5/18 (tomorrow), 9 pm: “Mouthwash,” John Schmitz’s FB podcast, features a debate between me and Indiana State Rep John Jacob on women’s reproductive rights. Among inflammatory bits on Rep Jacob’s campaign website is something meant to lay all doubt to rest.

Rep Jacob says: “It is an irrefutable scientific fact that human life begins at conception.” We need to define key words. 1) “conception”: “The union of the sperm and the ovum. Synonymous with fertilization.” Medinet; 2)…

On Tuesday, May 18, at 9 pm I’ll “discuss” (debate) women’s reproductive rights (or, as right-wing people are programmed to say, the murder of millions of beautiful little lives that an all-loving deity can’t save from surgical procedures) on “Mouthwash”, John Schmitz’s FB podcast.

My opponent will be State Rep. John Jacob, whose views are entrenched. My view is that I am not a woman, cannot get pregnant, and so should not tell women what to do with their lives. (So why are two males…

   I would like to thank the folks at New Wineskin Ministries who allowed us to stream live from the “Taste the Difference” festival yesterday.

   My description, in this blog yesterday, did not do justice to what we experienced. Sure, the festival involved celebration of foods from different cultures and places, but there was much more. Pastor Mark Brown spoke with us about the community work they do in what probably is the most culturally and ethnically diverse part of Indianapolis.…

   “Taste the Difference” is a festival that celebrates foods from different cultures and places. “Civil Discourse Now” will stream live from Taste the Difference, from New Wineskin Ministries, at 4501 West 38th Street from 11 am to 1 pm. Folks from the Taste Festival will join us, as well as John Strinka, a very sociable gentleman and veteran guest of The Show, from the Socialist Party.

   Of course we shall be joined by regular contributors Kimann Schultz with her witty and fun…

   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.

   Saturday will be St. David's Day, a national holiday in Wales.

   Since childhood, my father led me to believe I was of Scottish descent. In 2008, on a trip to Kansas City and a detour to an Irish heritage museum, a guide ran a computer search of family trees. When she asked if I wanted mine run, I blew her off and said there was no need to do a search on me. She said perhaps I would be surprised. She ran the search, called over a co-worker, and pointed at the screen. She uttered…

   "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…

   Fifty years ago on this date, as we all know from massive coverage of acknowledgment of the event, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The cliche is true for me: I remember where I was and what happened. Mrs. Coleford was our third-grade teacher at New London Elementary School. Early afternoon, Mr. Kincaid, the principal, entered our classroom. Mrs. Coleford was one of my favorite elementary school teachers. She was kind, patient and made school interesting. Mr.…

   Speaker of the House John Boehner denied this weekend there are enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass what is called a "clean" bill to fund the Federal government. A "clean bill," in the context of the current shutdown, would be a bill that authorizes funding of the Federal government without any extraneous provisions, i.e. provisions to de-fund the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. President Obama addressed the Speaker's statement and asked the Speaker send…

   In "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," author Tom Robbins occasionally notes the International situation was desperate, as usual." The situation in Syria brought that observation to mind as I read Senator McCain's judgment. We must bomb Syria or lose credibility.

   From what I have read of international views of United States foreign policy over the last 50 years, "we" have little credibility, give or take bombs dropped on Syria. One who is "credible" is "worthy of belief or…

   John Sandford is the pen name of a St. Paul-Minneapolis journalist who writes novels. Most of the novels he has written have been in the "Prey" series. Perhaps John D. MacDonald started this method of titles/series with his Travis McGee novels. Each book included, in its title, a color. The series was about a self-described "marine salvage" expert who, in return for half the money a person lost to a con artist or thief, retrieve the monies lost. MacDonald started the McGee series in the…

   There has been a "push" recently for United States military involvement in Syria’s civil war. I call the chaos in Syria a "civil" war because, generally, protracted conflicts in which people of a country seek to overthrow the government that claims rule over them are called "civil wars."

   There seem to be no valid reasons for a U.S. military incursion in Syria. There are corporations that would profit from such a commitment. But profits are not worth lives.

   The Syrian…

"Civil Discourse Now" will shoot at 11 at the Village Cigar, 6455 North College, in the same strip center as Northside Social. Our guests will be Democratic Party candidate for Indiana Senate John Barnes and Libertarian Party candidate for Indiana House, District 100, James Nease.

   John Fugelsang is an actor and stand-up comic to whom Al Gore’s network, Current TV, has given an hour slot. The title of the show is "So That Happened." I caught the premiere last evening (Friday, October 5) at 6.

   Fugelsang is the guy who elicited the "Etch-a-Sketch"® comment from the Romney campaign aide last spring. His Wikipedia entry has a run-down of his life, educational background (NYU film school), and work. I had been watching him the last couple of months on YouTube®.…

   The Show will be "live" from the Village Cigar, 6435 North College Avenue. Our guests will be John Barnes, Democratic Party candidate for Indiana State Senate, District 32, and James Nease, Libertarian Party candidate for Indiana House, District 100.

   We continue to roll toward the November elections this weekend with two guests. Carlos May is the Republican Party candidate of the United State House of Representatives, Seventh District. He seeks to unseat incumbent Democrat Andre Carson. John Strinka is the Socialist Party candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives, 39^th District. Both have been guests on The Show before.

   We shoot at 11a.m. and go on-line at 3 p.m.