Opinion

Mary Ellen and I just got back from a trip to visit my sister and brother. In my sister’s lovely condominium in Great Neck, New York, she has a little windowed room off her kitchen that’s no more than six by eight feet. In that room she meditates every day, and she claims she has achieved some degree of calmness and peace in her life. I am jealous of Linda—I want what she has. No, not serenity and peace, but a little room like hers where I can go every day, down a few beers, vent my anger and frustration with the world and kick over a bookcase. Very relaxing!

I was mesmerized. I felt chills running up and down my spine as I watched the Jan. 6 hearings.

I just came across a statement so indefensibly foolish that it is hard to fathom how it showed up in print.

There has been a continually changing understanding of many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. One such aspect is the amount and duration of immunity conferred by immunization and natural disease. We now have more data and experience with both the virus and vaccination. For instance, we once thought, probably erroneously, that vaccination conferred broader and more durable immunity compared to immunity gained after infection. Also, emerging new variants, especially omicron, changed the equations. Undoubtedly, SARS-CoV-2 is a tough, nasty, resourceful and persistent virus that has a talent for evading immune protection from both infection and vaccination; thus, it is very difficult to control. Think whack-a-mole.

I am not a fan of zombie flicks. It has always been a genre featuring human-like beings that just weren’t complex enough to be interesting. A zombie can’t be reasoned with. A zombie can’t understand things. All a zombie wants, its singular purpose, is to eat brains.

We normally start our Bargersville Farmers Market gig at 5 p.m., but were late because of the unpredictable weather: ominous dark gray sky one minute; cloud breaking blue sky and bright sunlight the next. It was iffy whether this particular Wednesday’s market would even happen, but the vendors were lined up ready to go, and when the organizers decided to take a chance, they moved in to set up shop. People smiled greetings to each other as they unloaded products and hoisted canopies.

Big conventions downtown like Gen Con and Indy PopCon can be a lot of fun, but they can also be expensive and intimidating for first-time con-goers. Luckily, the Johnson County Public Library has its own mini-con just for teens called Random Fandom where they can express their interests in fandoms such as Harry Potter and “The Lord of the Rings” to anime and Pokémon. This exciting and growing event is a great introduction to many of the activities found at larger cons paired with the benefits of a local scale.

To the Editor:

Among the more influential economic narratives in recent decades has been a publication by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), “Rich States, Poor States.” That work, now in its 15th edition, is authored by Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore and Jonathan Williams

Mather Marcus, the preacher in our family, is telling me, “It’s the Feds who’ve caused all this inflation. Why a $20 bill today buys only about what $17 bought five years ago. We’ve been robbed of three dollars. And who benefits from that?