By Richard McGowan, Ph.D. Governments and media often leave gaps in their reporting and investigation, especially where disparities exist. They appear to choose which groups are more important than others, a partial reason that the word “equity” has replaced the word ‘equality.” Equality relies on rights of individuals whereas equity stresses disparate outcomes, collectively, regarding groups. In choosing groups, governments and media exhibit sloppy thinking and investigation. I was reminded of that sloppiness with the recent…

Matt Dillon to the Rescue POLITICS IS COMPLICATED. In recent years I have tried to simplify things by focusing on local elections. There’s not much glamor there but the odds are better, a lot better. While we were slogging from door to door for the unavailing Donald Trump, the Left was cashing in with small ball. “George Soros figured out a clever arbitrage opportunity,” Elon Musk noted last week. “The many small political contests such as district attorneys and judges…

by Mark Franke I must hang around with the wrong people. Every time I think I have made up my mind on an issue, someone challenges that conclusion. Even worse is when the challenge is to my premises. I wrote this between sessions at an American Legion conference in Washington D.C. I was about to meet with an enthusiastic young man representing an organization of veterans resolved to break the power of the two-party system…

Indiana Has a Historian Gap IF THERE IS ANYONE in Indiana with credentials to talk about a key battle in our Revolutionary War we would like to hear from them. We are looking for a speaker on the topic but a survey of the faculty directories of Indiana University and Purdue University came up dry. Indeed, the listing of history faculty did not reflect a particular interest in America. There were plenty of experts in the history of sex, digital communication,…

by Leo Morris It is time to announce the winner of the prestigious and soon-to-be coveted Reno Prize, which, starting this year, will be awarded to honor the most creative theft from citizens by their government. It should have been an easy choice, since the Indiana General Assembly is in full swing. As the saying goes, “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” But lawmakers have let us…

by Tanner Bouchie Earlier this week, the foundation’s columnist Leo Morris provided a thoughtful piece, “Be Careful What You Consider Your ‘Right’.” The consideration of commercial services as rights reminded me of the 1821 case of Mary Clark, “a Woman of Colour, “ in which Clark, a formerly enslaved woman petitioned for release from a 20-year indenture she had signed to provide personal services to Gen. W. Johnston. Ordinarily, then as today, a court will not…

The Death of the Newspaper Biz “Any of us who has ever been at a zoning meeting with our own property at stake is aware of the urge to cut through all the pernicious bullshit and go straight to firearms.” — David Mamet NEWSMEN OF MY AGE benefited greatly from the shift to corporate ownership of newspapers. Our salaries tripled overnight if only because we were being paid so pitifully before. Here is the great A.J. Liebling…

by Mark Franke Here we go again. Indiana and most other states in our More Perfect Union have doubled down on dumb once more in pursuit of ever-elusive increased interstate commerce revenues, reduced energy consumption, improved driving safety and higher SAT scores. Why ending world hunger and achieving lasting Middle East peace aren’t on this utopian dream list must be due to simple oversight. Every spring we suffer through mankind’s annual quest to put both…

by Leo Morris I hope to make lots of new friends today by reminding Hoosiers of something: You do not have a right to food, shelter or health care. Before I am accused of being selfish and heartless, which I assuredly will be, let’s try to make a distinction. Yes, you do need those things if you are to have any chance of a meaningful existence. And maybe, as a fellow human being, I should…

by Richard Moss, M.D. The rhetoric and uproar over the beating death this January of Trye Nichols by five black police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, demonstrates how badly the “conversation” over race has deteriorated. One would think that a crime involving blacks killing another black would lack a racial angle to exploit. Alas, in today’s race-obsessed universe that is never the case. Unable to help themselves, our nation’s top racialists, beginning with President Joe Biden,…