Hoosier lore

You can have limited sympathy for this doctor who was apparently growing marijuana to treat his wife -- if you break the law, you accept the consequences -- and still doubt the wisdom of coming down hard on him. The drug warriors do not enlist much support for their cause by treating all drugs the same. I presume most people would consider a meth lab in the garage next door much more dangerous than the doctor's enterprise to the neighborhood and the well-being of society.

This sounds like a very reasonable right of self-protection:

"You don't have to put yourself at risk. You don't have to say, 'Oh, by the way, I'm here,' and give (the burglar) the first shot."

If you can't wait for next year's congressional races, Masson's Blog does a little early handicapping. Like Masson, I don't know a lot about the races outside my area of the state, but I'd say his "reasonable chance" for a swing from 7-2 Republican to 5-4 Republican and maybe even 5-4 Democratic is a bit of wishful thinking. That's nothing but a gut instinct based on the proven power of incumbency.

Well, I guess somebody has to do this:

The volunteers assembled at Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1702 Bradner Pike, where they made care packages to be distributed at Indiana and Michigan jails this week.

I can think of a lot better places to take care packages, though.

If you want to know the truth, I wish Barry Manilow were still playing piano at the Richmond, Ind., Holiday Inn for $75 a week. Just one more way Playboy has contributed to the ruin of this country.

Everyone is probably going to have a lot of fun over Indiana's search for a new tourism slogan now that Illinois has swiped our "Enjoy Indiana." Taking Down Words, for example, lists some suggestions, including "Ohio's Best Friend  and "Welcome, Boneheads." The "Enjoy" slogan was said to be too neutral, which I take it is a polite way to sa

Though I am a journalist who operates under the umbrella of the First Amendment, might I gently suggest that "free speech" does not trump everything? It is one value that, as important as it is, must compete with other values in a democratic society. Those who always treat it as an absolute risk ignoring dangers that simple common sense should alert them to.

The story we've all been reporting is that Pat Miller left the Daniels' administration early and came back to Fort Wayne because her Vera Bradley company needed her. The Indianapolis Star's Matthew Tully says that's not quite the whole story.

I guess I don't have a problem with the Indiana Supreme Court barring Judge Pfaff from the bench forever. By pulling a gun on someone, he crossed a line. But you've got to have some sympathy for someone driven around the bend by a runaway daughter. Wonder how she feels now?

Evansville continues to be a city we should pay attention to. Not only are they going through the same consolidation discussions (though somewhat ahead of us). As this post at Indiana Barrister shows, there is also a downtown-development parallel.