Sad news today as Chanel, a wire-haired dachshund, passed away at the age of 21. Speaking of death, our Governor has killed his beard, apparently hoping nobody will recognize who he is come election time, and accidentally vote for him. Dave, buddy, again I beseech you: please don’t run for Governor; I can’t deal with a Governor Guiliani, and I’m too poor to move.

George :jerk: Will says we need to get out of Afghanistan. Will, quoting de Gaulle quoting Bismarck, writes that “genius…sometimes consists of knowing when to stop.” I must agree, though I wonder if George would have seen the light if, say, McCain-Palin were running the show right now. Then again, nobody would accuse either if those two of being geniuses. Of course, if we were to get the hell out, I’m sure Will would be leading the charge of outraged pundits and very serious people who, unlike the rest of us (who wanted out of both Iran and Afghanistan a long time ago – before we went in, in fact), understand how the world works as the Taliban surge back into control.

More bills coming due from the great NY State Senate coup over the summer. As part of the deal to end the Republican siege, there will be $13 million more budgeted for raises and hiring of Senate staff, allocated, for the most part, to the Republican minority. That’ll give Republicans $17.3 million for staffing (compared to $14.9 million for Democrats when when they were in the minority). Good thing they’re raising DMV fees today, so we can pay for it. Registration for passenger vehicles goes up to $55 from $44, and the cost of a driver’s license increses by 25 percent – from $50 to $62.50. And they came up with another scheme to force us to buy new license plates – for $25 – no matter how new your old plates are (it’s a “safety” issue, they say, ‘cuz the old ones are “wearing out”. Uh-huh). If you happen to lose your registration, the fee to get a replacement copy goes up to $15 (from $4), and if you’ve managed to memorize your plate number and don’t want to be bothered trying to remember a new one, no problem. You can keep your old number – for another $20.

Oh well, it’s only money. It’s not like they’re squandering it on health care or something.

A British camera clue was allowed to film convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Magrahi as he lie in a hospital bed, connected to machines and wearing an oxygen mask, reportedly no longer able to speak at this point (yet still wearing his glasses). Whether or not this is just a publicity stunt in order to quell the outrage over his release or not, I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure: under “Obamacare,” he’d already be dead.

Good Woot on this Two for Tuesday for you aging, far-sighted baby boomer types: a two-pack of big-ass universal remotes for $10 including shipping. The catch? I bet it comes with directions printed in a nearly microscopic font.

It was 107 years ago today that Le Voyage dans la Lune (aka, A Trip to the Moon premiered in France. Bad enough they shot the Man in the Moon in the eye; I hope they didn’t pick any flowers.