Mitch Daniels has been named as Purdue’s new president. Several questions came to me when I heard the news.

-Will his million-dollar annual salary enable him to return contributions he received from convicted Ponzi schemer Tim Durham so the small-investor victims of Durham will receive a pittance of their stolen investments?

-Will the former governor be given a "pass" if he rides his Harley past the dorms during "quiet hours"?

-Will Mitch allow the capable people at…

   With all the consternation of the Affordable Care Act—a/k/a "Obamacare" a/k/a "Obamneycare"—many people have missed the forest for the trees.

   I have Multiple Sclerosis. I make no secret of the diagnosis and wrote about the disease as part of the reason I walk in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon® each year.

   When I was diagnosed with MS in 1994, I had no health insurance. I applied to a private carrier, but was rejected for my "prior medical condition." I…

   Kurt Lorey raises an excellent point. We shall shoot today, Saturday, June 30, at my office. That is at 1915 Broad Ripple Avenue a/k/a 62^nd Street, at 11 a.m. The topic will be on student debt.

   In 1972-73, the total cost—tuition, room-and-bard, and fees (not books because textbooks varied from outrageously high to extortionately high—for one year at one of the four residential, four-year degree State universities (Ball State, Indiana State, Indiana, and Purdue) was…

   In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Healthcare Act, one might believe we would discuss that decision on The Show. There is another issue building up with nearly as much significance and that is—student debt.

   The costs of higher education in the United States are insane. Some students who attended graduate or professional schools after receipt of their bachelor’s degree are in debt in amount that reach six-figures.  Our country is at risk of the…

   About a month ago a Broad Ripple business person told me the outrageous amount she had to pay in property tax.

   Taxes are necessary for our society to function. Some people and non-people get passes on that particular tax.

   Yesterday I saw an item posted about Indy’s food trucks. These are not restaurants on wheels. A restaurant provides its patrons with a table and chairs at which those patrons may enjoy the meal provided. Food trucks are delivery vans made over to…

   Will SCOTUS hand down the decision on the Affordable Healthcare Act today? Inquiring minds want to know.

   I have read a few pieces in which the authors predict the decision could be as bad as Dred Scott.  That decision, at 60 U.S. 393, handed down by the Taney Court in 1857, has been considered by many the worst case handed down by the Supremes. The decision was so bad it shook the Court as an equal to its two counterparts in the system of checks and balances. The decision…

   In its June 15 editorial against the lawsuit brought against the City of Indianapolis over the recent increases in the smoking ban, The Indianapolis Star made inaccurate and false statements in support of its position.

   One of these false statements is: "Opponents of the smoking ban can’t argue credibly against the health risks of secondhand smoke.  Again, the evidence is simply overwhelming."

   A general statement such as that takes time to refute. First, one…

   Saturday, June 23, 2012, at 11 a.m. we will live stream The Show from Pitts Stop Bar & Grill, 1640 South Meridian Street in Indianapolis. (Kurt Lorey corrected my spelling of the first word in the name of the bar. I was born and grew up in Indiana, and so did not think of a possible nuance to the name of the establishment. For that, I apologize—and thank you, Kurt.)

   We shall discuss—in "town hall" format—the recent ban of smoking adopted and put into place by the…

"Civil Discourse No" will live-stream a town-meeting format Show on Saturday, June 23 at 11 a.m. from the Pit Stop Bar & Grills, 1640 South Meridian Street, Indianapolis. The topic is the recent smoking ban in Indy. All are welcome.

   Yesterday, Tim Durham was convicted on all twelve Counts on which he had been indicted for running a Ponzi scheme in which small investors were bilked out of nine figures total. He faces a sentence of what amounts to the rest of his life in prison. His defense attorneys immediately requested he be allowed to be held on house arrest pending sentencing (or maybe appeal), as he has been since he was indicted. The Government objected and said Durham is a flight risk.

   This perplexes…

   On Saturday, June 23, at 11 a.m., "Civil Discourse Now" will return from hiatus. The format of The Show will a bit different from our usual format. Members of the public always have been welcome to watch. We have had audiences. The main audience to which The Show has been directed, however, has been through the internet—and this is not meant as a slight to Kurt, Art, Janice, Jeff, and others who have turned out to watch. When we first started, the aim was to gain access to audience…

   "I thought the town-hall thing only was for political candidates who were confident enough about their message and/or the audience before they were to appear?"

   Saturday, June 23, at 11 a.m. will be a new format for The Show. This will not be the format we have for every week, but special for this week. If anyone is interested in the smoking ban wrought by the City-County Council and Mayor Ballard, she or he should attend—or watch on the internet.

   Every day, as adults,…

   In 1972 I was chosen as one of two delegates from our high school to attend Hoosier Boys State, an annual event sponsored by the American Legion to inculcate our youths with proper values, and respect for the Constitution. The first day we were there a delegate from a high school near Anderson was tossed out when he asked why we had to march everyplace. The second day, I saw a couple of people, anti-war pamphlets in their hands on state-owned property (Indiana State University) confronted…

   First, many thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday.

   The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution was included in the Bill of Rights for a reason: to protect individual rights not enumerated in the Bill of Rights. I will blog on this more tomorrow in a piece on which I have been working for about a week. Maybe I am something of a geek, but I gain pleasure from reading about our country’s history, particularly that related to the Constitution.

   There are…

Hiatus as we re-gear for a better "Civil Discourse Now." And I returned from DePauw.

   We shall be on hiatus for the next couple of weeks as we re-gear The Show and the website. We shall upstream "live," but not immediately upon return June 23.

   The website also is under re-construction. I never had heard of "Ning" before we started "Civil Discourse Now." I thought "Ning" was the evil emperor on "Flash Gordon." While I am certain it is a platform service of…

   The name of Pepsi© no longer will adorn the roof of the Indiana State Fair Coliseum. A dispute arose over the amount to be paid for further "sponsorship" of the building. The State Fair Board wanted more money. The plan is to renovate the facility over the next two years.

   I do not like governmental entities to accept money to name structures, built with taxpayers’ money, for the function of billboards. I know: as a fan of the Cubs I realize my team plays at Wrigley Field. The…

   Indianapolis’s ordinance that bans smoking in most places is in place for the time being. I thought it would be interesting to visit a new establishment in Broad Ripple in which patrons may smoke tobacco consistent with the ordinance.

   The Village Cigar is located at 6513 North College Avenue, next door to the North Side Social.     The bar is small and comfortable. I liked the wicker bar seats—I do not consider them "stools" since they have backs—pulled up to the bar. Joe was…

   Once again, I find myself having to apologize to those who came to the website only to find no Show. They expected to watch a discussion of our Bill of Rights, as contained in the Federal Constitution. Again, technical difficulties wiped out the audio of The Show.

   Next week, I guarantee, we shall live-stream from DePauw University. We have the equipment. Yesterday I just did not know how to use it.

  We will shoot at 11 a.m. from 1915 Broad Ripple Avenue.

   Today’s Show: we discuss what the Bill of Rights means. Our guests will be Jeff Cox and Adam Lenkowsky. We stream "live" at 11 a.m.

   There are false beliefs that have been spread and accepted for a long time. One of the most prominent—and false—is that the United States of America is "the land of the free."

   How does one measure freedom?

   The United States has roughly five percent (5%) of the world’s population, but twenty-five percent of the world’s population…