Hoosier lore

Now, this is really interesting. The debate about poverty in general and "homelessness" in particular is usually between liberals who say we have to show compassion for those less fortunate and conservatives who say we have to be careful not to make economic deprivation so comfortable that people don't seek to escape from it. But in this case, it is the advocates for the homeless who are taking the tough-love approach:

Well, OK, I guess:

As a good free-market capitalist, I support the right of businesses to advertise however they want to, wherever they can. But I do get a little tired of being constantly prodded to Buy this! and Try that! and Save! Save! Save! and Check out this bargain! every minute of every day no matter where I go or what I do.

This won't add any clarity to the often incoherent abortion debate:

Danielle Brookshire Steinberger already had her infant's safety seat in the car when she was hit head-on by another vehicle on New Year's Eve 2007.

If baby Drew had died in his car seat instead of in his mother's womb, his death could have been a crime.

Sometimes it seems every educator in Indiana is salivating over the possibility of getting some of the $250 million Indiana might get from President Obama's "Race to the Top" program. But they're showing a modicum of common sense in Northwest Allen County Schools, where the board signed a "memorandum of understanding" saying the district is only possibly interested in receiving some of the funds.

Yesterday, I chided a professor who used the "between a rock and a hard place" phrase for creating a false dichotomy. But that difficult either/or choice does actually present itself from time to time, for example in the case of Derrick Dausman:

A mentally disabled man facing child molestation charges has been released from an Indiana state hospital to a group home even though the state says he is too dangerous to live free in the community.

Here's what seems to be an unprecedented move:

Muncie City Council delivered a happy New Year's gift for the roughly 360 people in the Brewington Woods neighborhood and a section of the Halteman Village addition.

Mull this over:

A Mexican-born Indiana man is appealing his conviction on drug charges, saying he didn't fully understand a plea agreement due to a language barrier.

[. . .]

He was initially sentenced to consecutive sentences totaling 50 years, but that was later reduced to concurrent sentences of 30 years.

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld his conviction in August.

A know-it-all sports writer for The New York Times lectures Colts fans "furious that their beloved organization had given up on a chance at a perfect season" and tells us to "get over it," by which he means we should quit our "sanctimonious tirades about the loss of integrity," which makes the decision trump Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 as the most hotly debated coaching strategy of the 21st century:

The good news for Hoosiers about the General Assembly session starting tomorrow is that legislators should be able to do only minimal harm, since they can't really afford to do much this year. Of course they'll keep trying:

Indiana lawmakers know they have no new money to spend during the legislative session opening Tuesday.