If you think the decline in the housing market is going to show up on your tax bill, think again. In Fairfax County (VA), the government appears to have jacked up their assessments for land value to cover the deflation.

What stunned [Fairfax resident Cathlin Bowman] was the gaping disparity between the value of the 1951 brick-and-shingle house on Barbee Street and the land under it. The 11,500-square-foot lot, assessed at $301,000 last year, is now worth $501,000 -- an increase of 66 percent.

Her house, assessed at $266,590 in 2007, is now valued at $63,930 -- a decrease of 76 percent.

Hoping to take advantage of the housing dip, I had been shopping for a new home in Fairfax. Now maybe I'll continue to rent.

Back in July, we noted that an unelected government "transportation" authority was appointed by the legislature to levy all sorts of new taxes on Northern Virginia, including new taxes on home sales, rental cars, and hotels. It was a novel idea, in that the Legislature could raise taxes without actually voting to raise taxes.

Well, the Virginia Supreme Court has given them the smack down.

The decision by the state's highest court prevents the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority from financing more than $300 million a year in regional highway and transit projects. The authority has already begun collecting new taxes and fees for projects such as a new interchange on the Fairfax County Parkway and the widening of the Prince William Parkway.

Basically, if the Virginia Legislature wants to raise taxes, they have to do it themselves and face the political fallout.

In related news, the Virginia Legislature will likely be calling a special session this summer.

[Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William)] said lawmakers should explore a statewide tax increase to fund transportation projects.

Why am I not surprised? The idea of paying for new roads by cutting spending on social programs and other unnecessary vote buying schemes isn't even an option.

I wonder if this will make CNN's Recession Watch.

Virginia's Republican House and Democrat Senate passed an amendment to our concealed carry laws that provides for carrying concealed handguns into restaurants that serve alcohol, as long as you aren't drinking. This is sometimes referred to as the "restaurant ban" but guns were never actually banned in restaurants and bars, you just had to carry openly.

So, as the Governor decides whether or not to sign the bill into law, local columnists are using PSH (pants-shitting-hysterics) to try to get him to veto it. Case in point is this column, seemingly dripping with anger and rage, by Nick Penning.

For those of you who don't have the time to read Nick's drivel, allow me to summarize:

Lies. Lies. All Republicans Fault. More Lies. VIRGINIA TECH. Lies. Blame the NRA. Lies. Racist innuendo. Lies. Lies. CALL THE GOVERNOR.

There. You owe me 10 minutes of your life.

I've been recruiting my ass off for TiVo and built up some nice reward points from recent referrals. This is the thanks I get.

The official end date for the TiVo Rewards program is May 28th, 2008 at 11:59PM ET. It will be terminated at that point, no exceptions.

This really sucks. I was just a few points away from the reward I wanted too. Their reason why, is pretty cryptic:

The TiVo Rewards program began as a way to reward our loyal fans and encourage them to spread the word about the joys of TiVo. In a recent survey of Rewards participants, we discovered new and different ways to involve our fans and keep them more connected to TiVo and other TiVo customers.

So I check my email this morning and have a nice little fuck you email telling me I've got 90 days to redeem my points or they're all gone. I feel really sorry for the suckers who had a TiVo credit card and had been accruing points this way. I understand that TiVo probably has some solid business reasons for this, but pissing off your best customers is not usually a good approach.

SayUncle notes that the Tennessean falls prey to Ravenwood's Law:

Even worse, some have proposed allowing more guns on campuses, under the Wild West rationale that if every student and teacher is armed, they can defend themselves against a lone, irrational shooter.

How asinine can Democrats get? The House voted to increase taxes on oil and gasoline, because the price is too high.

The House approved $18 billion in new taxes on the largest oil companies Wednesday as Democrats cited record oil prices and rising gasoline costs in a time of economic troubles.

I wonder if this will make CNN's Recession Watch.

CNN/Money, who sometimes relies on advice from financial magnates like Billy Joel, continues to beat the "recession" drums. (No kidding. They actually have a section of their website called Recession Watch 2008.)

Because of all the bad news, more and more economists foresee the country falling into a recession, according to the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics.

CNN/Money says that a recession is "likely", but if you actually read the article, you find out that most economists don't think we are headed for a recession.

The group said in a report being released Monday that 45% of the economists on its forecasting panel expect a recession this year. In September, only one in four economists was pessimistic enough to put the chance of a recession at 35% or higher.

So how does 45% become "likely"? And if you look even further, you'll find that they are redefining recession.

The survey shows that 55% still believe the country will be able to skate by without falling into an actual downturn, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of declines in the gross domestic output...

The forecasters believe GDP will expand by 1.8% this year, which would be the weakest growth in five years.

So the economy is actually expected to grow, not recede. But that doesn't fit the media template, nor does it fit the CNN/Money Headline: "Recession more likely this year...".

These people, who would ask you to subscribe to Money or Fortune magazine, appear to actually be rooting for a recession. How can anyone take these clowns seriously?

In the gun rights for college students debate, anti-gun advocates fall prey to Ravenwood's Law.

The push to allow guns on campus rankles Garrett Evans, who was shot in both legs during the Virginia Tech rampage, and Omar Samaha, whose younger sister, Reema, was killed.

"Having guns in the classroom only makes things worse," says Evans, 31. He says the Virginia Tech gunman, Seung Hui Cho, walked into his German class and began shooting so quickly that no one would have had time to shoot back.

Samaha says guns on campus are a risk in an environment where young people drink and fight and are not always able to control their emotions.

"It's kind of a crazy notion to think about," he says. "It takes us back to the Wild, Wild West."

Yee haw!

Worried about breast cancer, ladies? Try walking around in the dark:

Women who live in neighborhoods with large amounts of nighttime illumination are more likely to get breast cancer than those who live in areas where nocturnal darkness prevails, according to an unusual study that overlaid satellite images of Earth onto cancer registries.

No, it's not that cancer is being underreported in rural areas. Streetlights actually do cause cancer (but only in boobies).

So ladies, when you're out and about at night make sure you only walk down dark alleys and avoid streetlights at all costs. Remember, it's for your own good.

Parking enforcement, Washington D.C. style:

The year and a half long episode of Weekend at Bernies: Cuban Vacation has finally come to an end. Fidel Castro has officially resigned, more than a year after his death.

Global Warming is being blamed for killing the Loch Ness Monster.

A few days ago I read the shock and awe about the Russians having a handgun in space. Now Say Uncle thinks we are losing the space race.

Sounds reasonable to me. I mean, you never know when you'll encounter a moon monster or someone with space crazies.

Of course the anti-gunners are also genuinely shocked. I mean, a gun! GASP! Whatever the kerfuffle, I don't blame the Russkies one bit.

Remember that NASA bitch that got caught up in a love triange, went psycho, and drove 9 hours without peeing so she could terrorize her collegue? It seems to me that the Russian cosmonauts are perfectly justified in wanting a little home defense. Especially when NASA comes knocking for a visit.

It seems like we go through this every year. Last week the Virginia Senate passed the Smoke Free Air Act that prohibits smoking pretty much any place a person might wander. The senate was good enough to except private residences and cars.

[snark]
Won't Virginia be great! I can light up a cigar in my own living room without worrying about jack booted thugs beating down my door to snuff me out. Thats freedom!
[/snark]

I'm not sure what chance this bill has of passing the House. But eventually it will be illegal to smoke pretty much everywhere. Incrementalism has killed smoking, which is a damn shame. I'm not an avid smoker and couldn't care less about cigarettes or smokers. But we did balance all our budgets on cigarette taxes, which means that as the smokers stop buying ciggies the tax man is gonna come after us.

And of course if the first temperence movement is any guide, prohibition will lead to crime, and crime will lead to gun control.

And perhaps most important, nobody should stand idly by and watch legislators negate property rights like this. Private property doesn't seem to matter to these people. So long as your place is "frequented by the public", they think they can tell you what to do with it.

You get birthday gifts wrapped like this...

Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought Belicheat was being a sore loser when he pulled his disappearing act before the Super Bowl was even over.

On more than one occasion this year, Bill Belichick and the Patriots have run up the score on an overmatched opponent, and forced an opposing coach to sit there and watch his beaten team go through the motions while their heineys were being handed to them.

But when the shoe's on the other foot, and Bill Belichick's team has been beaten, he can't sit there and take the pain for a few seconds.

With :01 left on the clock, and his team just having failed on a last chance 4th down effort, Bill Belichick ran onto the field for a quick handshake, and then bolted for the locker room.

For what it's worth Ravenwood bet the Giant's moneyline this weekend and made a killing. Oh yeah!

This post by Bitter reminds me of this past college football season. As a season ticket holder, I go to a lot of Virginia Tech football games. I usually load the car up and drive down Friday night so we can get an early start Saturday morning.

For tailgating, earlier is better. The global warming machine (aka SUV) is usually packed pretty tight with the tent, grill, tables, chairs, coolers, more food than you could ever possibly eat, and other assorted tailgate gear. I've got so much crap I've actually considered getting a trailer or RV. We get out there early to get a good spot and set up. Setting up can take up to an hour.

So during the VT-FSU tailgate this year, I'm slaving over the grill when a pickup truck pulls in to park beside us. There's three people in the cab, three in the back, and about four or five more walking up behind. The oldest looks about 23. For all those people, they brought exactly three items; a keg of beer, a box of cheap wine (sans box), and bail of hay. The girls took turns standing on the hay bail and holding the wine up in the air so other girls could drink from the spigot. For some inexplicable reason, they would slap the side of the plastic wine skin after drinking from it. The guys were doing inverted keg stands.

Now for those of you who've never seen an inverted keg stand, it works like this. You (and by you I mean me*) grab hold of the keg handles while a few burly guys lift your legs up into the air. Another guy opens the tap and sticks it in your mouth. You guzzle beer while doing a hand stand for as long as you can take it, while everyone in the crowd yells something like "GO! GO! GO!"

Maybe I'm over-thinking these tailgates.

* The only saving grace was that I was able to complete my keg stand before my sister and friends could get over there with the camera.