Politics and other nightmares

Who gets to decide what percent of "green jobs" is enough for the state? Enough for what, by the way?

Anytime you think tolerance can't go any further, along comes San Francisco . . .

The naked truth, it seems, is that San Francisco is once again going to emerge as a city ripe for ridicule -- or a beacon of free expression -- depending on your point of view. The latest issue? Public nudity.

Supervisor Scott Wiener will introduce legislation today intended to get to the bottom of the gross-out factor when it comes to public nudity.

Does this seem unlikely to anybody but me?

INDIANAPOLIS — Since he decided against running for president in May, Gov. Mitch Daniels has given more interviews on national television than when he still was considering a run.

Although he has said no to the top of the presidential ticket, he has not ruled out running for vice president.

Fair is fair. Conservatives are always complaining (usually with justification) about having their words twisted or misinterpreted to make it sould like they're calling for violence or being inappropriately insensitve toward something or other. (The flap over Sarah Palin's call for "targeting" of disliked public officials comes to mind.) So conservatives should be careful not to commit the same sin:

In case you missed it last week, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith resigned from his position as deputy mayor of New York City after being arrested in their Georgetown home for domestic violence. After Margaret Goldmsith said to him, "I should have put a bullet into you years ago," he shoved her into a counter, smashed a phone and held her for some moments. She called the cops. But by the time they got there, she had changed her miind and said she didn't want her husband arrested. However, under Washington, D.C.

This is certainly a welcome switch:

The White House announced Friday that it is shelving a major planned Environmental Protection Agency regulation that would have tightened smog standards, dealing a huge blow to environmentalists that had pushed the Obama administration to resist industry pressure to abandon the regulation.

You remember New London, Conn. That's the city that spawned the hideous Kelo decision in which the Supreme Court tried to put a stake through the heart of private property rights. The neighborhood was stolen by the government on behalf of private interests who were going to undertake a "comprehensive redevelopment plan." That plan never happened, and the site now is being used as a dump site for storm debris. Some redevelopment, that.

Interesting:

Indiana legislators could soon be using iPads for their legislative work hoping to save on paper.

A legislative study committee members will use iPads given to them by the state Legislative Services Agency and work with them the next two months as part of a test run. The members must provide feedback daily using a suvey the LSA created.

The new yearly survey shows alcohol use by teens is down -- continuing a years-long trend -- but the use of marijuana and smokeless tobacco is up. Statewide programs on underage drinking are credited with the good alcohol news. And:

Stewart said the upward trend in marijuana use by teens could be explained by media attention paid to legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes.

Not crazy about Jon Huntsman and his attempts to appeal to moderate voters in the primary, but his tax proposal looks interesting: