After losing five state Senate seats and ending up on the wrong end of a veto-proof majority, there's bound to be a lot of second-guessing and finger-pointing. But Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson probably did himself no favors by going to Europe for 10 days just a month before the November election.

Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) received more than $1.5 million to provide job training for people in the Quad Cities area. These funds were made available through the U.S. Department of Labor's Community Based Job Training Initiative. Although the job-training project was developed specifically for those working in the transportation and warehousing industries, the skills that will be taught are valuable for local workers in several other industries, including health care, food processing, wholesale/retail trade, and office services. These industries employ 45 percent of the Quad Cities area's available workforce. 

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No one "banned" Borat in Russia. At least, not according to officials of Russia's Federal Agency for Culture & Cinematography. They just "advised" 20th Century Fox that the movie could offend some viewers and contained material that "might seem disparaging in relation to certain ethnic groups and religions." 20th Century Fox has promised to contest that "recommendation," which was accompanied by a denial of a screening license. (What kind of "advice" comes with a prohibition?)