The holidays are an indulgent time, so I spoil myself here with a bit of political economy. By way of background, I think it is now obvious that significant changes to our economy have wreaked havoc with our political coalitions. While this itself isn't necessarily a bad development, it is something we will reckon with for years to come, so deserves some reflection. I'll focus primarily on the conservative coalition, because it experiences the most disruption. Wednesday, January 6, 2021
When someone is born, most of the time, they are lovingly given their name by their parents or another loved one. Our names set the tone for our unique, individual personalities.
1,200+ Karens that I've had the privilege to get to know are intelligent, kind and caring people.
However, now that our name has been hijacked, we are being viciously attacked - verbally, mentally and even physically. Wednesday, January 6, 2021
In 1930, Zula Nicely wrote an "Open Letter" to the Plain Dealer-Republican (the newspaper now known at the North Vernon Plain Dealer). In that Thursday, October 30 newspaper, she wrote about her candidacy for Center Township Trustee, running on the Republican Party. During the course of the campaign, her opponent, a Mr. Fall, had apparently made some remarks about how "a woman cannot perform the duties of Township Trustee."
We learned about this local talent through helping compile our list of 100 Prominent Women of Jennings County celebrated in the Dec. 31, 2020 Plain Dealer & Sun with a special four-page pull-out in Section B. Jennings County Economic Development Director Kathy Ertel proposed this project earlier this year as a way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women suffrage. Wednesday, December 30, 2020
You can put our name down to receive either of the two vaccines that are or will soon be available, although it will, apparently, be a long wait.
We put our data into a news survey that calculates where in line we would be go receive the protective medicine and discovered that here in Indiana, there are over 2.5 million people ahead of us and that here in Jennings County, we would be 19,000th in line. Wednesday, December 16, 2020
They didn't want to do it because who really wants to ask other adults to do things they apparently do not want to do.
Who wants to be described as bullies, or worst yet, be described as Nazi-like for imposing restrictions on what some feel are their Constitutionally protected liberties?
Who wants to wear a mask, practice social distancing, stay at home and not even go out Christmas shopping?
But then, again, who wants to end up on a ventilator?
Who wants this to be their last holiday season?
Who wants to feel guilty the rest of their lives for maybe infecting a loved one because you just hated wearing a face covering while grocery shopping?
Good questions. Timely questions. Wednesday, December 2, 2020
If you were hoping that this was going to be the year of government action to lower prescription drug prices, I'm here to say that is not going to happen - even though the House of Representatives passed far-reaching legislation almost a year ago that would allow Medicare to begin negotiating drug prices for beneficiaries. Wednesday, November 18, 2020
We think a lot of issues with vote counting our president expressed this past week would be easily solved if he would come out of the White House and talk with some of the very people he is accusing of misdeeds and corruption that in his mind results in voter fraud. Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Where is the hope for the Middle East? No matter how hard we try, it is hard to find grounds for optimism about the future of this troubled region. The Middle East has been a focus of American foreign policy for decades. The time, talent, and resources that the United States has spent on challenges in the Middle East are staggering, and the progress only modest. Wednesday, November 4, 2020
We have a new hero among our roster of public officials we admire and respect here in Jennings County. We've covered quite a few governmental meetings over the years we have been reporting news, with most of our attention in government being focused on the City of North Vernon.
