CafeChatNoir

Nothing quite like hunting through the house for a particular power supply.  Managed to find a TON of them, but of course not the one I’m actually looking for.

I suppose this should be incentive to get this place organized, shouldn’t it?

The first day of the tournament isn’t even over and my brackets are already trashed.   Which is pretty normal for me.

Regardless,

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bronze Age burial ‘with beer mug’

Canterbury Archaeological Trust said the curled-up skeleton was an example of a “Beaker” burial because of the pottery vessel placed at its feet.

Education officer Marion Green said the “beautifully decorated” pot could have been “a type of beer mug”.

For those celebrating this evening (or continuing the celebrations that seem to have started on Friday night) - please don’t drink green beer.  That’s just wrong. consolidation debt loan paydaysonic payday loan,loan payday sonicfast cash payday advanceguaranteed loan payday,fax guaranteed loan no payday,faxless guaranteed loan paydaychicago in loan payday store,chicago loan payday storepayday loan no faxing requiredez money payday loanfax loan payday,day? fax loan payday same ?no,call fax loan no no paydaypayday loan applicationadvance loan payday software? ?cash1 hour payday loanadvance cash fax no paydayten dollar payday loanquick payday loanfaxless online payday loanloan online payday quickfax free loan paydayno fax payday advance loan,no fax no telecheck payday loan,fax loan no paydayapplication loan online paydayguaranteed payday loanpayday loan 1000america cash loan payday,cash america payday loanfast payday loanadvance cash loan? payday ?direct lender loan online payday,loan online payday,completely loan online paydayloan payday,payday loan company,no credit check payday loanbad credit loan payday quick,bad credit loan loan payday personal,bad credit loan paydaymoney tree payday loancash advance payday loan softwareloan till paydaypayday loan torontoadvance loan online paydayloan payday quick,payday loan,cash loan paydayloan oneclickcash paydayno credit payday loanfree loan payday,interest free payday loan,payday first loan freeadvance cash loan payday quickpayday loan store in chicago,alabama loan payday store,loan payday storeonline payday loan servicecash international loan payday servicescheap payday loanloan payday yahoocheap loan long payday term,cheap loan paydaycash loan payday tilez payday loancash fast loan paydayloan until paydaypayday loan without fax,fax payday loan,fax less payday loanemergency loan paydayadvance cash net payday usa

Still about 3 hours off kilter on my sleep schedule. It would work wonderfully if I was in San Diego, but unfortunately, I am on the other side of the country.

I also cannot for the life of me get motivated today. I have a ton of things I should/could be getting done around here, but it’s not really happening. I seem to always be able to find something more interesting to do other than housework. Certainly nothing new - but I do wonder if I will ever morph into a “neat” person.  I have gotten a couple little things done, but nothing of any great consequence.

I’m starting to think that it will take moving into a completely empty space and starting from scratch.

So, rumor has it that Spitzer won’t be prosecuted on the prostitution charge (not unusual), but they may end up going after him for money laundering and/or misusing his office.

Now I don’t really like or dislike the guy - frankly I think he’s an idiot for this whole mess, but I don’t see any real grounds for anything beyond the prostitution charge, and it is going to look like some form of payback if the prosecutors go too hard on this. (I think he is going to need a really good divorce lawyer before all is said and done.)

Paying money for a service (even an illegal one) isn’t money laundering. Breaking up transactions to under 10K isn’t money laundering or illegal - banks have the discretion of doing a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) for any transaction or series of transactions. (Which they did.) Still not money laundering.

As far as “misuse of office” goes - unless he had state employees ferrying money about for him, or had them delivering the hookers to him - I just don’t see it.

Beyond the prostitution charge, you can’t really go after someone for being stupid.

The now infamous “Kristen” says she doesn’t want the world to think she is a monster. Don’t worry honey - you’re a hooker. A high priced hooker to be sure, but for now, you’re still just a hooker. You might be able to get something out of this 15 minutes of fame, but it’s going to cost you in the long run.

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer involved with prostitution ring

Press conference in a few minutes. Honestly, not a headline I ever would have expected.

It got very windy earlier today and I didn’t really think anything of it - just got a call from my brother who is running errands and apparently pretty much all of Burke is without power. Which isn’t the end of the world in and of itself, but seems that the police aren’t bothering to work the major intersections.

Let’s face it - folks around here can barely handle a regular 4 way stop - expecting them to have the good sense that a dark intersection automatically becomes a 4 way stop is pushing it. Fairfax County PD - please get out there before some moron crashes into my brother’s car.

I did find a nifty little outage map courtesy of Virginia Power:
http://www.dom.com/news/northva.jsp

We seem to be lucky to still have power.

ETA:  Brother is home in one piece and not exactly pleased with the utilization of resources by the local police.  He saw 4 cruisers wandering about - 2 on our street.  Our neighborhood street, which is still fully powered and in no need of traffic assistance.

If you want unfettered access to the ‘net, you’d best bring your own WiFi card to Denver’s airport.

Pretty ridiculous if you ask me, but at the same time, if you’re using their service for free - can you realistically expect there won’t be a catch somewhere?

In other news, if someone will make this magic laptop bag for the TSA, can I stop taking my shoes off every time I have to fly?

Thanks, boingboing.net

I don’t know what it is about this area, but people seem to have a lot of troubles with 4 way stops.  There is one on the way out of our neighborhood.   Today I discovered how you can make it even worse!

Have a police car parked in the median at said 4 way stop.  Everyone is so paranoid about the cop sitting there and trying to remember the “proper” way to go through a 4 way stop, everyone ends up staying stopped for about 3 times as long as usual.

I have no idea why he would be there - he was visible from all directions, and that particular intersection doesn’t seem to have a lot of people go blowing through the stop signs.  Could have been looking for someone, I suppose, but all he seemed to be accomplishing was really mucking up traffic.

This report out of NYC (via gothamist) makes my skin crawl just a little:

License ID scanners aren’t just keeping underage drinkers out of New York bars, they’re now assisting police in arresting patrons who become involved in criminal activity both inside and outside of city clubs. The New York Post reports that the electronic scanners which help filter out fake IDs also supply cops with detailed records of every patron who entered a bar or club on any given evening.

I’m sure the scanners are a boon to club owners as far as keeping the underage ones out and keeping themselves out of trouble. But why do they have to store all the information in the first place? I’d love to know who decided “Hey, let’s add this ‘feature’ on to the scanners.” If I were a club owner, I can’t say that it’s something I would request - just give me something to help weed out the fake ID’s.

Not everyone wants the world to know where they go and what they do. And they’re not criminals, either.

Have we crossed the line between making investigations easier to just making it easier for the police to trample on the rights of people who simply went to a bar where something went wrong later in the night?

I’d love to see some reports as to how often these lists are obtained by the police, and what circumstances prompted them to get them.