Weekly Correspondents’ Forum 2016

Should the US apologize to Hiroshima survivors when President Obama visits next week?

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Owatonna, MN Correspondent– “War is hell.” Famous words from General William T. Sherman during the Civil War. People die and are injured by acts of war. Innocent people in many cases. All because their leaders’ egos get in the way of peaceful coexistence.

In the case of the Hiroshima survivors, why must they be singled out for apologies other than the fact that the president of the country responsible for their fates happens to drop by for a visit? Do world leaders apologize to every group of people their country has wronged wherever the leaders’ travels take them? Continue reading →

When do High School pranks go too far, and what sort of punishment is appropriate? For example; Arizona Student faces 69 charges of indecent exposure and 1 felony charge of furnishing indecent material to minors for yearbook photo prank. Is this too harsh or a good enforcement of the law?

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http://wlos.com/news/offbeat/hs-football-player-charged-after-exposing-himself-in-yearbook-team-photo \

Owatonna, MN Correspondent- One of the realities of modern life is children grow up much faster than they used to, have access to all that is good and bad in the world via electronic media, and also seem to have a lower level of morality and modesty. As a result, incidents like the student exposing himself for a yearbook picture occur more often than in generations past. Continue reading →

What are the ramifications if the Sandy Hook families succeed in the wrongful death case against Remington, the maker of the gun used in the Sandy Hook attack?

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Gastonia, NC Correspondent-The Sandy Hook massacre was one of those events that proves to me that even after 16 years as a news editor, starting just a year before the 9/11 attacks, there are still things that can shock and horrify me.  I have sons who were the age of the children mowed down in the school on the day of the attack, and I was filled with a combination of rage, sick dread and resignation as the first reports came in and then as the picture became clearer. Continue reading →

Is tort reform a key element of driving down the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors and keeping healthcare costs in check?

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Gastonia, NC Correspondent-Now here’s an issue I haven’t heard about in a while!  The brouhaha over Obamacare and its attendant bureaucratic explosion has driven tort reform and malpractice reform from the front of the health care discussion, but the problem is still very much in existence. Continue reading →

Should the United States re-write laws to allow Puerto Rico to go through the bankruptcy process and should the taxpayers fund a bailout of Puerto Rico? Does this create a precedent for other cities, states, and municipalities that want taxpayer funded bailouts?

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Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent-As Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States as opposed to a city or town, neither should laws be re-written to allow Puerto Rico to go through the bankruptcy process nor should taxpayers fund a bailout of Puerto Rico. Continue reading →

Do your looks and/or appearance affect how you are treated? Why?

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Correspondents were given the following video for this week’s response: Does Appearance Change How People Are Treated?

Gastonia, NC Correspondent-Years ago, when I lived in Houston, I was on the way to work one morning in my battered old ’75 GMC Sierra pickup truck. It was an “art truck,” painted a panoply of colors in house paint by the students of a local high school. In a previous life, it had been used to haul equipment in the oil patch, and thus had a giant steel bumper on the back. Continue reading →

Is America suffering from a lack of work ethic and professionalism? How do we address this?

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Myrtle Beach, SC, Orlando, FL March 24, 2016 

Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent-America is suffering from a lack of worth ethic and professionalism.  A number of factors have caused the erosion and loss of both of these virtues and standards of American exceptionalism, and the country is paying both a societal and cultural price for these losses. Continue reading →

With state legislatures and the federal government passing new laws almost every day, are we starting to over-criminalize America?

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Correspondents were given the following link for this opinion article: Manhattan Institute: Overcriminalization

Owatonna, MN Correspondent-I have long believed American society has become far too burdened with laws. If one operates on the premise that for every law there is at least one corresponding lawbreaker, then each law passed gives us at least one if not hundreds or thousands of potential criminals. The vast majority of citizens become, unwittingly and/or inadvertently, guilty of committing a crime. At that point, we can fairly be described as a society of criminals. Continue reading →

Should transgender individuals be allowed to use the restrooms of their choice/gender identity, be required to use to bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth, or should schools and businesses be forced to provide “family restrooms” to accommodate transgenders?

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Owatonna, MN Correspondent-The libertarian in me always winces whenever anyone suggests that one group of individuals should be forced to do something in order to accommodate another group of individuals. The progressive in me thinks installing family restrooms to accommodate transgenders makes sense. The conservative in me thinks enough is enough with society bending over backwards to accommodate any minority whatsoever who complains loudly enough about some sort of discrimination. Continue reading →

Should Apple help the FBI unlock iPhones that may have information relating to terrorist activities or other criminal activities?

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Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent-Absolutely they should! For several reasons they should.

Let’s look at this from a legal standpoint. Your phone, text messages, emails, everything is discoverable evidence in a criminal case. So, let’s play this out. Apple decides NOT to unlock this phone. They basically are opening the flood gates to criminals, terrorists, etc. and saying your phone can’t be used against you as evidence. This is VERY detrimental to the criminal justice system. If it was my family involved in these attacks I’d want to know what was on that phone, who they were talking to, what they were talking about. I think the FBI has every right to the information on that phone. Continue reading →