Last night a mass shooting occurred at Indy’s FedEx facility. This weekend is the Indy Gun & Knife Show “Show”). Hypocrisy: “act of pretending to have a character or beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not possess.” Exhibitors can’t “carry” & live rounds are banned at the Show.

A radio ad for the Show used to feature voice caricatures of Harvey (7-foot tall pookah rabbit) or Barney Fife. The ad for this Show had no such voices. Announcer simply stated dates, times and…

   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…

   When Hoosier (by relocation, not birth) Richard Gatling developed the Gatling gun, the first rapid-fire weapon for combat, it is said he thought his invention would bring an end to war. He could not believe people would wage war in the face of such an awesome weapon. Gatling had no appreciation for human folly.

   Gun violence has been in the national and local news. People were mowed down in D.C. and in Chicago. Whether the weapon du jour, the AR 15, was used by the gunman, it…

   This does not mean the Jerry Garcia/tie-dyed shirt/be careful when you drink Kool-aid type of gathering. This is a horror movie festival. We will stream live from the Wyndham---what once was the Adam's Mark Hotel. It is on Sam Jones Parkway, what used to be the Airport Parkway, near old Weir Cook Airport. Some of the people who will be there are Gary Busey, Linda Blair, and former wrestling super-star Rowdy Roddy Piper. There is a cover charge.

   Yesterday afternoon the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana-Indianapolis Division ruled against the plaintiffs in Goodpaster. et al v. City of Indianapolis, a lawsuit brought by bar 11 owners and a customer against the City over the ordinance, effective June 1, 2012, that bans smoking in most bars in Marion County. As many of you know, I am co-counsel for the plaintiffs in that lawsuit. At a later time I will write about the substantive issues of the case.…

   Unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as "drones," will be main topic of discussion as, on Civil Discourse Now we stream "live"—audio on IndianaTalks dot com or Live365 and go to "talk shows"; video on Ustream or this website—from the Indy Cigar Bar today, February 16, 2013.  Join us at the Indy Cigar Bar at 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

   Our guest panelists will be: 

   JoAnne Lingle who is a full-time peace and justice activist focusing on anti-war and Middle Eastern issues.…

   Yesterday—Friday—at about 5:30 we walked down to Broad Ripple. A few months ago, and especially before June 1, that was a time of day on a specific day of the week when the bars would be bustling. The week was over, the workday had ended, and people would be out to blow off steam. The sidewalks would be a bit crowded as people went from place-to-place.

   Yesterday’s weather was beautiful. The high reached 76 or 78 degrees. One would expect people to be out in droves.

  …

   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.

   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,…

   The economy either sucks or it does not or, if a person is sufficiently wealthy as to be insulated from its effects, the economy is a meaningless hum in the background as one enjoys life.

   For the rest of us, the economy is a daily—what? Is it a fact of our existence? Is it a constant struggle? Is it a quasi-mechanical entity that operates consistent with rules of what seem like physics? Can we tell "how" the economy is doing by any means? If so, what are those means? Why does…

   Until 1983 I knew the Race—THE Race, the Indianapolis 500—only through radio. We lived on a farm a few miles west of Kokomo. The 500 was not broadcast "live" until 1986, according to one report I read on the internet, on network TV. It was available, on what was called "closed circuit TV" for a fee, across the country. Our area was "blacked out" for TV coverage even after the 500 went on TV. the air.

   My first recollection of a specific Indianapolis 500 was of the 1963 race.…

   "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…

   The City of Indianapolis, through its Department of Code Enforcement,  has been kind enough to post an information for "Super Celebration Sites" for the time leading up to, and following, the Super Bowl.

   Contexts of Orwellian twists on the English language are interesting. To see these phenomena in regard to a sports event staged by a mono(lith)poly would add an element of amusement, were it not for a couple of factors. First, we—taxpayers and citizens of Indianapolis and…

  In the next few days I will post blogs about why we should eliminate private ownership of firearms. Gun advocates have a gun & knife show in mid-January If some of you advocates wish to advocate, let's discuss, in civil fashion, this topic. I shall be armed with my intellect. Many of you are intelligent and capable of advancing your cause---even though I musy say you are wrong. It is time for rational discusson about this very important matter. If all drugs were legalized, we would…