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Free speech in America exists not just for laughs

Following reports that Bill Maher will receive the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to believe it. “This is fake news,” she told CNN. “Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.” Ah, guess again. On Thursday, the center confirmed that Maher was the pick. (This reversal was first reported by Politico.) The annual award, presented by the Kennedy Center, will be given June 28, right before the performing arts center closes for a two-year renovation. In the spirit of the honor, Maher thanked “the Mark Twain ...

US needs strong guardrails to better rein in online gambling

From professional sports to wars on the other side of the globe, online gambling has proven it can skew major events in dangerous ways. This industry is becoming a threat, and the United States should reign it in. Earlier this month, Emanuel Fabian of The Times of Israel reported on an Iranian missile strike. Shortly after, bettors pressured him to change details of the story, with some even making death threats. All that was apparently for the sake of a wager on Polymarket, an online platform that bills itself as a “prediction market.” The platform lets users buy and sell ...

Beat social media addiction

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are running content very harmful to children. So said a jury in New Mexico that just slapped their owner, Meta, with a $375 million fine. The state accused the company of spreading pornographic images and helping adults contact vulnerable children. Meta faces thousands of suits, but in a landmark case decided in California on Wednesday, the company was told to pay 20-year-old plaintiff Kaley G.M. $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. Kaley blamed its products on a variety of mental health issues, including depression and dangerous ...

Politics online embraces distortion, lies

“Hezbollah hit 19 IDF tanks today. That’s $95M lost in 1 day. The IDF is a paper tiger,” declared Ethan Levins on Twitter with a picture of a burned-out tank. He describes himself as an “independent journalist,” “American Christian,” and “truth seeker.” The picture he posted was from 2006. His claim is fiction. Mario Nawfal tweeted footage with the text of his tweet reading, “Iran releases footage claiming to down a U.S. F-18 fighter jet. If true, this only happened twice before: 1991 Gulf War and 1995 Bosnia War.” Nawfal is a prolific tweeter with over 3.2 ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To Emily Metheny for her appointment last week as the Champion Local School District’s first woman athletic director in the history of the school system. Metheny’s robust background in Champion sports — soccer and track coach and soon to become assistant coach for flag football — more than qualifies her for this responsible, high-visibility yet challenging role. Metheny’s ascension to the ­­­director of sports programs breaks yet another glass ceiling for women in our region as only one-fifth of all school district ADs in the country are women, according to a ...

Put bill to rein in animal abusers on the fast track

Advocates of tougher penalties for companion animal owners who willingly and negligently allow their pets to viciously attack others have had reason to cheer this month. As of March 20, Avery’s Law became the law of the land in the Buckeye State after sailing through both chambers of the state Legislature with rapid-fire speed. It did so with good reason as its primary provisions drew bipartisan support and unanimous votes in both the state House and Senate. In essence, the law imposes much more severe criminal penalties against negligent owners, authorizes immediate dog seizures ...