Politics and other nightmares

Good news: 

Indianapolis - State officials say an improved credit rating will save money by reducing interest rates on public debt.

Gov. Mitch Daniels announced Monday that Indiana has for the first time received the highest credit rating from Standard & Poors.

A grand jury in San Fraqncisco is reporting that the city spends $186 million a year in city funds spent to finance homeless programs. As a result, 50 to 75 percent of the "street people" actually live in taxpayer-supported housing. Still, the pandhandling persists, and people seem baffled:

"We just warehouse addicts," said the grand jury's Stuart Smith. "Granted, it is a nicer place for them, but it doesn't address the problem."

Today's joke:

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Interrupting Barack Obama.

Interrupting Bara ...

Change you can believe in!

Well, we'll all sleep better now, won't we?

A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction."

Barack Obama (and, to be fair, Democrats in general) keeps saying that those George Bush tax cuts benefited mostly those evil rich folks. And if he gets in, he's going to finance his host of new programs by increasing their share of the burden and decreasing everybody else's. But look at the numbers:

Today's joke:

Barack Obama walks into a bar with a duck on his head.

Bartender looks up and says, "Say, where'd you get the Chicago-influenced secret Muslim with the angry, unpatriotic wife?"

"You ignorant, ill-informed, right-wing alcohol pusher," Obama replies. "This is Not a Chicago-influenced secret Muslim with an angry, unpatriotic wife. This is a duck."

"I was TALKING to the duck."

Good lord. Nothing like giving a guy a Nobel prize to make him start taking himself too seriously:

The United States should be making all of its electricity with renewable and carbon-free energy in 10 years, former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday.

The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," Gore said.

The needed a poll to figure this out?

John McCain is facing an excitement deficit.

While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do, a poll by The Associated Press and Yahoo News showed Friday.

Wonder if this is going to be a bad year for Republicans? Send those pollsters out again!

Today's joke:

Why is an elephant big, grey and wrinkly?

Because if it were small, white and smooth, it would be a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy spreading vicious rumors about Barack Obama.

A clever way to bring up Obama's big ears, eh?

What's wrong with this picture?

ALBANY — Senator Joseph L. Bruno, who led the State Senate for 14 years, has offered many reasons why he is leaving the Senate by the end of the week after a public career of four decades.

[. . .]

There is another factor to consider, though.

Mr. Bruno, a Republican, is likely to get a significant raise from the state by retiring.