Politics and other nightmares

Government fraud? Say it isn't so:

The Department of Defense awarded nearly $30 million in stimulus contracts to six companies while they were under federal criminal investigation on suspicion of defrauding the government.

Officials in West Lafayette are missing a wonderful opportunity to improve the lives of city residents. Seems a landlord was informed that his rental property was "in need of aesthetic improvements." In response to that helpful reminder, city inspectors contend, he went and painted the house pink. Some in the neighborhood are outraged (not the tenants, who are college students and think it's kind of cool to tell people, "Just come to the pink house") but the city says it can't do anything:

Here's a little refreshing honesty from a public official. Indiana has been receiving a lot more per capita doses of H1N1 vaccine than Kentucky, which means Indiana ordered its supplies much earlier and asked for more:

Oh, please:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Nutrition officials hope a new poverty demonstration will show Indiana community leaders and healthcare providers what it's like to be poor.

In the "Reality of Poverty" simulation, participants assume the roles of families facing poverty. They are challenged to provide for basic needs such as food and shelter on a limited budget for four "weeks," each of which lasts 15 minutes during the simulation.

Well, well:

There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem -- 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 200

A little bit of fiscal sanity (and every little bit helps) from Indiana's two senators:

There's a lot of libertarian outrage out there today over the arrest of a Virginia man who was charged with indecent exposure for walking around naked in his own home. He says he was just making coffee at the time (early in the morning), but the complaining mother who was walking with her 7-year-old son says he stood naked in the doorway and then moved in front of an open window so they could still see him as they continued by the place.

Fort Wayne is trying to become more bike-friendly, doing things like putting bike lanes and bike racks downtown.

Wow. Suddenly, Mark Sanford looks like the classy South Carolina Republican:

Two Republican county officials in South Carolina have apologized after they disparaged Jews in a newspaper op-ed in support of a fiscally conservative U.S. senator.

The chairmen, Edwin Merwin Jr. and Jim Ulmer, wrote the newspaper in backing Republican Sen. Jim DeMint's opposition to congressional earmarks.

Guess it must be my turn to comment on Tax Foundation reports lately. Here's the third one in five days touching on Indiana. This one is pretty good news, ranking states by buisness tax climate by considering business property tax rates, the sales tax, individual taxes, corporate taxes and unemployment insurance taxes: