Hoosier lore

A commentary in the Indiana Daily Student makes a good point about this state's deplorable ballot access procedures, making Indiana one of the five most difficult for indpendent and third-party candidates (along with Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Georgia):

Gee, just think. If I'd stuck with the job I had to make money in high school, I could have had a real career:

A woman in Evansville, Indiana, has been working at McDonald's for nearly 40 years.

89-year-old Loraine Maurer says the reason she's continued to work at the town's very first McDonald's is that she's happy.

Thank goodness for small blessings:

Forever and ever without any stories concering small, private or "backyard" burials, and today there are two of them. A widow in southern Indiana has buried her husband in the backyard of the home they lived in for 50 years, working her way around a state law requiring all bodies to be bured in cemeteries:

This story seems a little overblown to me:

Casual voters heading to the polls in Indianapolis Tuesday could be forgiven for not already knowing which party Mayor Greg Ballard represents and whether challenger Melina Kennedy is a Democrat or a Republican.

Their respective lawn signs throughout the city bear no mention of their political affiliations.

[. . .]

USA TODAY trots out the "quaint Hoosiers" attitude we all know and love so much:

Thank goodness we don't have to put him on the injured reserve list:

Governor Mitch Daniels returned home after undergoing surgery to his right knee Friday morning.

[. ..]

John Stossel on why "Buy American" is a dumb idea:

It would not only not create prosperity, it would cost jobs and make us all poorer. David R. Henderson, an economist at the Hoover Institution, explained why.

"Almost all economists say it's nonsense," he said. "And the reason is: We should buy things where they're cheapest. That frees up more of our resources to buy other things, and other Americans get jobs producing those things."

The Washington Post has wandered into rural Indiana in search of an explanation for the partisan bitterness and fridlock in the nation's capital. And it found the answer -- it's all the voters' fault!

Hey, big spender, gonna be patriotic and give the country an economic boost with a nice, big Christmas?

The holiday shopping season is almost here, and for some it's already begun. Will you spend more this year than last? Economists are optimistic about the State's financial outlook.