Unclear on the concept:
PORTAGE -- Volunteering and wind energy could both be in the future for Portage Township Schools.
School Board members talked at their Wednesday discussion meeting about the possibility of requiring high school students to volunteer to graduate.
Member Tom Pappas supported the idea, saying the program would help students learn civic responsibilities.
We don't have Don Schmidt on City Council anymore to watch those pennies for us (which have a way of adding up to dollars). But Liz Brown, R-at-large, and Karen Goldner, D-2nd, may be on the way to becoming a fiscal-watchdog tag team. They displayed their spending skepticism (with maybe a wee bit of sarcasm) Tuesday night, when a proposal to spend $340,000 to a consultant for rain gardens came up:
Also Tuesday, the council:
Home-schooling gets another unintended boost:
In most math problems, zero would never be confused with 50, but a handful of schools nationwide have set off an emotional academic debate by giving minimum scores of 50 for students who fail.
Officials in schools from Las Vegas to Dallas to Port Byron, N.Y., have proposed or implemented versions of such a policy, with varying results.
Give thanks that freedom of speech is still valued on this side of the pond (at least outside college campuses):
A teenager is facing prosecution for using the word "cult" to describe the Church of Scientology.
The unnamed 15-year-old was served the summons by City of London police when he took part in a peaceful demonstration opposite the London headquarters of the controversial religion.
[. . .]
Never mind driving -- maybe we need a law against walking while using a headset:
LAKE STATION, Ind. (AP) - Police say a freight train hit a 16-year-old Lake Station boy, hurling him 70 feet.
[. . .]
He says Nathan Furlong was walking along the train tracks when he was hit about 2 p.m. Furlong is a sophomore at Edison High School.
I know the mark of a civilized society is how much the majority is willing to slow down to help those who have trouble keeping up, but this is just silly::
The U.S. discriminates against blind people by printing paper money that makes it impossible for them to distinguish among the bills' varying values, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
I eat too much or eat the wrong things or both, and the predictable results come about Naturally, it's the government's fault, not mine:
The problem at first was that the problem was ignored: For almost two decades, young people in the United States got fatter and fatter -- ate more, sat more -- and nobody seemed to notice. Not parents or schools, not medical groups or the government.
Omigod! Only 1,355 days until Super Bowl XLVI! For those a little rusty on the whole Roman numerals thing, the Indianapolis Star provides this helpful advice:
X = 10
L = 50
V = 5
I = 1
Craig Ladwig -- my former boss and now with the Indiana Policy Review -- on how government is not like a business
A May 16 story about a fare hike and route cuts for bus riders reminds us that governments do not operate like businesses.
Harl Delos, who's become a frequent commenter here, on his blog refers to my rant on the meaning of effete, but only in passing, which is probably the attention it deserves. It's in the middle of a nice, thoughtful essay about relationships and marriages:
In a press release (pdf file) from the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health:
Free and confidential HIV tests will be offered as part of the lead-up to next month's National HIV Testing Day on June 27.
Indianapolis is getting the 2012 Super Duper Bowl. Zillions and zillions of dollars! A world-class city! They like us, they really like us!
Hope the Colts are still there by then.
John McCain looks out at America and likes what he sees:
Republican John McCain's game plan for beating Democrat Barack Obama rests on one huge assumption: Despite an unpopular war, an uncertain economy and the GOP's beleaguered status, the country still leans more to the right than to the left.
You should lean that way, too, John; it's fun! We get to make fun of liberals and make them cry.
PARIS, May 19 (Reuters) - France is considering a ban on happy hours in bars and on the sale of bottles of vodka and other strong liquor in nightclubs as part of efforts to curb binge drinking among young people, an official said on Monday.
A lot of administration critics have complained that under George Bush, America has had too much of a "Get lost!" attitude about the rest of the world. I suspect that the rest of the world would be too much with us under an Obama administration. This snippet from an Obama speech has gotten a lot of comment:
Is there any real reason to celebrate your independence day if your country is run by a dictatorship? Not every Cuban thinks today is that big a deal:
It has been observed by more than a few people that the way Democrats have been running their primary should be a cautionary tale about how they would run the country. Now, let's consider evidence of how they are running their convention:
Fried shrimp on a bed of jasmine rice and a side of mango salad, all served on a styrofoam plate. Bottled water to wash it all down.
If one result of the Democratic primary is that the country is going to speed right by the perceived need to atone for its sexist past and deal with the more urgent problem of atoning for racism, a side effect will be that those concerned with sexism will feel slighted, maybe even a little bitter. This has been made pretty clear from comments by Hillary Clinton and some of her supporters, and now Susan Estrich ups the ante, playing the sweetie card:
Sadly, I didn't buy any "forever" stamps. I had 26 41-cent stamps left over from my roll of 100, so I had to swing by the Post Office yesterday for the 1-centers before mailing off the bills I did on Sunday. Not smart smart planning, and not exactly thinking of the future:
Do the math: In 1970, a first-class stamp cost only 6 cents. Since then, there have been 17 rate changes, amounting to a whopping 700 percent price increase.
