Open Thread ... Thursday (Friday Eve)

Thanks for spending part of your day on the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link in the space below.

Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. I read the OT, but if you need to contact me directly, my email is jhart@kcstar.com.

Thanks again, and have a great Thursday!

Comments

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Good morning, Bloggers and Bloggerettes. Reading the blog, seeing how insane some people are, keeps me from having to admit how nuts I am. Thanks, JH!

[CareBear]

Good morning one and all, welcome back to the show that never ends. Thank goodness it doesn't because it's another great day to be alive.

Keith, ain't it the truth. :)

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Top of the mornin' to ye, CB! Just been reading the Florida story about the kid that ran over the drunk biker. Lousy story. There's got to be some nuance to the situation that's missing. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense.

I'm guessing that the kid plowed thru the scene as po and EMTs were working it. In which case, the kid got off light.

But I have a hard time working up sympathy for a drunken biker/driver, too.

[CareBear]

Well thank you Keith. I have read it twice trying to figure out the missing pieces. There's just too much info that's no there to make it make sense. I guess this would be a good point for the CSI to come in.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

I call your attention to page 4 of today's Preview section, "The no Guarantee Weekend Forecast" (in the upper left corner.) It is an absolute masterpiece of reporting and puts Katie Horney to shame.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Good morning, CSKC. Congratulations to the new American Idol, David Cook.

Uh oh...
COOK ARRESTED! POLICE on duty in Clitheroe town centre found a 20-year-old man outside the Dog Inn confronting other men.
Magistrates heard Jordan Cook's face was "contorted with anger" as he was restrained from attacking.
Cook, of Pimlico Road, Clitheroe, pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Ah, them Brits, JJ! Let that be a lesson to all traveling to that sceptred isle: Don't contort your face with anger. I guess McDonald's may have to drop Grimace from their advertising there.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Contort your face with a goofy grin. They may follow you closely, but you can't get arrested for smiling.

The New York Post, in its special style of reporting, is full of goodies today. To wit...
DRIVER A 'HIT' VICTIM. A Bronx man found shot dead execution-style in his Cadillac in a New Jersey parking lot had been a longtime driver for the mob, said friends and family who always had their suspicions.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised, but I wouldn't know what [crime] family," said the dead man's son, Ralph Marcucci, a 36-year-old Navy veteran.
"I'm even more naive than Anthony Soprano [Jr.]," he said. "I'm Anthony Soprano times Pi [3.14159]."

'RAPIST' IN SPITZER PLOY. It's the Spitzer defense.
A homeless ex-con accused of sex attacks on prostitutes is defending himself by claiming he was really a customer, not a rapist - and hey, anybody from bums to governors can be a john.
"Rovell Washington has sex with prostitutes," defense lawyer Kevin Canfield told a Manhattan Supreme Court jury yesterday. "People of all walks of life have sex with prostitutes. We know that from recent news events."
"You can call it the Spitzer defense," the lawyer said outside court.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

[Keith tilts his nose in the air, looking down at JJ's reading NY Post.] ;-)

NY Times article about racial/ethnic tensions in Crown Heights. Once again, "Can't we all get along?" is answered with a resounding "NO!"

[JUNGLE JIM]

Not a crime...
DRAWING CRITICISM. What is with The New Yorker's Cartoon Caption Contest?
In a scene straight out "Seinfeld," the magazine is being accused of cartoon plagiarism.
The cartoon for the May 12 edition of the magazine's popular caption contest is strikingly similar to the cover of a Marvel comic book from 1962.
The incident is reminiscent of an episode of Seinfeld called "The Cartoon," where Elaine gets a cartoon published in The New Yorker after subconsciously lifting it from a "Ziggy" comic.

BONDAGE BOSS IS A BAD SEED: SUIT. The head of a sperm bank to the stars that caters to gay and lesbian couples in New York and LA bullied his former marketing director into sharing his bed on business trips and attending cultish seminars, a $3 million federal lawsuit alleges.
Stuart Miller, whose company, Growing Generations, charges movie execs and actors $100,000 for its services, also demanded a stiff price from employee Scott Glasgow in exchange for job security, according to the suit.
The former marketing executive claims he was fired last June after he rebuffed Miller's repeated advances and refused to continue attending "religious" seminars by Landmark Education, an offshoot of Werner Erhard's EST program.

[The_Golfer]

Good morning everyone!!

It was a dark and stormy night....

Wait, why I am I channelling Snoopy? LOL

[JUNGLE JIM]

Look around. If you see a doghouse that resembles a Sopwith Camel, a little round-headed kid or a yellow bird flying upside down, you might BE Snoopy.

[JUNGLE JIM]

These guys need some burnt ends...
LI Restaurant Owner, Chef Allegedly Rape Waitress. The owner and top chef of a popular family BAR-B-QUE restaurant are under arrest on Wednesday for allegedly taking turns raping a female employee inside their restaurant on Long Island, police say.

High school students, local residents and nearby shopkeepers in Rocky Point reacted with disbelief to the charges leveled at the Fatty Beltbuckles Restaurant owner and his head chef, both jailed on frightening rape charges. Mugshots included at no extra charge. No word on whether a meat cleaver went missing during the attack...

Man Fends Off Meat Cleaver-Wielding Burglar. A burglar armed with a meat cleaver picked the wrong house in Mount Vernon to rob after the owner decided to put his life at risk and fight back.

Leroy Simpson, a 45-year-old taxi driver, said he found a man in his basement armed with the large knife early Monday morning.

"It was death or life, and I was not gonna let him take me out," Simpson told CBS 2.

[The_Golfer]

Phill Kline can't figure out why the Kansas Supreme Court doesn't want to play in the mud with him?
my resume

[JUNGLE JIM]

Do the words "Daisy Hill" mean anything to you?

[The_Golfer]

Right headline, part 2
Kline questions why Kansas Supreme Court won’t let key witness testify

[The_Golfer]

The puppy farm.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Extreme, yes. Pampering, not so much...
Suit claims pit bull ravaged schnauzer at elite kennel. A doggone mismatch at the Biscuits & Bath spa left Diesel, a 10-pound schnauzer, helpless as a 65-pound pit bull chomped on the tiny pooch, nearly ripping off one of his hind legs.
Jeffrey Tullman, 64, was vacationing in Egypt last month when he left Diesel and his Labrador retriever, Jack, in the care of a doggy spa once hailed by The Times of London as offering "the most extreme form of pet pampering on the planet."

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

From the sex with inanimate objects file... Man admits to having sex with over 1000 cars. Including, the chopper from Airwolf....

I really hope he didn't burn his banana with Herbie the Love Bug.

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

European court to hear from Chimpanzee about his civil rights.

[JUNGLE JIM]

The case has haunted Philadelphia for 51 years, the longest and most-investigated murder mystery in the city's history. Now a member of the Vidocq Society, a group of retired law enforcement detectives and other sleuths who specialize in unsolved crimes, has a new theory.
It's about as cold as a cold case can be: the case of the boy in the box.

[The_Golfer]

JJ - that is one case I check on every so often too. It has truly haunted many in the Philadelphia police department.

[The_Golfer]

OK R2, that guy needs a rubber room. Sorry, but REALLY creepy.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Well, he wasn't done with the "Junior Jumble" yet....

BRADENTON (FL) -
A man who police say choked his mother because she tried to throw away his newspaper was sentenced to a year of probation Wednesday after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of battery.

Donald MacRae, 46, of Bradenton, must also perform 25 of community service and take an anger management class, Assistant State Attorney Jamie Rosenberg said.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, MacRae's mother said her son was angry because she tried to put his old newspaper in a garbage bag.

MacRae told deputies he got a towel from a bathroom, put it around his mother's neck and choked her.

Prosecutors initially charged MacRae with battery on an elderly person, but under a plea deal, the charge was reduced to misdemeanor battery.

[JUNGLE JIM]

It's always fun to read these stories about cases from long ago. Now they apply ballistics, DNA, CG recreations etc. that weren't available before. And how certain cases continue to draw interest.

[*sexy*]

GOOD morning.

[James Hart]

Good morning, everybody!

[JUNGLE JIM]

Good morning, James.

Man who chopped friend with chain saw to serve life. Chauson McKibbins, 37, was sentenced Wednesday to two life sentences, plus 10 years, for the 2001 murder of Demetrius Robbins.
McKibbins believed Robbins, a longtime friend, had stolen 10 kilograms of cocaine from the former's drug operation, Howard spokeswoman Shelia Edwards said.
The defendant kidnapped Robbins, tortured him and hacked him into 10 pieces with a chain saw, Edwards said.

[James Hart]

So glad that he didn't allow their friendship to interfere with his drug business ...

[*sexy*]

Good morning James~!

[aqua]

good morning sexy ;)

[JUNGLE JIM]

Well, business IS business after all.

Yee haw! a Texas two-step...
Fired Austin police officer indicted. A Travis County grand jury has indicted former Austin police officer Scott Lando, who was fired in April after being accused in a sex-for-hire case, and charged him with multiple felonies and misdemeanors.
According to the indictment, Lando is charged with four counts of delivery of a controlled substance for providing cocaine and other drugs to a woman with whom the indictment said Lando was having an affair.
Lando also was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant, a first-degree felony, for exhibiting a firearm and threatening another man while on duty as a police officer, according to the indictment.
Pfeifer said that Lando once put a gun to her boyfriend's head and threatened to kill him unless he told Lando where she was.

Adoption scammer in jail again. Two years ago, 11 News was in Alice when Belinda Ramirez was arrested by the FBI.
The Feds had been investigating Ramirez for months, after several couples claimed they had been swindled by her. The couples said they met her through various adoption Web sites, where she claimed to be 8-months pregnant and wanted to give her child to a loving couple.
Just a few weeks ago, soon after her release from prison, she was charged with fraud again.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Mama's little angel...
Grand Jury: Teen indicted on jail escape, sexual assault and car theft charges. A McLennan County grand jury indicted 17-year-old Anthony Darrell Hamilton on escape, sexual assault of a child and auto theft charges.
Hamilton, who was certified to stand trial as an adult on the charges in March, remained at large after his Oct. 4 escape from the juvenile detention center until Jan. 11, when he was arrested at the Waco bus terminal on his way out of town.
The sexual assault of a child and auto theft charges were pending against him before his escape from the juvenile center. He remained in the McLennan County Jail late Wednesday under bonds totaling $190,000 on the three McLennan County charges and on a Dallas County charge of sexual assault of a child that reportedly occurred after his escape in Waco, authorities said. A Dallas County grand jury indicted him on that charge in October, according to court records.

[tr]

Morning Ev1

[The_Golfer]

Morning "sexy", James, tr.

[tr]

Morning Golfer.

[Ev1]

Good morning tr

[aqua]

:)

[tr]

Morning Sunshine

[Keith G. in P.V.]

AP is reporting the Atlanta police officer convicted Tuesday in the Kathryn Johnston shooting (92-year-old granny, no-knock warrant) was sentenced to 4 1/2 years this morning.

[JUNGLE JIM]

On tonight's episode of USS: Unreasonable Search and Seizure...

Police don't need to obtain a search warrant before using dogs to sniff outside a house for drugs, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

Judges E. Thomas Fitzgerald and William Murphy, citing U.S. Supreme Court cases, said a canine sniff is not a search as defined under Fourth Amendment law. They also said there is no reasonable expectation of privacy at the entrance to property that is open to the public, including the front porch of a home.

Ammendment 4, U.S. Constitution: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Let the rational discussion ensue...

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

So 4 1/2 years for basically murdering an old woman.... How rough.

[tr]

Fellow inmates will take care of him. He'll learn how to play little bunny foo foo real fast.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

I wonder what would happen if you fenced the yard? Would that grant the enclosed area protection under the 4th?

[JUNGLE JIM]

I don't get "open to the public". It's a doorway so I can get in and out of my home, and let in anybody I choose. But I never thought of it as open to the public.

[aqua]

R2, maybe it's kinda like a tire warranty program. She only had so much tread left so they discounted the payoff.

[The_Golfer]

Chances are that cop going to jail will be segregated.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

I pretty much laugh at all the conspiracy theories I hear about. But the more I read this type of stuff, the more I'm convinced that it's a plot so the government can bust anyone at anytime on some sort of charge-major, minor or hairsplitting. No wonder we have the highest proportion of convicted and the highest incarceration rates in the world. "Land of the free" seems to have taken on a whole new meaning over my lifetime.

[aqua]

we heard that Keith... ;)

[Keith G. in P.V.]

I admit it. Too much alcohol can make you stupid. Too much alcohol and a steering wheel can make you stupid and dangerous, if not lethal. So says this ChiTrib story

[The_Golfer]

Keith - click on the link, get

Access denied due to security policy violation

Reject ID: 4835af9e-1b-e992c00a-7b6

[The_Golfer]

Company has a block on the Trib

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Tell your boss it was MY fault, Golfer. Don't take a beat-down if you don't have to. Darn security people.

[teflon]

re: CareBear April 29

HA HA HA.....Nice try though.

[CareBear]

re: CareBear April 29

HA HA HA.....Nice try though.

Posted by: teflon | Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 01:05 PM

Goodness, did I miss something along the way?

[The_Golfer]

Keith - with the way things are, probably get there tomorrow and even if I flush cache today. It is SOOOOOO weird.

[The_Golfer]

I was wondering that too CB.

But since it was for you, I decided to lay low.

[blarneology]

CB must have been acting up on April 29th. We all know how she gets.

[John Boy]

I went back and looked (Because I am a busy body looking into everyones business..hee hee), and couldnt find anything.....
Walks out singing - "Just trolling along"...

[aqua]

Wasn't wine coolers on sale on April 29th?

[The_Golfer]

Out for the day, golf league!!!!

Tomorrow

[blarneology]

Aqua, I think they sell wine coolers everyday.

[JewwellsP]

I went & looked back myself, didn't see anything about CB..

Aqua I did ask & wasn't blessed with a answer.
Do you or anyone else know does Anheuser-Busch make Corona here in the states now?

[JewwellsP]

Well didn't take long to figure that out for my lazy self.
Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.8% share of U.S. beer sales. The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50% share in Grupo Modelo(Corona), Mexico’s leading brewer, and a 27% share in Tsingtao, the No. 1 brewer in China.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Drug investigation nets nearly 30 arrests. WAYNESVILLE, Mo. | Nearly 30 people have been arrested on state and federal drug charges in a sting near Fort Leonard Wood that resulted in the discovery of what is believed to be military munitions.

Additional arrests are expected, officials said.

During the two-year investigation, an undercover state trooper purchased heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy.

[aqua]

JewellsP, I thought Budweiser owned Corona outright. Thanks for the update.

I have switched to Budlight Lime for the summer.

[JUNGLE JIM]

UPDATE: 'Cowboy Mike' found guilty of murder, rape. A jury in Olympia has found Michael John Braae, known as Cowboy Mike, guilty of first degree murder and rape in the death of a Lacey woman seven years ago.
Braae was charged with strangling 44-year-old Lori Jones in 2001, then leaving her body under her bed.
A separate Braae trial in Yakima in 2006 ended in a mistrial when a Yelm woman who had been shot in the head was unable to testify because of her brain injury.

UPDATE: Man arrested in Seattle groping case. A man has been charged in connection with the latest case of a woman being groped at a Beacon Hill park last Saturday, but police say a string of groping attacks over the past two years isn't closed yet.

Everett father convicted of pimping. Twenty-eight-year-old Jerome Eugene Todd was convicted in U.S. District Court in Seattle Wednesday following a seven-day trial. The jury deliberated for one day before finding him guilty on all counts in the indictment.
Court documents say Todd threatened and beat women that he forced into prostitution. According to the Everett Herald, Todd told the women he needed them to earn money for him because he didn't want to work or pay child support to the mothers of his 18 children.

[*sexy*]

Afternoon!

[blarneology]

HowDay Sexy.

[*sexy*]

SUP! Eatin my lasagna!

[CareBear]

Hey everyone, is it safe for me to come back in?

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Yo, CB!!!! It's safe. It also seems empty. Must be the holiday weekend ramping up.

[*sexy*]

Why wouldnt it not be safe CB? ***looks around for possible hazards to CB***

[Patty PV]

*sexy* see the post that teflon left today. No one can figure out what's up with that.

CareBear - I sent you email.

[*sexy*]

UHM is it just me....cause i dont get it....

[Patty PV]

None of us got it. I'm relegating it to the trash bin.

Hope you're doing well sexy, saw you are bound for CO soon. I'm distracted with work and may not be posting much for awhile, but I'll be thinking of ya.

[*sexy*]

Thank you Patty!!!! Good luck with work!!

[John Boy]

Work? what is that?

[Biggin]

Remember me, asking for light rail in Kansas City. Sure would be nice with gas prices going through the roof. The KC voters spoke & the city ignored the vote. Funkhouser is weak.

[Patty PV]

Thanks sexy.

John Boy, I hope you're continuing to recuperate well. Every time I see my jack-in-the-pulpits I hope yours are still in bloom . . . those guys will multiply, watch out!

I'm going through some work-related trials and tribulations so I won't be posting as much for a little bit while I focus on what to do next.

[Patty PV]

We're with ya Biggin. Push will come to shove at some point on this issue; it's a matter of time, and leadership.