The other day, I had a long conversation about the state of American journalism with a couple of friends. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that they don’t believe anything they hear, read, or see when it comes to the news today. “It’s all propaganda and what isn’t propaganda …
Today, I am sharing my blog with historian Victor Davis Hanson, a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness as well as Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. In his commentary, Prof. Hanson asks the following compelling question: America went from the freest country in the world in December 2019 to …
Those of us who have been in the news business for more than a few years (for me, it’s more than 30 years) have learned a hard truth in the past decade or so: There has been a palpable shifting of the lines between what we learned journalism ideally should …
FLASH! FBI Asks Americans to Inform on Family Members and Friends What? Can that headline be correct? Regrettably, yes, it’s true! The Federal Bureau of Investigation is morphing into America’s version of Nazi Germany’s Gestapo. In a tweet on July 11, the FBI asked Americans to spy on “family members …
Well, what do you know? America is dead last among 46 nations in public trust of news media. Why am I not surprised by this? For most of my 28 years as a reporter, editor, and foreign correspondent with the Chicago Tribune, America’s news media were generally respected and trusted. …
A decade ago, when I was a professor and college dean at the University of Illinois, I picked up a book in the campus bookstore entitled: “Are We Rome?” Its message was compelling. In 262 pages, it suggested, with the persuasive and rational use of historical facts, that the United …
With “cancel culture” running amok in the United States and statues still under attack by those who insist on ascribing 21st-century values and standards to 18th and 19th-century historical figures, it was gratifying to see that Oxford’s Oriel College in the U.K., has resisted the mob’s demand to erase history …
I have posted frequently about the fraudulent Marxist scheme called Critical Race Theory and how it is being used to indoctrinate K-12 school children to view themselves and others, not on the basis of their character (as Martin Luther King once said) but by the color of their skin. Most …
As a someone whose primary tools are words, I am always interested in where these critical implements originated and how they continue to evolve. The study of grammar, language, vocabulary–otherwise known as etymology–has always fascinated me. For those who enjoy writing and reading, what follows should be an entertaining romp …
I hesitate to post this, but after reading through it a few times, I just can’t resist. We all know that the pun, or paronomasia, is often called the lowest form of humor. But as the American wit, Oscar Levant once said: “A pun is the lowest form of humor—when …