I got this e-mail (unedited) the other day following a discussion on the morning show regarding race and America’s growing minority population.

Yes it will be a great day when the minorities are in power. Let’s say that it’s 51% black and hispanic to 49% caucasian. The 51 percent will consist of 30 percent hispanic of which only half will be speaking english. The other 21 percent of the equasion will consist of blacks and of those only half will have an education past high school and the other half will be living of the government. The overall big picture though consist of a country that is no longer Christian but Muslim and sharia law is the ruling factor. So it won’t really matter what race is in charge we’ll all be screwed like Europe is. Damn those crusaders.

This was my response…

Don’t worry , I’ll be in charge and you can address me as Dr. Zaius!

District 15 City-County Councilor Doris Minton Mcneil was acquitted this afternoon of four counts of resisting arrest and shoving a police officer following an incident when she was allegedly intoxicated at her home in June 2008.

Judge Annie Christ-Garcia did not comment as to why Minton-McNeil was acquitted but it probably didn’t hurt that Christ-Garica is a Democrat who got elected in 2008, who by the way is sitting on a big potential controversy.  McNeil was a Democrat and her attorney Mark Sullivan was a Democrat who ran against Virgina Cain in 2003.

You can read the original arrest report and hear the edited  911 call that started  whole thing here and the court’s ruling .

When my great aunt turned 100 years old, I asked her how she managed to stay alive for so long.   She said, “a cocktail everyday, a good attitude and never being afraid of change.”  She passed away a few years ago, but she was a woman full of life who could inspire you to do great things.  She was also a no-nonsense woman and didn’t take excuses for bad behavior.   The NAACP could have learned a lot from my aunt.

The organization marked its 100th anniversary this week and got visits from both President Barack Obama and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.   It says quite a bit that both the President and the leader of the loyal opposition are both African-American, because 25 years ago, both scenarios would have been very unlikely.   Both both men show progress has been made in political arena and it’s time for organizations like the NAACP to change or die.

It was one thing to fight for education back in the 1950s with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education, but now organizations like the NAACP tend to oppose vouchers and school choice which would uplift millions of Black children out of failing schools.

The NAACP says it wants to protect voters from disenfranchisement, but  when the polls in Marion County didn’t open in the May 2007 primary and more than 3100 voters were locked out of the polls, the local organization was absolutely nowhere to be found.  But it was extremely vocal on the issue of Voter ID where the plaintiffs couldn’t produce one victim of disenfranchisement.

Even in cases of alleged racial discrimination, bad press and a 24-hour news cycle are more likely to call wrongdoers on the carpet and get corrective measures taken than the NAACP.

When I look at the status of Black America, more Blacks graduating from college, earning higher incomes, running Fortune 500 companies and a Black President and head of the RNC, I truly have to wonder why the NAACP is still needed?

And if the NAACP isn’t going to go away gently into that good night, the very least they could change the organization’s name to the National Association for the Advancement of African-Americans!  NAAAA, just go away.

Some days these blog posts just write themselves.   The town of Lebanon is looking at passing a ban on sex offenders in the parks.

While similar bans have withstood legal challenges (sex offenders are not a protected class), the people of Lebanon are  lulling themselves into a  false sense of security if they think this ban will protect their children.

Contrary to popular opinion most sex offenders and their victims are not strangers.  According to the U.S. Justice Department it is a blatant myth that most sexual assaults are committed by strangers.  The Department found that nearly 60 percent of boys and 80 percent of girls who are sexually victimized are done so by someone known to the child or the child’s family.  So if your child is going to come into contact with a sex offender it will probably be a relative, family friend, babysitter, someone in a position of authority over the child or someone who supervises the child. Forget the stranger with candy and the raincoat.  If that’s not enough, here are some other fun little facts.

Most sex offenders are not caught, convicted and in prison. Only a fraction of those who commit sexual assault are caught and convicted. In addition, up to half of all cases of child molestation are committed by other adolescents between the ages of 13 to 17. There are some more stats I could throw at you, but I figure I’ve scared you enough.

If the citizens of Lebanon really want to protect their children, they may want to start by doing a check of the people around them. Like the data says, it’s probably not the guy down the street who’s more likely to molest your child, but like vampires, it’s the one you’ve already let into your home.

Governor Mitch Daniels and I chatted briefly Tuesday at the Governor’s Reception for Indiana Black Expo.   I asked him about FSSA and the state halting the IBM contract,  changes in Indiana prisons, local government cutbacks and the “Mitch for President” chatter.   You can hear the entire conversation by clicking below.  It’s about 5 minutes long.

Mitch Daniels

I am feeling a bit philosophical today so I have to ask with all the recent financial news, “Has capitalism failed or did we fail capitalism?”  I point to several financial stories in the news today.

1. Goldman Sachs Executives sold $700 million following the collapse of Lehman Brothers with most of the sales coming at the time when Sachs benefited from billions in government relief.
2. Attorney Marc Drier got 20 years for stealing $700 million from clients.
3. Financial giant C.I.T. is on the verge of collapse if it doesn’t get assistance from the federal government.

Of course all this comes of the heels of A.I.G., G.M., Chrysler, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,  and Bernie Madoff.

So what do you think?

There’s been quite a bit of speculation about the future of incumbent Mayor Greg Ballard.  Although the Mayor still has 2 and 1/2 years left in his term, Democrats are already speculating about who will be their standard bearer.  Not a day goes by when some blogger isn’t commenting about counting the days until Ballard leaves.  Even Republican-leaning bloggers spend more time talking about how the Mayor won’t be re-elected.

However, while all these folks may engage in typical speculation, the data tends to show something else.  Ballard has already told me that he and his team are gearing up for a second run.  And my very reliable sources are telling some polling has been done regarding the Mayor and his performance.    I have not seen the the poll directly, but through compiling data from multiple sources over the past month, I’ve  learned it does meet the criteria for standard, effective data gathering.  It also showed the following.

• His personal approval ratings are similar to former Mayor Bart Peterson prior to the property tax revolt of 2007  but if the election were held today, Ballard would likely only win by the same margin as last time.
• The mayor does very well on the issue crime, and nearly as well on taxes.
• On leadership, he gets strong approval from Republicans, moderate Democrats and Independents tend to split and liberal Democrats give him his lowest approval numbers.
• He gets strong marks from about a third of the African-American population.
• Jobs and the economy are the biggest issue.
• On the CIB, most voters think the matter should be addressed because of the importance of protecting jobs,  however they are more supportive of a hotel tax than they are a ticket tax to solve the funding issue.
• Most voters see him as competent and a good man, but he doesn’t connect emotionally with them.

From what I can extrapolate from this data is following.   The Mayor has wide support, but it’s not deep.   In the minds of most voters, Ballard is doing okay, but one or two serious missteps and he loses a strong Democratic challenger.

If he can quietly deal with the CIB issue and focus more on publicly on the bricks and mortar issues of streets, crime, schools and jobs he should be able cement enough goodwill for a second term.  The administration has already put together one balanced budget and returned money to the taxpayers, and approved several new charter schools  so that puts them in the right direction.  And most of the issues commented on the blogosphere really don’t resonate much outside the political class.

However,  Ballard  will have to work harder to make that emotional connection with voters.  I fondly call it “the barstool” test.  He should present himself not only as someone who can get things done, but also someone the voter wants to sit and have a beer with.    Ballard’s greatest strength is also his greatest weakness; he is not a politician.  However the Mayor may want to become just enough of one to beat back a strong Democratic challenger and win a second term.

I played master of ceremonies last night to the National Federation of Young Republicans award ceremony here in Indianapolis.   Overall, they were like a lot of young people in political parties; a lot of energy and a lot of ideas.   And they approach politics with spark of wide-eyed optimism and a sprinkle of naivette that makes a lot of us reflect back to our early days in the process, whether we are operatives or commentators.

I still occassionally think back to my first interview in college with state representative at Northern Illinois University way back in the early 90s, the first time I asked a Governor about a budget and shouted my first question at a Presidential candidate making his way through the Illinois State Fairgrounds.   However age and time have taught me something a lot of the Young Republicans are going to have to learn soon, or a lot of their efforts are going to wasted; someone who disagrees with you 20 percent of the time is ususally with you the other 80 percent.

There was blow-up at the convention over the nomination of a young lady named Audra Shay for YR Chairwoman.  Some of her opponents couldn’t stand the fact she was going to win, so they started an Internet campaign calling racist and those comments were picked up by the Huffington Post and some other blogs.   Needless to say while the evening’s festivities were orderly you could still tell there was tension there.

I’d tell the kids to grow up, but that means they would be acting like the GOP at the national level.  I have never been a big fan of the “true believer” crowd because blind zealotry tends to cloud your vision and you miss out on building crucial coalitions needed to govern.    And as long as the GOP in-fights, the party will stay in the minority and no matter how much the President’s poll numbers may slip, you can’t beat somebody with nobody, especially if who you’re divided over who that nobody is.

But at least these kids had an excuse, they’re kids.

I thought I’d put together a nice little list of the 60+ taxing districts in Marion County for your amusement, entertainment, and hopefully outrage.  Enjoy.

Indianapolis Center

Beech Grove Center

Decatur Outside

Indianapolis Decatur

Indpls Decatur Police & SSD Outside Sanitation

IndplsDecatur Police &Fire SSD Inside Sanitation

Franklin Outside

Beech Grove Franklin

Beech Grove, Franklin Schools

Indpls Franklin Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Franklin Sewer Exempt

Lawrence Outside

Indianapolis Lawrence

City of Lawrence

Indpls Lawrence Police & Fire SSD Inside Sanitation

Indpls Lawrence Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Perry Outside

Indianapolis Perry

Beech Grove Perry

City of Southport

Beech Grove, Perry Schools

Town of Homecroft

Indpls Perry Police SSD Outside Sanitation

Indpls Perry Police & Fire Inside Sanitation

Indpls Perry Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Pike Outside

Indianapolis Pike

Town of Clermont

Indpls Pike Police & Fire SSD Inside Sanitation

Indpls Pike Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Pike Sewer Exempt

Warren Outside

Indianapolis Warren

Beech Grove Warren

Town of Warren Park

Town of Cumberland

Indpls Warren Police SSD Outside Sanitation

Indpls Warren Police & Fire SSD Inside Sanitation

Indpls Warren Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Washington Outside

Indianapolis Washington

Town of Crows Nest Town of Highwoods

Town of North Crows Nest

Town of Rocky Ripple

Town of Spring Hill

Town of Williams Creek

Town of Meridian Hills

Town of Wynnedale

Indpls Wash Police & Fire SSD Inside Sanitation

Indpls Wash Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Wayne Outside

Indianapolis Wayne

Town of Clermont Wayne

Town of Speedway

Wayne – Ben Davis Conservancy

Indpls Wayne Police SSD Outside Sanitation

Indpls Wayne Police & Fire SSD Inside Sanitation

Indpls Wayne Fire SSD Outside Sanitation

Indpls Wayne Fire SSD Ben Davis Conservancy

Wayne Sewer Exempt

If  anyone doesn’t think life is tough in the newspaper world is tough, go talk to the more than three dozen people laid off this week at the Indianapolis Star.

The Star is a victim of a number of factors, but I’ve always wondered in the 21st Century is there still a need for a daily printed edition of a newspaper?  Most content can be delivered on-line to your computer, laptop or cell phone.  It’s much cheaper to push “send”  than to run a printing press.

Some papers have already cutback daily circulation.  And the weekly model does work, just ask NUVO, the Indianapolis Business Journal or Politico.  And at the same time while newspapers can change delivery methods, with the savings they hire more reporters and focus on developing stronger content.

The old news cycle used to be you heard the news on the radio, watched it on television that night and read about it in the paper the next day.  By the time the news is printed in the paper, it’s old.  I would use my newspaper for more analytical pieces rather that straight reporting, while my website would keep readers updated on daily news.

Of course the trick in all this is to make money.  It can be done, but it requires strong content and more efficient delivery mechanisms full integration of all media tools and some smart, visionary leadership.

Now all I need is a few million bucks to get started.