Apprently, it’s perfectly legal for cops to steal your identity in Ohio as long as they’re using it in an investigation. The worst part? If I look up your job history based on your SSN then the “under cover” jobs will show up. It happened to a woman in Ohio who is now, according to her job history, a former stripper.

[…] Ohio liquor-control agents took her identity and gave it to a
22-year-old college student who they had recruited to work undercover as
a nude dancer.

As part of an investigation that resulted in nothing more than
misdemeanor charges, police paid University of Dayton criminal-justice
student Michelle Szuhay $100 a night to take it all off in early 2003 –
as liquor-control officers drank beer and watched in the audience for
three months, court papers show.

Wow. That’s all I can really say. At least the ACLU is looking into it.

It looks like Toyota’s Prius is so popular used ones are selling for more than new ones. Lauren and I would have loved to have bought one of these, but we couldn’t for a variety of reasons. From the article …

The survey said that 8 percent of the consumers considered hybrid vehicles in March, twice as much as 4 percent in February. It also said if gas prices reach $3 per gallon 77 percent of car shoppers will seriously consider a more fuel efficient vehicle.

That’s awesome that 77% of people would at least consider a hybrid. Of course, those looking to lower their gas costs might be surprised to find out that states are considering taxing drivers based on the miles they drive instead of adding a tax on each gallon of gas they purchase.

Considering that taxes on each gallon of gas you purchase is at least 42.25 cents per gallon (circa 1998) you can understand why states want to tax based on mileage and not on the amount of gas consumed. But does this mean you pay more, less or the same for transportation? Let’s look at the facts shall we?

* Average of city/highway mileage
** Based on national $2.29 average
*** Based on 0.49 / 2.29 * $ per tank

Needless to say the government would love it if we all drove Hummer H2’s. Let’s say that the a new tax was put in place of the “tax per gallon”, which taxed us on how many miles we drove. If we take the highest tax rate from above (the Hummer H2 gets taxed $15.68 on 416 miles, which is 3.7 cents per mile) we would get the following new data.

So the Prius would still be much cheaper to drive than a Hummer H2 or even the Camery. Of course, I would hope the tax per mile rate would be lower than 3.7 cents per mile. Personally, I think people who drive hybrids should get MORE tax breaks and not less.

One of the other problems I have is that you know that if the government changes how taxes are applied gas wouldn’t drop 49 cents a gallon. Instead, the gas companies would simply drop prices a little and then pad their bottom line from the price per gallon vacated by the government. Smoke and mirros in other words.

Terry Shiavo isn’t the only vegetable us tree hugging hippies have been killing. Nope, people like us kill tens of thousands each yeah!

This is what angers me so much about this story. Terry is one of, literally, thousands of people that this happens to every year. And before you say anything about Terry being able to communicate I’d like to know when was the last time you talked to her. From the article:

Doctors said her medical situation and the decision to withdraw life support is far from unusual.

Every day at hospitals and nursing homes, relatives of patients who have been rendered unresponsive by a stroke or Alzheimer’s disease instruct doctors to detach their loved one from a ventilator or remove a feeding tube.

You hear that? “Every day” this happens to someone else. Would you please get off your stack of Bibles and let this woman die in peace? Oh, I forgot, you won’t because she’s the one getting all the press.

I liken this to the pretty white girl in Colorado who was kidnapped. Her case got all of this attention while thousands of other kids who are kidnapped barely get a mention in the local evening news. Can you say “grandstanding”?

For public record here are my wishes if I am incapacitated and unable to speak for myself:

1. If two out of three doctors say I’m brain dead and unable to breath without assistance I want whoever is in charge of me to pull the plug.
2. If two out of three doctors say I’m in a persistent vegetative state and I require assistance eating and am unable to communicate (random blinking and grunts do NOT count as communication) I want the tube taken out.

Lauren, my wife, has beeen informed of my wishes. In fact, I think she’d like to pull the plug on me from time-to-time as it stands. After the plug/tube has been pulled I further instruct everyone around me to throw a huge ass party in my honor. At said party you will remind everyone around you what a kick ass guy I was and how much fun I was to hang out with. Crying is not allowed, however, tasty beverages should be served in abundance.

And, by the way, if you morbid jerks put me on display in some rip-off funeral home I will haunt you forever. I think that’s the most creepy part of dying – being put on public display while others gather around for a last look.