Current Affairs

This Indiana University professor doesn't think much of the democratic process:

"No matter how often President Obama pleads for it, bipartisanship has become a joke. So, while the two sides continue this ridiculous game, Rome -- read: the planet -- is burning."

So long to the Brooklyn accent:

The first thing theatergoers will notice about the revival of "A View of the Bridge," Arthur Miller's 1950s drama about a working-class Italian-American family in Red Hook, is that the characters are speaking a different language: Brooklynese. You got a problem with that!?

I've liked The Who a long time, but I must respectfully disagree with this:

The Super Bowl finally found its soundtrack with The Who, whose halftime show provided music as big and loud as the game itself.

Not so fast there, Mr. fast-taliking, this-is-one-in-a-million-animal pet salesman. I want to know where that dog has been:

Indiana lawmakers set their sights on puppy mills, with a new bill that would let you see what you're getting when you buy a pet. The Indiana House has approved the bill that would require retail pet stores to give the customer information about a pet's background before selling a dog or cat.

If you wanted to disprove the contention that "Self-help gurus are charlatans and hucksers," you probably shouldn't use James Arthur Ray. He preaches that success can come to those who will it, and he gets people to pay good money to do things like sit in sweat lodges to benefit from the techniques "he searched out in the mountains of Peru and the jungles of the Amazon" so they can "gain strength and confidence by mastering physical discomfort."

A lot of news outlets had the story of the New York woman busted for driving in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane with a well-dressed mannequin sitting beside her instead of the legally required live second passenger. But only the New York Post went the extra distance to come up with a clever headline: Driving for dummies.

So let's follow up the last post about good government spending with one about a program I hate seeing federal dollars spent on:

I've written several times that space exploration is one of those government programs I don't mind paying for. The public sector has funded the human need to expand our horizons since the time of Columbus. So I was dismayed when I heard Persident Obama might be cutting the money for a return to the moon, especially since it sounded like one of those tired, typical "Why should we waste billions on such extravagances when there are so many problems in our back yard?" arguments. Instead of going to the moon, NASA would be funded to . . . more closely monitor global warming.

Is "high hopes" like wishful thinking?

President Obama announced Thursday which states get part of $8 billion in high speed rail grants.

Of that money, Indiana received about $71.3 million to use for improvements in rail systems in the northwestern part of the state. While Fort Wayne is not seeing federal funding right now, supporters of a high speed rail system in the Summit City remain optimistic.