Boycott Happy
The LA Times has an interesting story about the American Family Association being up-in-arms about corporations not using the word "Christmas" in their holiday advertisements. This year, they're calling for a boycott of Gap and its brands on these grounds.It's a pretty bad commercial, but if you watched it, you'll notice Gap actually does use the word Christmas. It's almost as if the American Family Association has a pile of pre-written forms, they merely fill in the name of the (presumably) offending company and the rest is magic. Sometimes if I wonder if these organizations actu

Taxi Cab Payments
Daniel thinks taxi drivers are missing out on some business by refusing to accept credit and debit cards, even though they are required by law to do so. I think this is an instance in which mandating that all cab drivers accept plastic payments leads to unintended consequences.

Don't Tax College
Hard for cash, Pittsburgh's mayor wants to establish a new 1% tax on gross college tuition paid by students. It's an awful idea for generating revenue; but unfortunately, Pittsburgh might be able to pull it off without immediate negative consequences.

Popcorn Subsidies
Consider this for a moment: if you go to see a movie this Saturday night, the ticket will probably cost between $8 and $10; if you want a bucket of popcorn, you'll probably pay at least another $5 for the salty snack. On the other hand, one of my favorite bars has a popcorn machine, just like at the movies, and if you go into there this Saturday night, you can eat as much popcorn as you'd like, and it's free!

Saturday Satire
I don't know what it is about satire that pokes fun of big-shot Washington lobbyists, but it just seems to easy to come up with good material. Thank You For Smoking, for example - hilarious. Now Streetsfilms has this short video featuring Veronica Moss, lobbyist for the Automobile User Trade Organization.My favorite line: "This is not Italy. This is not... a piazza!"