Regarding jail time for Trump, if he doesn’t do time, and the rioters at the Capitol do (and many of them are), isn’t that a two-tiered system of justice? Doesn’t that tell the American public that the small guy suffers for his crimes, but the ringleader gets away?
There is no rule that requires adding sound to commercials. The silent ad immediately causes distracted viewers to look to see if the TV went out. The TV watcher in me hates these ads but my BS in Marketing (an aptonym for the name of a college degree) makes me realize how this grabs focus--even if only momentarily--which is the goal of all advertising.
I think the Wendy's consensus has something to do with having baked potatoes on the menu, and needing a strong fork to eat them, more than items on other menus. Wendy's delivers there.
I am sorry I missed the contest regarding Stupid Polls. I just spent four minutes of my life taking an Amtrak poll, because I know I am one of their core travelers and my responses might actually be used by their algorithms. I hope they read the "other" comments, because I inserted this answer four times: Amtrak is preferable because driving between Boston and DC is worse than being eaten alive by scorpions, and then having one's shredded entrails fed to rats.
Gene - a comment on your colleague Dave Barry's latest book "Swamp Story". It's very, very, very funny. We listen to books on car trips and we had just finished listening to a great book, "Demon Copperhead", and was in the mood for something lighter. So we downloaded Dave's book from audible and started listening. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't see the road! Dave narrates this book and it works. Most authors can't really get away with narrating their own stuff. By the way, the narrator for Demon Copperhead is superb - he narrated with a Southwestern Virginia Appalachian accent and it made an appreciable difference in my enjoyment of the story, although it's a pretty intense story.
I had to take a break from Demon because it is so intense. I may listen to the audio book too. It sounds like it would be a different and valuable experience.
Empress Pat, thank you for vetoing Ink for the revolting poll entry about cats. I suspect it involved cruelty. I can't exp;lain why, but I break down emotionally whenever I encounter text or pictures depicting cruelty towards our pets, whatever the species. Gene's last Post Magazine article about the rescue of abused dogs may have been the most emotionally taxing piece I've ever read. Even now, just thinking about that article, it's tough for me not to cry.
I share your revulsion over the mistreatment of pets. Nothing surprises me any longer about man's inhumanity to his fellow man. But as unsettling as continuing evidence of that is, my skin literally crawls when I see or read about animal cruelty or --- even what appears to be callous indifference. Like the recent story of the woman who abandoned her Frenchie at a Pittsburgh International parking lot because she didn't have the proper crate. So she left the poor thing and boarded her flight to a resort anyway. Fortunately it was quickly discovered and is being cared for by a local shelter. A pet is not a possession or an accessory. It is a companion. That seems to escape all too many these days.
Pat and I are no longer fighting about it. I think you should know -- based just on the story you mentioned -- that I have no tolerance for cruelty to animals. The issue was a bit different. Perhaps one day, when we are all old and toothless, we can reveal it. I will say, if you are an inveterate Loser with good sources, that the entry was by the reliably excellent Jon Carter.
I don't think of a plastic spoon as being cutlery. What can it cut? ( In my experience, which goes back decades to the time when my children looked forward to eating at McDonalds) the same can be said about most plastic forks and knives).
In the States, fast-food is generally considered "finger food," so plastic cutlery is not much of an issue. However, because eating just about everything in much of Europe is done with knife and fork (including pizza and sandwiches), the EU has mandated that the traditional single-use plastic cutlery found in eat-in fast food restaurants be eventually replaced with reusable, washable utensils. This required switch-over also applies to plastic packaging. France has taken the lead and has already banned throw-away plasticware for certain size eat-in restaurants in the category, and a UK ban is set to go into effect in October.
As to lawyers, the American Bar Association found it necessary to issue an ethics opinion in 1995 to remind lawyers who bill on an hourly rate basis that they cannot bill for the same hour more than once. It includes this wonderful paragraph:
"On the other hand, the lawyer who has agreed to bill on the basis of hours
expended does not fulfill her ethical duty if she bills the client for more time
than she actually spent on the client's behalf. In addressing the hypotheticals
regarding (a) simultaneous appearance on behalf of three clients, (b) the airplane
flight on behalf of one client while working on another client's matters
and (c) recycled work product, it is helpful to consider these questions, not
from the perspective of what a client could be forced to pay, but rather from
the perspective of what the lawyer actually earned. A lawyer who spends four
hours of time on behalf of three clients has not earned twelve billable hours.
A lawyer who flies for six hours for one client, while working for five hours
on behalf of another, has not earned eleven billable hours. A lawyer who is
able to reuse old work product has not re-earned the hours previously billed
and compensated when the work product was first generated. Rather than
looking to profit from the fortuity of coincidental scheduling, the desire to get
work done rather than watch a movie, or the luck of being asked the identical
question twice, the lawyer who has agreed to bill solely on the basis of time
spent is obliged to pass the benefits of these economies on to the client. The
practice of billing several clients for the same time or work product, since it
results in the earning of an unreasonable fee, therefore is contrary to the mandate
of the Model Rules." ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 93-379 (footnotes omitted).
Je Ne Regrette Rien, especially not sharing this clip:
https://youtu.be/up1fTkYW3sw
Regarding jail time for Trump, if he doesn’t do time, and the rioters at the Capitol do (and many of them are), isn’t that a two-tiered system of justice? Doesn’t that tell the American public that the small guy suffers for his crimes, but the ringleader gets away?
I'm feeling somewhat cheated. I paid my 50 bucks but can't enjoy the cat entry. Could you somehow share it only with subscribers?
There is no rule that requires adding sound to commercials. The silent ad immediately causes distracted viewers to look to see if the TV went out. The TV watcher in me hates these ads but my BS in Marketing (an aptonym for the name of a college degree) makes me realize how this grabs focus--even if only momentarily--which is the goal of all advertising.
Please use the cat submission when Pat isn't looking.
I think the Wendy's consensus has something to do with having baked potatoes on the menu, and needing a strong fork to eat them, more than items on other menus. Wendy's delivers there.
I demand the Cat Question, Empress be damned!
I do not have answer regarding Fast Food Cutlery, as my only purchases from McDonald's are Happy Meals and Egg McMuffins.
I am sorry I missed the contest regarding Stupid Polls. I just spent four minutes of my life taking an Amtrak poll, because I know I am one of their core travelers and my responses might actually be used by their algorithms. I hope they read the "other" comments, because I inserted this answer four times: Amtrak is preferable because driving between Boston and DC is worse than being eaten alive by scorpions, and then having one's shredded entrails fed to rats.
Gene - a comment on your colleague Dave Barry's latest book "Swamp Story". It's very, very, very funny. We listen to books on car trips and we had just finished listening to a great book, "Demon Copperhead", and was in the mood for something lighter. So we downloaded Dave's book from audible and started listening. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't see the road! Dave narrates this book and it works. Most authors can't really get away with narrating their own stuff. By the way, the narrator for Demon Copperhead is superb - he narrated with a Southwestern Virginia Appalachian accent and it made an appreciable difference in my enjoyment of the story, although it's a pretty intense story.
I had to take a break from Demon because it is so intense. I may listen to the audio book too. It sounds like it would be a different and valuable experience.
Empress Pat, thank you for vetoing Ink for the revolting poll entry about cats. I suspect it involved cruelty. I can't exp;lain why, but I break down emotionally whenever I encounter text or pictures depicting cruelty towards our pets, whatever the species. Gene's last Post Magazine article about the rescue of abused dogs may have been the most emotionally taxing piece I've ever read. Even now, just thinking about that article, it's tough for me not to cry.
I share your revulsion over the mistreatment of pets. Nothing surprises me any longer about man's inhumanity to his fellow man. But as unsettling as continuing evidence of that is, my skin literally crawls when I see or read about animal cruelty or --- even what appears to be callous indifference. Like the recent story of the woman who abandoned her Frenchie at a Pittsburgh International parking lot because she didn't have the proper crate. So she left the poor thing and boarded her flight to a resort anyway. Fortunately it was quickly discovered and is being cared for by a local shelter. A pet is not a possession or an accessory. It is a companion. That seems to escape all too many these days.
Pat and I are no longer fighting about it. I think you should know -- based just on the story you mentioned -- that I have no tolerance for cruelty to animals. The issue was a bit different. Perhaps one day, when we are all old and toothless, we can reveal it. I will say, if you are an inveterate Loser with good sources, that the entry was by the reliably excellent Jon Carter.
Style Invitational Devotees know that Pat already posted Jon Carter's cat poll in the Loser Facebook group, Join now to read it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/styleinvitational/permalink/10161858545628690
I don't think of a plastic spoon as being cutlery. What can it cut? ( In my experience, which goes back decades to the time when my children looked forward to eating at McDonalds) the same can be said about most plastic forks and knives).
In the States, fast-food is generally considered "finger food," so plastic cutlery is not much of an issue. However, because eating just about everything in much of Europe is done with knife and fork (including pizza and sandwiches), the EU has mandated that the traditional single-use plastic cutlery found in eat-in fast food restaurants be eventually replaced with reusable, washable utensils. This required switch-over also applies to plastic packaging. France has taken the lead and has already banned throw-away plasticware for certain size eat-in restaurants in the category, and a UK ban is set to go into effect in October.
As to lawyers, the American Bar Association found it necessary to issue an ethics opinion in 1995 to remind lawyers who bill on an hourly rate basis that they cannot bill for the same hour more than once. It includes this wonderful paragraph:
"On the other hand, the lawyer who has agreed to bill on the basis of hours
expended does not fulfill her ethical duty if she bills the client for more time
than she actually spent on the client's behalf. In addressing the hypotheticals
regarding (a) simultaneous appearance on behalf of three clients, (b) the airplane
flight on behalf of one client while working on another client's matters
and (c) recycled work product, it is helpful to consider these questions, not
from the perspective of what a client could be forced to pay, but rather from
the perspective of what the lawyer actually earned. A lawyer who spends four
hours of time on behalf of three clients has not earned twelve billable hours.
A lawyer who flies for six hours for one client, while working for five hours
on behalf of another, has not earned eleven billable hours. A lawyer who is
able to reuse old work product has not re-earned the hours previously billed
and compensated when the work product was first generated. Rather than
looking to profit from the fortuity of coincidental scheduling, the desire to get
work done rather than watch a movie, or the luck of being asked the identical
question twice, the lawyer who has agreed to bill solely on the basis of time
spent is obliged to pass the benefits of these economies on to the client. The
practice of billing several clients for the same time or work product, since it
results in the earning of an unreasonable fee, therefore is contrary to the mandate
of the Model Rules." ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 93-379 (footnotes omitted).
I have never eaten anything in/from a fast-food restaurant that required cutlery, so I couldn't take part in the poll.
I think your actual Gene Pool poll is stupider than those in the results. Was this intentional?
It WAS in the results, Jon.
I took a shot. I haven't read them yet. I usually don't until Saturday.