

By Richard W. Rahn
Budget fantasy won't help us cope with coming fiscal disaster
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Nineteen months after "The Decision" sent his personal stock plummeting, LeBron James is as desperate as ever to please and still clueless on how to go about it.
Tim Tebow is still giving the NFL whiplash.
SCOREBOARD

The Washington Redskins put the 2011 season out of its misery Sunday. Before (just guessing here) 40,000 occasionally interested fans at Lincoln Financial Field, they were pounded 34-10 by the Philadelphia Eagles — who also had nothing to play for, but had better players to do it with.

Even as the Washington Redskins' offense sputtered, holding a potent Philadelphia Eagles team down for three quarters was an encouraging sign. But the fourth quarter was a discouraging end to a season that could be described using the same vocabulary.

A quarter-by-quarter look at the Redskins 34-10 loss to the Eagles. Plus, the most pivotal play of the game.

The disparity between the Washington Redskins and their NFC East division counterparts became painfully clear - for the umpteenth time this season - in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 34-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Brian Orakpo was frustrated. Strength exercises at halftime and all, he and the Washington Redskins training staff couldn't figure out a way to get him back in the game.
Remember all the forecasts of gloom and doom for NFL teams after the lockout. Funny how virtually none of it happened.

Soon after the Sugar Bowl matchup was set, Virginia Tech free safety Eddie Whitley was bombarded by text messages about Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.
Five questions to keep in mind when Washington visits the Eagles in Week 17.
For all those super expectations, all the preseason hype, all the big-name additions, the Philadelphia Eagles are left to ponder all that went wrong.

With the regular season in the rearview mirror, let's take a look back at the five things I'll remember most about fantasy football 2011.
Michael Vick will miss his third straight game because of broken ribs when the Eagles play at Seattle (4-7) on Thursday night.
Fans are calling for Andy Reid's dismissal more vehemently than ever. Assistant coaches are arguing on the sideline. A disgruntled star player isn't giving his best effort.
"I've watched this team grow as the weeks have went on," Vick said. "The last three or four weeks, we've come together as a team. It's a family environment, a family atmosphere and that translates to winning. That's why you see a different team. I think we are well put together and well fit. We're playing together and that's what it's all about. But it takes time to build that chemistry, build that unity, that togetherness. Doing it now, it's exciting for me and there's not a place that I'd rather be each and every day."
"If we would have gotten into the playoffs, I feel we would have definitely done some damage," quarterback Michael Vick said after Saturday's 20-7 win at Dallas. "It's unfortunate that we didn't and that's the game of football. If you make some mistakes early and you get behind in the count in the win/loss column, you sell yourself short in the end and you're in the position that we are in. We're just happy that we are finishing strong. We have one more game to play and we're going to give it everything we've got."

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times
A day after proposing to raise taxes by nearly $2 trillion over the next decade, ...

By Thanyarat Doksone and Todd Pitman - Associated Press
A wounded Iranian fleeing an unintended explosion at a house threw a grenade at Bangkok ...

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times
The FDA has won its two-year fight to shut down an Amish farmer who was ...