President Obama is reported to have crammed for the "debates" (I wince to apply that term to the glorified Q & A sessions to be held) he faces in the next couple of weeks versus Mitt Romney.

   One of my law professors, Henry Karlson, commented to my first-year Crim Law one day that, the previous evening, a former student had called to ask a question about evidence. That particular lecture was on a Friday. The student had called because he was taking the bar exam. The bar exam…

   Today, September 29, 2012, Civil Discourse Now will host Andy Horning, the Libertarian Party candidate for United States Senate, and Mark Waterfill, the Democratic Party candidate for Indiana Senate, District 35.

   Andy has garnered a lot of press in the last couple of days, with speculation he will split votes and affect a race that also features U.S. Representative Joe Donnelly (Democrat) against State Treasurer Richard Mourdock (Republican). 

   Mark Warerfill also will…

   Was someone from SNL hired to schedule George W. Bush’s public speaking engagements? Or did one of the Super PACs that "lean" toward the Democratic Party dump some money to hire "W" for a specific gig? Or is "The Onion" at work here?

   On November 1-2, the former President will attend, and be the keynote speaker at, the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit on Grand Cayman Island. The general election is November 6.

   Mitt Romney has listed, in the tax returns he has…

   The first presidential "debate" will occur on October 3.

   The dish on Mitt Romney is that he brings opponents down to his level. In my years of competitive debate in high school and, especially, college, and I understand the principle that a bad opponent can screw up a good team. The effect is akin to the pouring of Karo® syrup into the gear of the machinery of the brain.

   Comparisons frequently are drawn between sports and politics. In sports there is less subjective…

   People should not refer to the public Q & A sessions as presidential "debates."

   As a kid, I was interested in the idea that candidates for President of the United States engaged in debates. By the time I was aware of such matters, the "big" debates were in the past. Of course Lincoln and Douglas debated over a century before in their race for the United States Senate seat from Illinois. Those "debates" consisted of hour-long statements by each candidate in a Chautauqua…

   Stewart Alexander, Socialist Party USA candidate for President of the United States was our guest yesterday on "Civil Discourse Now."

   We filmed The Show yesterday. Due to techno-problems it will not be on the internet until later this morning.

I have been forced to deal so much with reality lately, I have forgotten how much fun the alternative fanciful debates of Mark Small and Paul Ogden can be.

Personally, Autumn is my favorite season of the year. It is not too cold. It is not too hot. And, unlike Spring, Autumn is often marked by low humidity. Cool, dry days and brisk nights!…

   We did not shoot "Civil Discourse Now" yesterday because today we have a Special Show.

   Our guest will be Stewart Alexander, Socialist Party of American candidate for President of the United States. Cameras will roll at 11. The Show should be up on the internet by 3.

   Paul Ogden has written a blog demeaning the month of Autumn. He told me, yesterday, he was then writing such a piece. I feel compelled to defend what is my, and other people’s, favorite season, although other people (notably members of tribes indigenous to this continent when Europeans arrived) would wonder how anyone could hold as a "favorite" one of the natural phases of our calendar.

   First, Mr Ogden mischaracterizes autumn as a season of death, marked by cold, overcast,…

   The majority of American pay income taxes. Choice of words gives rise to a claim that many Americans do not pay income taxes. Those Americans pay "withholding" taxes.

   "Taxable income" is defined as "[g]ross income minus all allowable deductions and exemptions; taxable income is multiplied by the applicable tax rate to compute one’s tax liability."  Black’s Law Dictionary, pocket ed., 1996.

   26 U.S.C. (United States Code) § 1 generally requires everyone to pay…

   Quotes aired or otherwise made public over the past several days have made me wonder how the Romney/Ryan ticket still has a shot at victory in 49 days:

   -Romney’s statements to fundraisers in which he writes off 47% of the American people as people whose votes will not bother to elicit curry, and as people who live off government handouts and should learn to fend for themselves.

   -Romney’s criticism of President Obama, in the same speech, as a person who has been…

   Ignorance breeds fear. Fear begets hatred. Hatred feeds war.

   The events in the Middle East this past week have been tragic. For years many people in this country have said hateful things about each other. One target group for anger has been the Islamic community. My use of the phrase "Islamic community" is inaccurate, as the Muslim religion is comprised of groups who view their faith in different ways. It is interesting that amongst the written materials in Osama bin Laden’s…

   Yesterday I tried to make a reservation for a hotel room. Companies make it extremely difficult to call the hotel itself. Chains have "800" numbers. I understand the corporations want to keep down overhead, but the "800" operator usually does not know the specifics of a hotel. For example, earlier I booked a "river view" room in Evansville and, upon arrival, the desk person told me the king-size smoking "river view" room only technically had a "river view." I had the room assignment…

   We continue to roll toward the November elections this weekend with two guests. Carlos May is the Republican Party candidate of the United State House of Representatives, Seventh District. He seeks to unseat incumbent Democrat Andre Carson. John Strinka is the Socialist Party candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives, 39^th District. Both have been guests on The Show before.

   We shoot at 11a.m. and go on-line at 3 p.m.

   One index—amongst all the indexes trotted out to show our people’s health, medical care, spending habits—that I have not seen is one to gauge how mean people are.

   People seem to have become more mean over the years.

   In this context, mean means a/k/a is defined as "pettily offensive or unaccommodating; nasty." American College Dictionary, 1962 ed., p. 754. The dictionary is 50 years old, but the definition would seem to be as accurate today.

   Parts of…

Everyone 21 years of age or older is welcome!

  In case you missed the news yesterday, we are proud to announce our guests for Saturday’s Show will be Rupert Boneham, Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Indiana, and his running mate, Brad Klopfenstein, Libertarian Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

   We will shoot at 11 am at the Road Dog Saloon, 4861 Southeastern Avenue, Indianapolis. The Road Dog has good food and an excellent environment. I was pleased…

   A few days ago I started to respond to a post by friend (I consider him to be; hope the sentiments are mutual) and fellow blogger Jon Easter about teachers. In his post he commented how much he loves his job as an educator. Jon is a good man. I respect him for several aspects of his beliefs and attitudes, but his enthusiasm for his profession is particularly commendable.

   I say I started to respond because the poltergeist in my computer tangled up what I wrote. (Probably I used…

   We are proud to announce our guests for Saturday’s Show will be Rupert Boneham, Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Indiana, and his running mate, Brad Klopfenstein, Libertarian Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

   We will shoot at 11 am at the Road Dog Saloon, 4861 Southeastern Avenue, Indianapolis. The Road Dog has good food and an excellent environment. I was pleased when this all came together.

   You can check out Rupert’s and Brad’s stands on the issues…

   Bloggers Pat Andrews ("Had Enough Indy?"), Gary Welsh ("Advance Indiana"), and Paul Ogden ("Ogden on Politics") have the details of the nefarious actions of the City-County Council documented well on the websites.

   Apparently, the most recent meeting of the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee adjourned, its chair Steve Talley left, and the committee re-convened. Councilor Vop Osili, an architect/engineer, called the committee back to order and, by 5-1 vote, passed a…

   If you owned two blocks of highly valuable commercial land, would you borrow money to give to someone else to build on it and keep any profits in the hope some money would trickle down to you? Or would you sell the property to the highest bidder, confident the property taxes the development generates will come to you?  

   There area couple of blocks on Massachusetts ("Mass") Avenue on which a fire station, for years, has stood. The City—i.e., th Mayor and his…