A Fort Wayne couple decides there's not much to do here and opts for a fun day at the new casino in Anderson. They thoroughly enjoy themselves, and the husband remarks that "next year we won't have to leave Fort Wayne to have a wonderful time."
A Fort Wayne couple decides there's not much to do here and opts for a fun day at the new casino in Anderson. They thoroughly enjoy themselves, and the husband remarks that "next year we won't have to leave Fort Wayne to have a wonderful time."
A Marion man takes the idea that religion can make you better off in entirely the wrong direction:
A former church official has been charged with stealing more than $276,000 from church accounts and using some of the money to pay for a vasectomy, motorcycles and cars.
I love my cats Dutch and Maggie. I like my sister's cats. I like my friend's dog. I understand that pets become a part of our lives, and that we are sad, sometimes even despondent, when they die. But I think the idea of elaborate funerals, complete with approved grieving by invited mourners, is a bit much:
When those three auto executives flew in their private jets to Washington to beg for a handout, it immediately became a symbol -- of arrogance to some, of being out of touch with ordinary life to others. Now we have our own symbol in Indiana:
It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring
Bumped his head and he went to bed
and he couldn't get up in the morning
Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.
If we get any more precipitation metaphors from the General Assembly, we're all going to feel like we've bumped our head. Here are the boys arguing about whether to spend the money the state has held in reserve:
Any politician who tries to govern by public opinion poll is an idiot. Even assuming the polls are accurate, which can be a dangerous thing to do, people often don't know what they want, or they want contradictory things, or they want one thing one day and something else the next. Consider this Indiana University poll about public education:
Congratulations to West Lafayette. The women might not all be strong and all the men good-looking, but many of the children are probably above average:
Forbes magazine has ranked West Lafayette as the sixth most educated small city in America.
Wonkette takes on Maureen Dowd, and it's no contest:
To Maureen Dowd, the problem is not that Senate seats have been traded back and forth between the same four or five families for the past hundred years, it's that Caroline Kennedy hasn't gotten one yet.
I'm very tired now. I think I'll lie down and have a nice nap. Maybe things will look better tomorrow:
A new Congressional Budget Office forecast due out Wednesday is expected to put the fiscal 2009 deficit at about $1 trillion, more than double the $438 billion in red ink CBO foresaw in September.
[. . .]
"Potentially we've got trillion-dollar deficits for years to come, even with the economic recovery that we are working on at this point," Mr. Obama said.
Here's a litle quiz. The Army, Navy, Aif Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are five of the seven uniformed services of the United States. What are the other two?
(If you want to give yourself a time limit, click here.)
Here's a fascinating question to mull over -- call it an exercise in future history:
What are the ideas or practices that are uncontroversial and widely accepted today — and that you personally find unobjectionable — that you think might be seen as barbaric or immoral one hundred years from now?
Every great catastrophe should have a memorable name. The Great Ice Storm of '08 is OK for a movie title, but a little long for casual conversation. Now we can call it the 10-12 Storm:
Bringing power back to Fort Wayne after the Dec. 19 ice storm will end up costing Indiana Michigan Power Co. $10 million to $12 million.
Well, it's a start:
The Indiana Court of Appeals will begin Internet broadcasts of most oral arguments starting this month.
Chief Judge John Baker says the webcasts will give the public another opportunity to learn about the issues before the court.
With all the dreary news out there, I feel compelled to keep you abreast of the humorous, so I try to find titillating tidbits like this one that you mind find uplifting:
Authorities are investigating after more than 300 bras were reported stolen Monday from display drawers at Victoria's Secret in Eastland Mall, according to an Evansville Police Department report.
In all, 320 bras - worth $14,400 or $45 apiece - turned up missing.
The best lie of the year, as chosen by the Burlington Liars Club:
"My grandson is the most persuasive liar I have ever met. By the time he was 2 years old he could dirty his diaper and make his mother believe someone else had done it."
The club also named six runners-up but no honorable mention. For that, just fill in anything any politician has said in the last day or two.
A member of the Bush household even the most hardened liberals should have some sympathy for:
The Bushes' 18-year-old female black American Shorthair died Sunday at home in the Executive Mansion.
Named by a then-9-year-old Barbara Bush, the cat, who was also called "Kitty" by the family, was given the name "India" after the former Texas Ranger baseball player, Ruben Sierra, who was called El Indio.
So long, public access:
But in Los Angeles and across California that forum began crumbling last week, a development that advocates say will strip ordinary citizens of a valuable 1st Amendment platform.
For the "anything can happen" file:
Here's another one of those lists good for starting arguments, Stanley Fish's list of "The 10 Best American Movies." He offers no justification other than the fact that he likes the films, so his list is eccentric and idiosyncratic, as all good lists should be. His list includes a few movies I would include -- "The Best Years of Our Lives," "Red River" and "Groundhog Day" -- and misses a few of my favorites ("Casablanca," "Fargo," "Monster's Ball."
