Notre Dame has asked head football coach, Tyrone Willingham, to not return, after only 3 seasons at the University. I heard about this an hour before it was on ESPN, and it was all over the football message boards, but now it's firm.

Dan Ornelas put it best: "So would it be fair to say that, although ty was a nice guy, he just....didn't.... execute?"

From this AP article:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Six in 10 Americans say there should be a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, according to an Associated Press poll.

Enacting a mandatory retirement age would be a bad move. Having older justices on the court acts as a weight on the court, keeping it from veering sharply towards change every time new ideas come up. The high court is not meant to be an immediately responsive institution.

[props to In the Agora]

Pakistan bans Newsweek magazine

Update: This also is real censorship in China

Because the Saudis plan to increase oil output 37%

Governor Robert Ehrlich of Maryland continues to impress me. His latest feat is his recent order banning all state officials from speaking with two reporters from The Baltimore Sun.

Maryland's governor says his order that state officials stop speaking with two reporters for The (Baltimore) Sun was "meant to have a chilling effect" on two writers he believes "have no credibility."

The ban was intended to set a benchmark for the minimum level of accuracy expected of newspaper coverage of his administration, Gov. Robert Ehrlich said in an interview on WBAL radio.

"At what point does a monopoly newspaper abuse its privilege, its First Amendment privilege, in making things up, making quotes up, making context up?" the first-term Republican governor said Friday. "I just said this is our minimum benchmark."

Ehrlich is completely within his rights to do this, and I applaud him for doing so. While the government cannot and should not try to censor the news, it certainly may limit access via interviews with officials, if it feels that that information will be distorted and untruths given to the public.

A lawyer for the Sun had the following to say:

"He's trying to squelch critical news coverage and what he apparently has done is anoint himself the arbiter of what citizens can see or learn about their government," she said.

Laughably untrue. The paper can easily assign other reporters to the task. And. And, if we are going to talk about squelching diversity of news coverage, maybe the Sun should take a long hard look at itself-- afterall, it squelched news coverage when it made itself into a monopoly paper in Baltimore, just like papers have done in almost every major city in America.

Idiots.

Hydrogen is the fix-all right? At least that's what proponents of the hydrogen-economy are telling us. It will cleanly and bountifully power our cars, power-plants, industry, etc. etc.

The biggest problem of the hydrogen-economy idea, and the reason why it's currently a myth, is that we lack any way to cheaply extract pure hydrogen fuel.

So, when I read this headline for this article from the NYTimes, "Hydrogen production method may boost fuel supplies," I was excited. Perhaps the myth would be no more.

But alas, do not believe the hype! While this new method produces hydrogen using much less energy, it does so using nuclear power-- which is really not a solution at all, unless we figure out what to do with nuclear waste, of course.

This is the opening paragraph of G.K. Chesterton's masterpiece novel, The Napoleon of Notting Hill:

The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called "Keep to-morrow dark," and which is also named ... "Cheat the Prophet." The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. They then go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.

The second paragraph is even better. But to read that you'll have to read the book. You won't regret it.

Havel's name is being thrown around, and I like the idea of having a man with his experience and credentials for that job.

Havel is a major proponent of the idea of global civil society:

Let's not allow ourselves to be manipulated into believing that attempts to change the established order and objective laws do not make sense. Let's try to build a global civil society that insist that politics is not just a technology of power, but must have a moral dimension.

Politics with a moral dimension, eh? But who's morals? Or is that a silly question because all humans possess a certain set of basic morals? No, I contend that the morals which are relevant to politics are those linked to culture to some degree, and if this is the case, then Havel's vision might fall hopelessly short. He underscores this possible weakness when he discusses the Eurocentricity of his global civil society:

We Europeans have one specific task. Industrial civilization, which now spans the whole world, originated in Europe. All of its miracles, as well as its terrifying contradictions, can be explained as consequences of an ethos that is initially European. Therefore, unifying Europe should set an example for the rest of the world regarding how to face the various dangers and horrors that are engulfing us today.

Lucas may have beaten me to the punch, but I think it's a wonderful idea to remember that for which you are truly thankful. With the increasing commercialization of every holiday every year, it's easy to forget what our holidays actually celebrate.

The Pilgrims began this holiday simply because they were thankful to be alive and in America. A little history, after the Plymouth Thanksgiving, the idea for a national holiday first floated around during the Revolution, and several states adopted a Thansgiving Day before Abraham Lincoln made it an national holiday in 1863.

(Thanks to holidays.net for the info, an amazing site that tells you everything you wanted to know, and some this you probably didn't, about the holidays we celebrate. I won't publish anything today on Indian injustices, that's for Columbus Day).

Anyway, my senior year in high school, our new parish priest gave a wonderful homily. He told us to tell the congregation that for which we are thankful. For a mass with about 50-60 people, the homily lasted for 20 minutes. I'm totally gonna plagarize his idea. I'll write five things for which I am truly thankful, and I encourage you to add your own, if you feel so inclined.

I am thankful for my friends and family, that I have such healthy, caring, and loving relationships with others in my life.

I am thankful for my health and my physical and mental gifts, that I have been blessed with the tools to be a productive member of society.

I am thankful for the opportunity to come to an outstanding university and receive a world-class education.

I am thankful for the men and women in our armed services who are protecting our country from harm.

I am thankful for God, who gives me all these things and many more, and I hope I live my life a way that best serves His Glory.

I don't care if I sound like a broken record: the U.N. needs major reform. The lead from this AP article is a sad reminder:

UNITED NATIONS - Linked in the past to sex crimes in East Timor, and prostitution in Cambodia and Kosovo, U.N. peacekeepers have now been accused of sexually abusing the very population they were deployed to protect in Congo.

And while the 150 allegations of rape, pedophelia and solicitation in Congo may be the United Nations' worst sex scandal in years, chronic problems almost guarantee that few of the suspects will face serious punishment.

Will we see the same level of outrage as the Abu Graib prison abuse scandal caused in the American and European media? I sure hope so.

[props to Sean]

Adam Penenberg says they should really worry. He looks at the news consuming habits of the younger generations. He makes some good points, but no firm stats to back them up... yet.

www.kingnut.com

And go to their FAQs where you can find gems like this one: "You say it's good to eat nuts, but my cholesterol is 212 and I have not eaten nuts for about four months now."

[props to Dartmouth Andrew for the link]

Let's be honest: each and every one of us has someone, something, and/or something higher to thank for gifts we have been given in our lives. Realizing those gifts (giving thanks), not only let's the giver know that their role in our lives is appreciated, but it also helps understand the modest amount of control that we ultimately have over our worldly lives.

And for that lesson, I give thanks.

I guess the "terrorist" bloggers who dared to fight for the truth from our media succeeded. (read the story here)

This is the catchline on Google's new scholarly search engine: Google Scholar

For this search engine, Google provides results only from scholarly sources, such as university pages, think tanks, etc. For some reason, Daily Contentions does not seem to come up as a source. I guess I'll have to talk more about quantum mechanics... [footstep sounds of my readers running away....] :-)

I saw this site mentioned on In The Agora.

Late last night I walked over to my trash can, threw a wadded piece of paper in it, and then.... threw my car keys in it.

I sat in my chair and started typing at my computer, and about 30 seconds later, I thought to myself: "Luke, why did you throw your car keys in the trash? Your car keys, Luke. You're not drunk, so why in the world would you do such a thing?"

I don't know. But I have an idea. Two little words: law and school

I have run numerous internet browsers on the Macintosh, but I have used Safari, Netscape, Internet Explorer, and FireFox the most. And these browsers I will now compare. All ratings out of 10...


Interface speed:

Safari: 10
Internet Explorer: 9
FireFox: 8
Netscape: 7


Page-rendering speed:

FireFox: 10
Netscape: 9
Safari: 7
Internet Explorer: 7


Overall interface:

Safari: 9
FireFox: 7
Netscape: 6
Internet Explorer: 5


Bookmark management/flexibility:

Internet Explorer: 10
FireFox: 8
Netscape: 8
Safari: 4


Search/find capabilities:

FireFox: 10
Netscape: 8
Safari: 8
Internet Explorer: 3


Extensibility:

FireFox: 10
Netscape: 6
Safari: 5
Internet Explorer: 3


Website compatibility:

FireFox: 9
Netscape: 9
Safari: 7
Internet Explorer: 7


Text/webpage render appearance:

Safari: 9
Internet Explorer: 8
FireFox: 7
Netscape: 7


Total/Average:

FireFox: 69/8.6
Netscape: 60/7.5
Safari: 59/7.4
Internet Explorer: 52/6.5


The numbers are in, and FireFox is the king of browsers. While I like Safari's interface better still, FireFox's page-loading speed is truly impressive.

And it's extensibility puts it in a league of its own. If you have FireFox, go to the Tools menu and then select 'Extensions.' From this box, you can go to a webpage and automatically install tons of cool widgets to upgrade FireFox, from blogging extensions to extensions that block all image ads on a webpage.

Any comic that involves Dr. Phil, Maureen Dowd, and Rush Limbaugh is automatically dear to me:

Europeans might be realizing the threat that Islamifascism poses to their continent's Democratic structure.

Two stories give hope. Andrew Sullivan has the first one... Apparently the Dutch are fighting back with words and peaceful actions, following the assassination of filmmaker Van Gogh.

Unlearning College has the second one... A peace rally was held in Cologne, Germany, yesterday. "The rally of some 25, 000 people was organized by the Turkish-Islamic Union in Germany and was aimed at protesting violence and terror in the name of Islam."

Incidentally, Cologne is Indianapolis' sister-city in Germany.

One of my law professors:

"The drink that will be served at my house on Thanksgiving will be [slight pause] scotch. This is the same drink all other days as well."

Peggy Nooooonan calls for a "National Settle Down Week" in this nice column in the WSJ:

"Ssssshhhhhhhh."

Wonderful sound.

And good advice for our country, isn't it? After all the Sturm und Drang of the past few weeks our country would benefit from an absence of sound. Next week we mark Thanksgiving. Today, in anticipation, and after our fractious election, we could declare National Settle Down Week. National Be Still Week. Or National Give It a Rest Week.

She makes a great point. A lot can be learned when one is relatively silent, and holiday breaks like Thanksgiving are the prime opportunity. In the spirit of her column, I pledge to stay away from overly contentious posts for the next business week. In fact, look forward to some good humorous posts and a few philosophical posts to boot.

Noonan even quotes Psalm 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God."

Amen.

I apologize, for the numbers previously posted were incorrect. I got them from WISH TV8, a local Indy TV station. ESPN has posted numbers more recently, and they appear to be reputable. Here they are:

Anthony Johnson: 5 games
Wallace: 6 games
O'Neil: 25 games
Jackson: 30 games
Artest: the whole season
Other players: 1 game for leaving bench

Too harsh for Artest. Too weak for Wallace. Too strong for Jackson and O'Neil. This is gonna make things very tough on the Pacers, who are already injury-ridden.

Daniel makes a good case against the NBA for not sanctioning the fans yet.

Is there any greater evidence that blogging has entered the mainstream than the fact that it was a small part of last week's West Wing episode?

Actually, to answer my own question (which you knew I was going to do), there is. Absolutely there is. "Blogs" were a category of questions, errr answers, on Jeopardy.

Why swim in the large pool when you can surf on the edge of the waves? That metaphor too blunt? You tell me.

Update: Artest, O'Neil, Jackson, and Wallace suspended 'indefinitely' by NBA...

Watch the video of the altercation here...

And more videos here...

And if you're out of the loop, here's a play-by-play of the incident. Ok, so here's my take on the matter:

NBA suspensions...

Ben Wallace should be suspended at least 5 games, hopefully more like 10. Not only did he make the first violent move, but he continued the altercation with other players on the court.

Ron Artest should be suspended for half the season. A player gets beer thrown on him and he enters the stands and starts throwing punches-- this cannot be tolerated by the NBA or any sports organization. Fans taunting and throwing objects is nothing new, and part of being a professional athlete is being disciplined enough to handle these kindof things. The only thing in my mind which should save Artest from a worse penalty are the extenuating circumstances of just being attacked by Wallace. And it should be noted that Artest invited some reaction by the fans by laying on the scorer's table in taunt.

Stephen Jackson should be suspended 5 games. He aggravated the original incident on the court by confronting Wallace and he threw punches in the stands. I would not throw the book on him though, because his actions in the stands were in defense of Artest, who was getting wailed on by multiple Detroit fans.

Jermaine O'Neil and any other Pacer who threw punches should get a 2-game suspension. Their actions were in defense of fellow players who were being attacked by Detroit fans, including those who came on the court.

All the players on both sides who left the bench (during the original Wallace incident and before the brawl in the stands started) should get a 1-game suspension. Leaving the bench aggravates problems.

The Detroit fans...

The Detroit fans deserve much of the blame. They had been taunting the Pacers bench throughout the game, and the throwing of the beer on Artest was unacceptable. But, had Artest not entered the stands and initiated violent contact, the whole brawl never would have happened.

Nevertheless, the fans went nuts after the brawl started, creating a near riot in the stadium. Their actions in throwing objects at players on the court and at players trying to leave the stadium, including plastic bottles of beer, popcorn, and a chair, created numerous injuries.

Every fan who threw an object should be identified, fined, and possibly excluded from coming to any future NBA events.

The refs...

The refs also have some blame in this. After the original Wallace incident persisted, they should have immediately ejected him, and if he would have resisted leaving the court, then security should have been called on him.

The security...

On ESPN, they said that the NBA is in charge of security at its games, though I'm sure that the Detroit Pistons have some role in providing it as well. Security officers were too slow to come on the scene, too few, and not well trained. The NBA will probably have a good deal of liability for player and fan injuries from this incident.

Legal matters...

To be honest, I do not know the scope of criminal activity in the incident, though I'll find out and update on this. I know one thing for sure, there is going to be ton of assault and battery civil suits brought.

What should the league do?

To begin with, they should exact the tough suspensions I outlined above, to create a strong example. Second, flagrant fouls should be called more closely, and two of them should get a player ejected. This would help keep incidents like the Wallace-Artest incident from happening to begin with.

Third, a better security plan should be implemented, including more officers and quicker response.

Fourth, a clearly defined boundary should be defined between the zone of play and the stands. For instance, the scorer's table could be considered out of the zone of play. Any player who crosses this boundary should receive an automatic suspension and fine.

That's all I have for now...

I'll start out this week's post with a shocking revelation: There is hypocrisy in Washington! Big shocker I know. House Republicans earlier in the week changed a party rule that required leaders to step aside if they were indicted. The House Republicans passed in the rule in 1993 in response to Rep. Dan Rostenkowski holding on to his leadership post despite being indicted on a number of criminal charges to show that they were the party of high ethics. But now that their boy, Rep. Tom DeLay, is facing a possible indictment down in Texas, everything has changed. The rule had to be changed because DeLay is a victim of a "baseless and partisan" investigation. What ever you say guys.

Now on to an actual shocking development. UN staff are set to make a vote of no-confidence in Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In the almost sixty years of the UN, this action has never been taken. UN staffers have become incensed at Annan since his recent decision to pardon the UN's top oversight official, who was facing allegations of favoritism and sexual harassment. The staffers believe that Annan has failed to properly investigate the charges. Thus, the question is if Annan is unwilling to properly investigate charges of favoritism and sexual harassment, will he be willing to get to the bottom of the Oil for Food scandal. I'm going to take a wild guess and say no.

Finally, Porter Goss, the new CIA director has been taking a lot of heat lately for forcing out several top deputies and writing a memo to CIA employees to support the President and his policies. The Slate's Jack Shafer provides an interesting perspective on the situation.

And vice versa.

As I'm sure some of you are aware, tomorrow is rivals day for college football. And it's pretty much agreed that there is no more bitter rivalry than between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. While the emnity between the two storied programs is fairly obvious, the roots behind the hatred are more difficult to discover.

Of course, there have been more than a few hotly contested games in the now 100 meetings between the the two teams. For a period between 1969 and 1978, either Ohio State or Michigan were crowned conference champions in what was known during that decade as "the Big 2 and Little 8". Woody Hayes, OSU's most hallowed head coach, couldn't even bring himself to speak the name of his rival, calling them "that school from up north". But the hatred goes back even further, before Michigan even became a state.

The city of Toledo is not much to look at. This was even more true in 1835, but that didn't stop the rivals from almost fighting a war about it. The Northwest Territory, out of which Ohio and Michigan were carved, had been ceded to the U.S. by Britain after the Revolutionary War. When Congress organized the territory, it specified a condition that no less than three, no more than five states would emerge from it. In the case of five states, as it would turn out to be, a horizontal boundary line was to be drawn from southern-most tip of Lake Michigan; three states could form below this line, and the remaining two north of it.

When Ohio became a state in 1803, the land in the northwest portion was worthless swampland, so neither it nor the then Michigan Territory cared much about resolving boundary disputes right away. However, by the time of the 1830s, a plan was underway to connect the Ohio River to Lake Erie via a canal that joined the north-south flowing Miami and Maumee Rivers. Toledo, now drained of its swamps, would be the terminus of the canal.

Earlier maps had shown the "Lake Michigan line" drawn too far north, so that Toledo and evirons were included in Ohio. But revised maps showed (correctly) that the city should belong to Michigan. In September of 1835, the governor of Ohio ordered the state militia to defend Toledo, as the governor of the Michigan Territory sent an army to occuy the region.

The nearly-first war between the states was averted when President Andrew Jackson stepped in, and awarded Toledo and the area surrounding it to Ohio (which had supported his bid for the presidency). As compensation, Michigan was given the Upper Peninsula bordering the Wisconsin Territory.

Ohio won the "Toledo War", but currently the University of Michigan holds the all-time series lead in the rivalry. Here's hoping that margin shrinks by one tomorrow.

GO BUCKEYES!!!

The real loser of the recent election? The First Amendment.

This past Thursday, at least 20 ABC affiliates in 8 states refused to air Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg's epic about the invasion of Normandy. The stations feared the FCC would levy them with indecency fines due to the film's coarse language and incredibly violent battle scenes.

Several problems with this: first, ABC ran the movie twice before, in 2001 and 2002, and received a grand total of one complaint. Frank Rich of the NYTimes says the suppression may be due to the fact that the horrors of WWII might make people draw uncomfortable parallels to the current war in Iraq (I say maybe but probably not).

However, the biggest problem I have with this is the lack of respect it shows our Veterans. More and more WWII soldiers are passing each day. As a nation, we take ONE day out of the year to honor those who have taken up arms to protect us. The movie is incredibly rough around the edges because real war is. I made a special point this year to call my grandfather, who had just recently had surgery for prostate cancer, on Veteran's Day to thank him for serving our country (truly part of the Greatest Generation, he received a farm deferrment but enlisted anyway and was in Europe, but thankfully had an infection in his hand and was in a London hospital while his unit was decimated in the Battle of the Bulge).

He was very thankful and said he looked forward to seeing me at Christmas. His humility about making such a sacrifice made my blood boil just a little more over the Private Ryan deal. If we as a nation can't handle the TV version of war, maybe we should be more wary of engaging in the real deal.

An interesting postscript: the biggest supporter of the censorship was the American Family Association, which has also called for a boycott of Procter and Gamble because they're pushing the homosexual agenda by buying ad time during 'Will & Grace'.

This post's title came from a 'news clip' from The Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart. I highly recommend visiting their website and/or watching the show, it is remarkably informative without being the huge downer that is network news.

I recently had the humor of the Olde English Sketch Comedy troupe brought to my attention. This group of college-aged guys have put together quite the collection of hilariously creative short video clips-- ranging from 30 seconds to 5 minutes or so.

I especially recommend "Dead Puppies," "Video Poetry," "Deep Blue," ...and, if you're brave and are willing to let DC slide on the whole standards thing for a moment, then you'll also check out the funniest clip on the site, "Pregnancy."



Go to the site and just keep watching.

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs, jolted by every pebble in the road."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."

- Victor Borge

Oh wow. I almost forgot to mention that today is the 28th Annual Great American Smokeout.

To celebrate I'm going to go out and smoke my pipe right now. :-P


[Note: While I enjoy smoking a nice pipe once-in-a-while, I implore all those people addicted to cigarettes to make an attempt to quit.]

Larry Thompson, a former U.S. attorney in Cleveland, was the highest ranking black person in law enforcement before he resigned as deputy to Attorney General John Ashcroft in August of last year, a position he held for 2 1/2 years. In that position he was extremely active in investigating corporate fraud and terrorism. Here's a decent story on him.

Sinced then, President Bush asked Thompson to travel around the country with him twice, and he has publicly stated that he would like Thompson to come back to government.

Thompson was originally rumored to be Ashcroft's replacement at AG, but the line is that he would prefer Homeland Security, if Ridge retires as rumored. But larger things might be in the mix for Thompson. His name is in the mix for the next Supreme Court nomination, my sources tell me. More on this later...

The insurgents in Iraq are not just making war on the U.S. and Iraqi troops, they are also terrorizing innocent Iraqi civilians. Check out this story in the London Times, and as Glenn Reynolds likes to say: keep scrolling.

I have added two new blogs to my blogroll sidebar.

The first, IrishLaw, is a Notre Dame graduate and 3L at Moritz Law-Ohio State University. Good in-depth posts on politics and the law.

The second, IndyBuzz, is by a Butler and IUPUI professor and senior fellow of the Sagamore Institute, John Clark. Think that Indianapolis and the heartland lacks a vibrant intellectual scene? Think again. IndyBuzz covers all of the numerous intellectual events in town. Indy peeps, check it out often.

U.S. creates the A-bomb
USSR creates the A-bomb
U.S. creates ICBMs and the H-bomb
USSR creates ICBMs and the H-bomb
U.S. begins missile shield program
USSR designs new missile that would defeat new missile shield program

Balance lost.
Balance regained.

Many Europeans and some American liberals criticize the American main-stream media as failing to cover the tragedy of the Iraq war and the Iraqi casualties of that war.

Several conservatives criticize the American media for not covering the positive stories of the war and the progress that is being made. Indicative of this is a statement I heard recently: 'The American media may as well be Al Jazeera.'

They must be doing something right. Perfect? Of course not.

The biggest story of the year, after Iraq, is going to be the Senate fight over Bush's judicial nominations.

Things are getting quirky... A pro-abortion Senator will most likely become the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, a quasi-pro life Senator will become the leading Democrat in the Senate, and...

Majority Leader Bill Frist has endorsed the vaunted "nuclear option" to push through nominations with a simple majority. This does not necessarily mean that the GOP will use this option. Just a shot across the bow of the Democrats.

"Woman takes nine years to pass her driving test"

Indianpolis Colts (go Horse!) quarterback Peyton Manning is quickly on his way to become the NFL's best quarterback... ever. So it's completley appropriate that he gets his mug on the front of Wheaties boxes.

Move over William and Percy, there's a new poet for the ages... Britney Spears.

Britney Spears? Lawren Mills has got the scoop (and the poem, if you can call it that).

"No one would ever put a hook through a dog's or cat's mouth," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA's director of vegan outreach. "Once people start to understand that fish, although they come in different packaging, are just as intelligent, they'll stop eating them."

Hmm. One of my friends owns a goldfish. In fact, he has had the same goldfish for 12 years, during which time the fish has been kept in the same 10-gallon fish tank. Every time I visit my friend's house, I observe the fish; and every time, I see it eagerly swimming around the tank, continuously amazed by the surface of the water, the pebbles on the floor of the tank, the bubbles arising out of the filter, and surely my visage peering through the tank's glass walls, as if each time is the first it has seen me.

And I can assure you that the fish has not become distraught. It has not repeatedly crashed into the tank walls attempting to escape. It has not tried to commit suicide by eating the pebbles. It has not lost its appetite and stopped eating its food. It has not become lethargic and confined itself to the bottom corner of the tank for a slow journey to the toilet bowl.

Yet we are to believe that this fish is as intelligent as a dog whose reaction to severe confinement is sadly evident (ever been to a dog pound?). Ridiculous.

A new study by the Toho University School of Medicine in Tokyo, finds that extended computer use may increase a person's chances of developing glaucoma in later years.

Considering that the number of kids, teens, and adults who spend all day staring at computer screens has dramatically increased over 10-20 years ago, if this study holds true, we could see a glaucoma epidemic in a couple decades as our generations grow older.

Forget Google! This is the hot new search engine.

P.S. Don't forget about my Google Ads, though.

Newly elected GOP governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, has some bold plans, that include: Cutting taxes by 80%, creating an 'Office of Gay affairs,' and decriminalizing prostitution.

I must say that a couple of these things are suprising for a Republican governor.

In other Indiana political news, Indiana Congressman, John Hostettler, pressured by Christian conservative groups in the state, is going to push a proposal to rename the stretch of Interestate-69 which runs through the state, out of moral concerns.

Check out other such Indiana news at Hoosier Gazette. Thanks to Kevin for the pointer.

I got interviewed, but not quoted [grrr. :-)], for this article about blogging in the IndyStar. Check it out, it mentions some other Indiana bloggers.