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Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To Phantom Fireworks owner Bruce Zoldan and Pamela Benger, co-chairs of Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music Crescendo Campaign, for their eye-poppingly generous donation of $5 million to the laudable drive at its launch last week. The $20 million campaign is designed to enhance and update the prestigious school’s resources and to attract new students. It will also further the longstanding legacy of Dana as one of the oldest and most celebrated institutions for musical excellence and academic preparation in the United States. To donate to the campaign, contact ...

Go orange, act to ease Valley hunger

Come Tuesday, color your world orange. On that day, bright orange lights will radiate brilliantly through Dave Grohl Alley in downtown Warren and in Huntington Bank Community Alley in downtown Youngstown. No, the accent on orange is not some kind of September spoof to the spooky Halloween season. Rather, orange will shine attention on a more serious, more ongoing and more pressing communitywide social issue: Hunger. Tuesday will be observed nationwide as Hunger Action Day, the climax of Hunger Action Month. On that day, compassionate and able Americans are urged to act to reduce the ...

AI: A substitute for real intelligence

I have a theory about the artificial intelligence craze that is delighting some and scaring others. It is that we are losing natural intelligence and thus risk seduction by something that can do the thinking for us. Never mind acquiring wisdom, which is defined as “the ability to use your knowledge, experience, and deep understanding to make sound decisions, good judgments, and insightful choices.” Why bother with any of this when you can have AI take the place of your brain? Except that AI only responds to what you ask it to do— such as write an essay on a topic. It makes no ...

Closed primaries a curse on our democracy

I didn’t leave my political party; my party left me. Both of them. I’ve been a Democrat, and I’ve been a Republican. What I am now doesn’t matter. The point is that a lot of American voters feel perpetually frustrated by the choices they find on the November ballot. The Democratic or Republican candidate is often chosen in low-turnout primaries where organized ideologues or special interest groups select the nominee. Right now, about 47% of registered American voters do not affiliate with a party. That’s almost half the electorate. Independents are the largest group ...

More threats to the freedom of speech

The freedom of speech and of the press is not a gift bestowed by a president, Congress or a federal agency. It is a natural right of all persons. The First Amendment does not create that right; it prohibits the government from infringing upon it. The ability to think, speak, write, criticize, ridicule, persuade, offend, dissent and challenge those in government is among the most fundamental preconditions of the exercise of human liberty. It is also indispensable to personal happiness. A person who cannot speak his mind, question authority, express unpopular ideas or tell the government ...

The rise of AI populism

Last week, the unlikely duo of Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon keynoted a Washington conference to demand a stop to AI, its data centers and the risks AI poses to jobs and even to the human species. Notably, both lambasted the corporate oligarchs behind AI. The most potent force in American politics is anti-establishment fury at a system seen as rigged against average working people. AI has become Exhibit A. Until recently both parties largely avoided criticizing the wealthy corporate elites that funded their campaigns. In nature as in politics, one does not bite the hands that ...