Today's "back to school" spot-the-insensitivity special. This one?
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Cancer has ravaged several of Ann Aberson's relatives, so she doesn't have a problem with her two teenage daughters wearing bracelets to raise awareness of breast cancer.
But their school principal does.
Time magazine wanders into the Hoosier state in search of an answer to it's headlined question, "How Barack Obama Became Mr. Unpopular":
A sense of disappointment, bordering on betrayal, has been growing across the country, especially in moderate states like Indiana, where people now openly say they didn't quite understand the President they voted for in 2008. The fear most often expressed is that Obama is taking the country somewhere they don't want to go.
It would be good news that an economic incompetent was leaving the White House if there weren't so many of them left there:
Departing White House chief economist Christina Romer urged Congress on Wednesday to "finish the job of economic recovery" by pumping more cash into the economy through additional tax cuts for businesses and middle-class families, as well as fresh investments in the nation's infrastructure.
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Bad news on the bookstore front. Borders has just posted a second-quarter loss of $46.7 million, the fifth loss in six quarters, and the chain is closing stores and selling more non-book items. Things aren't so hot at Barnes & Noble, either.
Indiscriminate use of the "homeless" term has finally gone too far:
After the recent Casey County dog hording bust, I was inspired to write this column in order to help people understand how they can help homeless animals in our community.
Didn't we use to call them "strays"? Should we really be making exuses for their own poor decisions and life skills by calling them "homeless"?
Today's "close but no cigar" award:
The Indiana Supreme Court is partnering with public broadcasters to teach viewers about the legal process.
The first show is called "Family Matters: Choosing to Represent Yourself in Court." It will begin airing Thursday on Indiana public television stations.
I was hoping Mitch Daniels might be the first governor to just say no to the federal government, but it looks like that honor goes to Time Pawlenty:
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty Tuesday ordered all state agencies to not to submit applications to any health care funding from the federal government related to the health care overhaul.
Any applications must be either required by law or approved by the governor's office.
I'll believe it when I see it:
Democrats want more economic stimulus. Republicans are unlikely to back new spending programs. The middle ground may be temporary tax cuts.
The basic idea would be to target the cuts to encourage businesses to hire more people and people to spend more money.
What in the world was this "businessman" thinking of?
TERRE HAUTE — The Ballyhoo Tavern today becomes the first smoke-free bar in Terre Haute, a move the business's manager says is a result of the desires of its customers.
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Here's a good, debatable issue that doesn't involve terrorists, illegal immigrants, the federal government or religion, so let's go for it as a change of pace. Illinois and 31 other states have a "mercy rule" for high school football.
Today's headline needing no further comment: "You know, it's never a good idea to moon a state trooper."
Roger Clemens has gone from baseball great (11-time All-Star, 354 wins, 4,672 strikeouts, certain Hall of Fame inductee) to sleazy drug-taking cheat in near record time:
Boy, what a slacker:
After an amazing 22 years on the bench without taking a sick day, Judge John F. Surbeck Jr. of the Allen County Superior Court was a no-show Monday.
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Judge Frances C. Gull took over Surbeck's docket, and in her courtroom lawyers were stacked four deep as they awaited their chance to ask for a continuance or just a chance to accept a guilty plea or sentencing for their clients.
Karen Francisco, The Journal Gazette's editorial writer who specializes in education issues, notes with approval Gov. Daniels' daylong academy for the trustees of Indiana's public colleges and universities. One thing bothers her, though:
But I'm troubled by the single quote the governor's office chose to highlight in a news release: "We want to see an Indiana where there is a place for every student, but not every student can go every place."
A Niles man will get one more chance to turn his life around after violating his probation just a day after he was sentenced earlier this month in Berrien County Trial Court.
Ivan Senter Fordyce, 40, of Superior Street in Niles, was sentenced for attempted assault with a dangerous weapon, a knife, on Aug. 16 and violated his probation a day later when he didn't report to his probation officer.
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The State Department included a Justice Department lawsuit against Arizona's immigration law into a United Nations human rights report to show how U.S. rule of law can be an example to the world, a State Department spokesman said Monday.
Nothing a libertarian likes better than a 30-year-old ordinance that a city finally decides to enforce:
Logansport residents who fail to get a permit before holding a garage sale could see their profits land in the city's hands.
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Most the coverage I saw over the weekend of Katrina's five-year anniversary was downright gushy about New Orleans' comeback and the "resilience" of the people who live there. President Obama's words got a lot of play:
The legacy of Katrina, said the President, must be "not one of neglect, but of action; not one of indifference, but of empathy; not of abandonment, but of a community working together to meet shared challenges."
Today's quiz. "It's clear that his intent was to be divisive" refers to:
A. Conservatives' reaction to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's Ground Zero mosque plans.
B. Civil rights leaders' reaction to the Glenn Beck rally in Washington on Saturday.
If you wanted to answer C, "Most of the stuff I read on this blog," w
Well, tell me something I didn't know:
The Internet is transforming the news business into something different, but no one knows quite what, and only visionaries and hard-skulled business people grasp what could be. Like every revolution, this one is causing casualties, the guillotinings this time seen in lost jobs, even disappearing newspapers.
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