The toughest smoking ban in the state starts here tomorrow, and the only question remaining is whether it will hurt the businesses of bars and restaurants. I wonder if we have enough information to predict that. Some say "studies have shown" that there is no negative impact from bans elsewhere. Others contend that, while the number of customers might increase (there being more non-smokers than smokers), those customers will spend less, because they won't linger as long.
The mayor of Indianapolis is sick of pit bulls and wants them banned:
The city's mayor on Wednesday said he'll ask the City-County Council to ban pit bulls in Marion County, citing recent dog attacks on residents.
"More kids and more people in our community (are) getting torn up by pit bulls, and I'm just sick to death of it," Mayor Bart Peterson told 6News' Rick Hightower.
The first government-ordered quarantine since 1963 -- what would it feel like to be locked up just for being sick? If you knew it was coming, would you do as much as you could in the meantime?
Health officials said the man had been advised not to fly and knew he could expose others when he boarded the jets. He had a supply of masks to wear for the protection of other passengers, but it is not clear whether he donned them, Cetron said.
Hillary Clinton at her anti-individual, pro-group, government-activism, business bashing, redistributionist best:
Now, we have seen for more than a century that fairness doesn't just happen. It requires the right government policies. And no one should be surprised, human nature being what it is, people will go as far as they possibly can get away with.
Now that Fred Thompson is all but in the presidential race, it seems fair to start with his voting record, especially as it compares to the Republicans already running. The New York Times describes it as "decidedly but not exclusively conservative," which sounds about right.:
Drat. Just when the press gets us all worked up into a good panic, somebody who knows what he's talking about comes along to spoil all the fun:
Today's life lesson: "New poll reveals Canadian parents believe teaching their kids to swim is the best way to prevent drowning." Next: Teaching kids about gravity is the best way to prevent deaths by falls from tall buildings. Those crazy Canadians.
When red-light cameras were being considered here, officials insisted the reason was safety and safety only. But some (including me) had doubts, considering the jurisdictions that had found them to be big revenue generators. Now comes Buffalo, being glaringly and stupidly honest:
Advice for graduating college seniors: If you decide what you love to do, instead of looking for the most monetarily rewarding "career path," you'll never work a day in your life:
In case you wondered, politicians in Allen County are smarter than those in England. The county has approved changes to its public-smoking ban:
On Friday, the commissioners changing the definition of “public place” to exclude private or semi-private rooms in health-care facilities that are occupied by one or more people, who have requested in writing to be placed in a room where smoking is permitted.
So long to poor, sad Cindy Sheehan, whose rantings will apparently no longer be Page 1 news:
I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither.
[. . .]
I once started a book so bad that I stopped reading after the first chapter, went outside and threw it in the garbage can. Then, about 2 in the morning, I felt such pangs that I found myself rooting through coffee grounds, egg shells and used cat litter to retrieve the damn thing. That's how I feel about books. So I can't do a funny post about how sillly this man's book-burning "protest" is. It's a sacrilege:
The Indiana blogosphere has a lot to say on the matter of Matt Kelty's campaign-finance-disclosure problem. Some, such as Fort Wayne Libertarian Mike Sylvester, think the Kelty for Mayor campaign just made a mistake in reporting, and it's too bad the filing laws are so complex that a lawyer is needed to understand them.
With all due respect to Sen. Richard Lugar, who wants to "rewrite" America's farm program, that would only give us a slightly more sensible multi-billion-dollar subsidy monster. Why not try something truly radical, like just ending the whole thing? It sounds scary, but one country's experience indicates that the fear might be exaggerated:
No, this is not really comforting:
Charles Manson was denied parole Wednesday, the 11th time since 1978 that the cult leader was ordered to continue serving life sentences for a murderous rampage in 1969.
Manson, 72, did not attend or send a representative to the proceeding before the Board of Parole Hearings at Corcoran State Prison.
Hey, if you're going to get people to come to your museum to appreciate natural history, they have to be able to park, right?
The Witte Museum is raising eyebrows from those who say the natural history museum is plotting to destroy natural history.
Trees that have been on the grounds adjacent to the museum since the turn of the century could now be replaced by a parking garage.
Congressional Quarterly reports that Democrats want to add Mark Souder to their list of Hoosier takedowns. On the down side, he has supported President Bush in a war that is increasingly unpopular even in his heavily Republican district. But Andy Downs sounds a cautionary note:
I don't watch much network TV news, but somebody turned on NBC News with Brian Williams the other night, and I caught the tail end where he read viewer mail (the segment referred to here). The letters were all critical of NBC, which is fine; we make a point of giving letters that disagree with us priority.
