Masson's Blog and Liberal Indiana are on the Indianapolis Star story about a high school newspaper article on the dangers of oral sex. What caught the attention of both was the comment of Kenn Gividen, probably the state's most prominent Libertarian:
Another Indiana school system is considering a move from traditional letter grades to a "standards-based" reporting system that would break each subject into much smaller pieces, providing much more information on how the student is doing in various areas:
Rumsfeld didn't actually come out and say that press coverage of Iraq sucks, but that's really the only way to describe such inexcusable irresponsibility:
The interesting thing about this story is that almost two-thirds of the clergy surveyed no longer believe in Hell as an actual place of torment, but the "astonishment" expressed is over the fact that more than a third still do:
The concept of Hell as a literal place has declined in an increasingly secular world. But what surprised Stoddart is that "there is a solid number of Scottish ministers who still believe in eternal torment.
Here's an interesting way to get a state government's attention: seeking secession. And the response of Vermont to the people who want to leave for New Hampshire is poignantly clueless:
The state has more pressing concerns, including health care, education, investments in higher education, economic development and job creation, Gibbs said.
I guess I haven't figured out the right way to be middle class:
"They don't mow their lawn, they don't do their landscaping, they don't paint their houses," he said of the typical customers. "And they don't put up Christmas lights."
The last time I wrote about downtown redevelopment, I noted the growing dispute over where to put a new hotel -- south of the Grand Wayne as originally envisioned, or north of it as now proposed -- without saying what I thought.
Score one for John McCain for not being "terribly offended" and thus bringing a little common sense to the "startling" revelation that the U.S. military is paying to have positive stories printed in Iraqi newspapers. The U.S.
OK, fine, Sen. Evan Bayh wants to get tough on violent video games:
There is a growing body of research that shows exposure to graphic violence, graphic sexual content has adverse consequences for kids," he said. "Anger management issues, violent behavior issues, frustration, desensitization."
This is the kind of story that gets a lot of mileage (Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Indy Star, USA Today, for goodness sake) because it has a cute hook and a memorable line that the person quoted probably regretted uttering the minute she saw it in print. ("I'm not running a squirrel condominium here," attributed to library director Judy Hamilton.) But if you look at what's really going on, it's about a public institution trying to deal as best it can with a difficult employee.
Indiana University basketball coach Mike Davis won his 100th basketball game, and the media seem to be totally buying the I.U. PR line that he's the "second-fastest in school history" to reach that milestone. Steve Straiger explains why the claim is nonsense.
I confess I don't know quite what to make of this "boys in crisis" crisis. Is it really true that they're doing so horribly now? Or are they succeeding and failing in about the same proportions as always but looking bad by comparison to the girls who are more numerous and taken more seriously than they once were? Or is this just a tree mistaken for a forest, as we're inclined to do this days (or weather mistaken for climate, to put it in "global warming" terms)?
When I complained in a post last month about cameras being everywhere, a commenter said something about "expectation of privacy" (i.e., if we're in public anyway, what's the big deal about being videotaped?) Well, the "expectation of privacy" isn't what it used to be.
Finally, an effort to combat global warming I can support (I was going to say "get behind," but, well . . . ):
“In total around 14 percent of global methane comes from the guts of farm animals. It is worth doing something about."
The press isn't always good at complex issues with lots of social, legal and moral ramifications. But give us a nice, round, easily grasped number, and we will go to town, as in all the hype surrounding Kenneth Lee Boyd, set to be "the nation's 1,000th execution since capital punishment resumed in 1977." That's about 36 a year, my rusty math tells me, or fewer than one a week.
See, folks, this is Indiana. You can't just operate a sexual-torture business out of your home. You have to get a permit and make sure you're in the part of town that's properly zoned for sexual torture. And only in this state would the owner of such an operation feel compelled to say it includes "domestic training" while encouraging and practicing "sexual responsibility and chastity."
I share Walter Williams' disgust with those who disparage "menial, dead-end jobs":
So now we have scientific validation of the maxim that familiarity breeds contempt:
But after a year with the same lover, the quantity of the 'love molecule' in their blood had fallen to the same level as that of the other groups.
Based on personal experience observation, I would have put it at six months, but I'm no scientist.
I'm not Catholic. I'm commenting about the Vatican's new Instruction on not ordaining gays because I think it's an interersting issue of importance to the larger society, not because I want to tell Catholics how to be Catholic.
Lots of talk today about the decision by a federal judge who sided with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union and told the Indiana House of Representatives it could open its sessions with prayer, but not sectarian prayer. (Hat tip to the Indiana Blog Review for all the links.)
