When Europeans first came to the shores of this continent, Europe was in turmoil over religion. Between Luther’s 95 Theses to the Treaty of Westphalia over one hundred years of bloodshed passed. Some who came to the North American shores sought refuge from religious persecution. Others came for economic reasons. Some came through no choice—chained and sold, once they arrived here, as chattel. They were slaves.

   Rick Santorum is an odd person to advocate rejection of the separation…

   On our March 3 Show we shall discuss the presidential primaries and look forward to SuperTuesday®. (I used the trademark thingy there because I was not sure if some opportunistic bastard already had taken it.) The two hotly-contested races in the ... I’ll back up. There are two political parties. Those parties have funneled the system into two channels. An eligible, registered person can vote either Republican or Democrat, as those parties represent both sides of all political…

   I went on a rant at the start of yesterday’s fifth segment.

   Usually we do four, 14-minute segments of "Civil Discourse Now" on Saturday mornings. If we are having fun with a particular topic, or it is proving too difficult to cover in only four segments, we will go five segments.

   Yesterday, our guests were Jeff Cox and Kurt Lorey. We discussed whether the United States is biased toward Israel. Co-host Paul Ogden, between segments, commented that the discussion of…

   I never understood why some Christians blame Jews for killing Jesus.

   First, let me say I am an atheist. Some who read this blog will say I therefore have no right to comment, and no knowledge upon which to comment competently, on or about any matter related to Christianity. As to the former: when candidates for political office practically have to pass a religious test to be considered for office, then Christianity affects us all. As to the latter, I was raised as a Christian.…

   Our guests on Saturday will be Jeff Cox and Kurt Lorie. We shoot at 11 at Big Hat Books, 6510 Cornell in Broad Ripple.

   All of us should be alarmed by Rick Santorum’s views. He is ignorant about history. For example, Thomas Jefferson argued for having the Feds in education during his 1806 State of the Union address. The public high school I attended took more of an interest in athletics than it did academics, but the skills I learned there enabled me to compete with others, and complete the degree requirements, at DePauw University.

   Santorum chose to home-school his children. Home-schooling might…

   I first became aware of the modern state of Israel during the Six Days War in 1967. The images that played on the evening news were of an underdog country engaged in a battle for survival with bully opponents. I was unaware of the societal guilt built up over two millennia of Western persecution of the Jewish people. Nor was I aware of the manner in which Jewish settlers, desperate to escape persecution sharpened in the 1920s and made even more acute in Germany with Hitler’s ascendancy to…

   Two weeks in a row on the same topic?

   Yes, we are doing that—but look at the topic: efficacy of third parties in American politics.

   Today our guests will be Chris Spangle of the Libertarian Party and Timothy Platt, Executive Director of the Socialist Central Committee, Ltd.

   Other local shows do not cover alternative parties. Most voters—look at the numbers in the elections—do not give alternative parties the benefit of thought enough to vote for a candidate…

   This week we continue our discussion of the efficacy of third parties in American politics. Joining Paul Ogden and me on the panel will be Timothy Platt of the Socialist Central Committee, Ltd., and Chris Spangle of the Libertarian Party.

    Saturday, February 18, "Civil Discourse Now" is the day and 11 a.m. is the time. As I said in regard to last week’s Show, certainly we shall discuss issues in the context of our guests’ respective parties’ platforms, but the focus of the…

   Come on! We have a Show. We have civil discourse. Watch the past ashows. We soon will be "live." In the meantime, we will have an audience--right there. We broadcast on the seond floor of Big Hat Books 6510 Cornell Avenue  in Broad Ripple. Do you want to enhance discourse? Get off your butts. Come out and shownup. There's no cover charges, unless the Batles appear. This week? Third pareties and thir efficacy in American Politics. Come on! Ask questions. Demand answers. If we do not do…

   Parties that have arisen as alternatives to the Democratic and Republican parties should not be called "third parties." First, that cedes ground to the two "major" parties and implies any new party merely is a stand-by. Second, as I previously have written on this blog, the two majors function as one party in significant respects. In each of the 46 states and four commonwealths, they have enacted legislation that limits access to ballots to "two" parties. They also derive monies from many…

   In the United States, health care costs twice as much per capita as in the second-most expensive country for health care, according to the National Center for Health Studies. Yet we rank 37^th in the World in health care quality and 42^nd in adult mortality rates.

   The people who profit from this system are the major shareholders in health insurance companies. In the meantime, the rest of us die sooner than we should. I pay nearly $1,000 per month for health…

   It has taken years, but finally I was able to sketch out a copy of the controls of the WABAC® machine, as used by Sherman and Mr. Peabody. Using a black Magic Marker®, I sketched out the controls on an interior panel of a corrugated, cardboard box.

   So please join me as we travel back in time to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.

   The first thing to strike the sense is the smell of horse sh-----uh, manure. Even the cobble stone paved streets of the nicer sections of the…

   At the time of the Constitutional Convention, the issue of whether to continue the institution of slavery was critical. The States of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and, in particular, South Carolina, were greatly reliant for slave labor on their plantations. It was feared the delegates of those States would walk out of the convention were slavery to be abolished. At least 20 of the 53 delegates who attended the convention claimed ownership in other human beings as…

   Our Civics textbook freshman year of high school had a right-wing slant. It had to have been the most right-wing textbook available, given our teacher’s views. He did not "lean" right-wing. He fully fell over the railing and down into the abyss.

   One section of the textbook really angered me. Four or five paragraphs, blocked-off on a page  with gray background, explained the "folly" of third parties. I took issue with the book and argued there have been successful third parties…

   Everyone seems happy about the Super Bowl®. We have projected the image of a "world class city." (I don’t know if that phrase is trademarked or copyrighted. One day maybe all words and phrases will be copyrighted and/or trademarked and one will require a license to speak.) The concept expressed by more than one person is that Indianapolis has thrown such a good Super Bowl®, the NFL® will want to return here for another or more.

   First, I doubt—really, truly, honestly doubt—the…

   Of the two, I do not know what I find more distressing: 1) That a Marion County Superior Court judge granted blanket powers to three corporations—the NFL®, the New York Giants®, and the New England Patriots®—to seize any item their agents or employees deem an infringement of copyright/trademark, or that the story about the issuance of the order granting that injunctive relief that appeared yesterday morning on the Indiana Law Blog was gone by last evening.

   There are procedures…

   Was George Washington a great president? Let’s see—he was a slaveholder, lost more battles than he fought, bought a lot of land via his access as President of the United States. Was Abraham Lincoln a great President? He suspended the writ of habeas corpus, stifled protest and dissent to the point that riots against the draft occurred in New York City, and all this after he was alleged to have snuck into Washington, D.C., prior to his inaugural, so as not to be seen.

   What…

   Red Lion Grog House is located at 1043 Virginia Avenue, in Fountain Square. Red Lion has set a sandwich board outside its front entrance for over two years. Last Friday evening, an individual from City Code Enforcement advised the proprietor that the sign was in violation of an ordinance, adopted in August by The City of Consolidated Indianapolis and Marion County, through the City Council and the Mayor, to cater (more accurately kow-tow) to the NFL®. The ordinance was passed to assuage…