The Mini® was the hottest of the 13 I previously had walked. The track was brutal. 

   I had hoped to "live-stream" yesterday’s Mini®. Even when I blogged at 6 a.m., I was fully confident we would do it.

   I was proud of the notion that we would "live-stream" the Mini®. Three weeks previously, on the advice of the techie who was working with us, I had acquired the specific gear he said would do the job. I had set a goal of Saturday, April 28, to do a run-through. He had not…

WATCH "MINI" STREAMED LIVE AT CIVIL DISCOURSE NOW!

   A lot is happening in the Universe—and in Marion County—this weekend.

   The Show will live stream Sunday at 1---PREDICTIONS FOR THE PRIMARY!

   Tomorrow morning is the Mini-Marathon®. At about this time tomorrow I shall be in my "stall"—the term used for the roped-off section to which a person in the Mini® is assigned by seeding/time—probably shivering. Sarah is in the 5K. For whatever reason, someone in management of the events decided this year to start the 5K before the…

   By my second year at DePauw, I had learned a valuable lesson about law and the State of Indiana. One could not buy carry-out in the Hoosier State. By that, I mean one could not walk into a grocery or liquor store and purchase a 12-pack or a case of beer—or a bottle of wine or whatever. I began a practice that has lasted to the present day. On Saturday, I always stock upon my favorite beverage. (At present I prefer Bud Select®—fewer calories and the same taste as Bud Lite.) 

   When…

   Joe Donnelly currently represents Indiana’s Second Congressional District. The Republican Party, with a majority in both houses of the General Assembly and the office of Governor, redrew Congressional District lines—as is required of each state after the decennial census. The Republicans did what the Democrats have done in the past. The Republicans redrew district lines to maximize the number of Congressional District likely to vote Republican. The Republicans’ goal was to isolate Lake…

   Where are you going to watch the Mini? Do you know what it is like to approach the start line, in duck-walk fashion? Have you seen the discarded sweats strewn about the area just across the start line? Heard garage band after garage band play every couple of hundred of feet?

   Technology is amazing—especially for a person who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science (misnomer; always used to be called "government") in 1978. When I was in college, if someone had told…

   People purport to hate negative political ads on TV.  By "negative ads" I mean ads aimed mainly at trashing one candidate.  Polls that I have read consistently indicate over 60 percent (60%) of respondents do not like negative ads. Yet research and personal observation indicate negative political ads "work." They motivate some people to move, not so much "for" one candidate, but "against" the candidate at whom the ad is aimed (thereby helping the candidate in whose interest the ad was…

   Our schedule will change next week.

   Next Sunday will be Primary Predictions! "Civil Discourse Now" will features predictions of the outcomes of the May 8 primaries. Our new format, the past three weeks, has been live streaming on the internet, with a recorded version of The Show later that afternoon or the next morning.

   The following is not sponsored in any way by the people/corporations who organize or otherwise operate the event described. These are my…

   "I think I’ll have a drink."—Elliott Ness’s alleged comment on being told Prohibition had ended.

   Is a discussion of Indy’s smoking ban, set to take effect on June 1, necessary? After all, as I was told by one person yesterday, any debate is "over because we won." Some would call such a claim hubris. Others, less polite, would characterize the claim as something else.

   The Volstead Act—the Nineteenth Amendment, Prohibition—banned sales of alcohol in the United States.…

For some reason I cannot post a response to your posts except via new blog. Kurt: Yes this is an audience event. Come on out.

  Mr. Wheeler: Excellent question. That is a topic I shall try to raise to the panel during The Show.

   John Locke described liberty as property. One owns certain liberties. That might explain why certain rights are inalienable—they cannot be bartered away.

   One aspect of the debate over the recent smoking ban enacted by the City-County Council has been concern over businesses—particularly the taverns at which the legislation was aimed—might lose money if patrons are not allowed to smoke.

   Studies from Minnesota and Michigan indicate some bars gain customers, some see no…

   "Civil Discourse Now" streams "live" on the internet on Saturday mornings at 11.

   This week our guests will be Indianapolis blogger and media personality Abdul-Hakim Shabazz ( a cigar smoker) and Lindsay Grace, spokesperson for Smoke Free Indy. Paul Ogden and I will discuss Indy’s new smoking ban with them. We will shoot The Show at Indy Cigar Bar, 3357 East 86^th Street. 

   As of 6 a.m. on June 1, 2012, Indianapolis’s smoking ban goes into effect. No longer…

   "Everything gives you cancer." –Joe Jackson, 1982.

   As of 6 a.m. on June 1, 2012, smoking no longer will be allowed in bars or restaurants in Indianapolis. Smoking will be allowed in existing cigar bars and hookah shops. Also exempt are private clubs. The main issue has been smoking in bars.

   The first time I encountered a "no smoking" section in a restaurant was at Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha debate nationals in 1977 at Salt Lake City. Before, smoking was allowed…

   "Everything gives you cancer." –Joe Jackson, 1982.

   At the outset, I state: I smoke cigars. I smoked my first stogie when I was a delegate to Hoosier Boys State, held during the summer of 1972 at ISU in Terre Haute. I think I had a couple of blueberry tiparillos. I smoked cigarettes from second semester senior year of high school (Salem 100s) through second semester Sophomore year at DePauw (Vantage menthols). I quit smoking cigarettes because they were contraindicated with other…

   Sometimes a person "pumps up" her or his resume in order to obtain employment. One way to pump up that resume, give it a little more juice, is to list jobs or achievements never held or won. An example of that was the resume of a person at DePauw who listed, amongst his prior jobs, "staff photographer for The Wall Street Journal." At the time, that publication had no photographs. At best, line drawings and graphs were placed on its pages. One representative of a potential employer…

   Jack Lugar is a candidate for Indiana’s 5^th Congressional District in the May 8 Republican primary. He is one of seven candidates listed who seeks the party’s nomination for the November election to replace long-time Congressman Dan Burton.

   On his website, one of the issues he lists is "Crime and punishment," in which he begins with:

"As a former attorney with the Appeals Division of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, Jack made sure that violent criminals…

   Today’s Show has the promise of being really good. Our topic will be Indiana’s 5^th District Congressional race. Our guests include Tony Long, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for the general election in November. State Representative Scott Reske is Mr. Long’s opponent. Mr. Reske’s campaign manager, Lisa Carter, originally agreed to appear.

   One aspect of what I believe constitutes "civility" is to let guests know the topic for a program. The topic should…

   Is David McIntosh a resident of Indiana? Or did he give up his claim to Indiana residency when he moved to Virginia and obtained a Virginia driver’s license.

   McIntosh is a candidate in the Republican primary election to replace Dan Burton, who is retiring from Congress. McIntosh served three terms in Congress, from 1995 to 2001. He lost in his bid for Governor of Indiana in 2000, and moved to Virginia to do what so many do after losing a seat in Congress. He became a lobbyist.…

   Our guests on Saturday’s Show will be Democratic candidates for the 5^th Congressional District. I will post their info tomorrow.

   On the Republican side, David McIntosh is a candidate who embraces some of the same stands as our most recent Republican president—George W. Bush. McIntosh would lower taxes and eliminate regulations. That approach did extremely well under George W. Bush—if you are a venture capitalist, manager of a hedge fund, or overseas investor. McIntosh…

  As I wrote yesterday, the race for the Fifth Congressional District, where Dan Burton, a Republican, has held office since 1983, was re-configured. On January 31, he announced his retirement. That was rather a last-minute thing. Candidates’ signature filing deadline—by which a candidate had to have her/his application into the office of the Indiana Secretary of State along with 500 (I believe is the number) signatures in support—was February 24. The election boards have a nasty habit of…