Stupid questions

[erwins]

I'm discovering lately that people's paranoias are fascinating, and the odd ways they try to address them even more so. There are ways to verify a person's identity, and getting a cashier's check from them isn't really one of them, nor does it mean they aren't a criminal.

No matter what the payment method, selling a car "at a premium" to someone who "wanted to remain anonymous" won't give you plausible deniability. The title and registration documents and bill of sale don't really lend themselves to anonymity, so if you indulge the request there's no plausible deniability.

Not wanting to have a large amount of cash on you makes sense for a variety of reasons, including some that have been stated, but the above isn't one of them.

[Dr. Dave]

In the conclave, are (were) the Cardinals made aware of who had how many votes after each unsuccessful vote? If not, how are the ever able to coalesce onto one candidate- setting aside divine provenance for this question.

[diddy]

I don't think so - I think the ballot is secret and they slips they used destroyed. I don't think that they want to put pressure on the voting to get it to go one way or another. I think the votes are tallied up by an official counter and he just keeps the record and determines if the right majority.

I think they pretty much have a short list anyway as to who they go for in their discussions. They only vote so many times before it goes to a majority.

[Dr. Dave]

I looked it up and it appears that the ballots are secret, but the name on each ballot is read aloud, so the count would be known.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04192a.htm

[Sylvanz]

Originally Posted by Hero_Mike

What zerocool said. One of the TV news magazine shows profiled a man in Florida who was pulled over with thousands of dollars, which he was bringing to an auction as "collateral" - so he was allowed to bid. The money was seized and 50% forfeited, even though there was no crime committed, and a plausible, documented purpose for having that large amount of cash.

Is this true? How can the police seize perfectly legally gained, owned, and provably not to be used for a crime money, and keep half of it? How can they even seize it in the first place without proof of a crime being committed? OK, maybe "probable cause" but how do they keep half of it? I cannot categorize this as anything but theft.

[Die Capacitrix]

I have the impression that the cardinals all speak Italian. At what point do (non-Italian) Catholic priests start taking Italian? Is this part of their standard curriculum before taking their vows, or do they start later once they start moving up in rank?

[ganzfeld]

Maybe you mean Latin?