Hoosier lore

Of all the arguments I've heard for leaving Iraq, this, from Rep. Mark Souder in a FWOb interview, has to be among the strangest:

The property tax mess affects everybody and has polticians of all persuasions scrambling for solutions. But Dan Carpenter, the Indianapolis Star's predictably liberal columnist, finds it a useful club with which to bash business, the governor and other evil Republicans and, especially, all those rich creeps who don't deserve their palatial homes anyway:

Indiana is going to let BP start dumping "significantly more" ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan at its Whiting refinery. There is a good news/bad news aspect to the story:

The refinery will still meet federal water pollution guidelines. But federal and state officials acknowledge this marks the first time in years that a company has been allowed to dump more toxic waste into Lake Michigan.

Oklahoma is stealing our Miami Indians! So the Oklahoma Miami can have a tribal presence here! To claim tribal lands! And open casinos! And then . . .

By the time Miami of Indiana has its legitimacy restored, some like Dunnagan, of Peru, fear there will be no more service areas left to claim.

The Potawatomi, soon to open the Four Winds Casino and Resort in Michigan, has 10 service areas in Indiana.

If you have a couple of peaceniks trooping through town as part of a nationwide walking protest, do you, A: Wish them well and ease them out of town, perhaps to laugh at them later over beers or, B) Start hassling them and throw one in jail, garnering sympathy for them and making your police force look like bullying thugs? They know which one to pick in West Terre Haute: 

This should not be a big surprise:

WASHINGTON - Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar's voting record so far this year shows him breaking with his party more than most senators and, if the Republican keeps it up, more than in any of his 30 years in the Senate.

Aw, people still care about us baby boomers:

Though Indiana employers recognize that their workforce is getting older, few are taking concrete steps to manage the transition as the baby boom generation begins to reach retirement age, according to a new report from the University of Indianapolis' Center for Aging & Community.

I did not know this about Indiana law:

The law on neglect in Indiana doesn't state a definitive age for when a child can be left alone, she said.

"As far as minimum age it really isn't one," she said. "It depends on the maturity level of the child. As long as everything works out OK there isn't a problem. We don't get involved until something occurs. It's very subjective.

I generally prefer local laws to state or federal ones, for the libertarianish reason that local lawmakers are closer to the people and presumably know local conditions better, and people have a greater ability to throw out officials who make bad laws. But I'm not sure about this:

GARY, Ind. — The city might ban people from talking on hand-held cell phones while driving, and, if passed, would make it one of the only Indiana communities with such a law.

Gee, do ya think?

The cigarette tax increase that takes effect today most likely will cause an influx of cheap bootleg cigarettes from Kentucky to flow into Indiana, experts predict.

Smaller, independent retailers are more likely to buy cigarettes in Kentucky and bring them back to sell to Hoosiers, Maj. Robin Poindexter of the State Excise Police said.