Over the past few years, I have struggled to find media that would educate, inspire, challenge, and interest me. Most of the main stream media (MSM) comes with their own biases. They are no longer focused on informing viewers/readers of the facts but rather on putting their spin and convincing the viewers/readers of a specific point of view. About 18 months ago, I discovered The Free Press and about 14 months ago became a paid subscriber. It is the best money I spend every year. There is diversity of viewpoints. Interesting articles that make me think. Positions that challenge my beliefs and cause me to take pause and rethink and re-evaluate what I believe. Today’s Free Press provides a wide variety of examples.

I choose to write about this today because we so rarely have the opportunity to engage with things that challenge our thinking. Today’s world is focused on finding those we agree with and immersing ourselves with them. Most people have their TV news that they watch and stick to it – CNN, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. The same is true with newpapers and magazines. The NY Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, etc. As I read through the summary of today’s Free Press, I found five (5) articles that intrigued me. That made me think. I want to share them with you along with my thoughts and why each one interested me.

There has been a lot of talk for a number of years about vaccines. I’m a believer that vaccines work. I’m vaccinated. My kids are vaccinated. We believe in science. Do vaccines have a link to autism? (The data clearly says no.) There has been a long debate about the Covid vaccine (full disclosure – I got the vaccine and 2 boosters.) My wife and I argue about the flu vaccine as it seems I only get the flu when I get the vaccine. I don’t get it any longer and have promised her that if/when I get the flu and it’s really bad, I will get the vaccine the next year. It’s been about 6 years since I had the flu. I know there is no statistical validity to this belief (my father-in-law is a pulmonologist and we have this conversation every year and I know I frustrate both him and my wife) but it’s working for me so I’ll continue until it doesn’t. With the rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the incoming administration, vaccines are under scrutiny once again. In today’s Free Press, there is a powerful piece about the polio vaccine, currently under attack.

I’m very grateful for vaccines like the polio and smallpox vaccines. They eliminated horrible diseases. Watching vaccine deniers push their agenda scares me. I remember when my younger son’s school had an outbreak of Whooping Cough in Seattle. I was startled and then learned that in Seattle, vaccines are optional for school attendance. That shocked me. Vaccines save lives. The article in the Free Press is a powerful reminder of what life was like before the polio vaccine. The way families suffered and children died. We live in a world where we often forget the realities of the past, of what the world looked like before vaccines, before medical breakthroughs and before advances we take for granted. My father had an older sister, Barbara, that he never knew because she died as an infant. What killed her in the early 1940s was completely treatable by the 1960s. We cannot allow our society to regress against science. I’m thankful for this powerful article that reminds me how far we have come and how much work we have to do to ensure we don’t return to those dark days of death by what are now preventable diseases.

There has been a lot of unbelievable support for Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Like many other people, I have many issues with health insurance, the cost, the coverage, and the need for radical reformation. That does not excuse murder. That does not permit murder. We have seen such incredible political violence in the past few years that it is frightening. We see it on college campuses with antisemitism. We see the antisemitic violence in the streets of London. We see antisemitic violence in New York, California, and throughout Canada. Across the world and throughout America. Today’s Free Press has a great article about why political violence occurs.

As I read the article, I was reminded of the political violence in the 60s and 70s. How today’s leaders have been able to forget that political violence cost us the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Malcom X, and President John F. Kennedy (conspiracy theorists may disagree here) amazes me. I found it interesting that the author stated that the political violence went away without having any meaningful effect. Nothing was solved by the political violence and yet it still went away. It is a reminder that, “such a situation is unsustainable, because political violence cannot coexist with a functioning democracy.”

As I read the article, it made me realize that so many things happen in our world because we allow them. If we tolerate bad behavior, it happens. We have allowed money to rule politics so it does. If we were to demand changes, they would happen. But we don’t. Congress complains about dark money when the other party is raising big dollars that way but won’t pass laws to outlaw it because they want to do better in raising it themselves. They allow it and use it as a political tool. Immigration is another example. Instead of taking action to create real immigration reform, our political parties use it as a weapon against their opponents. Political violence is no different. As the author stated so simply and eloquently, “All of this suggests that political violence is downstream of public support, and that political violence happens because we let it.”

The media covers the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They cover the rockets being fired from Yemen by the Houthis. They report on the uprising in Syria and the overthrow of the Assad regime. They don’t cover what is happening in Georgia though (the country not the U.S. State). According to the media, there is nothing worth covering there. Today’s Free Press does a great job highlighting the uprising in Georgia by the pro-Western groups and what they are dealing with. You would think that our media would want to cover people looking to overthrow tyranny because they want more freedom like the West. You would think that something so validating for the freedoms we have, people risking their lives because they want what we have, would be leading the news. The more I read, the more upset I got at our media. We did this the last time the Iranian people attempted to rise up against the tyranny of their government and the regime survived. We did this when the Syrian people tried to overthrow Assad a decade allow, allowing Russia and Iran to save his dictatorship.

When I read the closing lines of the article, I am inspired by the people of Georgia. I am inspired by the hope they have for a better future. I am inspired by their willingness to sacrifice for a better life. And, I am ashamed of how we sit by idly, doing nothing to help, nothing to support their efforts, and allow tyranny to remain. “As he regained consciousness, the man, who called himself Jimmy, spoke with me. ‘Every day, it’s hard for me to wake up, fearing that they’ll do something worse,’ he said, lighting a cigarette. ‘Life has to mean something, and right now, it’s worth fighting for this—to crumple up the regime and throw it into the trash where it belongs.'” How do Jimmy’s words not inspire you? How do you not want to help? How do you not want to take action ourselves to make life worth living, to make sure life has meaning?

Caitlin Clark is an incredible basketball player. The fact that she is a woman and plays in the WNBA doesn’t diminish her skills or talent. She has single handedly brought women’s basketball and the WNBA to a new level. There have been and there are many great women’s basketball players. None has been able to do for the league and women’s basketball what Caitlin has done over the past two season, in college and now in the WNBA. She has been involved in controversy this week for seemingly apologizing for being a white player. The Free Press wrote about her and this challenge today.

Yet she gets terrible abuse from WBNA players and even owners because of her race. Because she is white. “Sheila Johnson, the black owner of the Washington Mystics, echoed Wilson, telling CNN that the only reason Clark was getting the acclaim was because she was white.” Yet 31% of the Mystics annual attendance came from the two games Caitlin Clark played there. She is the league’s star. There are many outstanding players in the WNBA. I didn’t like watching it for years because it wasn’t very good basketball. Today’s WNBA is very good basketball. It’s fun to watch because of the quality of play. My favorite games that I want to watch are when Caitlin Clark is playing against her college rival, Angel Reese. They don’t like each other. They are both great players. It reminds me of Larry Bird against Magic Johnson. Bird against Dr. J. Magic against Isiah Thomas. Only without the respect the men had for each other.

Reading the article made me wonder why we are so obsessed with race in America. I grew up with friends of all different races and religions. My friends were and are my friends. In the words of the great Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is about “the content of their character.” Would I watch the WNBA if it’s main star was Angel Reese? Maybe. She’s a great player. Do I want to watch every game when she is playing against her rival, Caitlin Clark? Absolutely. Do I watch other WNBA games? Not really. The finals this year were amazing and I have friends who watched it. I stopped watching when Caitlin Clark’s team was eliminated. The same way I stop watching baseball when my favorite team, the New York Yankees are eliminated.

It’s a shame that in the WNBA, basketball can’t be just about on the court talent. It’s a sign of the times, of the challenges we face in America. As long as we remain obsessed with race, we are the ones who lose. We can’t appreciate the greatness of talent because we see it as color specific talent. I hate that. I like watching talented performers because of their talent, not because of, or in spite of, their race. I like the beauty of sports, of music, of art, dance, and writing because of how it makes me feel and how it inspires me, not because the person who is behind it is a specific color, race, religion, or ethnic background. Maybe we can all strive to pay attention to that, instead of race, religion, or ethnicity. I think we would all be a little better if we did.

The last article of the day is about assisted death. It is something I struggle with. Earlier this year, we chose to put down our beloved 13 1/2 year old Labrador Retriever, Bella. I was the last holdout. I saw the light in her eyes until the very end, when I saw her agony. Making that final decision was very difficult and still brings tears to my eyes. Sitting with her on our couch, the entire family loving on her as the vet gave her the medicine that would end her suffering, was both beautiful and heartbreaking. If we do it for the animals we love, why can’t we do it for the people we love?

My dad died on September 6, 2022. Getting woken up at 1:30 in the morning to hear the news is something burned into my memory. I saw him a few hours earlier and expected to see him that morning. I believe that he chose to die when he did out of kindness to our family and to himself. The life he would have lived would be very different from the way he lived his life up to that point. He was able to do for himself and for the family what we would have never been able to do. Forget about the legalities, which the article addresses well. Earlier the day before, my mom signed the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) paperwork. I walked in to the hospital room just after she signed it and she was in tears. We knew he didn’t want to live with no quality of life and she was able to sign the DNR. Would we have ever been able to go that extra step? I don’t think so.

The article has me thinking deeply about why. Why, as hard as it was, could I do it for Bella but don’t think I could have done it for my dad? What stops me from being willing to offer the grace of ending suffering to a human that I love when I can do it, as hard as it is, for an animal? What does it say about me? What does it say about our society? Do we value breathing that much over truly living? What is my definition of living? If it were me, would I want my family to be able to end my suffering? Or should I suffer and ‘be alive’ just because it alleviates guilt?

These are hard questions with no easy answer. I’m grateful that there is a publication that, in just one day, can have five (5) articles that really make me think. That inspire conversations. Each author has their own perspective yet writes in a way that doesn’t say you are wrong if you disagree with them. It is true journalism. If you are looking for a publication that will make you think every single day (I haven’t even talked about the Honestly podcast or the debates they offer), subscribe to The Free Press. You won’t regret it.