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You are what you eat

This saying also goes for the information that we consume
Posted by Fred Steiner on Thursday, April 1, 2021

By Amelia Alexander
We live in an age of information, but unfortunately, we also live in an era of misinformation. 

 Fake news spreads like wildfire. Fake news is information that is false or completely misleading that is presented as news. Fake news travels about 6 times faster than regular news on social media. This is extremely concerning.

Many of us consume news online, via social media. About 86% of adults admitted to at least getting some of their news through social media. 60% recorded that they often get their news from social media, according to a Pew research center study, conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 2020.

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Icon music review opens the church hymnal

The top 5 church hymns that should be retired today
Posted by Fred Steiner on Sunday, March 28, 2021

Reviewed/written by Craig Hoffman 
In another century we won’t be singing many of the hymns we’re screeching out on Sundays. While some will have lasted a week, perhaps, others even for a few years, there are several that should be retired from regular use right now! 

Do you agree with the following candidates for overdue retirement? Let the Icon know in the comments!

“Onward Christian Soldiers” (1865) - Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould

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Icon book review: Dean Koontz "Devoted"

A spine-tingling plot that keeps you turning pages to the very end of the story
Posted by Fred Steiner on Monday, March 22, 2021

Reviewed by Robert McCool
Dean Koontz devotes his latest to a remarkable boy/dog combination.

I never cared much for Dean Koontz as a horror book writer. I have found him to be tepidly spiritual, a weak Stephen King wannabe. But this latest, Devoted (ISBN 13: 978-1-4328-7662-3), grabbed me when I was looking for a quick read.

Kipp is a dog with a genetically modified human smart brain, lacking only thumbs and vocal chords in order to write or talk to humans, he communicates with a gift of telepathy to other dogs of his kind,in an organization called “the Mysterium”.

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Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset

These mindsets are based on our perception and response to failure and challenging tasks
Posted by Fred Steiner on Thursday, March 18, 2021

By Amelia Alexander
As I promised in an earlier article, I’m writing an article about the growth mindset. In school, I learned about this mindset, and it has given me some perspective.  

This may be oversimplified, so be sure to take what I say with a grain of salt.  

There are two different mindsets. The growth mindset and the fixed mindset. These mindsets are based on our perception and response to failure and challenging tasks.

People who have a fixed mindset do not grow nearly as much as people who have a growth mindset because people with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities/intelligence is “fixed” or stagnant.

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Icon music review: Top 7 songs about the Buckeye State

How many can you name without reading this column?
Posted by Fred Steiner on Friday, March 12, 2021

Reviewed by Craig Hoffman 
Ohio is famous for the first man on the moon, the Wright Brothers, and great musicians. Of course, this is a music column, so here are the best songs about the Buckeye State! Have you heard them all? 

“Beautiful Ohio”- Ballard MacDonald
No list of songs about Ohio would be completed without the official state song. This song was originally a waltz. The Ohio State Fair Band starts every performance with this tune. It was also part of Jo Stafford’s Do I hear a Waltz? in 1966.

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Icon book review: The Great Influenza Of 1918

This book is about the heroes who worked tirelessly in labs and in the field to try to find a cure, or even better, a vaccine
Posted by Fred Steiner on Sunday, March 7, 2021

Review by Robert McCool
This is a big book on a big topic. 745 pages plus 181 pages (large print) of references and bibliography covering two years of research and attempts for a cure to the worst pandemic we've ever had.

“The Great Influenza of 1918” (Random House, ISBN 978-0-593-34646-4) from author John M. Barry is extensively researched and well written enough to keep you reading all those pages. I can say I liked it, mostly because of the similarity to today's pandemic. And our response to it, which is so much like the response in 1918. We grew to fear, just like in 1918.

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