A while back, I published a post about a poll that asked the question: “Who writes better? Men or Women?” What a hazardous, if not lethal, question. The poll was produced by Grammarly.com, a proofreading software program for word processors such as Microsoft Word. As you might expect, its conclusions …
Recently, I received an email from a reader reminding me that while America will celebrate its 250th birthday this July 4, this year is also the 135th anniversary of the murder of 297 Lakota Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. These …
In a recent email exchange with one of my Substack subscribers, I was asked if I think the independent media (such as the Substack community I am building) can provide a “de-escalation” space that legacy media has largely abandoned. I am not optimistic about today’s independent media. Most of its …
Writing about race and the rapidly shifting racial complexion and composition of America is a dangerous exercise. No matter how you discuss it or describe it, if you are white, you are almost certain to be called a racist by easily triggered leftists who prefer that you keep silent about …
I have never believed the leftist maxim that insists diversity is “our strength.” Instead, I see it as divisive, with our nation being split into cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, and political tribes who are essentially at war with one another. How is that a “strength?” How can we be a …
(This is a follow-up to the story I posted yesterday on the 51st anniversary of the Fall of Saigon in 1975. ) After several dozen others and I were evacuated on April 29th, 1975, from the hulking Military Assistance Command-Vietnam building at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airbase, I filed my …
Fifty-one years ago today, I was scrambling aboard a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 Sea Stallion heavy-lift helicopter with some 70 or so other terrified people. We were being evacuated from Saigon as it fell to invading Communist North Vietnamese troops. April 29, 1975, is a day I will never forget, …
Tomorrow, April 29, I will be posting my recollections of the Fall of Saigon- an event I covered for the Chicago Tribune 51 years ago. I invite you to join me for this retrospective at ForeignCorrespondent or on Substack: https://ronyates.substack.com/. As many of you may know, the war in Vietnam …
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered an insightful and important speech at the University of Texas recently that I wish every American could have heard. Because that wasn’t possible, I will do my best to report and interpret what Justice Thomas, a staid originalist and rigorous champion of the Constitution, …
Several months ago, I sent a note to Caroline Hendrie, Executive Director of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the 117-year-old organization that focuses on journalism ethics, defending the First Amendment, and providing professional development for both legacy and independent journalists. I have been a member of SPJ for more …