IMPORTANT READS

GUN CONTROL - Young people in the US experience high rates of injuries and gun deaths. They are also hugely affected when a loved one or someone they know is shot or killed with a gun.

MONOPOLY BREAKING - Taylor Swift fans had their time wasted and pockets emptied by Ticketmaster.

LABOR MARKET - Has the labor market become increasingly stratified in recent years, so that workers without college degrees are unable to advance? 

ONLINE GAMBLING - The casino industry has undergone tremendous changes in the past few decades. With the advent of online casinos, the player experience has taken to an exciting level. The rapid pace at which the innovations are being introduced is mind-boggling.

GUEST COMMENTARY - Is "end of times" or an unprecedented new beginning of times near?

ACCORDING TO LIZ - One of the cases being considered by the Supreme Court this term epitomizes the greed and self-serving interests of the ruling class.

INFLATION WATCH - A report released Friday by a panel of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform highlighted how "certain corporations are using the cover of inflation to raise prices excessively, resulting in record profits and profit margins" at the expense of consumers.

ACCORDING TO LIZ - The story of Covid is the story of a disaster awash in a sea of lies. By the Chinese government, by Trump and his disciples, by those in the current administration, and by the developers, manufacturers and distributors of the vaccine.

Gambling activities are widely accessible and promoted through media and corporate sponsorships in all areas of life.

THE ECONOMY - The world’s central bankers, almost without exception, are now busy swinging sledgehammers. Only whopping interest-rate hikes, they’re preaching, can pound down inflation’s rising prices.

AUTOCRATS RISING - It is chillingly appropriate that this Halloween takes place as populist nationalist demagogues, once deemed politically dead and buried, are rising from their graves everywhere.

ELECTION 2022 - This midterm year, in which many states have to choose between non-entities and the certifiably insane, Ohio is blessed by a real political dogfight.

ESSAY WRITING - Writing may come quickly to some people, but for most college students, completing essays and other projects is an actual chore.

INEQUALITY - Apple Inc. had a fine 2021. The Cupertino-based company’s stock price closed the year up almost 39%, roughly 10% higher than the S&P 500overall, and its revenue surged by 33% in the fiscal year that ended in September 2021.

FASCISM SPREAD - The specter of fascism is spreading across the country. 

BUDGETING - Inflation continues to rise in the United States. Although gas prices have recently fallen since their record high over the summer, the cost of groceries rose by 11.4 percent over the last year, and there is no expectation that they will fall back to reasonable levels.

THE ECONOMY - The New York Times recently pointed to car dealerships as an example of a trend that has defined the pandemic era.

JOB MARKET - Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), claims on his website that creating jobs is his ​"top priority," and has used this status as a ​"job creator" to justify his outsized role in blocking climate action, even as the human-made environmental crisis brings devastating storms and heat waves.

GOVERNMENT - Show of hands: Who wants the US to be a dictatorship?

EDUCATION - “America’s low literacy crisis is largely ignored, historically underfunded and woefully under-researched, despite being one of the great solvable problems of our time” – president of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy 

A STEM career is a difficult one, especially judging by the fast advancements we have made in these fields lately.