Politics and other nightmares

Here's an end-of-life story for you:

Supporters of health care reform have gotten some traction by deploring misinformation, shouting out about people who are upset about things that just aren't in the plan.

Indiana 8th District Rep. Brad Ellsworth has found a way to have a town hall meeting on health care reform without having to actually deal with those obstinate and obnoxious creatures known as constituents:

"Privacy ain't what it use to be" department. First I read this story on our Web site about how to find the old folks who wander off:

The state doesn't need to require adults with dementia to wear tracking devices because voluntary programs already offer electronic monitors for those likely to wander away, advocates told state officials looking into the matter.

[. . .]

Halle-damn-lujah (that's an example of an infix, as opposed to a prefix or a suffix, for all you budding grammarians) -- we do have some honest-to-goodness small-government officeholders in Allen County. County Commissioners are hot to enter into joint ownership with the city of the City-County Building and the yet-to-be-purchased and -renovated Renaissance Square.

Whenever there's gun violence in Indiana, Paul Helmke can usually be counted on to blame the state of the law more than the actions of the shooter:

When Daniel Mola shot Christopher Elkins outside a Winfield bar last month, the killing became the town's first homicide.

The president of a national gun-control group says Indiana's lax laws could be part of the problem.

For the "sometimes you can't win" file: Some of the bars in Franklin have a special liquor license that allows customers to buy a closed container of alcohol inside and then take it outside to drink. More people than ever are apparently taking advantage of this ability since the city's smoking ban went into effect earlier this summer. And -- surprise, surprise -- this doesn't please some people:

It seems the city is finally giving up on the idea of condos at Harrison Square:

The condos aren't selling in a tough housing market, and city officials now admit they were probably over-priced in the first place.

Flummoxed by swine flu? Not to worry, the government has your back:

Businesses should encourage employees to stay home sick at the first symptom of swine flu and should drop requirements for doctor's excuses during flu season, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The government has to do something about health care just to bring its own costs down (it already pays for about half of all health care in the U.S.) It could do this sensibly, by changing the tax rules that lead to the wrong kind of insurance. If this isn't going to happen,