If you're just an average motorist who lets a couple of traffic citations pile up, the authorities would hound you to death. But if you're a railroad that racks up more than 1,500 tickets for blocking city streets, that's a different story:
Until Tuesday, 1,551 tickets issued to Norfolk Southern since at least 2004 had remained unprosecuted by the Lake County prosecutor's office.
[. . .]
I'm sorry to tell you that your life is worth only $5.9 million, a drop of nearly $1 million from five years ago. And that drop has real consequences:
When drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as tighter restrictions on pollution.
And this year's Sam Sheppard Award for jumping to the wrong conclusion goes jointly to the media (especially electronic) and the prosecution for:
New DNA evidence does not match any family members to the death of JonBenet Ramsey, according to the Boulder County District Attorney.
We're gaining on them, or at least not losing to them as quickly:
Chicago and St. Paul were among the cities that saw their populations grow during the 12 months ending July 1, 2007, after declining the previous year, according to figures released today.
Guess gambling isn't the only supposedly recession-proof industry that really isn't:
It seems the lousy economy is keeping guys away from strip clubs. In Tampa -- a city known for its adult entertainment businesses -- attendance has dropped at usually thriving strip clubs.
Joe Redner, the owner of the well-known Mons Venus club, says his business is down 25 percent.
Another cause of global warming is . . . wait for it . . . clean air!
GOODBYE air pollution and smoky chimneys, hello brighter days. That's been the trend in Europe for the past three decades - but unfortunately cleaning up the skies has allowed more of the sun's rays to pierce the atmosphere, contributing to at least half the warming that has occurred.
Via Hit & Run, here is a helpful Detroit Free Press graphic explaining Flint's new law against saggy pants. That ought to kick the crime problem in the butt. Niney-three days to a year in jail and/or up to $500 in fines -- zowie, that's a serious law.
Congress is grilling members of Indiana's RV-manufacturing community about all those toxic trailers:
A contractor hired by Forest River in 2006 told the company that formaldehyde levels in one trailer was so high that Forest River should post signs saying “hazardous - do not enter.”
What's going on here?
A. The government didn't exercise proper control, so it's the fault of the feds.
Wouldn't you know it? The very week after I let Goodwill take my cow suit:
Chick-fil-A in Avon is celebrating Customer Appreciation Week through Friday.
On Friday's annual Cow Appreciation Day, any customer fully dressed as a cow will get a free meal.
Oh, well. Maybe Arby's will have a promotion, and I can still get some use out of my chicken suit.
This seems like a sensible policy, but how is it going to be enforced? Will it be on the honor system, or will there be spot checks of the odometers? "Monitored very closely" could mean almost anything and usually begins to slip after awhile:
Criminal genius of the week:
The victim of a brutal rape in Somerville was able to convince her dim-witted alleged attacker to give her his phone number, which police then used to identify the thug, law enforcement sources told the Herald yesterday.
Gambling has long been thought to be a recession-proof enterprise. Maybe not:
For the first six months of this year, money spent at Indiana casinos generated $465.6 million in tax revenue, down from $488.6 million for the same period a year ago.
[. . .]
Hope Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can get right on this before Barack Obama's election puts them out of the race-hustling business:
A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.
County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.
I have a friend who complains that the press is lousy on followup. We make a big deal out of something for days or even weeks, then just drop it. Why do we so seldom go back and do an update? This one's for her.
Remember Chandra Levy? Well, she's still dead. Her murder is still unsolved. And Gary Condit is still losing defamation lawsuits over hints by various people (such as Dominick Dunne) that he might have been involved or at least knows more than he lets on.
Hollywood in turmoil! There's a conspiracy! Donald Sutherland, writing at the Huffington Post on how the Clintonites are messing with Barack's head:
Today's "Well, duh" headline: Sex is good for men:
THERE'S new advice for older men who want to preserve their sexual function: have sex, and have it often, researchers say.
As a lifelong smartass, I offer this advice to John McCain: If you make a joke, just let it live or die by the laughter it gets or doesn't get. NEVER immediately explain that, of course, you were just making a joke, in hopes that somebody, somewhere won't take offense. If nobody feels inclined to take offense, it probably wasn't a very funny joke in the first place:
A new study suggests that the simple act of keeping a food diary -- just writing down what you eat and when -- can help you with your diet, even doubling the number of pounds you lose. The reason given for fort the technique's effectiveness rings true with me:
How often do we have to point out that whenever there is a bad dog, there is most likely a bad owner? This clown wants the officer punished and the city to pay his vet bill:
When Elwood reserve officer Gary Cole arrived, he said the dog jumped on his police car, and charged at him.
"I was scared. You got an animal charging at you, you don't have a lot of time to think," Cole said. "He wasn't there to shake my hand. He was barking with teeth showing."
This story caught my eye last week, and I was going to comment about it but forgot:
SYDNEY, Australia — New regulations making it a crime to annoy or inconvenience people gathering in Sydney during Pope Benedict XVI's visit later this month were criticized Tuesday as a heavy-handed blow to free speech.
