Related: Frank Batavick by Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet I was in the check-out line at the supermarket doing our weekly grocery shopping. Alongside of me screamed the headlines of the “National Enquirer”: “CORRUPT” was in 72 point type and accompanied by a photo of Hillary Clinton with arms outstretched and a “what-are-you-gonna-do” look on her face. The smaller headlines... Continue reading

by Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet Dear Donald Trump, I really like your “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, even though you “borrowed” it from Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. No big deal. I know how hard it is for some folks to come up with something original. However, I do have a number of important and honest questions for... Continue reading

Attention Trump supporters! Hop into my time machine and transport yourselves back to early June 2015. Now, what if I had told you back then that the candidate you would eventually champion for the U.S. presidency would also have the solid support of the KKK, North Korea, ISIS, a European fascist, and the Chinese Communists? What would your reaction have... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet When I was teaching a Mass Communications course at McDaniel, I covered many topics that should have been incendiary— Internet privacy, violent video games, media bias, censorship—but was barely able to get a rise out of the students. No incensed comments. No outrage. It wasn’t until I showed a video from the Media Education Foundation... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet The term "failed social experiment" has taken on the character of an epithet in our fractured political climate. Republicans have used it to decry everything from the "Common Core" curriculum to Affirmative Action policies in higher ed. There is no doubt that some progressive attempts at social engineering have less than spectacular results. President Lyndon... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet We should all be familiar with the iconic World Trade Center at Baltimore's inner harbor. At 32 stories, it has towered over Harbor Place for almost 40 years. Now I'd like you to picture eight such buildings, cheek to jowl, and perhaps a few storeys higher. Next conjure up another grouping of similar buildings a... Continue reading

It was the first day of our eagerly-awaited trip to China, and I wanted to check my email and catch up on the news back home by reading the on-line versions of this paper and the "Washington Post.” I tried to connect to the Internet, using the password given us by the pleasant young man at the reception desk, but... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet We are all on the same arc—birth, life, death. Of course, we don’t have any control over the first stage, and sometimes the last can come unexpectedly, like a clap of thunder. But we can all be rulers of our own domain during the middle stage, especially if we subscribe to humorist Leo Rosten’s belief... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet If you had a choice of superpowers, would you rather be invisible or able to fly? In 2001 actor and comedian John Hodgman conducted an unscientific poll on this topic for National Public Radio’s This American Life. Responders had to pick just one of these superpowers and they’d be the only person in the world... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet Earlier this year I attended an exhibit at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. Titled “From Pen to Press: Experimentation and Innovation in the Age of Print,” the display focused on how the old world of hand-written manuscripts coped with the radical changes wrought by Guttenberg’s printing press. As with many innovations, mechanically printed books... Continue reading

The tranquil Sea Isle Beach, Sea Isle N.J. (photo credit Sea Isle City) Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet The placid ocean shimmered in the evening sun. Undulating ribbons of foam-kissed waves gently petted the shore. Long fingers of color — moss green, marine gray, midnight blue — softly vibrated across the surface like rippling beach chair fabric. As a laughing... Continue reading

Photograph of Princeton Battlefield State Park, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Author Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet On each patriotic holiday my wife gets up early to put out the flags. Back on July 4, 2007 we were living in a town just outside Princeton, N.J., and she retrieved the bundle of 30-inch tall American flags that we... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet It was a little over 150 years ago on April 7 that Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, marking the end of the Civil War. We have just about closed the book on our nation’s Civil War sesquicentennial. But has the war ever really ended? It is not difficult to answer... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet You can call it misinformation, spin control or propaganda. Regardless, there are things that some people insist on believing that collide with the inconvenient truths of history. The assertion that this nation was founded on Christian principles flies in the face of the fact that many of our founders were Deists and not pure-bred Christians.... Continue reading

by Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet Imagine laughing at death that's delivered from the air. In 1939, the renowned radio dramatist Arch Obler wrote a short and startling play for the NBC network. He centered the plot of "The Laughing Man" on a book that had been discovered in the ruins of a civilization some 20,000 years old. Those who... Continue reading

Orson Welles, March 1, 1937 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Author Frank J. Batavick CNBNewsnet The Germans always have a word for it. In this case it is wunderkind or wonder child, and it applies to any youth who has skills and accomplishments far beyond his or her age. There are many prodigies in human history, but few as fascinating as Orson... Continue reading

Author Frank J. Batavick CNBNewsnet I am the grandson of a one-time illegal alien. The Batavicks (née Batović) have been in the U.S. since 1910 when my grandfather and his brother jumped ship in Yonkers, New York and made their way to Philadelphia. Like many immigrants, they were escaping the poverty and endless wars in a homeland that considered them... Continue reading

Author Frank J. Batavick | CNBNews Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, is a big fan of Ayn Rand and Objectivism, and his approach to creating a national budget reflects his beliefs. But what exactly does this mean? Imagine this: The legions of heaven gathered for the big debate. The topic- Social Justice vs. Objectivism, or more precisely, the belief... Continue reading

Author Frank J. Batavick | CNBNewsnet On March 2 I planted my garden. Or to be exact, I started an array of seeds that would comprise my garden once sprouted and grown into strong seedlings. I sowed bell peppers, eggplant, basil, parsley, four varieties of tomato, and a selection of annual flowers, like Zinnias and Marigolds. I have two large... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | Columnist CNBNewsnet Sometimes it feels as if our nation is lost hopelessly in the mirror maze of a fun house. Even when easy and logical courses of action lie before us, we illogically take wrong turns and end up where we started. Déjà vu meets déjà vu on a regular basis here. On December 2, two... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | Columnist CNBNewsnet I saw an editorial page cartoon of Hillary Clinton in a basket powered by three, small hot air balloons. The balloons were labeled “Tax & Spend” respectively, the two sandbags hanging over the side of the basket were labeled “Debt,” and the basket itself carried the legend “Obamanomics.” To top it off, the caption... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | Columnist CNBNewsnet If you want to study the velocity of change in this country, just compare restaurant menus from the early 1950s with today’s. Back then our Main Streets sported steak and chop houses, Italian and Chinese restaurants, seafood eateries, and the dependable diner. Fast food in the form of burgers and shakes was still an... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | Columnist CNBNewsnet The slow, staccato sound of the drums of war that began faintly a year ago is now echoing off the studio walls of the Sunday talk shows. The President’s critics claim that his “lead from behind” strategy on Syria and the Islamic State isn’t working, and that we need a change. Amid the undisguised... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | Columnist CNBNewsnet The Egyptians levied them on cooking oil. The Greeks and Romans enacted them to fund their military adventures and extend empire. Even one of the apostles was once involved in this unholy business, and when the British applied them to a favorite beverage, it helped gave rise to American independence. I’m talking, of course,... Continue reading

Frank J. Batavick | Columnist CNBNewsnet It lurks deep in the temporal lobe of the brain’s cerebrum. It is almond-shaped and scientists call it the amygdala. It is where the emotions of fear and anger reside. A protective mechanism shared by all, it requires the right cue to spring into action. The terror attacks in Brussels and the saturated media... Continue reading