Sometimes it's comforting to live in a down-to-earth safe zone where looniness comes so much later than in other places that we have a better chance heading it off.
Sometimes it's comforting to live in a down-to-earth safe zone where looniness comes so much later than in other places that we have a better chance heading it off.
Remember the "I can sit naked in my own home drinking coffee if I want to" guy? Turns out he was right:
A man charged with indecent exposure after two women said they saw him naked inside his own home was acquitted Wednesday by a Virginia jury.
Erick Williamson, 29, has argued since his October arrest that he should not be punished for being naked in the privacy of his own home.
The "well, duh" research of the year, so far:
HARRISONBURG, Va., April 7 (UPI) -- Given a choice, men prefer "hooking up" to dating, while women prefer dating with the prospect of a relationship to casual sex, U.S. researchers said.
We can't just enjoy entertainment on TV anymore. We have to put up with behavior modification, too:
In just one week on NBC, the detectives on "Law and Order" investigated a cash-for-clunkers scam, a nurse on "Mercy" organized a group bike ride, Al Gore made a guest appearance on "30 Rock," and "The Office" turned Dwight Schrute into a cape-wearing superhero obsessed with recycling.
During his confirmation hearings, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said, naively, that we wanted to build consensus on the court. After his speech at the Indiana University School of Law Wednesday, he was asked about that, in light of the fact that about one-third of the court's rulings last term were decided 5-4:
Roberts responded that justices differing in their interpretations of law cannot act like lawmakers and strike compromises halfway.
I'm a day early with this, but perhaps you'd like to start getting in the supplies to celebrate properly. Tomorrow is Tax Freedom Day, the day we start working for ourselves instead of The Man. This date is one day later than last year's TFD, but more than two weeks earlier than 2007's date. But that's only because the calculation does not include the deficit, even though deficits must eventually be financed, according to the Tax Foundation, which calculates TFD annuall:
If nuclear weapons are outlawed, only outlaws will have nuclear weapons:
Evan Bayh takes a final courageous stand on a tough issue before leaving office:
"My heartfelt congratulations go out to Butler University, Coach Brad Stevens, all the players and the entire Butler family on a historic season and a magical run through the NCAA tournament," said Bayh.
Jane Fonda can't keep her mouth shut or her story straight. In 1988, she went on "20/20" and apologized for posing with the North Vietnamese and their anti-aircraft gun in 1972. She said there were times that her anti-war zeal made her "thoughtless and careless" and she was sorry she hurt our soldiers. It was years too late, but it was something.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for an African-American convicted on drug charges, saying that prosecutors discriminated in at least one instance when they struck all blacks from a panel of jurors. At issue were statements by three jurors, one black and two white, showing they misunderstood the burden of proof faced by the state:
In at least one instance, the judges said, the reason given for striking a black from the panel applied equally to two white jurors who were allowed to serve.
Look at me! Look at me! Damn you, you looked at me!
PORTLAND
Deepak Chopra has made millions and millions giving navel-gazing Americans an excuse to sit around with their eyes closed and doing nothing. But I guess we should be careful about making fun of him:
Some students at the Indiana University Mauer School of Law apparently resent an e-mail sent out by the Dean of Students urging students to exercise good judgment on a planned "pub crawl," for example by drinking "a full glass of water between the two or three beers you will have":
A few points:
* Two or three beers? That's an appropriate limit for NASCAR drivers, but not crawling, pedestrian law students.
Sorry, John, it's a little late in the day for that:
Arizona Sen. John McCain is trying to shake loose the mantle of the maverick brand he shared with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin in 2008.
"I never considered myself a maverick," he told Newsweek. "I consider myself a person who serves the people of Arizona to the best of his abilities."
Well, speaking of being offended.
Our editorial page disagrees with The Indianapolis Star's about the appropriateness of state Attorny General Greg Zoeller's decision to add Indiana to the 13 other states challenging the constitutionality of health care reform.
The Star editorial's headline says the suit is "tainted by politics," but the body of the piece acknowledges that the law's requirement that individuals buy insurance or face a tax penalty "appears to be unprecedented" and is "at the very least worth questioning." So, it's tainted by politics but raises a valid point? How to get out of that dilemma?
How can you not read a story with the headline "Police: man gets rowdy with bicycle pump"? The man in question, Brandon Greer, allegedly tore his and his roommate's room apart and socked the roommate on the chin, prompting the roommate to call police:
There was an interesting segue during the roundtable discussion on ABC's "This Week" yesterday. A discussion of the GOP chairman's image problems specifically and people's disgust with Washington generally was followed immediately by a discussion of the latest sex scandal of the Catholic church.
During the political segment, former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich said this:
Indiana isn't exactly a voter-friendly state. We don't even have a registration deadline reasonably close to Election Day, let alone the ability to register on the same day as voters can in some states. If you're not registered by the end of the business day on Monday, tough luck. Here's the Secretary of State's site with a link to the registration form. You can fill it in, print it and mail it in, but it has to be postmarked by Monday.
