News that makes us laugh, cry, or both

erik · Post by **erik** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:25 pm

Hey, that's when I started boycotting baseball too!

I relapsed and managed to go to a Cardinal's game with my wife's family, and some minor league games, but all in all I am still pissed about the strike and MLB has yet to win me back as a loyal fan of the sport.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:39 pm

Yeah, well imagine if the strike had been followed up by public financing of new stadiums supported by insanely regressive taxation imposed contrary to voting results, a team that annually sets new records for futility in professional sports, due to ownership that in unwilling to either spend or innovate, and now they're shitting on the first amendment, because how dare some kid you pay with free tickets and like $100 a month state the obvious on the internet.

Go Pirates.

And do not come back.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:25 pm

I just found out that Science has managed to obtain sperm cells from female stem cells, making it possible (if expensive) for two women to have a child that is biologically related to both of them, and presumably, have no need for a man to add his genetics. There is some hope of getting egg cells from male stem cells, but apparently we can't do that yet.

More over, I learned that, apparently, the Australian government has preemptively legislated that it's illegal to create a viable embryo with anything other than an egg and a sperm (implicitly, female egg and male sperm, making this kind of stem cell manipulation illegal).

Fucking Aussie Government....

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sun Jun 20, 2010 3:44 pm

Meikle641 wrote: Forest Hills Gardens: A walkable, transit-oriented, architecturally rich planned community, built 100 years ago. <-- I hope to visit this during my trip to Hartford in July.

Neat; it seems close to some of the ideas that Christopher Alexander later covered in A Pattern Language.

Prak_Anima wrote:I just found out that Science has managed to obtain sperm cells from female stem cells, making it possible (if expensive) for two women to have a child that is biologically related to both of them, and presumably, have no need for a man to add his genetics. There is some hope of getting egg cells from male stem cells, but apparently we can't do that yet.

The sperm that Science obtained aren't actually viable (meaning that it's not yet possible for two women to have a child that is biologically related by half to both of them), but it is a very cool line of research.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:48 am

ah, so, being that I was a complete slacker in high school, I have to ask this question... how are they sperm but not viable?

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:08 am

http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12673455 -- another copy fucks up story. I'm sure there were protocols to follow and that technically he was correct but still...

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:47 am

Cynic wrote:http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12673455 -- another copy fucks up story. I'm sure there were protocols to follow and that technically he was correct but still...

Being a medical professional does not give you the power to ignore red lights. However, medical emergencies do give you the power to ignore being arrested. The cop has the obligation to write the citation for running the red lights, and the man can go to court and explain his case to the judge.

But you know what? The judge is very likely to feel lenient to the guy under the circumstances, meaning that he is probably going to get off with a warning. A lot of police officers would just let the guy go. In any case, it's not evading arrest when you have a life or death emergency on your hands and you tell the police to wait until it's over. The police are always supposed to wait until life or death medical emergencies are over before they arrest people.

-Username17

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:11 am

FrankTrollman wrote:
Cynic wrote:http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12673455 -- another copy fucks up story. I'm sure there were protocols to follow and that technically he was correct but still...
Being a medical professional does not give you the power to ignore red lights. However, medical emergencies do give you the power to ignore being arrested. The cop has the obligation to write the citation for running the red lights, and the man can go to court and explain his case to the judge.

But you know what? The judge is very likely to feel lenient to the guy under the circumstances, meaning that he is probably going to get off with a warning. A lot of police officers would just let the guy go. In any case, it's not evading arrest when you have a life or death emergency on your hands and you tell the police to wait until it's over. The police are always supposed to wait until life or death medical emergencies are over before they arrest people.

-Username17

To be more precise, it's not a matter of a judge being lenient, there is a very clear legal doctrine (usually known as "the lesser of two evils" doctrine) that provides an absolute excuse for actions taken to save someone's life (more generally, committing crimes to prevent a worse harm from occurring). As in, this guy wins and the judge will probably be pissed at the prosecutor for even trying him at all.

The cop should be fired for attempting to obstruct someone attempting to enter a hospital emergency room, period. If a cop hits a hospital, and is afraid of a suspect escaping, the proper procedure is to escort the suspect into the hospital and maintain contact with them, while calling for back-up. This act is arguably a violation of their 4th Amendment rights, and they can absolutely sue the police over it and they win will if they do so.

Count Arioch the 28th · Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:19 pm

No link, but the Westboro Baptist Church intends on protesting at a funeral about 20 miles down the road from where I live.

I wonder what the fallout will be. If you've never been to Virginia, let me tell you the deal: 90% of us are armed or addicted to meth. A plurality of us are both armed AND on meth.

Needless to say, I'm not going near that one. But I will keep an eye out for headlines, the funeral is tomorrow.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:34 pm

Ugh, I hate the laws that up red lights from being stop signs to being absolutes. Nothing worse than sitting at one for several minutes at one in the morning...

-Crissa

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue Jun 22, 2010 1:19 am

US Supreme Court extends 'material support of terrorism' to include nonviolence training or international law.

So now, it's against the law to pursue world peace if that peace includes anyone connected politically to a group designated as a terrorist.

-Crissa

virgil · Post by **virgil** » Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:54 pm

The court decided to effectively remove public domain

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:02 pm

Terrible!

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:30 pm

BP enabling the killing of endangered turtles.

Gelare · Post by **Gelare** » Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:14 pm

virgileso wrote:The court decided to effectively remove public domain

/facepalm

You know, I had a lot more respect for U.S. legal institutions before I learned how many boneheaded decisions are coming out of them.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue Jun 22, 2010 9:01 pm

It took twenty-eight years, but the court is now stacked in authoritarian favor.

Alas.

-Crissa

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:49 am

On a more positive note, all charges are dropped against the man who was arrested for getting his wife to the emergency room with all possible haste.

Not only that...The policeman who hassled him is on administrative leave and is under investigation for his conduct on that episode. I imagine some stern questions will be asked.

The guy was suspended from his job at the hospital because he'd been charged with a felony--the hospital's policy until the issue is resolved one way or another.

This lasted for all of one day. And the hospital decided to pay him for the day he was out.

Goldor · Post by **Goldor** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:52 am

Maxus wrote:On a more positive note, all charges are dropped against the man who was arrested for getting his wife to the emergency room with all possible haste.

Not only that...The policeman who hassled him is on administrative leave and is under investigation for his conduct on that episode. I imagine some stern questions will be asked.

The guy was suspended from his job at the hospital because he'd been charged with a felony--the hospital's policy until the issue is resolved one way or another.

This lasted for all of one day. And the hospital decided to pay him for the day he was out.

I expect those hard questions to be, "How short can we make this and still get away with it?" and "How can we get away with it next time?" and perhaps "Why would you do something you knew you where going to get caught for like that?"

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:34 am

Maxus wrote:On a more positive note, all charges are dropped against the man who was arrested for getting his wife to the emergency room with all possible haste.

Not only that...The policeman who hassled him is on administrative leave and is under investigation for his conduct on that episode. I imagine some stern questions will be asked.

The guy was suspended from his job at the hospital because he'd been charged with a felony--the hospital's policy until the issue is resolved one way or another.

This lasted for all of one day. And the hospital decided to pay him for the day he was out.

That's good. Any news on how the wife turned out?

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:17 pm

Doctors were unable to conclusively say she'd had a stroke from an examination, so she's following up with a neurologist. The article I saw (which, damned if I can find it again) said she was doing better, though.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:07 am

In another welcome turn around, after an offer from a nearby minor-league team, the Pirates reinstated their Pierogi.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:17 am

Yay! Shouldn't get fired for dissing a manager of another branch of your company.

Especially when the complaint was true.

-Crissa

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:35 am

Not like this wasn't expected.

I mean Rudd's been getting a lot of shit from his party for a while now. I will miss a head of state who can converse in English and mandarin fluently

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:22 am

People in China and Sweden knew about this before I did. Somehow I stop checking the BBC for one night and this happens.

cthulhu · Post by **cthulhu** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:08 am

Hurray! It's been a great day lol.