press

Not So Distant Comparisons

The verb “juxtapose,” meaning to place closely together for comparison, can prompt intriguing questions and thoughts about the matters in juxtaposition. The front page of a recent edition of The New York Times carried two items that, thousands of miles… Read More ›

The Poverty of Hate in Virginia

Whether or not one accepts or agrees with the designation of hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the potential for the existence and proliferation of such organizations should be of concern to all. That concern, in turn,… Read More ›

Believe It or Not

1 Robert Ripley launched his franchise Believe It or Not in 1919, offering readers bizarre and little-known facts as entertainment and challenge to received knowledge or wisdom. He employed dogged researchers to uncover and publish the little or unknown bits… Read More ›

What Are Republicans For?

1 President Joe Biden receives virtually no praise in the media for his prosaic speeches and comments. His narratives are not at all poetic or comparable to alliterative snippets such as “nattering nabobs of negativism” uttered by (but not written… Read More ›

War on Children, Chapter 4

Editors’ Note: This is Chapter 4 of a six-chapter expose by ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit “newsroom” that produces investigative journalism “with moral force.” The treatment of children in Tennessee reported here, of whatever race, by local officials, is almost unimaginable…. Read More ›

Low Down in Loudoun

2 Loudoun County, Virginia, has been catapulted by media attention to the highest level of recognition in the latest iteration of culture conflagrations. The county has been the focus of both critical race theory clashes and transgender issues. This latter… Read More ›