Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Mitch Roob searches his vocabulary for just the right word and almost finds it:
A new rule, which still must cross several hurdles before being adopted, would require food stamp applicants to submit documents within 30 days — instead of 60 — or risk having to start the application process all over again, Roob said.
Thank God the Democrats are going to allow a few real people at their convention, as opposed to, what? The usual Democrats?
An Indiana railroader, an Iowa mother and a Michigan truck driver are getting a moment at the Democratic convention to help portray Barack Obama as the people's champion and counter GOP characterizations of him as an out-of-touch celebrity.
The names we use mean something. If we use the terms the people themselves use -- such as "pro-life movment" and "pro-choice movment" -- we're being neutral. But if we change just one of them and start referring to either the anti-abortion or pro-abortion movement (though both of those terms are more precise), we're making a statement.
I was just compiling my presidential voting record for the fun of it. I've voted in 10 presidential elections. Six times I voted for the Republican, three times for the Democrat and once for the Libertarian -- not exactly monolithic, but it shouldn't be too hard to detect an underlying political philosophy. And my record is even -- five of my candidates won, and five lost. I don't remember being particularly bitter when my guy lost or especially ecstatic when he won. My life went on more or less the same, whether I felt I had " friend in the White House" or not.
I noticed a story the other day about "green dying" -- you can get buried in a cardboard box and save the Earth! Then the story was "localized" for Indiana by some enterprising reporter who went out and found a couple of funeral homes who were "thinking about" going green. I thought that was the silliest wacko environmental story I'd see this month, till I discovered that the Republicans are trying to outgreen the Democrats:
Not to be outdone by the federal government in meddling, Jeffersonville takes aim at a group of small businesses:
The Jeffersonville City Council is considering an ordinance that would make drivers pay before pumping gasoline -- an effort to reduce the number of people who speed away from gas stations without paying.
Our friends in government, still trying to save us from ourselves:
As you zip down the highway at 70 mph, remember that your lead foot will cost you at the pump in these days of $4-a-gallon gas.
Some lawmakers in Congress have certainly considered the consequences of your driving habits. And they want you to slow down.
Record-high gas prices have triggered talk that it may be time to lower the speed limit on federal highways to 55 or 60 mph.
John McCain on "Why I want to be president":
I want to inspire a generation of Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest.
[. . .]
America wants hope. America wants optimism. America wants us to sit down together.
Barack Obama:
And I want to be president because that's the America I believe in and I feel like that American dream is slipping away. I think we are at a critical juncture.
Don't you sometimes wish you had as much power as a judge? Grant County Superior Court Judge Randall Johnson says he has mold in his blood consistent with the mold in his courtroom, causing his health to deteriorate. So he's moving the court somewhere else temporarily and telling the county commissioners to fix the joint up:
I confess that I haven't followed very closely the "conscience clause" controversy brought on by some pharmacists who don't want to fill certain prescriptions -- the "morning after" pill and even other birth-control measures -- because of religious beliefs. I could see the arguments on both sides and haven't felt any pressing need to jump in. But now doctors are getting into the act:
