Civil Discourse Now

Where the far left and far right overlap for fun and enlightenment

All Blog Posts (1,682)

10/3 at 7 pm on FB & YouTube

Tonight, October 3 at 7 pm, is the debut of Civil Discourse Now, available on FB & YouTube. Without civil discourse, we have no society. We are honored to have Pastor Chris Duckworth, of New Joy Lutheran Church, Westfield, as a premier guest. As Jane Reed, CDN’s producer 1/2

noted in her post about tonight’s show, Pastor Chris embodies inclusive mind thought and spirituality and will discuss the issues involving the LGBTQ. Also, activist Cassie Jackson shot a video that we’Il…

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Added by Mark Small on October 3, 2023 at 6:00am — No Comments

Gov Holcomb, Taylor Swift & low-hanging fruit Rob Kendall

Absurd juxtaposition isn’t the name of a musical (pick your genre) group, but how 2 statements in Indiana’s political environment relate. First: via email, Gov Holcomb said Indiana’s support for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is being expanded “to give more Hoosier children 1/8

access 2 free, high-quality, age-appropriate books every month, regardless of income.” Only in IN in 2023, where censoring [FN1] books almost is a right-wing sport [FN2], is expanding kids’ access to books…

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Added by Mark Small on September 27, 2023 at 5:22pm — No Comments

Proud to be a member of WHS class of 1973 & our half days & our roles as pall bearers.

Western High School is a mile away from Russiaville, in Howard County. The class of 1973 had 168 members. A lot of us attended grades 1 to 12 w/in Western School Corporation About 25% attended Saturday’s reunion dinner in Kokomo. I’d seen few of my classmates since ‘73. 1/7

In 1961 we were little kids and started first grade at one of three elementary schools. In the years that followed, our experiences were little different from experiences of other kids our age in the USA, but two…

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Added by Mark Small on September 24, 2023 at 9:03pm — No Comments

All are not equal in the eyes of the Christian Nationalist "god."

Micah Beckwith [FN1]says he is a “Christian Nationalist.” In June, 2020, Beckwith, on FB, praised Sean Feucht: “Him and I are very similar and saw the assault happening in this nation on our freedoms, and specifically our religious freedoms.” On 03/18/23 Beckwith promoted 1/7

Feucht’s 5/7/23 event at our Statehouse with “TPUSA Faith’s ‘Kingdom To The Capital.’ Sean Feucht will be leading worship! You won’t want to miss it.” Improper grammar (“Him and I”) + incorrect spelling…

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Added by Mark Small on September 8, 2023 at 3:55pm — No Comments

Called late to dinner? RAINS Const'n [& Citizenship] Day Dinner misses by 10 days!

The Constitution was signed by 36 delegates on September 17, 1787. [FN1] Congress designated September 17 “Constitution and Citizenship Day,” a federal holiday. [FN2] The date is specific because the event is well-documented. [FN3] We do not celebrate the 4th of July on 7/14. 1/9

On September 28 “The Constitution Day Dinner” will be held in Evansville & hosted by RAINS. [FN4] PROBLEMS:

1) They got the wrong date for the holiday;

2) They ignore the “Citizenship.” part…

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Added by Mark Small on September 7, 2023 at 8:10pm — No Comments

"Mob" has a specific meaning, but not on "Mouthwash"

A mob is an ugly thing! Inspector Kemp [FN1] exhorts villagers, in “Young Frankenstein,” to march on the castle. A “mob” is “a disorderly or riotous crowd of people [] bent on or engaged in lawless violence.” [FN2] We expect media to describe events accurately. We should be 1/8

careful, on social media, using “mobs,” “civil war,” or any term that now is a euphemism for violent behavior. Of recent mass shootings that make us the land of the free (fire zone), shooters’ radicalization by…

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Added by Mark Small on September 3, 2023 at 6:07pm — No Comments

We all should be scared of a Beckwith in office

Ham Co preacher Micah Beckwith [FN1] posted a campaign ad under a header “I’m under attack by the Left.” It’s easy to play down Beckwith’s claims. He is a clown, not very smart & lies about our history. He says he talks to “God” about politics & says “They’re scared of me winning.” 1/8

Only 1 person should be more scared of Beckwith winning than friends of mine, conservatives who fear a Beckwith in office. Beckwith has weapons training for people in his church. As a board…

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Added by Mark Small on August 29, 2023 at 2:36pm — No Comments

Public libraries are amongst the last places where we access not simply facts, but maps of so much that has gone before

We had few books in the country. A 1948 encyclopedia had stale prose w/photos black & white. Alto & New London elementary schools had no libraries. A few times a year we got flyers to order books by mail. The 1965 Palm Sunday tornados wiped out schools in Alto & 1/7

Russiaville. Schools consolidated & 6th grade was in a new building w/its own library. Books about history & mythology were not simply “facts” but maps of so much that has gone before. I learned to…

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Added by Mark Small on August 28, 2023 at 6:59pm — No Comments

WARNING: possibly offensive content & HEPL

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: This blog/thread of tweets contains material that some (incl me) might find objectionable or repulsive. Going on? Please read to the end. “Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury has been banned or censored various places since its release in 1951. Set in a 1/7

future where ALL books are banned. Montag, the protagonist is a fireman whose job is to burn books, wonders why books are banned. His boss, Capt Beatty, says: “‘Colored people don’t like ‘Little Black Sambo.’ Burn…

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Added by Mark Small on August 27, 2023 at 4:49pm — No Comments

HEPL 8/24 meetings: a waste of time & $ + Ray got creepy

HEPL [FN1] board held meetings 8/24 (2 & 3-5 pm) in Noblesville. Sign-in sheets, 1 for each meeting, were on a table outside a packed room. [FN2] A sheet of paper listing “guidelines” for attendees & for public comments was handed to all who entered the room. 1/9

1) Tough to follow: a) poor sound system & b) unclear who presided. [FN3]

2) Barnes & Thornburg (B&T) att’y asserted atty-client privilege when Bd member Michelle Payne asked about items on the bills…

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Added by Mark Small on August 25, 2023 at 8:55am — No Comments

Violence & police: take out the guns.

My weekly contribution to “Mouthwash” [FN1] is smalltalk. Last evening [FN2] the topic was violence & police. Panelist Libertarian Lucy [FN3] w/background photo of a woman firing an assault weapon, called me “delusional” & “disingenuous” to say firearms are 1/10

kids’ leading cause of death, leftists lie about facts & her Google® search showed homicides way down the list of causes of kids’ deaths. She never explains the dead kids, observes I don’t have kids & said she…

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Added by Mark Small on August 23, 2023 at 9:02am — No Comments

People want to shut down libraries...

HEPL [FN1] Fishers’ board of trustees (“Bd”) canceled “executive sessions” 4 8/21 & 8/23 but an 8/24 gen’l meeting is 3 pm. HEPL-Fishers was set up on 9/8/22. A backdoor appointment put Micah Beckwith [FN2] on the Bd w/a 4-3 majority he loses on 9/1. He said he’s after porn. 1/9

With no proof books harmed anyone since a Fishers library was opened in 1993, the Bd required books to be removed from a teen section, reviewed by library staff and, if a book violates standards the Bd…

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Added by Mark Small on August 22, 2023 at 12:52pm — No Comments

HEPL board members & board attorneys talking business: Indiana's Open Door law

This morning my friend, John Schmitz, objected to comments/behaviors of some ppl (including me) who oppose recent policies of the directors of HEPL [FN1.] One objection is to “spying.” To “spy”: “to observe secretively or furtively w/hostile intent.” [FN2] I think he refers to 1/9

a post fr 8/18, re-posted by author John Green [FN3]: “I stopped into my favorite local coffee shop today around 3:15pm. Imagine my surprise to see HEPL board member Ray Maddalone, soon to be former HEPL…

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Added by Mark Small on August 19, 2023 at 8:04pm — No Comments

Indiana's Lt Gov has a lot of authority

Machiavelli would be disappointed w/Micah Beckwith. [FN1] Beckwith says he’s running for IN Lt Gov in the GOP, but state conventions, not primary voters, nominate Lt Gov & usually vote 4 the person party’s Gov nominee wants. Beckwith is telling ppl how to become delegates 1/8

to the GOP convention. Machiavelli usually is cited as an example of the worst aspects of pursuit of power as such set out in “The Prince.” [FN2] and, were he alive today, might nod in approval about Beckwith…

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Added by Mark Small on August 19, 2023 at 9:54am — No Comments

What Lt Gov can't & can do

Micah Beckwith’s [FN1] imagination = his thirst for political power. HEPL [FN2]: his antics after he was appointed show why even GOP primary voters don’t like him. Beckwith sd nada re: he & his pals losing a 4-3 majority at HEPL. Instead: “As your next Lt Governor, I will work 1/12

to restore” parental rts & “get teachers back to basics, not pushing a sexual agenda.” Beckwith’s agenda always is sexual (i.e., porn, trafficking but never evangelical ministers’ antics). He’s said…

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Added by Mark Small on August 18, 2023 at 4:08pm — No Comments

Long-term adverse effects of teaching religion as "science"

“A,” your loved one, has an infection & drugs prescribed don’t seem to work. Do you want A treated by a physician who was taught from grade 1 through med school that evolution is only a “theory”? “Bacteria can rapidly EVOLVE resistance to antibiotics. [] rise of resistant 1/8

'superbugs' threatens our ability to use antimicrobials like antibiotics” [FN1] Science: “theory” is not a guess, but a “well-substantiated explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can incorporate…

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Added by Mark Small on August 17, 2023 at 3:48pm — No Comments

HEPL Board President replaced...

News arrived shortly after I crashed. Sometimes “boring” is good. Dramas in cockpits, surgeries or most aspects of everyday life are great for movies or theatre. Libraries are supposed to have on their shelves fantastic stories (fictions), journeys into who we are & what the World is 1/3

(sciences), and info purely for amusement. Who and how a library is run should be mundane. The president of Hamilton East Public Library was replaced last night by (according to info that’s been…

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Added by Mark Small on August 16, 2023 at 7:23am — No Comments

Beckwith "doctors" quotes to bestow "God" on Constitutional history

Micah Beckwith? John Jay NEVER wrote: “Providence (God) has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Who was John Jay? 1/7

1) Jay was not a delegate to The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

2) 85 papers titled The Federalist argued for The Constitution; Jay wrote 5, but none concerned religion (2-5, Dangers from Foreign Force and…

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Added by Mark Small on August 15, 2023 at 11:32am — No Comments

Indiana doesn't need a repeat of D.C. Stephenson & hijacking of GOP

Conclusion: Ham Co preacher/GOP library board member Micah Beckwith on his claims “God” authored or “inspired” Constitution. Unlike Beckwith I gave sources for points I argue (check the footnotes in last few days’ blog/tweets.) (Sorry if this is a bit long) 1/8

1) “God” as author/inspiration is not invoked/mentioned in 2//21/1787 resolution for convention

OR EVEN MENTIONED in Const’n.

2) Only mention: “religion” (Art. VI) is inconsistent w/ “God” as author/inspiration.

3)…

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Added by Mark Small on August 13, 2023 at 7:43am — No Comments

People who discourage others from reading due to bias should not be on library boards

“To advance knowledge” is not one of the reasons Ham County preacher/political wannabe Micah Beckwith sought a seat (& got it via the back door) on Ham Easr Library Board. In February he hyped a course he was teaching about The Constitution, and added “stay away from higher 1/6

education and [its] secular progressive bias” & claims training/ed’n on constitutional law from “Hillsdale College as well as a plethora of private studies and research.” Beckwith wants a lot of books…

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Added by Mark Small on August 12, 2023 at 1:16pm — No Comments

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