Politics and other nightmares

Outrage of the day:

The Army is struggling to find about 35,000 soldiers, most of them veterans now, who are owed bonuses because they were forced to remain in the military beyond their normal enlistment.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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