Just when you think it just may be possible that racism isn't a problem anymore, the bigots remind us it is. A recent Associated Press story covered two events involving the late Emmett Till. Till was 14 when, in August 1955, he was visiting relatives in Mississippi. The black boy had been ...
Americans who leave our country to reside in another are outside the protection of our government in most ways. But the sheer horror of what happened in Mexico last week - nine women and children massacred, apparently by drug cartel terrorists - cries out for some meaningful reaction by ...
There were long lines at the polls on Tuesday. And, quite possibly, a swear word or two uttered under one’s breath. But, let’s look at the bright side; for as many lines or even rumors or Facebook posts (sometimes one and the same) as we heard on Wednesday, there were... lines. For a ...
We need representatives that aren't afraid to put themselves out there. Representatives that aren't afraid to be the unpopular voice in the room. Not afraid to look past the complaining in front of their face... in order to do what's best for ... all of us. Spock said it best: "The needs of ...
Especially at major powers in the collegiate sports world, purely amateur athletics has been a myth for many years. Under-the-table gifts by well-to-do boosters have ensured that. Now, however, even the pretense may be about to end. This week, the NCAA Board of Governors voted to allow ...
Russian trolls who have been successful, probably beyond their wildest dreams, in sowing discord among Americans may be getting a good chuckle out of an announcement by Facebook. Officials at the widely used social media company said this week they will increase efforts to keep Facebook ...
The standard measuring stick for determining the human cost of the drug abuse crisis tends to be the number of lives claimed by it — more than 70,000 annually in the United States. As we have pointed out, that exceeds the total number of U.S. deaths in the Vietnam War (58,220). But an ...
Conventional wisdom — even its more intuitive cousin, common sense — sometimes needs to be tested scientifically. This year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in economics are living proof of that. Michael Kremer of Harvard University and Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of the ...
It has been just two years since the #MeToo movement came on the national stage. Its founder and others concerned about sexual assault and harassment worry that the issue has been sidetracked by candidates for president next year. #MeToo founder Tarana Burke is doing something about that. ...
Members of Congress who want to “overturn” President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria are engaged in an absurd performance of political theater. Many lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have been critical of Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish separatists in ...
An important matter of public interest has been settled, and that has to do with whether the names of candidates for appointment to unexpired terms of public office should be made public. When the issue surfaced about five years ago, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette believed that it was common ...
George Orwell called it “Newspeak.” We often laugh at the way government redefines the meaning of words, and “Fair Pay to Play,” the recently passed California law that is now being discussed in our state legislature, certainly turns the dictionary on its ear. Athletes choose ...
Are leaders in Congress unable to walk and chew gum at the same time? That is, are they capable of multitasking on major issues? Some are speculating they are not. Recall that just a few weeks ago, in the wake of more mass murders, lawmakers vowed to debate steps to reduce the likelihood of ...
“The school district is (this)... “The school district is (that)...” We get it. It’s your kids we’re talking about. Our kids, too. You’re allowed to have an opinion — a strong one — about how your children are treated and cared for at school. You’re allowed to complain ...
A new — albeit limited in scope — pilot program being launched by the New Jersey Department of Education is worthy of being watched by educators in Pennsylvania and other states, even if it doesn’t spur widespread change outside of Pennsylvania’s neighbor to the east. Anyone ...
Three Democratic candidates for president, and perhaps more, are hoping to gain votes by proposing all-out prohibitions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used in the oil and natural gas industries. Sens. Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have all proposed the bans. Look ...
Let’s say you decide to go into business for yourself. You’ve always wanted to be a home construction contractor. Why not? Credit could be a problem. Even if you have socked aside enough to build a few “spec” houses, how will you operate while you wait for them to sell? You’ll ...
Apparently, if you are rich enough, you can slaughter endangered species until your bloodlust is sated. Among animals the federal government deems worthy of protection is the black rhinoceros. Only about 5,500 of them remain alive in the wild. Namibia is home to nearly half that number, ...
Leaders of the quasi-terrorist organization known as the Taliban had every reason to believe their strategy of shedding blood to prod Americans into pulling out of Afghanistan would work. It has in the past, for both Islamic extremists and others. Not this time. President Donald Trump had ...
Very few students graduating from high school this year were alive when nearly 3,000 people were killed during terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Even many college graduates have few, if any, memories of the day. Many of those who will vote next year do not recall the ...