Items

• 
  2022-07-20

  Hermit HERALD, ISSUE 143

  Biden/Trump 2024?
• 
  2022-06-21

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 142

  We perceive what we want to perceive
• 
  2022-06-16

  Why have politicians stopped talking about Covid?

  This is a text story from Vox by Dylan Scott. The article claims that COVID helped sink President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, yet despite this, it is not being focused on by either party. Though, this author believes the Democrat response hasn't been much better, with people not really touting President Joe Biden's vaccine rollout and other initiatives. The author links the reason for inflation being COVID interrupting supply lines, which is on people's minds for this midterm election. According to Gallup polling, COVID has lost importance in many people's minds, with it falling behind Russia and gas prices. On the Republican side of things, COVID is rarely mentioned, and if it is, it is in a negative light. Scott says that candidates favored by Donald Trump have gone against his ideas, with them being more skeptical of vaccines, and some refusing to get the vaccine at all. COVID is being tied to an anti-establishment attitude that has been rising within the Republican party. As for my own opinion on this piece, I believe that is does bring up an interesting point with linking COVID to current inflation. I do agree that COVID has impacted the economy for the worst with supply chains being more limited and rising spending of the federal government to counter it, but I do not think it can explain everything. Federal spending in general has been on an increase, which is driving up the cost of items, and not all that spending is COVID related. In addition to that, the shutdown of important pipelines has made reliance on foreign oil more of a necessity, which then drives up gas prices. These types of decisions can't all be traced back to COVID. So while I do think COVID has impacted the economy, I do not think it explains nearly all the economic issues the United States is facing.
• 
  2022-06-09

  Biden administration lays out its plan for Covid-19 vaccinations for children under 5

  This is a news story from CNN by Donald Judd and Betsy Klein. The Biden administration has announced a vaccine rollout for children five and under. The vaccinations are to start as early as the week of June 20.
• 
  2022-04-26

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 140

  Republican/ Democrat warfare
• 
  2022-03-15

  Passionate and (mostly) respectful recent debate in the waning pandemic

  While the all-encompassing strength of the COVID-19 Pandemic is waning, it still persists and lingers. This is a critical time where countries can either dreamily and abruptly attempt to return to idealized pre-pandemic existence or continue to return to their visions of normalcy through steps found in scientific methodology. Debates that focused on safety, health, and personal freedoms (especially about masks and vaccines) were constantly in the news the last two years, with some deteriorating into disheartening and embarrassing public displays. Surely, these debates will continue indefinitely, and all perspectives will be important to history. While browsing this archive, many of the stories are of those who subscribe to the reality of the pandemic, who trust and listen to science, and who have highlighted the way their lives have changed during the pandemic. I am from Arizona, born and raised. I often find myself to be the lone liberal or democrat, particularly at work, in a state formerly known as a red state, now perhaps purple. While Arizona is well represented in this archive regarding life during a pandemic, it has many people living in it who dispute the pandemic's origin, virulence, and the government's attempt to control personal freedoms, as much as I personally disagree. The attached YouTube video shows a meeting of the Kyrene School District Governing Board from January 25th, 2022. The relevant background is that before the 2021 Winter Holiday break this district emailed parents that masks would no longer be mandatory after the new year. By the end of the break, Omicron infections had increased, and the district regressed back to mandatory masks after the holidays. Please watch, specifically from minutes 20:35 through 38:28. To me, a person who reads a diverse group of news sites daily, this clip has brought me hope. Of all the ugly comments I have read on far right or left news sites, debate like the one in this video is instead mostly constructive, passionate, and respectful. I may not agree with everything discussed in this sample, but I respect people's right to debate their beliefs. I believe studying other perspectives is useful for future generations. Historians one hundred years from now may wonder why certain people thought masks were useless in schools. Hopefully, between this J.O.T.P.Y. archive and the articles that exist on the internet, a thoughtful sample of diverse perspectives can be researched. Additionally, I hope this video adds to material in this archive that demonstrates the anti-mask perspective to historians who could research and educate future generations on state and federal authority during health crises to hopefully prevent conflicts as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. This video is owned and uploaded by the Kyrene School District to YouTube.
• 
  2021-12-21

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 134

  Anger devours the angry
• 
  2021-11-16

  Hermit HERALD, ISSUE 132

  Wokeness, big Democrat problem
• 
  2021-09-30

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 129

  "My party, right or wrong"
• 
  2021-08-11

  If it isn't one thing its another

  I have never realized how different my friends on social media are. Growing up in Los Angeles I have many friends who are all politically and socially like-minded. My husband joined the military and then my social media was flooded with the opposite from my "liberal" friends. The differences of opinions never bothered me and hardly ever showed themselves until Trump became president. It's funny how Trump ignited a flame in so many people. Today with politics fueling everything I still see that clear distinction between my friend groups. The saddest part about the pandemic is seeing how science has been "canceled" and political views have somehow replaced common sense. Because so many Democrats are urging people to get vaccinated it seems like Republicans must refuse. I see posts like the one pictured all the time. There's always a reason to refuse common sense. First, it was because COVID wasn't real, then it was because their right to contract covid was being infringed on. I heard some say robots were being implanted, that the government was running experiments on willing democrats. When the death rate continued to rise, they said the numbers were made up. Today it seems like most covid deniers are claiming that if COVID was real essential workers would not be required to be protected against it. I will never understand their reasoning.
• 
  2021-07-19

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 121

  Afghanistan- not forgotten?
• 
  2021

  Rep. Demings on exchange: Let's stop playing these political games

  Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., discusses an exchange at Tuesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on a hate crimes bill with Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
• 
  2021-03-21

  hermit HERALD, ISSUE 105

  $1.9 trillion stimulus relief package
• 
  2020-10-27

  WI, MI Voters Speak Out On Impact Of Pandemic, Social Justice Protests On 2020 | NBC Nightly News

  NBC’s Lester Holt hears from voters in the battleground states about the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the social justice movement and their 2020 decision.
• 
  2021-02-22

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 102

  Armageddon in the Mideast
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  2021-02-16

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 101

  TRUMP,impeachment wrap up
• 2021-01-25

  Statistics and Final Thoughts

  I think it's absolutely boggers that there have been 1.07 cases of covid-19 in la county alone. That's about 10% of Los Angeles county that have had covid-19 at some point in the past year. Not only that but La county makes up about 1% percent of the world's covid cases. I have been effected by the statistics because now every time I go somewhere, I am thinking "someone in the grocery store most defiantly has covid", and that really stresses me out. The pandemic is not over and a lot of older people and just people and general think that now we have the vaccine we won't have to wear masks everything will get back to normal, but that's just not true. Also at the beginning of the lockdown, if some people just stayed home and wore their masks this could be a lot better now. If people could also stop saying that covid is a hoax made up by the democrats I would appreciate that.
• 
  2021-01-11

  HERMIT HERALD VOL 1 ISSUE 91

  DISCUSSION OF IMPEACHMENT
• 
  2020-10-26

  Election 2020

  I have become very passionate about this years election, more so because I am hopeful that as a democratic country we can all elect to steer clear of the part we’re on. I was eager to vote but my husband was worried about COVID precautions and people not following guidelines. We walked into our nearest polling place yesterday and we’re immediately asked to put gloves on, masks were also required but gloves were provided. They told us not to touch computer screens without them. We were lead to sign in and our ballots were printed. Next we stood at the voting boxes which were six feet apart. Naturally I gave my daughter an iPad so we could vote in peace. In all I was satisfied with the precautions my local polling place took. I walked out feeling safe and hopeful. I voted for the future of the country and the sake of my children. COVID has put a pause on many things this year, I’m glad the election is not one of them.
• 
  2020-10-22

  Volunteer in vaccine trial dies

  Like most people this day and age I get my news primarily from social media. I also watch the news (both FOX and CNN, just to get some sort of truth) but I was stopped in my tracks when I saw this story. I would have expected a downfall in vaccine trials to be reported by CNN or a democratic news outlet but this came straight from the republic horse’s mouth – Fox news. On the topic of vaccines, it seems that most republicans are not only eager for a vaccine but ready to get one, many democrats are a little more stand-offish about it. I stand somewhere in the middle; I look forward to a vaccine but want it backed by science not only the president. This story by FOX news talks about a volunteer in vaccine trials and how they died. It doesn’t discuss if the volunteer was administered medication or a placebo but it still make me wonder about a potential vaccine and its effectiveness.
• 
  2020-10-13

  New Economic Relief Bill in the Works?

  After months of talks about a second economic stimulus bill, one might finally make it to the senate floor. Democrats and Republicans have been fighting for months about the specific goal of this second stimulus. More economically conservative Republicans want a smaller, more targeted relief focused on helping small businesses. Both Democrats and President Trump have said that they want more relief, however Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats worry that a second stimulus bill could give President Trump an edge in the upcoming election. A second bill is unlikely to come until either after election day or after the Presidential Inauguration in January 2021 if Joe Biden is victorious.
• 
  2020-09-23

  Hermit HERALD VOL 1 ISSUE 65

  Supreme court nominee
• 
  2020-09-08

  Community in the United States

  This essay was produced as a part of the American Studies program at California High School in San Ramon, California. The essay is in response to the prompt "Is America currently living up to its core values?" This essay argues that America is not living up to it's core values involving community. Some modern events I included was the current election and the black lives matter movement.
• 2020-08-26

  Middle of the Road

  Growing up as a middle class white female, being one who fights for the under dog (social justice) has always made me stand out. One of the reasons I was attracted to my current college, Antioch was that the school fights for social justice. The pandemic has shined a light on all the inequalities in our nation and globally. Initially, when the protesting began it felt needed and I was in full support. As time has passed, the protests have become violent and I have seen people from the left and the right become narrow minded and clouded by anger. Today, I still stand for social justice and support many of the protests but what I have learned from seeing political arguments in the media is that I don't know a whole lot about our nations history, government processes, and the history of racism in the world. I no longer trust the news and today's journalist. Before the pandemic, I knew exactly who I wanted to vote for during this years presidential election and now I don't know. I find myself in the middle between the Democratic and Republican party. I don't want to not vote because I lose my voice. What the pandemic and protests have shown me is that I need to educate myself so I can make an informed opinion before I vote instead of voting blindly like I have in the past. Where I find myself now is in the middle of the road, a place I ner thought I would find myself and a position that is extremely uncomfortable.