Saturday, April 29, 2006

Random thoughts

♣ I tried Microsoft's "live mail beta" a couple weeks ago and didn't like it. The biggest problem I had with it is I use an 800x600 resolution and the frames are just way too small on my screen. The larger amount of storage is nice, but I really don't use my Hotmail ID for anything other than MSN Messenger anyway. I'm sure it will be quite nice once the product is finished. Right now, the best web based e-mail (in my humble opinion) remains Yahoo Mail, with Google Mail close behind.

♣ I purchased a couple riblet bones for Nano & Tera the other day. Nano went after his bone with gusto and actually ate the whole thing, while Tera pulled the dried meat off of her bone and lost interest. Tera was chewing on her bone again today. I heard Nano whining for several minutes and assumed he needed to go outside, but he was not sitting by the door. So, I pop my head into the bedroom and see Tera sleeping with her bone under her paw while Nano is whining because he wants it. I've had lots of dogs beg from me, but Nano is the only dog I have known to beg from another dog.

♣ A spokesman for the governor's administration complained that Indiana Democrats were politicizing the search for a new state slogan when the state Democratic chairman criticized the amount of money spent on it. This argument fails for two reasons. First, the Republicans would be all over Kernan like white on rice had he been governor and made the same decision. Second, that kind of partisan dismissal of criticism basically disqualifies any criticism of the administration. A legitimate disagreement over policy is not partisanship.

♣ There has been a lot of talk this election season about raising pay for deputies in the Monroe County Sheriff's Department. Two things are important to note in this discussion. First, county government salaries are set based on recommendations from Waggoner, Irwin and Scheele, a consulting firm in Anderson that sets county employee salaries based in part on what employees doing the same jobs in similar counties were making. This includes sheriff's deputies. Second, you cannot compare county sheriff's deputies to Bloomington Police Department officers because the BPD has standards (such as physical fitness standards) that the MCSD does not.

♣ The requirements that the county commissioners passed yesterday for fencing in "grandfathered" hybrid animals are excessive. I mean, really: 8-foot-high walls that extend 3 feet into the ground with a 3-foot overhang? If "Smokey" the wolf/malamute hybrid has to be killed, Joyce Poling and Iris Kiesling should be required to kill the dog themselves. They voted for it, so they should take the responsibility of putting "Smokey" down.

♣ Two idiots were arrested and charged with illegal consumption and criminal mischief after allegedly throwing rocks at cars from atop Teter Quad. If convicted, they should serve no jail time at all, but should instead be required to pay restitution to the people who owned the damaged cars. This includes confiscating iPods, computers, televisions, stereo systems, and video game consoles and games and selling them to raise money for car repairs.

♣ The lead editorial in yesterday's "and another thing" section was stunningly stupid. There were 179 people arrested for illegal consumption. How many actually engaged in illegal consumption over Little 500 weekend? Several hundred? Thousands? I think it is safe to assume most underage drinkers do not expect to get caught and therefore do not budget $400 for the cost of the pre-trial diversion program.

♣ The last editorial in the "and another thing" section was almost as dumb as the first. So because some young people get overly competitive on the basketball court, all teens and twenty-somethings are to be punished by lowering the goals to child-player height? It appears there is a serious lack of common sense at 1900 South Walnut.