This past week I got a nice little reminder about how outdated and antiquated Indiana’s alcohol laws are.  I was heading back to the house after teaching class when my wife called asking me to pick up a few items from the grocery store.  While I was there I decided a 6-pack of beer would be nice.  So I walked over to the beer section and then I was reminded that in Indiana, I can’t get cold beer in a grocery store.  I was not a happy camper.

I picked up the things my wife asked for and after I left made a trip to the local liquor store.  I got my cold beer, but I also had to pay more to get it; an entire dollar more.   Now I know a dollar is no big deal for someone who drops $10 on a good martini.   My complaint is that I couldn’t get what I wanted where I wanted because of what primarily amounts to protectionism.

There is no logical reason why cold beer sales should not be allowed in grocery stores.  Just like there is no logical reasons why retail alcohol sales should not be allowed on Sundays.  The liquor store industry argues that allowing cold beer sales in grocery stores and Sunday alcohol sales will hurt “mom and pop” outlets.  I don’t doubt some people might go out of business but is it the job of the government to protect certain segments of the economy at the expense of others?

If you are  a smart businessman I’m sure you can compete with the big box stores.  You have to do business a little differently and perhaps adopt a different model, but there’s no reason why smart, aggressive entrepreneurs can’t give the big guys a run for their money.   And there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to get a cold beer in a grocery store and not have to drive somewhere else and pay more for the same product that’s 30 degrees colder.

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Job Update: If  you read my post from the other day you know I’m “looking” for work.  Well I had a job offer at 10:30 yesterday morning.  It was a limo driver position that paid $13 an hour.  I couldn’t take it though, because it was offered by a friend who listens to the morning show, which technically violates my networking guidelines.   It would have been fun though.  After all I did play the “Hoke” in the stage version of  “Driving Ms. Daisy” so as long as my passengers looked like Jessica Tandy, I would have been in great shape.

Today, I officially begin the search for a new job.  Well sort,  of.  You see I’ve been on this kick lately about the extension of federal unemployment benefits.   I’m not a big fan of extending unemployment because I believe the more you extend benefits the less incentive there is for people to go out and find work.  And if you’ve been out of work for 99 weeks, that means you’ve been out of work since December of 2008 and maybe the problem is you.   I believe there is work out there, it may not be the work you want, but there is work.  And I plan to go find it.

Now to do this I had to establish some ground rules for myself.  The job I apply for can’t be in the legal, lobbying or governmental arenas.   I have too many contacts in this town that I’ve made over the past few years and making that jump would be too easy.

I’ve also decided not to apply for work in the downtown area.  Once again, downtown Indianapolis is virtually my backyard so it would be too easy to run into someone I know. Education is also off the table as well, especially since I’ve been teaching for seven years.

So with that said, my job search is going to be limited to office work and retail.  Industrial and manual labor are also possibilities, but you just imagine me doing manual labor.  If that isn’t an episode of America’s funniest home videos just waiting to happen I don’t know what it is.

And for those of you who think I am being unethical by taking a job away from someone who needs it, remember, I am not going out and getting a job, I’m going out to prove that jobs are there, but more and more individuals aren’t willing to take them.  I can tell you dozens of stories about employers and temp agencies who can’t fill positions because someone doesn’t have the skill set or they don’t want want to give up the unemployment.

So with all that said, wish me luck in my job search.  And before I forget, you know anybody who’s hiring?

Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John is officially stepping down from the position.   In a letter to precinct committeemen John cited the difficulty in balancing the demands as Chairman with those of his personal life as the reason for his resignation.

On a personal note, being chairman has its costs.  Whether it is people upset with decisions you make or simply the difficulty of balancing the unpaid Chairmanship with work demands and family obligations, it is a difficult job that takes a toll.  For these reasons, I have always believed that a chairman should not remain in the role too long.  As I look at my personal priorities and the tremendously important year upcoming, I have decided to resign as your chairman effective upon the election of my successor.

John was first elected Chairman in 2007 and then unanimously re-elected in 2009.    He cited the Republican wins in Marion County in 2007 as a high point, as well as Mitch Daniels’ 2008 gubernatorial victory and increasing GOP turnout.    He also acknowledged the challenges of running Republicans in an increasingly Democratic County.

By law, a new Chairman must be elected in 30 days and precinct committeemen must have 10 days notice prior to the calling of an election.  That means an election for a new Chairman would take place between December 11 and New Year’s Eve.  John will remain in the position until a new Chair is selected.

While I’ll be interested in seeing what names surface as possible replacements, this is the perfect time for John’s critics to step up to the plate.  They failed to mount a challenge in 2009 and one of them, a local blogger who shall remain nameless, even voted for him at the slating.  This is the perfect opportunity for them to finally put their money where their mouths would like to be.

Recently, I had lunch with a friend of mine in the heart of the city.  It was a very nice north side eatery.  The food was great, however as I looked at the “yuppiesque” crowd of patrons they reminded me of what I call “hybrid hypocrites”,  they are the people who want mass transit so poor can take the bus but they would never get out of their Prius to use it themselves.

I laughed and chuckled at that dichotomy, but then it got me to thinking a bit more globally about Indianapolis.  And I have honestly come to believe that fundamentally, Indianapolis as a whole has an identity crisis and it’s not really sure what it wants to be.

Indianapolis was always described to me as either the world’s biggest small town or the big city with a lot of small town amenities.   Of course the downside of that is with small towns, can come the “small town” attitude that the world ceases to exist at the town limits.

This tug of war between big city and small town attitudes manifests itself in a number of our public policy debates; mass transit, the convention business, infrastructure, arts funding, human rights ordinances, public safety, township government and consolidation, the role of professional sports teams, downtown development, taxes, charter schools, etc.

Eventually, Indianapolis is going to have to make a decision about what exactly it wants to be.  I think Indianapolis is a city with a lot of promise and potential and is a lot better off than a lot of other places of similar size.  From my study of previous Mayors ; Lugar, Hudnutt, Goldsmith, Peterson and Ballard, each has  contributed to the city’s growth and maturity whether it was making the city the amateur sports capital of the world, focusing on it convention business, or addressing badly needed infrastructure needs.    However the one thing each Mayor has had to combat is the attitude of complacency and that things are just fine as they are and nothing needs to change.

I hate to break it to Indianapolis, but you’re the 12th/13th largest city in America.  It’s something you’re going to have to reconcile and the sooner you do it, the better you will be.

Every year for the past few years a bunch of people get their panties in a bunch over the alleged war on Christmas.  So once again, in my efforts to save a lot of people a bunch of unnecessary grief and hassle, allow me to re-post my original essay on how silly the whole thing is.

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I know we’re just a couple days into the holiday season, but it’s never too late to start talking about the “War on Christmas”.   You know the time when people get upset because someone wished them “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”.    They then go on ad nauseum to say America is continuing to slide away from it’s Judeo-Christian foundation.  Well, being the agnostic-Muslim that I am, I decided to remind folks that a lot of  the things rooted in Christmas tradition (courtesy of  The History Channel) have nothing to with Jesus.

December 25

First of all Jesus was not “born” in December.  Most scholars believe he was born in the Spring, likely March by our calender.  December 25 was chosen by Pope Julius I to coincide with the Saturnalia, a pagan winter festival to mark the Solstice.  Julius believed Christianity would be a lot more accepting if Christmas was held at the same time as the winter event.  If you can’t beat them, co-op them.  And just so you know, early Christmas celebrations were more like Mardi Gras parties.

Early America

In the early days of America, Christmas wasn’t even a holiday.  The Puritans banned it.  And Congress was even in session that day.   It was illegal in Boston from 1659-1681 because people would get so out of control.   Christmas didn’t become a federal holiday until 1870.  So much for our “long standing tradition.”

The Tree

Early pagan cultures believed the evergreen tree would keep away witches, spirits and other evil items.

Santa Claus

He is actually closer to the religious meaning of Christmas than the tree and the date. St. Nick is based on the monk St. Nicholas who was born near Turkey in the 4th century.

Blatant Commercialization

Go to the mall in mid-October and look at the Christmas decorations for sale. Nuff said!

Now does any of this take away from the meaning of Christmas, not really.  Messages of hope are always welcome, but I figured sometimes it’s best to nip this nonsense in the bud before it gets started, even if I have to do it at the same time each year.

I hope you are enjoying your Holiday weekend.  We’ve had a new addition in the Shabazz household.  No, not a child; a dog.

As some of you may know my wife’s dog of nearly 17 years passed away in October.   After a good period of mourning and grieving I bought her a new one this weekend.  I hadn’t planned on it, but when she saw him, she fell in love with him and wanted him right away.  That I can relate to, ironically enough.

He’s a Yorkie Terrier and she named him Barack.   I thought it was rather ironic because he has a lot in common with the President.  He’s cute and mostly black and while you like him personally, he’s expensive and is kind of all over the place.

And while housebreaking will be interesting, more importantly, I have a very happy wife and most importantly I kept the receipt.  It will make a very nice “get out of jail free” card when I come back after a late night of cigars and martinis.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

As tradition dictates, I want to wish you all, friend and foe alike, a Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you are able to spend time with friends and loved ones, and if not, maybe it’s time to go get some.   I’ll be back in a few days.

And by the way, if there’s one thing for you to be thankful for, it’s me.  Just imagine how dull and boring this place would be without me here.  I’m  kidding!

Take care.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels had some tough words on Tuesday for school officials as he spelled out his 2011 legislative agenda.

Daniels labeled complaints by school officials who say they don’t have enough money because of tax caps and reduced revenues as “outrageous whining”.  He said school officials need to devote less money to administrators and more toward the classroom.   He added school districts could save millions by moving their employees into the state health plan and asking their employees to skip a pay raise, like other Hoosiers.

Daniels says schools are blaming their financial troubles on the taxpayers and he labeled their complaints as an admission of incompetence on the part of school leadership.

He also pointed to statistics such as the average high school diploma in Gary and Indianapolis cost taxpayers $200,000 and less than .7% of teachers dismissed in Indiana for academic performance.

Daniels’ education reform plan includes more charter schools, flexibility for school districts, less emphasis on seniority and more on performance,  the creation of a “12th year scholarship program” where high school seniors who have finished their credits by 11th grade can attend college and money that would have been spent on their senior year of school can go towards their college education.

In addition to reforming education, Daniels also promised to protect taxpayers, reform local government, as well as the state’s unemployment trust fund.

Today may be a double post day.  There are some developments taking place this afternoon that I’m going to try to blog about later, but we’ve got a couple items this morning that need attention.

$chool Daze

Franklin and Perry Township Schools are announcing major budget cuts in the wake of property tax caps and declining state revenues.  While school officials have done nothing but paint pictures of gloom and doom you have t wonder how much work did they really do to save the taxpayers money, like outsourcing the janitorial and human resources divisions.  I wonder how much resource sharing they do on purchasing, teacher training, etc.  I honestly think this is another attempt to scare parents and taxpayers.  Someone should call their bluff or call them out.

Cover Your Assets

And Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller tells me he expects to defend a number county prosecutors being sued over their use of asset forfeiture dollars.  An Indianapolis attorney has sued the prosecutors saying money collected from asset forfeiture is supposed to go to the Common School Fund.  Zoeller says the law isn’t entirely clear because Prosecutors are entitled to recover the costs of investigations and however there is a difference between criminal and civil forfeitures as well as whether the costs should be recovered for specific cases or to fund entire investigative units.

Survey Said

IMPD has released a survey of officers that shows morale is low and they have little faith in command management.  While I can appreciate the position the officers feel they are in these days, I really do think the focus should be on improving the department’s image with the general public and continuing efforts to weed out the officers that have made life miserable for the vast majority who do their jobs.

Talk to you later.

Here we go again!   The anti-smoking people are back and they are pushing for a total smoking ban at both the state and local level here in Indianapolis, however it seems their efforts have already gone up in flames even before they were able to really get out of the gate.

At the state level they have been met by lawmakers who are too busy dealing with creating jobs, addressing the $1.2 billion structural budget deficit and reforming education.

At the local level, anti-smoking advocates have spent at least $100,000 on a media campaign that only generated eight calls to the Mayor’s Office pushing for a total ban.  In addition, a number of calls have been left on the voice mails and answering machines of City-County Councilors telling them to vote for a smoking ban.  Of course it would probably be more effective if the calls came from the 317 area code  as opposed to 515; that’s central Iowa in case you were wondering.  And even if a proposed smoking ban were to make it to the full Council there aren’t enough votes to pass it.

And for those folks who think a change in the Mayor’s Office and Council in 2011 will change things it likely won’t.   There’s some discussion that if a statewide ban is passed there will be exemptions for private clubs, tobacco shops and cigar bars and there will be language included that would prohibit local governments from enacting bans more restrictive than the state.  So that should be fun to watch.

If the anti-smoking people really want to make a difference, they would put a halt to the moral presumptiveness and focus on working with bar owners and the service industry to reduce smoking by helping promote tobacco cessation programs.  They would get a lot further, find a lot more people who agree with them, and not literally take thousands of dollars and send it up in flames.