10,700 hostages were taken.

I don't know what this is and I'll do my best to avoid it.

It's absolutely voter suppression. Every election we have 1/3 of the electorate that doesn't cast a vote. We could court these couple million undecideds or we could fix the system and have automatic registration and even compulsory voting. And then, you're absolutely right, Republicans would never win again.

Also, dealers don't check ID.

It may be a perfect movie. Robin Wright's acting is a little rigid but otherwise it's a very straightforward sci-fi noir.

Blade Runner 2049

I've read this joke 100 times. Is this something Bibi said?

I agree, and we'd have to do it carefully so tipped workers continue making roughly the same as they do now.

Where I live a handful of trendy restaurants announced opened as no-tipping restaurants. They would add a 20% gratuity to every bill and claim it was used "to support a living wage and benefits" to the staff. Usually it was just sucked up into the revenue pile and used however the owner wanted.

If restaurants dropped tipping, raised their prices by 20%, and paid their staff 20% more, I would be okay with that. In the European countries I've visited, it seems to work just fine and food is still cheaper than where I live.

That works a couple times, but then the side seams of the zipper part will start to tear.

Good point. Thanks for saying that.

Just to emphasize the importance of low expense ratios: you don't just lose the money you pay to the fund manager. Over time you also lose what that money could have made if it had stayed invested. Even a modest retirement fund can have an opportunity cost of $50k by the time you retire. As another commenter said, Vanguard tends to have the lowest fees.

Honestly, he hasn't fought much in the last 8 years. His decline is 90% from alcohol and cocaine. His talent and work ethic was incredible during his rise, but after the Mayweather fight in 2017 he couldn't resist the Scarface lifestyle he had dreamed about. It's a sad story, not because he's a good person (he's not) but because he went from this athletic anomaly to a scared, weak, delusional has-been. Truly a literary tragedy.

Comedian Geoffrey Asmus said something like, "I don't understand why Republicans are anti-abortion. Isn't abortion just dead liberals?"

Steven Bailey has five drunken driving convictions on his record, according to court documents.

The Minnesota Star Tribune

September 4, 2024 at 1:25PM

Criminal charges filed Tuesday allege a man was extremely drunk when he plowed his SUV into a crowded bar patio in St. Louis Park over the Labor Day weekend, killing two people and injuring at least nine others.

Steven Frane Bailey, 56, of St. Louis Park was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the wreck at Park Tavern about 8 p.m. Sunday.

The crash killed 30-year-old employee Kristina Marie Folkerts of St. Louis Park, and customer Gabriel Quinn Harvey of Rosemount, a 30-year-old health unit coordinator at nearby Methodist Hospital and nursing school student, who was there with others celebrating a colleague’s departure.

Bailey remains jailed on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. Court records did not list an attorney for him.

The charges say that law enforcement administered a preliminary breath test at HCMC, and it measured his blood alcohol content at 0.325%, more than four times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota. Court documents show Bailey has five drunken-driving convictions on his record dating back to when he was a teenager.

“What was supposed to be the end of a wonderful holiday weekend turned into a horrific tragedy that is made even worse by the fact that this was totally preventable,” County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference after the charges were filed. “In a time where we have more options than ever to ensure a safe ride home, Mr. Bailey made the choice to get behind the wheel while highly intoxicated and dramatically altered the lives of so many people.”

Moriarty did not know how fast the car was going in the lot and did not know how many people were on the patio at the time of the crash. But she said children were present, and a number of them left the patio shortly before the crash. Although none were injured, the presence of children is an aggravating factor the prosecution will cite to push for a longer sentence for Bailey if he is convicted.

According to the criminal complaint:

Bailey was seen on surveillance video pulling into the tavern parking lot and driving past an open spot. He then hit a parked car when he tried to back into that spot, pulled out and then accelerated toward the patio. He plowed through the metal fence into the patio seating area and hit several people. His vehicle came to a stop when it hit some boulders. He was traveling anywhere from 30 to 45 miles per hour while going “all the way through the patio area.”

Folkerts was pinned under the vehicle. Officers lifted the vehicle off her, but she died at the scene despite lifesaving efforts. Harvey was pronounced dead at HCMC.

Officers approached Bailey’s SUV and heard him on the phone saying, “I hit the gas instead of the brake and went right through a thing,” and, “I’m probably going to jail.” Related Coverage

The officers detected that Bailey was calm but slow to respond to directions. His speech was slurred, and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Once out of the SUV, he fell to his knees. Told he was going to undergo field sobriety tests, he said, “You don’t need to do fields. I know what I did.”

30-year-old Park Tavern employee Kristina Marie Folkerts of St. Louis Park was killed in the crash.

A statement from HealthPartners, which operates Methodist Hospital, said four nurses were injured. Online fundraising campaigns have identified three of the victims who gathered at Park Tavern:

Laura Knutsen was being celebrated ahead of starting her studies this week at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn., to be a certified registered nurse anesthetist, the campaign on her behalf posted. Knutsen has extensive fractures and numerous traumatic injuries and was being treated at HCMC, the posting read.

Tegan D’Albani, 34, was being treated for injuries as serious as Knutsen’s and also is at HCMC, her supporters noted. The charges listed her injuries as broken legs, pelvis, ribs and dislocated knees.

Theo Larson “has been a longtime employee of the Methodist Hospital ICU starting as a nursing assistant there and now has been a nurse for many years,” the campaign on his behalf read. Larson was admitted to North Memorial Health Hospital with multiple skull, facial and orbital fractures, the posting read. The criminal complaint added he has “complete memory loss.”

An HCMC spokeswoman said Tuesday afternoon that Knutsen and D’Albani were in serious condition. Larson was in fair condition, a hospital spokesman said.

Six additional victims suffered injuries that included bruises and road rash.

Driver’s criminal history behind the wheel

Bailey’s history of drunken-driving convictions starts in 1985 with a conviction in Wisconsin when he was 17 years old, according to court documents. Additional convictions for drunken driving followed in Wabasha County in 1993 and in Hennepin County in 1998, court records show.

In 2014, he was found guilty of misdemeanor fourth-degree drunken driving after being stopped by police in Waseca for failing to signal a turn. Law enforcement measured his blood alcohol content at the time at 0.16%, twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

He was convicted again in 2015 for gross misdemeanor third-degree drunken driving after a police officer in Plymouth did a random registration check and saw Bailey’s driving privileges had been canceled because of the previous drunken-driving offense. Atthe time of Sunday’s crash, Bailey was driving with a valid license, state officials said.

A preliminary breath test administered to Bailey about 90 minutes after he was stopped measured his blood alcohol content at 0.08%, the minimum needed to allege intoxication.

Park Tavern, at 3401 S. Louisiana Av., has been closed since the crash. The owner said he expects to reopen Wednesday. The tavern plans to hold a memorial and fundraiser for crash victims at a later date, the owner said. It also plans to plant a tree in memory of the crash victims.

The St. Louis Park Police Department believes more people were hurt in the crash. Anyone injured who hasn’t yet been interviewed can call the department at 952-924-2165 and leave their full name, contact information and connection to the incident so an investigator can call back. Anyone who witnessed any part of the crash and captured video or photos is asked to submit them online to police at bit.ly/parktavernvehicleincident.

A statement from HealthPartners, which operates Methodist Hospital, said four nurses were injured. Online fundraising campaigns have identified three of the victims who gathered at Park Tavern:

What a dystopia we live in. Your employer is literally a hospital and you still have to crowdfund to pay your medical bills. Shameful.

What's this now?

Slay the Spire is really nice for limited mobility. Turn based, point and click based. I like to play with one hand while I'm eating with the other.

Nearly every sentence of this is wrong. Suffering is a part of life, but that doesn't mean it's the only part, and it doesn't mean the "logical" solution is to die. Get real.

Is there a sharpener you recommend? Drill Doctor?

I've had the basic one (not the slim - parts of the band on the slim are bare elastic and it's not comfortable) for years and I love it. I'm a side sleeper and I don't have much trouble with the mask getting pushed off, but I do dream about getting the pro version.