Essays
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Keltner: The Pandemic
Read more: Keltner: The Pandemicby Steve Keltner, PA t’s peculiar how a misconception can dramatically alter the way facts are perceived. Virtually every child growing up in America believes, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and discovered America. The fact is, Norse explorers set foot on the continent approximately 500 years earlier with help of explorer Leif Erikson. Recently, America has fallen prey to a similar misconception. The first “official” case of CoVID-19 in the United…
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Moss: Hamas Jihadists Can Count on U.S. Media
Read more: Moss: Hamas Jihadists Can Count on U.S. Media“We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza.” — AP President Gary Pruitt, May 16, 2021 by Richard Moss, M.D. On May 14 2018, the 70thanniversary of the birth of the state of Israel, a modern day miracle, the U.S. under President Donald Trump, fulfilled a promise made by Congress in the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by a 95-3 vote…
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Morris: Are Mere Citizens Trustworthy?
Read more: Morris: Are Mere Citizens Trustworthy?by Leo Morris Who’s in charge here? In a constitutional republic, the answer should be obvious. The people are. We have inalienable rights merely by our existence as human beings, and to protect them we create a limited government, and those who inhabit its hallowed halls are there to represent us, not dictate to us. But that is the civics answer, which is barely even taught in schools anymore, let alone used as a touchstone…
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Morris: A Neighborhood Political Count
Read more: Morris: A Neighborhood Political Countby Leo Morris I still take the Sunday New York Times, though God knows why; I never actually read it anymore. Its motto should probably be changed to “All the news that fits one side of the narrative.” The newspaper has taken sides in the ongoing cultural-political war, and I don’t want to subject myself to its abdication of journalistic integrity. I still stumble across its online stories on occasion, however, and I saw one last…
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Morris: Mothers Day
Read more: Morris: Mothers Dayby Leo Morris When Ann Jarvis died on May 9, 1905, her daughter, Anna Reeves Jarvis, began a campaign to honor her mother as a way of celebrating all moms as a group. On May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service at her late mother’s church in Grafton, W. Va. Within five years, almost every state observed the day, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made the second Sunday in May a national holiday. But Anna…
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Franke: Biden’s 100 Days of Missed Opportunity
Read more: Franke: Biden’s 100 Days of Missed Opportunity“At the very moment our adversaries were certain we would pull apart and fail, we came together. United. With light and hope, we summoned new strength and new resolve.” — Joe Biden’s address to Congress, April 28, 2021 by Mark Franke Joe Biden has officially completed his first 100 days in office, an artificial but important benchmark to judge a new presidency. It is a yardstick to grade the new president’s legislative success under the assumption…
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The Outstater
Read more: The Outstater“Hogsett Announces ‘Reimagining’ of Public Safety through New York University Partnership.” — headline in the Indianapolis Star, Jan. 15, 2020 EARLY IN MY JOURNALISM CAREER my path crossed that of a city councilman who represented a district with a crime problem. People were coming to church and finding dead bodies in the parking lot and that sort of thing. An election was upcoming and the councilman had scheduled a meeting with our editorial board. The conversation soon got…
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Morris: Numbers Are What You Make of Them
Read more: Morris: Numbers Are What You Make of Themby Leo Morris One of my favorite jokes involves an election in a mythical town in which there are 1,000 Christian voters and 250 Jewish voters. There is an election for mayor featuring a Christian candidate and a Jewish candidate, who get, respectively, 1,000 votes and 250 votes. “Boy,” says one Christian voter to another after the results are announced, “those Jews sure stick together, don’t they?” That’s just a silly, throwaway gag, but there…
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Menge: Vaccine Reports
Read more: Menge: Vaccine ReportsBy Margaret Menge The media reported that the reason the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was pulled was because just six women out of 7 million people who got the shot had a blood clot. I don’t think this is true. If you look in the VAERS database where health-care providers, patients and families report possible side effects, you’ll see many disturbing cases just in Indiana, including a man in his 50s who apparently had a…
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Op-Ed: Vaccination Mandates
Read more: Op-Ed: Vaccination Mandatesby Nathan Collins As the effects of COVID-19 begin to diminish, a new rallying cry is beginning to echo throughout the nation. The Biden administration and the media establishment are promoting the idea that Americans should willingly relinquish sovereignty over personal health choices. If that were not enough, Americans are also being encouraged to participate in a potential electronic vaccine tracking system — a “vaccine passport.” Proponents have indicated that access to daily activities such…