No sooner had I blogged in late January about the problem of deepfakes than headlines erupted about singer Taylor Swift being victimized by users of Artificial Intelligence. The outrage from fans over the depiction of her in a pornographic production got it quickly pulled from X (forever to be known as “the site formerly called…
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While the 2024 Super Bowl is old news, I can’t help contrasting the pizzaz and excitement focused on Las Vegas last month compared to this coming weekend’s celebration of Easter. Let’s start with the hype driven by Travis Kelce’s courtship of megawatt singer Taylor Swift, which led to record viewership of the game. The 123.4…
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After gutting it out last year during the changing of the clock—the dreaded springing forward practice that should have died long before VCRs did—I decided to skip my annual grumbling about the insanity of Daylight Savings Time (DST). It isn’t the longer daylight hours that upset me, but the inane practice of observing it two-thirds…
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While by now Caitlyn Clark is a household name in many parts of America, I had never heard of her until this year. But setting a new NCAA all-time scoring record for women’s basketball and then breaking Pistol Pete Maravich’s mark brought a new awareness to everyone. So did sell-out crowds for her Iowa Hawkeyes…
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With the recent hubbub over the presidential primaries fading into resignation over the choices it appears we will face on the November ballot, it’s easy to feel like a disenfranchised voter. For me, it happens every presidential election year. By the time our state’s primary rolls around in mid-May, there is only one candidate on…
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Time flies by so quickly these days that it’s hard to believe that last Saturday marked the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s not exactly the kind of event that calls for celebration. I may have been more attuned to the Feb. 24 occasion than others because of growing up with an ever-present…
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For the first time in a year, this weekend my wife and I will be back in a movie theater to see the new release, Ordinary Angels. Just as Kelsey Grammar lent star power to the last theatrical release we saw, Jesus Revolution, Hilary Swank plays the lead role. And, like Jesus Revolution, this film…
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Since the news appeared during the recent holiday season, many people may have missed the story about the demise of U.S. newspapers. A report in Axios said the decline accelerated so rapidly last year that by the end of 2024 the nation will have lost a third of the newspapers it had in 2005. Originally,…
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I heard the story on our car radio during a recent road trip: nearly 60% of Americans think money can buy happiness. They even put a price tag on it: $1.2 million. Later at home, I looked up the study by the financial services firm that served as the source for the CNBC report. It…
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I recently attended a memorial service for a friend, a woman whom I would describe as a sparkplug. Linda had been a teacher, community leader, choir director, church member, and entrepreneur who maintained a positive outlook no matter what the situation. What a legacy! She had moved south to Florida to live with family a…
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