More on Virginia's Ineffective Government

I have written before about Virginia's attempt to raise money without raising taxes. One of the most stupid ideas they came up with is driver abuse fees. These are additional payments, not fines, that persons convicted of various moving violations must pay. There are several court challenges on-going as they apply to only Virginia residents because they are not fines. Here Don Surber explains even more.

Arsenal Win in FA Cup

Arsenal beat Burnley today 2-0 to advance to the next round of the FA Cup. Burnley played well and kept the pressure on the Arsenal backups. Lehman did play, and rumors still swirl about his transfer to the Bundesleague. See The Daily Telegraph for more here.

Jacksonville Advances

I think the AFC playoffs are going to be a dog fight. SD should win today over Tennessee. The four teams left can all beat each other. You have to favor the Patriots, but it won't be an easy two games for them.

Turns Out Bloomberg is Not Really a Republican

It took the New York Times until today to figure out something everybody, at least in the GOP, has known forever. Mayor Bloomberg of New York is not really a Republican. The majority of his positions are in synch with the Democratic Party. Imagine. He only ran as a Republican because the NYC Democratic machine was choosing people whose turn it was. See this article here for more.

The Clinton Mind Works in Mysterious Ways

According to Bill Clinton the negative media converage of Hillary will force her campaign to go negative on Senator Obama? This doesn't make much sense to me as the last person complaining about their media coverage should be Bill & Hillary. See Blue Crab Boulevard here for much better discussion and analysis.

Soviet Domination of the South Pole

A group of scientists recently traveled to the most inaccessible part of Antarctica. A Soviet party had been there in 1958 or so. Much to their surprise they found a giant bust of Vladimir Lenin standing sentinel. This is just one of the legacies of the cult of personality so common in the Former Soviet Union. See this article for more.

Transfer Rumors Swirl Around Arsenal

It is transfer window time in the UK, and rumors are swirling all around. Supposedly Lehman was all set to go to Dortmund, but that hasn't happened yet. Arsene Wenger said he might play next week in the FA Cup Third Round. Now, Skysports has reported here that Spurs put a bid in for Diarra. Arsenal deny that.

Two More Gone - Biden and Dodd

Continuing to prove that it is hard for a sitting Senator to win the Presidency, the Iowa Caucus results drive two Democratic Senators out of the Race. Senators Biden and Dodd will give up and return to Washington. That leaves 5 Democrats, I think. There is also 8 Republicans left. Hopefully some of them will get the hint from Iowa as well. Hillary, are you listening?

Sapp to Retire

35 year old Warren Sapp, defensive tackle for the Raiders these last few years, announced his retirement today. That will save the Raiders some cap space. I would give odds thought that Sapp will play for another team next year. See an article here.

Germans in Huntsville

If you know anything about Germany between 1933-1945, you will know that Nazism permeated the society. That doesn't mean every German supported it, but in many ways it was like Communism in the USSR. At a certain point you had to at least pretend to support the Party to get where you wanted to go. This article talks about the German Rocket Scientists in Huntsville and alludes to their Nazi past. If you want some more information see The Paperclip Conspiracy by Tom Bower which starts thusly "As the giant Saturn V rocket rose majestically through the morning sunlight from Cape Canaveral in July 1969, two groups of German scientists beamed, flushed with pride." It also says "Twenty-five years later, the Americans were reaping the benefit of their youthful genius, however neither von Braun nor Strughold willingly discussed the circumstances in which the scientific origins of their work had materialized...their craft,..had been realized amid the calculated murder and brutal butchery of Nazi atrocities." (p. 1-2).

So, they were not as pure as has been made out to believe. The issues of post-WW II Europe drove the Americans, British and Soviets to recruit these scientists and harness their abilities.

Weird Object Washes Ashore In Scotland

On 29 December a mysterious cylindrical tank washed ashore on an Island off of Scotland. Nobody seemed to know what it was, and the manufacturer didn't respond to questions. So read this article and see if you can figure it out.

CNNMoney.com Provides List of Stock Winners and Losers for 2007

CNNMoney.com provides here a list of 2007 Winners and Losers. Coming in on top for the year were energy and gold stocks. Apple and Amazon did well for tech stocks. Not surprisingly, the financials did the worst with E*Trade coming in last.

Arsenal Wins Away at Westham

Arsenal easily beat Westham United 2-0 today. Westham were coming off of their biggest win in a long time over Manchester United on Saturday. This puts Arsenal 2 points in the lead of the Premiership. See this article here for more.

Auburn Wins in OT

Auburn wins their bowl game as well, beating Clemson in OT. I didn't watch much of the game so I don't know if their new, fancy offense contributed or not. I guess we will have to wait until the fall to find out how good it is.

This Is Not What I Would Call Governing

Virginia needed money for roads. Virginia politicians were too wimpy to raise taxes, especially the gas tax. Virginia empowered a non-elected body with the ability to set "fees" and adjust property taxes to raise money for roads. So starting today in Northern Virginia you will pay the state 2.5% of the sale price of your house for the privilege of selling it. You will pay more to have your car repaired, or to buy a car. You will pay more to stay in a hotel room, or rent a car. The real estate fee makes the least sense. The market in Northern Virginia has collapsed, with housing prices falling several percent. People cannot find buyers, and you now just made it even harder to sell. See the details in The Washington Post here.