Politics and other nightmares

Good for him:

The leader of the Indiana Senate says he's taking gambling issues off the table during the upcoming special session so lawmakers can focus on putting together a new state budget.

Oh, for Pete's sake:

President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.

 Professor Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, said the unusual proposal would mean homes in hot countries would save energy and money on air conditioning by deflecting the sun's rays.

I'm so old-fashioned that I like the occasional historical reference in news stories, even if it takes up a little of the wwwwwh nuts-and-bolts space. I thought I was going to get one when I saw the headline of this story -- "Caesars Palace declares victory: Pres. Obama sleeps there again" -- and read the first paragraph:

Those of us who have been trying to come up with excuses for not wanting to visit Hobart can stop searching:

An ordinance to ban overnight parking outside Wal-Mart and other local stores passed City Council on a first vote Wednesday.

The proposal was approved on a 5-2 vote and is aimed at truck drivers who in recent months have turned parking lots along U.S. 30 into de facto truck stops.

The Elkhart school corporation, looking to save money like everybody else, is considering reducing the number of buses running each day:

The other option was to tighten restrictions on walk zones. That idea passed Tuesday night. It will reduce the number of buses running by having more students walk to school. Fourteen-hundred students will be affected.

Generally, job discrimination complaints do little for those who aren't in a protected class. In fact, those non-protected workers even come off sounding like privileged elites who don't care about the downtrodden masses -- beneficiaries as they are of a "disparate impact" that is said to prove discrimination against a minority. But here's one kind of case that can benefit all workers (or at least screw them all equally, depending on the employer):

Looks like Indiana was on the cutting edge with its "no-smiles" policy for driver's licenses:

Stopping driver's license fraud is no laughing matter: Four states are ordering people to wipe the grins off their faces in their license photos.

Looks like Sonia Sotomayor is getting the nod for the Supreme Court. In the coming days, I'm sure, we'll all be writing about how what a brilliant/clueless jurist she is and how blessed/screwed the country will be with her on the court. Let's just start by noting once again the much-noted observation that:

Obama had said publicly he wanted a justice who combined intellect and empathy - the ability to understand the troubles of everyday Americans.

A community activist in Muncie whose two firefighter brothers died in the line of duty many years ago says the mayor's announced plans to lay off 40 firefighters because of a budget shortfall is "pretty dirty." Call me a cynic, but I agree with him. Just consider that this isn't an isolated case but part of a trend:

It  is not surprising in the face of reality of the economy and revenue shortfalls that all communities are facing," said Hiatt.

Indiana's stimulus money for education has been tallied up, sort of, and -- wow: