Frankly I am tired of the fun police.

Target, Kohl’s drop drinking games

(azcentral.com) Two of the nation’s largest retailers have halted sales of board games that encourage players to drink alcohol, less than a month after drug prevention groups launched letter-writing campaigns that accused the retailers of promoting binge drinking by selling “Drinko” and similar games. Target spokeswoman

Lena Michaud said in an e-mail Wednesday the chain had pulled “Drinko” - an adult version of the game “Plinko” on the “Price is Right” TV game show - from its stores and Web site.

Target’s move came after letter campaigns by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America and Join Together, a public health project at Boston University that says it has a mailing list of about 35,000 drug prevention activists.

(snip)

Meanwhile, Kohl’s stopped selling similar drinking games in its 817 stores and on its Web site before Christmas, says Kelli Ramey, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin-based chain.

So what is the reasoning behind this protest?

“The only point of these games is to encourage dangerous consumption,” Helmuth says. “Why would a family retailer want to sell games that expressly encourage people to drink until you puke?”

Why?  Because there is money to be made.  Good old fashioned American capitalism.  For example: With all the naked parties going on in colleges I am sure that the future leaders of our country do not have time to make up their own drinking games.  Thus Kohls and Target were providing a service and product that I am sure was increasing in demand and popularity. 

Nosey kill joys need to mind their own business.

Metro’s blogger, Mary Sit, has wasted no time in mischaracterizing, omitting and ignoring relevant facts about the transit authority’s security problem:

When the security guards were pulled about two years ago, 18 Park & Ride lots were covered from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It cost $1.25 million a year.

The incidents of property crimes – mainly auto thefts and auto break-ins - totaled 126 in fiscal year 2003, ending Sept. 30 and 134 incidents in fiscal year 2004.

The crime rate has crept up – but the city ‘s population has also surged as has its crime rate.

The guards were removed in early 2005, so why not post 2005 and 2006 crime statistics so we can compare? Here’s why, according to KHOU:

For the last fiscal year, thefts went up 16-percent. The incease in robberies was even more alarming.

They skyrocketed by 400-percent compared to the fiscal year before.

Add it all up and crimes at bus stops, along the light rail and at Park & Rides were up 32-percent in the last year.

Got that? An increase of 32 percent means crime has “crept up,” according to Sit. But an increase of about 7 percent means the population has “surged.”

I thought maybe the launch of Metro’s blog would result in more honesty and transparency from our beloved transit authority. Looks like I was wrong.

Obviously, the Big Story is President Bush’s speech last night and his plans for a troop surge in Baghdad. Feel free to weigh in with reaction to both the speech and the plan.

What I heard was remarkably similar to recommendations made by Frederick W. Kagan and General Jack Keane in a report for the American Enterprise Institute issued last week. I’m  sorta kicking myself for not linking to it sooner, because this is clearly the intellectual basis for the President’s plan.

Anyway, it is a sobering report and well worth a read. It goes into very specific details about how this type of operation would proceed, and has a very detailed analysis of our enemies likely responses.

50 pages, pdf; highly recommended.

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