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The only hot topic around our area is the nasty note writing mayor..(pls see the stop the presses thread)...nothing much ever happens in Whoville, so I will be v. interested to see what is happening elsewhere! ;D
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Speaking of "hot topics", check out Jelina's pic in the current pix thread.  She is incredibly beautiful :D
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Hmmm... well, Minnesota has a $4.5 billion deficit and there's been a rash of stories about wasteful spending -- outside consultants getting $1500 for a two hour training session.
In the Local section (my favorite section), there was a story last week of a 38-year-old man who murdered his 50-year-old aunt over a bowl of chili.  The man didn't like how it was seasoned, they argued, she tried to call 911, he chased her out of her apartment to another one and stabbed her 15 times in the chest and back.  Then he went back to their apartment (he was an ex-con who moved in with her), got a gun and shot her repeatedly.  
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"Yep.  She dead now!"  :P

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Hmmm... well, Minnesota has a $4.5 billion deficit and there's been a rash of stories about wasteful spending -- outside consultants getting $1500 for a two hour training session.
In the Local section (my favorite section), there was a story last week of a 38-year-old man who murdered his 50-year-old aunt over a bowl of chili.  The man didn't like how it was seasoned, they argued, she tried to call 911, he chased her out of her apartment to another one and stabbed her 15 times in the chest and back.  Then he went back to their apartment (he was an ex-con who moved in with her), got a gun and shot her repeatedly.  
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Is there interest in starting discussions about your local hot topics?  We have an interesting one here that's making the local radio shows rounds.  Here's a link that hopefully will work for a while. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/100599_tacoma19.shtml

Simply put, a youth stole a car from out in front of the car owners house, the car owner saw it occuring and jumped into another car and pursued.  He pulled up near the thief and fired 3 shots into his own car and killed the thief.  The car went off the road and struck another car.
Issues that have come up is can you use deadly force to cease the commitment of a felony act.  Details of the case that have become noted is the thief had a criminal history, the owner of the car did not, is the father of 4 and working as a counselor for developmentally disabled youth for 10 years.  The  car owner says that the thief attempted to strike his pursuit car while on the road and feared for his life, witnesses so far say that it didn't happen.
What do others think?  And do you have a local story that may be interesting to others?


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So they're both traveling forty miles an hour when this yahoo fires three shots at him.  Thank God for the NRA and God preserve our right to play John Wayne once in our life.  Too bad the maximum sentence is only 8-1/2 years.  It was a car.  

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So they're both traveling forty miles an hour when this yahoo fires three shots at him.  Thank God for the NRA and God preserve our right to play John Wayne once in our life.  Too bad the maximum sentence is only 8-1/2 years.  It was a car.  
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You get the point.  As a gun owner and one that confidently say that I could use a gun to defend myself and/or my wife in a life and death situation I have to ask the shooter, was this worth it?  I am not willing to kill anyone for any possesion I own, damn the legality of it, it's not a factor in my decision.
Yes Steve, sometimes there is a great example of stiffer gun control rights.

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How do you decide it's a life or death situation?

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How do you decide it's a life or death situation?
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So they're both traveling forty miles an hour when this yahoo fires three shots at him.  Thank God for the NRA and God preserve our right to play John Wayne once in our life.  Too bad the maximum sentence is only 8-1/2 years.  It was a car.  
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I dissagree this whole case depends on weather a car is considered your property, and weather the thief was tresspassing.  I believe the thief was trespassing, and therfore this guy had every right to shoot him. maybe when he was moving it wasn't such a good idea, but the gun is what killed the theif, the guys poor judgement of when to use it is what hit the other car.  if the thief had used better judgement, he would be still alive, and the third car would still be intact.  

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I dissagree this whole case depends on weather a car is considered your property, and weather the thief was tresspassing.  I believe the thief was trespassing, and therfore this guy had every right to shoot him. maybe when he was moving it wasn't such a good idea, but the gun is what killed the theif, the guys poor judgement of when to use it is what hit the other car.  if the thief had used better judgement, he would be still alive, and the third car would still be intact.  
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Bad judgement was shared all around on this one SB.  What is persecuting the shooter at this point was that his attempt was not to recover the car but to shoot the thief.  Stealing a car does not warrent a death penalty.  If he had shot the thief as he was in the process of breaking into the car on his property, shooter has a chance, once the car left the porperty taking the threat away, then legal troubles begin.  Expecailly looks bad that he shot into his own car while travelling down a public street, he's fortunate that others weren't hurt.  

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This guys bad judgement, doesn't mean that guns should be banned, as some have mentioned.

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This guys bad judgement, doesn't mean that guns should be banned, as some have mentioned.
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I quote "UHF"...

"Guns don't kill people...I do..."

;D

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This guys bad judgement, doesn't mean that guns should be banned, as some have mentioned.
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Of course they may have given him a ticket also for talking on his cell phone while he was driving. They do that here in Sandy, Utah. It's steep too, about $300.
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Sandy, huh...I am in West Valley. :)

The local hot topic here is the Main Street Plaza.  The LDS church bought a block of Main Street right next to their Temple in Salt Lake City.  The city had an easement through the plaza.  Some yahoos decided to protest the church with bullhorns, going too far in my opinion by calling people harlots and disrupting weddings.  I am not LDS, but I think these idiots are going too far.  There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with beliefs, but if you want to win people over you don't call them names.  Needless to say, the church wants to control what goes on there so they are trying to get back the easement.  There has been a huge bruhaha going on for quite a while over it.  You can't open the paper or listen to the radio without hearing about it.  I am quite sick of it all.

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Her is another "hot" one around here.  It got some news in '99 too.  This is about the Makah Indian whale hunt that met with some strong protest.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/101002_makah21.shtml

Is this wrong to stop there hunting or should they be able to proctice their treaty rights?
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I guess I don't understand why they are not allowed to hunt them if the species has not been on the endangered list since 1994?

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Her is another "hot" one around here.  It got some news in '99 too.  This is about the Makah Indian whale hunt that met with some strong protest.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/101002_makah21.shtml

Is this wrong to stop there hunting or should they be able to proctice their treaty rights?
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These people have hunted whales since the beginning of North American colonization, right?  Obviously they know how to use their whales well, or else there wouldn't be whales TO hunt today.  

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Her is another "hot" one around here.  It got some news in '99 too.  This is about the Makah Indian whale hunt that met with some strong protest.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/101002_makah21.shtml

Is this wrong to stop there hunting or should they be able to proctice their treaty rights?
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It sounds like animal rights activists initiated the ban.

Are these reservation Indians?  I imagine they are.  

My first reactions:  According to the story, prior to the 1999 hunt the Makah hadn't whaled since the 1920s.  If whaling was an integral part of their culture, you've got to wonder about all those intervening years.  After all, cultures change and evolve.
And even though they were using what sounds like a traditional canoe, they "shot" three harpoons and two rifle shots?  Are rifles and ballistic harpoons part of the culture?  
How are the locals, and how are the Canadians to the north, reacting to all this?  Here in Minnesota we've had flare ups over aboriginal fishing rights.  I would imagine there's at least some pockets of resentment.

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Here in Minnesota the State Congress is set to consider whether bear baiting should be allowed on federal lands.  Bear baiting is leaving food, usually old bakery products, out and stationing yourself nearby to 'harvest' the bears.  Outgoing governor Ventura likens bear baiting to "assassination".  Proponents says it the only practical way to hunt bears and control their population.  The area has about 20,000 bears, and they can become a dangerous nuisance as their numbers increase.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/531/3555191.html
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Humans have become a dangerous nuisance. Building houses on what used to be wild land and then complaining about the wildlife wandering onto their property. Where else are the animals supposed to go? They were here before us and they will probably be here after we nuke ourselves. It would do the planet good if we all got wiped off the face of the Earth.

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Spoken like a true naturalist, BUT..

On a hot summer's night,
would you offer YOUR throat
to the bear with the red roses???
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Nah not spoken like a true naturalist, but as a person who is mad at the world in general.  :D

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OMG Rob, I never heard about this, are you serious? I used to know that area real well...
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Hi Bobo

Check out the BBC news site
I haven't seen it yet (apart from the pic) but I'll be driving past it tomorrow morning on the way to work

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For Baltimore residents...

Mayor Martin O'Malley hopes the Broadway musical "Hairspray" -- based on John Waters' 1988 film portraying 1960s Baltimore -- will draw tourists to the city.

The city's full-page ad for the "Hairspray" edition of the theater program Playbill pictures Waters and quotes him as saying: "See the city that inspired the show."

The ad was suggested by Bill Gilmore, executive director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. Gilmore and O'Malley traveled to New York last week to see the show.

Playbill reaches an audience of more than 35,000 a month.

"It was very obvious that this is a real tribute to our city, and it's a wonderful opportunity to see it as a catalyst for all kinds of things," Gilmore said recently.

Harvey Fierstein inherited the role of full-figured Edna Turnblad, played in the film by Divine. Marissa Jaret Winokur plays perky teen Tracy Turnblad.


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I can so see Harvey in the Edna role. Perfect! :)

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http://www.yahoo.com/s/52821

not local to me but interesting. Had surgery recently?  :o
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Yes !  Do they ever leave their bowling ball inside by any chance ?

Grrrr  >:(

FB  :P

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Yes !  Do they ever leave their bowling ball inside by any chance ?

Grrrr  >:(

FB  :P
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OMG! That big? :o :o :o

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Yeah yeah, they're empty, but it's still alarming, no?
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Yes it is alarming. And not very surprising.

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Hey, Race!!  
Methinks you'd better delete the word "Local" from the subject heading... ::)
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Yeah but interesting stories still the same.

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True.  Mainly wanted to post that so I could do a rolly-eye on Earl... ::)

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True.  Mainly wanted to post that so I could do a rolly-eye on Earl... ::)
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What, you don't think some people on this board would be from said places?  ;)

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What, you don't think some people on this board would be from said places?  ;)
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Yeah, but I think Race was anticipating a discussion of topics from the posters' areas...  ::)

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Yeah, but I think Race was anticipating a discussion of topics from the posters' areas...  ::)
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Semantics ;D

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Semantics ;D
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True, true, so true... ::)

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whoa whoa whoa...
Machete man had enough money to buy real estate and yet was reduced to drinking weedkiller?  I know about lysol drinkers, gas and spray paint huffers, but this is the first time I've heard of weedkiller used to get high.  
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Hey, Race!!  
Methinks you'd better delete the word "Local" from the subject heading... ::)
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I would post a local hot topic,but it would be something like this headline from my local paper yesterday:

"City to buy new street sweeper"

Not exactly stimulating.  ::) ;D ;)

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Guys, please no fighting over li'l ol' me. ;)
The intent was local stories for the area that others outside may not be aware of but any story that can get a debate going is worth it's time in the thread.  

Here's a local one that's kind of intersting.  An argument for tightening controls on the sale of landscaping tools? ;)

Man killed with machete after car crash

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KENT -- A man wielding a machete attacked and killed another man after the two men's vehicles were involved in a crash in a parking lot Saturday afternoon, police said.

Police rushed the suspect -- a 54-year-old Maple Valley man -- to nearby Auburn Regional Medical Center after learning he had apparently drunk weedkiller before officers arrived at the scene in this suburb south of Seattle, Kent police spokesman Paul Petersen said.

He was released from the hospital in police custody Saturday night, a a nursing supervisor said.

The victim, a 52-year-old real estate agent from Federal Way, died a short time after the incident in the emergency room at Harborview Medical Center. He had suffered numerous machete blows to the head, face, and neck.

The victim once sold property to the man, but Petersen said police were not yet sure if that transaction had anything to do with the attack.

It happened around 12:50 p.m., after a small car the suspect was driving struck the victim's sport utility vehicle in the 23800 block of Pacific Highway South, causing it to roll.

"The driver of the car then exited his vehicle and attacked the driver of the SUV with a machete," Kent Police Lieutenant Pat Pawlak said.


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Here is a follow up on the machete story.  
Witnesses detail grisly machete slaying
Man suspected infidelity, hacked victim to death, prosecutors say

By SAM SKOLNIK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Early Saturday afternoon, according to witnesses, Kim -- with Lee sitting next to him -- sped north on Pacific Highway South in Kent, jerked his Lexus SUV into a business-park lot and slammed the vehicle into the rear of Lee's empty parked car, a Lexus sedan. The SUV flipped onto its side.

After some "loud banging," the SUV's windshield burst out. Lee, 52, staggered out first, dropping to the ground in front of the vehicle.

Kim came out next, machete in hand. He raised the long black blade above his head, said one witness, and slashed hard and repeatedly at Lee's head.

"(I)t appeared the suspect would strike the victim, then get tired, rest a little and strike the victim some more," one witness told police.

Kim then crawled back into his SUV, retrieved a small container of Roundup weed killer and Bug-B-Gone insect spray and drank the poison, police said.

According to the King County medical examiner, Lee died from 13 machete hack wounds. At least four of the wounds were in the back of Lee's head.

Lying in his room in Auburn Regional Medical Center later that day, Kim told an officer guarding him that "I made one big mistake, and I ruined the rest of my life," according to police. He also allegedly asked about the quality of prison food.

Kim will be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 28 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle. If convicted, he faces a minimum 20-year prison sentence.


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Damn SUVs.  

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I couldn't help it Race.  I was grooving on the tragedy of it all until the reporter had to throw in that bit about the weedkiller drinker asking about the quality of prison food... http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/cool/cool030.gif
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http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/01/28/utah.abandoned.boy.reut/index.html


Well, THIS is certainly new...
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I'm thinking foul play. Would not be surprised to find out that this child's mother/parent has been done away with......