Public Sis: Oh Noes ... are you surrrre you can't make it? BAD NEWS, KIDS -- Aunt Ellie can't make it; travel probs &c

Don't forget the job is a poltical plum.

He's given a lot of money to Sen. Mark Udall and Rep. Ed Perlmutter. With Bennett being a new Senator, and Perlmutter being a lawyer, I think Perlmutter will be consulted. (Usually it's the Senators call.) Also interesting: He first supported Joe Biden for President, and then Hillary. No contributions to Obama. While the Senators make the recommendation to Obama, it's Obama who makes the appointment.

I don't know him and I haven't had any cases in Boulder while he has been DA (only 1 year.)

I wouldn't have thought that a third candidate would emerge at this late date, but if Brownstein and Farber want him to get it, he probably will.

I've barely watched any toob over the past few weeks (and stay away from "reality" shows generally).

It's nice to know what's out there though. It's kind of like heeding the Traffic 'Copter during rotten weather to get a little blast of pleasure about living close enough to my particular salt mine to walk there comfortably (or not, if I don't want to.)

Stupid pre-emptive anti-idiocy trick: I use "parental controls" to eliminate POS shows I don't even want to surf/rubberneck.

1. Peel the damn thing and slice crossways
   
2. Spread the slices on a plate
   
3. Add a little salt, dots of balsamico and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil
   
4. Let this sit a bit in the fridge, and then serve it with mixed salad greens. You can separate the wedges and toss into your salad or cut with a knife when you serve it, or have it in a pita, alone or with some sliced critter flesh. (This would go great with leftover turkey.)

I'm stuck, not knowing whether to pass the cops, or stay put, or try to turn around.  Then, I see a guy get out of the car that had been pulled over. He was a average built white guy with a white tee shirt on.  His hands were at his side and he appeared unarmed.  He was just standing still.  

Then one of the cops draws his gun.  The guy in the tee shirt's hands go up.  We are about 15-20 yards away sitting in my car.  With my wife in the passenger seat, there is no way I want to pass by what could be a hail of bullets.

I can't turn around, so I back up about 20-30 yards until I came to the entrance of the nearby church and then turned around and got out of there.  What irked me was the cops had no control of the scene.  With 5 cop cars, one of them could have parked diagonally to block traffic.  Cars coming in the opposite direction were equally flumozed and had no idea what to do.  People were exiting the church and trying to drive out of the parking lot.  All of us within firing range and no cops giving any kind of direction or warning.

So, I wake up this morning and check the Sheriff's Blotter on the internet which (supposedly) posts all calls.  The guy in the tee shirt?  He had interrupted a youth meeting at the church panhandling.  Someone got scared and called the cops.  He was suspected of a breach of the peace--the charge against Professor Gates.  Not assault.  Not battery.  Not threatening anyone.  

He was not arrested.  And when the cop drew his gun, he had already left the church property and was in his car.  A guy going to church trying to beg for Christian charity.  And we get five cop cars and drawn guns?  The cops could not figure a better way to deal with a panhandler?

A local businessman in his 60s told me he was accosted by these same local cops.  Gun in his face as he was checking the door of one of his properties.  Even after identifying himself, the cop said he could have an accomplice waiting in the bushes.

Our local cops have too much time on their hands.