Month: January 2016

So, as a reminder: the debate is tomorrow.

Thursday at 9 PM Eastern on Fox News, to be precise.  …Annnnnd the pregame festivities should be mighty interesting. If you had asked me this afternoon I would have said that Donald Trump would be returning to the debate, but the man seems bound and determined to see if Fox News is bluffing.  …I don’t think that Fox News is bluffing. CNN might have folded; they need the ratings boost more than Fox does. The Big Three networks wouldn’t have, because they dwarf the cable news networks anyway.

Be interesting to see where that goes. However, it’ll be more interesting to see a debate where I can expect to have uninterrupted policy discussions for a change.  I plan to enjoy this, in fact. Savor it.

 

Dizzy City issues a Special Car Stupidity Tax.

As in Oh, you have a car in Dizzy City?  Well, that was stupid.  Here, let us tax you for it:

Since enacting a snow emergency Friday, the District has handed out tickets totaling more than $1 million in fines for violators of its parking ban. That translates to thousands of pink violation slips slid under windshield wipers, and hundreds of cars towed from city roadways.

As of Wednesday afternoon, D.C. had issued 5,284 snow emergency tickets — each at a cost of $250 — and towed 673 vehicles since the snow emergency went into effect at 9:30 a.m. Friday, according to D.C. Department of Public Works spokeswoman Linda P. Grant. In total, $1,321,000 in fines has been issued, in addition to $67,300 in towing fees at $100 apiece.

To reference Tom Lehrer: ah, towing/parking meters.  Those sturdy… bastions of civic revenue. But you can get a song out of it!

Lincoln Park Pirates, Steve Goodman

Sorry. Running-around day.

They closed the schools again – and they’re doing it tomorrow, too – so I got bunched up a little. And then the babysitter showed up, and oh God yes but I needed a beer and a booth to slump in for a few hours. The worst part? This is probably just the mid-stretch for me. Even if school’s open on Friday: guess who signed up to chaperon a field trip?

:twitch:

:twitch:

Interesting: GOP’s John Lujan wins Texas legislature special election.

The San Antonio district was a Democratic one, and heavily Latino, and John Lujan won it.  By the skin of his teeth, mind you.  This is why you always go and vote:

If it’s important enough to have an election, it’s important enough for you to vote in it. And there’s always going to be somebody who you don’t like who would very much like you to stay home. Always always always. It’s pretty much a physical law of the universe, in fact.