Number of comments: 6 Sometimes when I get into a political discussion, I find myself being asked why I have an almost total, reflexive instinct to not trust government. Why is it that I won't give the benefit of the doubt.
Number of comments: 0 Reason Magazine's Nick Gillespie put together a fantastic post on Reason's Hit & Run blog, covering several different angles that lead up to a handful of conclusions, but mainly: the majority of American don't want to see a sweeping solution that could hurt the economy. I'm no expert, but [...]
Number of comments: 1 This is my 7th Winter here in Central Indiana, and I remain floored at the inability of locals to drive properly when there is a little snow and ice on the ground. I would expect people in Alabama or Florida to not know how to manage, but Indianapolis? On my [...]
Number of comments: 5 Sex offenders have their home address information made public thanks to Megan's Law, with the idea being that people who have children have a right to know. That idea is controversial for some people, on the grounds that those who have served their time should not have to wear [...]
Number of comments: 1 The biggest thing I came away with from the President's Afghanistan policy was the middle of the road approach that is bound to give everyone something to dislike.
1. The Right is going to hate the timeline. Easy to criticize: All the enemy has to do is lay low [...]
Number of comments: 3 Obama, the Peace Candidate. McCain is Bush's Third Term. Endless War. So many things I saw on bumper stickers 13 months ago. So many similar sentiments expressed by the left's bloggers. So much in the world of foreign policy that looks just as it would have had McCain won, or [...]
Number of comments: 1 Russia's high speed passenger train apparently derailed. Per CNN: A passenger train running from Moscow to St. Petersburg derailed Friday, causing 25 deaths and 63 injuries, state-run Russian television reported.
Russian state radio said the crash occurred 280 km (174 miles) from St. Petersburg at 9:34 p.m. (1:34 [...]
Number of comments: 3 Just as I don't get Sarah Palin's great allure among so many conservatives, I'm similarly not understanding the very high approval ratings President Obama gets among Democrats. Pollster.com compiles polling data from the polls you know, and places Obama's approval rating among Democrats above 82%.
Number of comments: 7 I don't get it. If you can't hang with Katie Couric in an interview, etc., how do you translate yourself as big-stage political material? Are conservatives that desperate? Apparently, yes they are. A thousand lined up in Noblesville, one town north of me, to get 30 seconds of face time [...]
Number of comments: 1 I keep an eye on reports like the one at the Indy Star today, advising of more Ash Borers being spotted in a variety of Indiana locations: The tree-killing emerald ash borer has reached another four Indiana counties, boosting the insect’s foothold in the state to 30 counties.
Number of comments: 3 There was a lot of predictable spin on the recent elections that follows partisan lines. The race that most interested me was NY-23, where a Democrat ultimately won in a district that had elected Republicans for more than 100 years.
This happened because the Republicans nominated a fairly liberal [...]
Number of comments: 4 The Predictable World of Baseball
I am not watching the World Series. There is not a shred of interest. Oh? Did the Yankees make it? Now, who woulda thunk it? Big surprise. The Phillies? Knock me over with a feather.
Number of comments: 1 A Friendly, God-Fearing Bank Robber
This one is bound to make national news. From the Indy Star report: A robber holding a gun on an Advance America cashier Monday apologized to the woman for his actions, but went ahead with his robbery even after praying with the victim. [...]
Ok, I'm confused. The Dow cracked 10,000 yesterday for the first time in a year, while gold finished today at $1,050/oz, which is just off an all-time high. This doesn't make a lot of sense, with gold so often being strongest when stock markets [...]
Number of comments: 0 Yet Even Still More Smoking Ban for Marion County
It seems like there is endless restlessness by those who wish to use the power of government to force businesses to involuntarily adopt no-smoke policies. From WTHR 13's report: A City-County Council committee approved a tighter ban in a' [...]
I was amused to see that one former painkiller addict wouldn't support the other. From the AP: Rush Limbaugh's bid to buy the St. Louis Rams ran into opposition within the NFL on Tuesday. Colts owner Jim Irsay vowed to vote against him [...]
I was very happy to deliver a talk to potential Libertarian Party candidates this Saturday, on the subject of beginning the race. Mainly, as the most recent candidate for Secretary of State, my top secondary objective, apart from winning, was to establish four more years of automatic [...]
Number of comments: 6 Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize?
They must just give that thing away to anyone. To give the Peace Prize to the president who has not ended the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but extended them? The Prize has no value any longer, and what a horrible message: Words matter, [...]
GM announced today that Saturn is being closed down. From an AP report: General Motors Co. said today that it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.
I was fairly surprised to get a beg letter from Congressman Mark Souder, a Republican representing Indiana's District #3, covering the northeast corner of the state. Surprised, because I live in District #5, in the central part of the state.
Why am I so opposed to government run health care? Because I'm hard pressed to think of anything important that government does well. For reference, consider our economy.
Yes, the Federal Reserve is a private bank, but it is given power to control' [...]
Number of comments: 6 Indy Star Rushes to Irrelevance
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that trying to view the Indianapolis Star online now requires a password? Go ahead- give it a whirl: [www.indystar.com]
The management seems hell-bent on making sure nobody reads. If I can't look for' [...]
Number of comments: 1 Obama Explains Shrinking American Job Base, Inadvertently
Freudian slip! From a NY Times report: One evil he came here to fight is the pernicious mix of greed, famine and war that has kept Africa down. He delivered a blunt message that from his predecessors might not have been [...]
Now, here is a celebrity I'll miss. From CNN's report: The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillsborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said.
Number of comments: 5 Pathetic (Charlevoix, MI)- So, we arrived in Charlevoix for Ame's first marathon, and after a long drive dinner was beckoning. TVs were on in the place, and it was all Michael Jackson. I could care less. Really- We have a vote on cap & trade coming up, North Korea throwing' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Craig Coxe Interview Posted I was happy to see my lengthy interview with ex-NHL player Craig Coxe posted at last on HockeyFights.com. The main thing that delayed the posting was the ambition of it. There is so much that could be done with it, because the interview was videotaped [...]
I received a copy of the property tax statement from the Hamilton County Treasurer, and found that my property taxes went down by about 12% from last year.
This is remarkable, because they went down 10% the year before. I am astonished. So, why? [...]
No mode of transportation is without risk. Rail commutes are often touted as a safe alternative to auto commutes. I'd like to see comparisons on injuries and fatalities per passenger mile. I know this: When the train wrecks, many people are injured at' [...]
For years, many have asserted that the media is biased to the left, and many others have countered that it isn't, or that corporations own the media, so it is biased to the right. Then there's Fox News.
The Indiana soldier on his way to Iraq who put his original 1788 copy of The Federalist up for auction has cashed in. Per the Indy Star report: An Indiana soldier’s rare leather-bound first edition copy of volume one of “The Federalist” has sold for [...]
Number of comments: 1 Bailouts & Stimulus Are The Problem
You've probably heard of Peter Schiff- the man who was the town crier, telling anyone who would listen that the sub-prime market would collapse, and then it did. Here's Schiff on the Daily Show:
Number of comments: 0 Federalist Papers Going Once!
I love this item. A Hoosier soldier had the good fortune to stumble across an original edition of The Federalist, edition 1788, and picked it up for $7. From the Indy Star: A rare leather-bound book that played an influential role in America's early [...]
The most recent installment of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast turns the tables on me. Rather than hosting as the interviewer, I am the guest, as the Chair of the Hamilton County LP. The guest host was more than capable. LPIN Executive Director [...]
In five days- you know, unless they can't pull it off, as was the case in January- all the broadcast TV stations will switch to digital, and the Kole household will lose the remaining 7 or 8 channels we have had since we pulled' [...]
With Andy Horning departing Indiana for Texas, after so many mostly Libertarian campaigns for office, we're seeing many nice tributes to the man, several of which go, "I'm a Libertarian because of Andy Horning".
Well, I can't say that's my story too. I was [...]
Number of comments: 0 Never Wonder Why Some Libertarians Dislike Democrats
I couldn't believe what I was reading this morning, in an article on Andy Horning's leaving Indiana later this month. From the Indy Star report: A confident public speaker and skilled debater, Horning has been the face of the Indiana Libertarian [...]
Number of comments: 0 Hamilton County Libertarian Meet-Up
Our Meet-Up group meets the first Thursday of every month. Come join us tomorrow in Noblesville! The discussion is informal, the food & beer is delicious, and our group is growing each month.
Thursday, June 4, 2009 Barley Island, Noblesville 7pm - ? [...]
Number of comments: 0 Quick Reaction To Sotomayor Nomination
I don't know much about Sonia Sotomayor. Why would I? Judges are not known to us the way lawmakers are, or even governors of other states are. I figure that's as it ought to be, justice being blind and all.
I hope the folks who sported the "No Third Term" bumper stickers in the Fall of last year as tasting the buyer's remorse. President Obama is changing so little besides the names we call certain policies. It's so apparent, that even the commentators on the Left' [...]
I spent Saturday in Clarksville, Indiana (north of the Ohio River of Louisville) for the joint conventions of the Libertarian Party of Indiana, and of Kentucky. I was rather impressed.
Right off the top, I liked the cost savings made available by working jointly. Rather than [...]
Number of comments: 0 Podcast Posted The latest is an interview with Mark Rutherford, former Chair of the Libertarian Party of Indiana. Mark reflected on his tenure, and the many ways the party grew during that time, and since. I think the most insightful comments were about the Party surviving certain transitions. Small and [...]
Because all politics and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Linkage.
Then again, the reason high fructose corn syrup is used more generally than cane sugar is political, with tariffs making sugar more expensive than true market price, and subsidies making HFCS [...]
I've never been a big fan of Pepsi, as I was raised in a Coke household. I like Coke better because it's not as sweet as Pepsi. I'm sweet enough already, thank you.
So, this post may seem ironic, because I'm celebrating PepsiCo's "new" product line,' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Build It And They Will Come, Eh?
(Crawfordsville, IN)- One of the current 'stimulus' spending targets is high-speed passenger rail service, and as a railfan, it caught my attention that one corridor singled out for attention is Cincinnati to Chicago, through Indianapolis. From an Indy Star report:The administration [...]
Number of comments: 1 Kole At Hoosiers For Fair Taxation
I have accepted Melyssa Donaghy's invitation, along with Indianapolis City-County Councilor Ed Coleman, and recent Congressional candidate Sean Shepard to contribute to HFFT. Here's my first post there:
For the benefit of my old hockey teammate Colin Sikon, here's the visual proof that there really is a garden, and that I'm not merely a great fiction writer. Goalies always are a little odd.
Number of comments: 1 Garden Largely Planted I got a chuckle out of the reactions to my Facebook comments that I had pretty much planted my garden, what with Fishers being relatively in the Deep South as far as all of my gardening friends back in Cleveland are concerned. Yes, we get a good [...]
Number of comments: 0 Yesterday Was Tax Freedom Day! I was surprised to learn that April 13 was 2009's Tax Freedom Day. What is that? It's the day the average American is now working for himself. Up to this point, from January 1 through April 13, every cent you earned was committed to paying [...]
Number of comments: 0 New Podcast - Libertarian Participation in Tea Parties
I sat down with Travis Zellers for the latest podcast. Travis is the membership coordinator for the Marion County Libertarian Party, and is helping to coordinate Libertarian participation in the Indianapolis Tea Party.
I will be participating in the Indianapolis Tea Party, proudly. Sure, the message isn't about 'taxation without representation' as it was in Boston back in 1773, but the spirit seems the same to me. It's about justice.
Number of comments: 1 Partisan Civil Liberties Disorder
I love political cartoons for their ability to sum up so much using so few words. Major hat tip to Varangianguard, who directed me to this very recent Matt Bors comic: This is what I've been on about lately! The' [...]
Number of comments: 1 New Podcast Posted For LPIN Weekly Podcast #19, I took a different approach, reaching outside the roster of Libertarian Party leaders and recent candidates to Doug Masson, a Lafayette blogger and lawyer who has common ground with libertarians, especially on civil liberty issues, but is not a partisan Libertarian. Several [...]
Number of comments: 1 Today's Government Spending, Graphically Explained
If reckless spending is what got us into this mess, is more spending really the answer?
As Democrats were pointing out during campaign season, one of the great hallmarks of the glorious Clinton Adminstration was the SURPLUS left behind. Anyone think' [...]
Number of comments: 1 Obama Indistinguishable From Bush, Yet Again
Civil libertarians are getting a real good look at what Obama meant by 'change'. It means, 'status quo'. Cue up that line from that Who song, and read this item from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: Friday evening, in a motion to [...]
The wolf comes wearing sheep's clothing. American newspapers are faltering for their refusal to evolve (covered in this previous post), and here comes a US Senator, offering to 'help'. From Reuters report: With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on' [...]
Number of comments: 0 The More Things Change... So, Obama has ordered more troops into Afghanistan. I get the feeling the nation could have had that by voting for McCain. From Time Magazine's article, "Obama Afghanistan Plan Breaks Old Ground":Did George Bush leave one of his old speeches in the Resolute Desk? As' [...]
Number of comments: 2 More Change You Can Believe In I might have thought that this one was made up by The Onion. Alas. The Washington Post reported this item, that should turn anyone who is half-conscious or has even a shred of intellectual honesty into a cynic: The Obama administration appears [...]
Number of comments: 5 RIP, Jonesy's Jukebox & Indie 103
You may have noticed a little set of links to the lower right under the header of "Stuff I Like". Nothing political there, just other things that brighten the world for me.
Well, sadly, Indie 103, a Los Angeles radio station, was' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Yes, We're In San Francisco Now (San Francisco, CA)- A notice was just slipped under the door by the hotel's management. It seems that there is going to be an anti-war rally and march very near to the hotel, and management wanted to let patrons know so that they could [...]
Number of comments: 1 My Mecca (San Jose, CA)- After about 30-35 road trips to see the San Jose Sharks play places other than San Jose, I finally went to the HP Pavilion, aka the Shark Tank, to see my favorite team play. It was an excellent experience! I started the evening with [...]
Number of comments: 2 Bay Area Fun (San Francisco, CA)- I have often raved about the medical profession, for their genius in placing conferences in places people actually like to visit. This stands in stark contrast to the engineering profession. I've gone to conferences in Madison, WI in January, Pittsburgh and New Jersey. No,' [...]
This week's edition of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast features 2008 candidate for governor Andy Horning. We discussed the Indiana Federalism bill vis-a-vis state sovereignty, and why he loves constitutions: rule of law vs. nation of men.
I spoke recently with Chris Spangle, the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Executive Director, about the sort of nuts-and-bolts things an executive does to run a state party.
The thing that struck me is that he's an organizational person. That's different, because when there are many' [...]
A friend who grew up in Cleveland with me sent me a link to a Time Magazine article, saying that Cleveland's only remaining daily newspaper might close, and is among the 10 most endangered US papers.
I have a twinge of sadness about that, because' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Yet Another New Podcast Posted
Beyond the petty retribution Ed Coleman received, another thing revealed was that the City-County Council may have rules that address the political parties and where they fit into the structure of power, those rules are vague at best, and at worst do little more [...]
Number of comments: 0 More Podcasting on Ed Coleman
When then-Republican City-County Councilor Ed Coleman left for the Libertarian Party, I felt 100% certain that there would be a political price for him to pay. Talking with party insiders, the general consensus was that he would probably be removed from one or more [...]
#10 features Ed Angleton, the former 2-day Jeopardy champ and recent candidate for Indiana House in Marion County's District 100. Ed contributes to the Libertarian Party of Indiana's legislative review blog, and shared his thoughts on the best and worst law before the state's' [...]
I watched the Obama speech last night, and on the whole found it pretty useless, even though it was excellent oratory. He's easily the best speech giving President in my lifetime, better than Reagan or Clinton even. Impressions:
This is a hoax, right? Mencken and the 'Bathtub Hoax', but more mean-spirited, right? From the Lafayette Journal & Courier: BUFFALO, N.Y. - Police say an upstate New York television executive who sought to improve the image of Muslims in the media beheaded his' [...]
I was discussing with a friend Bush's Shock Doctrine, as described by Naomi Klein. Darned if the tactic doesn't seem exactly what Obama used to promote the 'stimulus'.
Yesterday's Cato Daily Podcast discusses exactly this, with David Boaz citing Rahm Emanuel, Paul Krugman, and Arianna' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Podcast With Ed Coleman I was able to sit down with Ed Coleman this afternoon, to discuss his defection from the Republicans to the Libertarians. Coleman is a sitting Indianapolis City-County Councilor, who was elected 'at-large' in 2007. Link to Podcast archive.
In about an hour, sitting Indianapolis City-County Council member Ed Coleman will take the podium at a press conference, announcing his switch from the Republican Party, to the Libertarian Party. From Coleman's press release statement: This is not a decision I take lightly, nor did I' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Old Boss, New Boss Chronicles
The more I see of President Obama, the more I think he's the four-year extension of the Bush Administration McCain was supposed to be. Likewise, the Democratic Congress. I love this passage, from a NY Post article: The push to get the bill' [...]
I've added a special edition of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast, to include more dialogue from Dr. Eric Schansberg. I asked him about the prudent ways Indiana should spend the stimulus money, since it seems certain that we aren't going to pull a' [...]
Number of comments: 0 Incongruous Thoughts on Lincoln
Yesterday was Lincoln's 200th birthday, and of all the nice things said, I hadn't noticed anywhere that Abe Lincoln was once making a living in a way quite impossible to now: as a self-taught lawyer. If it was good enough to be self-taught then, [...]
Number of comments: 0 Podcast Update There are now five installments of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast available for your stimulation, and download. The most recent, just posted minutes ago, features Dr. Eric Schansberg, discussing the bailouts and stimulus, and whether the diseases might be less threatening than the cures. Here's [...]
Obama made the claim that: There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy To this, the libertarian think tank The Cato Institute created a full-page newspaper ad that ran in several papers,' [...]
President Obama is going all-in on the first hand dealt to him. That does one of two things in a poker tournament- it doubles your chip stack (political capital) or it sends you out of the tournament (see you in four years). That's a heavy' [...]
Number of comments: 4 What Would A Libertarian Do?
President Obama really alienated me last night with his press conference/sales pitch for the 'stimulus' package, going out of his way to single out people who would prefer we did little or nothing in terms of government intervention. This had to be a jab [...]
Number of comments: 0 Dog And Pony Show For Failure
It was mere months ago that Republicans were alarmists. So, what is President Obama's tone? It was mere months ago that President Bush's borrow-and-spend was failed policy. So, why are we to believe it is no longer failed policy?
Number of comments: 0 Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
Or, as The Who sang, "Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss". Then-candidate Obama was 100% correct when he described then-President Bush's bailout as 'Bush's failed economic policy of borrow-and-spend'. Unfortunately, President Obama calls the same economic policy [...]
Number of comments: 1 Let Me Tell You About My Narcissism
My friend, Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Laura DeMarco, writes a weekly entry on visitors and ex-Clevelanders returning to Cle, with their impressions of the city. She quoted me on the immigrant backgrounds of Cle vs. Indy, sausage and corned beef, and [...]
I was reminded yesterday what an unpleasant business law-making is, as I testified before a House Committee in opposition to Indiana HB 1213, which proposes a statewide smoking ban in private workplaces.
Two hours was alotted for the proponents, and then two hours for the [...]
Number of comments: 0 New Podcast The Indiana House Public Policy Committee is hearing testimony Wednesday morning on House Bill 1213, which would ban smoking in all Indiana workplaces if passed. I spoke with Chris Ward, the 2007 candidate for Lawrence Mayor in a special edition of the Libertarian Party of Indiana's' [...]
Sometimes, a picture really is worth 1,000 words. This one says a lot about the reality of it: Michael Ramirez does fine work. He appears in the Investors Business Daily, a fine newspaper if there ever was one. (h/t Duncan Adams) [...]
I generally dislike end-zone celebrations after a touchdown. I can see some exuberance after a score, especially one to end a long drive, or on a play where several tackles were broken. In that case, go ahead- spike the ball.
Number of comments: 3 Podcast Update I have now conducted two interviews for the Libertarian Party of Indiana's Weekly Podcast- one with LPIN Chair Todd Singer, and now newly elected Marion County Chair Timothy Maguire. Both had great insights to share, and I really appreciate their willingness to visit me in my 'home studio'. [...]
So, when the libertarians were saying that losers shouldn't be bailed out, because bailouts allieve them of pain, and cause them not to revise bad decision making, this is one of the things we were talking about. From the NY Post: High-flying Citigroup executives, trying desperately' [...]
The Libertarian Party of Indiana has been reviewing legislation being proposed in the state House & Senate for the past several sessions, and 2009 is no exception. A slew of bills have already been reviewed, and while the cynic might expect Libertarians to be opposed to all [...]
I had been mulling about for sometime on what to do next in my effort to promote liberty, and rather than running for another office, I kept returning to broadcast media. Being in studio last week with Abdul-Hakim Shabazz on WXNT for the State of the State [...]