Cat torture devices

If you ever just said to yourself, "I really need a costume for my cat," this link is for you. Of course, I can't figure out how they got the model to be still for the pictures...I wonder if that is just a stuffed cat. Click on the title...thanks to Dave Barry's blog for the link.

---Katie

Do you own your property? Really?

Have you ever heard of eminent domain? That is the process by which the government can condemn your property and take it for public use. Traditionally, it is used for things like roads, post offices, and the like, but governments have discovered that they can use eminent domain to enhance their tax revenues. This is a boon to developers who can go to a local government and ask them to condemn a property, then sell it to them at the price they would like to pay instead of the price the property owner is asking. It gives the developer what they want to develop; it gives the government what it wants - more taxes; and it basically screws the property owner who might have wanted to continue to live in the house he grew up in or who might have wanted to take advantage of the increase in value of the property because of its commercial potential.

A number of these eminent domain cases have popped up around the country. Apparently WalMart is fond of getting local governments to steal someone's property so they can build a new store and improve the local tax base. Finally, one of these cases has made its way to the Supreme Court. Let's hope the property owners win this one, or we all will need to understand that our property is only ours as long as the government does not find a better use for it.

Click on the title above to read the article.

---Katie