Facebook Papers and what they reveal

October 27, 2021

Since former Facebook employee Frances Haugen blew the whistle on practices at the social media giant earlier this month, news organizations have been combing through the company emails and documents she has provided. The results, now beginning to be reported, show a picture of a company that paid more attention to its profits than to the effect its practices were having on society. Haugen has testified before Congress and before the UK’s Parliament how Facebook Groups amplify online hate, that its algorithms take people with mainstream interests and push them to the extreme content. ...

Needless risk with guns in films

October 26, 2021

Guns have been a part of Hollywood moviemaking since cowboy star Tom Mix rode the silent movie screen. Last week, a tragic accident showed once again why live ammunition and even blanks should be banned in filmmaking. Actor and producer Alec Baldwin was filming a scene last Thursday in a film he is producing and starring in. He was handed a gun, which he was told was not loaded with live bullets. The person who gave him the gun was mistaken, and he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her. With today’s ...

Redistricting solution

October 25, 2021

With the 2020 Census finally in the books, state legislatures throughout the country face the task of redrawing congressional and legislative district boundaries to balance out the populations in each. This ensures that each citizen in each district will get equal representation — one person, one vote. But the process of redistricting has also come to be known as gerrymandering season. Political parties who control legislatures have been known to redraw district boundaries in their favor — to bring together distant groups of one party into an octopus-shaped district, for example, ...

Et. Cetera

October 23, 2021

Girl Scout project helps Humane Society Local Girl Scouts Avril Wiens and Madison Sokoloski made and donated items to the Martin County Humane Society for their Girl Scout Silver Award project. Girl Scouts is a great program that teaches responsibility and the importance of community service. We thank these girls for their genoristy, and we’re sure the Humane Society does as well. Kinship Raffle has local focus Kinship is currently putting on a fall raffle for the first time. The raffle serves as a fundraiser for the organization and the prizes given come from local businesses. ...

Deal-making in D.C. among Democrats

October 22, 2021

President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan is undergoing some contractions this week. The $3.5 trillion spending bill is down to about $2 trillion. Biden met with groups of Democratic senators on Tuesday, hoping to sell them on a reduced plan that will still carry some of his top priority items. It was a tough sell, we’re sure for the progressive senators he met with first, who think we should be spending even more than $3.5 trillion. Biden wants to salvage some remnant of his climate change plan. To do that he will have to mollify Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who ...

Walz’s record

October 21, 2021

Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday he will seek re-election to a second term. This sets up an interesting race that will focus on his record and accomplishments. Walz and his Republican opponents will try to interpret Walz’s record in vastly different ways. On the state’s COVID response, for example, Walz is touting the state’s actions as life-saving measures that have helped bring the virus under control. Republicans have been painting Walz’s use of executive emergency powers as an abuse of power that damaged the economy and cost people jobs. On law enforcement reform, Walz ...