Author: Reid

Reid is a creator who writes for ContemporaryConservative.net. Topics sometimes include political opinions, personal finance, and Apple Inc. He is also one of the hosts for the podcasts “Conservative Conversations” and “The Wicky Wacky Radio Show”Originally from a small town in West Virginia, he now resides in Columbus, Ohio. With a B.A. in psychology, he brings a thoughtful perspective to his writing, aiming to share insights that help others think critically or learn something new. When he's not writing, Reid enjoys podcasting, kayaking, drinking good beer, and diving into finance and economics. As a blind writer, he offers a unique viewpoint on the topics he covers.

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Articles

Emergency Savings: A Financial Safety Net Few Americans Have

Since 2014, Bankrate has conducted an annual emergency savings report, assessing how Americans handle unexpected financial expenses. The latest report, released on January 23, 2025, found that only 41% of Americans would rely on savings to cover a sudden $1,000 expense—such as an emergency room visit or a car repair. This marks a decline from 44% the previous year. The rest would turn to credit cards, personal loans, spending cuts, or borrowing from family and friends.

Even more concerning, as of May 2024, 27% of U.S. adults have no emergency savings at all—the highest percentage since 2020. This is one of the most alarming statistics I’ve come across lately.

Living Paycheck to Paycheck: A Widespread Problem

Emergencies are inevitable, yet many people fail to prepare for them financially. As a result, when an unexpected expense arises, they often resort to high-interest debt, which can quickly spiral into an unmanageable financial burden. This cycle keeps people stuck, living paycheck to paycheck, unable to build financial security.

In the Bankrate report, Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick stated:

“We are essentially a paycheck-to-paycheck nation. Fewer Americans have the equivalent of a financial safety net to cover inevitable unexpected expenses, despite low unemployment and steady growth.”

Hamrick is right. Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck—not necessarily due to a lack of income, but due to poor financial habits. The U.S. economy thrives on consumption, constantly encouraging people to spend rather than save. At the same time, many Americans aren’t taught how to manage money, leading to mindless spending and financial stress.

This issue doesn’t just affect low-income households. A 2022 study by LendingClub and PYMNTS found that 51% of consumers earning more than $100,000 annually still live paycheck to paycheck. This proves that earning more money alone doesn’t solve financial struggles—how you manage your money matters more.

Breaking Free from the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle

For most people, the only way out of this cycle is to make better financial choices. Money is a tool, and learning how to use it wisely is essential for stability and growth.

As we move through 2025, I encourage everyone to set a goal of financial security. While terms like “financial freedom” and “financial independence” are popular in personal finance discussions, I believe most people should first aim to be financially secure. There is tremendous peace of mind in knowing that a financial emergency won’t derail your life.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire lifestyle overnight—small, intentional choices can make a significant impact.

  • Pack your lunch instead of ordering food, and put the money saved toward an emergency fund or debt repayment.
  • Cancel unused subscriptions and redirect that money into savings.
  • Automate small deposits into a savings account to build an emergency fund over time.

Making these small sacrifices may seem difficult, but life itself is hard—and doing hard things often leads to great rewards. Even Jesus taught the power of sacrifice, and financial sacrifices, whether small or large, can have a lasting positive impact on your life.

Start today. Your future self will thank you.

Even more concerning, as of May 2024, 27% of U.S. adults have no emergency savings at all—the highest percentage since 2020. This is one of the most alarming statistics I’ve come across lately.

Living Paycheck to Paycheck: A Widespread Problem

Emergencies are inevitable, yet many people fail to prepare for them financially. As a result, when an unexpected expense arises, they often resort to high-interest debt, which can quickly spiral into an unmanageable financial burden. This cycle keeps people stuck, living paycheck to paycheck, unable to build financial security.

In the Bankrate report, Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick stated:

“We are essentially a paycheck-to-paycheck nation. Fewer Americans have the equivalent of a financial safety net to cover inevitable unexpected expenses, despite low unemployment and steady growth.”

Hamrick is right. Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck—not necessarily due to a lack of income, but due to poor financial habits. The U.S. economy thrives on consumption, constantly encouraging people to spend rather than save. At the same time, many Americans aren’t taught how to manage money, leading to mindless spending and financial stress.

This issue doesn’t just affect low-income households. A [2022 study by LendingClub and PYMNTS found that 51% of consumers earning more than $100,000 annually still live paycheck to paycheck. This proves that earning more money alone doesn’t solve financial struggles—how you manage your money matters more.

Breaking Free from the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle

For most people, the only way out of this cycle is to make better financial choices. Money is a tool, and learning how to use it wisely is essential for stability and growth.

As we move through 2025, I encourage everyone to set a goal of financial security. While terms like “financial freedom” and “financial independence” are popular in personal finance discussions, I believe most people should first aim to be financially secure. There is tremendous peace of mind in knowing that a financial emergency won’t derail your life.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire lifestyle overnight—small, intentional choices can make a significant impact.

  • Pack your lunch instead of ordering food, and put the money saved toward an emergency fund or debt repayment.
  • Cancel unused subscriptions and redirect that money into savings.
  • Automate small deposits into a savings account to build an emergency fund over time.

Making these small sacrifices may seem difficult, but life itself is hard—and doing hard things often leads to great rewards. Even Jesus taught the power of sacrifice, and financial sacrifices, whether small or large, can have a lasting positive impact on your life.

Start today. Your future self will thank you.

Categories
Opinions

Apple’s iMessage Does Not Need Government Intervention

 Typically, here at Contemporary Conservative, and on our podcasts, we don’t really cover technology and the news related to it. We’re usually more focused on politics and culture. However, there are times when those subjects intersect. Particularly in the issue I’m about to discuss, we find politics, i.e. the government, crossing paths with technology. For the background story, I’ll have to tell you about one of the latest hot button issues among the online tech nerds (and I mean nerds kindly) as well as some additional history.

 First some background and history on the issue. Presumably, anybody reading this is familiar with the company Apple and the iPhone. What some people may be less familiar with is Apple’s messaging service called “iMessage.” iMessage is a messaging service built into many of Apple’s software and product platforms. It was first released to the public in October of 2011. It was created to be a replacement for standard SMS, or what most would understand as basic text messaging. SMS is an older technology, and has limitations, such as: lower picture quality when sending your friends a pic, difficulty managing group chats, and other rich features. The introduction of iMessage for Apple’s platforms helped get around those limitations for those using Apple’s products.

 Instead of an Apple user’s message to another Apple user being sent through a cell phone carrier’s network, e.g. AT&T or Verizon, the message is sent through Apple’s own network of servers. This allows for higher quality photos to be sent, and group chats to be more organized. It also allows for features like read receipts, typing notifications, and many other features not capable with basic SMS. However, as I mentioned, iMessage is only available for those who use Apple devices and software. If someone has any other brand of device and software, they do not have access to iMessage. For example, a person with a cell phone from Samsung using Android software, or a HP computer using Windows software, they can’t get iMessage. Apple does not offer iMessage as an app for other devices and software to use. This now brings us to the current news in the tech world.

 Despite iMessage being exclusive to Apple products, other companies have attempted to create work-arounds. These are usually related to making it possible for Android phone users to send and receive iMessages. The technical details on how the work-arounds were achieved are beyond the scope of this article, and different companies have done it in different ways, but most attempts have not been executed well for varying reasons. A company called Nothing Phone had brief success, but their method was found to be unsecured and had privacy issues. Then a company called Beeper had even more success with an app they made.

 One of the big features of iMessage that I left out earlier is “end to end encryption.” In short, this means the iMessages being sent and received can’t be read by any other device except for the sender and receiver. This encryption is what helps make someone’s message private, and unreadable by potential bad actors. Beeper’s app for Android users to get iMessage was so successful because the app was able to utilize Apple’s own servers to send encrypted messages, as well as all the previously mentioned features that come with using iMessage. The app functioned just as iMessages would on Apple’s own devices. However, within a matter of days, Apple was able to fix their servers to prevent Beeper’s app from accessing them. Then again, Beeper found a way around the fix, and thus the cat and mouse game has started. Apple makes a fix, and then Beeper breaks the fix.

 There are various reasons why Android users want to be able to have access to iMessage. The main issues deal with the idea of equal access and platform interoperability, meaning different platforms can work seamlessly together. After all, Google does offer Google Messages,  their iMessage equivalent, for iOS users. So Apple should offer iMessage for Android users too. This idea is what, in part, Beeper’s app hopes to achieve. Being able to bring all of someone’s messaging services into one place regardless of a user’s platform. So when a little company is trying to stand up to a big company, it’s only a matter of time before there are calls for government to get involved.

 During Apple and Beeper’s recent back and forth, Sen. Elizabeth Warren decided to speak up. In a post on Twitter X, she said, “Green bubble texts are less secure.” So why would Apple block a new app allowing Android users to chat with iPhone users on iMessage? Big tech executives are protecting profits by squashing competitors. Chatting between different platforms should be easy and secure.” I recommend reading this article for a better breakdown of the problems with Warren’s post. In short, it’s technologically ignorant and misses the point. I’d like to focus more on the general idea of government intervention.

 For full disclosure, I am a user and fan of Apple products. That isn’t to say I don’t have my own issues with Apple as a company. However, there is no need for the government to step in and regulate “Big Tech,” and force Apple to allow access to iMessage. Why? The simplest answer is because Apple just doesn’t have to. It is their own service that they created for their users. Apple does not have a monopoly or absolute control over messaging services, and no one is being harmed, financially or otherwise, by Apple not allowing other platforms to access iMessage. The same features that iMessage offers can be found on Google Messages, and other messaging services. If a person wants access to iMessage, they only have to purchase an Apple device. While Apple’s products are known to be expensive, if access to iMessage is all a person wants, an older used or 2nd-hand Apple product can be purchased for a lot cheaper than Apple’s latest and greatest. So people are not without options for getting access to iMessage.

 iMessage is part of what makes Apple products unique and separate from their competition. It is a feature that helps draw people into Apple’s software and hardware ecosystem. Similarly, but less serious, KFC’s secret 11 herbs and spices is what makes their chicken different from their competition. Even more similarly, Tesla’s self-driving features in their cars is known to be one of the best, and makes them different than cars from Ford and GM. To the best of my knowledge, no senator is calling for KFC to give up their 11 herbs and spices to the little chicken shack down the street, and demanding Tesla hand over their self-driving tech to Ford, GM, or any other EV startup. Nor should they. Having a product, feature, or service that is unique and exclusive is what helps create and drive businesses. Is Apple only trying to protect profits by safeguarding iMessage? Maybe, but those profits are taxed by the same government demanding Apple give up what helps generate those profits. Furthermore, if all businesses have to share their secrets, particularly ones that that make them stand out, then nearly all businesses will be the same. Other than a name and a logo, there may not be anything to distinguish one product or service from another. If Apple eventually wants to allow open access to iMessage, they can certainly do that, but they should make that choice on their own, and not forced by the government.

 Comments like Sen. Warren’s, are just an example of government trying to exert more control when they have no business doing so. As pointed out, people have access to messaging services. Ones that utilize encryption, have read receipts, typing notifications, and other features found in iMessage. They’re just not called iMessage, and if one wants iMessage, there are easy and inexpensive ways to get it. There doesn’t need to be government intervention to make sure all people have access to this company’s product.

 I guess all this is to say, when government is calling for more regulation and control, try to be skeptical. It’s not always about making things fair for “the little guy,” or safe and easy for everyone to access, and even when it is, that doesn’t always mean it is right. No one is entitled to iMessage, there is no right to have messages be encrypted, and Apple is not obligated to provide their service to anybody who wants it. It is wrong and unnecessary for the government to try and change that. It should be left to Apple and the consumer to decide.

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Opinions

Really Real Reality

     Reality is an interesting thing. It exists around us and we all experience it, but yet we don’t all agree on what reality is. As conservatives, we often think the left does not live in reality. At the same time, the left thinks we are out of touch with reality. Let’s examine a couple topics, and see who is living in reality and who is living in delusion.

     A writer for the New York Times recently spoke to some experts about how to “solve our reality crisis”. In the article, the author asks, “How do you unite a country in which millions of people have chosen to create their own version of reality?”. One of the solutions the “experts” have suggested is, “the Biden administration put together a cross-agency task force to tackle disinformation and domestic extremism, which would be led by something like a ‘reality czar’”. The author even admits that this idea sounds dystopian.

    Unless you are the type of person who likes being told what to think and believe, the idea of a reality czar should be alarming. Why should an unelected official get to decide what reality is or isn’t? By definition, reality isn’t decided by one person or group. One of the “experts” even suggests, “This task force could also meet regularly with tech platforms, and push for structural changes that could help those companies tackle their own extremism and misinformation problems.” Big government in conjunction with big tech, engage in reality making. Deciding what information you should be able to see or hear on the internet, and presumably newspapers since the media are part of it. This should be a scary thought. We already saw an example of this when Twitter and Facebook blocked the New York Post  from distributing  a story about Hunter Biden on the largest social media platforms. Therefore, controlling the information people were able to see.

     Before we get too far, let’s look at the definition of “reality” provided by Merriam-Webster.

     1: The quality or state of being real.

     2 a, (1: A real event, entity, or state of affairs. (2): The totality of real things and events.

     b: Something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

     The purpose of the reality czar would, in part, be to prevent another incident like the one on January 6 by creating “a centralized task force “ to “coordinate a single, strategic response” to misinformation. The reality is, hundreds of misguided, misinformed, and ignorant fools stormed the capitol building. Those people were lead to believe things that were not true regarding the 2020 election. Many people, conservatives included, can agree on this, but what does misinformation or actual information have to do with reality? Nothing, other than to equate them to control a narrative.

     Do you think a reality czar will be appointed to look into the cause of the nation-wide social justice riots that took place during the summer of 2020? At their peak on June 6, an estimated half a million people gathered to protest across the country following the death of George Floyd. The protest quickly went from speaking out against police brutality to shouting about “systemic racism” in America. The former issue is one a lot of people can support. No one wants our police to mistreat or abuse our citizens. The latter issue, is one that does not match reality.

     In a country that elected a black man to serve as president for 8 years, and then only 4 years after he left office elected a black woman to be the vice president, we have massive riots in the name of “systemic racism”. I shouldn’t have to say this, of course racism exists. It has and always will in this world, but America’s institutions do not function on the idea of racism. If the American system was so replete with racism, Obama would have never been the president, Harris would not be VP, Tim Scott’s family would not have gone from “cotton to congress” in two generations, and Don Lemon wouldn’t be running his mouth to millions on cable TV.

     CNN reported that 93% of the protests were peaceful. Even if there was only one protest, the one on June 6, and we compare it to the estimated 93% peacefulness, that means 35,000 people were not peacefully protesting. That is significantly more than those who stormed the capitol. The left ignores the reality of people’s private property, businesses, and lives were lost and destroyed. So again I ask, will the reality czar look into those riots?

     Another area the left’s reality is questionable, is on the subject of transgenderism. On the outset, I have sympathy for people who believe they are of the opposite gender. I cannot imagine, and will never pretend to know, what it is like to live like that. However, forcing people to believe a trans woman is the same and equal to a biological woman ignores reality.

     To start, a trans woman can’t and will never go through the unique experiences that make a woman a woman. Such as, going through female puberty, having a period,  give birth, and just the overall life experience of growing up as a young girl and evolving to a mature woman. Removing body parts and injecting oneself with hormones does not grant the ability to experience womanhood on a deep and natural level.

    Besides the life experience of being a woman, we are teaching people to ignore the reality of biology. Not to sound too morbid, but if a trans man were found dead in the woods, and the body decomposed beyond recognition, the DNA tests would not confirm the body is a man.

When someone is diagnosed with Anorexia nervosa,     Which is characterized by “a significant and persistent reduction in food intake leading to extremely low body weight in the context of age, sex, and physical health; a distortion of body image,” we don’t affirm their belief in how they perceive their body. We don’t normalize their eating disorder as just being a different way people diet. So why would we affirm a person’s belief that they are living as the wrong sex? Mutilating the body to ease the mind of a transgendered person is the same as allowing an underweight person to binge, purge, and excessively exercise because they believe they are overweight.

     There are plenty more examples of how the left is out of touch with reality. Such as, AOC’s retelling of the capitol riot, elementary school children going bak to in-school learning, and the $15 minimum wage. They’ll tell you about the facts and the science from their experts, and they will try to tell you the reality of those issues, but you should always take pause. Ask yourself when they talk about the reality of things, “Are they actually describing the real event or state of affairs? Have they explained the totality of real things and events?”  Don’t let some expert, unelected official, or elected official for that matter, tell you what reality is. Reality exists in our surroundings. It cannot be given a stamp of approval on whether it is real or fake, or true or false.

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Unity Schmunity

     If you are like me, and hundreds of millions of other Americans, you were left shocked, horrified,  and speechless when you saw or heard the news of the riots at the capitol. It was really one of the saddest days I have witnessed, in regards to our country’s history. For the first few days after the events, I felt sadness and shame. Sadness, because it seemed like everything conservatives have worked for over the past 4 to 5 years just went up in smoke. Shame, because the people who participated in acts claimed to be doing it in the name of Republicans and conservatism, and because it was simply an embarrassment for our country as a whole. It was a dark day in our American history, and one I hope I never live through again. I condemn every bit of violence and every act of evil committed on that day. The storming of the capitol was not conservatism.

     Despite the tragic events of the day, there was a glint of hope and light that took place. Once relative peace had been restore to the capitol, congress reconvened to finish their duty of certifying the states electors. Mike Pence, being the great man that he is, gave a speech that represents the strength and resilience of America. Below is what he had to say.

“I want to thank the federal, state, and local law enforcement. The violence was quelled. The Capitol is secured and the people’s work continues. We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. We grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls, as well as the injuries suffered by those who defended our Capitol today. And we will always be grateful to the men and women who stayed at their posts to defend this historic place. To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins, and this is still the people’s house. And as we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy, for even in the wake of unprecedented violence and vandalism at this Capitol, the elected representatives of the people of the United States have assembled again on the very same day to support and defend the constitution of the United States. So may God bless the loss, the injured, and the heroes forged on this day. May God bless all who serve here, and those who protect this place. And may God bless the United States of America. Let’s get back to work.”

     Even rereading his words to write this article causes me to be teary eyed. The Vice President is right. Freedom wins, and they proved the resilience and strength of our democracy by doing exactly what he said at the end of his speech. Congress got back to work, within hours of the violence and destruction they witnessed. For one brief moment, there was unity in our country. Coming together to show our democracy will not be stopped by violence.

*screeching tires and breaking glass*

     Unity Schmunity. Despite Biden’s inauguration theme of unity, Democrats are not interested in unity. Instead of following VP Pence’s example, they were quick to blame Republicans for the riots and inject race into the issue. It doesn’t matter that Republican senators like Mitch McConnell and Mike Lee, and congressmen like Chip Roy, or even the vice president himself, were not in support of objecting to the electoral certification, they are blamed by the left for the insurrection. One of the newest members of “The Squad”, Cori Bush, says that Republican members of congress “encouraged” the riots. Furthermore, a whole host of talking heads blamed anybody who supported President Trump.

     With President Unity about to take office, you would think Biden would have simply acknowledged the tragedy of the capitol riots, and committed to work with Republicans to make sure such events do not happen again, and to work towards bringing our deeply divided country back together.  He chose to do the exact opposite. Only one day after what happened, Joe Biden turns it into a race issue.  He said, “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, there wouldn’t have been… they wouldn’t have been treated very very differently.”. Joe Biden is actually right, but not in the way he thinks. They would have been treated differently, by actually being able to burn down the capitol. Democrats and the media want us to forget about all the riots that took place over the summer. If Youtube hasn’t been given the word to remove them, you can go find hours of video footage where officers are not arresting vandals and looters while others burn down innocent people’s businesses and property. A capitol police officer shot and killed one of the rioters. No BLM “protester” was killed during the riots over the past summer.

     If you click on the link of the talking heads, one woman even admits they don’t care about unity. So the only unity that needs to happen is among conservatives. We need to take the good lessons we learned from Trump, and leave the bad. We have to continue to fight in the culture war, stand up for truth, and believe in the values that make us Americans. We need to avoid being brash and volatile in the pursuit of those goals. For all the good Donald Trump did for the conservative movement, it is hard not to admit his personality made our fight challenging.

     Soon Joe Biden will be our president, and the years of Trump will be further and further behind us. In no way is our conservative fight over. It has only just been kicked into high gear. We have a long road ahead of us until 2024. So, sharpen your minds, steel your nerves, and prepare for the eternal battle against leftism.

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COVIdiot

  Ohio governor Mike DeWine is officially a COV-idiot. As a citizen of Ohio, I thought our governor had been handling the Coronavirus fairly well. That has recently changed as he has implemented new COVID restrictions that do not make any sense.

  Ohio was among one of the first states to begin “reopening” back in May following heavy stay at home orders. Since then, and until recently, Ohio’s economy had few restrictions. As an average citizen observing, it seemed to me that only large events like concerts were the only thing still prohibited. The Columbus Zoo and even Cedar Point were open to the public. Only difference from normal times being COVID safety precautions.

  On November 19, 2020, the governor’s first round of the COVID curfew began. The curfew lasts from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am. Under the order, individuals in the state must stay at a place of residence, except for obtaining necessary food, medical, or social services, or providing care for others. After 21 days of the original curfew, the governor announced that the curfew will be extended.

  During the initial curfew, Ohio saw its 5 highest daily case totals, hospitalizations rise to their highest levels, the most patients placed on ventilators, and highest usage of ICU beds were reached during the 21 day curfew. With this information, one would believe that the curfew had little to no effect. The governor nearly admits so himself. When asked for data that supports another curfew, the governor did not provide any, but nearly just said he, along with health professionals, “believe” it was effective because people took the virus seriously, wore masks, and followed the curfew. He said, “Those three things came together at the same time, and it’s probably impossible to pull-out from that what had the most impact, and what didn’t. I happen to think all three had an impact.”. So he can’t even provide any supporting data, and says it would be impossible to know what had an effect, but he just “thinks” that everything has had an impact on virus cases in Ohio. I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds a little wishy-washy.

  That’s not all folks. Governor DeWine made a special exception for fans to attend the Browns football game, and any “approved” sporting events that may end after the curfew begins. Here’s a quote from the governor commenting on this:

“To be really honest and frank, the biggest threat from these games is not what goes on inside the stadium… The biggest threat is people who have the urge to gather with friends inside their homes.”

 Here he is indirectly admitting the problem is with the virus being spread in people’s homes. In this specific example, he wants to throw people under the bus who like to gather to watch the ball game.

  We’ve been living with the virus for at least 9 months at this point. No amount of the governor trying to make people feel bad now is going to change people’s behavior. If they haven’t been concerned with the virus to the point that they aren’t hanging out with their friends and family by now, a silly curfew isn’t going to all of a sudden whip them into shape. Not to mention the fact that there are some restaurants and bars that are larger than people’s homes. So instead of people social distancing at an establishment to watch the football game, they are forced into their homes exactly where the governor says the problem is occurring.

Forgetting football, which is not a great interest of mine anyway, a small group of friends who may like to meet up for a night cap after 2nd shift now may need to change plans to have lunch before work. This isn’t a big deal, except it forces more people to undergo activities during the day, when there are more people in public, rather than doing them at night when there are less people. These examples may not account for many real-life situations, but the point is, if the idea is to prevent people from spreading the virus, it doesn’t make sense to concentrate everybody into one time and place. It is seemingly counter-intuitive.

  Lastly, if that wasn’t enough, the state has issued new guidelines for high school sports. High school wrestling will be allowed to take place. However, athletes may not shake hands before or after the match, must wear “facial coverings”, and maintain 6 feet of distance while on the bench. If you’re not scratching your head, you should be. Wrestling, not WWE style, is one of the most contact of contact sports played in high schools. Once two opponents square off on the mat, all other COVID safety precautions they took don’t mean anything. If an athlete potentially has the virus, the highest point of transmission would take place during the wrestling match.

  With all these rules that the governor can’t seem to justify, I no longer believe he is handling the Coronavirus well in Ohio. I will give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the high school sports rules, as they appear to be directives of OHSAA, and the governor may not have been involved in the rule making. He must certainly be aware of the policy, and has the power to undo it. I would be more forgiving if his plans made more sense, and I’m certainly not trying to minimize the effects of the virus. It would be one thing if he was actually able to present data and make a reasonable argument why we should have to follow a curfew, and why athletes competing against each other can’t shake hands. He either can’t or won’t, and that’s a shame.

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Opinions

The Great Conservative Reset

Recently people have been talking about “the great reset”. This is the idea that global leaders in government and business are going to use the Corona virus to implement new “progressive” policies, because the situation that the virus has put us in proves the old way of doing things has not been working. It isn’t hard to imagine this, since Prime Minister Trudeau basically let the cat out of the bag. However, I believe a great reset has already taken place.

The reset I’m talking about isn’t the leftist fantasy kind. It is a conservative kind, and it took place on January 20, 2017. As you may recall, this was the date Donald Trump officially became President Donald J. Trump, and with our new leader the great conservative reset began.

Many conservatives believe that President Trump has had the most conservative administration since Ronald Reagan or Calvin Coolidge. Here are just a few examples of his administration’s accomplishments.:

Lowest unemployment rate across multiple categories, cut federal taxes for all Americans, helped win bid for L.A. to host 2028 Summer Olympics, record number of regulations cut, removed ACA individual mandate, signed “Right to Try” legislation, expanded the military with the new branch Space Force, confirmed more conservative judges than any other administration, replaced NAFTA with USMCA, cracked down on China for trade and intellectual property theft; and so much more.

That was just a small sample of the things our president has been able to do, and there are certainly more significant accomplishments that I didn’t mention. He was able to do this all while fighting the resistance of the do-nothing dems, and the lame stream media. For all President Trump’s winning on the policy front, policy was only half the battle. The other fight took place in the culture, and as we all know from Andrew Breitbart, politics is down stream from culture.

If it wasn’t obvious before, Trump exposed the main stream media as being biased and in the tank for Democrats and leftists. They did everything they could to paint Donald Trump as a racist, sexist, Nazi, and anyone who supports him as being the same. They attack Trump as a stand-in for Republicans. We know this because they are the same media who were his friends up until he decided to run for president. President Trump has been a public figure since at least the 1980s. Rappers idolized him in their songs. Even Bill and Hilary Clinton attended his wedding. They were either cool with and didn’t care about him being racist back then, or they are lying about him now. So it isn’t really Donald Trump that they hate. They hate all the Americans that President Trump represents. Remember, these are the same people who let Joe Biden get away with telling black people that Mitt Romney was going to “put you all back in chains”. Now they trot out Romney as a good guy anytime he goes against Trump. It was Romney in 2012, it is Trump now, and it’ll be a new Republican target when Trump is no longer around.

They think average, hard working Americans from the middle of the country are stupid. Don Lemon made this clear when he laughed in agreement when two guests of his made fun of Trump supporters. They don’t believe that America is a great and exceptional country, despite any and all of her flaws. They believe the government is the answer to all of the problems that plague our society.  There are many proud Americans who believe in the greatness of our country. Who believe it is up to individuals and their community to solve society’s problems, and who aren’t just ignorant bible reading rubes. Middle America, blue collar, patriots voted for President Trump to represent them because they felt like the media and culture were ignoring them.

As I write this in mid-November of 2020, President Trump is still fighting to make sure he remains our president. His team of lawyers have filed cases in several states to have any illegal votes cast out. There has certainly been clear evidence of wrong doing in many places, and I pray to God that Trump wins.

If worse comes to worse, and Joe Biden is sworn in as our 46th president, I will have great faith and hope for our conservative future. This is because there are signs that tell us that conservatism is still alive and well. In the House of Representatives alone, Republicans are projected to gain 12 seats, which would be nearly taking back the majority. A good conservative knows that the House of Reps are the closest federal body to the people, and most represent their beliefs. We also know that recent polls show more minority groups support Trump and the conservative agenda. 56% of people said they were better off now than they were 4 years ago. This suggests people approve of the conservative policies that allowed for a more favorable economy that lead them to be better off.

Win or lose, I believe President Trump has reinvigorated the conservative movement, and has taught us conservatives to fight back against the forces that want to change our American way of life, and has reset us on a new conservative path for the future. We are poised to take back the house in 2022, and either keep or take back the White House in 2024.

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Pence, 1; Harris 0.

     By now everyone knows Mike Pence was the actual winner of the recent vice presidential debate against Kamala Harris. Sure, I might be biased in favor of the Vice President, but  it isn’t just me making the suggestion; the media thinks so too.

     You can tell they think he won by what they choose to focus on in their post-debate coverage. Rather than filling the airwaves with tremendous praise for Harris, they took the time to point out and make jokes about a fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head. For example, Steve Schmidt said speaking to MSNBC’s Ari Melber, “I don’t think it’s ever a good sign when a fly lands on your head for two minutes. That’s a sign, all through history, of sin, and historically; biblically—it’s only safe to say this, Ari, after midnight: but a fly, he who commands the fly [has] always been seen historically as the mark of the devil”. Even more ridiculously, Gail King believes the fly was a “fly of color” and was making a statement in regards to Pence’s comments related to “implicit bias” in regards to the police.

     The media definitely had a few nice things to say about Harris’s performance. Valerie Jarrett, former Obama senior advisor, said Harris was “effective at prosecuting” the Trump record, and also stated that Harris explained the Biden plan with “passion” and “humanity”. Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC said Kamala was “fabulous, disciplined, and strong”; however, the primary focus has been put on the Vice President.

     Instead of continuing to spread the message of Harris’s performance and how good they thought it was, the media gives their attention to Pence. The prevailing message is about how he was being overtly sexist and racist.

  Most notably, VP Pence was accused of “mansplaining” for interrupting Sen. Harris while she was speaking. In the world of leftists, what is common occurrence during debates becomes an act of sexism against Harris. They think it is rude and disrespectful to interrupt a woman when she is speaking, and that it is a sign of male privilege and misogyny.

     Of course this is a bunch of BS. Mike Pence has plenty of respect and care for women, and has been known to be weary of being alone in a room with a woman due to the fact that people can and often do make negative assumptions about any man’s behavior around a woman when they are alone. Remember, this is the same media who called Mitt Romney sexist when he acknowledged he had a binder full of women’s resumes that he would like to hire.

     Even ABC’s own, Martha Raddatz, did not agree with the claims of ‘mansplaining’. Responding to George Stephanopolous, she said, “When I hear people … talk about mansplaining and talk about these things with Kamala Harris and [say that], ‘A man shouldn’t interrupt her, it’s going to look bad’ … Kamala Harris is a vice-presidential candidate. She should be able to stand up for herself. Yes, it’s history-making. Yes, you can talk about her history and who she is and [the fact that] she’s a woman of color, but a [vice presidential candidate] can interrupt another vice presidential candidate. It is up to [a] candidate to talk back, to interrupt [the other] themselves, or to hold on to that debate in any way they could.”

     Besides Kamala Harris’s personality, reticent answers, and obnoxious laughter, she actually did seem to have held her own on that debate stage. There is no doubt that VP Pence had a couple issues of his own like avoiding questions that he could have easily provided an answer to, but when the media spends all their time tearing down Pence and making dumb remarks about a fly instead of building up Harris as a great debater and clear winner, you have to know the the reality is Pence 1, Harris 0.

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No Justice for Peace

Judging by the headline, one might think I would talk about something related to the protests and riots that continue to happen across our country. I won’t be though. I’m going to detail how President Trump receives no recognition for the peace he has achieved.

We all know former president Obama was given the Nobel peace prize in 2009. He was awarded the prize without dissent. Here’s a bit of what the chairman had to say about the board’s decision. “We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit [to] what he is trying to do.”. Over the preceding year, Obama had mostly made speeches and political promises. In other words, nothing at all. Just ask NBC’s Matt Lauer, who at the time said, “Not to be rude, but Obama hasn’t done anything.”.

  The president was nominated for the Nobel less than two weeks into the first year of his Presidency, and by the time he was given the award it had only been 9 months. Some might argue that he made some policy decisions early on that were aimed at peace. However, given such a short amount of time, it could not be known whether the policies would work. Furthermore, according to William A. Galson at the time,” Obama was weighing whether or not to send an additional 40,00 troops to Afghanistan”.

Now it’s 2020, and our current president, Donald Trump, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I would hope this isn’t news to you, but considering the state of the leading media outlets, you probably haven’t heard much about it. If Obama can win the prize for doing almost nothing, President Trump should certainly be recognized with the Nobel for doing all the things he has been able to accomplish.

Rather than just making a few nice sounding speeches about peace, Donald Trump and his cabinet members, chiefly Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have actually been able to achieve real, measurable peace. Their efforts while holding office have ultimately culminated in what is probably going to be known as one of the greatest foreign policy achievements in modern history; the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

For Israel, this agreement points towards greater signs of acceptance in the region. Establishing better relations with Arab countries has been a goal for Israel. For the UAE, it allows them to build economic and diplomatic ties with Israel. It could also allow the UAE to have better access to U.S. weaponry. The agreement between the two countries was reached with the Trump administration serving as a go-between.

  The current administration has also been able to make new agreements with Kosovo and Serbia, and most recently, Bahrain. The agreement with Serbia and Kosovo also bolstered those countries’ relations with Israel along with better relations between themselves. The latest deal with Bahrain is an agreement for them and Israel to normalize their relations much like the UAE. All of this happened within a 30-day span; and there are suspicions more agreements with countries throughout the middle-east will be coming sooner rather than later. Add on top of that the fact that under the Trump administration, the power of ISIS has been greatly reduced from what it once was.

Pres. Trump has come closer to ending our involvement in Afghanistan than Obama ever did; having announced that all of the troops in the region will be withdrawn by 2021. He has also convinced many of our NATO allies to do their part in securing the world.

As I was finishing this article, I learned Donald Trump has not only been nominated once, but twice for the prize. It is clear that President Trump has done more to advance peace across the globe than Obama ever did, and if Donald Trump is not awarded the Nobel, it only shows that the committee making this decision has no concern for actual achievements that can be measured; there is no recognition for true peace, and that wouldn’t be serving justice.

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Remember 9/11

What should a nine-year-old remember? Certainly they should remember what their day was like when America experienced one of the most tragic days in her history. Of course I’m talking about the terrorist attacks on 9/11. 

Well, I don’t remember very much about that day; I remember being in school. I think it was a history class. At some point my stepmother came and got me and my step-siblings from our classes. We went home, but I’m not sure if we went directly home, because I remember being at my neighbor’s house. My stepmother and the neighbor lady were watching the news. I don’t think I watched it, because I remember being in the playroom with some of the kids. 

That’s pretty much it. I don’t recall being told about the attack, and I don’t remember at what point I became aware of the events. Even more so, when I understood the meaning of it, and the impact it had on our country.

Despite what I don’t remember about my day on 9/11, I’ve always remembered 9/11. Throughout my life I have heard the stories of the people who were lost that day, and the heroes that bravely went first into the chaos. I have also learned about the evil ideology behind it all. I’ve learned how our people come together in a time of true crisis that effects every American.

On the 19th anniversary 9/11, I am certain that today’s nine-year-olds remember even less about that day than I did. We must remind our children of the day, and make sure they remember everything I’ve learned. In the face of evil, America and her people never cower. When the heart of our nation is broken, we hold each other together. With God on our side, we will always overcome anything and anyone who looks to disrupt our country and its righteous ideals. Never Forget.