Before we again tackle the controversial issue that failed in the General Assembly this year, we should have some hard facts, The Indianapolis Star says in an editorial:
Are bank robbers a drain on the state's economy, or a boon? Are public hospitals, as supporters' of Delph's bill asserted, overburdened by treating bank robbers? What is the net cost of bank robbing for taxpayers?
The merging of technologies continues. Go here to watch full episodes of something like 200 different TV series instead of waiting for your favorite one to show up on TVland. "Hawaii 5-0" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "St. Elsewhere" and "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Lou Grant." Wasn't I just saying how cool it was that the old "Star Trek" episodes were online? Jeez. I think I'm going to be overusing that word.
The three giants of the golden age of science fiction are now gone. Arthur C. Clarke has followed Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov into that unknown territory that all humans eventually travel to but nobody reports back from:
Another language pet peeve:
The Clintons are barnstorming Indiana, with six stops today and Thursday in a push to win this state's May 6 primary election.
In preparation for my flight to Texas tomorrow, I went to the Transportation Security Administration's Web site to see if there were any updates to the carry-on rules. I still have to check my blackjack, brass knuckles and throwing stars. Bummer.
I hate to tell you this, but I'm in the first group:
The Internal Revenue Service outlined Monday how your Social Security number will determine when you probably will get your economic stimulus check this spring or summer.
The IRS said it plans to deliver 130 million checks between May 2 and July 11 based on the last two digits of the recipient's Social Security number.
Your behavior is suspicious. We have your name. It is in our database. Watch your step:
Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert.
I think they should do another poll to see if the poll revealing that people don't trust polls is accurate:
Only a third of people trust official statistics - according to official statistics.
An Office for National Statistics (ONS) poll of more than 1,000 adults also found the majority of the public thought figures were manipulated for political purposes.
It's silly season in Carmel:
The Carmel City Council considers a controversial resolution Monday night supporting a child-safe community standard for the city. The resolution would ask businesses to put away anything from magazine covers to lingerie out of the view of children. Proponents say it would make the city more wholesome, but critics charge it legislates morality.
We matter! They like us! We matter! They like us! With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama all but deadlocked, Indiana isn't ignored this year. Obama hit Indianapolis, and Clinton is swinging through several Hoosier cities on Thursday. And Fort Wayne will be Blessed With Bill tonight at the Grand Wayne Center:
Morrone said there are no tickets for the event. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis for the “Solutions for America” rally.
You get the impression listening to the Democratic presidential candidates (especially Obama) that they would never go to war anywhere, at any time, for any reason. You get the impression listening to McCain that he would make war first and ask questions later. I doubt this is quite true, but that's how the candidates sound, so that's where the debate tends to be steered.
We tend to focus on the current war:
If your basketball team is behind, it's obviously because the refs are incompetent or crooked. And if you get a lousy slot in the tournament, something is fishy, too:
Shock and surprise were the initial reactions. Stemler said he thought the Hoosiers would probably be around a No. 6 seed. ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi in his final bracketology report Sunday afternoon had Indiana as a No. 5 seed.
OK, that last post was a cheap shot, and shooting fish in a barrel and beating a dead horse, too. Demonizing politicians is good, clean fun, and we are more likely to induge in it as tax time approaches. But we should be careful not too go too far in demonizing all public service, which I'm sure I've done on occasion and which the governor succumbs to once in a while:
The idea in this country was that ordinary people would go into public service for a time, then return to real life. We would not have a permanent political class, and those who served would have to live with whatever they foisted on the rest of us. It hasn't exactly worked out that way:
IUPUI has withdrawn a reprimand issued to a janitor after co-workers complained about him reading a book about the University of Notre Dame's fight against the Ku Klux Klan.
Bookmark this one, nerds. The original "Star Trek" episodes are online for free.
OK, this is a pet peeve. I've been seeing vehix.com commercials all over TV the past few days, and they brag that you can "literally test drive" a car at that Web site. No, no, no. As the ad admits, the site puts you "practically in the driver's seat." Well, if you are practically in the driver's seat, you are not actually in the driver's seat, are you? So you are figuratively, not literally, test-driving the car.
Matt Welch at Reason doesn't think to much of John Mellencamp:
Now, class, what have I said about tattoos and permanence?
Alan Jenkins, a steelworker, recently revealed that he had undergone 20 hours at his local tattoo parlour and spent £870 on having a life-sized portrait of his girlfriend's face etched into his back.
However, soon after, Lisa Crooks left him for a colleague.
