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Jacqueline Smetak| Press-Citizen opinion writer

We have met the enemy and he is us."

So said Pogo during the McCarthy Era and again for Earth Day in 1970. Fifty years later. it's still relevant.

We are currently engaged in an odd auto-genocide. It's not unusual for those who kill lots of people to not only deny responsibility, but to deny the massacres ever happened in the first place.

What's odd is that we are not killing other people. We are killing ourselves.

We acknowledge those who die in war. We lay wreaths and offer thoughts and prayers, even for those dead so long that no one alive remembers them.

Since 1775, the total number of American military who died in every war we've fought is 1,354,664. Of those, 666,441 were combat deaths.

But now we are confronted by mass deaths we refuse to recognize. One is natural cause. The other is violence. Both are preventable.

On Jan. 20, 2020, the CDC reported the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States. Nearly two years later, the number of dead is more than 800,000.

The other threat is firearms. We rank second, worldwide, in the number of deaths each year. Among wealthy nations, we are No. 1.

Between 1968 and 2015, the number who died of gunshot was 1,516, 863. Combined, those deaths from gunshot and COVID are a million more than died in all our wars.

The numbers are bad enough, but what is worse is this has been so politicized that a sane conversation is impossible. For those of us who remember when vaccines for most diseases were unavailable, COVID anti-vaxxers are incomprehensible. But anti-vaxxers have been using the rhetoric of fear and disinformation for the last 300 years.

Vaccines don't work;they make people sick;mandatory vaccinations are medical despotism. And this in spite of the fact that 98-99% of those who now die of COVID are unvaccinated.

With firearms, it's worse. We can dismiss COVID deaths. They did it to themselves. With firearms, however, there's too much collateral damage.

But every effort to stop the carnage is blocked by the Second Amendment, with one side screaming A well-regulated militia and the other shall not be infringed." Frightened people tend toward authoritarianism. The most recent studies point to as many as 40% of us favoring authority, obedience and uniformity (Law and Order) over freedom, independence and diversity.

COVID creates a world out of control. Firearms provide a means to take advantage of this.

We've been split since our beginnings between a distrust of the federal government vs. an understanding that the survival of this nation depends on an effective federal government. That was the point of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

One side saw the government as an agent of unwanted change, the other as an agent of progress. We got to live this conflict acted out in civil war and civil rights, and we're still acting it out.

What's simmering now is another civil war. Civilians own nearly 400 million guns, half of those are owned by 3% of the population. And there's people who believe the Constitution allows them to overthrow our government by force.

Stand your ground laws have created open season on people who are seen as a threat. Laws protecting people who drive their cars into protesters have been passed in Iowa, Floridaand Oklahoma.

Not guilty verdicts in the trials of George Zimmerman, Kyle Rittenhouse and the like have sent the message that it's OK to kill people who can be constructed as a threat.

And then there's Jan. 6.

Jacqueline Smetak lives in Lone Tree.

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Opinion: With COVID-19 and firearms, are Americans fighting another civil war? - Iowa City Press-Citizen

For Dec. 2023. Listed prices do not necessarily reflect actual property values.

Brittany A. and Chad E. Stevens, 26840 Darl Road, to Kyle Terry Alfriend, $549,900.

Norman K. and Sharon V. Miller, 1253, 1254, 1263 and 1264 Zuni Lane, to Lisa Humphrey and P. Malhotra, $479,000.

Timothy J. Jubach, trustee, 34.677 acres, Brown Road, to Harry and Mary Beth Kiefaber, $1,202,126.

Kenneth B. Ackerman, 1255 Zuni Lane, 1256 and 1257 Taos Lane, to Prashant Malhotra and L. Humphrey, $8,200,

Roger Thompson, 444 Springwater Trail Drive, to Danny M. Massie, $12,000.

The Arnett Housing, LLC, 46 Furnace St., to Mikel A. Norton, $64,000.

Gregory W. McCune, 16741 Collison Road, to Kevin D. and Teresa A. Weaver, $55,000.

Gertrude M. Bateson, trustee, 5348 Sheets Road, to Phillip M. Zanko, $415,000.

Gene Dougherty and Paula Bing,, 20 acres, to Gene A. Dougherty, et. al., to or from a person when no money or other valuable and tangible consideration readily convertible into money is paid or to be paid for the real estate and the transaction is not a gift.

Garry Anders and Carolyn Green, 485 and 486 Kusa Lane, to Colin O. and Elizabeth H. Flaherty, $280,000.

Matthew and Jennifer Mellinger, 156 E. 2nd St., to M&A Home & Property Sol., LLC, $127,500.

Brad, Richelle and Deakin Marr, 885 W. Hunter St., to Crystal Lynn Strawser, to or from a person when no money or other valuable and tangible consideration readily convertible into money is paid or to be paid for the real estate and the transaction is not a gift.

John C. and Devon C. Gaydosh, 27621 state Route 56, to Dejo Partners, LLC, to or from a person when no money or other valuable and tangible consideration readily convertible into money is paid or to be paid for the real estate and the transaction is not a gift.

Martin F. Hammar and S. Corbett, 11559 Voris Road, to Thomas M. Helmick, Jr., $78,600,

Michael T. and Joseph D. Boles, 114.4106 acres, Walnut-Dowler Road, to JBH Investments, LLC, $525,000.

Shannon P. Robinson, Jr., 17135 Hartsough Road, to Korey L. Robinson, $14,000.

Sandra L. Johnson, trustee, 4.308 acres, to Jacqueline and Todd Vorhees, $25,000.

Jacqueline Reiber and T. Vorhees, 15275 Mount Olive Road, to Todd and Jacqueline Vorhees, to confirm or correct a deed previously executed and recorded.

Brenda S. Graham, 8.603 acres, to Myriah M. Davis, o or from a person when no money or other valuable and tangible consideration readily convertible into money is paid or to be paid for the real estate and the transaction is not a gift.

Elliot Hembree, 548 Henrietta Ave., to Canyon K. Stufflebeam, $94,000.

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Hocking County real estate transfers | News | logandaily.com - Logan Daily News

The Cincinnati Reds were the first team outside of the playoff picture last season, falling seven games short of the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card race with an 83-79 record.

After a very quiet offseason to this point, the question is what does the Reds ceiling look like for the upcoming season after several notable departures on their roster.

More: Evaluating Jake Bauers and the 10 non-roster players the Cincinnati Reds signed

The Reds havent gained any ground in the winter on the Cardinals, who were propelled by a franchise-record 17-game winning streak in September, and they were 12 games back from the National League Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. Will the Reds be better than a third-place team in 2022 or will they even fall below the Chicago Cubs?

With the sport in an ongoing lockout, heres a look at all the changes in the division:

In: RF Hunter Renfroe, INF Mike Brosseau, C Pedro Severino, RP Trevor Gott, RP J.C. Meja.

Out: RF Avisal Garca, 3B Eduardo Escobar, 1B Daniel Vogelbach, C Manny Pia, LHP Brett Anderson, RP Brad Boxberger, RP Hunter Strickland, CF Jackie Bradley Jr., C Luke Maile.

The Brewers ran away with the division last season and the core of the roster remains in place. Corbin Burnes, the NL Cy Young winner, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta will continue to highlight the rotation. There is Josh Hader and Devin Williams in the bullpen. Christian Yelich struggled throughout the 2021 season, but hes still a mainstay near the top of their lineup.

Milwaukee replaced Garca, who signed a four-year, $53 million deal with the Miami Marlins, when they completed a trade just ahead of the lockout for Boston Red Sox outfielder Hunter Renfroe, a guy who hit 33 doubles and 31 homers last season. They dealt Bradley to acquire Renfroe, but theyre covered in center with Lorenzo Cain.

More: From Joey Votto to Amir Garrett, 7 of the biggest surprises from the 2021 Reds season

It was a short stay in the postseason, losing in four games to Atlanta, but the Brewers should remain the division favorite with the strength of their pitching staff.

In: LHP Steven Matz, RP Ljay Newsome, manager Oli Marmol.

Out: RP Luis Garca, RHP Carlos Martinez, LHP J.A. Happ, LHP Jon Lester, RP Andrew Miller, LHP Wade LeBlanc, LHP Kwang Hyun Kim, INF Matt Carpenter, OF Austin Dean, manager Mike Shildt.

One of the biggest surprises in the offseason was the Cardinals decision to fire Shildt following a loss in the Wild Card Game to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Marmol, 35, was their bench coach, so there is still a lot of continuity on their staff.

The Cardinals addressed some of their big roster decisions in the second half of the season, signing catcher Yadier Molina to a one-year, $10 million contract extension for what he says will be his final season and signing starter Adam Wainwright to a one-year, $17.5 million extension after his dominant year.

More: Depth is a major issue for the Cincinnati Reds' roster following the lockout

After their rotation was ravaged by injuries last season, the Cardinals opened the winter by signing Matz to a four-year, $44 million deal. Theyre hopeful for healthy seasons from Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson, which would be a boost to their postseason hopes next year.

In: N/A

Out: RF Nick Castellanos, C Tucker Barnhart, LHP Wade Miley, RP Michael Lorenzen, RP Mychal Givens, RP Cionel Prez.

The Reds are one of three teams without a Major League free agent signing, along with Cleveland and Oakland. Payroll was a driving factor for their inactivity and why they were set to decline Mileys $10 million club option before placing him on waivers.

More: RedsXtra: Cincinnati Reds seeing returns from investments in international scouting

Once the lockout ends, the Reds will weigh trade offers for Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle. Dealing one of them signals at least a short-term rebuild, but the Reds are without arguably their top hitter (Castellanos) and top pitcher (Miley) from last season.

In: RHP Marcus Stroman, LHP Wade Miley, C Yan Gomes, OF Clint Frazier, OF Harold Ramirez.

Out: RHP Zach Davies, INF Matt Duffy, RP Trevor Megill, C Austin Romine, C Robinson Chirinos, RP Jason Adam, RP Dillon Maples.

Its a new era for the Cubs as they no longer have guys like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant or Javier Bez, but they showed theyre not entering a long-term rebuild after signing Stroman to a three-year, $71 million deal.

More: Hot Stove goes cold: Cincinnati Reds radio show not talking players during lockout

The Cubs are still at least a few moves from being legitimate playoff contenders. The rotation has a solid core with Stroman, Miley and Kyle Hendricks, but its a light lineup outside of catcher Willson Contreras. They reportedly have interest in shortstop Carlos Correa, which would be a commitment to a competitive team next year, but its one thing to have interest and another to pay a star player a contract of around $300 million.

In: LHP Jos Quintana, C Roberto Prez, RHP Zach Thompson.

Out: C Jacob Stallings, RHP Trevor Cahill, UTIL Wilmer Difo, LHP Steven Brault, RP Chasen Shreve, RHP Chad Kuhl, 1B Colin Moran.

The Pirates will continue their rebuilding efforts, hoping to build around some of their young talent like third baseman KeBryan Hayes, shortstop Oneil Cruz and possibly outfielder Bryan Reynolds if he aligns with their next wave of prospects.

More here:
RedsXtra: Where do the Cincinnati Reds project in the NL Central next year? - The Cincinnati Enquirer

ByRichard Baum, Ph.D.,University of California, Los AngelesAccording to Deng Xiaoping, the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Europe was due to inadequate economic reform. (Image: helloRuby/Shutterstock)The Velvet Revolution

In the late summer and fall of 1989, the entire Soviet bloc erupted in turmoil,as a massive popular revolt against communism spread like a tsunami throughout eastern and central Europe. Chinese leaders watched in morbid fascination as the aptly named Velvet Revolution swept through the region, toppling Communist governments one after the other, from Berlin and Budapest to Prague and Warsaw.

For the most part, these embattled regimes recognized the handwriting on the wall and left the stage peacefully. But there was one major exception. When the unyielding, hard-line Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu refused to relinquish power gracefully in mid-December, his government headquarters was besieged by angry mobs of Romanian citizens, forcing Ceausescu to flee for his life.

Within days he was hunted down, captured, and executed by his own army. Half a world away, within the cloistered walls of Zhongnanhai, Ceausescus execution set off alarm bells.

This is a transcript from the video seriesThe Fall and Rise of China.Watch it now, on Wondrium.

Seeking to assuage their own obvious discomfort and anxiety, Beijings hard-liners began to spin the story of east Europes collapse. According to their narrative storyline, it wasnt the failure of communism that caused the collapse, but rather the reformist liberal programs of Mikhail Gorbachev.

Gorbachevs policies of glasnost and perestroika, they argued, had fueled massive popular demands for political and economic liberalization throughout the Soviet bloc. After coming to power in 1984, Gorbachev had indeed steered SovietRussia toward becoming a more open and pluralistic society. Internationally, he ended the Cold War with the United States and pursued peaceful accommodation with China.

When Gorbachev let it be known in the spring of 89 that he would not send Soviet troops and tanks to defend embattled communist regimes in east and central Europe, those regimes suddenly found themselves powerless to resist a rising tide of popular rebellion.

Faced with a classic choice of fight or flight, most chose to flee. Romanias Ceausescu was the sole exception, and he paid for his obstinacy with his life. Following Ceausescus execution, Chinas traditionalists (conservatives) were increasingly blunt in their criticism of Gorbachevs policies.

Learn more about the birth of Chinese communism.

ChenYun charged that the weakness of Gorbachevs ideological line is that it is pointing in the direction of surrender and retreat. Our party cannot afford to stand by and watch this happen. General Wang Zhen also accused the Soviet leader of abandoning socialism.

Even the normally very cautious Jiang Zemin was moved to join the growing anti-Gorbachev chorus. Early in 1990, he claimed that the Soviet leader should be held personally responsible for the debacle in eastern Europe.

As the anti-reform backlash gathered momentum in China, it was given an enormous boost by the stunning collapse of the Communist Mother Shipthe Soviet Unionin the fall of 1991.

Gorbachev had badly underestimated the growing mood of popular disaffection in Russia, and when he tried to reassert the Communist Partys authority, he was ousted and replaced not by a communist but by a liberal democrat, Boris Yeltsin, as president. Thereafter, the Soviet Communist Party lost whatever remaining legitimacy it might have had, and the USSR simply collapsed.

Chinas diehard conservatives now drew a new lesson from the shocking collapse of the Soviet bloc. Even before the implosion oftheSoviet Union, the hard-liners had begun to draw parallels between Gorbachevs liberalization policies and those of Deng Xiaoping. Seeking to revive Mao Zedong mystique and the Maoist emphasis on class struggle, they openly attacked Dengs reforms.

Learn more about Maos alignment with the Soviets.

Early in 1991, one of Chen Yuns conservative protgs, a sharp-tongued propagandist by the name of Deng Liqun, launched a nationwide campaign to publish a new edition of Mao Zedongs works, with free copies to be distributed to every classroom in China.

Calling for a sharp increase in political and ideological education and indoctrination, Deng Liqun promised to educate all Chinese students against the lure of Gorbachev-type pied pipers of pluralism.

He joined forces with General Wang Zhen to defend Maos decision to launch the Cultural Revolution, and they applauded Maos efforts to wage a life-and-death class struggle against the enemies of socialism.

Deng hadnt been seen in public since mid-February. One persistent rumor held that Deng had prostate cancer, another (which later proved to be correct) suggested that he had advanced Parkinsons disease.

With Dengs health fading, conservatives saw an opportunity to ratchet up their attacks on his economic reforms. In journals controlled by the partys leftwing propagandists, they began to openly refer to Dengs promarket policies as capitalistic reform and opening up.

From the sidelines, an infirmed Deng Xiaoping watched uncomfortably as the hard-line offensive gathered momentum. Convinced that he had to act decisively to stem the growing leftist assault, Deng summoned his remaining energy to undertake what was to be the final, and perhaps the most important, political campaign of his entire career.

Deng Xiaoping believed that what led to the collapse of communism in Europe and the Soviet Union was inadequate economic reform. He noted that reforms shouldnt be limited, but should have room for progress.

According to Chinas hard-liners narrative storyline, it wasnt the failure of communism that caused the collapse of east Europe, but rather the reformist liberal programs of Mikhail Gorbachev.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the final leader of the Soviet Union. He announced in the spring of 1989 that he wouldnt send troops to help the communist regimes in eastern Europe. Chinas conservatives blamed Gorbachev for being responsible for the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

See the article here:
China and the Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Europe - The Great Courses Daily News

In less than 40 years, the taxpayer-funded Voice of America went from exposing the crimes and economic failures of communism to in some cases glorifying communists, including Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

VOA is part of the federal government's $800 million (average annual budget) U.S. Agency for Global Media.

I am an Eastern European refugee from communism. Judging from what one can see online in various languages, Ive concluded that recent and current VOA and USAGM officials either do not know or have forgotten what life was like for tens of millions of people living under communism and in state-run socialist economies in the former Soviet bloc.

My observations are shared by many dissident journalists in China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, and Ethiopia, as well as political refugees and immigrants from these countries living in the United States, who have been criticizing the management of the VOA programs for damaging the cause of human rights. That was absolutely not the case 40 years ago when I was in charge of the VOA Polish Service, broadcasting to Poland under the martial law imposed by pro-Soviet communists on Dec. 13, 1981.

Today, USAGM and VOA press releases are full of laudatory and often misleading claims from government bureaucrats. It is true that not all of todays VOA language services are bad, and many outstanding journalists still work there. But the kind of criticism one hears now from citizens of captive nations about strategically important VOA programs would not have been ignored by any U.S. administration during the Cold War or by the commercial U.S. media.

After the VOA's management was reformed under President Ronald Reagan, to the great discomfort of many former longtime executives and some central English newsroom reporters, VOAs weekly audience in Poland increased fivefold in less than 10 years to more than 50% of the adult population. In the 1980s, VOA was finally able to contribute significantly to the fall of communism in East-Central Europe, almost as much as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In contrast, VOAs recent broadcasting in Afghanistan ended in a disaster. VOAs impact in Russia, China, and Iran is now minuscule. Independent experts question USAGMs inflated and often meaningless audience claims.

The amnesia of recent and current VOA officials about history and their failure to provide leadership are particularly dangerous at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin may be getting ready to invade Ukraine and uses Belarus in a hybrid war against the neighboring nations in the European Union.

Chinese, Cuban, Ethiopian, and Iranian government propagandists have also been given an advantage by VOA and USAGM managements failures. During the Cold War, VOA did not abandon any journalists behind the Iron Curtain. The VOA/USAGM management left behind in Afghanistan about 500 Afghan employees and family members. Senior agency executives could not see what was coming and did not order a prompt evacuation.

There are not enough VOA and USAGM managers with good judgment informed by a solid grasp of history.

A few years ago, a top VOA official seemed to question whether disinformation outlets such as Russias RT should be made to register in the U.S. as foreign agents. When the U.S. government compels RT to register as a foreign agent, then other governments consider requiring U.S. media to register as foreign agents and then, the VOA executive wrote in a 2017 Facebook post, which was later deleted. It happened at about the same time VOA's management carelessly hired several former Russian state media employees.

Foreign propaganda had found its way into VOA programs at various times. The VOA chief news writer and editor in 1943 was American novelist Howard Fast, who was later a Communist Party activist and the recipient of the 1953 Stalin International Peace Prize.

Censorship in favor of Soviet Russia has also been part of VOA history. In the early 1950s, before President Harry Truman carried out reforms, VOA censored a Polish writer and artist, Jozef Czapski, who had been a witness of Stalins genocidal crimes. In the 1970s, VOA even censored Russian dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Such censorship ended under Reagan but has returned in recent years. Under Obama administration appointees, VOA English programs lauded American communist winner of the Lenin Peace Prize Angela Davis as a fighter for human rights, without any attempt to provide balance with information about her pro-Soviet past. Solzhenitsyn had once spoken bitterly about Davis in describing the methods of Soviet propaganda and how figures such as her were used to justify oppression.

The VOA Russian Service used recently as an on-air personality a former Russian TV anchor who, before his employment with VOA, produced anti-U.S. propaganda films with antisemitic overtones. One of his older videos on YouTube promoted conspiracy theories spread in Russia and in the West by Putins state media. The film put the blame on the U.S. government, American capitalists, and Jewish bankers for exploiting the economies of other countries around the world.

In March 2019, top USAGM and VOA officials received an email with information about this provided by opposition journalists from Belarus. A Belorussian refugee media outlet had expressed a profound shock that a person with a Russian propaganda work record could be hired by the U.S. government-funded broadcaster to host VOA programs. But nothing happened for many months, during which this journalist continued to be employed by VOA. The VOA management has since hired a few other journalists who had previously worked for Putins state media and seem particularly proud of their work in Russia.

During the same time, under the watch of recent and current VOA and USAGM executives, employees and contractors produced news reports and graphics that glorified repressive communist leaders. They did not mention the crimes of Marxist dictators and the failures of socialist state economies.

That is a far cry from how the VOA responded to propaganda from the Soviet Union and other communist states in the 1980s.

In mid-December 2021, the VOA English news website ignored the 40th anniversary of the imposition of martial law in Poland by the pro-Soviet regime of General Wojciech Jaruzelski. The event could have provided a useful history lesson, given that Soviet threats at that time against the Polish Solidarity movement were very similar to todays Russian threats against Ukraine.

There was something else VOAs foreign and U.S. audiences could have learned from history. During martial law in Poland, we received thousands of letters from listeners with requests for humanitarian assistance. In one such letter, sent to the VOA in November 1982, a mother of three girls, ages 7, 11, and 12, asked if VOA could help her. She wanted to find an American family willing to send used clothing and shoes for her young children. All three girls signed their names. The letter came to us from central Poland.

The mother wrote that the helplessness of her situation had forced her to suppress her shame and to ask VOA for help. She wanted her girls to have something warm to wear going to school in the approaching winter months. We already have frost, she wrote. Im afraid that my children will not have anything to wear to go to school. They have outgrown what we had bought two years ago. I cant count on any humanitarian aid; I had already tried. You have to have connections. Women wrote the majority of letters sent from Poland to VOA during the Cold War with requests for humanitarian assistance.

Unfortunately, this letter did not reach VOA before Christmas. A U.S. Postal Service stamp on the envelope shows that it was received in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 27, 1982. We used to forward such letters to charitable organizations in the U.S. If any packages from America with aid had arrived at their home in Poland, it would have been long after Christmas.

In her letter to VOA, the Polish woman did not make any direct references to the political situation in her country, but she made it abundantly clear that the communist regime in power was responsible for many years of economic deprivation for her young family. The system that produced such economic misery and killed millions of people should not be promoted by VOA to the rest of the world at the expense of U.S. taxpayers and in violation of the VOA Charter.

Ted Lipien is a journalist, writer, and media freedom advocate. He was Voice of Americas Polish Service chief during Polands struggle for democracy and VOAs acting associate director. He also served briefly in 2020-2021 as president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

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Voice of America went from exposing the failures of communism to glorifying its dictators - Washington Examiner