by Leo Morris When I was a newbie reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer, I started hearing about a young woman named Brenda Webb, just a few years out of high school and beginning to make a name for herself as a country singer. Since she was the younger sister of superstar Loretta Lynn, it was the consensus that Brenda just might make it. And so she did. She grew up to become Crystal Gayle,…

by Jason Arp Sometime between the reign of Nero and Marcus Aurelius, the Roman poet Juvenal coined the phrase panem et circenses, or bread-and-circuses. This was the practice of appeasing the masses with a powerful combination of entertainment and free food. By the Pax Romana, the practice was over 300 years old as the trappings of democracy (like a senate and courts) devolved into an Empire ruled by an almighty Caesar. The phrase was in the forefront…

A Million Here, a Million There I AM IN THE HABIT of “attending” local council meetings on my Mackintosh via our municipal television channel. The magical intersection of technology and democracy? Not really, more like malfeasance up close and personal on your laptop. This week’s meeting, however, saw a member of our foundation, Jason Arp, successfully challenge the promoters of a downtown development project, a $286-million gussying up of an abandoned factory. The issue before the council was whether to…

by Mark Franke “I hate inflation.” I could have heard this from my wife when she returned from the grocery. I could have said it myself at the gas pump. It could have been the topic of conversation at one of several monthly get-togethers with groups of retired friends. Instead, it was my granddaughter who made this pronouncement one day last week while I was driving her and her brother to school. Ah, a teachable moment.…

The Generation Gap Widens “Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.” — Thomas Sowell I FOLLOW THE TWITTER ACCOUNTS of Indiana journalists, many of them millennials. Hey, it’s my job. I can tell you that they feel unappreciated. It’s hard work and it’s underpaid. They want the government, their union, somebody, anybody, to do something. It doesn’t occur to them that…

by Leo Morris Go away, Thomas Benton. We don’t want your kind around here. Welcome, Alfred Kinsey. You are one of us. So it goes in the swamp of 21st century culture. Or perhaps we are just witnessing the moral vacuum in one prestigious university. Thomas Hart Benton was a renowned painter, along with Grant Wood a member of the Regionalist school of American art, which advocated forays into areas considered cultural wastelands such as…

THE FOUNDATION is requesting financial support for a project we are excited about. It is compiling a list of free-market council members in Indiana’s top 25 cities. No, it won’t be a long list but we think it will be an important one. These men and women, often outvoted, deserve help and encouragement. They aren’t getting it from their political party. With a budget of $6,000, we are asking for $250-$500 donations to fund a professional canvass…

by Mark Franke I don’t usually give Congress credit for passing useful legislation. Bills that run to a thousand pages or more just can’t prove beneficial, especially when our elected representatives admit to or even brag about not reading them. An exception to my cynical appraisal of congressional mischief is its designating every September 17 as Constitution Day. No, it is not a federal holiday which gives everyone a paid day off work. Nor are…

by Leo Morris After a year and a half of trying to balance full-time college with full-time work, I had had enough and quit Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne. That made me eligible for the military draft, a true government-induced hardship, all you college-loan whiners. But I had a plan to thwart the draft board. “You cannot have two years of my life,” I thought triumphantly as I headed for the recruiting office. “I will enlist…

Indy Crime and Overcoming the ‘Envy Barrier’ ALTHOUGH WE OUTSTATE would rather ignore it, someone has to explain what has gone wrong with Indianapolis. This is in reference, of course, to the city’s uncharacteristic inability to address a serious crime problem. Indianapolis made international headlines in this regard recently. Three members of the Dutch Commando Corps, in town on free time after a nearby training session, were shot outside their hotel, one fatally, by local thugs, police…