@linnyt: Not to mention joggers. Lots and lots of joggers.

Actually, I'm going to guess some of you know one of the girls at least superficially. For (benign) reasons I will NOT mention in order to protect her privacy and her family's, I will leave it at that, but this particular young lady happens to be highly intelligent, highly involved in the community, and an athlete, among other things. If you run, especially if you participate in organized events, I'm betting you've at least seen her there once.

Personally, I think the intersection is MORE dangerous than the middle of the road; that corner has poor visibility for southbound drivers turning right onto Baxter, and if I remember correctly a narrow sidewalk right on the CCHS side of the street. For a pedestrian, it's easier to watch for traffic coming from two directions in the middle of the road than having to also watch over your shoulder at the crosswalk for people coming up Milledge and turning left onto Baxter. Honestly, it sounds as though the driver was distracted, in a hurry, or both. I wonder if he was trying to make the light? In that case, the only difference for using the crosswalk might have been a simple matter of timing.

In any case, my prayers go out to both families.

Whoa! Way to go students. You have my support too, for all it's worth. (which isn't much, granted).

I wonder why the Twitter account got suspended, though?

@pumpkie: Seriously? You realize there are people who actually LIVE there, right? Many of them with elementary school age children? WTH?

We don't know enough to judge the victim in this case, but even if we did, might I point out that he is a VICTIM, presumably minding his business. That's like saying a woman asked to be raped just because of where she was or how she was dressed. I suppose that's ok too.

smh.

@Greg Benson: Actually, you are absolutely right! Having said that, I do believe there is both a plastic bag portion and a reusable bag one to the competition. Ironically, it's MUCH easier to bag the reusable bags than plastic. (Paper bags are also easier, for similar reasons: the formed bottoms help keep everything steady.)

@hypocritebuster: That store isn't nearly as busy, nor does it do the volume of business that the Alps Rd store does. I doubt College Station will be expanded any time soon. Now if you want a reconfiguration or an update, perhaps corporate will go for that.

There's not enough here to make a judgment call. I wish people would A) stop demonizing pit bulls, and B) understand that pits are big jealous babies that need lots of training and constant attention for years.

A lab can be just as dangerous, just not usually with their teeth. But they jump around, are overly enthusiastic for much longer than most other breeds. No one ever keeps track of how many kids they might have pushed over, stepped on, and otherwise terrorized in their own enthusiastic ways. Why's that? smh

My point is, I want to hear more about the circumstances and such. We don't know if this was her family's dog, or a visitor, how old the dog was, nothing. There's an opportunity for learning here....

It sounds too vague.

I've had the new Timeline for months, literally, and I don't know what everyone's so upset about. For one thing, individuals had MONTHS to give it a go and personalize it and clean out what they didn't want. For another, the format is really, really cool. If people weren't so stuck on keeping up with the "status quo", it wouldn't be such a problem.

The same could be said in other areas of life, but that's a subject for many other conversations.

[quote][b]Used2baFreeCountry[/b] -

From the UK newspaper article linked below: "did he attack a bus driver too?"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120504/Trayvon-Martin-case-He-s...

[/quote]

NONE of which matters. The 911 tapes CLEARLY indicate that Zimmerman followed him, which he is NOT allowed to do. Period end of question. By pursuing Martin, Zimmermann opened himself up to being followed in turn.

End of question.

[quote][b]boiledpeanutsbrother[/b] -

LOL - Asinine! People get their panties in a bunch over nothing these days!

[/quote]

I have to agree. I mean seriously, who doesn't read or hear "black and blue" and think bruises? smh. This should have been read more as a "Oh snap!" than as an "OMG funny!". Perhaps it speaks to those who complained that they thought it was meant as a funny for the sake of laughter. Haven't they heard of dark humor? Plenty of that going around in the world lately.

Having said that, perhaps the restaurant should have responded faster, or at least put a disclaimer on the post.

It could also be an attempt to collect private patient information, like names and addresses. I hope these laptops have fingerprint readers.

@barryhollander: I doubt it would do any good to change venues, because darn near every agency in the state was in on the chase. They *all* felt touched. Anyone who was at the funeral could see that. Moreover, he made national news. I don't think anyone will forget. He made sure of that when he pulled a move worthy of some of our favorite suspense movies or cop shows.

He actually thinks he'd be better treated elsewhere? Get real Hood!

First of all, the law is ridiculous. That's like saying we can't accept passports. I don't know if any of you readers have seen that particular piece of ID, but it has holograms and everything, and although I imagine it can be faked, it's about as difficult to fake as our own US ID cards, including our new driver's license.

I understand the need for security, but we also need to be somewhat reasonable and trust our own instincts. Most people are good people, trying to do the right thing, or at least trying to *be* right. What we have here is the beginnings of a police state. Be wary...

Oh no! this is turning sordid, how disappointing. It might be reassuring to the rest of us to know its not some crazed maniac running around out where, but how awful for his friends and family. Double lives... how awful.

Oh for crying out loud, really? This is absurd! I'm about as liberal as they come, but I gotta say sometimes our filters are on way too tight. I had a similar conversation recently about a Walgreens sign, celebrating Black History Month, above a display of cotton balls. It turns out Walgreens is celebrating by highlighting black-owned businesses, not making a statement about slavery or anything like that.

Someone got too clever (and may have been rather ignorant in the basic sense, as in "didn't know it was a big deal"). I don't think the writer needed to be fired (but maybe the editor did, for letting the headline stand in the first place). That's like firing someone for using the perfectly correct word "niggardly", which has nothing at all to do with racial slurs. Hey don't whine at me, look it up instead! (though I recognize it *might* test the comment filters)

One born every minute.

That's an absolutely brilliant idea! Kudos to Smith.

Also, to the family, condolences don't even begin to express what I feel for you. I'm truly sorry this... horror visited your family. I'm so very sorry. :'( May your daughter rest in peace. May all her questions and yours be answered sooner rather than later. May there be answers... and justice.

What a perfectly despicable, horrible, awful, mind-boggling, horrifying, infuriating thing to hear about. First of all, I don't care how old she was, that's just awful. The fact that she was a really young child to boot... the mind boggles, the soul hurts, the heart breaks.

Definitely, the word "animal" is the only one that fits. Actually no, that does a disservice to animals, who don't engage in such behavior: their kills, at least, are as clean as can be managed, not deliberate acts of torture. WTH?

On those who don't believe in God, I don't blame you, but... if you think of Him as a parent, rather than a Master, think of all the times someone (adult or child) is bullied, or laughed at, or whatever else; every time someone steps on a nail, or encounters another injury; any time someone chooses (or feels goaded) to drink themselves under the table. Does a parent intervene every time? Does a parent stop you in your tracks? Should they? Not always. Sometimes God does answer, sometimes not. It's hard to see what possible good so much suffering could provide. I know *I* can't see it. Who's supposed to be learning something here? Certainly not that poor child who was treated like so much furniture. Like an inanimate object. Makes me want to scream, and it's freaking difficult to believe an all-knowing, all-seeing God could see this and not intervene. But... he did say the age of miracles was over. I don't know.

@E.J. ... Really? 25% means one pedophile in your immediate extended family, at least. (count father, father-in-law, and two grandfathers, and that's 4 males.) 25%, really? I don't think so. I sure as heck hope NOT, in fact.

I'm with Ellie, I'm concerned that Sterling may be showing classic signs of true sociopathy. The project was bracketed by brutality for the mice. This lack of concern for a living creature is... disturbing.

I understand the idea that these are "just" mice, not cats of dogs or parakeets. They are often considered pests, and are experimented on for a greater purpose. I get that. The difference is the deliberate infliction of things that are known to be painful. Bashing over the head is *not* the only way to kill mice. Besides, surely he had to take the time to go get a piece of 2x4, he didn't have one just laying around, did he? Couldn't he have, likewise, taken the time to find some other means?

I dunno. This thing bothers me a bit. I hope I'm wrong about Sterling.

I have to agree with the following:

- Jumping to conclusions

- The terrorists won

The password is there for a reason. I would assume the crew also has a distress password, and he would give any terrorist the distress password so that the crew would *KNOW* that something was wrong.

They might have followed protocol, but they sure didn't follow logic. Incidentally, if they don't have a distress password, they need to get one. A password is useless if you don't trust it.

Although this isn't directly related, this Snopes rumor has some nice, friendly, understandable information about ricin and how it can be used. It *is* deadly to touch, btw, but not terribly easy to synthesize.

Of course, if any of these guys ever had an interest in chemistry, they might find it easier to do than the average Joe... http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/ricin.asp

Ricin can be dispersed in a gas, that is mixed in with something else and spread via a sprayer, for instance. (releasing it directly from the car would probably require a gas mask, and isn't that stuff able to pass through skin?)

It's not a matter of "if", but "when". Robin Cook (paraphrased)