by Leo Morris It was just last week when I announced my intention to embrace the joy of the Christmas season, “wherever I find it, even if I only stumble across it by accident.” Little did I know that it would don a disguise and hide, daring me to find it. My car wouldn’t start on Wednesday, which was annoying for me, since it was my scheduled bridge day, and more so for my bridge…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. The economist James Gwartney has a thought experiment which illustrates why a system which features socialism and monopoly power is not a good idea. Imagine that government decides to operate all restaurants. Further, your geography determines your restaurant; you will eat at the government (“public”) restaurant in your neighborhood. (To make the analogy more accurate, also assume home cooking — like home schooling, is costly.) What would the incentives be for…

by Tommy Franke Andrea O’Neal recently presented data during the Indiana Policy Review’s Winter Seminar that showed precipitous declines in reading and math proficiency in Indiana K-8 schools. The disturbing graphs looked like the marks of someone skiing down the side of Mt. Everest. The sharp decline in scores began around 2000-2010. What happened during this time that provoked this dangerous decline? Many at the conference attributed it to the breakdown of the nuclear family. But I…

by Mark Franke Anne Perry is a popular author of Victorian era mysteries. She writes several series using her stable of inter-related characters. I’ve read some and understand why she has such a fan base. Every Christmas she releases a novella using her regular characters but not in their usual milieu of murder and depravity. The focus of these short books is on charity, redemption and forgiveness. She writes them for the Christmas season, after…

by Leo Morris You realize that it’s not a proper Christmas season unless the realist killjoys among us start whining about “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This year, we have two contenders for top curmudgeon. The saga of small-town hero George Bailey saving Bedford Falls from the despicable Henry Potter “grievously misrepresents the truth,” writes George Michelsen Foy in Psychology Today. “In the real world, I would argue, Potter is winning . . . In the…

We Have Questions I’M NOT PROUD OF IT but I sent another of my ineffectual, never-to-see-the-light-of-day screeds to the local newspaper, this one asking why coverage of the city council couldn’t include at least a thumbnail account of the dissenting votes. What set me off was a glowing account of the council’s passage without debate of an almost $2 million tax break for an eco-devo scheme or scam (depending on your perspective). The degree of acclamation was…

The Secret to Reelection: Money and Malleability  SOME HOLD HOPE that the Indiana Republican Party in its supermajority or even democracy in general is going to get us back on course. That hope doesn’t appear to float. Transparency USA tells us that the top three Indiana GOP Senate fundraisers all won reelection outspending their opponents in both the primary and general elections by at least 2:1. Their positions on the issues didn’t seem to be a factor. All…

by Mark Franke “O, Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things. Come, and teach us the way of prudence.” For liturgically minded Christians the Great O Antiphons mark the most contemplative part of Advent. Meant to be chanted one each day beginning on Dec. 17, these short reflections focus on various characteristics of the anticipated Messiah.  Their origin is unknown but the tradition for early…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. This year is the 100th anniversary of the term “stereotype” in its modern sense. The term was coined in the late-19th century to describe printing plates and the setting of “type” to produce printed materials. Back in the day, paper and ink were pressed against a plate to produce sheets for newspaper, books, fliers, etc. The word was derived from the Greek for “firm or solid” (stereos) and “impression” (typos). So, the term…

by Mark Franke Most people probably think of the ideological spectrum as a straight line, running left to right or right to left depending on one’s perspective. This places the extremes at the edges, furthest from each other. The middle holds the moderates, those who are considered the most reasonable and open-minded, if one identifies with them, or as the just plain mushy and unprincipled when one views them from either extreme. That is the…