After I went away to the military and college, my parents got a new house, but it had all the furniture I grew up with. Visiting them, during my first years of working at Indiana newspapers, was like going back to childhood in some ways. I could ease whatever workplace stress I was going through just by closing my eyes and reliving some of those earlier times. Apparently, even the pope sometimes feels the need for that kind of mental getaway.
So, my heating bills are going up, and the fast-food joints are responding with cheap hamburgers? That's one of the silliest pieces of economic analysis I've ever seen. Things go in cycles, and people got tired of not getting what they mostly expected at the drive-thru: cheap food, fast. Now that they're getting back to the cheap, would it be too much to ask that they work on the fast a little bit?
After living in Michigan City and rooting for Chicago teams for eight years, I should have known better than to let the Colts break my heart. Year after year, they get to the playoffs, then forget how to play the stupid game. Why did any of us think this year would be any different? I hope this isn't remembered as the game Mike Vanderjagt lost. True, he missed the field goal that could have sent the game into overtime. But he wouldn't have been in that position if Pittsburgh hadn't outplayed Indianapolis for the whole game.
This boneheaded move by Maryland isn't just anti-Wal-Mart. It's fundamentally anti-business:
The measure approved Thursday requires companies with more than 10,000 Maryland employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on employee health care or pay the difference into the state-supported Medicaid program. Of the state's large employers, only Wal-Mart spends less than 8 percent on health care.
I'm surprised film isn't already gone. (Then again, I thought rap would be a one- or two-year phenomenon, so what do I know?) There will be a certain amount of nostalgic pining from those who miss the aesthetics of film, but it's hard to argue against the versatility and power of digital photography. One thing I've noticed, which is a little surprising, is the number of people I know who have even given up getting prints of photographs, being perfectly content to pass them around digitally.
Obviously, we need a new Kyoto accord to help us get rid of all these global-warming menaces. Of course, that would mean the end of us, too. But that's OK, Mother Earth would then finally be safe.
It's good to live in the Midwest, where traditional values save us from the wretched excesses visited upon other parts of the country by Godless libertines. There, wicked female-teacher temptresses prey upon their 12-year-old students. Here, they only seduce 17-year-olds, practically over the hill.
A group of minority voters are becoming disenchanted with the political party they think is taking them for granted. No, not blacks and the Democratic Party. Cuban-Americans and the Republican Party:
"It was a total abuse, how all these Cubans were treated. They landed on our territory only so that we can send them back to hell," said Armando de Cristo, a city employee, 66, who fled Cuba 30 years ago.
Looks like Gov. Daniels' call for more local-government control is the big deal I thought it was. Here's the Indianapolis Star's report:
Under the plan, local governments could merge and consolidate without legislative approval, a hurdle which has slowed Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson's ambitions to consolidate police and fire responsibilities in Marion County.
When I read that the Indiana Senate opened its session with a moment of silence -- OK, 20 seconds -- I didn't think much of it. But apparently it's a symbol of everything that's wrong with this country, all of it caused by our spineless aquiesence to out-of-control courts:
The governor is already releasing some details of his plan to let local units of government have more control. The plan will be in House Bill 1400, which hasn't been posted by the state, so we don't know what the specifics will be yet.
The Allen County Prosecutor's Office has finally determined that Simon Rios' status as a foreign national doen't prevent him from facing the death penalty in the strangulation deaths of his wife and three children (never mind the fact he's the primary suspect in the
An Oprah's Book Club recommendation can send a book soaring on the best-seller lists. The club has been getting some bad publicity because an "autobiography" it recommended is alleged to have been largely fabricated. The Smoking Gun Web site alleges that author James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" might be as much fiction as life story.
Why can't the General Assembly stop playing parent to local governments? asks Indiana economist Morton Marcus. It's all about power:
Steve Towsley (see full comment) nails it, I think:
I don't care what party Daniels hails from, and doubt most other Hoosiers do. If he takes action, as he seems to be doing, and gets the state out of the morass without doing anything felonious or oppressive to his bosses the citizens, he'll be judged a good governor for the times.
Taking Down Words, an Indianpolis blog, has a post on the speech with several comments attached. Most of those commenting didn't think much of the speech. "Long on metaphor, short on substance," one of them said.
Kevin Knuth, chairman of the Allen County Democratic Party, watched the governor's speech and posted a few comments here. On Daniels' desire to put more teachers into classrooms, he asks, What about the teachers who lost their jobs under the governor's budget? He wonders how we can know whether some privatization efforts really saved money since there were no competitive bids. He talks about Daniels traveling around in his fancy RV in contrast to Gov. Kernan driving the state in the company of a lone state trooper.
I could have done without the sports metaphor at the end -- it's early in the race, we have to pace ourselves, etc. But I like the sentiment it represents. We have to think big and act boldly. Whatever else is said about Daniels, it can't be denied that he embraces change and challenges Hoosiers to do the same. As lethargic and tied to past practices as this state has been, that's a good thing. We just have to make sure we're moving in the right direction and not just seeking change for change's sake.
