by Leo Morris Putting a vice president into the Oval Office is like putting a new Supreme Court justice on the bench. You might think you know what you’re getting, but people who are given such power have an alarming tendency to do whatever they want to.  Lyndon Johnson was another John Kennedy and then some, but Richard Nixon was no Dwight Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush was no Ronald Reagan. Come to think of…

by Dan Eichenberger M.D., M.B.A. Never in our lifetime have we witnessed, first-hand, how easy it has been to manipulate and control the minds and thoughts of a populace. The Coronavirus pandemic enabled media and political entities to create and perpetuate a meta-narrative leading to entire countries’ mind-control. Allen Ginsbergstated, “Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture,“ and Jim Morrison quoted something similar when he said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” In a matter of…

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Life expectancy increased by almost 10 years in the U.S. between 1960 and 2015. However, these bonus years are not all spent living the good life in retirement! Rather, some of these years are spent prior to when young adults enter the labor force, get married, and have children. The median age of first marriage in 2018 for males is almost 30 and 28 for women, but somewhat lower in…

by Leo Morris The president of the United States – the leader of the free world, arguably the most powerful person on the planet – has contracted a dangerous virus, and I’m not sure how I should act. Oh, I know very well what I’m supposed to do. I must choose a side and root for my team from the sidelines. But how boisterous or subdued should I be, how enthusiastic or fretful? The problem,…

by Margaret Menge If you haven’t yet heard his name, you’ll probably be hearing it soon. The Libertarian candidate for governor, Donald Rainwater, has suddenly become a contender, thanks to an online poll of likely voters in early September showing him with 24 percent support, and he’s now running radio ads on stations up and down the state after raising almost $160,000 from supporters in just seven days. The Republican establishment scoffs, of course, at…

by Mark Franke I enjoy the intellectual stimulation I get from conversing with those with different perspectives and experiences from my own. One such group is a half dozen or so Roman Catholics who tolerate my Lutheran heresy once each month at our regular breakfast meetings. It must be their concept of affirmative action while I view it as mission work. The discussion is wide ranging, usually involving a theological issue or two. I guess…

by Leo Morris I’m thinking of doing something different in the gubernatorial election. Some will say I would be wasting my vote. The same temptation teased me in the 2016 presidential election. Disgusted that our political process delivered the two worst candidates imaginable in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I flirted with the idea of going third party or simply staying home and not voting at all. In the end, I resisted the urge. It…

by Jason Arp What does it mean to be a community leader or a business leader in your town? In the city where I serve on the council it can mean something different than what the casual observer might think. Sadly, it can mean someone who uses the power of government to further their business interests by either extracting cash or tax subsidies or by having the state impose regulations that impede competition and consumer choice. Often both definitions…

CARMEL IS A MODERN real estate phenomenon with a per capita income twice the national average. This was largely the result of middle-class families in the 1960s fleeing crime and the Indianapolis School District. Indeed, its population growth exemplifies “white flight,” going from about 1,500 in 1960 to 18,000 two decades later. In recent years, though, it also has become a diorama for a new ruling elite, complete with creepy, lifelike statues of “citizens” scattered about the city in demographically ideal…

by Mark Franke Having spent Constitution Day on Sept. 17 talking about it to anyone who would listen, I realized that it (the Constitution) bears more reflection on my part. But first, a digression. I was in the dean of students office at a local seminary when a Nigerian student came in and asked if he could have a copy of the U.S. Constitution. The dean’s assistant pointed to a display in the office. He then asked if…