Opinion

On March 2 - the late Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 117th birthday - Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that, sometime last year, it ceased publishing/licensing six of the popular author’s children's books which “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”

Cue woke approval, deplorable outrage, investor interest and low-information reader fear, all of which are good for business.

As I write this on March 9, Dr. Seuss titles constitute 10 of Amazon's top 25 “Best Sellers in Children's Books.”

Last week, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives put forward their highest priority legislation with introduction and passage of H.R. 1.

On June 23, 1972, President Nixon signed Title IX into law.

This landmark legislation had one goal in mind: to protect women from sex discrimination in all federally funded school programs, including sports.

Because of the access to funding and opportunity this historic legislation created, there has been a 545 percent increase in the number of women playing college sports and a 990 percent increase in the number of women playing high school sports.

I hear a lot about white privilege.

I grew up in Martin County, Kentucky. We were considered one of the poorest counties in the United States.

In April 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and his entourage of staff, secret service, media and other politicians swarmed into the county seat of Inez during his war on poverty campaign tour. Johnson and the entourage rode through our town waving and then proceeded on down Route 3, which was less than three miles north of my home place.

“This is the time to heal in America. I will work to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify.” – President Joseph Biden

An already broken promise from our newly elected president.

The average price of a college education is $140,000.

Very few people have the resources to cover that cost, so they must turn to student loans to make attending college possible. Often with caution thrown to the wind, 70 percent of college students take out student loans.

In fact, roughly 45,000,000 Americans owe a staggering $1.6 trillion, which has resulted in a national and personal financial crisis of significant proportions. Many students incur huge debt, hoping that it all will turn out well.

The investment world was convulsed last week when at least one hedge fund (Melvin Capital) lost billions of dollars. The sudden, massive losses happened when a tidal wave of independent individual investors, spearheaded by posts on reddit.com, triggered a short squeeze that torpedoed the hedge fund.

For those of you unfamiliar with a “short squeeze,” let me explain. Most stock market investors “go long.” That means that they buy a stock and then hope to sell it later at a higher price.

When I was 16 years old, I was invited to speak at a little country church in rural Denver, Ky., not far from Paintsville. 

The church had all but closed its doors, but one man, Harold Rice and his family, wanted to see the church stay open and do well. 

A church with few to almost no people typically does not attract too many interested ministers. I had spoken in my home church a few times and was a guest speaker in a few others.

I’m in transition from journalism to the counseling profession, and I’m working part time in a mental health clinic.

That position qualified me, as a health-care worker, for the first tier of the COVID-19 vaccine. I was able to secure an appointment at the Canadian County Health Department Clinic at the Yukon Community Center Dec. 31.

It was a dreary, chilly day. The line extended through the parking lot. I was glad I was bundled up with a heavy coat, gloves and a stocking cap.

“When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and public face of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, told the New York Times in December.

“Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can nudge this up a bit,’ so I went to 80, 85.”