Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Craig Ladwig The news this last week was that we don’t know what news is. There were some in the Pence administration who thought news might be the pronouncements of their own bureaucracy. And the Indianapolis Star thought it might be boosterish speculation about deflated footballs. Both were wrong; the Pence administration at least…

by Andrea Neal The infirm frequented French Lick for its miraculous Pluto Water. The rich and famous came to golf — and gamble. Since the 1830s, the rolling hills and springs around the small town of French Lick have drawn tourists to remote southern Indiana. They still do, thanks to a mammoth restoration of its…

by Tom Charles Huston Indiana is, I believe, one of only two states that prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday. This prohibition offends a number of people: poor planners who have trouble remembering to buy beer on Saturday for their Sunday football parties; national retailers who seek to increase their gross sales and,…

by Ryan Cummins “I know, up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.” — Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss Two articles that came across my desk recently illustrated such poor understanding of what government is — what it actually does and the…

(For the use of the membership only.) THOSE WHO MAKE THEIR LIVING at the politics’ edge must guard against resentment and despair. Yet it is difficult to hide dislike for a man who, finding indoor work representing the democratic interests of his neighbors, cashes in his pension, unused campaign contributions and whatever else he has…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. “During my time in the camps, I had got to know the enemies of the human race quite well: they respect the big fist and nothing else; the harder you slug them, the safer you will be. People in the West simply will not understand this.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Most of…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. In this Great Recession, it is sad to see the ranks of the unemployed crowded with so many youth. I think we can all agree that this is deplorable — and that we should try to find an equitable and efficient method for improving the lives of our young people. So,…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Barack Obama has proposed free community college for everybody in the United States. At present, according to the American Association of Community Colleges, there are 6.5 million students in public community colleges. Most of their $31 billion in revenues comes from various levels of government. Although their average cost per student…

THE EDUCATION PLANS headed for the General Assembly have so many political twists and bureaucratic turns that they cross the eyes. But it could be simple. Here’s reform in two steps, and it doesn’t matter how you pick your state superintendent of schools: Assign each student a share of next year’s education budget. Let them enroll…

by Andrea Neal Drive along the Ohio River in Jeffersonville, and you can’t miss the 68-acre Jeffboat plant in which workers make the ships that transport so much of the nation’s grain, coal and chemicals to market. Due to our landlocked location, most Hoosiers don’t see Indiana as a leader in the shipbuilding economy, yet…