Our view: NATO plans Afghanistan departure
If a date can be affixed to when the war in Afghanistan began to end, Monday is as good as any. That’s when NATO leaders meeting in Chicago announced an “irresistible transition” to having all the alliance’s combat troops out by the end of 2014. …
Our view: Dickson deserves chief’s seat
For the first time in 25 years, Indiana will have a new chief justice for its Supreme Court. For those who value stability on the state’s highest court, the appointment of longtime Justice Brent Dickson is good news. A panel voted to make Dickson chief …
Anti-Obama campaign proposal inadvertently smears Romney
What a difference four years make. When Barack Obama was running for president, he successfully managed to distance himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, leaving his Chicago church during the campaign and shrugging off suggestions that the preacher’s fiery rhetoric had any effect on him …
NAACP regains relevance with support of gay marriage
With its support for gay marriage, the NAACP has done more than strike a blow for fairness and equality. The nation’s most venerable civil rights organization has made itself relevant again. The NAACP’s 64-member board approved a resolution Saturday supporting “marriage equality” not as a …
Our view: War results in medical advances
It is a lamentable but undeniable fact that wars are a great boon to medical research. Some historians suggest that modern medicine has its roots in the Civil War, with the development of protocols to remove the wounded quickly from the battlefield to special military …
Our view: Take action for public safety
With the addition of two professionals to the executive staff of the Indiana State Fair, the policy of “better late than never” continues regarding oversight of mass attractions on state property. The appointments of a new chief operating officer and director of safety and security …
Our view: With super’s time short, give Gary board a ‘D’ for delay
The Gary School Board dumped Superintendent Myrtle Campbell back in September. Since then, the board directed a university consulting team to conduct a search, weeding out weak candidates for one of the most important jobs in Northwest Indiana. Campbell is set to depart at the …
Boehner again draws debt-ceiling sword
John Boehner thinks it’s kind of funny. “It struck me as somewhat comical,” he told reporters Thursday, “that, you know, people are looking to me like I’m the guy carrying a sword around town, I’m going to bludgeon someone.” Well, Mr. Speaker, maybe that’s because …
Find out about presidential candidates online
The race to the White House has begun in earnest. From 24-hour news streams to Facebook rants about hot-button issues, the Internet allows so many voices to shout that it can feel like a lot of noise. Yet, it also allows the candidates to present …
Disco queen, go-go king will be missed
The sound track of my youth is fading. That’s hardly an original observation, I realize, but self-indulgence is a columnist’s inalienable right, and music has unique power to summon unbidden waves of nostalgia. I’ll spend a day listening to the “Queen of Disco” and the …
Our view: It’s safe to make plans for 2013
It’s scientifically safe to make plans for 2013. The world will not end on Dec. 21 or the default date of Dec. 23, according to a newly discovered Mayan calendar. If an incomplete ancient Mayan calendar were to be believed, it didn’t matter who won …
Our view: What’s in the water at Loyola?
Let’s hear it for the students of Loyola University, and for the Jesuit principles that guided them, for doing something pretty smart: Banning the sale of bottled water on campus. Starting this fall, in response to a student vote last week, the university no longer …
Our view: Close this prison time loophole
Chris Wheat was a swim coach in Lawrence when he had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old member of the teams he helped lead. Wheat was arrested, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor and child solicitation and, in September 2010, was sentenced to …
Our view: Play rival games at campuses
The conflict ending — for now — the Indiana University men’s basketball series with the University of Kentucky never should have happened. The schools played an epic game in Bloomington last December, and should play this coming December in Lexington, followed in 2013 by a …
