FIND OUT INFO ABOUT THE BENEFIT CONCERT AT CARIBOUROCKS.COM 

THANK GOD EVERYONE IS OKAY If you watch the video of yesterday's bus crash, you realize the kids on this bus from Waggener High School were very lucky.  The bus jerked across two lanes of traffic, missing the coming cars by feet, and crashed into a barrier.  Some were hurt, but no one was killed.  It could have been a LOT worse.  I'm guessing there was some prayer on that bus yesterday.  Don't tell the ACLU. 

SCOTT JENNINGS KNOWS WHAT'S UP When it comes to GOP politics in Kentucky.  And this column is a clever way to saying that Rand Paul needs Mitch McConnell.  And he makes some good points.  He's right about the Tea Party upstarts who "lack an instinct for winning".  They are determined to cut off their noses so they can stand around on principles and be right while the team loses.  Of course Scott said it much more nicely. 

I NEVER TALK ABOUT CRIME STORIES But this is SO ICKY I want you to be grossed out so I don't have to be grossed out alone. 

BOYS WILL BE BOYS...UNTIL 43?  IF I were a dude, I'd be irritated by this study that says men don't fully mature until the age of 43.  Seriously?  But then I read the list of things that mark immaturity and think, maybe.  I think this is just an excuse to lower the bar of expectation a little lower for women so they accept more stupid behavior for longer.  DON'T FALL FOR IT, LADIES!  It's some kind of diabolical plot.

PREZBO IS OFFICIALLY THE WORST ECONOMIC PRESIDENT EVER. This is interesting.  I can't wait to see how PrezBO's supporters try to spin the hard facts of reality against their shattered projections of what they think he is or was.  But the numbers don't lie.  And they are all on him, regardless of how much he tries to say they are someone else's fault.  Because the someone else he keeps blaming did a much better job managing the economy he's mismanaged. 

I'M NOT BUYING WITH THE ARENA AUTHORITY IS SELLING Insider Louisville went to the Arena Authority meeting looking for some answers about exactly how the KFC YUM! Center is doing.  They got answers, but I'm not buying them.  For instance, this nugget:

"The bond servicing was calculated on projections that the giant taxing district, which covers six square miles, would generate  $8.8 million annually. Instead, 2012 TIF revenue was $3.3 million for 2012, up 61 percent from about $2.17 million for 2011.

That dramatic increase indicates a growing level of business activity that could reach projections during the next few years, Glasscock said. He added that anecdotally, restaurants and other commercial activity are increasing rapidly in the TIF."

Really?  It came up 61% last year and we are supposed to think that signals we will be meeting the TIF projections any time soon?  What's not mentioned is that the TIF Projections GO UP every year.  What do we need to make in 2013 to hit the TIF?  9.987 million bucks.  So using my shaky math skills, the TIF would need to increase 300% to hit that number.  l love Bearno's and the Troll Under the Bridge, but are more places like that going to generate the kind of cash we're needing?  I think not.  And it gets worse.  In 2014, the TIF projection is up to 11.823 million.  Do the math on that yourself.  Do you see the kind of economic growth happening downtown to support that?  Especially in light of recent stories about high vacancies downtown?  I'm happy the Arena Authority is so high on the future.  They must be high on something.

MY FRIEND CHEF DEAN CORBETT AT 11:35 Talking a little Bourbon and Bowties.  Learn more about the event and buy tickets by clicking here.

WHAT KIND OF HOT MESS IS THIS? So there is a contractor who owns some land they want to develop but they are cash poor because the African American Cultural Center owes them 1.4 million including interest.  So they want the city to step in?  I feel for them, as it appears to me that the AACC has blown through roughly 17 million bucks and still can't repay a loan to Fifth Third Bank or pay the judgment owed the contractor.  But hey, they are still getting $130,000 of our money to throw down the rabbit hole that is this "center".  It's time to fish or cut bait on this money pit. 

SO WHY AREN'T THEY PUBLIC AGAIN? David Nicklies apparently asked why the JCTA contract can't be negotiated in public.  And I'm shocked that the Board had no answer.

SO LONG, SENATOR RUBIO, IT WAS NICE LIKING YOU Senator Marco Rubio has been trying desperately to convince everyone within earshot that he wouldn't support an immigration bill that didn't do enforcement first.  Until he went on Univision, where he told a much different story.  What a disappointment he is to me. 

THE STUPID IS STRONG IN THESE ONES This could only happen in California.  Until other places follow suit. 

I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT Pardon me for not getting excited about the new investigative reporting unit at the local NPR station. I hope it works.  I hope they dig deep without fear.  But knowing what I know about inherent bias at the local NPR station, I will need to see fair reporting on a wide variety of issues before I feel great about this.

I WANT A WACKO BIRD TSHIRT I've never been prouder of Rand Paul than when I read articles like this one.  Using the arcane Senate rules to force sunshine onto the old codgers who have used those rules to avoid it is simply brilliant.  I love that our Senator is one of the three doing it.  

SNOOPING IS JUST ALRIGHT WITH ME I talked yesterday about the divide in the country about Big Brother snooping on our cell phone records and I'm somewhat dismayed to find I was more right than I knew.  A majority thinks it's just fine for the government to assume guilt rather than innoncence.  I wonder if they'd feel the same if it were our local police force gathering the same info.  Somehow I doubt it.   

I ROLL VIP I hate crowds.  I love theme parks.  You see my conundrum.  Enter the VIP package at Universal.  Which I will save my pennies to participate in because I hate crowds and love theme parks, especially Islands of Adventure.  Is this elitist?  Yes.  But it's still something attainable to people who can afford an $80 ticket to Universal.  And I'll be rolling VIP when I go there and leaving the great unwashed masses behind.  

PAYCHECK FAIRNESS COMPARISONS AREN'T FAIR? John Yarmouth and other Democrats have latched onto the Paycheck Fairness Act as proof the Republicans don't care about women.  But in doing so, they willfully choose to ignore more accurate comparisons that factor in women working flexible schedules and leaving the workplace for stretches to care for children.  

REMEMBER WHEN YOU WENT TO A PARTY IN HIGH SCHOOL?  You remember the one where so and so's parents were out of town and they were told not to have ANYONE over but they did anyway and everyone was drinking and people got drunk and made fools of themselves?  Yeah, now the parents in Shelbyville will be guilty of a crime if that happens.  More on that in the am.

ISN'T ENOUGH PROPERTY OFF THE TAX ROLLS BECAUSE OF THE U OF L? U of L is developing a business park at the ShelbyHurst property and they want a tax increment financing district to pay back the bonds they floated to develop the property.  There is so much wrong with this.  First, I've read numerous stories as of late about businesses moving out of downtown into the suburbs.  Council President Jim King is rightly concerned that this business park will do more of the same.  I tend to agree.  If there were a shortage of office space in this town, this may make sense.  But there isn't, as downtown vacancies are higher than they should be. This is a bad idea and I hope Jim King leads the charge to just say no.

WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT?  LIBERTY OR SECURITY? This phone tapping thing is really exposing the divide in this country between people (John McCain) who believe the government should snoop on everyone in the hopes of stopping a terror attack and the people (Rand Paul) who worry about the slippery slope we are careening down towards a state where nothing is private the government knows all about everyone.  Which do you want to live in?  I've got Rand Paul's back on this a 1,000%.

AT LEAST TAXES WENT DOWN ON SOMETHING Even if it's something totally gross that I wish didn't exist.  No offense to any of you addicted to this crap. 

I WONDER IF HE GETS HOW IRONIC HIS LOCATION IS  So the leaker of the NSA wiretap program has gone public.  And he leaked the documents and took off for somewhere he believed "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent".  Where is this magical Shangri-La?  Hong Kong.  You know, the city that's still part of Communist China.  Where they do neat things like suppress their own people by firing live ammunition at protesters in Tiananmen Square. 

IS COLLEGE ABOUT LEARNING OR JUST GOING? In this entirely snobby column from Forbes, the author (likely a Stanford graduate) argues that the reason there is no college "bubble" is because people are always going to pay exorbitant prices because going to the right school opens doors that would otherwise remain closed.  If this is true, this is a game I don't want to play.  

SO HOW ARE THOSE GREEN ENERGY PROGRAMS IN SPAIN WORKING OUT? Not so good.  So bad, in fact that the Spanish government is cutting subsidies in an effort to get rid of the epic government deficits.  This will put many solar companies out of business with a trickle down hit for banks who loaned them money for projects the government said it was a good idea.  This as electricity costs have skyrocketed in the past decade.  And this is what we are emulating here.  Sounds really smart to me.