Franke: Silence Is Golden — and Rare
MARK FRANKE When I was taking driver’s training in high school, the teacher in my car always played the local rock ‘n’ roll station on the car’s radio. One song that was popular then was “Silence is Golden” by The Tremeloes. I used to have nightmares about the song, perhaps due to the fact it Read the full article…
Ganahl: Alternative Media
by Dennis Ganahl, Ph.D. According to the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, the United States ranked last among 46 countries in media credibility in 2021. They reported only 29 percent of Americans trusted the media. Why don’t Americans trust the media? As a journalist who was taught the First Amendment is the 11th Commandment and Read the full article…
Keating: Adam Smith on National Defense
by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Adam Smith believed that Britain’s defense of offshore colonies was an unfit project benefitting a subset of society at the expense of the whole (“Of Colonies,” The Wealth of Nations, Vol. II, Chapter VII, Liberty Fund Edition, 1981). In his chapter on defense, Smith does not address affluent nations seeking Read the full article…
The Outstater
Politics Corrupts Crime Data MOST EVERYONE CAN AGREE that protecting citizens and property is the justification for any legitimate government. So how is ours doing? Well, you don’t know, and you can’t find out. The FBI says crime is falling. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) sponsored by the Census Bureau says it isn’t. Your local police chief, with Read the full article…
McGowan: Hate Crimes — What’s Changed
by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. The media in 2024, including newspapers, were quieter than in previous years regarding the horrible events of Sept. 11, 2001. Prior to this year, the media had consistently presented newscasts and provided articles on the fraught nature of Muslim existence in America. The typical article had pictures of Muslim families followed by a sympathetic Read the full article…
The Outstater
Bad Statistics, Worse Policies “There are lies, damned lies and statistics,” — Mark Twain WE TOUCHED ON THIS the other day, correlation but not causation, the inability to legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables solely on the basis of an observed association. What if the number of Indiana hate crime complaints was not the same Read the full article…
