arlington
wed 30-nov-05

iron mike and friends

Getting ready to get ready to go ... Carlton found a well used roll around suitcase in our trash room. We never had wheels before. Last year we used cardboard boxes. We have no attic, garage, spare room or storage unit - so even if we had real luggage we wouldn't have anywhere to keep it.

We love Iron Mike - but a new wheeled version would cost well over $500. I think not.

TV Allowance - I wonder if it works on husbands as well as kids.

A Close Call - Inside the Beltway Style - from Washington Post

Back on Jan. 24, 1995, days after Republicans reclaimed control of the House after 40 years, one of the first bills introduced was H.R.663: "To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to prevent luxurious conditions in prisons."

And the next day, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) jumped on board as an early co-sponsor.

The bill, called the "No Frills Prison Act," would ensure that federal money would go only to state correctional systems that didn't coddle criminals by giving them "luxurious" digs, or let them work less than 40 hours week.

Also, prisoners would not be allowed "unmonitored phone calls . . . in-cell television viewing, possession of pornographic materials, instruction or training equipment for any martial art or bodybuilding or weightlifting equipment or dress or hygiene other than as is uniform or standard in the prison. . . ."

Fortunately for Cunningham, who copped a plea Monday to tax evasion and conspiring to pocket $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and other co-conspirators, the bill appears not to have gone anywhere.