By:  Diane Benjamin

On Thursday, January 7th, I will be speaking at the Guns Save Lives meeting in Peoria.  If you want more information, click here:  http://www.gunssavelife.com/?ai1ec_event=gsl-peoria-meeting&instance_id=7294

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Back in November, I wrote about participating in The Diversity Project with Colleen Reynolds from WJBC:  http://blnnews.com/2015/11/02/hope-for-the-future/

The guy who runs the program, Jeff Schwartz – former Mayor of Downs, caught flack from “establishment” types who would rather pretend I don’t exist.  (Remind you of the GOP primary?)

Jeff sends an email every Sunday to around 1400 addresses.  Last week he answered some of the questions he has been asked during the year.

This was one of them:

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Jeff asked me to write a short essay about my experience.  Today he emailed his group what I wrote, so I thought you might want to read it too:

Jeff’s intro:

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I was honored to interact with the participants of the Diversity Project.  The students are exceptional examples of informed and thoughtful citizens.  Our future leaders need to be curious about all sides of issues, the Project provides and encourages this opportunity.  I hope Colleen Reynolds and I helped expand their knowledge of the media, both traditional and new.

Sorry kids, but debt and unfunded liabilities are destroying your future.  See usdebtclock.org for the sad details.  Main stream media has allowed this to happen by failing to investigate and inform.  I report on BlnNews.com to fill a small part of that gap.  Voter apathy is rampant, media is to blame.  When citizens are uniformed, they have no reason to vote.  Less than 30% of taxpayers participated in the last local election, therefore local governments now feel empowered to raise even more taxes and take on more debt.

This is not the government that made America great.  Elected officials shouldn’t tell citizens where to live, what entertainment they must have, and how much of their money they get to keep.  Media’s job is to keep government in check.  Instead they have become friends of government, not the watchdogs purposely protected in the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution.

I am passionate about the truth.  Some stories almost write themselves, others take many hours to investigate.  I hope the students understand that every story I write contains links to prove my points.  Agreement is not my goal.  I present facts and let the readers decide.  Media fails when they only report what they are told.  Either they are covering up the truth or they don’t care what the truth is.

Failure by media to do investigative reporting means knowledge is nonexistent.  Future generations will live with decisions made by today’s uniformed voters.  The main stream media is controlling national knowledge.  Failure to investigate government by local media does the same thing.

Getting news from many sources is one thing I stressed to the students.  There is no one news source that fairly reports every issue.  This is important not only for local news, but news at every level – including at school.  Who decides what you are taught?  Who decides what you aren’t taught?  Why are those decisions made?  Who is asking the questions?

Citizens need accurate information, not a version created to mislead – either by accident or on purpose.  Truth allows citizens to be government watchdogs.  The Diversity Project students will be the future leaders who repair the damage done by decades of bad media and bad government.

To the Diversity Project students:  It must have been difficult for all of you to compose different open-ended questions.  I congratulate you for succeeding!  Obviously you signed up with the Diversity Project to learn, be informed, and explore issues.  I am amazed at how many of you have participated for many years.  That takes dedication from you and your families.  I expect great things from all of you in the future, preserving freedom will soon be your job.  Government will happily take it if you let them.  Keep being informed and involved!

I have to thank Jeff Schwartz. Jeff, you are giving these students a great opportunity that few will ever experience.

Diane Benjamin, Editor

BlnNews.com