IT IS DIFFICULT TO TELL from his expression whether Gov. Eric Holcomb knows that the woman in this photo taken during this summer’s junket is president of the Chinese Communist front group targeting U.S. governors and state-level politicians in an attempt to influence policy here. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed at the Feb. 8 meeting of the National Governors Association that the group maintains a list of U.S. governors ranking them as to their usefulness. Pompeo said the warning…

by Leo Morris How about those kids today, huh? Don’t ask members of the Indiana General Assembly. They’re still trying to figure it out. In every legislative session, issues come up that the most astute observers had not anticipated. This time around, there seem to be a lot of proposals involving young people that weren’t on anyone’s radar. Lawmakers have suggested, among other things: Allowing 16-year-olds to vote. Increasing the age at which Hoosier youngsters…

(For the use of the membership only.) “This recent shooting took place in a food desert area. We must take the blinders off and recognize that if the city continues to ignore the core problems, the gun violence will be the new normal.” — statement from the Baptist Minister’s Alliance and the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis following a quadruple murder this week THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR has wrapped up a year-long series of articles on crime.…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. Gender issues have been in the news lately. Illinois, for example, passed a law in 2019 requiring changing stations in all public rest rooms. The law helps fathers, since many restrooms would have fathers change their baby’s diapers on the counter near the sink or on the floor of the bathroom. The New York Times had an article Jan 19 entitled, “Why Mothers’ Choices Often Feel Like No Choice.” The article said…

GOV. ERIC HOLCOMB will host the first Indiana Global Economic Summit in Indianapolis this spring. Some are calling it the “Hoosier Davos,” after the annual global economic forum held this last year in fabulous Dubai. They seem to be serious. The governor and his secretary of commerce are expected to display an array of incentives, tax breaks and grants, intended to affect a company’s decisions about business location, expansion or job retention in Indiana. The…

by Leo Morris Bob Vollmer is my new hero. He is retiring from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources because, he says, his body is telling him it’s time to go. His job requires a lot of physical effort: “I mean, climb the hills, fight the elements in the woods,” he told NPR. “It’s pretty rough, being tangled in vines, poison ivy, all kinds of things that you really have to be careful with, you…

by Richard Moss, M.D. I went to a “Game Feed” recently, an event put on annually by a local who goes by the name of “Chief.” He organizes this every January, in the winter, on a Saturday, in the middle of God’s country, on the outskirts of the town of Duff in Dubois County, southern Indiana. It was a cold day with freezing temperatures, which was better than last year when it was raining and…

by Leo Morris It is my right to say whatever I wish to you. I’m privileged to have this forum in which to do it. Get the difference? A lot of people don’t get the difference and, unfortunately, many of them are legislators. Understanding the difference between rights and privileges is critical for citizens trying to live under the law in a free society, and far too many lawmakers spend most of their energy trying…

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. “Tragedy of the Commons” refers to the ruin of resources, such as land, water, or the environment in general, available for use by any resident. Lacking legal ownership, commonly held resources become extinct, over-used, congested or polluted. Such resources are considered public goods in which free-riders take personal advantage. When the stock of these resources degrades, society as whole experiences a decline in total well-being. Garrett Hardin’s essay, “The Tragedy…

by Craig Ladwig There hasn’t been anything like this since the New Deal — a policy position so popular, so appealing in every way, and so utterly untenable. It is targeted economic development or eco-devo, a collection of schemes that would make FDR blush. Local and state governments are spending $70 billion a year nationally on such targeted incentives. Given that level of investment it is surprising there is a city anywhere in the U.S.…