There has been a "push" recently for United States military involvement in Syria’s civil war. I call the chaos in Syria a "civil" war because, generally, protracted conflicts in which people of a country seek to overthrow the government that claims rule over them are called "civil wars."

   There seem to be no valid reasons for a U.S. military incursion in Syria. There are corporations that would profit from such a commitment. But profits are not worth lives.

   The Syrian…

   This Saturday, May 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jeff Cox (Indianapolis attorney, blogger and author) and John Strinka (Socialist Party candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives in 2012)  will join us on "Civil Discourse Now"for discussion of our focal topic: the chaos in Syria and possible United States involvement there.

   As happened last week, we probably also will discuss cricket.

   Cricket is a dart game. It also is a game some would argue was a British…

   Yesterday afternoon, Pat Andrews, who has been a guest on The Show several times and is amongst the best bloggers of local politics in Indianapolis at "Had Enough Indy?" printed, on her blog, an exchange of e-mails between Indianapolis City-County Councilor-at-Large Zach Adamson and Dennis L. Rosebrough, a mayoral-appointee to the Board of Public Works. Adamson had e-mailed members of the Public Works Board to voice his opposition to the proposed cricket complex Mayor Ballard has proposed…

   It appears that Israel conducted airstrikes inside Syria near the capital, Damascus.

   Beyond what should be "baseline" troubling questions---the widening of any military conflict, with a premise that war results in killing and therefore is bad, but, in limited instances, justified---I have to ask, what do we know and from whom do we know it?

   There are reports that Israel struck shipments of rockets and other arms meant for guerillas who would use those items against…

   We send too many people to too many places to die. Syria is the latest country at which our military has been pointed.

   TV of the 1960s started, for most people, in black-and-white. The screens bore images of shades between black and white, mostly gray. About 1965 many households had color TVs. That was about the time the military conflict in Vietnam heated up. August brought us the Tonkin Gulf resolution, a blueprint for how a government can defraud the American public into…

   Most United States troops have withdrawn from Iraq. That was a military conflict—not a "war," as Congress only has followed the Constitution five times in our history to declare war: War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. Thousands were killed and maimed, but "war," as defined by the Constitution, it was not.

   We still have troops in Afghanistan. Why they are there is a fair question. One reason could be to continue to prop up a…

I finished my fifteenth Mini-Marathon! Congratulations to all who participated!

   It promises to be cool this morning. We will stream live from Creation Café, 337 West 11th Street, on the first floor of the former Buggs Temple. As the sergeant used to say on "Hill Street Blues," be safe out there. If you begin to feel like you need to stop, do not hesitate to walk to the side and say that to a course official. They will summon transport to take you to the finish line.

   Best of luck to everyone

   Tomorrow is the big day! The weather forecasts seem uncertain. At 5:18 a.m. Friday the predictions are cool temps with rain held off, except for a few showers, until after the race is completed. Our "after" party—and a "live" stream of "Civil Discourse Now" at our usual 11 a.m. start—will be at Creation Café, located at 337 West 11^th Street, on the first floor of the former Buggs Temple. I have heard the food there is great.

   First, to answer Kurt Lorey’s questions…

   When I was hit with MS in 1994, by the second day in the hospital, I could not walk. This year will be my 15^th consecutive Mini®. These blogs about the Mini® will be a combination of memories of doing the Mini® and advice, based on those memories, of how to do it. I had no clue, in 1999, about the proper approach to the race. All advice given in this, or any other column, is not given as a healthcare professional. I do not have the formal training received by M.D.s, so check…

   The Mini-Marathon® is this Saturday, May 4. The weather forecast is chilly temperatures and rain. This is my account of why the Mini®—this will be my 15^th in a row—is important to me.  To paraphrase the title of The Ventures’ song, I walk—do not run—the 13.1 miles. Considering that in 1994, by the second of nine days in the hospital, I completely had lost use of my legs, doing those 13.1 miles is pretty good.

   I lay on the ice-covered asphalt of the crosswalk, staring…

  Once more—the Mini-Marathon® is Saturday.  This is my personal account of why the Mini® is important to me.  This year will be my fifteenth consecutive. In 1994, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. By the second of nine days in the hospital, I completely had lost use of my legs. Thus walking the 13.1 miles of the Mini® is important to me.

   On what was supposed to be my last day in the hospital, I was dressed and ready to go at 7 a.m. The neuro didn’t arrive until 6 p.m. I…

   This is part of a series of blogs to lead up to my participation in my 15th consecutive Mini. This Saturday's Show will stream "live" shortly after I cross the finish line. Guest panelists will be Gary Welsh and Goerge Wilson. We will pick up where we left off last week with discussion of the Boston Marathon Bombings.

   The prednisone had been weaned down from an equivalent of 850 mg per day by IV, but still gave me an appetite of which "voracious," as a description, is an…

   The therapy with the legs I could understand. After all, my legs didn’t work, although I had begun to gain some control over them. The therapy made sense.

   "Vocational therapy" was—as almost everything else in this hospital hell—in the basement. The wheelchair was parked in front of a desk, behind which sat a physical therapist who explained to me vocational therapy was for my upper body. I asked her why "vocational therapy" was necessary—twice a day, I think the chart indicated…

  Today, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., we will stream live from the Isaacs Center of Peace, 8001 Westfield Boulevard. Guest panelists will be Gary Welsh, who has covered the Boston bombings and the investigation thereafter, on "Advance Indiana," and Marilene Isaacs, from whose Center we will do The Show.

   Odd but interesting speculation was discussed yesterday. I heard discussion of limitations planned for future distance races that draw significant numbers of participants and…

   Saturday, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., we will stream live from the Isaacs Center of Peace, 8001 Westfield Boulevard. Our guest panelists will be Gary Welsh, who has covered the Boston bombings and the investigation thereafter, on "Advance Indiana," and Marilene Isaacs, from whose Center we will do The Show.

   There are a lot of questions that arise with the bombs that went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, some of which relate to this: If someone is on an…

   In 1994, I completely lost use of my legs and could not walk. The reason turned out to be I had an MS. The Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon(r) became part of the way in which I dealt with the diagnosis and its aftermath. In the lead-up to the May 4, 2013, the Mini-Marathon---my 15th consecutive---I am reprising the series of blogs I posted last year about the onset of MS, the diagnosis, and aftermath.

   One would think that, a diagnosis having been reached, there would be…

  There were positive aspects to all the drugs I had been administered since my admission to the hospital. Given my jolly nature, I chuckled. This was a rousing good time. The neuro wore a long, serious face as he sat down. There probably is a course in medical school: "How to Deliver REALLY BAD News to Patients." Given how many MDs lack traces of personality, the course would about have to be required. If this neuro had enrolled in such a course, he had done so years ago and not received a…

   On May 4, 2013, I shall walk in my fifteenth consecutive 500 Festival MiniMarathon®. This is the part four of a series about MS and my vehemence about the Mini.®

   I want to note that, each year as we gather in our "stalls" near (or not so near) the start line, I glance up at the rooftop lines. Always the 500 Festival has personnel lined up and alert. As an American, in the "land of the free,"  I have mixed emotions about those folks on station. I feel safer than if they were not…

   What does my 1994 diagnosis with MS have to do with "civil discourse"? Any why do these posts seem out of order?

   There are a lot of pressing issues that we face today. Currently we have people who demand some sort of "action" after two idiots set off bombs that killed three and seriously wounded 180 people at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in an act many consider one of "terrorism." Yet we also have 90 percent of the American people who want some controls placed on…