The law and the jungle

Noble County police were trying to serve Thomas Hovis Jr. with an arrest warrant on drug charges. As they arrived at the house he was staying at, Hovis ran to a nearby outbuilding. They surrounded the building, ordered him out and then fired tear gas, which apparently did not persuade him to leave. And then:

  When officers entered the building, they found Hovis standing up to his neck in a manure pit under the floor. After officers removed Hovis from the pit, he reportedly began fighting with officers, and was Tased, police said.

A letter to the editor from a Jeffersonville woman takes on Indiana's attorney general over health care:

As a citizen of the United States and resident of Indiana, I am surprised that the Attorney General of the State of Indiana, Greg Zoeller, would even entertain filing a lawsuit. His reasoning is based on the constitutionally of health care reform.

Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a good time for a reminder that a respect for private property, not massive government intervention, is the best prescription for a healthy environment:

There they go again:

Would you let the government take your car and give it to someone else? How about your computer, television set, house, or business? What if the government said you would be paid  yet you had no choice?

Here's a way to get guns off the streets I suspect all sides in the debate can agree to:

Ernest R. Snow, 44, Indianapolis, was sentenced to 15 years in prison today by U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney following his guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

[. . .]

This judge's ruling seems to be based on a very narrow definition of the establishment clause:

A federal judge on Thursday struck down the federal statute that established the National Day of Prayer, ruling that it violates the constitutional ban on government-backed religion.

Ordinary people, arise. Your time has come:

Of course, the service does leave something to be desired:

A night's stay in the Lake County Jail could soon cost inmates $30, as county officials look to take advantage of a state law that allows counties to be reimbursed for up to half the daily cost of holding a prisoner.

[. . .]

"I don't think $30 is so bad," said Blanchard. "Where else can you stay overnight and get three meals for that price."

"The Daily Show" had a parody piece on open carry, with a guest appearance by our own Paul Helmke, now with the Brady anti-gun organization. A lot of gun-rights people seem upset with the bit, but it made me laugh, and the Brady group doesn't come off looking that good, either.

Paul: "Anyone who's carrying a Colt .45 on their hip constantly in public is not a normal human being" and,   "People who carry guns around in public are living in some fantasy world."

It's one thing to realize there are still perverts out there dumb enough to get caught soliciting by Internet sting operations after all the publicity they've gotten, but there are cops who don't get it?