Opinion

On the second amendment

“Right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain a well regulated militia.” Logically speaking, what does a “well regulated militia” have to do with an individual’s ‘right’ to arm onself with M-16s or to secret an automatic pistol on his person while in hospitals, schools or churches?’ NOTHING Am I missing something - other than a series of precedents whereby this straightforward statement incrementaly has been twisted out of shape over the years by successive courts? I am not familiar with this judicial history. So, how do we get to where we are today? It is notoriously difficult to amend the Constitution - if you follow the rules.

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Independence for animals

When we think about our independence and freedom in the United States, I wonder how many people think of the freedom of farmed animals. There are currently 1.6 billion animals in our nation’s 25,000 factory farms who often never see the light of day.

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Teacher Shortage is a Decades-Long Problem

Nationwide, state education departments face a drastic shortage of K–12 teachers. Although the focus is on these last several years of stressful teaching during the pandemic, this decline in teachers and students desiring to enter teaching began several decades ago. Even without the upheaval caused by necessary and required social distancing, hybrid and fully online course delivery and thousands of missing students, the numbers of new teachers has been declining due to a wider range of measures that have taken away the professional authority of teachers. This decline in teachers varies by grade levels and by subject.

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This primary is important

No matter how you feel about abortion, the constitutional amendment on the August 2nd primary ballot is extremely important. That being the case, we all need to vote. Most primaries are about picking candidates for the general election in the fall. Much more than that, this vote will determine whether women will continue to have access to an abortion for decades to come.

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The importance of being an informed voter

Writing my first two opinion pieces where I talked about the importance of voting and being an informed voter has led to several discussions. Some people agree with my assessment of the current state of political affairs – some people disagree. But in either instance, I always enjoy it when people have taken the time to stop and talk about something I’ve written.

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