.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Friday, March 31, 2006

Fort Wayne Air Guardsman Quoted Regarding TARS

That would be the Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System (TARS pod) on Air National Guard F-16's. Its use is described as "provide high-quality still imagery to ground commanders to help them achieve their tactical objectives."

This is from a release prepared by Major John S. Hutcheson of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. He writes:
"Many of the images being used by the ground guys for mission planning are Falcon View satellite images that are often dated," said Lt. Col. Kerry Gentry, commander of the 332nd and member of the New Jersey Air National Guard. "A lot can change over time in terms of new construction of buildings and roads. We can provide our JTACs and other ground forces up-to-date, high-resolution images they need to execute their missions."

Just how good is the resolution? The TARS pod is the equivalent of a 36-megapixel camera, said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Fisher, 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and a guardsman from the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, Ind.

To put that in perspective, most handheld digital cameras range between two and five megapixels. The resolution of the TARS images, however, is only one of its advantages.
"The camera in the TARS pod has the ability to rotate in order to shoot at angles you can't get any other way from the air -- doorways, windows, sides of buildings," said Tech. Sgt. Stephen Holt, noncommissioned officer in charge of imagery operations with the 332nd EFS. "This type of imagery of entry and exit points can be invaluable to a ground commander planning a raid on a house or other building."

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Lyn Nofziger Has Died

"There are many things in America worth conserving. But I am one of those conservatives who believes the most important of those things is liberty. Without liberty, without individual freedom, what is left to conserve isn't worth all that much." -- Lyn Nofziger

Lyn Nofziger, a top aide to Ronald Reagan from the Governorship of California to the White House, has died.

Mr. Nofziger was one of the key and constant figures in the rise of Ronald Reagan. He has suffered from cancer. Mr. Nofziger, who maintained a weblog, appears to have made his last entry in late November.

Lyn Nofziger was always irreverent and that irreverance was reflected in his weblog. He wrote on the main page:
I'm Lyn Nofziger and this is my website.

If you're looking for a female exhibitionist with a digital camera you've come to the wrong place.

On the other hand, if you want some conservative opinion laced with exasperation, an occasional limerick or other piece of doggerel, or are interested in the books I have written you're in the right place.


Saturday, March 25, 2006

Sowell Says Wabash College's Rogge an Inspiration

The eminent economist and social commentator Thomas Sowell has cited the late Wabash College Professor Ben Rogge as an inspiration.

Sowell's comments were made in an interview with Jason L. Riley of the Wall Street Journal published on the WSJ editorial page on Saturday, March 25th.

Riley wrote: The idea to apply economic concepts to racial issues came, says Mr. Sowell, from the late Benjamin Rogge, who taught economics at Wabash College in Indiana. "I was at Cornell, and Ben Rogge came on campus to give a talk called 'The Welfare State Against the Negro.' I happened to be out of town, so when I got back I wrote him a letter that said I heard you gave this talk and that you're going to write a book on the same theme. I said it's really amazing that no one's thought of this before because there's so much material out there. At this point [in the late '60's] I had no thought that I would ever touch it myself."

The two became friends over the years and "it occurred to Ben that he was never going to write that book. And so Ben Rogge took his manuscript and simply handed it to me and said do with it whatever you can. I was flabbergasted. I don't think I ever used anything directly from his manuscript. But the fundamental idea that you could apply economics to racial issues - that was the inspiration."

Monday, March 13, 2006

Canadian Humorist Stuart McLean to be in Goshen

A man the Elkhart Truth calls the 'Garrison Keillor of the North' will be coming to Goshen, Indiana, on April 29th for a benefit comedy concert. The program featuring Canadian humorist Stuart McLean will take place at the Goshen College of Music.

The full story also contains a video clip of McLean. From the Truth:
...McLean tells stories that revolve around Dave, a former rock-band road manager now the proprietor of the world’s smallest record store, The Vinyl Café; Morley, his wife; and their children, Sam and Stephanie.
The Truth reports that McLean's CBC radio show, The Vinyl Café, has 700,000 listeners each week. The show has been carried by the Indianapolis public radio station WFYI FM 90.1 since the beginning of the year.

Indiana Policy Review and The Simpsons

A Simpson-Watching Law Professor Asseses Our Constitutional Literacy

By Nicole Garnett

Here is something bound to keep late-night comics busy: A recent poll revealed that Americans apparently know more about the television cartoon series “The Simpsons” than about the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Only one in four respondents could name more than one of the rights protected by the First Amendment; only one in 1,000 could name all of them. Yet more than half of the respondents could name two members of the Simpson family, and 22 percent could name all five. The poll also found that more Americans can name three American Idol judges than three First Amendment rights.

These results have produced much tongue clucking in certain circles, as polls of a certain genre (that is, those designed to reveal that Americans are dumb) often do. A spokesman for the McCormick-Tribune Freedom Museum, which conducted the poll, observed, for example, that “part of our mission is to clear up these misconceptions … It means we have our job cut out for us.”

I confess that I am a Simpsons-watching law professor. I not only can name the members of the Simpson family (and of the supporting cast), but, if pressed, I could come close to reciting the First Amendment verbatim. (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”)

I must admit that the poll doesn’t trouble me too much. Most Americans have a healthy understanding of their basic liberties: The fact 38 percent of the respondents mistook the protection against self-incrimination for a First-Amendment right (it actually is protected by the Fifth Amendment) is a case in point: Most people know that the police cannot make you talk.

Similarly, I doubt that many Americans fail to realize that our Constitution protects the freedom of the press, guarantees the right to free worship, and permits us to complain to — and about — the government.

Nor are Americans shy about exercising those rights vigorously.

Consider the response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kelo vs. New London, which permitted a city to condemn private homes and transfer them to a private developer as part of an economic development project. The opinion set off a popular firestorm that has left state and federal legislators scrambling to craft new laws that would limit the power of eminent domain. By the end of current legislative sessions, it is likely that many states will have imposed legislatively the very restrictions that the Supreme Court refused to impose judicially in Kelo.

Of course, my non-Simpson-watching colleagues might argue that the reaction to Kelo is yet more indication that the Americans are unsophisticated — after all, the decision was not inconsistent with prior legal precedents.

I take a different, more hopeful lesson from the public reaction to Kelo. Americans understand the basics: We know that property rights are important and also that we have the right to petition our elected leaders to take steps necessary to protect those rights.

Of course, many people probably don’t know that the constitutional protection of property rights is insinuated in the Fifth Amendment (along with the privilege against self-incrimination — go figure), but we know enough to guarantee a healthy democracy. And that is hardly a cause for concern.

Nicole Stelle Garnett is a professor at the Notre Dame School of Law. She is an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation.

Indiana Parley publishes this column with the permission of the Indiana Policy Review.


Robert Rouse: The Project

Robert Rouse of Fort Wayne publishes a weblog called Left of Centrist and is a peace activist. He can be found on the first Saturday of each month among a band of sign-carrying anti-war protesters on the sidewalk of the Courthouse Green along Clinton Street. "Support Our Troops" stand opposite the protesters on the east side of Clinton.

He made a change in his weblog design over the weekend. The most notable changes being a change to a red (natch) background and a header with a photo seemingly like an eye peeking through a keyhole. Mr. Rouse added this note:
I realize I failed to post anything yesterday - the "On this date in Beatles History" you see below had the date changed for continuity. I've been a little busy with a project (details of the project coming in the next week), but I'll try to make up for it by staying a little more on target.
Well, the project is still under wraps. However, it's not what IP thought it was. Indiana Parley speculated that the 'project' is a protest on Monument Circle next weekend which will include various anti-war groups from around the state. It's not that; it's something closer to home.

The Indianapolis Star had reported today:
Members of at least 10 groups have joined forces to host a statewide rally for peace on Monument Circle from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday [March 18].

[...]

Speakers will include former U.S. Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr., D-Indianapolis; author and attorney Sheila Suess Kennedy; writer and columnist Pamela Taylor; and Bill Stant, Green Party candidate for Indiana secretary of state.

Sponsors include Progressive Indiana; Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center; Veterans for Peace Chapter 49; Indiana Peace and Justice Network; Bloomington Peace Action Coalition; Earth-Solar Technologies; Plowshares; Code Pink-Fort Wayne; Common Bonds; and SAGE (Student Advocates for Global Equality at IUPUI).

Sunday, March 12, 2006

ChiTrib Features St. Meinrad Monastery


Fort Wayne blogger Amy Welborn points her readers to the Chicago Tribune travel feature on St Meinrad's Academy in Ferdinand, Indiana.

Ms. Welborn publishes the nationally recognized weblog open book.
The monastery, with its Byzantine-Romanesque buildings that include an 87-foot-high domed church, is one of the largest communities of Benedictine sisters in this country. In 1867, four nuns of the Benedictine St. Walburga Abbey in Eichstaett, Bavaria, were lured here to educate the area's many Catholic immigrants by the dense forests that reminded them of their native land.

Des Moines Register on the Buzz in New Castle for Alford

The game is over and Indiana University doesn't advance in the Big Ten Tourney. Yet, those who follow the Big Ten won't stop talking about I.U. until a new coach is named.

Folks in Iowa are wondering if they'll be losing their coach. The Des Moines Register went to New Castle, Indiana, to chronicle the buzz about Steve Alford possibly returning to Indiana to coach the Hoosiers.

Alford began his college head coaching career at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana.

Mike Pence a "major surprise" in Michigan Straw Poll

The Republican Michigander weblog reported on a 2008 Presidential "straw poll" conducted among attendees at the Livingston County Lincoln Day Dinner. The weblog's author found unexpected support for U.S. Representative Mike Pence.

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence was a major surprise. There is a significant Pence 2008 movement, but it is nearly exclusively in the blogging world. The most common question asked about him was "Who’s Mike Pence?" However, those that knew him, was liked him.

He is the chair of the Republican Study Committee in the house, which is the conservative caucus. The Republican Study Committee last week introduced a balanced budget based on the 1995 Contract With America. If the bloggers are successful in drafting him for president, he could be a strong dark horse candidate with the current overspending in Washington.

Representative Pence is from Indiana's Sixth Congressional District. The district includes Adams and Wells Counties as well as parts of southern Allen County.

Livingston County, Michigan, is located just north of Ann Arbor. The county seat is Howell.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Pulliam Profiles Mark Souder for Indy Star

Contents of this post have been moved to Fort Wayne Observed here.

The comments of Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard were determined to comport more closely with the readership of FWOb.

Commenters may wish to leave a comment on the new post by linking above.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Poll Results

Results for the "straw poll" conducted on Fort Wayne Observed and Indiana Parley can be viewed by visiting "Primary Straw Poll Results."

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Oyez! Oyez! The Polls are Now Closed

The online polls conducted jointly on the weblogs Indiana Parley and Fort Wayne Observed are now closed.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

The results will be posted this afternoon.

Again, we note that the polls are not scientific. At best, the poll results represent only those persons who braved the wilds to reach either of the two weblogs.

Voters were able to cast a vote every 24 hours. Serial voting may tend to exaggerate differences in vote totals between candidates.

Be careful in operating heavy machinery after viewing the poll results.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Bloggers' Notes

A Recommendation of a New Weblog; Another Fort Wayne Weblog Goes Blank Temporarily

Indiana Parley likes to recommend new weblogs in the area that feature voices that you may not hear any other way. That's why I urge you to view the weblog "J. Long Nation."

The author has a great post on what it's like to work at a fast-food restaurant. He has some pointed comments about the cordiality of dashboad diners.

The post is really a good "slice-of-life" example of what happens when a blogger writes about his or her own experiences in the world. Ignore some of the spelling glitches; the author will get that more polished over time. (Ditching the the closing line could be one of the first improvements he makes.)

The other item is about Fort Wayne Indiana etc. As I write this, the site is down. Some of the area bloggers tend to read much more into these shutdowns since Fort Wayne Observed went invisible in January. The absence of Fort Wayne Indiana etc. is temporary, I've been told. And, no, when it comes back there will be no announcement that another local weblog has been subsumed into the Fort Wayne Observed/Indiana Parley universe of weblogs.

11:14 AM - A reader has just pointed out that another local weblog "Reverent & Free" is also down.

12:05 PM - Fort Wayne Indiana etc. is back up at this site: http://fortwaynenews.blogspot.com/

Drudge and the Indy Airport

Matt Drudge Discovers Red Coats Have Taken Over the Indianapolis Airport

The Drudge Report is trumpeting the 'developing' story of how a British company has the contract to run the Indianpolis Airport. The story begins "Move over Portgate."

What has gotten Mr. Drudge all fevered on this Monday, March 6th? The contract between the Indianapolis Airport Authority with BAA Indianapolis LLC, for the management and operation of the Indianapolis International Airport (formerly Weir Cook Airport).

BAA Indianpolis LLC is a subsidiary of BAA "the world's largest airport company."

The contract is years old. Mr. Drudge is welcome to write about it. However, it is not a stunning revelation.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Copy of Knuth Letter to State Election Board


Indiana Parley has obtained an unsigned copy of the letter as sent by Allen County Democratic Chair Kevin Knuth to the Democratic Co-Chair of the Indiana Election Board.

The letter is available as a PDF image by clicking here.

Mr. Knuth also prepared a media release today. IP is not reproducing the release in this post. It does not become an official part of the Election Board record as will the letter.

However, Mr. Knuth states in the release:
At the time of the event, Knuth questioned WOWO General Manager Mark Deprez about WOWO’s involvement in what appeared to be a political event.

In his email response to Knuth, Deprez stated that the event was being put on by private citizens. “Campaign finance reports now show this is not the case. It appears that WOWO was misled,” Knuth said.

If the event is determined to have been a political event, WOWO would fall under Campaign Finance guidelines, which would limit how much promotion they could have done legally.

2005 Glenn Beck Grand Wayne Appearance for GOP Questioned


Democratic Chair Kevin Knuth Sends Complaint to State Election Board

WOWO Radio 1190 reported this morning that it is one of the subjects of a complaint filed by Allen County Democratic Chair Kevin Knuth. The complaint questions the underwriting of the 2005 appearance by radio personality Glenn Beck at the Grand Wayne Center.

Glenn Beck appeared at a rally in the main room at the Grand Wayne Center which was free and open to the public. That rally was heavily promoted by WOWO Radio.

Prior to speaking at the rally, Mr. Beck was the featured speaker at the Allen County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner which was held in another hall of the Grand Wayne Center. Tickets were required for the dinner. The dinner and a preceding reception were considered a fundraising event for the local party.

WOWO reports on its website:
Wowo Radio and the Glenn Beck Rally for America have been named in a formal complaint to the State Election Board. Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Kevin Knuth says it involves money donated by "The Northeast Indiana PAC for Better Government" for the Rally held last May at the Grand Wayne Center.

Knuth says if the Board deems last year's rally as a political event, the station might be in violation of campaign finance laws, for providing promotional nnouncements believed to be in excess of the $2,000 legal corporate limit.

The Rally was organized by Republican Vice-Chair Cathy Hawks, separate from the Party.

WOWO Management is making no apology for supporting Glenn Beck's appearance.
Photo: Glenn Beck as photographed at a 2003 Rally for America held at the War Memorial Coliseum. Photo from the Glenn Beck website and credited to WOWO Radio 1190.

That's Why They Call It a Bill Board


Bill Brown, principal owner of Summit City Electric, is seeking the Republican nomination for Allen County Commissioner. Billboards touting his candidacy went up in Fort Wayne during the last week.

This is a photograph of his billboard at Jefferson and Barr across from the downtown YMCA. The Brown billboard is stacked on another for Indiana Michigan Power.

But for the I&M logo in the lower right, the lower billboard also looks like a political candidate's sign. It has a great photo with something that could serve as a political slogan, "I am Here When You Need Me."

New Candidate for GiaQuinta Seat

Robert Enders Seeks Libertarian Party Nomination

Robert Enders, age 26, of Fort Wayne has announced his intention to seek the 80th District State Representative spot now occupied by the retiring Ben GiaQuinta.

Mr. Enders made the announcement on his weblog, Blog of the Enders.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Libertarian Presidential Nominee Harry Browne Dead

Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party nominee for President in 1996 and 2000 has died at his home in Tennessee.

Who Were Those Folks in Last Night's "Neighbors" Section?

The front page of Wednesday's News-Sentinel had a story on volunteers from Fort Wayne who traveled to Biloxi, Mississipi recently to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. The group's visit was coordinated by the Diocese of Biloxi.

One of the fellows prominently featured in a photograph illustrating the article should be familiar to those who frequent the Allen County Courthouse. However, the article by Kevin Kilbane did not identify the day job of Craig Bobay, a parishioner of St. Jude Catholic Church. The fellow pictured in jeans and a blue t-shirt standing on a metal roof is often referred to as "Your Honor" during the workweek.

Craig Bobay is Magistrate of the Allen County Circuit Court.

Featured in a separate story was 20-year active Junior League member Kathy Roudebush. The Fort Wayne attorney and community volunteer worked for the Indiana House of Representatives Majority Staff before attending Indiana University Law School at Bloomington.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Interview with Kent Hormann, IPFW Sports Information Director

We spoke with Kent Hormann moments after the last minute 55-54 win by the IPFW Mastodons at the War Memorial Coliseum. The victory gives IPFW 10 wins for the season.

this is an audio post - click to play

Interview with IPFW Athletic Director Mark Pope

Mark Pope, Athletic Director of IPFW, gave an interview prior to the start of tonight's IPFW Men's Basketball Game.

Tonight's game was the last of the season. It marked the conclusion of Coach Dane Fife's first year. Coach Fife is the youngest NCAA Division 1 men's basketball coach.

this is an audio post - click to play

Sunny Side Up

Indiana Pundit notes today that County Commissioner candidate Bill Brown is now up with his own billboards to compete with those of incumbent Marla Irving. Pundit then adds his own two cents about the worth of billboards in political campaigns.

Mr. Brown may have wished that he had received the accompany gift from Acme Printing before he locked in his billboard design. Yet, it will probably come in handy to give him that youthful and bronzed look as we head out of winter into the spring campaign season.

Indiana Parley received a copy of the notice today in a promotional email from Acme Printing.

Mr. Brown may wish to use sunscreen - or a hat - when he redeems his certificate.





Photo: Bill Brown shown at right. Photo by Indiana Parley. © 2006.