Time to Think

  Freedom of The Press Under Attack Again!      #168 By Hank Silverberg  The words of the First Amendment are pretty clear.  They have stood up pretty well since the Bill of Rights officially became part of the U.S. Constitution on December 15, 1791. But from time to time though, various elements of this very simple but very important human right, have been pushed to the limit in this country. And we are there once again today. We saw it this past week in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota when police harassed and even arrested reporters who were covering protests in the Minneapolis suburb after yet another police shooting.  Credentialed journalists were rounded up by police, forced to lie on their stomachs and had their face and credentials photographed. Brooklyn Center protests: Police round up journalists (usatoday.com) This happened Friday night about 30 minutes after the police had ordered about 500 peaceful demonstrators to leave the area ...

Packing the Court                                                                                           #167 By  Hank Silverberg   I find myself, for the first time, in opposition to something that President Biden has been floating around. Actually, it's the left wing of the Democratic party which has been promoting the idea of increasing the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Biden, who has been a bit non-committal on the proposal, has agreed to set up a 36 member bi-partisan commission to study the Court. (U.S. Supreme Court)/ They have 180 days to look at changes, though the commission will not be making specific recommendations.  In Washington such commissions rarely produce anything meaningful.  And in this cas...

Fact vs. Fiction                                                                                         #166 By Hank Silverberg You may not know this, but I have published two novels. Both of them are fiction. I made up the characters and the scenarios, and although I tried to be  factual about the places I described and the journalistic tools my  characters use,    the books are just good stories of fiction that I hope will entertain my readers.          Unfortunately, the technique used to create a good novel, like good storytelling with made up scenarios, seems to be finding its way more into the news business. Don't get me wrong. A reporter has to write or broadcast their information in a creative way to keep your at...

  Are Republicans Afraid of Voters?             #165         by Hank Silverberg This question has crossed my mind a lot over the past few months. Are Republicans actually scared of the average voter?   Georgia Republicans apparently are. They have passed changes in voting rules that, without any doubt, are designed to keep people from casting a ballot.   Much has been written about this in the past week. It's like Jim Crow has been resurrected from hell.  One of the changes, making it illegal to distribute food or water to people waiting on line to vote, seems a bit ridiculous. That happened at some sites in 2020 where turnout was high and some people waited hours to vote. The warped theory behind this is that people will simply give up and go home if they get thirsty or hungry on line, and there's no one there to give them comfort.   While this provision has attracted all the media attention...