Politics and other nightmares

A few people have asked if I plan to write anything for the page or here about Edward Kennedy in the near future. No, I'm not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wui-PNqJrxs

Congress is on recess and President Obama is relaxing on Martha's Vineyard, so we are at Code Green for economic risks out of Washington. Of course, Nancy Pelosi could tells us that "something must be done" about this or that crisis we never heard about until now, and we'd quickly be at Code Blue. Then will come Code Yellow, Code Orange and the truly frightening Code Red:

Nifty idea:

The northwestern Indiana town of Merrillville is requiring its employees to take five unpaid furlough days this year, along with five more in the first half of 2010.

That amounts to about a 2 percent pay cut each year, which isn't bad in today's economy.  Indianapolis Star employees have a new two-year contract calling for a 10 percent cut.

The Cash-for-Clunkers program may have set some sort of record for the most federal money thrown away in the shortest amount of time. But, hey, there is good news:

The “Cash for Clunkers” program ended with nearly 700,000 car sales, the Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.

Aww, poor babies:

Parents in some Indiana school districts say they are frustrated with changes in school bus routes that districts say are designed to save money.

School officials say the changes, which include fewer bus routes and require more children to walk to school, are needed because many districts are facing steep budget cuts as a result of changes in the state's property tax system.

[. . .]

Here are two women I really would not like to have as neighbors:

Two women are lobbying the Lafayette City Council to change an ordinance that bars residents from keeping chickens, saying the fowl should be considered acceptable pets along with their four-legged counterparts.

"It's a little hobby. They are pets," said Gay-Ellen Stulp, who has collected more than 200 signatures on a petition supporting the change. "I guess I'm now part of the chicken underground."

So, the city is going to buy a building for $7 million and spend another $7 million to fix it up. We don't know yet if it's going to do it on its own or in conjunction with the county, and we don't know what the relationship will be between city and county in the City-County Building. Where are city and county police going to end up, and which government functions will be where?

They were just legislators who wanted to do good, so what could possibly go wrong?

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A law taking effect this week could make criminals out of those who bring Tupperware onto many Missouri rivers.

The law was intended to reduce the floating debris from abandoned foam coolers in the state's waterways. But lawmakers, apparently a little rusty with chemistry, barred the wrong plastic.

I haven't seen any evidence that the GOP is smart enough to take back Congress in 2010 all by itself. But if it has enough help, who knows? Some groups are targeting five House Republicans with attack ads on their reluctance to vote for cap-and-trade. Good. Keep reminding voters who is for and who is against this job-killing piece of garbage that won't even affect global warming.

Here's a green idea I can actually get behind:

The landscaping around Muncie's city hall is undergoing a big change as crews rip out high-maintenance plants to create something called a "dryscape."

The city hall's landscaping is being replaced with thousands of drought-tolerant, native plants and prairie grasses that require relatively little water, fertilizer and pesticides.