OK, everybody feel guilty now so the state can spend millions on pre-school without us raising a squawk:
Gov. Mitch Daniels and Republican lawmakers want teachers and schools evaluated on student performance and parents to have more options, but experts say preschools and other early childhood learning have more impact on success in the classroom.
One of my new favorite sites is the hot word blog maintained by the folks at reference.com. Every day, they pick a word or phrase from the news and explain its origin, background and/or meaning.
I think this is supposed to be reassuring or comforting or some other touchy-feely nonsense, but it bothers me that so many of my fellow citizens put such a premium on "cooperating" to "get things done":
How do you like your freedom now, imperialist dogs?
The cold war came back to the White House today during a press briefing between Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Russian journalist Andrei Sitov when it was suggested that American freedom was responsible for the Arizona shooting.
[. . .]
My reaction to the president's speech in Tucson seems to be about the same as the developing consensus:
1. The president did fine, hitting all the right notes in stressing unity and our common humanity. He brought up the "blaming the climate" stuff only to dismiss it as inaccurate and inapporpriate.
2. The crowd was so strange that it made it tough to judge the event. This was supposed to be a memorial service, not a pep rally.
I especially liked this from the speech because it rings so true:
That'll learn 'em!
Big snow storms and limited parking is a combination that can lead to a whole lot of neighborhood feuds.
Now, in Darby Township, if you feel you have the right to reserve your parking spot, you could face a fine for hundreds of dollars.
You can't lay claim to a parking spot on a public street in Darby Township. If you do, you could hear from police.
Sounds like a winner to me:
Jobless Hoosiers who chose to use illegal drugs while drawing unemployment may be doing so on borrowed time.
A bill moving in the Senate would ask Indiana residents applying for unemployment to declare on their application that they will refrain from illegal drug use that could keep them from getting a job.
[. . .]
Another blue ribbon panel of movers and shakers is convened to tell us what we should do:
Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora speaks out against the state's performance-based funding formula, which has led to a recommendation that would mean BSU gets the largest funding drop of any institution in the state:
Appearing before the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee in Indianapolis, Gora criticized the Indiana Commission for Higher Education's formula, which includes graduation rates.
Not quite totally smoke-free:
Some Indiana lawmakers are pursuing a statewide public smoking ban again this year, but it appears they will have to make an exception at least for casinos if the measure is going to win the votes of a budget-minded legislature.
[. . .]
At No. 9 and dropping:
We're No. 9, we're No. 9!" isn't exactly a cheer that would resonate through sports stadiums in this country. But that's where the United States stands on the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, released Wednesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.
States from New Jersey to California are slashing budgets in response to their fiscal crises, but Illinois is trying a different way, adopting a whopping 67 percent hike in the income tax. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has the appropriate response.
CHICAGO (WLS) - As Illinois prepares to raise income taxes, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels tells Don and Roma he's trying to keep from laughing at our plight.
Today we present the award for most shameless attempt to use the Tucson shootings to advance an agenda. The runner-up is Mark McKinnon:
Back in 1973, National Lampoon had a cover (pictured below) that became famous (or infamous) almost overnight:
Now someone has taken that bad-taste joke and made it real:
WASHINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Police say an Ohio man accused of having sex with a corpse told investigators he didn't at first realize the woman was dead.
This is the national conversation we should be having:
Because the State Fair is a "family oriented event," should children there still be shielded from demon rum?
Visitors to the Indiana State Fair will be able to drink a cold beer or sip Indiana wine as they chow down on fried food if one lawmaker gets his way.
Rep. Robert Cherry, R-Greenfield, has filed a bill to lift a longtime ban on alcohol at the annual fair.
[. . .]
Proof that "reads a lot" is not the same thing as "smart":
The most literate city is, Washington, according to a survey released Monday by Central Connecticut State University, followed by Seattle and Minneapolis.
The study, which has been conducted annually for eight years by Jack Miller, president of CCSU, includes only cities with populations greater than 250,000.
The trouble with all the "Sarah Palin caused the Arizona shooting" talk is that it distracts us from an equally entertaining theory that the recent rash of bird deaths was caused by the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell:
The tea party has certainly made its mark on the politics. But does it have a future?
It's a question that political observers have been asking ever since the tea party came along -- whether it's here to stay or is simply a flash in the pan.
