Category Archives: The Contrarian

All The News That’s Fit to Miss


how to buy neurontin online This is what the death of journalism looks like.

Nargund I used to work at USA Today. Seventeen years in that building, watching reporters hustle for scoops, editors argue over a single word in a headline, and the pride that came with a byline printed on real paper, waiting in hotel lobbies and airports across the country. We cared then. We really did.

Now, it’s all Prime Day.

Scroll through those headlines — “Spoil yourself with splurge-worthy Prime Day finds,” “Amazon has a 2025 MacBook Air for $150 off this Prime Day,” “Prime Day has 20% off Coop adjustable pillows.” It’s not a newspaper anymore. It’s an affiliate link in human form. An SEO sacrifice at the altar of cheap consumer dopamine.

Forget democracy. Forget watchdog journalism. Forget reporting that holds power accountable. Today, the only power USA Today holds to account is whether your mattress is properly supported by a Coop pillow and if your dog’s carpet cleaner is on sale for $85.

I don’t mean to sound nostalgic for the “good old days.” Plenty was broken back then, too. But there was a baseline respect for news. There was a belief that journalism meant accountability, not peddling the latest Anker headphones.

It’s easy to blame social media. Or Amazon. Or our collective inability to resist a deal. But the real villain is the willingness to trade credibility for a few extra affiliate dollars.

I’m not against commerce. Journalists need to be paid. Newsrooms need to stay afloat.

But when every headline reads like a walking infomercial, you can’t call it journalism anymore. You can’t even call it service journalism. It’s just service — to Amazon, to advertisers, to anyone waving a check.

The lone “real” story on that page — “Big Tech will survive Trump tariffs” — is a billionaire CEO reassuring us that his trillion-dollar company will be just fine. That’s the journalism we get when the newsroom becomes a marketing department. Power flattering power, no hard questions, no uncomfortable truths.

We used to call ourselves the “Nation’s Newspaper.” You’d see USA Today tucked into hotel doors across the country, a snapshot of America in bright, crisp colors.

It wasn’t perfect, but it tried. It tried to be more than a shopping catalog.

That spirit is gone. In its place stands a hollow shell, hawking deals like a carnival barker. You can almost hear the shout: “Step right up! Don’t miss your chance to splurge on a Prime Day pillow! Limited time only!”

If we want to understand why trust in media is in freefall, we don’t have to look far. It’s right there, in bold headlines and lazy copy, reminding us that for some publications, the only truth left is the checkout total.

I don’t know what’s sadder — that this is happening, or that it’s working. Could a suit ask for better “headlines?”

When the front page is for sale, I guess the soul goes cheap.

Welcome Back, Measles


We are living in the United States of Alternative Facts, and the return of measles is its latest holy sacrament.

They declared it dead in 2000 — eliminated, finished, a medical triumph. But in 2025, hospitals fill, kids fight for air, families hold funerals. Before the vaccine, measles infected 3–4 million Americans each year, hospitalized 48,000, and killed 400–500.

Then science nearly erased it. But there seems to be no stopping our faith in ignorance.

Now, the CDC reports 1,288 confirmed cases across 39 states, with 162 hospitalizations and three deaths — the first measles fatalities in a decade. Numbers remind us that science succeeds when embraced and communities protect each other through shared effort.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the worm-brained Secretary of Health and Human Services, builds a pulpit on vaccine fear, preaching to followers eager to see science as conspiracy and shots as threats. Donald Trump fuels the chorus, praising “freedom” as the right to spread disease to neighbors, classrooms, and newborns. They offer a message that glorifies self-interest and frames public health as an enemy rather than a shared shield.

This surge shows a country that celebrates delusion and rewards ignorance. Americans trade evidence for gut feelings, data for rumor, and doctors for self-anointed prophets. In few nations does a health official rise to power after calling vaccines poison.

America crowns that rejection of science with authority, sending a clear signal that belief matters more than proof and that echo chambers matter more than expert consensus.

Measles rises because Americans choose fantasy over collective responsibility. Many embrace the idea that they stand apart from biology and above consequence. They wear personal conviction as armor, convinced that courage means resisting proven tools instead of using them to save lives.

Vaccines deliver modern miracles — our best armor against preventable death. Choosing them strengthens communities and shows shared courage. A vaccinated society stands together, embodying strength in numbers and protecting those too young or vulnerable to defend themselves.

Measles spreads because Americans welcomed it, convinced they outwitted scientists and every grave in every children’s cemetery.

America embraces delusion, celebrates martyrdom to ignorance.

We mark that faith in tombstones.