Tag: current events
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For Holocaust Remembrance Day, I Watched a Friend Fall for QAnon and into Anti-Semitism

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of when Auschwitz was liberated and the horror of the Holocaust began to truly reveal itself to the world. Instead of sharing the usual photos of emaciated bodies behind barbed wire and spouting #NeverForget hashtags, I want to offer a personal story—one that’s much more recent and…
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To Those Who Mourn in Silence (100,000)

© To Those Who Mourn in Silence, Shari Lopatin, 2020 (written 5-28-2020) I see your pain in Silence. As you curl Away Into your private world, Lost, never found, And missing your 100,000. I sink with you Alone. And scoff at the smiles That mock Your loss. If silence is your Cry, I will…
Shari Lopatin
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4 Ways to Tell if Information is Real or Fake: Advice from a Former Journalist

When I was a daily newspaper reporter, I always had to navigate through multiple versions of a story before I learned what really happened. We have a saying in journalism. It goes, “There are three sides to every story: side one, side two, and the Truth.” The Truth usually falls somewhere between the first two…
Shari Lopatin
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I Have a Right to Protect Myself and My Loved Ones, Too
To all those angry protestors out there, yelling at people for wearing masks, refusing to respect reporters’ requests to stay six feet back, and screaming in the faces of police officers, I have a message for you: I HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTECT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY, TOO. If I want to wear a mask…
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Men: If you’re worried about women falsely accusing you of rape, work to change the culture
There are a lot of good men out there. My father, the retired elementary school teacher and feminist. My boyfriend, the protective son of a single mother. My former bosses and colleagues, who mentored and shaped me as a professional. With the current political climate involving Kavanaugh and #MeToo, some men are concerned that coercive…
Shari Lopatin
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Voting is Your Rallying Cry, Your Middle Finger, Your Roar
As a writer, author, and American, I believe so strongly in the power of voicing one’s opinion beyond words. Yesterday was Primary Day in my home state of Arizona. And I feel the need to say this, to anyone and everyone who is willing to listen. The will of the people is heard one way,…
Shari Lopatin
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Journalists Just Want to Tell Stories. Today, Some Died for It
I used to be a reporter at a small daily, community newspaper like the Capital Gazette. We had maybe 14 reporters, and we were like family. I couldn’t imagine living through a shooting with that family, watching some of them die. Today, I cry with the reporters and staff at the Capital Gazette. We don’t know the…
Shari Lopatin
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4 Ways YOU Can Avoid Russian Influence in the Next U.S. Election
As a former newspaper reporter, and with the recent 13 indictments of Russian nationals who infiltrated our political system during the 2016 U.S. elections, I’d like to offer some advice on how YOU can personally avoid Russian influence during the 2018 U.S. mid-terms. In case you haven’t heard, the FBI warned they would most likely…
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Enough About Donald Trump, What About Burundi?
I get it: Donald Trump is the leading front-runner in the Republican primary who spouts off whatever comes to mind and is a former reality T.V. star. But amidst the American media’s love affair with Trump, other important world issues are being overlooked. Lately, I’ve been seeing articles pop up about potential genocide in Burundi. Doesn’t Burundi…
Shari Lopatin
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How Inflammatory Language Brought Us to the Age of Mass Shootings
First Planned Parenthood, then today: San Bernardino, Calif. Both are medical clinics. Both are supposed to be safe places … kinda like schools (anyone remember Sandy Hook)? According to CNN, president Barack Obama said, “We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.” Regardless of…