Last week of the year

And the stories keep coming:

2007 was a good year for Ballistic Missile Defense. Those who said it could or will never work should be eating a lot of crow, but they have moved on to new things, like global warming.

Starting January 1, 2008, France and Germany will no longer allow smoking in bars and most other indoor places. While I like being able to go to a restaurant and not smell like smoke when I leave, I also think this should be left for the business owner to decide and not the state. Let the customers decide if they will patronize smoking or nonsmoking places.

Why are GE, Sylvania and Phillips happy with the new light bulb law in the US? Well they all will be able to make incandescent bulbs that meet the new specks by 2012, but they will cost a lot more then incandescent bulbs cost now. So we the consumers get to pay more if we want incandescent bulbs or we can have CFL if we don't mind the Mercury. I hope the LED's will be available by then.

And finally, stupid is as stupid does. Poor old couple withdrew their savings and got a bank check. They didn't open a new account and put the check in a safe deposit box for over 20 years and wonder why the bank says they no longer have the money. A check is stale after 6 months and after 3 years by law the bank (or any business) has to send the money to the State as unclaimed property. After 7 years or so if the money is not claimed I believe the State gets the money. Yes, we should feel sorry for the woman (her husband died a few years ago), but if they were competent about their legal and financial matters, it should be their problem and not the banks. Its called an expensive lesson.

Have a good weekend.