Opinion

Do you remember the thrill of earning badges when you were younger? Trying to fill up a sticker sheet given by your teacher. Trying to earn the next badge in scouts. Or, my personal favorite, trying to fill up your Book It! pin for some free pizza!

We park the car near the eastern terminus of the Pumpkinvine Trail, which is just past the four-way stop in the center of Shipshewana. We lift our bikes from the rack, check our water supply and strap on our helmets. Then Becky and I start pedaling west. Shipshewana is a small town, and within minutes the two of us are rolling through the bucolic countryside.

If polls are true, Indiana’s new abortion law is so restrictive that it has the support of no more than 16% of Americans in any broad demographic group. When asked, only 11% of the 18-to-29-year-old crowd supports laws as restrictive as ours. The state-level polls are older and less reliable, but the best I’ve seen suggests that close to two-thirds of Hoosiers support broader abortion access than was granted in SB1.

Can the legislative process still work more or less as intended, with lawmakers balancing competing interests and arriving at a solution that the majority of the population can at least live with if not enthusiastically endorse? Or have we become so divided as a nation that neither side wants to concede anything to the other?

Great American writers who dare to write for mass audiences often receive critical scorn for their efforts.

How do you get a 7-year-old to do something they absolutely don’t want to?

Want to know who the GOAT, or the Greatest of All Time, for any particular endeavor? If you google GOAT for baseball announcers, there is little disagreement. No. 1 is Vin Scully.

Our culture emphasizes the challenges that come with aging more than its benefits. Of course, as we age, there are activities we can no longer excel in and new health issues to contend with, but aging offers treasures for those who pursue them.

Most of the public and parochial schools in my area started back up this week. So what, one might ask, until one looks at the calendar and realizes it is the second week of August. What happened to summer vacation?

Columbus is a trashy place to live.