LIBERAL FIRST
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In 1897, the “New York” Sun ran a column explaining to 8-year-old Virginia that there indeed was a Santa Claus.
The famous column indicated that Santa Claus exists “certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist.”
It was a powerful and memorable moment in journalism where a writer was able to explain how hopes and dreams, although not always apparent, are still real.
As a retired FBI special agent, I worked to protect my family and the American people in a fair and apolitical way. I understood that the public perception of the agency directly impacted the success of our mission. Moreso, I took to heart the core of that public perception: trust in us by our fellow citizens.
After the Parkland shooting, where my daughter survived and I responded as a first responder, I was deeply disheartened by the FBI’s mishandling of critical leads that could have prevented the tragedy. One failure stemmed from an agent and their supervisor in the Jackson, Mississippi, FBI Office, while another involved a call-in tip that was mishandled by a contract call taker and their supervisor. The contract employee was fired, the Jackson agent was allowed to retire, yet both supervisors remained in their positions.
For several weeks, we've explored the Promised One, spoken of by God in Genesis and foretold by prophets hundreds of years earlier. The world was prepared through historical events for His coming, and "at just the right time", the Messiah began His earthly life in a manger in a stable. We think of Jerusalem as significant, but Bethlehem and Egypt will be woven together as significant locations in the baby's story.
Listening to Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson try to sell state school board members recently on eliminating the state assessment test made me think of my granddaughter, who rarely lost a board game as a little girl because she changed the rules to tilt the game in her favor.
Watson says high school students don’t pay attention to the state assessment because they are thinking about other things (like getting a scholarship), implying that scores are lower because of that lack of interest. The 2024 state assessment shows 46 percent of 10th-graders are below grade level in math and 35 percent below grade level in English Language Arts; just 21 percent are proficient in math, and only 28 percent in ELA.
Researchers and scientists at universities have been at the forefront of developing bold new ideas into life-changing products in areas from biotech to artificial intelligence.
Yet even as we celebrate achievements in innovation, a Biden-Harris White House proposal seeks to upend the foundation on which it rests.
That foundation is the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. For nearly 45 years, this landmark legislation has provided the framework that allows development investment to flow into newly patented discoveries.
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