I'm not sure how much the popularity of someone not on the ballot matters, but Republicans are probably right to worry more about the poll numbers of Mitch Daniels than about President Bush and his Iraq war policies:
In the telephone survey of 800 likely voters, WISH-TV found that nearly a quarter of Hoosiers rated his performance as poor and a third rated him as only fair.
Gale Sayers has had a fabulous life in Chicago and has his principal residence there, a posh condo off Michigan Avenue. But 10 days a month, he and his wife retreat to their home in tiny Wakarusa, Ind., south of Elkhart:
''I first met him in here about 33 years ago,'' said Steve Cook, who operates the restaurant with his brother Stan. ''I was about 18. He was my childhood idol. I couldn't even talk.
"Now he's just Gale."
What rules should there be in war? If the other side doesn't play by them and we do, does that mean we preserve what we stand for rather than become like our enemies? Or are we giving them an upper hand that will make it harder for us to win? And how can we even debate the issue when there is such a difference in what people see when they look at the same thing?
Give the college kids a hand: The way most newspapers do corrections, it's hard to tell what the original story was even about. "A story Tuesday should have said county resident John Smith spent two days in the hospital." So, what DID the story say that was wrong, huh, huh? That John Smith was a city resident? That he spent five days in the hospital? That he was arrested for spitting on the sidewalk? That this whole thing, whatever it was, happened to John Jones?
Many conservatives read stories about the economy and see a liberal conspiracy because the numbers are obviously being misconstrued. But the truth is, most journalists just suck at math:
Every year, scores of fledgling journalists pour out of liberal arts programs. Though many will need to pick through mountains of statistics in search of the truth, few have been taught the skills to do it.
Your federal dollars, hard at work, right here in Indiana:
I got a call yesterday from someone in city government who told me that quite a few restaurant owners in Fort Wayne are not very happy right now.
I checked out the book "1,000 Places To See Before You Die," and it just seemed like too daunting a mission. Too little time, not enough money. Never happen.
I might have better luck with things I should eat before I die, since I've already got a good start. Of course it's a list that will grow, since bloggers are asked to participate:
Will you people please allow your pets to keep some of their dignity this Halloween? Especially the feline-Americans.
As Bob Seger might have written: "Feel like a number, I'm not a number, I'm not a number, dammit I'm a planet." Poor Pluto:
Pluto has been given a new name to reflect its new status as a dwarf planet.
We've all read the stories that more than 90 percent of Americans believe in God. But that doesn't mean everybody believes in quite the same God. This is fascinating:
NINE in ten Americans believe in God but how they vote, or regard the Iraq war, depends on the very different views they have about His personality, according to a detailed survey of religion in the US.
The Indiana Licensed Beverage Association is having a series of public meetings to put pressure on the General Assembly to legalize video gambling machines. And here's a prediction from someone who should know:
Poor Wal-Mart can't catch a break. It's attacked by labor unions and Democratic politicians, and now it's even being disparaged by people who wanted it to come to their neighborhood:
Fort Wayne NAACP president Michael Latham said Wednesday he will call on shoppers to boycott the new Wal-Mart at Southtown Centre when it opens next week if the store doesn't remain open 24 hours like every other in town.
[. . . ]
My first thought was that this was a joke, some college sophomore's attempt to parody the PETA people:
Pacelle pledged his ongoing commitment to legislation and lobbying as key paths for the animal rights movement to move its agenda forward. He urged the audience to continue pursuing animal guardianship laws to replace animal ownership laws. Pacelle suggested using the term ''Canine Americans'' instead of dogs to emphasize the rights of these animals.
This site was passed along to me by my sister-in-law. I liked it, so pass it along. If you like it, do the same. It's a poem about growing old set to the Alan Jackson song "Remember When."
I not going to live forever,
but while I am still here,
I will not waste time lamenting
what could have been,
or worrying about what will be.
but will continue
to rejoice in what was.
As the United States edges closer to the 300 million mark, there will probably be lots of stories like this one exploring the benefits and drawbacks of having such a big population:
In the past 39 years, the United States has added 100 million people - the biggest population spurt in its history. At the same time, America has sustained greater economic growth than any civilization before it.
Is there a link?
You've probably seen interviews with some in the mainstream media who are in a state of denial about the effects of the electronic revolution on their ways of doing business. Here's someone else who doesn't seem to get it. Dale Hoiberg, editor-in-chief of Britannica, in a Wall Stree Journal-hosted exchange with Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder:
Adults who don't finish high school in the U.S. earn 65 percent of what people who have high school degrees make, according to a new report comparing industrialized nations. No other country had such a severe income gap.
This editorial in the Anderson Herald-Bulletin, deploring the whole idea of "covenant marriage," finally gets around, in the antepenultimate paragraph, to revealing the faulty premise on which its conclusion is based:
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 America seemed united, but that was only because of the rage and fear we felt. In truth, we were still the same polarized nation:
The only consensus on 9/11 was that a terrible tragedy had occurred. There was no consensus as to who was truly responsible. And that is why within hours we began to hear, "Ask yourselves why they hate you." They knew that America had brought this onto itself; deep down they knew that we deserved it.
