Not sure what I think about this:
SAN ANTONIO - Ninth grade, often the first year of high school, is a critical time when many students sink or swim while coping with new academic responsibilities and learning the oh-so-important social hierarchy.
Some educators are turning to ninth-grade-only schools to separate 14- and 15-year-olds from older kids and make the transition easier.
When we read about some crimes, we start thinking about the worst punishments imaginable, something vile and unspeakable, preferably in a setting that would allow the public to buy tickets and watch:
A San Antonio couple is accused of trying to trying to trade sex with the woman's 5-year-old daughter for an apartment, a used car and child care for her 10-month old daughter.
Today's Final Jeopardy category: common bonds.
Today's Final Jeopardy answer: Evan Bayh, Tim Kaine and Kathleen Sebelius.
Today's Final Jeopardy question: Who are three short-list also-rans who have never been in Cliff Claven's kitchen?
Let's go to the Wayback Machine and enjoy that moment, shall we? It may be the last time we can ignore politics for the next couple of months:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=botdmsQilnU]
Aw, man. When I was in the Army, I hated the shade of green the uniforms came in -- olive drab, with the emphasis on drab. It didn't matter so much that our fatigues were ugly. They were working clothes, after all, not meant to be exactly dazzling. But the Class A uniforms were for dress-up. Who could feel snazzy and ready for hitting town in something so awful-looking? It took me years to be able to tolerate any kind of green.
What in the world is going on with the Indianapolis Police Department? Ten officers have been charged, jailed or investigated for alleged wrongdoing this year. Now there is this case:
An incident that led to an Indianapolis police officer being charged with rape Thursday began, prosecutors say, with a proposition.
Be a manly writer! Don't be a girlie scribe; it will lead you into sissy sentences; your writing will be convoluted and your thinking vague:
Butterworth, who had worked in the States, wondered why so many Americans shared Donald Barthelme's sense that the mark was "ugly as a tick on a dog's belly." His answer: As a culture, we Yanks distrust nuance and complexity.
Most of the stories about Robert Armstrong mention that he was on the Central High School basketball team that won the state championship in 1943. They also say that he started the Snider High School athletic department and that he had been a teacher before that.
Three lumber companies have bid more than $360,000 for the right to harvest timber from the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, and members of the some people aren't happy about it:
Members of the activist group Indiana Forest Alliance attended the timber sale and said the trees would have more benefits to the economy if they were not cut down.
I guess I've had a naive idea about what "work release" involves. An offender isn't violent and is a good risk, so they let him ot of jail to work -- still getting a paycheck, perhaps even repaying whomever he victimized -- and he comes back to jail every night until his sentence is served. But why leave it at that when a bunch of government geniuses can improve on the concept?
The public can see the new Hendricks County work release center Friday.
I had measles when I was a kid. It sucked. But I was lucky. We once had hundreds of thousands of cases a year in this country and hundreds of deaths. The disease has largely been conquered because of vaccinations. But now, it's starting to creep back, in part because of parents who have listened to ill-informed hysteria about a phantom link between the vaccinations and autism:
Ah, good old American free enterprise:
BOSTON - Two Massachusetts businesses are battling over the macabre legacy of a former Sunday school teacher who was accused in the hatchet deaths of her wealthy father and stepmother more than 110 years ago.
My new issue of Newsweek that came last Tuesday had the blurb "Summer Double Issue" on the cover. Goody -- an extra helping of liberal wisdom! But, no. I hefted the magazine, even counted the pages. Same old size. An editor's note explained: ". . . we will be back . . . on Aug. 25." Aha. "Double" issue means it has to do double duty. They're just taking a week off and being oh, so celver about how they tell us about it. No Newsweek for me this week! What a ripoff.
Let's see. You get out of jail after serving your time on an auto-theft charge. Do you: A) Thank your lucky stars the ordeal is over and vow to go straight? Or, B) Hide from your friends and family for a few days because you're so ashamed? Or, C) Go into a deep depression and seek counseling?
Then, there is always D:
A Sullivan County man found himself back in jail Wednesday morning after about 12 hours of freedom, during which he allegedly stole a car and some beer and led police on a high-speed chase.
[. . .]
My Spanish teacher in high school supplemented his income by painting houses in the summer. This seems to be the modern version of that time-honored kind of education moonlighting:
A Cleveland High School teacher, in Houston, Texas was charged with prostitution after meeting a man in an online chat room and soliciting him in a downtown Houston hotel.
Police said Laurie Ann Lewis, 38, was arrested Tuesday at the Four Seasons in an undercover sting.
Yet another example of what America is fighting for in the Middle East, provided by one of our allies:
Celebrating anniversaries, birthdays or mother's day is against Muslim 'righteousness', Saudi Arabia's top cleric has said, quashing suggestions by a colleague that Islam permits personal celebrations.
Wonder how many people who still have religious or philosophical problems with stem cell research will be pulled over to the other side by this?
Scientists at Advanced Cell Technology Inc., the Worcester stem cell company that is running out of cash, reported yesterday that they have created large numbers of red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells.
[. . .]
Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Mitch Roob searches his vocabulary for just the right word and almost finds it:
A new rule, which still must cross several hurdles before being adopted, would require food stamp applicants to submit documents within 30 days — instead of 60 — or risk having to start the application process all over again, Roob said.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you were expecting to take a lot of long walks in your shorts and sandals this January and February:
Farmers' Almanac says cold winter ahead.
Never mind those pesky hordes of illegal Mexicans. America seems in danger of being overwhelmed by . . . the Amish:
LANCASTER, Pa. - The Amish are expanding their presence in states far beyond Pennsylvania Dutch country as they search for affordable farmland to accommodate a population that has nearly doubled in the past 16 years, a new study found.
Saigon, one of my favorite restaurants, gets a nice writeup by a Circle City couple whose Worth Your Attention blog is dedicated to "eating, drinking, shopping and exploring Indianapolis and beyond."
