HENDERSON: Urban planning is local oxymoron
New neighborhood plopped in the middle of former cornfields are a disaster.
Tom Henderson
Articles
De-manufacturing can save resources
An industrywide bar-code identification system should be developed so that component objects used in manufacturing can be easily devolved and reused.
Barack Obama’s new new thing
Tip O’Neill once said, "All politics is local." I watched my sister and even my bookkeeper—who hadn’t voted in decades—cheer
when Barack Obama rose far above John McCain in November. Clearly, there was a mandate and Obama’s oratory and messages
seemed to inspire voters across the country.
VIEWPOINT: Contributions to the deflation of your vote
Lots of people believe that campaign contributions and the influence that surrounds them are actually bribery. While it’s true that some contributions are made with no strings of any kind attached, still many voters find it difficult to believe that cam paign contributions don’t influence government in favor of the contributor. Others believe it’s part of free speech. I recognize that campaigns need money. How we contribute, however, can amount to bribery and undue influence. Democracy should be about ideas,…
VIEWPOINT: Indianapolis needs to talk trash
Indiana has generous natural resources. I pumped some of those resources out of my sub-basement twice last month, and pulled some of its finer greenery from my roof and yard as well. The abundance is everywhere, from the farmlands and prairie in the north, to the farmlands, mines and even oilfields in the south. Drop a seed in most parts of Indiana and, if the neighborhood’s not flooded out, that seed will grow nicely. Ask me about my tomatoes. Don’t…
VIEWPOINT: Expect disruptions at midfield terminal
What frequent travelers dislike is disruption, and that’s in your future if you travel through Indianapolis International Airport. If you’re a frequent traveler like me, you’ll need to be patient and learn some new tricks. Due to open late this fall, the terminal is a huge shift, with its own entrance off Interstate 70. Don’t go to the old terminal and look for a route to the new one, because there isn’t a convenient one. The airport parking lots you’ve…
VIEWPOINT: Indianapolis’ utility acne syndrome
It took decades of turning a blind eye to get here: Indianapolis has draped itself in utility poles. Walk, ride, jog or drive to any major street in Indianapolis, with the exceptions of a few designated boulevards, streets and avenues. Take a mental picture of where you are. Now, with Photoshop in your mind, remove the web of utility poles and wires from that picture and quickly open your eyes. We’re visually strangled by them. Few streets are exempt from…
VIEWPOINT: Why did we allow gambling to seduce us?
The money is seductive: an “easy” $1.6 billion. That’s what gambling brought to Indiana in taxes this year. The prize might not be as big in 2008. There’s new competition. And a big drop in gambling revenue would spoil the negotiations that all the nervous Indiana politicians have been doing. Their jobs are on the line, and they know it. Hoosiers are embarrassed. They don’t like that. I have a beautiful picture of two of my children standing inside the…