Less than two hours after the Badgers drubbing at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Wisconsin Alumni Association sent this email promoting bowl packages.
The football Badgers just finished a first-class season!
And while a bowl destination is still up in the air, one thing’s for sure: the Wisconsin Alumni Association will take you there!
As the UW’s official tour carrier, only the Wisconsin Alumni Association can promise:…….
Robert Salladay on the California DMV’s plans to replace the gas tax with a mileage tax based on miles driven:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday appointed a new Department of Motor Vehicles director who has advocated taxing motorists for every mile they drive ? by placing tracking devices in their cars.
The idea would mean a significant overhaul of how California collects taxes to maintain its often-crumbling roads. Under the plan, the state gas tax ? now 18 cents a gallon ? would be replaced with a tax on every mile traveled by each car and truck.
Interesting privacy issues here…
Scott Simon comments on the 65 ABC stations who decided not to broadcast Saving Private Ryan.
Rather useful snow tire information site.
Susan Stamberg presents several chocolate recipes for our review:
Stamberg talks to chocolate expert Fran Bigelow, author of the recipe book Pure Chocolate, about all things chocolate — chocolate sauce (“the magic of chocolate and cream”), chocolate espresso sauce (chocolate and coffee, a natural combination), and personalized chocolate chips (pick your favorite chocolate bar and cut it into small chunks).
Then, Stamberg pulls the conversation toward that certain holiday recipe that’s been a Thanksgiving tradition at NPR for more than three decades. (You know, the one that “sounds terrible but tastes terrific.” For details, click the link under Once More with Relish… at the top of this page.)
From the “obviously” department: David Isenberg notes that Auburn, Indiana stepped up to provide fiber service to a local business and preserve 75 jobs. The city did it because no private firm would.
Hong Kong broadband network now available (100mbps!!!!) for $35.00/month.
We delivered our truck full, yes truck full, on Sunday. The village had 160 families and over 500 children. As we drove into the village the children started running towards our vehicles to greet us. We spoke with the elders who advised us to just give the shoes to them and they will distribute later. I disagreed and told them that the soldiers wish to give the shoes out to the children on an individual basis. After the first 100 pairs, we lost a little control as we had difficulty matching shoes with children. Though our first foray into shoe distribution did not go as planned, the smiles could not be hidden. Parents were appreciative, Elders pleased, and the soldiers hearts were filled with personal satisfaction.
Taxprof summarizes the Marquette Law Review’s symposium on Wisconsin Tax Policy.
Patrick Marley on local utility lobbying:
Political action committees for and employees of Wisconsin Energy Corp., Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and American Transmission Co. gave Doyle $50,660 just before or after their projects received key approvals, according to figures collected by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a non-partisan group pushing for campaign finance reform…
Between 2002 and June 30, 2004, people affiliated with the state’s gas and electric utilities gave Doyle $133,323, a 17-fold increase over the $7,911 such individuals gave Doyle from 1995 to 2001 when he was attorney general, the report found.
I wonder how our Senators (Feingold & Kohl) respond when the MPAA and RIAA lobbyists stop by? Do they think about our fair use rights, like John McCain? McCain put a stop to H.R. 4077 because of valid concerns about whether the freedoms it granted (to enable parents to filter “smut” from films) would be read to deny fair use in other cases (note that the MPAA and RIAA are masters of wrapping their rent taking strategies in the flag). Via Lessig