IS IT TRUE that the local realtors are joining the “Parrots of Propaganda” in describing the state of the local housing market as having the sun shining on it?…that if houses that had been declining but have now seemed to have stabilized with a nominal appreciation of a small fraction of 1% constitutes the sun shining bright on my Indiana home then the local realtors have a very different definition of sunshine than homeowners do?…that the statistics that were presented in the “sunshine headline” do indeed support a headline more like “local housing statistics stabilize”?…that things in the housing market are better than they have been for at least 3 years but that the prices are still well below their peaks of 2006 and that supply is much higher than demand?…that one large reason that prices here and across the country have stabilized is that many people who would like to move have shelved their plans for the time being artificially limiting both demand and supply?…that there are still some 4 million foreclosures that are being poised for sale which every prognosticator in the game states will sink prices by about 10% on average across the country?…that increasing the inventory by that much with properties that will be “dumped” as opposed to “marketed” will indeed negatively impact housing?…that the Evansville area though never experiencing the 50% plus price fluctuations in housing as growing cities did still did experience numbers that are at about the national averages with respect to foreclosures?…that the sun may shine again someday but this is not that day?…that joining the “Parrots of Propaganda” and singing “Happy Days are Here Again” does not constitute accuracy or cognitive thought?…that we will know when the sun shines?…that when houses that sold for $175,000 in 2006 once again sell for $175,000 within a couple of months of listing we can really take a sigh of relief and sing?…that as long as such homes sit empty for a year with for sale signs at over a 20% discount to the last time they sold the sun is not shining?

IS IT TRUE that if the housing market were doing so well that the Evansville City Council would have no credibility in its assertions that Aztar needed an exemption to the recently passed smoking ban to “protect a revenue stream that FILLS THE GAPS CAUSED BY SAGGING PROPERTY VALUES and tax caps”?…that the sunshine of the local housing market must be behind a cloud down at the Civic Center?…that that exemption is now coming under legal scrutiny for being unconstitutional?…that in other cities that have carved out exemptions the constitutionality argument has prevailed?…that Louisville tried this trick by carving out an exemption for Churchill Downs that was struck down by a judge?…that Churchill Downs is now non-smoking inside and is doing as well as it ever did?…that in a twist of irony that Churchill Downs may be offering gaming machines in a non-smoking venue that will compete with the Horseshoe Casino across the Minton bridge in Indiana?…that this constitutionality challenge will probably prevail and then the Evansville City Council will be faced with the decision that they could have mustered the courage to tackle two weeks ago?…that “all or nothing” may just be the law of the land?

IS IT TRUE that gasoline prices have been increasing painfully over the last couple of weeks just as it was predicted that they would?…that some conspiracy theorists including the President of the United States are blaming it on election year politics?…that in one Wall Street Journal article this week President Obama’s logic that he expressed regarding gas prices was dismissed as “Forrest Gump logic”?…that in another column WSJ’s Holman Jenkins stated “It is always pitiful to see a president of the United States, in the grip of an energy panic, uttering desperate nonsense about gasoline prices”?…that President Bush had a similar nonsensical panic over the immediate benefits of switchgrass over which he was justifiable dismissed as misinformed and desperate by the very same minions that are now spinning President Obama’s comments in a positive light?…that in three short years we have gone from hearing speeches about the abatement of the rise of the oceans to an administration that takes credit for offshore drilling?…that politics really makes for some convoluted flip flops and we are being treated to some real whoppers in 2012?…this will be a most entertaining year in national politics?

IS IT TRUE that a fairly large number of incumbents including both of the Vanderburgh County Commissioner seats look as though they will be re-elected by default since no candidates have come forward to run against them in either the primary or the general election?…that with all of the controversial issues that will be in the mix this year that many people have just started to tune-out the rhetoric of the politician and would prefer juggling snakes to running for elected office?…that both parties are reluctant to place unqualified people on the ballot on the heels of the Linda Durham fiasco of an election and the fallout from the Evansville mayor’s race of 2007 where the Republican candidate (he won the primary) offered no real opposition to the incumbent who misinterpreted the results as a mandate and let hubris get the better of him?…that it is not a good time for someone with a weak backbone to run for office in Evansville-Vanderburgh?…that with real issues on the table like consolidation, meth, jobs, and crime politics should no longer a playpen as it seems to have been treated for a long time now?…that with all of the _____Gates that have been exposed recently many good people must be staying out of public life to avoid the character assassinations that have become typical in recent Evansville history?

IS IT TRUE that the off-track betting parlor is going before the Evansville City Council on Monday night to make a case for an after the fact exemption from the recently passed smoking ban?…that this business was not heard from during the entire deliberation period and must have assumed that they would be exempted as Casino Aztar was because they derive most of their income from gamblers?…that what they need to realize is that Casino Aztar was granted an exemption not because the City Council has any particular affection for smoking gamblers, but because of the magnitude of dollars that Casino Aztar pays in fees and taxes to the City of Evansville?…that it has been reported that the off-track betting facility pays about $400,000 per year in taxes?…that the tax revenue from Aztar is more like $10 Million or even more per year?…that these two businesses do not compete with one another in any way since Aztar does not have a sports book?…that if the City Council grants the off-track betting parlor an exemption that there will be a parade of businesses all making the same argument of lesser magnitudes and before long “in the name of fairness” Evansville will once again revert back to a wide open smoker’s paradise?…that the smoking ban exemption is all about money and that it seems as though the line was drawn at $10 Million?…that dropping that bar to $400,000 would essentially remove the line for every bar, restaurant, or gambling house in town?…that it will be most interesting to see if the 7 members of the City Council who voted for the smoking ban can be convinced that more exemptions are needed as Councilwoman Missy Mosby and Councilman Jonathan Weaver did the first time around?

IS IT TRUE that the last week seems to have ignited a crime wave?…that break ins and robberies are dominating the headlines and police reports in Evansville and Vanderburgh County?…that it must be the nice weather inspiring this binge week for stealing?…that not only has there been a rash of stealing but there has been vigilantism on both sides of the Ohio River where the victims of the crimes have fought back?…that another victim is offering a bounty for the arrest and prosecution of the thieves who looted his business?…that the business owner offering the bounty is a local young educated entrepreneur who has been victimized before and is pretty much fed up with it?…that the “parrots of propaganda” need to sit up and take notice of this short term trend as the levels of theft are not consistent with their sirens song of “it’s a great place to raise kids”?

IS IT TRUE that one of the biggest problems that is being discussed in statehouses all over America, in principal’s conferences, in superintendent’s retreats and of course by parents in living rooms is the subject of SCHOOL BULLYING?…that rules of conduct for students, schools, and teachers at all levels of education are being written?…bullying, fighting, and intimidation of any sort cannot be tolerated by our society and certainly should not be promoted at schools?…that the dying art of being ladies and gentlemen should be taught to students at all ages, and the earlier the better?

IS IT TRUE that none of this is news to the local school systems on both sides of the Ohio River who promoted a day of “playing hooky” so that 5,000 elementary students could take in a hockey game during time that should be reserved for learning?…that we are certain that body checking, slashing, elbowing, and fist fighting was cheered on at the Ford Center yesterday by our future generation much like the people of Rome cheering for Caesar to give the “thumbs up or thumbs down” symbol so that the lions could eat?…that the lapse of judgment was even allowed to be played out in Ford Center on Ash Wednesday when many local children exercise their religious freedom and follow the tradition of Catholicism that reminds the faithful of their own mortality and encourages repentance?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO is wondering if when these gets make their way to middle school if their respective school corporations will be taking them to a WWF event to glorify even more violence?…that as simple as it seems in a society that is desperately trying to regain gentility that promoting violence of any kind at school desensitizes our children to bullying?…that we hope that there is a fight count from last week and another from this week taken at the participating schools?…that life imitates entertainment and that we suspect that life in these schools will be imitating hockey for the next couple of days?…that Rome fell under the weight of its own self indulgence and that many parallels exist between what is happening now and what happened then?…that wrestling is held at a place in Evansville known as “The Coliseum”?…that sort of says it all?

IS IT TRUE that the number of members of the inner circle of the Weinzapfel Administration who have been appointed to inner circle positions in the Winnecke Administration has some of our readers heads spinning?…that one could conclude that there must have been a high level of comfort with what the previous administration was doing and who was doing it for this to be happening?…that on the other side of that coin it is also possible that these are highly qualified people who were really the best choices that Mayor Winnecke could have made?…that the CCO crosses our fingers that the things of the past that are good continue but that some of the closed door activities of the past stay in the past?…that maybe some of these people had a “Dorothy threw a pail of water” moment?