As we celebrate our independence on the Fourth of July, Americans would do well to reflect upon what’s necessary for a nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, to long endure.
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Americans looking to buy a home may have to wait as housing costs are expected to remain elevated until 2026 or later, according to a note from Bank of America (BofA) economists published Monday.
Homebuyers are facing elevated interest rates due to sky-high inflation under President Joe Biden and a housing shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that has led Americans to be hesitant to move, according to BofA. As a result, economists at the bank expect home prices to rise a total of 4.5% throughout the course of 2024 and another 5.0% throughout 2025, before easing slightly in 2026.
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Something very strange is going on in America’s labor market. The employer’s survey in the June jobs report showed 272,000 jobs gained in May, and nearly 2.8 million jobs over the past year. These are both amazing figures given that the economy is at full employment.
While the employer’s survey is surely fine, the household survey, also produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), tells a strikingly different story, almost as though the country had two different labor markets.
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Less than half of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s handling on immigration, a new survey found.
Only 29% of Americans said they approve of the president’s handling of immigration, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday. Conversely, more than 60% of respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the issue, and among those, 47% said they strongly disapproved.
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A new study by a state government has determined that the many new regulations of the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could lead to power blackouts that will impact millions of American citizens.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the study, conducted in May, was carried out by the firm Always On Energy Research, on behalf of the state government of North Dakota. The report concluded that the EPA’s most recently-implemented regulations are not technologically feasible and will only lead to the forced retirement of coal power generation units. Coal and other more reliable forms of energy will be replaced by unreliable energy sources, such as wind and solar, which are heavily dependent upon seasons and the weather.
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The 2023 Nashville Covenant School murders understandably received massive news coverage when they occurred. The fight over obtaining the murderer’s diary also received news attention. But when “nearly four dozen pages” of the murderer’s diary were finally released last week, the mainstream media completely ignored it. It turns out that behind the scenes, the FBI had fought hard against the diary’s release. Some Covenant School parents also opposed releasing the diary because it would force families to re-live the nightmare. The Tennessee Star’s parent company, Star News Digital Media, successfully filed two lawsuits to obtain the diary.
Five days after the release of the diary, with the exception of the New York Post, which is a national news outlet, the news coverage was limited to seven other conservative outlets such as The Daily Wire and Newsbusters.
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Americans took up part-time jobs in huge numbers in May as full-time jobs evaporate under President Joe Biden’s economy, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released Friday.
There were around 133.3 million people employed in the U.S. in May with full-time jobs, 625,000 less than the month before, while the number of people employed in part-time jobs surged by 286,000 to just over 28 million, according to the BLS. The total number of American workers collapsed by 408,000 as a result of the loss in part-time jobs to 161 million.
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It should be painfully obvious to anyone paying attention that the Biden administration distrusts an armed civilian population and is willing to fudge the truth time and again to defend its untenable positions. But for those living blissfully unaware of the Biden administration’s animosity toward gun owners, it once again demonstrated its animosity in clear terms.
Earlier this month, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security accidentally said the quiet part out loud: It thinks that only the government really can be trusted with firearms, even when the government at issue is notoriously corrupt.
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Americans’ real weekly earnings dropped sharply in April and still remain well below their level when President Joe Biden first took office, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Real average weekly earnings fell to $1,191.93 in April, declining by 0.4% in the month and 4.8% compared to the start of Biden’s term in January 2021, according to data calculated by the Daily Caller News Foundation from the BLS. Prices have risen over 19% since Biden first took office and 3.4% in the last year, degrading the value of Americans’ wages.
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Inflation ticked down slightly year-over-year in April but still remained high as rising prices continue to take a toll on average Americans’ finances, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) release on Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices of everyday goods, increased 3.4% on an annual basis in April and 0.3% month-over-month, compared to 3.5% in March, according to the BLS. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile categories of energy and food, remained higher, rising 3.6% year-over-year in April, compared to 3.8% in February.
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Gas prices have been elevated in recent months heading into summer, when prices are expected to rise even more.
According to AAA, the average national price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.65 per gallon, up from $3.59 a month ago. The prices have fluctuated in recent days and are lower than the all-time high of $5.02 in the summer of 2022. However, prices overall have risen significantly this year and are on pace to rise more in the summer months.
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The government has put together new rules to guide how U.S. spy agencies buy and use mounds of highly personal information from smartphone apps, automobiles and other connected devices.
The new framework policy, from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, does not require agencies to get a warrant before buying or searching commercially available information, or CAI.
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2023 was a record year for domestic natural gas consumption, and its supply wouldn’t have been possible without record U.S. production, led by Texas, according to several reports.
Texas produced the equivalent of one-third of the natural gas consumed last year, with Texas producers breaking multiple records last year, The Center Square reported.
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A German discount grocer has seen an increase in business from American customers over the last year, as inflation remains stubbornly high and presents an ongoing threat to Americans’ financial security.
The Daily Caller reports that Aldi, the German-based grocer, saw a staggering 26% increase in foot traffic at its store in March compared to March of 2023. This rise far surpassed increases at other popular grocery store chains, including the 6% year-over-year increase at Kroger and the 15% increase at Trader Joe’s.
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Americans are less confident about the economy, according to a new survey.
Gallup’s recently released economic confidence rating dropped from March to April as inflation remains elevated. Just after the polling was conducted from April 1-22, the federal government released underperforming Gross Domestic Product data.
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Gas prices are steadily rising around the U.S. again, leaving many cash-strapped Americans struggling to keep up.
According to AAA, the current average price for a gallon of regular-grade gas nationally is $3.63. That is a sharp increase from $3.39 just one month ago. Crude oil prices have risen steadily over the last 30 days, from about $77 per barrel to $85 per barrel.
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A major real estate company released a survey on Friday which found that renters and homeowners are significantly reducing their quality of life to afford housing under President Joe Biden.
Nearly one in five homeowners and renters reported skipping meals to afford housing in Biden’s economy, according to a new survey conducted by Redfin. The median asking rental price increased from less than $1,700 when Biden took office in January 2021 to nearly $2,000 as of February, according to Redfin’s data.
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Big Pharma is not your friend. Whether it’s hiking up drug prices or bribing the Swamp, the pharmaceutical industry works against the people’s interests. Many Americans are aware of Big Pharma’s greed and the power it wields over Washington, D.C., but fewer are aware of just how left-wing the industry is. It serves as a cash cow for the left and pushes woke ideas on its employees and the country at large. This may explain why Democrats, who act like they hate Big Pharma, serve the industry’s interests.
While the drugmakers spread their cash around all of DC, they overwhelmingly prefer Democrats. In recent elections, Big Pharma donated significantly more money to Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. From 2016 to 2022, the industry gave a whopping $29 million to Democratic candidates. This trend stands true for the current election cycle, with more cash going to Democrats once again. This favoritism extends to the presidential race. The drug lobby has donated four times more money to Joe Biden than it has to Donald Trump. And the industry’s generosity to Team Blue doesn’t end with individual candidates. Its chief lobby, PhRMA, also gives millions to liberal campaign arms like the Democratic Attorneys General Association.
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For the first time in my 94 years on earth, I fear for the future of our democracy. I see the federal government using its enormous powers with contempt for the governed instead of with the consent of the governed as our founders envisioned.
Fundamental change in America is occurring by executive order or the force of the government’s police powers instead of through the legislative process required by the Constitution. From this, I fear that free market capitalism may be replaced by big government socialism. I also fear the erosion of our rights and freedoms, including parental rights, freedom of speech and religion, and due process.
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Later this month will mark a year from a day that shocked the Veteran community. On March 27, 2023, I along with many Americans were saddened to learn of the unfortunate passing of Navy SEAL Veteran Douglas “Mike” Day.
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Though windmills and solar panels get the headlines, the big energy topic in Washington is electric transmission. Whether it is Congress’s newfound interest in permitting reform, the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Grid Deployment Office, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) upcoming final rule on transmission planning and cost allocation, how to build and pay for long-range transmission to connect generators to customers is considered the final piece in the quest to meet net-zero goals.
Like so many issues in Washington, the need for more transmission lines is accepted without question and the costs are not considered. But for American consumers, especially low-income and elderly, as well as small businesses and energy intense manufacturers, building new transmission lines could result in much higher monthly bills and leave them on the hook for stranded assets.
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The number of Americans identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer has continued to rise in the last several years, reaching nearly 8% of the country’s population, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
In 2012, only 3.5% of United States citizens aged 18 years and older identified as LGBTQ and in 2020, the number increased to 5.6%, according to Gallup. As of this year, the number has jumped to 7.6%, with over half of the LGBTQ population identifying as bisexual, at 57.3%, and around 1% of Americans identifying as gay, lesbian or transgender, respectively.
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A new poll suggests that more Americans than ever before support the idea of building a wall along the southern border, as the mass migration crisis rages out of control and has cost more American lives.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the latest poll from Monmouth University shows that 53% of respondents support building the wall, while 46% oppose it, marking the first time ever that a Monmouth poll has shown majority support for the proposal. While more Republicans and independents support the wall than in past years, Democratic support for the idea has fallen.
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Amid a polarizing presidential election, areas of common ground are rare, especially around energy. President Joe Biden has labeled climate change as “the only existential threat humanity faces,” and outlined an agenda to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, his would-be Republican challengers have pledged a different course, with the frontrunning campaign of former President Donald Trump pledging to “maximize fossil fuel production” and roll back funding for Biden’s landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
A step back from the daily partisan back-and-forth reveals an idea with something for everyone to support: increasing choice when it comes to where consumers get their energy. A commitment to freedom and creating our own destinies is quintessentially American. Yet most of our citizens have zero control over their power provider and the cost of their energy, and very few politicians on either side of the aisle say anything about it.
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Americans are less satisfied in a range of areas since President Joe Biden took office, according to a new poll.
Gallup released the polling data Thursday, part of its annual “State of the Union” from American respondents.
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Belatedly, the southern border crisis is getting the attention it deserves.
There’s wall-to-wall coverage in the legacy and conservative press, independent documentaries proliferating on the subject, a Tucker Carlson interview with Bret Weinstein attracting over 15 million views on X, and President Joe Biden blaming Trump for a failed bill that involved the border crisis.
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In yet another move circumventing the Supreme Court on the question of student loan debt, Joe Biden announced the cancellation of approximately $1.2 billion in student loan debt for about 153,000 borrowers.
As reported by ABC News, the Biden Administration made the cancellation official on Wednesday, including a draft email that will be sent to all of the borrowers in question. The email will read, in part: “Congratulations — all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven because you qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administration’s SAVE Plan.”
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Mortgage applications sank last week as high prices and rising mortgage rates have increased unaffordability for average Americans, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The total volume of mortgage loan applications for homes declined 10.6% in the week ending Feb. 16 compared to the previous week when seasonally adjusted, while the purchase index fell 10% in that same time, according to a release from the MBA. The drop in applications follows an increase in the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for homes under $766,550 to 7.06% from 6.87% the week prior, intensifying housing unaffordability.
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The latest report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reveals that American adults lost a record amount of money to acts of fraud in the year 2023, totaling around $10 billion.
As reported by Axios, the number of Americans who fell victim to fraudulent scams was roughly 690,000. The average lost amount per person was $500.
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Immigration has become a toxic issue for President Joe Biden, with many voters citing it as their top problem with the president, according to newly released survey data.
Gallup released the poll, which was taken in January and found that only 41% of Americans approved of the job Biden is doing as president while 54% disapprove. Among those disapproving of Biden’s work, 19% cite immigration as the reason, far more than any other specific issue.
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With a tidal wave of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border under President Biden daily and Congress locked in a battle over border security, zealots pushing open borders are becoming increasingly out of touch with the American people.
Under Biden’s reckless Open Borders agenda, nine million illegals have entered the country through the southern border, including 1.8+ million who escaped Border Patrol and are presumably living in the U.S. without documentation.
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In 1979, when President Jimmy Carter delivered his infamous “malaise” speech in which he laid out all the daunting challenges facing our nation, the president said that America was suffering from a “crisis of confidence.”
Fast-forward 45 years and our country is once again facing a crisis of confidence, this time under the failed leadership of President Joe Biden.
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Fewer Americans are planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day in 2024 than in years past.
America isn’t totally losing its love for the saccharine holiday, though. In fact, spending on Valentine’s Day gifts—for everyone from a significant other to one’s cat—has increased.
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The American public is focusing less and less on political news in recent months, even as a crucial presidential election draws nearer.
According to Axios, Americans are instead turning back to consumption of non-political content such as sports and entertainment, indicating a decline in political interest that spiked in 2020 ahead of that year’s presidential race. While numerous events in 2020, such as the nationwide race riots and the lockdowns as the result of the Chinese Coronavirus, led to increased political engagement and culminated in record-high voter turnout, there have been fewer major events in the lead-up to 2024.
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In April 1983, U.S. Secretary of Education Terrell Bell created the National Commission on Excellence in Education, directing it to “examine the quality of education in the United States.” The panel found that “the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”
The report famously asserted, “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might have viewed it as an act of war.” It also insists that “…academic excellence [is] the primary goal of schooling [and it] seems to be fading across…American education.”
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As you near retirement, you must make smart choices with your 401(k) plan. This is especially important for baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964. For a secure retirement, avoiding mistakes and maximizing growth opportunities is crucial. Here are some common mistakes people make with 401(k) plans and solutions to improve retirement prospects.
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Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on Thursday released his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he addressed his rationale behind the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and his view of diplomacy with the west.
Carlson attracted considerable scrutiny from western media for conducting the interview, which he defended as a part of his duty as a journalism.
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The U.S. set a new record in January for the total number of Americans employed by the government, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The government added 36,000 new employees in January, with 11,000 in the federal government and 19,000 in local government, totaling 23,091,000, according to the BLS. January’s total outdid the previous record of 23,055,000 that was set in December, marking the third month in a row with a new record.
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Since June 2023, Americans have been increasingly employed in part-time positions, with a subsequent decline in full-time work, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The number of Americans working part-time in January grew by 96,000 compared to the previous month, while full-time employment sank by 63,000, according to the BLS. The change in the types of employment follows a trend toward part-time employment that has been increasingly exacerbated since June 2023.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that he is calling for constitutional reforms to hold leadership in Washington D.C. accountable for the crisis Americans face due to weak border policies and unchecked spending.
The second-term GOP governor and former presidential candidate is calling for a balanced federal budget, congressional term limits, laws being made equally applicable for citizens and members of Congress and line-item veto authority for the president.
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Sales for existing homes, which make up a majority of the housing market, slumped to the lowest level since 1995 as rising prices and sky-rocketing mortgage rates increased unaffordability, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Existing home sales sank 1.0% in December compared to the previous month, falling 6.2% annually, with 4.09 million homes being sold for the year, according to a report from the NAR. The slump in sales follows a year of rising prices due to inflation, constrained supply and sky-high mortgage rates, which at one point neared 8%, suppressing demand and Americans’ ability to buy in the housing market.
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Americans are worried about the national debt, according to the results of a new poll.
Americans have the national debt crisis as one of their top concerns along with war, inflation and crime. Those polled think the overspending has a direct impact on their personal security and also has an impact on the security of the United States, according to a recent study commissioned by Main Street Economics, a nonprofit group designed to educate Americans on the nation’s debt crisis.
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Republicans are dumb. They are easily led suckers, voting against their own best interests, manipulated by dangerous demagogues. This accusation is accepted as fact by most Democrat voters and is relentlessly reinforced by the media Democrats rely on. From MSNBC, Democratic strategist James Carville says Republicans “have a lot of stupid people that vote in their primaries.” From New York Magazine, “Is DeSantis Just Not Dumb Enough for Republicans?” From Vanity Fair, “Is the Sheer Stupidity of Republican Politics Breaking Through?”
Even some conservative columnists can’t criticize the Democrats without taking a shot at those stupid Republicans. Daniel Henninger, writing for the Wall Street Journal, characterized national politics this year as “The Stupid Party vs. the Evil Party.” As for the leader of the Republican Party, we have this from The New Republic, “Trump Is an Extremely Dumb Fascist.” And as James Carville said, “When stupid people vote, you know who they nominate? Other stupid people.”
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As 2023 drew to a close, millions of peaceable Americans geared up for a new year that will bring with it many new limitations on their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
In California, for example, Jan. 1 was the date to ring in the state’s plethora of new restrictions on carrying concealed firearms in public, courtesy of SB 2, a law passed in the wake of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to punish concealed carry permit holders for having their rights vindicated by the Supreme Court.
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More than half a century ago, Time magazine famously asked, “Is God Dead?” The black and red cover, the magazine’s first to include only text, sparked countless angry sermons and thousands of letters from readers accusing Time of engaging in tasteless nihilism, Marxist pandering, and outright blasphemy.
The question, which typified the counter-culture movement and the intellectual radicalism of the 1960s, was far off the mark both then and now. The United States has always been and remains a very religious nation despite steep declines in attendance at churches, synagogues, and mosques – trends that have captured far more headlines in recent years than the nation’s enduring faith. America is also a majority Christian nation, though other religious groups and affiliations and those identifying as non-believers are growing.
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More Americans are having to take part-time jobs as consumers struggle with economic factors like high inflation, while full-time employment has sunk in tandem, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Around 133,196,000 workers were employed with full-time jobs in the U.S. in December, which was down from 134,727,000 in November — a drop of more than 1.5 million, according to the BLS. During that same time frame, the number of Americans employed in part-time positions rose by 762,000, while the number of people with multiple jobs increased by 222,000.
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Consumer costs increased at an elevated level again in December, according to newly released federal economic data, raising new concerns about spiking inflation.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday released the Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation, showing the cost of a range of every day goods and services for Americans rose more than expected.
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A couple of months ago, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that it would hold its 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, Georgia. This news is more than just a sports scheduling update: it represents the unraveling of Democrat conspiracy theories about election integrity in Georgia and across the country.
In 2021, a host of leading Democrats – from Stacey Abrams, to Raphael Warnock, to Joe Biden – spread rampant misinformation about election integrity in Georgia, aided by a sympathetic mainstream media. The MLB was bullied into moving its game out of Atlanta, costing local businesses $100 million in projected revenue. They were lying about Georgia’s Senate Bill 202, which strengthens voter ID protections, expands early voting hours, and protects bipartisan poll watching, among other common sense functions. Polling shows that a strong majority of Americans support the measures contained in Senate Bill 202. However, Democrats saw an opportunity to unfairly demonize their political opponents and claimed, with no evidence whatsoever, that the law was aimed at suppressing minority voters.
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Nearly two and a half centuries ago, the 18th-century American colonists were confronted with a choice: whether or not to continue living their lives as British subjects and supporting the crown or to sever their ties with Great Britain and declare their independence. The choice may seem obvious and easy today, but at the time—circa 1776—a great many colonists were hesitant to choose freedom, and others even supported the crown. They needed persuading.
Fortunately, a virtually unknown immigrant named Thomas Paine felt compelled to persuade the American colonists to choose freedom. His pamphlet, Common Sense, was published on January 10, 1776, and its influence cannot be overstated. It was read by the modern equivalent of 15 million people at the time and provided the fuel the colonists needed to choose independence.
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Professor Emily Wilson has achieved celebrity status … for translating Homer.
University students use her work, and it draws leisure readers as well. Beginning with her translation of the Odyssey in 2018 and continuing with the Iliad earlier this year, Wilson has presented as fresh and vivid material that is, admittedly, old and foreign.
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