We've got big snow in the mountains and fierce winds in Denver. If you're in the neighborhood of either and looking for something to do tonight, and a fan of vintage clothing or the Bachelor/Bachelorette, head up to Breckenridge for the opening party for Vintage Sweet and Chic, at 215 South Main. (photo here).

The store is co-owned by former Bachelor contestant Ann Csincsak, married to former Bachelorette winner and snowboarder Jesse Csincsak, and Katie Meyer. A bunch of former Bach/B'ette contestants will be there, as well as Evel Dick from Big Brother and some current and former Survivor contestants. [More...]

William Cellini, a co-defendant of Rod Blagojevich who went to trial separately and was convicted a few weeks ago, will file a motion for a mistrial based on a juror's lying about her past criminal record. She had two felonies and denied having any both on her questionnaire and in jury selection.

Illinois automatically restores the right to sit on a jury to felony and misdemeanor offenders once they have been released from jail or prison or discharged from probation.

Illinois law does not exclude convicted persons from jury service, nor is a prior conviction grounds for a juror challenge for cause, though jurors must to be “[f[ree from all legal exception, of fair character, of approved integrity, [and] of sound judgment.” 705 Ill. Comp. Stat. 305/2.

Federal law only disqualifies convicted felons from serving on juries if their right to do so has not been restored by the state. This juror's rights were automatically restored.
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Here are my picks:

I've ridden Stanford all year. But I am taking Oregon +3½ today, BEST BET (9 units). In other important BCS games - Oklahoma State -17 over Texas Tech (4 unite) and Boise State -15 over TCU (5 units).

They will play a game today in Happy Valley. Without commenting on whether they should, I believe Penn State will play extremely well and Nebraska will be unnerved. I like Penn St(+4).

Other games-Notre Dame -21 over Maryland, Arizona State -11 over Washington State, Nevada -16 over Hawaii, Alabama -18 over Mississippi State, UCLA +7 over Utah (3 units), Idaho +21 over BYU, Cincinnati -3½ over West Virginia, Louisville -3 over Pittsburgh (3 units),Army +7½ over Rutgers, Missouri +1 over Texas (5 units), Clemson -17 over Wake Forest, USC -12 over Washington, Illinois +1 over Michigan, Colorado +11 over Arizona, Michigan State -3 over Iowa (4 units), Miami (Florida) +9 over Florida State (5 units), Auburn +13 over Georgia, Kansas State +5 over Texas A&M, Baylor -20 over Kansas (3 units.)

Go Gators!

Just another sign Republicans are all about grandstanding. They don't even care about winning the election. The latest CBS News Poll finds Republicans overwhelmingly believe Mitt Romney is the only one who can beat Obama, but they still would rather see someone who thinks like them get the nomination -- like Cain, who they believe only has a 20% chance of beating Obama. Perry and Gingrich's odds are even less than Cain's in their eyes.

Four out of ten Republicans believe Mitt Romney would be the most likely candidate to beat President Obama in the general election, according to a new CBS News poll....

[Romney] led Herman Cain by a 2-to-1 margin with 40 percent support. Cain trailed in the category with just 20 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, each with six percent.

58% said it's more important that their candidate agree with them on issues than beat Obama.

They just want to make noise. No wonder I've tuned them out. [More...]

This was inevitable. Former graduate assistant, now assistant coach Mike McGeary has been placed on administrative leave. He will be paid during the leave term.

Some are asking why he wasn't fired outright, given that he didn't stop the assault or call police. Neither the school nor the police are saying.

Via CBS:

Asked if McQueary would be fired, [Penn State's new president, Rod] Erickson said "there are complexities to that issue that I am not prepared to go into at this point." Asked about the status of athletic director Tim Curley, Erickson said, "That's an ongoing topic of discussion. We'll return to that next week."

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The cause of the helicopter crash today that killed Mexico Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora, the most visible force behind President Calderon's War on Drugs and Mexico's second most important officical, is unknown and under investigation. Some will speculate drug gangs may be responsible, as they did after a similar crash of another Minister a few years ago. The pilots were air force pilots with 20 years experience. This was the first crash of this kind of helicopter, a Super Puma TPH-06 in 6 years. The Mexican Government has six of them.

I saw conflicting reports as to whether Blake Mora was en route to a judicial meeting or a prosecutor's meeting. The answer isn't hard to find. He was headed to a meeting on judicial reform attended by judges and prosecutors.

President Obama today at Arlington National Cemetary:

"My fellow Americans, our troops are coming home..."After a decade of war, the nation we now need to build is our own."

..."the 9/11 Generation will play a pivotal role in rebuilding America...On this Veterans Day, I ask every American: recruit our veterans."

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Billy Crystal is going to host the Academy Awards. He was my favorite host ever.

Who's going home on the X-Factor? I didn't think Stacy Francis was good last night, poor choice of song but I hope she makes it through. Rachel Crow was terrific as was Astro. I really like Josh Krajek. I also hope Chris Rene stays. And Marcus. I think it's time for Stereo Hogz or Lakoda Rayne to go home. Like last week, the bottom two will do a sing-off and the judges will make the final call.

Does anyone have a Vita-Mix? What do you make in it? I got one yesterday and just set it up and now have no idea what to make with it. It's so much bigger and heavier than I thought it would be.

I'm sure there's other news, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

5280 Magazine has an in-depth report on how events unfolded in the "home grown" terrorism case of Najibullah Zazi. Zazi's first lawyer, who allowed the FBI to extensively question Zazi, discusses his strategy. Zazi, who has pleaded guilty and cooperated but not been sentenced, apparently is in the witness protection program and hoping for a sentence to less than life and a new identity when he's released. [More...]

I don't follow college sports. I never heard of Joe Paterno or Jerry Sandusky before last night, and I didn't click through the myriad of headlines to see who they are until this morning. Now, having read the grand jury report and several articles and opinion pieces, here's what I see.

An 84 year old coach with an unblemished record, who devoted his life to coaching a football team, has been abruptly fired because in 2002, a graduate student told him about witnessing what he perceived to be a former assistant coach's sexual assault on a young boy in a school shower. The assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, retired in 1999, but retained many school privileges as part of his severance package.

Paterno timely reported the allegation to his superiors. They handled the allegation internally and didn't take it to the police. Sandusky was told he could no longer bring minors on campus. The graduate student, Mike McQueary, also told his father about what he observed, but not the police. Nor did he intervene to stop the perceived assault. He's now a coach for the team. [More..]

I've been busy. Be back next week with regular posting.

Open Thread.

The Military Commission's website last night posted the transcript of yesterday's four hour hearing for al-Nashiri. (Go here, click on second al-Nashiri link, it's the top document. There is no direct link.)

It wasn't just an arraignment. The judge heard argument on and granted the defense motion to prevent Gitmo and prosecutors from reading his legal mail (with some exceptions.) The Court also heard argument on al-Nashiri's motion seeking to have the military jury advised at the start of trial if an acquittal won't result in his release (see my earlier post on this here.) The Court addressed an issue of potential conflict of interest for one of the defense lawyers, Michael Paradis who represented al Bahlul in appealing his conviction by military commission and life sentence. Al-Bahlul is named as a co-conspirator of al-Nashiri's in Charge V. [More...]