Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Mark Franke I have been looking for something, anything, that I can find as common cause with the progressive neo-socialists, and I think I may have found it. A petition was recently circulated among Google employees to disband a professional advisory board focused on the ethics of artificial intelligence development and application. The board’s…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. I’m not comparing government to dinner, but I could. Meatloaf the meal is a decent metaphor for government. It contains a mish-mash of ingredients. It can be pretty good, but only if it’s done just right. And like government, meatloaf is often mediocre and sometimes rough. Unlike government, meatloaf probably won’t…

by Leo Morris I’m reluctant to make political prognoses because I’m so bad at them. But I’m going to ignore my misgivings and go way out on a limb, not with a prediction but a bit of whimsical speculation. I’m thinking of a potential Democratic presidential candidate – so far professing zero interest in the…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Stephanie Zepelin of WISH-TV in Indianapolis just aired a report, “Changes Made After I-Team Examines Millions in Lost State Property,” based on a database of state government assets that have gone missing. Her efforts help shine a light on a common problem for all levels of government. Let’s start by acknowledging…

by David Penticuff No, there is no escaping our political divides these days. Everyone is a villain or hero. No one is just a teacher, reporter, preacher or, in this case, just a vice president. We simply can’t tolerate people who don’t agree with us and so we set about to make one another’s lives…

Do you support reparations for slavery? “I absolutely believe that we need to have some kind of accounting for the persistent racial inequities today there by design because of part and present racism.” — Pete Buttigieg on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” REPARATIONS ARE beginning to make sense to me, but perhaps not in the same way…

by Leo Morris Clichés are the cicadas of language. They disappear for years at a time, then show up in force again when you least expect them, to buzz and click their way into your brain. This season’s returnee is “sweet spot” as a political goal. The Times of Northwest Indiana had a story in…

by Mark Franke We were recently treated to an exchange between U. S. Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Liz Cheney about the purpose of the 22st Amendment to the Constitution. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, who never fails to entertain and amaze, asserted it was passed by Republicans to prevent President Franklin D. Roosevelt from being elected for another…

by David Penticuff Our “Grant for Grads” program is gone, for which we are grateful. In a fit of logic and submission to real life, our county economic growth council will no longer be shoveling so many tax dollars out the door to new college graduates in order to entice them to buy or rent…

by Mark Franke Okay, so I’m not young anymore and haven’t been for a long time. But I still experience that mystical excitement every April just like when I was a boy and a new baseball season took off. My grandchildren don’t understand this, but we really did go through life back then without hundreds…