Why do I read the Anchorage Daily News online every day?

Well, where else are you going to find front-page stories that begin like this:

Nome Rep. Richard Foster is famous at the state capitol for his love of machine guns and the weekly 'Foster Night' musical jam parties he used to host in his capitol office.

Turns out this machine-gun loving musician desperately needs a kidney.

An aide to a Fairbanks politician would like to give him one, but new Alaskan ethics laws - that were hastily passed last year - outlawed "gifts" valued at more than $250.

A kidney is worth way more than that.

Memo to the breathless members of the Virginia General Assembly frantically trying to ram through thousands of new bills in the next few weeks: Take your time.

There can be a steep price for hasty legislation.

Telephone answering machines have been around forever.

So you'd think Candy Tistadt would have learned by now that you NEVER leave seething messages on anybody's recorder. Even if a kid called your home number to gripe about not getting a snow day. Even if your husband is the chief operating officer of Fairfax County Schools.

You especially don't leave a message like this on the cellphone of a tech-saavy teenager. Not in the age of YouTube.

"Snotty-nosed little brats"?

Uh-oh. This can't be good for hubby's career.

Now this IS delicious.

Seems a new study confirms what many of us have long suspected: that wine "afficionados" are influenced by price, rather than palate.

It has to do with activity in the medial orbito-frontal cortex in the brain. Apparently that's the designer label lobe, the one that lights up every time it encounters  Jimmy Choos,  Juicy Couture and Coach.

Think about it. This is information we can use. Next time I'm entertaining wine snobs, I think I'll find an old bottle of Chateau Margeaux and fill it with Two Buck Chuck. They'll see the pricey label and swoon.

Here's something you won't see again - in Virginia, anyway - if HB533 becomes law.

Freshman delegate Bobby Mathieson - a former cop - has introduced a measure to get dogs out of the drivers' seats.

No person shall operate any motor vehicle on the highways of the commonwealth with an animal on his lap nor shall he permit an animal to impede his free access to and use of vehicle controls or to obstruct his vision.

Common sense, you say? Not really. Everywhere you go you see pooches with their paws on the wheel.

"The ultimate in distracted driving," said the Beach lawmaker.

When I talked to him Wednesday, Mathieson insisted he was not "anti-dog."

"This bill is very pet-friendly," said the owner of an SPCA mutt named Rusty.

For the record, Rusty is never allowed to drive.

Four words of advice for hunters: Be careful out there.

Especially if you have a dog.

Rather, let's blame drivers who chatter away on cell phones, for some of the carnage on Virginia highways last year. Looks like 1,012 people may have been killed in 2007. It's the first time in 17 years that gruesome number has topped 1,000.

What a milestone, huh?

Look, we all know distracted driving is a major cause of fatal car wrecks. And we all know nothing distracts a driver quite like yakking on the phone. 

State lawmakers have a chance to do something bold this year. They could outlaw the use of all cell phones while driving in Virginia. Instead, they may ban TEXTING . It's astounding we even need such a law.

How high does the death toll have to go before common sense kicks in?

No one's really working today.

That's why this Chicago Tribune Christmas Carol Quiz is burning up the blogosphere.

If you've already taken it. I apologize. Go back to your eggnog. If you haven't, beat my score: 88.

Ever wonder where universities find the inspiration for their logos? Looks like William and Mary's unfortunate new insignia was borrowed from local dumpsters.

Any wonder so many alums want to trash it?

This is just plain wrong.

So is this.

And this.

Looks like Gov. Tim Kaine has joined brazen bait-n-switchers in Richmond who want to make permanent a “temporary” motor vehicle tax .

Lawmakers slapped this $1 annual fee on Virginians in 2003 to help pay for the Jamestown 2007 celebration. It's due to expire on July 1, 2008. 

The celebration is over. The tax should be too.

The Washington Post reports that the governor wants the dollar-per-car tax to stay in place and the loot earmarked for tourism.

You’ve gotta love the way the Post reports this little gem, too:

“Kaine’s proposal which requires approval by the General Assembly in January, has become fodder for anti-tax activists and other conservatives who say that the fee is a prime example of government becoming addicted to certain revenue.” 

Apparently in Washington it's only “anti-tax activists” and “conservatives” who think government should keep its promises.

Interesting.