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‘Green growth,’ militarism merged

It’s an irony that the minerals needed to save the planet may help destroy it. Rare earth elements, the mineral backbones of wind turbines and electric vehicles, are now the prize in a geopolitical arms race. The trade agreement between Washington and Beijing restores rare earth shipments from China to the U.S., which had been suspended in retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs. Behind the bluster, there has been a realization in Washington that these are critical inputs for the U.S. They are needed not just by American icons such as Ford and Boeing but for its fighter jets, ...

President Trump made right choice to act on Iran

President Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s three most significant nuclear sites helped rid the world of a grave nuclear threat and was a large step toward restoring U.S. deterrence. It also creates an opportunity for a more peaceful Middle East, if the nations of the region will seize it. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Mr. Trump said the night of the strikes. He made clear Iran brought this on itself. “For 40 years, Iran has been saying ‘death to America,’ ‘death to Israel.’ They’ve been killing our ...

Let the countdown begin for America’s 250th

Those annoying countdown clocks the cable TV networks use to let us know how much time remains before a presidential address or something else regarded as worthy of our attention might be useful as America begins the countdown to the 250th anniversary of the publication of the Declaration of Independence. A question that would be helpful for discussion during our increasingly divided times might be: “What does it mean to be an American”? Is it defined in the lyric of the Lee Greenwood song “I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free”? That doesn’t fully ...

Readers’ opinions

Why are local gas prices so high? To the Editor: Recently, I drove through Orbisonia and Shade Gap, Huntingdon County. I saw gas prices at $3.29 a gallon. Also recently, I drove through McClure, Selinsgrove and Danville on my way to the Poconos. I consistently saw gas prices at $3.19 and $3.29 a gallon. I actually purchased gas in the Poconos for $3.01 a gallon. On the way home I purchased gas in Lamar, Clinton County, for $3.15 a gallon. As I drive past local gas sources in the Burnham and Reedsville areas, I continue to see $3.59 a gallon and $3.49 a gallon. I ask for ...

Community effort lights up the night

Lewistown always wakes with the sound of birds and the flow of the Juniata, but the last Sunday in June brings a different anticipation. The air in the morning after the fireworks is charged, as if the night’s thunder and color still hangs over the rooftops. It’s the echo in the chest, the memory of those sky-bursts over the river, that gets people talking in the checkout line and lingers in photos on phones and social feeds. Or maybe it’s what the fireworks stand for — the one hour when a small town stops, looks up, and remembers it is part of something larger than ...

Court rules correctly on firearms purchases

We appreciate that a federal judge has correctly struck down an effort in California to sidestep the Second Amendment by placing undue limitations on how many firearms law-abiding Americans can purchase in a month. The judge noted Supreme Court precedent clearly protects the right to purchase the firearms that the Second Amendment acknowledges Americans have the right to own and bear. “When the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct,” the Supreme Court decision upon which the ruling is based, as ...