Franke: Cultural Change and the Decline of the Family
by Mark Franke “The changing structure of the family unit has degraded cultural values and economic stability.” This was the provocation addressed recently by my Socratic discussion group. We call our monthly topic a “provocation” because it should provoke probing questions and lively debate. This one did, so much so that near the end of our mandatory two-hour limit Read the full article…

The Outstater
‘Counterfeit’ Journalism THE LEGACY MEDIA, exemplified by our own Indianapolis Star, is having a problem exerting authority — it has none. Nonetheless, its editors and columnists still affect the tone of earlier days when their titles were depended upon to sort out the morning’s news. Columnists Michael Hicks, James Briggs and Abdul-Haikin Shabazz have assumed the concocted morality of Read the full article…

Gaski: Daylight Saving Time Redux
by John Gaski, Ph.D. Officials of both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government have recently sounded off on the prospect of eliminating Daylight-Saving Time, i.e., ditching the inconvenient semi-annual clock change observed in most of the U.S. The highest official of all, President Trump, is a proponent. This development resurrects the specter Read the full article…

Franke: Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump
by Mark Franke Donald Trump’s inauguration today to a non-consecutive second term had the beneficial effect of reminding us of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to have achieved this dubious honor. Having memorized the presidents as a schoolboy, this being one of those obscure lists that my failing memory can still resurrect, I recognized the Read the full article…

Keating: The LA Wildfires
by Barry Keating, Ph.D. Private entities, both for-profit and nonprofit, behave differently than public entities. Although we often hear that “government should be run more like a private business,” we know that is nonsense. It’s as difficult to make a cat bark as it is to get a government agency to behave as effectively as Read the full article…

Franke: Time for Some Presidential Focus
by Mark Franke It’s high time for Donald Trump to focus. His transition team got off to a good start by readying nominees for federal offices and Trump was active in the foreign policy space. A different Donald Trump was evident late in the campaign and it seemed the new Trump was for real. Then Read the full article…

