Hoosier lore

It's one thing to give prisoners so many benefits that incarceration hardly seems like punishment -- things like premium cable TV channels and access to a college education many on the outside can't afford. When I heard that some of the poor souls in the Monroe County Jail were having to sleep on the gymnasium floor because of overcrowding, I confess that my first reaction was, "The Monroe County Jail has a gymnasium"?

When we were young and the world was more moral, our games were more wholesome and entertaining. If we wanted to break the ice with members of the opposie sex, a simple straighforward game of strip poker was sufficient. We weren't absolutely depraved, like these irresponsible young people today:

 Allegations stemming from a game of "strip Yahtzee" led to a Muncie woman's arrest this week.

Got your "God in the Hoosier news" update here. A teenager in Terre Haute expressed dismay at what she perceived as an "intolerant" sign at a church:

Saagarika Coleman submitted a letter to the editor of the Tribune-Star (see page A8) stating that she was “hit with a wave of shock. I was horrified” when she saw the sign at Bible Baptist Church as her father drove her to school Monday morning.

The sign stated, “Jesus died and rose and lives for you. What did Allah do.”

As noted earlier here, former Gov. Joe Kernan is returning to Vietnam for the first time since his release from a POW camp there. Guess old warriors can't help the urge to revisit the battlegrounds of their youth:

It's been 40 years since John Eckenrode was suspended from the University of Notre Dame for a sit-in during the Vietnam War, but he still remembers where he stood that day.

The Indiana Supreme Court's invalidation of part of Zachary's law seems pretty straightforward. The state constitution bans ex post facto laws in pretty plain language, and the portion of the law requiring even sex offenders convicted prior to the registration law to register is, by intent and effect, retroactive. But at least one law enforcement officer isn't having any of that constitutional mumbo jumbo:

We have an out-of-towner at Meijer's today. Well, yeah, Gov. Sarah Palin, too, but I mean this woman:

Proof that Indiana is not out of the political mainstream -- we have imaginary congressional districts, too!

The imaginary 00, 10th, 11th, 14th, and 18th Congressional Districts of Indiana have, according to recovery.gov, made a tax dollar windfall of about $5.3 million, and 'created or saved' 9 jobs - all of which obviously can't exist in these fake districts. 

Joe Kernan is still one of the classiest guys around. He had planned to go on a trade mission to Vietnam when he was lieutenant governor, but the trip fell through, and he says he's always wanted to go back to the country where he fought and was held as a prisoner of war for 11 months. Now a trip is on:

Tour stops will include the site where Kernan's plane was shot down and the preserved portion of the prison referred to by Americans held there, including Sen. John McCain, as the Hanoi Hilton.

Former Fort Wayne educator Eugene White has had his ups and downs as superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools. This could probably be considered a down period, since parents at three high schools want his head on a platter:

RealClearPolitics puts Gov. Mitch Daniels second on its list of five most likely GOP dark horses for the 2012 presidential nomination, just behind South Dakota Sen. John Thune ("a political giant-killer, knocking off then Minority Leader Tom Dachle in 2004.") and just ahead of Texas Gov. Rick Perry ("rock-solid conservative credentials and a long electoral track record in one of the nation's largest states"). Rounding out the list are Oklahoma Sen.