July 20, 2009
Tim AltomTechnologists don’t usually give the law a basketful of respect. From our point of view, the law is struggling frantically
to stay within a hundred yards of our bleeding edge. By the time the law gets around to speaking on a technical
subject, the subject may not even exist anymore.
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July 13, 2009
Bruce HetrickA gentleman from Fort Wayne died last month. The cancer caught up to him just a few days before his 80th birthday. Like many
of us native Hoosiers, this fellow was born of working folks. His dad was a traveling hardware salesman,
his mom a homemaker.
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July 13, 2009
Ken SkarbeckA developing case of technology theft has shed light on the proprietary systems Goldman Sachs and other investment firms
use to make millions of dollars. A 39-year-old former employee at Goldman has been accused of stealing computer
code used in the company’s high-frequency trading system.
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July 13, 2009
Mike HicksProperty-tax caps, as well as a dwindling population and commercial base, have left Muncie in the uncomfortable
situation of cutting budgets. Since the bulk of costs are related to fire and police salaries, few options
are available. The city has turned to the short length of rope the Legislature offered amid the debate
on property tax caps—the Local Option Income Tax.
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July 13, 2009
Lou HarryIf you’re in Broad Ripple and hungry for pizza, you’ve got lots of options. But what do you do if it’s the
middle of the night on a Thursday and you and your entourage have the munchies? Well, for that very specific
demographic group of pizza eaters, there’s now ’Za, which is open until 4 a.m. Wednesday
to Saturday.
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July 13, 2009
IBJ StaffA state budget was passed June 30, but it’s balanced on the backs of poor children. Legislators
deserve praise for at least slightly increasing overall education funding, but because of a flawed funding
formula, urban districts such as Indianapolis Public Schools actually will lose money in the next two
years.
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July 13, 2009
Mickey MaurerPresident Obama was in Egypt last month to see the Sphinx, the Pyramids and other relics of a bygone age but, more important,
to set the tone for a new age—according to Obama, “a new beginning” in relations between the United States
and the Muslim world.
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July 13, 2009
Morton Marcus“Most people hate to pay taxes,” Gregory Goad said. “They don’t appreciate the services taxes support,
they don’t understand why taxes are necessary, or they don’t like to help people in need.”
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July 13, 2009
Brian WilliamsThe challenges facing Indianapolis Public Schools are daunting. The socioeconomic level of its students and their families,
fiscal constraints, and a necessary heightened focus on security issues are just a few, but all contribute to high dropout
rates, low academic achievement, achievement gaps between middle-class and low-income children and declining enrollment.
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July 13, 2009
In 2006 the Indianapolis member centers of the Central Indiana Bowling Centers Association Inc. went
smoke-free voluntarily everywhere in their centers, except the bar.
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July 13, 2009
I read with interest IBJ’s [June 29 story] focusing on health care reform. I was not surprised by the exclusion
of opinions from “real” private-practice physicians.
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July 13, 2009
What a disappointing [July 6 column by Chris Katterjohn]. You, like your other liberal, left-wing journalist pals, just
cannot stand it when anyone disagrees with your point of view.
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July 13, 2009
Bashing the president is a time-honored tradition in the United States going all the way back to George
Washington himself and honed to a fine point by the Jefferson/Adams exchanges.
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July 13, 2009
Like it or not, the Indy Racing League is becoming an international series, with American drivers like
Patrick, Andretti and Rahal and internationally known drivers such as Castroneves, Kanaan, Mutoh and
Meira.
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July 13, 2009
Lou HarryThis year’s Indianapolis International Film Festival gets rolling later this usual, with a bump to summer precipitated
in part by the moving on of its founder to the Nashville Film Festival and in part by the move of most of the fest (minus
parties) to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. We’ve spent the last few weeks reviewing most of the
features in competition.
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July 6, 2009
Jim CotaHard drives fail—almost all of them, at one point or another. Back-ups are a little clunky to set up
and keep up with, so most people I know ignore it. I finally decided I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
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July 6, 2009
IBJ StaffThe legislative session that concluded June 30 with passage of a two-year budget left a bad taste in our mouths. For starters,
legislators lacked the courage to tackle local government reformeven though cash-strapped units of government
desperately need the millions of dollars in savings they would generate. In short, they put political cronyism ahead of the
interests of the state.
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July 6, 2009
Chris KatterjohnWhen prominent Egyptologist Zahi Hawass shared stories at a recent event about his personal meeting with President Obama,
my pride was momentarily dashed by the behavior of the people sitting at the next table.
When Hawass noted how impressed he was with our new president, these people became incredulous. They started snickering like
schoolchildren.
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July 6, 2009
Morton MarcusIf we are lucky, by the time you read these words the Indiana General Assembly will have passed a new budget. Democrats use
tarot cards and Republicans chicken innards to determine how much to spend. There are alternatives.
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July 6, 2009
John GuyWhile transparency is a stated goal of many corporations, deliberations regarding distribution of shareholder property
to executives are not subject to light of day or to review. Instead, decision-making is camouflaged by
thousands of words that appear substantial but disclose little.
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July 6, 2009
I own and manage a small business. WellPoint is our health insurance carrier. I have an employee, makes good money. He is
in excellent health but he is diabetic. WellPoint won't insure him!
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July 6, 2009
[In his June 22 column, Bruce Hetrick asked,] "Is global citizenship 'intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous?'"
This question, reflective of Newt Gingrich's recent statement declaring himself not "a citizen of
the world" elicited personal incredulousness.
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July 6, 2009
Ed FeigenbaumAs both House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, and House Republican Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, see it, this is definitely
a "Republican-flavored" budget. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels laid the framework, and legislators from both sides
of the aisle largely abided by his bottom lines of spending, state agency cuts and surplus.
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July 6, 2009
Mike HicksIt would be artless this week to write an article on economics and business in Indiana without remarking upon the passing
of John Fisher. Much has been written about his legacy over this past week, so I will make do with an anecdote and a lesson
I have learned from him.
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July 6, 2009
Lou HarryI entered "Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharoahs" (at the Children's Museum of
Indianapolis through Oct. 25) with a limited knowledge of Egyptian historyand by limited, I mean
loose threads picked up from a handful of Mummy movies, the Bible, and a few too many productions of "Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
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These higher rates Co. e about only because physicians are now hospital employees. otherwise physicians couldn't charge these rates and share the windfall with the hospital. Community/rural hospitals probably not buying physicians practices and thus weren't getting the windfall anyway.
The incentive for poor people to get themselves off public assistance and "no longer be poor" is even with help...they're STILL POOR! Being poor, even with some assistance, isn't all that pleasant. (I speak from experience) It's a stubborn myth that poor people, who are on public assistance, are sitting in the lap of luxury. You should try living on just those "freebies" that you mentioned and see how meager they actually are. By the way, I didn't mean you had to buy/own a puppy...just pet one. :)
As near as I can tell the minority has ZERO constitutional obligation to offer a quorum to the majority. A requirement for quorum was inserted into the constitution so that tyrannical majorities could not simply shove through odious and objectionable legislation (which is exactly what they did.) By allowing a tyrannical majority to charge fines against the minority for exercising their constitutional prerogative to deny quorum the court as made a mockery of constitutional governance in the state of Indiana.
The voters elected the Reps to make a vote not walk out on the vote. They had to the right to exercise their opinion and vote "no" to the bill. Let me ask you this if you walked out of your job for 5 straight weeks would you get paid? Would you even have a job to go back to? If any elected official walks out on the people they should be arrested for stealing tax dollars from the public. They were elected to do a job and not leave when the job gets stuff.
I have been to several of their locations in Pennsylvania and always go in for 1 item and leave with a basket full of things. I'm very happy they decided on Indiana, now if only they would put the other store in eastside.