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Join Dolly Parton, Ken Burns in celebrating hometowns

Jaden Amos   | Paste BN

Today we are leading off with a column from Ken Burns and Marty Stuart. The two are leading a national campaign to honor hometowns. Dolly Parton, along with over 150 others, is a part of the movement. I am a self-proclaimed Dolly stan. My cat is named Dolly Parton, I have a tattoo of her on my arm and have an album hanging above my bed. So whatever Dolly says, goes. 

We think there needs to be a national day for hometowns

By Ken Burns and Marty Stuart

For the past fifty years, the two of us have devoted our lives to telling the story of America through songs and documentaries. We’ve covered millions of miles and visited thousands of diners, dance halls, truck stops, airports, classrooms, churches, museums and historic sites.

The wonder, beauty and brilliance of this country never ceases to amaze us. As we reflect on the rich experiences we’ve had crisscrossing the country, we wonder why there isn’t a national tradition for celebrating our hometowns.

We have a special day or week for just about everything, from Taco Day and Handbag Day to Name Your Car Day, but we do very little to honor our cities and towns. We decided to do something about it. Today we’re proud to represent more than 150 leaders, including iconic entertainers and officials from many of our nation’s preeminent community service, veterans, education, cultural and historical institutions, along with dozens of mayors, to announce “Honor Your Hometown,” an unprecedented campaign to recognize every American city.

Today's Editorial Cartoon

American Jews live in fear as antisemitism rises on far left and right

By Avi Mayer

These are a few of the disturbing findings of the American Jewish Committee’s 2021 State of Antisemitism in America report, released Monday – just before the third anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack.

The overall picture that emerges from the report, which is based on the largest-ever surveys of American Jews and the U.S. general public on antisemitism in America, is grim.

One in four American Jews has been targeted by antisemitism over the past year, including 17% who were subjected to antisemitic remarks in person and 12% who experienced antisemitism online or on social media.

China's strength is growing, but don't write America's obituary yet

By Michael O’Hanlon

China is definitely on the rise. But don't write off American dominance just yet.

Even if the trade wars between the United States and China that dominated the Trump era have receded slightly, many other issues have intensified. 

China tested a hypersonic and potentially globe-spanning weapon this summer. It conducted dozens of sorties by combat aircraft that touched on Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification zone and otherwise menaced the island of 23 million (plus much of the world’s semiconductor production capacity) that it claims as its own. The Pentagon’s artificial intelligence guru, Nicolas Chaillan, recently resigned with a warning that the United States is losing the AI race to China. Intelligence and military officials warn that China may be expanding its nuclear arsenal by up to several hundred warheads. And commanders of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii have estimated that China might well attempt to take Taiwan within a half-dozen years or so, given its military modernization trends.

We should not overreact to these troubling trends. They are serious. They are, however, far from truly foreboding. 

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Columns on qualified immunity

Here's a new section we're adding to the newsletter. We're doing a series examining the issue of qualified immunity. For more on the series read here. 

This newsletter was compiled by Jaden Amos.

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