“Reading a Book is Like Life:
You Live it One Page at a Time.” (Ron Yates)

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About Ronald E. Yates

Author,  former  foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and Dean & Professor Emeritus of the College of Media at the University of Illinois, his acclaimed works are now available through this site.

The Latest From My Blog

America’s Dishonest State-Sponsored News Media

I have often equated the journalism produced by today’s mainstream media to propaganda. Like the old Soviet Union’s Pravda newspaper and China’s Xinhua news agency, a majority of our news organizations have morphed into little more than state-sponsored media. As was the case with Pravda and Xinhua, our news media …

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Did 9/11 Trigger Xenophobia and Islamophobia?

I thought idiotic far-left legislation was mainly confined to California. I was wrong. New York is attempting to one-up California with a new bill that would require K-12 students to learn how the terrorist attacks on 9/11 have contributed to American xenophobia and Islamophobia. The important lesson here is NOT …

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Lawyers + Politics = Polarization & Discord

Like many of my fellow students, when I was an undergraduate, I was conflicted about what my major should be. Finally, I narrowed it down to four areas: advertising, veterinary medicine, law, and journalism. After laboring through organic and inorganic chemistry classes, I abandoned a career as a veterinarian. I …

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Biden’s “Grumpy Old Man” State of the Union Rant

As I watched Joe Biden deliver his State of the Union Address Thursday, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Dana Carvey’s “Grumpy Old Man” sketches on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. The Grumpy Old Man would be introduced as a commentator on SNL’s Weekend Edition segment. He would …

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“Let them Eat Bugs,” proclaim Climate Cultists

During my career as a foreign correspondent, I often found myself in situations where it would have been impolite or culturally inappropriate to decline food that didn’t seem edible. So I took a deep breath, closed my eyes (sometimes), and ate what was put in front of me. (Usually). Okay, …

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The Battle for Western Civilization in our Universities

When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Kansas, a requirement for graduation was a survey/readings course called Western Civilization. Many students loathed that course. I loved it. Okay, no doubt I was an outlier among some of my fellow undergraduates. The two-semester, six-hour “Western “Civ” curriculum consisted …

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The Dangerous Infiltration of America by its Enemies

Since Joe Biden has occupied the White House, more than 7.2 million illegals have entered our nation, a number greater than the population of 36 states, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They have done so with little or no opposition from the Biden administration, which has actually …

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Socialists Force-Feeding School Children a Steady Diet of Toxic Critical Race Theory

As angry parents coast to coast continue to rebel against leftist indoctrination of their children, the nation’s largest teachers’ unions have let it be known that they will support Marxist and socialist teachers who are teaching Critical Race Theory anyway. Here in California, the 310,000-member California Teachers Association, which is …

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Putin and Biden: Two Peas in a Political Pod?

There was predictable outrage among American lawmakers when the world learned that Vladimir Putin’s most significant political opponent died mysteriously in prison Friday. Alexei Navalny’s death came just one month before a presidential election in which Putin will undoubtedly intensify his iron grip on Russia. As disturbing as Navalny’s death …

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Is the Golden State now the Tarnished State?

A recent headline on the front page of the Los Angeles Times was a revelation for some folks. “Half of U.S. says California declining, 30% of Democrats say ‘too liberal.’” It wasn’t a revelation for me. I have lived in California off and on for 19 years, beginning in the …

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An Ancient Egyptian Method to Determine Joe Biden’s Fitness for Office

For the past week or so since a special counsel report described Joe Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” his allies have frantically, if not successfully, defended his mental agility and slammed special counsel Robert Hur for daring to include comments about the 81-year-old president’s cerebral condition. …

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Is John Wayne a Symbol of White Supremacy?

The other day, I watched a couple of John Wayne films from the 1950s. It took me back to a time when strong men were not considered purveyors of “toxic masculinity.” Instead, they were celebrated–not denigrated. Adolescent boys were allowed to be boys in school and not forced to suppress …

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