Secrets of the City

I knew catfish hunter was in still in Wabasha County.

You can’t really say you caught a catfish until you noodle for one.

Are there catfish on Saturn’s moon?

Unless this state wakes up and adopts the Virgil Goode position on piscatory immigration, Minnesota will be overrun with extraterrestrial catfish!

This list provides a nice contrast between two types of intolerance involving muslims.

It’s wonderful how Ellison has taken the high road with Virgil Goode’s intolerance, and using Jefferson’s Koran is a stroke of genius.

However, the cabbie story shows how intolerant muslims can be to other people.

muslims cabbies are rejecting people with service dogs because the dog’s saliva is “unclean”? man, that’s a new low. talk about intolerance.

Separating conjoined twins is so 2006.

I didn’t know George and Weezy were Muslims!

“However, the cabbie story shows how intolerant muslims can be to other people.”

Not like there’s anything unique about that. There’s plenty of examples of how intolerant christians can be to other people: Virgil Goode is a recent example. pharmacists refusing to dispense birth control pills, landlords refusing to rent to unmarried couples or gays, there was a landscaping firm in Houston that refused to work for a gay couple.

Seems to me that the conservative strains of ANY religion are fundamentally intolerant.

Kincaids in St. Paul charges $4 to split entrees….I wonder what Mayo charges to split twins.

Those cabbies should get fired. I have as little patience for them refusing to do their jobs as I do for pharmacists who claim religious reasons for not giving women birth control, and have said so before. And it seems obvious that they are deliberately interpreting Muslim law in as strict a matter as possible in order just to be a pain in the ass.

By the way, I can’t be the only one who has noticed that cab drivers, as a rule, seem to be the most sloppy drivers on the road. And seeing as they are on the road all the time, it makes them exceptionally dangerous. How easy is it to get a hack license? And why isn’t it even easier to lose it?

I actually saw a cab pull up in front of the Bandbox a few nights ago, open its door, and dump garbage out the door into the street.

Sure,

If you’re unwilling to perform the basic responsibilities of the job, you need to find a new line of work.

Just trying to prevent the “only muslims are intolerant” meme from getting a foothold in this thread.

I tried to find out the cost for twin splitting… didn’t get an answer yesterday. I wonder who pays… it sure is good pub for the hospital. Mayo: we can split twins. We can do anything.

best point in that article:

airport serves everyone. if you want to work at the airport, then your ca will serve everyone.

nobody is stopping you from running your cab all over the TC, picking up or rejecting fares as you see fit.

mnblrmkr,

Where did you see anyone implying that “only muslims are intolerant” in this thread?

Here’s an idea: Don’t be a cabbie.

Or, you know, what Max and everybody else already said.

All i can say is wow that’s a huge f*cking catfish.

Question about MSP cabbies — do they have to take a road knowledge test like those in Manhattan? I got a cab at the airport on Saturday evening and the cabbie hadn’t heard of Cleveland Avenue in St. Paul. (I asked him to take Cleveland to University.) I reported him to the cab company and to the MAC, but I don’t think it’ll do any good.

I’m Jewish. I’m going to become a cabbie and refuse to pick up people who are wearing mixed fabrics. I’m also Irish American, so I think I’ll refuse anyone wearing orange.

Why should cabbies be allowed to reject people with service animals or alcohol in other areas of the Cities?

Actually, Minneapolis has an ordinance which prohibits turning away fares for other than very specific reasons, too.

341.170. Duty to accept passengers.No driver shall refuse or neglect to convey any orderly person or persons upon request anywhere in the city unless previously engaged, provided that such person agrees to pay the legal rate of fare. No taxicab driver shall refuse or fail to provide services to any person protected under the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances section 139.10. No taxicab driver shall carry any other passenger than the person first employing the taxicab, except as provided in section 341.730, and then only with the consent of the first passenger or passengers. (88-Or-004, § 5, 1-15-88)

They are not required to take any test but they are required to have a map in the car…

Not that it helps much…

MSparber and I finally agree

don’t want to dispense birth-control pills? don’t be a pharmacist

don’t want to drive people around who have a bottle of (unopened) alcohol? don’t be a cab driver

If your religious beliefs prevent you from being able to carry out the duties of your job, you get another job.
Plain and simple.

I reported him to the cab company and to the MAC, but I don’t think it’ll do any good.

cuz he didn’t know where a street was? geez guy, got a little time on yer hands?

I’m impressed with MAC for not chickening out on this one.

“I got a cab at the airport on Saturday evening and the cabbie hadn’t heard of Cleveland Avenue in St. Paul.”

People in St. Paul are traveling now?

Actually, it was more than not knowing the street. It was also things like keeping the meter running while he attempted to look up Cleveland on a map (a street that I would consider major in St. Paul), and not following my directions (e.g., turn left on X street) and missing multiple turns as a result. He also tried to take me back to the airport mid-cab ride, because I questioned what would happen if I was a visitor to the Twin Cities.

Maybe he thought it was somewhere in Wisconsin.

I also agree with Diz that people shouldn’t blow themselves up along with people in their vicinity in the name of religion. Listen, I’ll defend Muslims where I think they need defending, but they can be as dull-witted, selfish, addle-pated and plodding in their religious thinking as can anyone else, and I have as little patience for Muslim misbehavior as I do for Fundamentalist Christian, Catholicm or Jewish misbehavior.

Is it hard for you to put suicide bombers in a different league of “misbahavior” from someone won’t dispense birth control pills?

It’s ironic that a state as conservative with alcohol as MN is trying to force Muslim cabbies to carry booze against their religion, yet I can’t buy a bottle on Sunday!

Can I get an A-MEN!?!?!

there was a landscaping firm in Houston that refused to work for a gay couple.

Doubt it…I can tell you from watching many of my neighbors that there is no way a gay couple would outsource something as important to them as landscaping their yard.

Yes. I call that misbehooovior.

I only fly during hours when the light rail is still running now because a cabride from the airport to downtown is like fifty fucking bucks. I don’t care if they do know where they’re going, fifty bucks is not an OK price to get that far!

st. paul? stop making up places.

St. Paul is real. It’s right across the border in Wisconsin.

sam: “yeah, i need a lift to st paul.”
cabbie (accent): “who is this ‘paul’”?
sam: “no…st paul…the town?”
cabbie: “i don’t know….i’ve never heard of such a thing.”
sam: “the CAPITOL city??? it’s just east Minneapolis???”
cabbie: “ahh yes…you must be meaning of the woodenbury, yes?”
sam, frantically dialing the MAC….

Heh. I saw my friend in that CCO video of the twins. She was the Anesthesiologist on the surgery.

“Doubt it…I can tell you from watching many of my neighbors that there is no way a gay couple would outsource something as important to them as landscaping their yard.”

here

“mnblrmkr,

»» Submitted by »»» b.rivera at 10:16 AM on January 4″

I didn’t say that. I said I wanted to keep that from gettting a foothold in the thread, because when you read comments like these:

“However, the cabbie story shows how intolerant muslims can be to other people.
»» Submitted by »»» b.rivera at 8:33 AM on January 4

»» Submitted by cubbie at 8:56 AM on January 4″

threads very often descend into a Dizzy-esque bashing of all Muslims. I merely wanted it clearly stated that religous intolerance is hardly a unique trait to conservative/fundamentalist Islam.

i stand by my comment. that’s not muslim bashing. anybody who would deny a blind person a ride cuz their dog is “unclean” is a dick, pure and simple.

I for one am glad you’re here, mnblrmkr. Even if I can’t pronounce your name, which I assume is Swedish.

The fatwa said that “Islamic jurisprudence” prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, “because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam.”

By this reasoning, wouldn’t it be “cooperating in sin” to even carry passengers who aren’t Muslims? And then the “unclean” thing. Isn’t non-Muslim saliva considered at least as unclean as dog saliva? Maybe this isn’t an issue because most people don’t drool…?

I completely agree with Max about sanctimonius pharmacists. I can’t believe they get away with that shit. I was relieved when the MTC reversed its decision about accommodating the employee who refused to drive any bus carrying a particular ad. Jesus.

If someone gets ‘em in a bunch over a passenger carrying alcohol, I don’t know how they could live in a sinful nuthouse like the United States.

This has got to be Inequity Central.

Hypocrites.

“threads very often descend into a Dizzy-esque bashing of all Muslims. “

Nice to see I’ve become an “-esque”….but please, find me one, ONE, example of me “bashing all Muslims” on MnSpeak

Go ahead.
Do a search.

I’d say it’s more of a “Dizzyitude.” Or a “Dizziscousness.”

Is it hard for you to put suicide bombers in a different league of “misbahavior” from someone won’t dispense birth control pills?

I don’t put them in all that different of a league. They’re both insanely moronic, and both have strong negative effects on other people. If a woman in some bumblefuck town ends up with a kid because she couldn’t get a morning after pill, the woman, the kid, and to some tiny extent the town and country will suffer.

My attitude towards Muslims is the same as my attitude toward any religious or ethnic group: you do your thing, and I’ll do mine, and as long as you don’t try to impose your beliefs on me or seek to stir up hatred and violence toward my ethnic group, we’re cool.

Most Muslims are cool with that. Unfortunately, a disturbingly large minority (worldwide) of Muslims, at this point in history anyway, are not.

Thus, I have a problem – with some Muslims. Radical Muslims. Radical Muslims who hate Jews (me) and Americans (me) and want to kill said groups.

Duh.

Well, let me ask you this: Have you done anything to piss them off?

Kidding!

“I don’t put them in all that different of a league. They’re both insanely moronic, and both have strong negative effects on other people.”

Then don’t be surpised if people are incredulous when you say things like that.

“I don’t put them in all that different of a league. They’re both insanely moronic, and both have strong negative effects on other people.”

scenario 1: an innocent woman and child getting blown to pieces while shopping for flour
scenario B: a woman seeking the pill being told to take her business elswehere

yep, not that different a league at all. splitting hairs, really.

“I for one am glad you’re here, mnblrmkr. Even if I can’t pronounce your name, which I assume is Swedish.”

Thanks,

Actually, it’s just a short hand: A Purdue fan (alumnus) living in MN. I just stripped out the vowels.

Cubbie: I don’t think I said that comment was by itself Muslim bashing, just comments like those are often the start of a descent in the thread towards it. I’m simply trying to point out and remind that Muslims harly have an exclusive lock on intolerance.

And I did state baove that I agree that anyone who is unwilling to perform the duties of their job needs to find one that is more compatible with their beliefs.

hey, i thought that poo-eating dogs had cleaner mouths than humans’ . . . that’s what my 2nd grade science teacher told me . . .

mnblrmkr, your handle is way too hard to type. seriously.

i dunno, it just seems like muslims (radical ones only, i’m told) are so goddamn…overbearing. first they blow up our planes, then they want special rooms to pray, then they won’t drive people carrying alcohol or dogs, they need extra breaks in a workday to pray….it’s like that polish woman said…you’re new, you gotta try and fit in-ski. i just don’t see them doing that. or even trying. maybe they do and those things aren’t reported. i guess maybe this pisses me off cuz the christian pharmacist thing doesn’t effect me (being a dude), and the houston lawn care company doesn’t affect me cuz a) i don’t live in houston and 2nd) i’m not gay. (seriously, mom…i’m not.)

i think i’m conflicted because on an individual level, i like almost everybody i’ve ever met. but “groups” i have a hard time with – ie liberals, neocons, radical muslims, wisconsinites, and purdue fans.

Is Purdue in Sweden?

Thge last time I took a cab to the airport (last week), I noticed a prayer rug folded up between the front seats. I had a nice chat with the Somali driver. A couple of highlights:

1) Why are there so many Somali cab drivers? It’s a job that gives them the flexibility to pray 5 times a day. At his previous job, he had to go to the bathroom to pray.

2) He thought the incident with imams at the airport was a “joke” – basically a prank to make a point. He says he’s prayed at the airport lots of times with no problem.

I’ve traveled to a lot of airports over the years. Several airports in the Middle East. Been on planes where they put an arrow pointing to Mecca up on the entertainment screen so people can pray in the plane.

Never seen a Muslim praying in public. Probably at religious rooms in the airport. They’re around.

That’s why a story about a group up and praying before a flight between MSP and PHX seemed odd to me.

Well, they are only 3% of the population. Maybe they’re praying all the time and we’re just not seeing it.

Come to think of it, six times per day — they MUST be praying all the time.

“Is Purdue in Sweden?”

Nothing like living in Indiana to make you realize how liberal you are.

For those interested, here’s a video from the House floor today showing Keith Ellison acting very gracious and shaking Virgil Goode’s hand when a lesser man would have snubbed him. I think Keith is making a good impression in his first days.

I know where Purdue is. West Lafayette.

Regarding the Virgil Goode/Dennis Prager idiocy about Ellison swearing in on the Koran…..

Who cares?
He should be sworn in on a book he doesn’t believe in?
how stupid

Like a skipping CD, I’ll repeat once again that my problem with Ellison was never with his religion, it was his relationship with groups like CAIR and Nation of Islam.

It never fails to amaze me what kind of morons think they’re “on your side” whenever you take sides in a political controversy.

To give an example that some of you of a more leftist persuasion can understand, imagine you’re at a rally protesting the war in Iraq (a reasonable position that I don’t necessarily agree with) and some nutcase comes up to you and says, “Yeah man, I agree, we SHOULD nuke America!”

It’s that kind of thing….the idiots always jump on board any train they can find.

I have a problem with Ellison’s relationship with the House of Representatives. It’s a den of thieves and miscreants, and what is he doing shaking hands with those peope?

Keith, you have lost a lot of my respect.

splitting hairs, really.

I’m not going to say they’re not different in any way, but I’m trying to make the point that we need to recognize a) that they both are derived from the same kind of flawed thinking, b) that pharmacists not doing their jobs can have serious consequences and that c) those kinds of fundie christians are basically our equivalent of suicide-bombing muslims – if they lived in a more extreme environment, they’d be the ones blowing themselves up.

Purdue without a viable basketball team, as in evidence last night, is a bunch of engineers-in-training drinking shite beer, walking up and down hills and eating @ XXX Burger.

Nothing like living in Indiana to make you realize how liberal you are.

As a former Hoosier, I’m not sure how to take that…

PU! That cow collage (Moo U) lived up to its acronym. Heh! Nice work, Gophers!

Bob Moffitt, IU grad

Ellison is a Muslim?

Don’t hate him because he’s cute!

Dizzy = Jealous

Thge last time I took a cab to the airport (last week), I noticed a prayer rug folded up between the front seats. I had a nice chat with the Somali driver.

Chuck,

Did the driver know you had a flask in your back pocket?

funny, i actually DID have a flask of Bushmill’s in my suitcase!

Raindog-
go for it!
Maybe you’ll be the next Amy Alexander!

In case that reference didn’t ring a bell

I have a problem with Ellison’s relationship with the House of Representatives. It’s a den of thieves and miscreants, and what is he doing shaking hands with those peope?

Newsflash: get a life you fledging right wing, anti-ethnic, nationalistic, war-mongering, Xtain extremist, Pat Robertson’s 700 Club die hard neo! The guy can do anything he wants in office, especially meeting with new house members regarding bills or swearing on his own bible. And personally, I DON’T FUCKIN CARE! I don’t care about his damn religion or his skin color, as long he does a good job or not in office during his first 2 year term in Washington. Hence, if you people out there continue to be addicted to either Ellison’s muslim status or House Speaker Nancy Pelsoi because she’s a woman and a grandmother of many children, then you guys on the far right have serious emotional issues!

I think MSparber was being sarcastic with that comment you quoted, Big G.

S-A-R-C-A-S-M
Look it up!

I love it when Big G comes home from a night on the town, turns on his computer and writes incoherent rants on this site. heh.

you fledging right wing, anti-ethnic, nationalistic, war-mongering, Xtain extremist, Pat Robertson’s 700 Club die hard neo!

Actually, he pretty much nailed me with that.