Way too early, I know, but everybody else is talking about the presidential race, so we should probably peek in occasionally. Whatever else might be said, it is certainly true that we will have competing visions:
Way too early, I know, but everybody else is talking about the presidential race, so we should probably peek in occasionally. Whatever else might be said, it is certainly true that we will have competing visions:
It was a gloomy day in early June, with the kind of lazy, drizzling rain that lasts forever. The perfect day for a murder, and that poor sap Jerry wouldn't even see it coming.
The drive-through was crowded, so I put the wipers on intermittent, the better to watch Jerry hand out sacks of fast food and collect money, giving each patron a phony smile. He looked bored out of his mind, probably wondering if his day could possibly get worse. Days can always get worse, Jerry.
25 things that have disappeared in the past 25 years. Some are obvious -- indoor smoking, typewriters, phone booths. Some, like New Coke and Betamax, were barely here in the first place. Some are not lamented -- good riddance to carbon paper. If I may say so, No. 22 is premature, if only slightly:
22 The afternoon newspaper
I "ran away from home" a time or two when I was a kid. It was part of the ritual of growing up, to show your parents how mean they were and how sad they would be when they realized what they had driven you to. (Shades of "A Christmas Story," in the fantasy sequence where Ralphie imagines his parents' agony when they realize that washing his mouth out with soap had turned him blind.)
There are zombies in the streets of Fort Wayne! Quick, run to the Allen County Public Library so a friendly librarian can send the zombies off in the wrong direction and direct you to a copy of "The "Zombie Survival Guide." That's the premise of a two-minute video (watch here)submitted on hehalf of ACPL in the "I Love My Library" video contest on YouTube.
After the Supreme Court upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act back in April, I wrote an editorial saying the decision would "put ne energy back into the abortion debate in this country, which is good, and shift the focus of the debate at least partly back to the states, which is even better." I said it was at least a partial defeat for the pro-choice crowd: "As the debate now proceeds, at least the idea of a continuum will be back and the 'right' of abortion can no longer be considered an absolute that does not have to acknowledge competing interests."
The big three Democratic presidential candidates have religion or, to be precise, "faith," which, as described in this article, seems like some internal, generic pep-talk button they push when gloomy. This is intriguing:
I feel like Fort Wayne Observed today. I have a story of a heinous crime, direct from a news release to you. It features a kidnapping, a fugitive who flees to another state and an intrepid small-town reporter who won't give up on a good story. Here's the whole thing, direct from Peggy Bender, humane educaion specialist for Animal Care & Control (where the photo also comes from):
The "Summer of Love" was just a media-created fantasy that lasted but a few months, followed by decades of baby boomer nostalgia for what could have been. Now that the 40th anniversary is upon us, the drivel will start really piling up:
It's becoming pretty clear the immigration "reform" crowd is going to push this monstrosity through, no matter what the American people think. In fact, they will delude themselves into thinking everybody but a few cranky, conservative racists is coming around to the right way of thinking:
If your self-esteem hasn't been damaged enough by "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?" further humiliate yourself with "100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know." Try these 10 on for size: abjure, abstemious, enervate, inculcate, jejune, lugubrious, moiety, obsequious, quotidian, tautology.
Yes, dear, I am intoxicated by that strong perfume. No, dear, that tight red dress and the fish-net stockings don't make you look tacky. I love the nine-inch heels. Oh, absolutely, the liberal use of hair spray only adds to your charm, and I am utterly fascinated by your grasp of the English language. No, of course not, I don't think $100 is too much. -- patronizing a prostitute
Perhaps I should send that to Patrick Knight:
Your may now pay homage to me as the genius you always knew I was. Back in October, I wrote about Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451":
Human rights on the march:
A homeless man who was arrested after asking a policeman for a dollar got a judge to throw out the case by arguing that begging is a form of free speech.
Judge Gail Rice made the ruling after Eric Hoffstead had his lawyer cite a 15-year-old federal court decision saying New York state's loitering law violated First Amendment protections.
A North Putnam teacher got into trouble for some terrible transgressions:
The school board released a findings of fact document at the end of its special meeting Thursday that alleged Porter violated school policy by sending e-mails containing adult humor during scheduled work hours while students were under her supervision. Porter is also accused of making or receiving personal telephone calls during work hours at the school in Bainbridge, 35 miles west of Indianapolis.
The Lafayette Journal & Courier has an editorial on the state of taxes in Indiana:
Compared to the rest of the United States, Indiana's tax burden is about average. And the property tax, as part of that burden, is also about average.
Cheer up, Fort Wayne smokers. At least you can sneak into New Haven to have a cigarette with your meal. New Hamsphire is joining the growing list of states banning smoking in bars and restaurants border to border:
"Smokers are the only minorities I know of that society throws out into the cold in winter time," said Rep. Kenneth Weyler of Kingston. "Those zealots are out to eliminate all smoking in society."
I knew sooner or later the rest of the country would catch up with me:
Just saw that annoying Sally Fields ad pitching Boniva, the osteoporosis pill. What's annoying is that they make such a big deal about having to take the thing only once a month, as if taking a pill weekly or, heaven forbid, daily is an unbearable hardship. Taking something monthly seems to be a disadvantage to me -- that gives you 30 or 31 days to forget to take the stupid pill.
One down, 134 to go:
Junk e-mail continued to land in mailboxes around the world today, despite yesterday's arrest of a man described as one of the world's most prolific spammers.
Even if Robert Alan Soloway is ultimately convicted and his operations shuttered, spam experts say dozens are in line to fill the void.
[. . .]
