Last year, my company made it policy to not hire people who smoke (and to fire current employees who won't try to quit). The health insurance premium that my employer pays went down $55 per month per employee. If that isn't a good reason to not hire smokers, I don't know what is.

Me too. It seems like we always get last year's crop in the stores while the best apples are shipped to other states/countries.

About 20 years ago, my family had an apple orchard in the Wenatchee valley, and I haven't tasted an apple from Washington that was as good as the ones they grew in years. Maybe everything is better with a little nostalgia.

Ideally, people this crazy don't get to adopt kids.

During daytime hours in Seattle, the 75 foot rule for portable stereo noise does not apply to owners and tenants when they are using the stereo equipment on their property.

Ummm...Did you think it was reasonable for your neighbor to call the police about the volume of your stereo? I'm guessing from the sense of indignation in your comment that you thought it was ridiculous. Why should we allow other "cranky citizens" to control other's daytime noise?

The Christmas Ships are completely different from these cruise ships. The music from the Christmas Ships is intended to be heard from shore. I don't know about what goes on in Silverdale, but in Seattle, people gather on shore to see the parade of Christmas Ships and sing along with the music.

I think you are replying to my post... I was just playing devil's advocate. I don't think anyone should be held liable here except for the shooter.

I brought up the police because the lawsuit basically argues that Denny's is responsible because they knew that they had a crime problem around the restaurant and didn't do enough to fight it. If we accept that argument, the same could be said of the police department. Crimes that occurred at Denny's were reported to the Police, therefore they should have done something more to prevent this shooting. The whole idea of this lawsuit is ridiculous to me.

Agreed. I just don't see how a business can be held liable for not going above normal expectations to protect public safety.

The hiring of private security may make good business sense, especially when something as public as this shooting occurs. However, generally speaking, the presence of security guards doesn't make me feel any safer, and this would not make me more likely to eat here.

So, by this logic, all restaurants or shops in rough areas should be required to provide their own private police force. If anything, I would say that Kent police failed to recognize that this area has a relatively high rate of crime. If the police receive this many calls per year, they should have stepped up patrols.

I guess everyone is responsible except the shooter, but this is only because that guy doesn't have anything worth suing for.

It could be a mercedes that was pieced together from two wrecked cars. Sometimes, when the front end of one car and the back end of another are wrecked, shady auto body shops will cut the wrecked cars in half and weld the two good halves together. The buyer doesn't always know what they are getting until they get in a wreck and the car splits in two along the line where the frame was welded together. There were a few high profile accidents in seattle about 5 years ago where this happened.