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…

   When local mega-businesses like Eli Lilly and Cummins support a progressive position on an issue, one tends to take notice. This is not an ALEC pose on a matter of social issues. 

   The word "progress" and derivations of that word have been given pejorative connotations in recent years. As a noun, "progress" means "a proceeding to a further or higher stage, or through such stages progressively."  American College Dictionary, 1962 ed., p. 967.

   Why would large corporations…

   The existence of an Indiana State constitution was mentioned vaguely in my high school Indiana History class. The United States Supreme Court was in the headlines a lot back then, in the 1960s. Of course, the Court is in the headlines (or blogosphere or other appropriate parallel to "headlines") today. In the 1960s, and early 1970s, the headlines usually seemed to indicate a Court that advanced rights. I knew when "Dragnet" aired any given week, Jack Webb would highlight a new criminal…

   A panel show that aired Friday night took an interesting twist near the end of the broadcast. The host mentioned, in passing, that all three members of the panel were gay. In years past---maybe only as recently as five---an entire panel of lesbian and gay guests would at least have received some promo. There might have been commentary in a few newspapers or on some blogs. This occurred with little fanfare.

   This is an example of how members of the LGBT community have been…

   Sheila Kennedy, a friend of The Show and one of the best bloggers in Indianapolis, had an interesting blog yesterday about Margaret Doughty, a woman who has lived in the United States for 30 years and recently applied for citizenship. When asked what apparently is a "standard" question on her application for citizenship, about whether she would take up arms to defend the country, Doughty answered:

  "I am sure the law would never require a 64-year-old woman like myself to bear…

   On Saturday, June 22, from 11 am to 1 pm we shall stream live from the Road Dog Saloon, 4861 Southeastern Avenue. Road Dog is one of the Indianapolis bars that has been hit hard by the ill-conceived smoking ban enacted last year that took effect June 1, 2013.

   Also, Happy Nomad Girl will be in town. Usually she has phoned into The Show from wherever she happens to be. This weekend we shall have a chance to meet her, talk with her in person, and get a look at the van in which she…

   Last weekend was DePauw University's alumni weekend. Because I was on a special five-year program for my degree at DePauw, I have two "reunion" years---anniversaries of graduations divisible by the number five.

   Putnam County, in which Greencastle and DePauw are located banned smoking in 2007 in public places. I spoke with a lot of people about the Indianapolis ban and the litigation over it. I was (pleasantly) surprised by the reaction of the alums with whom I spoke. Generally,…

   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.…

   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.

  …

   We stream "live" on Ustream®. I was unaware that The Show has a link to the website and automatically provides access to archived shows. I should have taken that course in FORTRAN in undergrad.

   Yesterday’s Show was great. A lot of people showed up at The Recovery Room Lounge to show their opposition to the smoking ban in Indy. There were a lot of interesting points made:

-ALL of the bar owners noted loss of business since the ban took effect.

-Other businesses—juke…

   In 2005, the City-County Council passed, and Mayor Peterson signed into law, restrictions on smoking in public places. The first section of that ordinance, Sec. 616-101, delineates the reasons for the ordinance. Under the title "Findings and Intent," Sec. 616-101 cites secondhand smoke (SHS), a/k/a environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), as a "major contributor to indoor air pollution," "a cause of disease in nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and lung cancer." …

   From the Recovery Room Lounge, 1868 Lafayette Road on Saturday, July 14, 2012, we shall shoot Civil Discourse Now. The starting time will be 2 p.m., a departure from our usual, as the location is host to a special event.

   The first segment of The Show will be "What’s Going On," 14 minutes of discussion of three or four headline items.

   The rest of The Show will be about the smoking ban Indianapolis put into effect on June 1. People who are opposed to the ban should come…

   One aspect of Indianapolis’s recently-amended smoking ordinance is that it is a ban. Unless a person is a member of a private club, or is in a casino or off-track betting establishment (referred to as a "satellite" in the ordinance) she or he cannot smoke a cigarette inside the premises of a business in this county. Cigar smokers still can smoke, but only in (again) private clubs that vote to allow smoking or cigar bars. Cigarette smokers cannot smoke in cigar bars.

   The Indy…

   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 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.…

   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…