy when someone dies have to pay court costs for the other party. I really wish we'd adopt the English rule over here, so that happened all the time, but until then, I'll just enjoy it on the occasions it does. Oh, and bitches be trippin'...

Sure it was. They knew Ortiz ate right-handers for lunch, so they got him into as many games as they could. IIRC, he didn't really start playing against lefties until the second half of the season, but he was so absurdly good in the second half that they couldn't take him out of the lineup. Lefties who can't hit lefties sometimes get branded as such because of one bad season, then never get many at-bats againt LHPs to try and reverse the trend. The Sox should have Ortiz hit against LHPs as much as possible in the offseason (I'm sure there's a college team near where he lives, and they'd probably love to work out with a major leaguer) and the preseason. If he really can't hit LHPs, the Red Sox have platoon answers, so it shouldn't be a big concern.

Whafuck? Come on, I'm supposed to mirror the real Ravens and have an easy schedule, allowing me to cruise into the playoffs.

Holy shit, I actually agree with something Ripper posted in CE. Mark this day on the calendar, friends, for Halley's Comet might have paid us its next visit before something this galaxy-shaking happens again. Anyway, I totally agree with Ripper's point: not giving someone equal time at a school function is not an inhibition of free speech. If the school were having a presentation for Black History Month, would they need to give the skinheads in the school equal time? No one would even begin to seriously make that claim, but the same principle applies here. I think this case only got taken because there was an alleged discrimination against religion involved. In reality, the school made sure their program went off without confrontation, and managed to silence an idiot in the process. Thumbs up, sez I.

Jesus did at least these two himself. Well, he was crucified, you know. Maybe that's why the Jews were so mad at him...

Very funny, but yeah, it really should go in GC.

While you're waiting for that, I'll inform you that not all atheists are like that. Shit, I don't care if you sing your little Xmas carols in front of a giant Nativity scene. I can see keeping SOME things out of schools, but striking most mentions of Xmas is ridiculous. It's a secular, commercial holiday in this country, and more people need to realize that.

I'm pretty much the same way. Get the order right, bring the food out promptly, refill my drink, and I'll leave my usual ~20% tip. I do gripe when things aren't right, though, and I've gotten plenty of free meals as a result. I always accept free meals offered by nicer restaurants, since I'm a whore for a good meal with decent atmosphere. But if a fast food place tries to placate me that way, I'll decline, and just say they should get it right the next time.

A 1990 grey Chevy Cavalier, 4-cylinder, 5-speed. It had A/C, and the dealership had to add a tape player because it only came with an uber-crappy AM/FM radio. My first new car was purchased in 1993, a '93 Dodge Shadow ES, fire engine red, 6-cylinder, 5-speed. Ever since then, I've bought only new cars.

Yes, because you people would be lost without me. It would soften the blow.

Stop quoting entire threads. It looks really fucking stupid.

Unofficially, you'd be on the list of people I think would do a good job, too.

The link might be fux0red. I honestly wouldn't know. Any mod or admin can change your password for you, though.

That's fine. We can't have a "self-hating Democrat" in charge of too much, in case he decides to get in touch with his feelings... Colonel KKK, you are now my Chief of Staff.

In public. I could care less what you do in your own home. That's why I think drugs should be legalized. What someone does in the privacy of their own home is their business, and it's not the job of the government to tell you that you can't harm yourself. Once people take the drugs outside their home and mess someone else up, then they should have the bloody book thrown at them. Legalize, but don't have ANY tolerance for people who fuck it up.

I usually go for the medium. The Hot kinds just tend to taste more hot than anything, and I don't like spice when it overpowers whatever the food is normally supposed to taste like. Locally, there's a blue crab salsa available that is teh r0x0r, but I usually stick to the conventional kind.

I don't know if he's still active, but... Mark Texiera (mid-90s era Ghost Rider, Wolverine)

Bruce Wayne would not want to die peacefully in his sleep. if DC were to kill Batman, they should have him die doing his duty, probably saving Gotham from the Joker or another menace. Having him die an old man in his bed cheapens the character, IMO.

After owning the Bungles, RAY~! and his team are certainly on the right path. The halftime shows usually suck, so I never expect much of them. I'm an Aerosmith fan, but I didn't like them sharing the stage with Britney and Nelly, or whoever that talentless cretin was. I will say, though, that Britney did more for Aerosmith T-shirts in 10 minutes than I've seen anyone do in all my 29 years.

1. An 11-game regular-season schedule for all Division I-A teams. 2. At the end of the regular season, the AP Poll and and Coach's Poll will determine the Top 8 teams in the nation. Each team gets points equal to its numerical rank on both polls. Thus, a team 4th in one poll and 5th on the other has 9 points. The 8 lowest teams in the country go to the playoffs. Tiebreakers would be developed (conference record, strength of schedule, etd) in the event of ties. 3. Existing Bowls are used to host the playoff games. The major Bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Rose) always host playoff games, and rotate the hosting of the actual championship game. The bracket is easy: 1 and 8 play, 4 and 5 play, and the winners of those two games go to the semifinals. 3 and 6 play, 2 and 7 play, with those two winners moving on. The winners of those games play in the championship, on New Year's Day. 4. Lesser Bowls can still host their usual games, but they have no effect on the championship. 5. The winner of the championship game is obviously the #1 team in the country. Polls will determine the rest. If the 8th-ranked team loses, they should expect to fall in the polls. There are probably some kinks to be worked out, but that's how I'd do it.

I am not! How dare you slander me so! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU, ANT!?!? ... oh, you meant yourself. Uh... carry on, then. Pip pip.

In general, it would be economics, but right now, I'd have to go with foreign policy. Until a few situations get straightened out and dealt with, that will remain the most important factor for me.

I guess I might as well chime in on the seven bullet points, also. 1. Absolutely. 2. Yep. 3. Nope. 4. Yup. 5. Definitely. 6. I'm warming up to it, but I also like the John Adams school of thought (Americans are friends of democracy and liberty everywhere, but defenders only of their own). 7. Strict separation is fine, but I don't really give two pins about "under God" in the Pledge or "in God we trust" on the money. Even as an atheist, neither of those things bother me, and I'd be in favor of redicrecting the energies spent on those efforts into getting rid of other, more blatant signs of religion and religious favoritism.