"Characters"

Some very dear friends of mine, over the years, have come to believe some rather crazy things. For those wondering, here is a primer of things that people believe that are not true:

• The government is not creating a weather machine;
• There is no PBS conspiracy to turn your kids gay;
• There are no secret socialist messages contained in the facades of historic buildings;
• Obama was never going to come for your guns

The list goes on, but I think my general point holds. It is interesting to note, now, that one of the foremost purveyors of what can colloquially be called "crazy shit" has now stated in open court that he does not believe anything he says.

At a recent pretrial hearing, attorney Randall Wilhite told state District Judge Orlinda Naranjo that using his client Alex Jones’ on-air Infowars persona to evaluate Alex Jones as a father would be like judging Jack Nicholson in a custody dispute based on his performance as the Joker in “Batman.”

“He’s playing a character,” Wilhite said of Jones. “He is a performance artist.”

So, what I am to understand from this is that Alex Jones is no more a crazy right-wing conspirator than Mick Jagger is a street-fighting man. He doesn't believe a word of what he's saying, regardless of all the people he influences who believe him, chapter and verse?

Irony Alert: I don't listen to Alex Jones if I can help it, but I have heard enough right-wing bloviation over the years to hear my fair share of lectures about how (insert hip hop/rock n' roll/popular culture/liberalism) is a rot on our culture and the purveyors of this rot are cynically exploiting and hurting our society to make money. Hmmmmm. Perhaps he's not the only cynical member of the right-wing infotainment complex. I'd comment on the left-wing infotainment complex, but this is IN and there is no such thing here.

Anyway, I can't help but wonder who's cynically exploiting whom? And who is being exploited?

As my first boss in litigation told me, if you look around the room and can't figure out who the sucker is, it's you.

Any thoughts, dear reader, on Limbaugh, Hannity, Garrison, Glenn Beck, Pat Miller (in Ft. Wayne), Abdul Hakeem Shabaz, etc.?

Easter and the Decline of Religion

It is a beautiful day today. Happy Easter! I have been thinking about the general decline in religiosity in America recently, and I have a theory for why so many people have been turned off from church: partisan politics and certain churches' embrace thereof.

I don't go to church to be told that my liberal views disqualify me from heaven. I'm sure my conservative friends feel much the same.

Of course, this is not an indictment of all, or even most, churches. However, it is an indictment of some of the loudest voices in the room, so to speak. When Ralph Reed, or some other know-nothing jackass, purports to tell me that my behavior disqualifies me from the life everlasting, I am offended; particularly when this charlatan can't be bothered to speak out about Donald Trump's series of marriages and general habit of screwing people over.

My own church is remarkably abstinent when it comes to hot-button political issues: no talk of guns or abortion; prayers for peace; etc. This is not to say that my church doesn't address difficult subjects, but it is an equal-opportunity scold. Not everything is the fault of godless liberals or heartless conservatives. We are all terrible in our own unique ways.

Some thoughts, scattered and incomplete per usual.

Thoughts on United Airlines Video

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you have no doubt at least heard about this video:

No doubt, this video is shocking and appalling. I have seen an interesting explanation for why this is necessary on Vox, written by Matt Yglesias (a fine writer who I cannot recommend highly enough).

However, I have some thoughts on the practice of overbooking in general that differ somewhat from Yglesias' explanation for why this was "necessary."

Necessity aside, I think that there was a simple market solution to this: offer people more money to give up their seats. If nobody is willing to get off the plane for $100, offer $200. If that doesn't work, offer $300, and so on and so forth. Sooner or later, the price will get to the point where somebody is willing to accept the offer. Problem solved.

If offering so much money for a passenger to give up a seat on a flight renders the practice of overbooking unprofitable, GOOD! STOP OVERBOOKING!

I recognize that running a profitable airline is difficult, but so is running a profitable lawncare service or law firm. Difficulties in a business model do not confer on a business the right to unilaterally rescind contracts with, or assault, its customers.

If the free market is as magical as people say, perhaps that magic needs to work for all people, not just wealthy incumbent economic actors. In other words, don't preach the virtue of the free market when it's convenient only to disregard the vice of the market when such vice invariably rears its ugly head. Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander, etc.

Possible Parking Solution

For all of the talk about the Wilshaw and the possible parking problems it will create, it seems to me that the debate could be more constructive if we focus less on recriminations and more on offering solutions. Here is but one solution among many that occurs to me: Speedway public transit.

We could have a "free" streetcar/trolley that runs basically from McGilvery's to Big Woods in the evening and on the weekends. The trolley could go through the neighborhoods, perhaps once per half hour, between 6 and 10 p.m. during the week and 5 and midnight on the weekends. How much could that really cost? Inasmuch as people want to come to Main St. and dine, drink, etc., they could park essentially anywhere in Speedway and be transported to their destination of choice. Similarly, any resident of Speedway could simply hop on the trolley and be taken across town: no parking concerns, no drinking and driving concerns.

Taken a step further, I see no reason why the free market couldn't provide this service as well, though they would have to limit service and charge fares. A free market solution would likely just run from Kroger to Main St., as Kroger has an abundance of parking. That would be more directed at visitors only, whereas the public trolley would also benefit residents.

A flawed and not-fully-developed plan to be sure, but ideas have a way of refining themselves over time.

Some food for thought.

Civic Participation

As a follow up to my post about the Board of Zoning Appeals, I can't help but think that people don't participate in civic matters largely because such matters are so fragmented.

As an example, I believe that Meadowood Park has no fewer than 20 trees that need to be cut down, as they are dead and represent a hazard. How do I get that to happen?

Do I go to a town council meeting?

Do I talk to the Speedway Town Trustee?

Do I speak with the town manager?

Parks Department?

It is likely that there are possibilities that I am missing, but I think the point is clear. There are so many conflicting and different layers to government bureaucracy that most people just throw their hands up and decide not to participate.

I could say something similar with respect to elections. How many people actively learn about the town councilors they vote for? How many people could name all 5, or even a majority, of them? How many people just blindly pull the lever for their preferred party? Not to mention, why do we need elections 3 out of every 4 years? We just had a presidential election. I am not aware of any 2017 elections, but the 2018 election will determine ongoing control of congress. 2019 will see the election of a new mayor in Indianapolis and a new town council in Speedway. Is there any reason why our town council election is not held on the day of the presidential election? Certainly that would boost voter turnout; perhaps that's why it's not held on that day. I don't know.

More scattered thoughts on why, perhaps, people are discouraged from actively participating in their own democracy.

Wilshaw, Board of Zoning Appeals, and "Inside Baseball"

So, last night, the Speedway Board of Zoning Appeals held a hearing on 5 specific variances that the developers of the Wilshaw wanted from local zoning codes.

While I tended to disagree with the remonstrators' comments against the development, one thing that I noted was the difficulty of being heard in the right forum about the right topic.

Frankly, I don't know what the solution is. However, I noted that most citizens who spoke up about their concerns were not doing so in the right forum . . . they all wanted to discuss the bond that was under consideration a few weeks ago. To the contrary, the meeting was about five specific things that the Wilshaw developers wanted to do that were technically in violation of local zoning ordinances. The meeting had nothing to do with the bond, and the Board of Zoning Appeals does not (to my knowledge) have anything to do with floating bonds.

I understand the frustrations felt by people who feel like the game is rigged and show up to meetings that sound like so much "inside baseball" to the average citizen and provide little opportunity for input or feedback, as the meetings are about specific, discrete issues.

About that Pesky "Private" Property Thing

There has been some discussion recently on Nextdoor about what to do regarding the eyesore strip mall that extends from PetSmart, through Kroger, and all the way to Donato's and the Speedway Chamber of Commerce.

As much as I'd love to suggest things the Town could do, unfortunately, hands are basically tied.

I read an interesting article out of northwest Indiana recently about similar troubles. I highly recommend it.

A few highlights:

With Kmart closing its Merrillville location in December, town officials are concerned what will happen with the vacant building. 

How long that building at 101 Lincoln Highway will go unused is unpredictable. A Kmart building near 95th Avenue and U.S. 41 in St. John has been unoccupied since October 2012. 

Sounds hauntingly familiar, no?

Officials in both towns might look into what Valparaiso did when the city faced a similar situation with a former Walmart at U.S. 30 and Ind. 49. That structure remained vacant for a long time before being torn down. A Tractor Supply Co. store was eventually built in its space in 2005.

 

Valparaiso city officials around that time decided to create a Big Box Abandonment Prevention ordinance that includes a plan of action in which the owner of the property must meet with the city and file a plan of action for reuse of the property. It includes maintaining the property, reuse of the site by the existing owner or active remarketing of the facility.

The ordinance, which Valparaiso has not had to put to use, states the property owner must file monthly reports with the city that detail, among other things, listing agents for the property, maintenance activities to prevent blight and decay, and improvement activities related to reuse of the property. Failure to file this plan, a binding contract with the city, would mean the city could provide notice of its intent to condemn and demolish the property and charging all costs to the owner. 

Often lost in the discussion of how to develop land as quickly as possible is what happens when the structures near the end of their useful life? Rest assured, property owners want to squeeze every last bit of value out of structures before tearing them down. I can't blame them, but when that desire results in costs that the property owner does not bear, then there is a problem.

Kil said the Kmart property is owned by Garden Properties in New Jersey, and they have no plans to sell it. He said he was told by one of its representatives that it is the policy and business plan of their company to not sell their properties. 

"They will only enter into long-term leases with what they consider to be blue chip tenants," he said. "They are willing to sit on properties for decades if that's what it takes."

Kil said he was given an example of a vacant property the company owns in Chicago's northwest suburbs that "took them 10 years to lease." 

"Their policy is real clear," he said.

When contacted by The Times, Garden Properties said there was no update regarding Kmart and they had no other comments.

It seems to me that there ought to be a mechanism in place whereby a community can force a property owner, be it a homeowner or the owner of a big box store, to maintain property in a manner so as to not negatively affect the surrounding properties or be subject to condemnation. In the case of a home, that probably means such things as keep the grass mowed. When it comes to retail space, that probably includes keeping the place generally occupied. It seems that this would compel all property owners to tend to their belongings or risk losing them.

These are scattered thoughts, of course. However, they seem pertinent in light of ongoing efforts to improve Speedway. Not only do we want it to be nice for 2017 and 2018, but also for 2030 and 2050.

Short-sightedness is no virtue.

Guitars (nerdy)

Please bear with me.

I don't know if anyone reading this gets into guitars, but there is and has been an ongoing debate between what I will, as shorthand, call the Les Paul crowd and the Strat crowd. I might even broaden it to the Humbuckers vs. the Strats.

On the humbucker side, we have all of the big Les Paul guitars that were ever made, by and large. We have most of the hollow-body and semi-hollow guitars, including the one and only Lucille (B.B. King). We also have the Flying V, Explorer, and Thunderbird. All of these are fine guitars with big, fat sounds. Such legends as Duane Allman, the aforementioned B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Jimmy Paige, Slash, Billy Gibbons, Ace Frehley, Angus Young, Albert King, Tony Iommi, Lonnie Mack, Randy Rhoads, the list goes on and on and on and on . . . they all played humbuckers, almost exclusively. It is perhaps one of the pinnacle achievements of man to listen to the sound of a good humbucker through a vintage tube amplifier with just the right amount of reverb and distortion (and maybe just a pinch of delay).

Then, there's the Strat.

As an initial matter, lets all agree that the Strat is not just the Stratocaster but instead is the world of tinny, single-coil, slappy, twangy guitars out there, particularly including the Telecaster. It also encompasses the world of wannabe single-coil Strat/Tele style guitars on the market. This is much more so than with humbuckers because the humbucker either achieves its end or it doesn't. One of the amazing things about the single-coil guitar is its ability to paper over other flaws in the guitar by virtue of its tone.

Strats tend to sound better clean than dirty also. As above, the sound that one can produce via some reverb and just the right amount of delay is a wonderful thing. Strat/Tele afficionados include such lightweights as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmore, Mark Knopfler, Buddy Holly, Keith Richards (Telecaster), Waylon Jennings (Telecaster), and on and on and on.

The electric guitar is something in which America can and should take great pride.

Sen. Donnelly (D-IN)

Soon-to-be ex-Senator Joe Donnelly will not be receiving my vote in November, 2018. I would rather vote for my neighbor, or brother, or that crazy Tea Party/Trump guy I saw in front of the statehouse the other day. At least they have a spine.

Joe Donnelly does not.

I can't think of one instance of Joe Donnelly standing up for progressive values. Gun Control? Obamacare? Crickets.

Now, he has indicated that he will refuse to stand with the Democratic filibuster of the stolen nomination of Neil Gorsuch. Let's never forget that the American people decided who they wanted to choose Supreme Court Justices in 2016 . . . in November, 2012. For those who forget easily, that person was President Obama. He nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Mitch McConnell et al decided that didn't count. Joe Donnelly is now complicit in this.

You own it Joe, but you will never again own my vote.

Your cowardice will garner you not a single vote from those who would fault you for filibustering this stolen nomination.

It will, however, earn you a "present" vote from me. I doubt I'll vote for your opponent, but how can I vote for you, Sen. Donnelly, when I know that you refuse to stand up for progressive values when it counts? Either you disagree with me on foundational issues (i.e. stolen Supreme Court nominations) or you simply refuse to stand up for what is right.

Neither rationale convinces me that I should vote for you. So I won't.

Prayers in School

I watched Indiana Lawmakers last night, and there was a very thoughtful discussion about prayer in school. As a former educator, I have some thoughts on this topic.

For starters, the Indiana General Assembly needs to stop addressing the issue (seemingly every session). Moving targets are hard to hit, and changing rules make for difficult compliance.

Also, most advocates on any side of the issue need to be mindful of a few parameters.

First, because a school is a government institution, it has to be careful that it does not suppress students' right to religion. This means that students can pray in their own time and space; students can do projects on religion to the degree that they want to; they can write essays about their religious experience; and the bible can be used as a primary source for literature lessons, should students choose to use it.

Of course, there's also another side to that coin.

Again, a school is a governmental institution and it needs to be careful that it does not endorse any particular religion or selectively allow student religious expression. To the degree that a school allows for students to write about their religious experience, this becomes problematic when the school allows the Christian student to express religion but disallows the Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu student from doing so. Further, the school itself can not be seen to be endorsing religion. This includes such things as having explicitly Christian-oriented events, i.e. a "Christmas" program.

We need to be mindful of the balance, and I believe that 50 years' worth of 1st amendment jurisprudence is reasonably clear.

I could write much more on this, i.e. perhaps it's inappropriate for the Speedway Town Council to conduct official prayer sessions? However, this is a fraught topic and it seems that the more it's discussed, the less people agree on it.

On Free Speech

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech; or the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
U.S. Constitution, 1st Amendment (1791)

There was a post recently on Nextdoor where, once again, someone spoke of the right to free speech as though it is an absolute positive right, when indeed, as the text of the amendment itself shows, it is a negative right exercisable against the government and nobody else.

Facebook can censor you, as can the Indianapolis Star, Nextdoor.com, and the guy who refuses to let you use his microphone to broadcast your crazy views. None of these abridge your right to free speech, as guaranteed by the 1st amendment. It's only when the government does so that it becomes a problem.

There are numerous aspects to this concept, and this is only one of them. However, please bear in mind that the government can't pass a law to suppress your views, but any private organization under the sun can suppress your views to their hearts' content.

Speaking of Grocery Stores & How Terrible Kroger Is

My wife went to Fresh Thyme the other day in Avon. Frankly, had she told me beforehand, I probably would have discouraged this, as I have always kind of believed that Fresh Thyme was kind of like Whole Paycheck Foods, in that they cherrypicked their produce from their distributors and charged an exorbitant premium for that.

I was wrong.

She told me about the following things that distinguished Fresh Thyme from our beloved local dumpster fire Kroger.

1. There was an employee monitoring the parking lot and ensuring that it was kept clean. Please note the distinction between that conscientious practice and the practice of our local Kroger . . . letting trash build up ad nauseum and cleaning up approximately once per year.
2. Employees in every section looking for a reason to help. Again, I note the contrast with our local Kroger, who somehow manages to position employees in the middle of every aisle, stocking shelves, at the busiest times of the week. I mean, I'm no expert here, but it would seem to make sense to have your stocking operations done overnight, when the store has minimal customers. On the other hand, you could be like Kroger and do so at noon on Saturday and around 6 o'clock on week nights.
3. Employees who are actually trying to help. I don't know if it's a management issue with Kroger or difficulty finding quality employees at the wage they pay, but their employees seem to be surly (not always, but often). Fresh Thyme's employees actually made an effort to help customers. Quite a change.

This post could go on for days if I started enumerating all that is wrong with Kroger. Suffice it to say, something needs to change in that shopping center. When the people in the immediate vicinity don't want to shop at Kroger and instead will drive nearly a half hour to go shopping, there's a problem.

Trashy

The word just stings, doesn't it?

"Trashy."

It burns me up when people refer to Speedway as "trashy." It burns me up even more when people make Speedway "trashy." Just today, there was a post on Nextdoor.com about trash blowing through the parking lot at the Speedway Supercenter (where Kroger is).

A photo:

Credit: Greg Smith

How hard is it for Kroger to have an employee empty the garbage can? How long could it possibly take? It's not as though it's a mystery what happens when garbage cans overflow.

To be fair, of course, how hard is it for people to just wait until they can find someplace to throw their trash away where it is not a certainty that the trash will simply wind up on the ground? How hard is it for people to take some responsibility for the community in which they live? That starts with throwing trash away in the proper place.

I have no idea who the problem is. I have seen rants on Nextdoor about people simply dropping their trash anywhere they want, throwing cigarette butts on the ground, etc.

To all concerned (the store owners, the commercial landlord, those who litter): Things are the way they are because you are the way you are. Picking up your trash is not someone else's responsibility. It is yours. If you don't respect your own property and your own community, how can you ever expect anyone else to respect it?

It's called pride, people. Take some. While we're at it, they're called clues: get one.

Hoosier BBQ

I have nothing but good things to say about Bourbon & Barbecue. I am super impressed by their local beer list, as well as their bourbon list. As far as their BBQ goes, I tell people that it is sufficient. This is Indiana, not Kansas City or Texas. We don't fetishize BBQ here the way they do there. Nonetheless, I think Bourbon & Barbecue holds up well to every other place in the city.

But this post is not about Barbecue & Bourbon. This post is about Speedway. I think that we need a Barbecue competition in Speedway; it would be especially awesome if we could do some sort of a Pro-Am tournament.

I think that this would help create community cohesiveness, and could be a vehicle whereby the community raises money for some good cause or another. I imagine having a dozen or so entrants in Leonard or Meadowood Park, or maybe along Main Street; engage a few rock n' roll bands to play; have a brewery or two serve beer.

I imagine having 3-4 categories of competition: ribs, chicken, pulled pork, brisket. I, for one, would definitely enter some pulled pork, and maybe some chicken. As far as the money goes, perhaps the contestants pay an entry fee and the people who come to the competition either buy a plate or pay a "judge's fee" so that they can have samples of all the different entrants and vote thereupon. Perhaps we could engage IMS or Allison as corporate partners to help underwrite.

As far as the "prize," I think it would be more of a bragging rights prize than anything. I don't imagine we would be able to involve enough money to make it "worth" the money for people who would only do this for the money. As for me, I'd rather have a trophy that gets passed around every year and the bragging rights that go along with it than a hundred bucks or so.

Just a thought on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Speedway Farmers' Market

The "farmers' market" or "market in the park" in Meadowood Park is over.

What took it this long to die?

Don't get me wrong, I believe that Speedway needs and deserves to have a good farmers' market. Maybe it would be even better to have it somewhere indoors . . . perhaps one of the schools?

Speedway is a small town that seems to be rather tight knit; there is more enthusiasm here for supporting local business than any of the (many) other places I've lived over the years. So, reason no. 1 for a Speedway Farmer's Market? Speedway would support it.

Many would say, "But they didn't support the one at Meadowood Park . . .". They would be right, but there is a reason people didn't support the one at Meadowood. For starters, it was only once per month. How can you develop a habit of doing something only once per month, for one season a year? In other words, how can I make a habit of something I do four times a year? That's not a habit; that's a few isolated, repeated behaviors.

Second, Sunday? Really? Sunday is a day to be home with the family, go to church, etc. Saturday is the day for errands. That's why kids' swim lessons are on Saturday. That's why the city market has its downtown market on Saturday. Need I go on?

Third, because it is only once a month and, thus, I can't make a habit of it, so too is its rarity preclusive to vendors' making a habit of attending. People vend at farmers' markets because they want the money. Once a month is a hobby. Once a week is an income source.

In sum, I believe that Speedway would support a farmers' market. I believe that the reason the market in Meadowood didn't garner sufficient support is that it was too rare, both for vendors and customers, and it was on Sunday. I would love to see Speedway to a farmers' market. Perhaps in the parking lot at Kroger? It's an enormous waste of space parking lot.

I have read that Carol Wellman is starting a community garden group. Perhaps she has something in the offing? I certainly hope it goes over well.