Lunacy!

[Camy]

Elisa's crime was to hold a birthday party for her 16-year-old son Ryan and serve his friends beer...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6747807.stm

I am gobsmacked!

[Trab]

i'm not. As Canadians, we are closer to the USA and see the TV news from there on a regular basis. 5 minutes of evening news is enough to show us just how different it really is there. On the surface it seems the same: cars, houses, grocery store products, clothing, even the language, but approach to the news, the order of priority, and the content will quickly disabuse one of thinking USA society is the same.

I'm not saying it's wrong (although I think much of it is) as much as I'm saying it is just plain alien. I think Americans are at war with their own consciences, and each others, much more than with anything else. I don't think they have any clear direction, so they just go this way, then that way, then another. Sadly, each time they go in a different direction, those who don't follow seem to end up in jail.

If I had to sum it up, I'd say that Americans are not really very cooperative minded. It is more like they must punish those who 'do wrong', rather than convince everyone to work together. It seems like their approach is, "If you don't do as I say, you'll be jailed", rather than, "Let's do this for the good of all." It's rather distressing at times, and at others, I just put it out of my mind. There's no way anyone is going to convince 300M + people to change their approach. They will have to discover a way to do that, all by themselves.

On a sad note, the continual bombardment by the USA media (into Canada) has had marked impact on our own cooperative spirit. It's still there, but noticeably less each year. Most notably, this change is greatest where the TV cable companies carry USA channels.

[sat8997]

I'm a bit confused as to what has you gobsmacked.

Is it the fact that the woman was incredibly stupid for serving beer to minors no matter how 'safe' she made things or is it the fact that the woman was incredibly stupid for serving beer to minors no matter how 'safe' she made things?

Either way the woman was incredibly stupid for serving beer to minors no matter how 'safe' she made things.

Sharon

[Graeme]

I agree she was stupid. I think I was more amazed at the sentence. I would have thought that a community service sentence would be more appropriate, under the circumstances.

[DesDownunder]

Her mistake was in not inviting all the parents as well. Then the law probably would have had a difficult time in giving all the parents that over the top sentence.

[Trab]

It seems we have a similar situation in Canada. A lady threw a graduation party for her offspring and friends, probably knowing that they would go out drinking in some remote location if they she didn't provide for them at home. It seems they took in all the guests, blocked their driveway with a huge vehicle, so nobody could leave, and demanded all the keys of the cars. They served liquor of some kind, and after the party one kid, several blocks away from the party, was assaulted by someone. I don't even think it is relevant, but it made the story of the party public knowledge. Now it seems there's some talk about asking this lady, who is prominent on the local school board, to maybe resign from her position. I'd say there's certainly a difference in the response level of Canadians to this type of thing.

[colinian]

First, this woman and her husband were not just incredibly stupid for serving beer to a bunch of under-age kids, they were setting an awful example for their kids and the other kids attending the party that it's OK to break the law.

Second, this woman and her husband were incredibly stupid for not letting these kids' parents know that beer was going to be served, and allowing each of them the choice of opting-out and not letting their kid go to the party.

Third, this woman and her husband made a terrible mistake to live in Virginia, a hotbed of religious conservatism that makes serving alcoholic beverages to underage kids a felony that can result in an 8-year jail sentence (even if it was reduced to 27 months in her case).

Fourth, this woman and her husband knew what the law is in Virginia, knew what they were doing was illegal, and ignored the fact that there could be consequences that might prove unfortunate.

Despite believing that the sentence is an aberration of justice, I have no compassion for this woman and her husband.

I think the Virginia statute that put her -- but not her husband! -- in prison is unconscionable and should be repealed. Being Virginia, that probably won't happen soon, if ever.

I thank my parents for having the good sense to live in California, where I was born and raised and have lived my entire life. I will not move to Virginia under any circumstances, thank you anyway.

Colin

[DesDownunder]

Colin, that was an excellent, logical, analysis of the situation.

I won't be moving to Virginia either.

Though I am sure many Virginians probably want the law repealed too.

[EleCivil]

When I lived in Kentucky, the church that my dad was preaching at was in a dry county - meaning, no sales of alcohol on Sundays. This meant that the superconservative Southern Baptists who helped put that law in place had to smuggle wine in across county lines to do communion services. I thought it was pretty funny - the attitude was "Absolutely no booze on Sundays...unless WE want some."

[clay49]

here is a list of the "Dry Countys" across the good ole USA

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/controver...1140551076.html