Open Thread ... Sweet Merciful Friday

Thanks for spending part of your day on the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments. This is also a good place to post links, if you've seen an interesting story somewhere else.

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 day!

Comments

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Good morning, Mr. Abbott and fellow Costellos!

In L.A., a police officer is indicted for the sexual assault of one woman, and soliciting sex from another. Snip:

Officer Russell Mecano, 40, an eight-year veteran of the LAPD, is charged with one misdemeanor count of solicitation of prostitution and felony counts of sexual battery by unlawful restraint, penetration by a foreign object by a public official, and penetration by a foreign object under duress.

I guess it proves cops are people, too, for good or ill.

In more L.A. news, Schwarzenegger names his kids' nanny to a state board overseeing guide dogs for the blind.

Closer to home, KMBC reports The Funk is going to sue the city over the "anti-Gloria" ordinance (a.k.a. "volunteer." I hope (but doubt) he wins.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

The Franken-Coleman race remains contested in Minnesota, with the gap down to 236 votes (out of 2.9 million) as of last night. The Independence Party candidate drew 15% of the vote, which raises a quandary I've found myself in before: the consequence of casting a vote for a 3rd party candidate with no chance of winning.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Surgery is always a painful experience, but especially if a nurse has replaced your painkiller with saline. Little detail available, but apparently 50 vials (200 doses) of Fentanyl were stolen by the nurse in a little over 3 weeks.

I thought the sexual revolution was 40 years ago. No ins and outs detailed in the story, but another female teacher has been busted for having sex with a student, this time in the Denver area. Mug shot included.

[Searching]

There is NO consequence for voting who you think is the best person, even if you know they have a snowballs chance in he!! of winning. I take great exception to the fact that all lot of Americans will only vote for someone if they think that they can win.

If people didnt think this way, we would have better choices for candidates and the winners would have to work harder FOR their people.

[The_Golfer]

Good morning Keith, Searching.

I am in the office this morning. Search, did my explanation of where the ingrown hair for my daughter make any sense?

[Searching]

Yeah, it did. How are you guys feeling this morning?

[Patty PV]

Good morning all, and Happy Friday!

[Truth Teller]

Looks as though only the best of us are in here early.

[James Hart]

Good morning, everybody!

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Good morning Searching and Golfer and Patty and TT and Fearless Leader James.

Hope you're feeling better, Golfer, and glad your daughter is back on track.

Searching, I think voting for Nader in Florida in 2000 had definite consequences. Whether for the best or for the worst can be debated. And I'm not saying people should only vote (or only be allowed to vote) for a Republican or a Democrat. I'm merely pointing out that in the real world there IS a consequence in not doing so-if not for the voter, then for the nation.

[Patty PV]

I may go car-shopping this weekend while I wait to hear from my insurance company. That is one task I am not relishing.

[Twinkie]

Good Morning CSKC :)

Little nippy out today eh?

I am sooo not ready for winter...

[The_Golfer]

Morning Patty, TT, James.

Patty - What size car are you looking at getting?

[Joe Joe]

Good Morning All-
Glad you are back at work, Golfer.
Patty, be patient on buying a car. There are some great deals out there. Since new car dealers are working so hard to try to sell them, they are competeing with used cars, which is driving the price of used cars even lower.

[Searching]

Keith, when an election hinges on one state, there is more than the problem of a bunch of people voting for Ralph Nader. There is a nation with greatly divided opinion on who is best for the job.

But it is not just the presidential races. I see it all elections. People need to study up and see which candidate really will do the best job and and vote for them. I think it would make for a better mix. If the ones that decided to vote for an alternative candidate makes you lose.. it is not because people voted for someone else, it is because they did not vote for you.. you did not offer something for them, so they went somewhere else.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Jury convicts ex-FBI agent John Connolly of murder. John Connolly, the ex-FBI agent who plunged from celebrated Boston mob-buster to tarnished lawman, is now a convicted killer.

His sordid life story likely will end in a Florida prison.

Miami-Dade jurors on Thursday convicted Connolly of second-degree murder in the 1982 South Florida slaying of a witness who was expected to rat out the agent's gangster friends.

[JUNGLE JIM]

He misses her now, didn't earlier...
Man charged in death of girlfriend misses her, lawyer says. Jason Hardt is trying to cope with the loss and heartbreak he caused when he shot his girlfriend, his attorney told the Portage Daily Register on Thursday.

"He's struggling with fact that his best friend is not here," Madison lawyer Christopher T. Van Wagner said.

Hardt, of Portage, is accused of killing his fiancee, Rebecca Weisenberger, 25, early Sunday at the apartment the couple shared.

Hardt told police he was handling a .357-caliber revolver, putting a bullet in and out of the gun, when it went off unintentionally, shooting Weisenberger in the head, according to a criminal complaint.

Hardt is free on a $25,000 signature bond after appearing in court Wednesday on a charge of homicide by intoxicated use of a weapon with a domestic-abuse enhancer. He is scheduled for a pretrial conference Jan. 2.

[JewwellsP]

Good Morning, Happy Friday.

Patty just call them on the phone, explain what you want. Get them (salesman) hotnbothered. That way will spend less time.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Newspaper people are always so polite. Thankfully...
Apologetic Robber Recognized By Co-Workers, Arrested. A newspaper employee was arrested after his colleagues said they recognized him as the man pictured in a surveillance photo published by their paper.

Robert C. Cleveland, 32, of Lawrence, was charged with armed robbery after his arrest Thursday.

North Andover police had released a surveillance photo of a man accused of robbing a CVS Pharmacy and then apologizing to the clerk for his actions. Cleveland, according to police, showed the clerk a handgun.

[James Hart]

I'd read in one book, I think one of the "Motley Fool" guides, that you should write up an exact description of the car you want, make, model, range of miles, extra features, etc., than fax that description to a dozen or so dealerships within 100 miles. Then, basically, take "bids" from salesmen.

[Rhonda]

James, if you're not that particular you will do better by buying something they have on the lot that they want to move.

[Rhonda]

Also, Patty, the time of month really does matter. I don't suppose you can wait until the end of this month for a car, though.

[JewwellsP]

That is exactly what to do James, exactly.
I buy 100+ cars/truck a year. That's how I do it. I buy cars over the phone sight unseen. Heck they still deliver them.

[J]

Morning all.

[JewwellsP]

Yes, but if it is a car left on the lot for a period of time. There prolly is a reason no one else wanted it either.
This truly is a buyer's market right now.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Can you hear me now? No, but I can see you...
Naked man arrested after climbing Collin County cellphone tower. A Collin County man’s cellphone reception might have been clearer than his thinking last night.

The 23-year-old stripped naked and climbed a cellular tower in the small town of Lowry Crossing.

For reasons he has yet to explain to authorities, he spent seven hours in the buff on the cellphone tower.

[Patty PV]

Well, I'd love to get another Mini Cooper. I've been checking a couple of web sites with car listings for used Minis. (Mine was the only new car I had ever bought in my life - generally I tend to buy used, because I don't have the need to buy brand new and watch my investment go down the tube the moment I drive it off the lot.)

I have also found some good bargaining techniques on the Web. And, if it does any good, I am also invoking the spirit of my late father, who was an extraordinary negotiator when it came to car purchases, to watch over this process.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Wow, James. A special salute. CSKC is full of fine stuff this morning! I think you hit the mother lode

[JUNGLE JIM]

Who knew that time of the month was also important in car buying?

[winkyb2me]

I bought my last two cars (3 months apart) on the very last day of the month. The timing just worked out that way, but those salesmen would've jumped off the Broadway Bridge if I asked them to just to make the sale that day. (Their commission check is based on the number of sales thru the end of the month.) The easiest two car-buying experiences I ever had.

[JUNGLE JIM]

A real crime. or is it all in your head?
Jury to resume deliberating punishment for Plano mother convicted of dropping baby off balcony. After deliberating almost a day and a half, a Collin County jury found a Plano mother guilty Thursday of trying to kill her 22-month-old daughter by twice dropping her from the second-floor balcony of her home.

Padmaja Enjeti, 38, was convicted on all three charges against her: attempted capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and injury to a child.

Ms. Enjeti sat quietly throughout two days of testimony while the jury had the task of deciding whether her alleged crime was real or imagined.

Howard and Todd Shapiro, her father-and-son defense team, told the jury that Ms. Enjeti only imagined dropping her child over a 14-foot balcony during a psychotic episode on the morning of Nov. 28, 2007.

[James Hart]

Thanks, Keith!

[JUNGLE JIM]

Sex charge worries streaker. Now that the general election's over, let's get on to more important matters: Justice for the Pumpkin 12.

Recent University of Colorado graduate Eric Rasmussen, 23, is among the 12 runners ticketed Halloween night for indecent exposure after running naked with a wobbly orange squash on their heads along the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.

If convicted, he and 11 others could be required to register as sex offenders. Like many of the Pumpkin 12, he is finding a lawyer.

[JUNGLE JIM]

Undercover cops were among the unruly at DNC. When a Jefferson County deputy deployed pepper spray into a crowd during the first night of the Democratic National Convention, he did not know that his targets were undercover Denver police officers.

During a melee that occurred Aug. 25 between protesters, police and bystanders near Civic Center Park, undercover Denver detectives staged a struggle with a police commander in order to get out of the crowd undetected.

A Jefferson County deputy, unaware of the presence of undercover police, thought that the commander was being attacked and deployed the pepper spray, according to a police use-of-force report obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

[Keith G. in P.V.]

Jungle Jim, you've certainly cracked me up this morning. With the Pumpkin 12, too! Amazing where the "justice" system spends its time and energy, and who they try to hose forever and who they don't. I wonder if it matters whether the case is assigned to a male or female prosecutor? Is there a difference in what constitutes a felony versus a misdemeanor versus a joke?

[The_Golfer]

Or go to car sites and figure out all the options on the car you want and send that to dealerships. Did that with the Cobalt I bought, along with the Ford Focus, and a couple of others. Then I got lots of test rides. I also used my Entertainment Book with all the coupons for car rentals and drove several different ones until we decided on the one my daughter and I liked best.

My car was totaled in late June, I finally bought a new one the end of October. I have another car to drive in the mean time. Now I can't find the keys to old one. Want to give it to Kidney Cars, but not without the keys.

[JUNGLE JIM]

We take pumpkin abuse very seriously around here!

[Rhonda]

No, jewells, some cars are still on the lot because they're not the most popular color or they don't have the most bells and whistles (navigation or DVD player or whatever). So if those things don't matter to you, you can get a good deal.

[JUNGLE JIM]

The doctor is in...
Animal rights activist convicted of contempt of court. Pamelyn Ferdin, an activist who has protested the use of animals in scientific experiments, was convicted of contempt of court Thursday for violating an injunction against demonstrations near the homes of UCLA researchers.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John L. Segal, who conducted Ferdin's hearing in Santa Monica, scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18, according to a court clerk.

Ferdin was found to have violated an injunction, issued in April at UCLA's request, when she demonstrated in June near the Westside homes of UCLA faculty members and distributed fliers that included scientists' home addresses and phone numbers.

Note the cast of "Play It Again, Charlie Brown".

[Patty PV]

I did know about the end of the month being the best time to buy a car. We'll see how much my insurance settlement is; I don't know how long I want to stay in a rental car . . . but I do want to get a good deal. I'm glad the economy is in my favor right now.

[James Hart]

Patty, that's how I got my "recession chair"!

[JUNGLE JIM]

Any port in a storm...
Indiana man arrested for sexual assault of Amish man. Police arrested a LaGrange County man on charges he abducted a 29-year-old Amish man and sexually assaulted him, reportedly because the assailant could not find an Amish girl.

[Patty PV]

James: I hadn't thought about that way.

This will be my "recession car!"

[JUNGLE JIM]

Beware "hot" deals at Franklin suzuki and free cars at Broome Cadillac.

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

Hey patty,

What kind of car are you looking for?

[JewwellsP]

Rhonda, maybe you didn't see the portion where I mention.
I buy, not 1, but several cars every month.
Spending other's money is what I do :)
One thing I have come to know, if it sits there for long. There is usually a reason. Yes color & option's are a reason.

Patty, pick something out, run the options you want on www.kbb.com or www.nada.com
Look at the invoice price add $100.
Do not pay more. Unless it is a newly redesigned model or new model. That pricing easy to get. Heck many Ford & GM vehicles are going for even less right now.
Stay away from a Accord. Lots of other cars ride better, less road noise & get better mileage for less $.

[Joe Joe]

If buying a new car, find what you want and then wait until the end of the 1/4. The dealer gets a kick-back/car for reaching a certain number of sales in each month and more importantly, each 1/4. So, if it is the last day of the month and the dealer is one sale away from reaching the next level that would increase his rebate from the manufacturer for all cars sold in that quarter, then you can bet he/she is going to do whatever they can to sell that last car.

That being said, I have never bought a new car, too much depreciation in the first 2-3 years. If I ever post on here that I have bought a new car, you can rest assured that I have A LOT of money!

[Rhonda]

It doesn't make any sense to me to put together some arbitrary list of options unless you it's really important to you. You're just as likely to get tripped up that way.

Yes, jewells, I caught the part where you are an expert.

[Searching]

Nice....

Yeah, joe joe, I like used too, your buying after the depreciation.. but the fact is.. you are still losing money as soon as you drive it off the lot.. but at least it is not as much money.. and a lot of quirks are already worked out. Especially on newer breeds.

[Searching]

Plus.. I am really cheap..LOL