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Fake News Is Really Old News

This essay originally ran in The Christian Post.

This past Tuesday was the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of legendary ABC Radio newsman Paul Harvey. Known for his homespun and perceptive commentaries, Mr. Harvey used to say that “In times like these, it’s important to remember there have always been times like these.” He was right.

Wednesday’s anonymously authored New York Times Op-Ed featuring a supposed “senior-member” of the Trump administration decrying internal dysfunction set off an avalanche of criticism, and rightly so.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news September 11, 2018 by Jim Daly

Democrat Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is Right

Earlier this month, the city of Chicago made headlines when 74 people were shot in a single weekend in numerous incidents and neighborhoods. As of today, 12 of those wounded have died.

Sadly, rampant crime in the Windy City is not a new phenomenon. During the July 4th holiday weekend in 2017, 101 people were shot, 14 of whom died.

For years, liberal commentators have been attributing the rise in violence to guns – or easy access to them, inadequate laws, insufficient government spending, drugs and the proliferation of gangs.

Topics: Current Events Tags: discipline, family, news, parenting August 22, 2018 by Jim Daly

Veterans Teach Vandals a Valuable Lesson

When’s the last time you read a news story with a happy ending?

After all, as a general rule of thumb, it’s the noise that makes news.

It’s human nature.

Maybe it’s because bad news makes us feel better about ourselves. Our lives could be worse – just look at that sad and sordid story.

But then there’s Heard County High School in Franklin, Georgia, population 993.

In a nod to tradition, seniors in the high school there regularly try and pull off a prank this time of year.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, news, pop culture May 16, 2018 by Jim Daly

From “Napalm Girl” to “Child of God”

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Stories from the Vietnam war have been told for decades, from the soldiers who fought it to the victims caught in the crossfire. Few of those stories are as inspirational as that of Kim Phuc Phan Thi.

You remember her as “the napalm girl,” the central figure in the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photo “The Terror of War.” The photo portrays a young girl running naked down the road, her skin on fire from a napalm attack.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news April 30, 2018 by Jim Daly

Focus on the Family Wins 26 Evangelical Press Association Awards

Just under a year since Brio relaunched, the magazine was honored with the Evangelical Press Association’s highest award in the “Youth” category. Focus on the Family’s publication for teen girls received an Award of Excellence at the EPA’s annual convention earlier this month.

I thought my friend and colleague, Bob DeMoss, summed it up well:

“We had high expectations for how well Brio would be received by teen girls, but the response in our first year far exceeded what we could have imagined.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: entertainment, events, news April 27, 2018 by Jim Daly

Jim Daly Statement on the Passing of Barbara Bush

The death today of former first lady Barbara Bush, the wife of the 41st president, George H.W. Bush and the mother of the 43rd, President George W. Bush, marks the earthly conclusion of a remarkable and well-lived life. She was 92.

Lovingly nicknamed the “Silver Fox” by her adoring husband, Barbara was married to George for 73 years, a record for a presidential couple. As a wife, her commitment was unprecedented and as a mother to six, her love was unconditional.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, news April 17, 2018 by Jim Daly

Going Beyond the Gun Control Debates

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Last week’s extraordinary public debates about guns, both at the White House and at CNN’s Florida Town Hall, were highly emotional and contentious events. Over a week after the catastrophic carnage in Parkland, Florida, debate concerning what to do about it is raging red-hot, and understandably so. People committing violent acts with guns is a growing epidemic, particularly in schools. Since early January, in addition to Florida, there have been school shootings in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, news, policy, pro-life February 27, 2018 by Jim Daly

Heartache and Heroes in Florida School Shooting

Yesterday’s tragic violence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is the nation’s third-deadliest school shooting in history – and the 7th such shooting in 2018 alone.

Sadly, we’ve grown familiar with the awful rhythm of these barbaric events.

First comes the text alert on our phone or we hear about the horror on social media. Or maybe we learn of it from the lament of a friend or a co-worker.

Before we ask “How could this happen?” we instinctively ask “How many?”

Of course, we intuitively know that even one is too many, and that behind every number is a name of someone who means the world to someone else.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, kids, news February 15, 2018 by Jim Daly

Guest Blog: Three Things You Can Do Today to Help Your Child Avoid an Opioid Addiction Tomorrow

Chances are good that you know a family that’s been touched by the opioid epidemic. Roughly 60,000-65,000 individuals in the U.S. died from drug overdoses in 2016, with about 42,000 of those deaths caused by opioids. It’s estimated that more than 11 million Americans misused prescription opioids last year, and nearly one million used heroin. Among the fastest growing groups of users are teens.

Opioids are a class of drugs derived from or related to compounds naturally found in the opium poppy plant.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, news February 13, 2018 by Jim Daly

Signs of Human Trafficking and What You Should – and Shouldn’t – Do to Help

Human trafficking is a part of the seedy underbelly of our society that most of us would rather not have a conversation about. It’s hard to conceive of hundreds of thousands of people, most of them children and women, being either kidnapped or manipulated into psychological enslavement. So we turn our attention to more pleasant topics.

That’s exactly the behavior traffickers count on from us to keep their activities hidden and their operations running smoothly.

Even the lowest estimates suggest that something like 100,000 kids are taken into human trafficking every year in the U.S.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, kids, news, pro-life February 2, 2018 by Jim Daly