Indiana

You Know You’re From Indiana When…

This page gets name-checked in a YouTube video critique of the list, from nthecgirl88.

You’ve never met any celebrities.

Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway and that is what the lawyers for DUI charges also feels like.

“Vacation” means driving through Amish Country or going to the State Fair.

You’ve seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.

You measure distance in minutes.

You know several people who have hit a deer.

You have no problem spelling or pronouncing “Terre Haute.”

Your school classes were cancelled because of cold.

Your school classes were cancelled because of heat.

You know where all the Yoders live.

You’ve ridden the school bus for an hour each way.

You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.

You think ethanol makes your truck “run a lot better.”

You know what’s knee-high by the Fourth of July.

Stores don’t have bags, they have sacks.

You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.

You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.

You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: “Where’s my coat at?” or “Who are you gonna go with?”

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.

De-tassling was your first job (that’s de-tassling corn for you city folk).

Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun and accompanied only by ketchup and a dill pickle slice.

You say catty-wumpus and kitty-corner.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.

When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, “It was different.”

You consider being called a “Pork Queen” an honor. (Note: My own niece was the Indiana State Fair Queen, so I know this is true.)

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You know what “cow tipping” is.

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e-mail – a tool for good, and for evil

Every once it a while, you get an e-mail that’s so shocking that it could either destroy your soul, or make you a completely better person.
Recently I got blind carbon-copied on an exchange a friend of mine had with “respected activist” Marla Randolph Stevens, a former resident of Indiana and former “political activist” here in the state. If you don’t know her and aren’t politically active on the gay community in Indiana, you won’t care about this at all, so don’t bother clicking through the continued link. But if you do know her, you’ll find the following e-mail enlightening, to say the least. My favorite part is the subject line “Unsolicited and probably unappreciated.” Oh, it’s appreciated more than you’ll ever know, my dear.

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Kids suspended for massive food fight

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I love kids, and this is why. Rock on, kids.

Associated Press, CHESTERTON, Ind. — A massive middle school food fight left several students suspended and the eighth-grade class footing the cleaning bill that included the cost of scraping mashed potatoes off the ceiling.
Last week’s fight at Chesterton Middle School left ceiling tiles damaged and could cost the students as much as $1,000 to pay for overtime, maintenance and repairs, said Duneland School Corporation Superintendent Dirk Baer. “It wasn’t just one or two kids throwing grapes,” Baer said. “There were mashed potatoes sticking to the ceiling.”
Security cameras captured the fracas that broke out about halfway through the 25-minute lunch period Wednesday at the school in the town 15 miles east of Gary.
The school suspended between six and 10 students for two or three days for launching the day’s menu of chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and milk into the air.
As many as 50 students might have been involved. Principal Jim Ton recommended one student be expelled.
Cleaning costs will be taken from the eighth grade’s extracurricular activity fund.
Baer said the whole class was punished because many of the grade’s 500 students knew about plans for the food fight but failed to alert administrators.
“It was planned and it was widely known that it would happen, but nobody said anything,” Baer said. “Everybody has to take responsibility.”

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“The Kiterunner” does not contain “pornography”

Some (idiot moron) parents in Lawrence Township schools are objecting to the book “The Kiterunner” being assigned in class, because they claim there is a scene that is “pornographic” in it.
The Kiterunner is a story of children living in contemporary Afghanistan, and is a wonderful, amazing book. It is, unfortunately, fairly true to life, and there is violence and brutality in it, including a scene where a young boy is brutally raped by other young men who are bullying him, and children who later become the victims of child exploitation. But that is a fairly real picture of what can happen in countries that are torn apart by strife, as Afghanistan is. And to be blunt, the story of children bullying and raping each other can and does happen here in Indiana, too. If you don’t think it does, you’re a naive fool.
The idea that the scenes are “pornographic” — I want to go to those parents (Julie and Tom Shake are their names) and say “I do not think that word means what you think it means.”
What really sucks about all this is that because some retarded parents complained about it to the school board, the township is considering having a panel of people review all teaching materials that will be presented to students. So a censorship board is being planned for Lawrence.
Too bad the response from the school couldn’t be giving the parents a ticket for stupidity and requiring them to come back to school and get a better education so they understand what the hell “pornography” is. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

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2008 GOP Convention in Indianapolis?

The [link deprecated: http://www2.indystar.com/articles/1/243304-2091-127.html] Indy Star reports that our fair metropolis is on the list of cities invited to bid to host the 2008 GOP Convention. Requirements: we have to foot the bill for security.

God no. Please no. I’d rather gargle with motor oil than pay for security for wingnuts. Oh, wait. Can I pay for really crappy security?

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Political Sites I Like

If you’re looking for intelligent stuff about Indiana politics, these guys are great:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/
http://www.masson.us/blog/
http://www.takingdownwords.com/taking_down_words/
And on a national level:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
http://www.goodasyou.org/
http://americablog.blogspot.com/
http://www.biggaypicture.com/
http://atrios.blogspot.com/

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Indiana’s Seatbelt Loophole law

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I’ve commented on the current seatbelt law on both Doug Masson’s Blog, and on Taking Down Words, but since I keep doing that, I should probably talk about here on my own site, too. Both of those sites have been in favor of closing Indiana’s truck seat belt law, and both of them have been pretty dismissive (and somewhat contemptuous) of the fact that there’s an exception in the first place.

There is actually logic behind Indiana’s truck exception in the seatbelt law. The reason trucks are excluded is because people who use them for certain types of jobs (on both the farms and in construction projects in town) need to get in and out of the truck often while driving very short distances between stops. Buckling and undoing the seat belt every thirty seconds or so to hop out is really impractical for these types of jobs. Generally, they’re not going fast enough to get in an accident or even get hurt in the event of one. Perhaps there should be a way to exclude trucks that are actual in work mode from being required to use the seatbelt, rather than all trucks. If you got into a truck accident, you can sue the truck driver with the help of a good lawyer and claim compensation. You may hire this truck accident lawyer who can provide professional legal assistance. Injured in a car crash in Southfield, MI? The car accident lawyers from Mike Morse Injury Law Firm can help. Looking for personal injury lawyers California? Contact the Johnson Attorneys Group!

I’d also say that you need to provide some compelling statistics about the number of trucks on the road that have been in accidents without seatbelts and the amount your insurance has gone up because of them before someone should be making the case for changing the law. Nowadays, many accidents are reported to be caused by drunk driving or the negligence of the drivers. You can look into leppardlaw.com/florida-dui-penalties and contact experienced lawyers who can help you out of the situation. But you need to understand that such accidents that are caused due by negligence can destroy many people’s lives and cannot be compensated with money. If you are involved in accident, you can view website for legal help.

Both Masson and Taking Down Words tried to cite “public emergency expenses” as a reason in favor of the law. But in the event of an accident, you’re paying the same amount for the police to come and rescue someone whether they wear their seatbelt or not, so that’s not a factor you can cite.

Full Disclosure: I come down reluctantly in favor of seat belt laws. I know that wearing one is safer and lowers the risk of injury. In such cases, if you’re looking for a commercial truck accident lawyer when you are injured in an accident, you can contact experienced lawyers who will help you get the compensation for the injuries caused. You can visit the Law Offices of Ronald A. Ramos, P.C.`s official website, and contact an experienced attorney to help you with your case. It is crucial to hire a Southfield car accident attorney if you were hurt in vehicular accident. This will help ensure that your rights will be protected.

However, since my heart surgery, the seat belt drives me absolutely stark raving mad every time I drive because it hurts. So there are times I don’t wear it, and I get away with it because I drive a pick-up. I kinda like taking advantage of the exception. But at least I know the reason why the exception exists, although no one else seems to.

2012 Update: the seat belt law was amended to remove the pick-up truck loophole, but still allows exceptions for farm vehicles and mail carriers.

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Indiana Equality Presents “Our Families Count” Rally at the Statehouse

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Equality will host a Statehouse gathering, the “Our Families Count!” rally, on February 9, 2006 from 1pm – 3pm. This event has been organized in response to a recent spate of legislation aimed at relegating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Hoosiers to second-class status.

“With daylight-savings time, toll roads, and property taxes on the docket, one would think the legislature has more important business to attend to than attacking gay families in this short session,” stated Walter Botich, Indiana Equality legislative committee co-chair.

Angered by advances in local human rights protections, Representative Jeff Thompson (R – Lizton) offered a proposal that was aimed at the LGBT community specifying that local government may not extend protections for employment or housing that is greater than existing state of federal statute. This proposal would have banned human rights protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity – effectively overturning existing laws in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Michigan City, West Lafayette, and Tippecanoe County.

All too often, LGBT families are either overlooked or discounted completely. Indiana Equality encourages all of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens of the state to join them in announcing to the state government that “Our Families Count!”

“This is an exercise of our rights – and it’s happening in the Statehouse rotunda,” observed Kathy Sarris, president of Indiana Equality. “It’s time the State of Indiana started recognizing those rights.”

“It’s time for our community to stand up and be counted. We need to show that our families are just as important as other families around the state,” commented Jerame Davis, Indiana Equality communications committee chair and rally organizer. “We will not be forced into second-class status. We pay our taxes, participate in our communities, and raise our families just like all other Hoosiers. We should be treated equally.”

The “Our Families Count!” rally will feature speakers from several community organizations from around the state. Several legislators have been invited to speak.
Founded in 2003, Indiana Equality is a coalition of organizations from around the state who are focused on providing basic human rights for Indiana’s LGBT citizens. Participating organizations include Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination (ICON), Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance (INTRAA), Indiana Action Network (IAN), Justice, Inc., Indiana PFLAG, Indianapolis Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Social Workers (NASW) as well as regional steering committees in the Indianapolis, Bloomington, Evansville, Richmond, Ft. Wayne, Lafayette, and South Bend areas.

see more information about Indiana Equality.

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