The Old Blog

This article discusses the myriad health violations in the top 10 fast food chains in America. But almost as scary is Lea Thompson’s “hard-hitting” journalism. Here’s an excerpt of her speaking with Steve Grover, from the National Restaurant Association:

Grover: “Because no one’s perfect. I tell the executives every day, 99.9 percent is not good enough, when it comes to food safety.”
Thompson: “What about 60 percent?”

Unlike Thompson, you can probably guess that if 99.9 percent is not good enough, then the same would hold true for a much lower percentage.

And where did Thompson get that 60 percent number? From this line that appeared earlier in the article:

The 1,000 restaurants we sampled totaled 1,755 critical violations, and 613 restaurants were cited at least once. That’s more than 60 percent with problems inspectors consider potentially hazardous to your health.

According to Thompson, 100 percent (total) minus 60 percent (with violations) equals 60 percent (without violations).

I hung out with fellow blogger/St. Louis Park High alum Steve Silver over the weekend. I spent a lot of the time writing, but we did get to spend some quality time talking sports and politics–the two subjects we feel most strongly about.

A.J. Pierzynski was traded to the Giants Friday for Joe Nathan and the wonderfully-named minor leaguers Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser. Rather than read my reaction, check out Gleeman’s entry; it covers everything, and much more in-depth than I would. He even talks about the exciting possibility that Jacques Jones may soon be gone.

Earl Battey, catcher for the Twins in the 1960s, died Saturday. While others like Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bob Allison, and even Zolio Versailles were getting credit for the strong Twins offenses of the mid-to-late 60s, Battey was there, behind the plate, doing an all-star job, as well.

Condolences go out to the Battey family.

FCC commissioners unanimously support a mandate that allows people in the 100 largest metro areas to use their current landline numbers for their cell phones. More importantly, the vote allows cell phone users to switch companies while retaining their original phone number. The mandate goes into effect November 24.

I would say the following quote, taken from this story, catches Bush finally admitting he was a drug abuser (emphasis obviously mine):

A lot of times, the best way to help the addict, a person who is stuck on drugs and alcohol, is to change their heart. See, if you change their heart then they change their behavior. I know.

Of course, if I were Ann Coulter, I would also sleep in a coffin with a swastika painted on it.

The White House is attempting to force London to shut down the center of the city for three days when Dubya visits. After all, we’re America; why shouldn’t we be able to tell other countries what to do?

It’s easier than convincing the President to forge international goodwill.

Now can we stop fictionalizing our veterans’ stories in order to justify a war? It’s pathetic when Larry Flynt has more restraint regarding Jessica Lynch than the Presidential Administration. For some reason, a half-true biopic on the Reagans is terrible, but a nearly untrue story about Ms. Lynch is no problem.

At the very least, Bush shouldn’t ask to cut millions of dollars in veteran’s benefits while asking for public support during said war.

Update:
According to this article (courtesy of Steve Silver), Flynt does want to publish Lynch’s nude photos. If this the case, I completely retract my earlier comments.

Gregg Easterbrook’s popular “Tuesday Morning Quarterback” column has returned to the Internet, thanks to footballoutsiders.com. It’s a long road from the high-paying job at ESPN.com to a site maintained more as a hobby. On the other hand, it’s quite a coup for footballoutsiders.com’s band of volunteers to have landed a national column, even if it is only temporary.

Is my choice for President, according to Slate’s “Whack-a-Pol.”

Too bad I know next to nothing about her, save that she (apparently) shares many of my political opinions.

Thanks to Steve Silver for the link.