The World did not end. Now a lot of people will have to deal with the unexpected—how to address the issues of credit card balances run up and bad checks written with the Mayan calendar’s doomsday prediction as the only defense.

   There were no "takers" on the invitation to discuss Christmas on today’s Show. Therefore, in light of the holidays—yesterday’s solstice, Tuesday’s Christmas, Wednesday’s Boxing Day and the beginning of Kwanzaa—it seems only fitting to take today off. (I…

   Either the World ends today, or tomorrow "Civil Discourse Now" goes on at 11 a.m.

   Fox News® has reported a lot about a war on Christmas. I believe there should not be a "war" on Christmas, but a more rational understanding of the secular roots of the holiday.

   This is an invitation to anyone who would like to come onto the program tomorrow to discuss whether Christmas really is the birthday of Jesus Christ.  This topic entails a couple of questions. First, whether there…

   I had the pleasure, yesterday, of being a guest on The Gary Snyder Show. Gary has organized a network on the internet called "Indiana Talks." As I understand his goal, "Indiana Talks" is an internet platform for pod casts, originating from Indiana, that span a wide range of viewpoints. Google "Indiana Talks" and you can pick up its shows that are on now. I would provide a "link," but I am not that advanced techno-wise.

   Yesterday Gary also extended, and we accepted, an invitation…

   Because of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I have heard many people call for stiffer prison sentences for people who commit offenses while armed with a gun and for greater action in the area of mental health. The latter seems to take the form of conferring upon government officials greater discretion to hold someone for a period of time to monitor the person’s behavior and determine whether the person should be detained longer.

   Both of these parts of a solution to…

   Today’s Show will be about "World Peace." Our guests will be the Reverend Dave and Bill Levin. We will go on at 11.

   Yesterday’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut does not make the country’s Number One mass shooting. That distinction remains with the incident at Virginia Tech. What seems most horrific is the 20 victims all of whom were young children.

   Polls indicate a majority of the people of this country favor gun control of various types.…

   Saturday, December 15, at 11 a.m. we shall live-stream a show about World Peace. So far our guests will be Bill Levin and the Reverend Dave. I will provide more details tomorrow.

   On Saturday, December 22, we shall discuss Christmas—Is it a pagan holiday? Was there really a Jesus? If Santa Claus wears red, gives things away for free, and relies upon masses of elves to manufacture his toys, does that make Santa a communist?

Dear Governor-Elect Pence:

   Your Eminence, Your Exaltedness, and Your whatever is appropriate for a person between jobs.

   In the couple of years before Hurricane Katrina, the political leaders of New Orleans and Louisiana gave insufficient thought to what many had seen as inevitable—a hell of a hurricane that could wash over a city below sea-level and cause mass havoc.

   Between Katrina and the latest hurricane on the East Coast, lessons were learned, and emergency…

   Today we will discuss the movie "Lincoln" and history of and surrounding the Civil War. We will be joined by guest panelist Matt Stone (IndyStudent).

   I was taught in grade school, junior high, and high school that the Civil War was fought to abolish slavery. That is both a simplistic and incorrect concept.

   At the outset, let me explain that in this discussion I will not refer to "slave owners." Implicit in use of that term is the notion the practice it describes bore…

   Tomorrow’s Show will be about "Lincoln"—the President, the movie, and, some would say, a vampire who occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

   Seriously—we will discuss the first two topics, as well as aspects of Lincoln’s life and presidency. Our guest will be Matt Stone, of IndyStudent dot com.

   "Lincoln" is overrated as a flick. One gauge by which I judge a movie is whether it is worth full-price, only matinee price, or nothing. I am glad I paid matinee.

   Paul Ogden has written a truncated view of the film. While he seems rather indignant over the experience (I think because he scrimped on popcorn and soda; really—is he an American? Anyone seen his birth certificate? Let me know), I think the movie was over-written and dragged. I thought the flick was good at times.…

   Construction contractors do not perform work for sheer fun. One may refer to the free market, incentives, or a similar term, but the notion that work is performed for pay is a constant.

   The past few Saturdays I have noticed construction workers active on the parking garage at the confluence of College and Broad Ripple Avenues and Westfield Boulevard. Several points need to be made, based on what I learned from my old man, who was a union sheet metal contractor:

   1) In…

   On today’s Show, shot from 1915 Broad Ripple Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America, Planet Earth, Paul Ogden and I will discuss whether the system of presidential primaries has corrupted the selection of candidates for President of the United States, and what alternatives we have to the system.

Bill Thompson, this is to continue my response begun yesterday:

   5) I cited "Know Nothings" for the sociological component of fear. I generalized about the attitude of the "tea party"—again, I argue, a rather vague concept—that I have seen expressed on signs at rallies or in quotes from supporters. What you see as a "limited, legal immigration process," such as that you say the "tea party" favors, I see as a wall built along our border with Mexico and draconian laws enacted that…

Thank you, Bill Thompson, for the civil response to my blog. Let me respond, point-by-point.

   1) The origins of the "tea party" may go back to rallies held in 2007. Rick Santelli ranted on CNBC about bailouts of underwater mortgage holders. As The New York Times has written,:"The tea party agenda is not well defined, though it is anti-government, anti-spending, anti-immigration and anti-compromise politics."  (9/26/10) Given that several organizations claim to be "tea party"…

   Paul Ogden has written that the so-called tea party has to re-define its message and return to its roots as a populist economic movement. He wrote yesterday that the "tea party" has been made, unfairly, a scapegoat for Mitt Romney’s loss in the November 6 election. As Paul wrote:

   "I am not saying my Tea Party friends shouldn’t be pro-life, against immigration reform, or even against same sex marriage.  Again, everyone has issues that bring them to the conservative table where…

   On December 1 the hiatus of "Civil Discourse Now" will be over, with discussion of the ways in which the presidential primary system has corrupted the way in which candidates for our nation’s highest office are selected. On December 15 the topic will be "World Peace." I shall be "for" the concept of World Peace.

   Some Republicans have stated their party received a "mandate" from the voters in the November 6 election because the Republicans retained control of the United States House of Representatives. "Mandate," in this context, is defined as "the instruction as to policy given or supposed to be given by the electors to a legislative body or to one or more of its members."  The American College Dictionary, 1962 ed.

   As I wrote last week, Indiana’s delegation in U.S. House is a…

  This the second part of a series of blogs about how the Libertarian Party can become more relevant.

   I want to clarify why I have chosen to write on this topic.

   I am not a member of the Libertarian Party. I voted for Ed Clark in 1980 because I thought he wanted to legalize drugs and where I lived (Indiana) was going to vote for Reagan anyway. My vote was a statement. I did not know who the Koch brothers were or that one of them was Clark’s running mate.

   My…

   The Libertarian Party has seemed to be an also-ran in elections in Indiana, and other States. This year the Libertarians ran Rupert Boneham for Governor and Brad Klopfenstein for Lieutenant Governor. Rupert impressed me as intelligent, thoughtful, and caring. He is not fine-polished as a public speaker, but makes up for that in sincerity and smarts. (Brad’s smart, too, but the focus was on the lead on the ticket.) Still, Rupert garnered only some four percent (4%) of the vote.

  …