How the mighty have fallen:
For the 20th time in the past three decades, at least three teams from the state of Indiana have made it into the NCAA tournament. For the first time, however, the Indiana Hoosiers were not one of those three.
They weren't even eligible.
A choice I could live without:
Pat-down or body scan? Travelers, it's now your call.
Not a good milestone to reach:
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - For the first time since before the Civil War and perhaps ever, more people in Indiana work in government than in all the factories in the state.
Rocked by layoffs, imports and automation, workers in Indiana plants numbered 430,800 in January, while government at all levels, including schools and publicly owned hospitals, employed 442,800 workers.
Guess newspapers aren't quite ready for the morgue if a couple of them have enough life left for an old-fashioned turf war. The Post-Tribune and The Times of Northwest Indiana (note the, um, lack of a city name in either title) are duking it out over which is the "real" local paper for Gary:
You remember the old joke. What do you call someone who graduated last in his medical class? Answer: Doctor!
We might or might not have God on our side, but it's OK (so far) to have him in the Pledge of Allegiance and on our money.
The federal court that touched off a furor in 2002 by declaring the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion took another look at the issue Thursday and said the phrase invokes patriotism, not religious faith.
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I wonder if Elmhurst parents and students would feel better or worse if theirs weren't the only high school being considered for closing. We can all be happy, though, that we're better off here than in Kansas City:
Superintendent John Covington called for the closing or consolidation of almost half of the schools in the Kansas City, Missouri, school district, and a school board voted Wednesday to approve the downsizing.
[. . .]
You can call anything a "green" job, and the more federal dollars that are available the more likely almost everything will be called green:
So, to recap. Some people get upset when customers spit on the floor of their business. Some people are freaked out by the possibility of having to work with men wearing dresses. That means Fort Wayne is an intolerant city. Or something.
In its budget-cutting efforts, Indiana is considering both shutting down the Indiana Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Board (ITPC), which could save $1.5 million in overhead and administrative costs; and laying off some of the state's 52 meat inspectors, the savings from which would depend on how many were let go.
All I know about Jihad Jane, the American recruit of Islamic radicals who is scary because she is blonde and blue-eyed and could be living right next door to any one of us, is what I learned from watching "Good Morning America" before coming to work today. Richard Clarke, the network's "national security expert consultant," was especially helpful.
Nancy Pelosi has her "Hey, hold my beer and watch this!" moment:
“You've heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other.
[. . .]
“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.
This Reagan/Obama "debate" video is making the rounds on the righty blogs today. It won't change any minds; those of us predisposed one way or the other will hear what we want to hear. But it is fascinating.
Public opinion doesn't usually count for much in enforcement of the law -- something is either illegal or it isn't, no matter what people think about it.
You can't say Fred Phelps and his merry band of 70-some pranksters at the Westboro Baptist Church are an inconsequential group. After his church picketed some soldiers' funerals in Indiana (to make the point that our soldiers are getting killed as divine retribution because "God hates fags"), the state legislature approved a law making disorderly conduct within 500 feet of a funeral a felony. Now the group has the attention of the U.S.
I've posted before that I've been all over the map on the death penalty. When I was in college, I was firmly against it, which is one reason I voted for Otis "Doc" Bowen for governor in the first election I was eligible to vote in here (and the second one ever -- I cast my first vote as a soldier in Texas). He opposed capital punishment because all of his training as a physician was aimed at saving lives. He had even voted in the General Assembly in 1965 to abolish the death penalty.
The millennials (those 29 or younger) are much more likely to embrace change than either Gen Xers (30-45) or baby boomers (46-64). That's sort of always been in the job description of the younger generation, and it's still true today. They are more likely to have a tattoo (two-fifths, compared with a third among Gen Xers and 15 percent among boomers), have created a profile on a social networking site like Facebook (three-quarters, compared with half and 30 percent) and posted videos of themselves online (a fifth, 6 percent, 2 percent).
Gary's can't attract businesses, but it does have a clever plan to grow:
Mayor Rudy Clay wants his city to be able to count Gary residents incarcerated outside the Northwest Indiana city as residents on the 2010 census.
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Who can be against tax breaks for businesses if it means more jobs will be created? How about the businesses that don't get the breaks? How about the taxpayers, when the game of tax-break roulette goes the wrong way?
When the economy boomed, Indianapolis handed Navistar International $18 million in tax breaks for new machinery. But the recession has soured the tax deal for the city.
