The Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP") will be our topic on today's "Civil Discourse Now."

   The United States Trade Representative is appointed by the President and has a position that is considered cabinet-level, under the 1962 statute that created the position, although the USTR is not a member of the Cabinet. Michael Froman is the current USTR. He has experience in tbe business community, having held positions with Citigroup and CitiInsurance. He was a classmate of President…

   At Western High School I was what some today would call a "geek." Rather, I had geekish tendencies. This uses the word "geek" in a way different from its original meaning. The geek in a carnie was the person who would do such things as bite heads off chickens. Bob Dylan used the word in "Ballad of a Thin Man" and later the word was transformed. Still a noun today, its means a person "who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially…

   When I invited a person to be a panelist on this weekend's Show to discuss TPP, he claimed not to know what TPP is. Unfortunately, many people are unaware either of what the acronym means or the details of the thing itself.

   The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a trade agreement the United States at present negotiates with 11 other countries. Details of the agreement have been disclosed only by Wikileaks. Otherwise, even members of Congress are allowed only to read portions of the…

   Indianapolis businesswoman and author Liz Wisdom will join us at 10-01, located at the corner of Broad Ripple Avenue and Winthrop. Directly across Broad Ripple Avenue is construction on the former location of United Package Liquors. We shall discuss Dr. King and also the War on Poverty, the declaration of which occurred fifty years ago this month. You may listen to The Show if you go to Indiana Talks at 11 am. The Show will be replayed through the week. You also can call into The Show.

   Several times I have invited individuals, who oppose marriage equality or who support the proposed amendment to the Indiana Constitution as set forth in HJR6/HJR3 and HB 1153,  to appear on "Civil Discourse Now" to discuss or debate the issues related to those stands and measures. I had hoped on yesterday's Show we finally would have someone who would appear. Marcus Barlow, on InForeFront this week, had challenged for Indiana Democratic Party chairperson Ann Delaney to a debate on "gay…

   A lot of people are unaware our State has its own constitution, separate from the Federal constitution. Written in 1850 and 1851, not only does it establish the structure of the Hoosier government, it also has a Bill of Rights. One might ask why a State needs a Bill of Rights when the United States Constitution has a Bill of Rights and, according to the Declaration of Independence, "rights" are universal. State constitutions trump---I use the word "trump" as a metaphor for euchre,…

   On INForeFront yesterday, Marcus James Barlow, who has worked with the Ballard Administration and is in media relations, challenged Ann DeLaney, former chairperson of the Indiana Democratic Party, to a debate on HJR6/HJR3. I responded to Mr. Barlow's post and invited him onto this Saturday's "Civil Discourse Now," streaming from 11 am to 1 pm on "Indiana Talks." Ms. DeLaney then responded to Mr. Barlow's post and indicated she would be glad to debate him. In turn, I have invited Ms.…

   On Saturday, January 11, "Civil Discourse Now" will focus on HJR6, the proposed amendment to the Indiana Constitution that would restrict marriage. The amendment defines marriage as between "one man and one woman." Over several months I have invited several people to represent the position for the amendment. I have yet to receive an acceptance of my invitation.

   This morning I was pleased to see on InForeFront, a blog the headline of which appears on Ogden on Politics so I scan…

   Even in the hey days of "Boom Baby!" and the rise from mediocrity of "your" Pacers, the Simon family, who own the franchise, claimed never to show a profit on operations of the team. When the team joined the NBA from the old American Basketball Association, there was a price to be paid. Specifically $3.2 million---by today's standards, a relatively modest sum, even for non-billionaire sports franchise owners (if there are any)---and denial, for several years, of a share of the NBA's TV…

   Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are all around us. Most prominently, they are in Indiana's corn and soybean fields in the summer. Human beings began to tinker with genetics of plants as long as nine thousand years when inhabitants of modern Mexico cross-pollinated forms of maize to obtain plants that produced better ancestors of today's corn. New York Times, 5/4/10. Those agrarians did not alter the DNA structures of the plants they tended. Today's GMOs are different. Monsanto…

   Many of us are familiar with the woes of Wile E. Coyote in the Warner Brothers cartoons so inappropriately but commonly referred to as "Roadrunner cartoons." Many are unaware of the ways in which our court systems address problems of injuries and deaths that result from defective products placed into the stream of commerce by parties, usually corporations, with such disregard as the behemoth Acme Corporation.

   Today on "Civil Discourse Now," Abdul (who, like Cher and Madonna)…

   8 Second Saloon, 111 North Lynhurst on the west side, will be the venue for a concert by Henry Lee Summer. Proceeds of the concert will go to the fight against the smoking ban in Indianapolis.

   I have not blogged on this issue. I shall do so briefly, and not in an effort to influence any decision makers on any active case in which I am counsel.

   2012 amendments to the Indianapolis-Marion County Municipal Code effectively banned smoking in those taverns, within…

   The free market has seen the demise of real, live bookstores. When I moved to Broad Ripple in 1987, there was a B. Dalton at what then was Glendale Mall, another bookstore opened where Peaches had been on the Avenue, and a used bookstore was on Ferguson. All three now are gone. Locally owned places, like Big Hat Books on Cornell, have sprung up, but selection is less than what stores once offered. Always, too, one has Amazon, or one of its imitators, to which to turn for a cheaper…

   A new year begins tomorrow. The designation of the day when the new year begins is arbitrary. The planet we call Earth makes a lap around the sun every 365 point whatever days. Centuries ago, the Gregorian calendar was adopted by Pope Gregory XIII. Names of our months are derived variously from Roman mythology (e.g., January---"Janus"), Roman leaders (e.g., August---Augustus Caesar) or simple Roman numbers (e.g., October---for the number eight, the original name of that month under the…

   Andy Jacobs was a great man. He did not accept campaign contributions from PACs or, for that matter from what I remember during his tenure in Congress, anyone. He was re-elected on name-recognition developed from decency and honesty, rare qualities in a member of Congress at any time, but especially during the 1960s and into the 1990s, when he retired from the House of Representatives.

   In high school, I was upset when Andy Jacobs lost his re-election bid in 1972 to Bill Hudnut.…

   "Civil Discourse Now" will stream live from 11 am to 1 pm on Saturday, December 28. Our guests will include John E. Zaphiriou, a/k/a Groucho, who has interesting insights and interestingly incites people on the 'net. Matt Stone, of IndyStudent, also will be on hand. We shall discuss the highs and lows of 2013 and what we might expect in 2014.

   The Show will stream live from Shambles Furniture, at 7183 West U.S. 40 in Cumberland, on the far side of I-465 to the east. A good time…

   This year's coin toss came up George C. Scott in "A Christmas Carol" (rather than Alistair Sim in 1951's "Scrooge"). The script follows the work by Dickens. Also, the story gives on the feeling one is watching Fox or people who otherwise spew out GOP talking points:

   1)Jacob Marley was as dead as a doornail...And thank goodness there was no mention of a "death tax"---a/k/a inheritance tax. Otherwise, Scrooge would have had to part with all that wealth he obtained from his…

   In the early 1960s, when I was a child and still believed in tenets of conservatism, local TV, over the course of the evening on December 24, each year would report that weather radar had picked up an object in flight from the North Pole. The bit was humorous. Kids had the notion Santa Claus was real and with modern technology even could be tracked. Each year since various stations have carried similar coverage. Actually NORAD, the government's nuclear radar system, was the source of the…

   Last evening I inferred many of the people who had written about the infamous interview of Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the family at the center of the A & E network's "Duck Dynasty," had not read the interview. There was a feel that many simply quoted outrageous passages from other people's reviews of the article. Those reviews themselves might have relied on quotes from others' reviews. I wanted to read the entire article, so as not to be a hypocrite---at least not in this…

   Dan Carpenter has retired from "The Indianapolis Star" after a couple of decades as a reporter and then columnist. From what I understand from recent polls, I should believe reports of his retirement are damn lies, because a significant number of the American people hold the view that the media are untrustworthy. (Actually, the polling questions usually are something like, "Do you think the media is..." The word "media" is a plural. There is a bit of evidence that I took Latin in the…