A few brief bits later

Bare with me ...

* The Paper of Record has it as a fact, the love-child of the auto industry, Toyota, is feeling the hurt too.  Saddness can be read here, they are losing money for the first time since it started up in the late 30s.

* Gizmodo has an awesome post about kids in Maryland who are using speeding cameras to get their enemies.  Basically they make copies of their friend's license plates with a glossy photo paper and go speeding past cameras to get them tickets.  This is perhaps the best use of a speeding camera ever - read here.

* Apparently CNN conducted a poll which determined that Vice President Dick Cheney was the worst VP ever.  As if CNN wasn't far-leftist enough for you, I am linking to an article from Left-Wing blog Real Clear Politics for the run down on the poll - here.  

I conducted my own poll which found that we've had much worse ... and it turns that Cheney wasn't that bad, he is actually one of the best!  Yay!  In all honesty (and ignoring Corrupt's future post on the topic), Statesman Dick Cheney completely reinvented the role of Vice President ... making it a much more relevant position in today's world.  Now, we know that Biden will take a backseat to Spotlight-whore Obama.  But ... I think Cheney has done good and hope that in the future other VPs follow the path he forged for them.

* Victory for The Paper of Record.  The Chinese had blocked the paper's website as of last Thursday, without explanation - but it was up and running again on Monday, also without explanation.  Short story - here.

* From Autoblog (via H), London has scaled back the hours that the Congestion Charge is in effect due to the slumping economy.  There is also talk that they might scrap the entire concept all together - which is ridiculous.  The Congestion Charge doesn't hurt business, it just forces people to think of alternative means of transportation - and London has many other options.  I think it would be a huge mistake for London to get get rid of the CCZ.

* Connetiquette reader "Friend" sent me this image which portrays what bars and clubs will look like with Bojangles' new rules in effect.  Good job Jim Graham:

* From Lifehacker - though I have seen this elsewhere - the RIAA is no ending its five year policy of suing individual copyright infringers.  The RIAA is going to work with ISPs to identify users who are stealing copyrighted materials - and send them warnings (through the ISP, without the RIAA ever knowing who the person is).  In turn after three warnings the ISPs will be shutting off that users connection.  Sounds fair to me, though I also think the RIAA should keep suing people.

* Via Trains for America - The Governator, Arnold, says "Meanwhile, infrastructure spending as a share of gross domestic product in the United States has dropped 25 percent over the past 20 years" -- so true.  What a great American.

* Via Transportation for America - here: America is ready for change.  A study from the Brookings Institution, found the following: 

Driving, as measured by national VMT[vehicle miles traveled], began to plateau as far back as 2004 and dropped in 2007 for the first time since 1980. Per capita driving followed a similar pattern, with flat-lining growth after 2000 and falling rates since 2005. These recent declines in driving predated the steady hikes in gas prices during 2007 and 2008. Moreover, the recent drops in VMT (90 billion miles) and VMT per capita (388 miles) are the largest annualized drops since World War II.

We are ready for change ... we are ready for real smart growth and better transportation options.