Dammit, where's mine?
Three big city mayors asked the federal government Friday to use a portion of the $700 billion financial bailout to assist struggling cities.
The mayors sought help with their pension costs, infrastructure investment and cash-flow problems stemming from the global financial crisis.
Did you know that grocery carts have more bacteria than public phones and restrooms? If you use one without at least wiping off the handle with one on the sanitary wipes the stores are starting to provide, you're taking your life in your hands. But at least, by God, we're being protected from those dastardly food pushers who are trying to kill us with their evil outdoor grills (third item):
Some good advice for Republicans:
Expel your base or retreat into an echo chamber: If those choices seem dispiriting, Republicans can take heart. They're the same false alternatives that the Democrats allegedly faced four years ago. Then a politician who hadn't fallen behind the bipartisan Iraq war -- but, unlike Howard Dean, actually wanted to be president -- came out of nowhere to beat his party's establishment and take the White House.
As NASA prepares to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing may do more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.
It's a water-recycling device that will process the crew's urine for communal consumption.
Don't even ask about the Soylent Brown.
Times-are-even-tougher-than-you-thought department:
In this brutal season of cutbacks, the office holiday party is getting downsized, too.
From American Express to MTV to the Bend, Ore., city government, employers are canceling Christmas celebrations because of the gloomy economy. At some other workplaces, last year's catered affair is this season's potluck.
Never mind the economy, politics, all that Earthbound stuff. This is exciting:
Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away — three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.
Perils of the modern age:
The start of Indiana's firearm deer season is this weekend, and authorities are warning hunters not to touch the remains of meth labs that they may find in the woods. Indiana State Police say containers used to cook meth may look harmless, but could contain dangerous chemicals or explode.
"Hey, Earl, watch me shoot that bottle!"
Hanover Central High School comes to its senses:
A northwest Indiana high school is relaxing its ban on purses.
The Hanover School Board raised the ire of female students and their parents at Hanover Central High School in Cedar Lake when it imposed the ban earlier this year.
The school board voted unanimously this week to allow girls to carry strapless handbags that are not larger than 9 by 7 inches and no more than 3 inches deep. They will also allow pencil cases and pouches of similar size.
Why I could never get a government job:
Want a top job in the Obama administration? Only pack rats need apply, preferably those not packing controversy.
Better sit down for this shocker:
LONELY hearts beware: looking for love at a speed-dating event may leave you feeling unlovable. In big groups, people judge on looks so much that the less stunning may as well forget their clever chat-up lines.
[. . .]
The Muncie Star Press doesn't think much of the idea of concealed weapons on the Ball State campus:
In Indiana, there is one very good reason for a campus ban on concealed weapons: Just about anyone can get a gun for any reason.
The only requirement for a gun permit is that you pay the fee, which runs around $100 or so, depending on whether you are applying for a four-year or lifetime permit.
Gov. Mitch Daniels is being suggested for a course he should probably avoid:
As Republicans do some soul-searching about the future of the GOP, political analysts say they should look to their crop of progressive governors -- including Indiana's Mitch Daniels -- to help mold the party's future.
That may mean Daniels, who won a commanding victory Tuesday to a second term, has a future as a candidate for higher office -- an idea he has shunned so far.
Yesterday, I wrote about people getting prematurely agitated over Barack Obama and the Second Amendment. Some are predicting an early demise for the First Amendment as well, specifically the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine as a way of shutting up conservative talk radio. That one's not high up on my worry list, either. There are some Democrats for it, and some against it, and Obama has said it's not something he would push for.
This seems downright un-American, or at least anti-Hoosier:
HIGHLAND | It was a divided Town Council on Monday that passed an ordinance to prohibit alcohol from all public areas, including streets and parkways.
Prior to the meeting, Redevelopment Director Cecile Petro said sidewalk cafes are becoming popular and that the new ordinance would prohibit them.
"Outdoor dining is very important to revitalize a downtown area," she said.
Police are going to be out in force to make the roads safer over the Thanksgiving season, and they're just going to violate the Constitution a little tiny bit to do it:
We can all sleep better tonight knowing that the Secret Service has given the Obama family their code names:
The President will now be known as "Renegade," Michelle Obama as "Renaissance," Malia as "Radiance" and Sasha as "Rosebud." Vice President Joe Biden got tagged with the fairly ho-hum "Celtic" and his wife, Jill, will be known as "Capri."
A couple of weeks ago, we had a story about guns "flying off the shelves" because of the mere possibility Barack Obama might be elected president. Now that he's actually been elected, it's beginning to look like gun sales nationwide are so huge that they could even save the economy!
First up, we have a prime early example of Obama Derangement Syndrome:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship.
