What newspaper writers aren't eager to tell you about prices.

That they have little to to with the cost of an item or service.

Don't let that stop them from getting worked up, along with polititians (D) who think text message profits might be too high.

Simple truth: The prices are set by the consumers and the wireless companies. There's plenty of competition to go around, in as much as regulators allow for it. If texting is too expensive, people will stop texting. (I don't text for just that reason.) Profits are not evil.

IOU

That's what California residents might get instead of income tax refunds this year.

Of course, if a taxpayer tried that, well, they'd go to jail.

There's something very much wrong with this. The state takes your money by force out of your paycheck. You discover at the end of the year they took too much. You, of course, have to prove they took too much via your tax return. And instead of returning the money with interest, you get an IOU.

I guess they deserve it, they keep electing these clowns.

Goals 2009

Some goals:

Total USAPL Class III as a 220 or 242 (about a 1200 total) by 8/31/09 (450, 300, 450)
Total USAPL Class II as a 220 or 242 (1320 or 1364 total) by 12/31/09 (525, 350, 525)
Reach 12% bodyfat over 220 pounds (as caclulated via waist/weight ratio) by 6/1/09.
Maintain bodyfat at 15% or less over 220 pounds for remainder of year.
Take and pass SCUBA certification by 12/31/09
Write at least 12 articles (1 per month) for my personal website
Write at least 20 blog posts per month.

There are more, I'm sure. This is off the top of my head.

I'm 4 years old

Today, this blog turns 4 years old.

It isn't all bad

Radley Balko points out there's lots of good news out there.

Best football day, ever

Ravens go to the playoffs, when no one expected better than 8-8.

Patriots win, go 11-5, and don't go to the playoffs, because Miami beat the Jets.

Favre goes out like a lamb. Serves him right. It's also poetic that Pennington went back to NY and won.

Cowboys get embarrassed by the Eagles.

The only way this gets better is for the Chargers to beat the Broncos tonight.

New Orleans

Spent a week in New Orleans earlier this month. What a fantastic city. The French Quarter and Frenchmen street are much like my neighborhood in Baltimore (well, Fells Point, which is near me), just a larger scale.

A great mix of interesting history, interesting things to see, and fantastic food and drink. We skipped hitting Bourbon Street (a couple of beers at the oldest bar in the US), and instead focused on the incredible food scene.

We arrived, late, on Wednesday the 10th. We sucked it up, and went to Emeril's.

You go to Emeril's with high expectations. Seriously high. I mean, it's Emeril's. Expectations, dare I say it, exceeded. Service was fantastic, the place is very cool, and the food was outstanding. The stand out was the sausage. If you go to New Orleans, go here.

On the 11th, it snowed. In Louisiana. We wandered to Mother's for lunch, apparently this is one of the places to get a po' boy. Eh. It was OK, but it was a seriously cool place. Ambiance counts for something.

We took a cooking class given by Frank Brigsten, of Brigsten's. Very cool experience, and we met the owner of NOLA brewing.

We ate a couple of meals at a little place called Eat. Fantastic, brunch and lunch.

Saturday was spend on a holiday house tour in the Garden District, where we had a fantastic lunch at a place I can not remember.. it was on Magazine St, and I could find it again.

Saturday night was the Bombay Club, on the recommendation of a dude we met in a mall. Quite nice place, and the food was very impressive.

We also ate at NOLA, Emeril's place in the Quarter. The only dissapointing meal, mostly because the service was off. The food was quite good.

On Monday, it was K Paul's. If you don't go here when in town, you are really missing out. Outstanding food, outstanding service, and it's the home of the original New Orleans Chef.

We saved the best for last, however. Herbsaint was incredible, one of the best meals I've ever had.

I don't have much other commentary. The people in this city are incredibly friendly, the food is awesome, everywhere, and the rebuilding is still happening. I will go back.

Some sort of record

This may be the dumbest guy on the internet. And I think he makes a living training people.
go to about minute 8 of the vid posted on Dec 20 on the smoothie tasting.

Gaps

Lots of gaps in posts, again.

I went to New Orleans on vacation... what a great food town. A post or two is coming in the next day or so.

How 'bout them... Ravens?

33-24 over the 'boys.

I only watched the 4th quarter, but that was probably the most fun I've had watching 15 minutes of football... ever.

The McClain stiffarm I could watch over and over again.

What an awesome season this has been.

Quick hit

Sorry posting has been sparce... been busy.

If you are really intersted in keeping up with me, feel free to find me on facebook. Just tell me who you are and that you read the blog.

Hopefully I'll have time to put some posts up over the next few days.

Nice

Cystic Fibrosis is not inclusive enough.

It isn't hard to see this behavior when Technocrats are running universal health care.

Link via Balko.

Reason #346 my property taxes are so high

If this were a good idea, ZipCar would be doing it.

This is the same city that can't afford to lower property taxes, and is cutting back on spending for police and fire.

36-7!

I didn't get to see the game, but by all accounts, it was pretty ugly offensively.

But we'll take it.

10-6 is required to get to the playoffs. Right now, the wild card is Patriots, Indy, Ravens. I don't know how the tiebreakers turn out against the Patriots; I know the Ravens lose a tiebreaker to Indy. Given Indy's remaining schedule, I don't think they'll be tied, I think they could end up 12-4.

Random

I do not understand Twitter. Not at all.

Can someone explain?

The Giants are the real deal

Ravens got dominated on both sides of the ball today. A good reminder this is an 8-8 team. They've shown signs they'll be great, but after the performances against the Giants and Indy, they still have a ways to go.

As always, I'd rather be wrong, and have them go 10-6, but given the remaining schedule, I just don't see it.

Mikulski comes up with a (sort of) good idea!

From the Credit Where Credit is Due Department, the senior Senator from Maryland, Babs Mikulski, suggested tax breaks for people buying new cars.

Given I'm pretty much a fan of all tax breaks, I find this would be a good thing. Her proposal is to allow people who buy cars to deduct the sales tax and the interest on financing for cars purchased for the rest of 2008. Doesn't really help in states that don't have a sales tax on vehicles, but otherwise, sounds peachy.

Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said the temporary tax break she proposes is intended to "stimulate demand" at flagging car dealerships across Maryland and the rest of the nation, which have been hit hard by the economic downturn. Under Mikulski's plan, which she said she'll introduce in the Senate next week, consumers will be able to deduct the sales tax and the interest paid on a car loan, if a vehicle is purchased between today and Dec. 31. The tax break is available for cars priced under $49,500.

But wait. Why are expensive cars excluded? Are they not cars that carry the highest profit margins for automakers? And why did the Sun exclude one little tidbit, that the incentive is only for households making less than $250k a year.

Why would you do that, other than to continue to foster class warfare? Why limit the break to lower profit vehicles? Why not encourage "The Rich" to buy new cars?

It might have made the difference for me. Now I'll buy a used German car just out of spite.

What a coincidence!

According to the USA Today (known for it's extreme Right Wing bias), President Elect and Messiah Barack Obama's transition team is loaded with big fundraisers.

I'm shocked at the coincidence. He's promised change, though, so I'm sure it's not intentional.

Campaign watchdog experts, such as Craig Holman of Public Citizen, say the close involvement of these big fundraisers — known as bundlers because they collect money from friends, family and business associates — could give them undue sway in the new administration. "The whole point of these bundlers bringing in so much money is that they get to exercise influence in the next administration," Holman said. Obama's pledge to clean up Washington "is encouraging," Holman said. "But this is a warning sign."

LOL @ "warning sign".

Change you can believe in.

Hat tip: The Agitator

Blowout

41-13 over the Texans. Yeah, it's the Texans. The same Texans that almost beat Indianapolis.

This team is really playing well. They've had a couple of games where their opponent looks like they just quit late in the game, even when they are ahead. I don't know why that's happening, I wonder if it is the physicality of play.

To 6-3, yet we still should remain cautiously optimistic. The Ravens still have only beaten one team with a winning record (Miami), and they are about to play a bunch of them.

At the Giants next week. The Giants should be heavy favorites.

Upgrade

As of last night, I can announce it is possible for the coolest thing ever to get even cooler.

Sonos upgraded their software; I downloaded it last night. The system now loads local radio stations into the system based on my location (which I can change), and there are more than 10,000 stations and shows.

Sonos is, without a doubt, the single best purchase I've ever made, and the favorite thing I own. If you love music and want it everywhere in your house, this is an investment you must make.