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Jun
20
2008
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Dan Veaner
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Friday, 20 June 2008 |
 This was a sad week for journalism, and, indeed, for the country because Tim Russert died. When this week's Meet The Press began with a view of his empty chair and then panned down to show Tom Brokaw and guests sitting respectfully in front of, but not on, the set -- the picture was worth at least a thousand words. Because despite what I think of as the 'Hollywooding of the news' Russert was one of the few television journalists who brought integrity and real journalism to the job. And his passing has left an enormous empty chair in the profession.
When I think of how much he accomplished in his 58 years and how consistently well he accomplished it I am awed. I don't know how he did it. He brought a strong moral foundation and work ethic to everything we saw him do. And he was the ultimate fair and balanced journalist. I didn't know he had strong Democrat sympathies until I read it in his book. You wouldn't know it by watching Meet The Press or watching him report on elections.
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Jun
06
2008
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Brendan Barrett
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Friday, 06 June 2008 |
 Right and wrong are not purely relative ideas that our culture teaches us. Morality is based on a universal standard.
This is not to say that everything has to be either right or wrong; obviously, it doesn't matter whether one culture eats with their hands and another uses silverware. Similarly, it's fine to give the thumbs up sign in the U.S., while in much of the Middle East it's considered an obscene gesture. Differences like these aren't moral questions at all, just matters of cultural sensitivity.
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May
30
2008
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Dan Veaner
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Friday, 30 May 2008 |
Last week American Idol racked up 97 million votes for the two finalists. Enthusiasts were thrilled. Cynics pointed out how sad our civilization has become when American Idol gets more votes than a presidential election. I became an Idol enthusiast this year when they showed the repeats from last season on cable. But I am also cynical. So I decided to look up the numbers.
You don't have to register to vote for American Idol. And the phrase 'Vote early and vote often' took on special meaning a few weeks ago when my wife and I decided that Syesha was going to be eliminated after what we thought was a stellar performance, despite a mediocre performance by David Cook, the eventual winner. My wife picked up the phone and dialed the Syesha number, hung up, hit redial, and kept going for seven or eight votes until the futility of it all sank in. If our experience was normal -- if everybody voted eight times, then only 12.1 million or so people really voted last week.
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May
30
2008
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Robert Nagel
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Friday, 30 May 2008 |
 I just read your article in the Lansing Star, that covered the Lansing Town Board meeting on May 20. I commend you for the accurate reporting in the article and thank you for following an issue that concerns all Lansing residents. I am going to recommend that all of my Lansing friends read the article and prepare for the June 18 Town Board meeting.
From: Robert Nagel
Lansing, NY
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v4i21
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May
23
2008
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Dan Veaner
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Friday, 23 May 2008 |
I wasn't sure how I was going to vote on the school budget until I got into the voting booth. I felt badly about that, because I am supportive of the schools. But over the past several years the schools haven't been supportive of the community, at least as far as their attitude toward taxes has been concerned.
On the vote yes side, this is our new superintendent's first year, and he did a stand-up job of involving everybody in the district in a budget that finally makes substantive cuts, over $1 million cut from the 'rollover budget' (what it would cost next year if we keep everything we had this year). The budget itself is 3.37% more in dollars than last year (including 1.5% that makes up for overspending this year), which sounds reasonable. And we do have an excellent school system that attracts new residents and is well respected as achieving remarkable results for a small school system.
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