Brian Gongol
Radio show notes from January 21, 2007
Prayer for the Bears
(Received via e-mail)
Our Papa, who art a Bear, hallowed be thy fame,
Thy championship come, thy play be run,
at home as it is away.
Give us this day our Sunday win, and forgive us our turnovers,
Though we pounce on those who turn over against us,
And lead us not into fourth and long,
But deliver us from fumbles.
In the name of the Ditka, the Butkus, and the holy Payton,
As it was in the XX and shall be in the XLI, reign without end.
Da-men.
Iowa Senate considers huge hike in tobacco taxes
SSB 1055 would impose a huge increase in taxes on cigarettes, from $0.36 to $1.36 per pack. Cigarette smoke is a foul thing, and the health effects are awful. But taxes can go sky-high on those things without decreasing smoking -- while also opening to door to crime. No, seriously: Hezbollah is raising money by smuggling cigarettes from Virginia to New York. The side-effects from high cigarette taxes aren't funny.
One tiny step towards better justice?
Iowa Senate bill (SSB 1070) would raise daily jury pay from $10 to $30. That's still woefully low (the equivalent of $4 an hour), which skews the outcomes of jury trials.
Local communications monopolies get an extension
(SF 32) Iowa Senate looking at putting off for ten years a planned repeal of a law that requires local telephone companies to get approval from the Iowa Utilities Board. In other words...it appears like the bill would grant an extra decade of protection to phone companies who already have those licenses.
What can happen if you mis-type "Google"
Video shows how a crooked site based on a permutation of the letters in "Google" dumps a deadly payload of spyware on unprotected computers. Two simple counter-measures everyone should take: use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, and set up separate administrator-level and limited-access accounts (and use the limited-level account for Web browsing).
Chavez hints that Castro is on his deathbed
It's sad that a single man's life or death could make the difference between freedom and continued slavery for an entire country.
