Hermeneutics & HJR-3
I’m working on a post to recap what was said during yesterday’s Senate Rules Committee hearing on HJR-3, which would enshrine discrimination against LGBT Hoosiers in our state’s constitution. But I wanted to comment on a specific religious idea that…
The marginally-less-discriminatory amendment
Last night, the Indiana House voted 52-43 to amend HJR 3, the proposed anti-LGBT constitutional amendment. That vote strips the second sentence from the amendment, which read: A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried…
Is Todd Young just too thoughtful?
Matt Tully’s latest column in the Indianapolis Star is a hagiographic profile of 9th District Republican Congressman Todd Young. U.S. Rep. Todd Young’s biggest problem, at least on Capitol Hill, might be that he is too thoughtful and too rational….
Moving forward on Indiana’s constitutional amendment
Last night, the Elections and Apportionment Committee voted to approve HJR 3, the anti-LGBT constitutional amendment, along with its companion “explainer” bill. All 9 Republicans on the committee voted in favor of the bills, and asked few — if any…
Juxtaposition: Indiana & Guns
Today, 21-year old Andrew Boldt was shot and killed at Purdue University. Police have arrested Cody Cousins in connection with his murder. The campus was locked down as a result of the shooting, with students told to shelter in place….
Martin Luther King, Jr. and a revolution of values
From Dr. King’s book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, 1967: America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing to prevent us…
Coincidences and chemical spills
On the morning of Thursday, January 9, residents of Charleston, West Virginia complained about a licorice-like chemical smell. Within a few hours, West Virginia officials identified the source of the leak as the Freedom Industries chemical storage site. The chemical…
Juxtaposition: Criminal behavior
One made hundreds of millions of dollars running complicated financial scams and played a major role in the California energy crisis of 2000. The other is a nun who spent 40 years as a schoolteacher in western Africa before becoming…
How Indiana’s Senators voted on the gun-safety bills
Earlier this week, Indiana Senator Dan Coats joined 28 other Republicans (and 2 “Democrats”) in attempting to filibuster the gun safety law (specifically, the “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013”) working its way through the Senate. Coats justified his…
The costs of the Iraq War, 10th anniversary edition
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the US’ invasion of Iraq. A new study by Brown University’s “Cost of War” project tallies the costs of the war, finding the total cost of the Iraq conflict to be devastating: at least…
