Has anyone “died in vain” in service of this country? In the 1960s about U.S. military actions in Vietnam & more recently about Iraq & Afghanistan some have claimed that if the USA withdraws, the people who died there “died in vain.”

I never have heard that phrase applied to deaths of Vietnamese (or Laotians or Cambodians) or Iraqis or Afghanis (or any U.S. allies’ personnel). The blunt statement is that if we - the USA - stop killing, U.S. military personnel will have “died in…

The Indiana Republican Party (“Party”), as previously noted, is an assumed business name of the Indiana Republican State Committee, Inc. (“Committee”). These entities were “born” on 10/24/05 when they were incorporated, with the Indiana Secretary of State, under the laws of the State of Indiana, by Terre Haute, Indiana, attorney James Bopp, Jr.

The Party’s “rules” state: “Subject to the Republican Party of the State of Indiana in the State Convention duly assembled, the State Committee…

Why are the by-laws of the Indiana Republican Party not readily available to the public? There is no link to them on the website of either the Indiana Secretary of State, the Indiana Republican Party or the Indiana Republican State Committee, Inc.

As I wrote a while back, the Indiana Republican Party - I’ll refer to it as “the Party” - is a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Indiana, incorporated by Citizens United attorney James Bopp, Jr. Is listed as an…

   A trip to the Indiana State Fair in the early 1960s was a festive event. The place seemed huge to young eyes. There were a lot of pieces of farm and construction equipment. In the livestock barns, the old man would point out the various breeds of cattle, sheep, and goats and explain why each was unique as the kids who were there to show the animals sweated and lounged on bales of straw or fold-out chairs. The really big room with aluminum siding sales pitches was okay. On the midway, some…

   Remember, today, October 18, and tomorrow we shall stream live from the Body Mind Spirit Festival, held this weekend at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. We will interview exhibitors who are involved in the holistic movement. Other exhibitors will stream from our channel—7bitsofinfo on Live365—through the day. Also, Kimann Scultz will join us with her "Fashion News and Muse" and Tyler Rayl will give insight on Sports.

   ADVISORY I have to issue:  The views of the exhibitors do not…

   This is the second year we have been privileged to cover the festival. I simultaneously am skeptical of and welcome to approaches to reality and healing arts outside the dominant paradigm for such matters in our society. This contradictory attitude reflects splits of other types inherent in human thought and existence.  I had the opportunity, in 1976, to talk with Ken Kesey, who wrote “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Sometimes a Great Notion,” and was the central figure og the Merry…

   Apparently, folks who live in Broad Ripple are deadbeats. We believe ourselves “entitled” to public safety.

   The September, 2014, issue of “Broad Ripple Community Newsletter,” carries an article by Elizabeth Giffin titled, “Keep Broad Ripple Safe” in which she reports about some reactions to the “multiple incidents of violence” that arose this summer in Broad Ripple.  “The Broad Ripple Ripple Village Association (BRVA) then turned to Internet fundraising site Go Fund Me as a…

   What would the city and people of Indianapolis do without the Colts®  and the Pacers®?

   The past couple of months I have expressed paranoia about those franchises’ owners. If they detect any “spare” change rattling about in the City’s coffers, there appears a new need for monies for one or another of the teams.

   To the best of my knowledge, no one has been shown the books of YOUR Indiana Pacers®. The Pacers®  had built for them a new arena in 1999, now called Bankers Life® …

   The States of Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana. Tax revenues and sales of Girl Scout® cookies went up. I am not sure what effect legalization has had on funds law enforcement has collected from forfeiture actions, but one would surmise those funds are down.

   Hoosiers who want to travel to Colorado or Washington or both should give serious consideration as to whether to indulge in cannabis sativa. “Weed” might be legal in Denver and Spokane, but the effects of consumption…

   Any sports season now is over for me until September.

   Tax dollars funded the latest effort by YOUR Indiana Pacers to make yet another run at the NBA Finals. In 2000 the team finally made it to the Finals, only to be blown out by the Lakers. Maybe we shall have another stretch of five or six years before the Pacers lurch into the best-of-seven for the NBA Championship. By then the San Antonio Spurs will be so old, their starters will use walkers. The Pacers probably will loose four…

   Today “Civil Discourse Now” launches its own channel on “Live 365.” The past two weeks we have experienced technical difficulties we previously had not encountered. We are unable to get on the air for nearly an hour. We no longer will have such problems.

   But, I digress.

   In February, after one of its fracking sites blew up large sections of a Pennsylvania township, corporate honchos at Chevron gave residents of the area damaged “free” pizzas.

   In ancient Rome, the poet…

   Tomorrow, Saturday, May 31, “Civil Discourse Now” will stream live from the Indianapolis Convention Center, 100 South Capitol where we shall provide coverage of the Indiana State Democratic Party convention.

   Join us from 11 am to 1 pm as we interview candidates for State-wide office as well as delegates from all over Indiana. Matt Stone will join me. Kimann Schultz will provide her “Fashion News & Muse” segment. Plus, we shall feature a new episode of “Tail of the City,” with…

   Saturday we will stream live from the Indiana State Democratic Convention, from 11 am to 1 pm. We will have candidates for state-wide office, as well as delegates from all over Indiana, as guests.

   Another type of convention has been in the news the past few days. There has been a push to have a convention to address changes in the United States Constitution. A constitutional convention is a very bad idea.

   First, if large corporations dump money into specific Congressional…

   Next Saturday, May 31, “Civil Discourse Now” will stream live from the Indianapolis Convention Center, 100 South Capitol where we shall provide coverage of the Indiana State Democratic Party convention.

   Join us from 11 am to 1 pm as we interview candidates for State-wide office as well as delegates from all over Indiana. Matt Stone will join me. Kimann Schultz will provide her “Fashion News & Muse” segment. Plus, we shall feature a new episode of “Tail of the City,” with the…

   We shall do a "wrap-up" of the 2014 Indiana General Assembly on Saturday, March 22, from 11 am to 1 pm. Our guest panelists will be John Ketzenberger and Jon Easter. CDN Senior Contributor Matt Stone also will be a panelist. CDN will stream live from the Antelope Club, 615 North Delaware Street.

   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…

   Before The Show yesterday, I conversed with one of the artists at The Stutz Building---excellent place for artists and small businesses, and I really, really want an Auburn Boat-tail Speedster---about the nature of news media today. We discussed the absence of focus for the much greater amount of information available, thanks to the internet, compared to three decades ago. I mentioned that in the 1970s-1980s, national news primarily came through the three major networks. As the artist…

   A town loses its high school and over the next 40 years sees people move away. Residents take action and do very cool things to rejuvenate the place. Civil Discourse Now streamed from such a place yesterday.

   In 1971 New Ross High School was consolidated with other schools to form Southmont High School. New Ross is located about ten miles southeast of Crawfordsville on U.S. 136. Wikipedia gives the town's population, from the 2010 census, as 367. Several years ago, residents…

   Our Show today will focus on the efforts by some in the Indiana General Assembly to amend the Indiana Constitution to define marriage as between "one man" and "one woman." This week I have advanced arguments against the amendment, also opposed, amongst others, by major corporations (e.g., Eli Lilly, Cummins) that do business here. Earlier in the week, I invited several proponents of the measure to be guests today. Unfortunately, those folks ether are out of town on vacation, out of town…

   The IRS has announced that same-sex married couples will be treated as married for income tax purposes even if the State in which a couple resides does not recognize marriage equality. As our friend Gary Welsh points out at "Advance Indiana," this presents a problem for Governor Pence and the General Assembly. Indiana generally follows Federal income tax procedures. If the "marriage is only between one man and one woman" is adopted by the Indiana General Assembly, filing of income tax…