Given my center-right world view, I should be able to find a Republican presidential candidate who suits me. But it's been difficult. There are various problems, remarked on by pundits everywhere, with all the candidates. So I shouldn't go on at great length in taking on the critics of the GOP field.
Officials in Michigan are shocked -- shocked, I say -- that giving law-abiding citizens the right to carry guns did not result in a bloodbath, though that outcome is consistent with common sense and most observable experience:
John Lott, a visiting professor at the University of Maryland who has done extensive research on the role of firearms in American society, said the results in Michigan since the law changed don't surprise him.
As recently as last year, the conventional wisdom was that a statewide smoking ban would never fly in Indiana. But I think the mood of the legislature has shifted -- if a ban isn't taken up this year, the only reason will be that it's a short sesssion and property taxes are such a pressing concern. And there is this, House Bill 1056:
Did you get your Parade magazine in the Sunday paper yesterday? If not, you missed out on some big news:
I've been neglecting my "research into the obvious" lately, so here's a good one:
In a study of nearly 3,000 healthy British adults, lead by Dr. Andrew Steptoe of University College London, found that those who reported upbeat moods had lower levels of cortisol -- a "stress" hormone that, when chronically elevated, may contribute to high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and dampened immune function, among other problems.
I've been neglecting my "research into the obvious" lately, so here's a good one:
In a study of nearly 3,000 healthy British adults, lead by Dr. Andrew Steptoe of University College London, found that those who reported upbeat moods had lower levels of cortisol -- a "stress" hormone that, when chronically elevated, may contribute to high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and dampened immune function, among other problems.
In the "gadgets keep getting cooler" department, note this trend to watch:
Other states have tried to get ahead of New Hamsphire's first-ever primary, but New Hamsphire just keeps setting an earlier date in order to remain first. But Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has a way to get around that:
Didn't I just write recently that I agreed with the person who said "just go ahead and shoot me" if the presidential race ended up being between Huckabee and Edwards? I don't think we're there yet, despite Huckabee's convincing win in Iowa and Edwards' narrow dispatch of Clinton to third place. I listened to a bunch of pundits on a number of networks and cable channels, and they were all trying to sound expert when the truth is that the situation is in such flux that nobody should be in the predictin' bidness these days.
We love symbolic numbers. Remember all the ink given to the DOW crossing 10,000? How about hardcover books going over the $20 threshold? And, of course, there was gas going over $1 a gallon, and $2 a gallon, and $3 a gallon. Now, we have the magic "oil at $100 a barrel" mark. This is almost universally seen as a negative -- The Journal Gazette put it on the top half of the front page. But consider:
I may have to take back what I recently said about time passing beauty contests like Miss America by. This pageant participant certainly is not a dainty 1950s-type queen hopeful:
If these numbers are even close to being accurate, it's very good news:
Remember the great Fort Wayne fake-fish story I made fun of? Apparently, I was a little too quick to judge what may be a developing nationwide scandal:
Here's one that can keep gun proponents and opponents arguing for hours:
A 51-year-old man stopped a masked man from robbing a Southside grocery store and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
I went to Ball State, so I never got into the Indiana-Purdue rivalry, though I had a wife and a brother-in-law on opposite sides of that debate, and they were always trying to recruit me. Now, however, I find myself with empathy for some Purdue students:
Purdue University students are making some extra cash through a project that might turn some of their classmates' stomachs — by sniffing livestock excrement.
The brave new world is coming:
If you're younger than 35, you'll probably live long enough to put David Levy's prediction to the test. Levy says that by 2050 we'll be creating robots so lifelike, so imbued with human-seeming intelligence and emotions, as to be nearly indistinguishable from real people. And we'll have sex with these robots. Some of us will even marry them. And it will all be good.
David Letterman and Jay Leno are back, and everybody is happy, though the writers' strike goes on. Letterman is back with his writers, through a special deal, so he and his Top 10 list should be as funny as ever. Leno is back without writers, so his fans will get to see how good he really is on his own.
Because it is constitutionally significant, and not coincidentally because it coincides with the longest presidential campaign in modern history, Indiana's voter-ID law is getting a lot of national attention as it is considered by the Surpreme Court. Here, James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal responds to an anti-ID column by a former Democratic congressman and makes a sly point I haven't seen anywhere else:
I couldn't see it, so I DON"T CARE:
Indiana's quest for a Big Ten basketball title begins tonight at Iowa with this big difference: The No. 11 Hoosiers (11-1) will face an 18-game conference schedule instead of the 16 they've played for the last decade.
Granted, a lottery is a disgraceful scam perpetuated on citizens by the state, at least we can hope that the Indiana lottery is run better than the other ones. Well, too bad. The state ranks 40th (out of 43) for fairness and disclosure in connection with its lottery. Ours is criticized for, among other things, taxing lottery winnings and giving people only 60 days to claim prizes after the close of scratch-off games.
