Category: Indiana Writers Group

At Last, a Law for our Times A FRIEND THIS WEEK introduced me to Brandolini’s Law, known on the Internet as “the bullshit asymmetry principle.” First, though, some background. Many years ago the foundation had the good fortune to commission a brilliant woman, a nationally known economist. We asked her to analyze the budget submitted that year by…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. My wife and I often disagree on political issues. She tends toward Aristotelian thought and toward Platonic thought. Aristotle’s book, “Politics,” analyzes structures of government and argues for a democracy, more or less. Plato’s dialogue, “The Republic,” stresses the character of those who would rule. The dialogue concludes by opposing “the…

by Mark Franke So what do you think about . . .? Before you even finish the question, expect to hear a litany on everything that is wrong with our country and who is to blame. Granted, there are a lot of things going wrong these days as we geezers are well aware. It just…

Public-Private Cronyism IF YOU QUESTION the shedload of economic-development projects in your city, you are a bad citizen, a naysayer. We are guilty, of course. The president of our local redevelopment commission said as much recently, publicly rebuking our city councilman. The councilman, a former banker, had dared wonder if all the fiscal work-arounds designed to win a council majority…

by Leo Morris Here’s how it happens. You have a drink with your meal at a favorite restaurant, then drive home with no problem. Then, sometime later, you’re at another restaurant, and you think, well, one drink was no problem. What can be wrong with two drinks? And if you can drive safely with two…

by Mark Franke Oscar Wilde: I wish I had said that. James McNeill Whistler: You will, Oscar, you will. I have mixed feelings about Oscar Wilde. He was witty, sure, but one senses that he was more impressed with himself than others were. Perhaps I am being unfair, but then Whistler’s retort suggests that Wilde’s…

by Leo Morris Suppose I told you I spend a lot of time putting out bids in hopes of winning a contract. You might think I was a construction engineer, planning to cash in on the hefty contribution I made to the mayor’s re-election campaign. If you have a darker turn of mind, you might…

IT WAS MEANT TO BE a stirring summation of the decision to move forward on building a multi-million-dollar government-subsidized grocery in the center or her councilmanic district, one within walking distance of her downtrodden constituents. She mentioned small children and healthy, fresh food to power their brains. She herself had witnessed a single mother laden with bags of…

Garbage In, Garbage Out IT’S HUMP DAY but the mood is dampened by an Indianapolis Star story saying Indiana will be a humid, overheated dystopia in a few years. The state’s largest if not most respected newspaper predicts increases in heatstroke and cardiovascular collapse as well as longterm organ and cell damage. The warning is clear:  If we don’t reduce greenhouse…

by Mark Franke Americans have a reputation, well deserved, of being language agnostics. Maybe that is the wrong characterization but I can’t think of a better term. In our defense English has become the lingua franca of the world, most everyone’s first or second language. Note the irony in my choice of words, resorting to Italian to…