by Mark Franke I am blessed in having many exceptionally intelligent friends, several of whom deserve the adjective brilliant. Most have doctorates in something and I don’t hesitate to query them on every occasion which presents itself. One such friend is a semi-retired theology professor. Every time I listen to him, I feel like my mind is about to explode. He is enlightening and humbling at the same time. My reaction to hearing him is…

by Leo Morris Early in my newspaper career, I learned that our education reporter had tried to engineer a takeover of the school board behind the scenes. He was also a parent, and he was unhappy with the elementary school his children were assigned to. He wanted some changes made, which would have been unlikely with the board as then constituted. On a personal level, I could admire his civic engagement in caring about his…

Mayor Hogsett Maps Out Indianapolis Public ‘Safety’ “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.” — Micah 4:4, quoted by George Washington in his 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport. FOR MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY, since the riots in the Watts district of Los Angeles, progressives have been throwing money at inner-city communities hoping some of it would stick. Mayor Joe Hogsett…

by Leo Morris Three points to ponder if for some reason you have put “diversity” on your list of things to agonize over today. 1. At our weekly bridge game, my friend the Navy veteran was kidding me a little about something my branch of the service supposedly did. “The Army’s promotion board is going to start putting the photos back in candidates’ packages because not enough minorities are being advanced.” But he had to…

“Youʼve all gone completely crazy.” — the architect father of Albert Speers on being shown Hitler’s plans for a new Berlin MY CITY HAS an almost 70-year-old coliseum, the old-fashioned kind built simply to serve the sports and entertainment needs of the community. It continues to do that impressively well, paying its own bills and undergoing regular renovation and expansion. Some years ago, the local powers, encouraged by bonding attorneys, architectural firms, contractors and consultants, decided…

by Mark Franke I wouldn’t want to be on the United States Supreme Court even if I were qualified. It seems those poor justices can’t even come close to Abraham Lincoln’s observation that you can please some of the people all the time let alone all the people some of the time. It begins with their confirmation hearings which are nothing less than public campaigns of character assassination reminiscent of the Salem witch trials. Somewhere, sometime…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. “Diversity is a central component of our academic mission at Indiana University Bloomington; our teaching, learning, scholarship, research and creativity are immeasurably enriched by students, faculty and staff with diverse experiences.” — First sentence, IU Bloomington’s Statement on Diversity from Bloomington Faculty Council For the last dozen or so years before retiring from Butler, I asked my students what word they heard more often than any other on campus. Consistently, the students responded…

by Leo Morris Today’s column offers a serious exploration of a way to solve the crime problem once and for all. So, if you’re reading this in your car, put the phone down so you don’t miss the point. And so you don’t get four points. Under a provision of a law that just went into effect this year, those are the demerits against your driver’s license for using a cellphone without a hands-free device…

LISTENING TO NANCY PELOSI urge her select committee to thoroughly investigate the Jan. 6 demonstrations, I realized I had heard one of her talking points before. As you may know, a member of the Indiana congressional delegation was blackballed by Pelosi for “statements and actions” that she felt would “impact the integrity of the committee.” You cannot be sure which statements offended the Speaker but I have in front of me an Aug. 4, 2019, tweet…