by Mark Franke “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.” These haunting words of poet William Butler Yeats were written in 1919. His poem “The Second Coming” was a reflection on a world in chaos, spiraling ever downward. Think of what confronted him then: a world war that caused 14 million deaths; a bloody revolution in his Irish homeland and an even bloodier one in Bolshevik Russia; a map of Europe being redrawn in a…

As I write, our governor is winging his way to the Middle East on a visit that he believes will somehow advance the interests of Hoosiers.  Eric Holcomb’s press release announcing the trip to Israel “at the invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” included the customary disclaimer that no taxpayer funds will be used.  That may only mean that the trip cannot withstand taxpayer scrutiny. But let us assume that the governor is honest in his intent if only wishful in his promise.…

by Leo Morris When I was just a child, I roamed all over the hills of Eastern Kentucky, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone, recklessly climbing trees, exploring abandoned mines and generally tempting fate to the point of taunting it. Our family moved to Fort Wayne when I was 12, and I regularly walked the mile from our house to Packard Park and covered even more territory on my bike. My younger brother had similar freedom…

(May 23) — A candidate for the Indiana University Board of Trustees is challenging last week’s announcement by the university that all faculty and staff will be required to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Margaret Menge, an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review, argues that the school will be in violation of state law if it “requires” that anyone get the vaccine. “House Bill 1405, passed by an overwhelming majority of Indiana legislators and signed into…

by Steve Keltner, PA t’s peculiar how a misconception can dramatically alter the way facts are perceived.  Virtually every child growing up in America believes, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and discovered America.  The fact is, Norse explorers set foot on the continent approximately 500 years earlier with help of explorer Leif Erikson.     Recently, America has fallen prey to a similar misconception.  The first “official” case of CoVID-19 in the United…

“We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza.” — AP President Gary Pruitt, May 16, 2021 by Richard Moss, M.D. On May 14 2018, the 70thanniversary of the birth of the state of Israel, a modern day miracle, the U.S. under President Donald Trump, fulfilled a promise made by Congress in the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by a 95-3 vote…

by Leo Morris Who’s in charge here? In a constitutional republic, the answer should be obvious. The people are. We have inalienable rights merely by our existence as human beings, and to protect them we create a limited government, and those who inhabit its hallowed halls are there to represent us, not dictate to us. But that is the civics answer, which is barely even taught in schools anymore, let alone used as a touchstone…

by Leo Morris I still take the Sunday New York Times, though God knows why; I never actually read it anymore. Its motto should probably be changed to “All the news that fits one side of the narrative.” The newspaper has taken sides in the ongoing cultural-political war, and I don’t want to subject myself to its abdication of journalistic integrity. I still stumble across its online stories on occasion, however, and I saw one last…

by Leo Morris When Ann Jarvis died on May 9, 1905, her daughter, Anna Reeves Jarvis, began a campaign to honor her mother as a way of celebrating all moms as a group. On May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service at her late mother’s church in Grafton, W. Va. Within five years, almost every state observed the day, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made the second Sunday in May a national holiday. But Anna…

“At the very moment our adversaries were certain we would pull apart and fail, we came together. United. With light and hope, we summoned new strength and new resolve.” — Joe Biden’s address to Congress, April 28, 2021 by Mark Franke Joe Biden has officially completed his first 100 days in office, an artificial but important benchmark to judge a new presidency. It is a yardstick to grade the new president’s legislative success under the assumption…