| Guns and the higher-ed grading system
I bring you thoughts today from my big sister. She's a university professor who really doesn't like the idea of well-armed students in her classroom. So she's more than a bit unsettled by the South Dakota House approval, by a 63-3 vote Monday, of HB1261. The bill, discussed by Nancy First in a column below, is now headed for action in the state Senate. It would prevent higher-education institutions from regulating or restricting people on campus from carrying or possessing firearms, in accordance with state law. The schools could require students living in dorms to keep their weapons in a locked guns safe, when not in the students' possession. But that's about it for regs. My sister - who's a heck of a teacher, by the way - is pretty unhappy about 1261.
Chidambaram cold-shoulders UT
The total outlay of budget estimate for Chandigarh for this fiscal has been rather disappointing, with a marginal increase of just Rs 12.63 crore from 2006-07 revised estimate. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today hiked the Union Territorys budget outlay for 2007-08 to Rs 1102.63 crore. The revised estimate for 2006-07 had been Rs 1090 crore. In fact, the outlay for housing and urban development under the non-plan outlay has gone down considerably, from Rs 55.34 crore in the revised estimate of 2006-07 to Rs 34.82 crore during this fiscal. Besides this, the finance minister also did not come up with any specific provisions or schemes for the benefit of the Union Territory. The budgetary outlay for 2007-08 includes Rs 267.63 crore as planned and Rs 835 crore as non-planned budget.
Tata unveils world's cheapest car
India's Tata Motors has unveiled the world's cheapest car. It has a £1,250 price tag that suddenly brings ownership into the reach of tens of millions across the world. While the price has created a buzz, critics say the Tata Nano will lead to millions more cars hitting already clogged Indian roads, adding to mounting air and noise pollution problems. Others have said Tata will have to sacrifice quality and safety standards to meet the target price. But company chairman Ratan Tata said the car would be the least polluting car on Indian roads. He said it would meet necessary safety standards. "I observed families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby," he said.
Hillary's Mutnemom!
Dickerson vs. Maguire: Did Karl Rove dissemble to the special prosecutor by not revealing he'd talked to Time's Matt Cooper about Valerie Plame? Slate's John Dickerson (Cooper's former Time colleague) suspects yes. JustOneMinute's Tom Maguire tries to shoot holes in Dickerson's account. Rove apparently claims he didn't remember talking to Cooper--it was only when Time reporter Viveca Novak tipped off his lawyer that his memory was jogged. Dickerson says it's implausible that Rove would forget the Cooper conversation after: a) Rove wrote an ass-covering email about it; b) Cooper wrote a story saying unnamed "government officials" had leaked to him about Plame; c) Washington made a big fuss over the Plame disclosure; d) Plame's husband specifically accused Rove of outing her; e) Bush's press secretary was barraged with questions about Plame leaks and seemingly denied Rove was involved; f) Rove received a subpoena with Matt Cooper's name on it; and g) Cooper made headlines by almost going to jail for refusing to talk.
THE FRONT ROW with Jerry Hitchcock
NASCAR enters 2008 with a "back to basics" mantra.But for the Sprint Cup (get used to it -- NEXTEL Cup is long gone) teams, none of them moved backwards -- they're all moving forward. No one stands still in the series anymore, lest they fall by the wayside (case in point, the Morgan-McClure team, which closed its operations recently due to lack of sponsorship dollars after 23 seasons and three Daytona 500 wins).This year's 500, which takes place on Sunday, will feature big teams getting bigger, what with merger mania striking the premier stock car series in the latter part of last season and throughout the offseason.Robby Gordon jumped the Ford ship and sidled up to Gillette-Evernham Motorsports (GEM) last week, particularly for the marketing/sponsorship opportunies the Dodge team can bring to the table.BAM Racing and Petty Enterprises both receive engines and technical assistance from GEM.DALE EARNHARDT Inc.
99 things every real Cubs fan should know
Justice John Paul Stevens, who has served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 32 years. Stevens attended the 1932 World Series game at Wrigley Field in which Babe Ruth supposedly called his shot. A scorecard from that game
hangs in Stevens' chambers.
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Burton Tried Bold Move at Daytona
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- With three laps to go, Jeff Burton knew he needed something bold and unconventional to keep his lead at the Daytona 500. So Burton kept low on the last restart, hoping to hold off Kyle Busch's charging Toyota. Instead, Busch went lower to slide by Burton while several cars, led by Busch's teammate, Tony Stewart, blew past the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the high groove. Burton was left in the middle, without drafting help, and his chance at NASCAR's biggest race was all but done. A short time later, Burton crossed the finish line 13th behind winner Ryan Newman. "I tried to do something on the last restart that didn't work very well," Burton said Wednesday at Darlington Raceway. "But I had to do something unorthodox. If I had done a straight-up, old-fashioned restart, we weren't going to win the race." Burton admits that if he had maintained his line and simply hit the gas, he'd likely have gained a spot in the top 10.
Lessons from Big Auto's disastrous missteps
Traditionally I've been bullish about emerging technology in cars. Automotive audio, video and navigation are not subject to the limits of battery power, infrastructure and consumer indifference that stymie the rollout of new products like digital televisions and video-over-cellular services. In cars, new technology works. Consumers see the value, and they are willing to pay. But that is the after-market. At the automotive mothership that is the factory production line, the tech news is far grimmer. Carmakers play the role of innovators - there is much talk here about new power plants and improved navigation and multimedia - but from a technological perspective, it's mostly smoke and mirrors. Today's cars sport cool gadgets and spiffy bodies, but inside they have the same old internally combusted engines and roll on the same old rubber tires.
Carson vs. Elrod
As candidates go, they couldn't be more unlike. Democrat Andre Carson and Republican Jon Elrod are vying for the 7th Congressional District seat that represents most of Marion County. But the few other things they share in common -- both are young, have little experience in public office and come from political families -- pale in comparison with the vast differences in almost every other facet of their lives. Voters will choose one of them to fill the vacancy created by the death of Julia Carson, Andre's grandmother, during a special election March 11. Here is a look at them based on interviews with each candidate. .
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