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Devastating fires remind us of importance of fire safety

More than 10,000 homes have been obliterated by devastating fires that ripped through Los Angeles this week. While California Gov. Gavin Newsom expresses optimism that firefighters can make headway into the weekend – with Santa Ana winds expected to die down, slowing the spread of the blaze – meteorologists say they are expected to pick up again next week. A tragedy of this magnitude should really bring things to perspective for those of us here at home. While Pennsylvania’s climate tends to make us less susceptible to fires of this intensity, we are not immune from similar ...

Like it or not, we live in a surveillance society

The movie version of “The Godfather” has a scene where mob boss Vito Corleone is shot and wounded by two anonymous hit men decked in fedoras and trench coats. They swiftly carry out their deed and then blend back into the hurlyburly of New York’s Little Italy. That scene unfolds in the 1940s, and it’s not hard to imagine that a real-life Mafia hit might have been carried out in a similar fashion in those days, with the identity of the two perpetrators never known. Who would want to rat out members of the mob, first of all. But, more importantly, in a city full of men in trench ...

Germany’s new Morgenthau plan

Less than a year before the end of World War II, then U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau drew up a nightmarish plan to punish postwar Germany. After the serial 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II – along with the failed Versailles peace treaty of 1919 – the Allies in World War II wanted to ensure there would never again be an aggressive Germany powerful enough to invade its neighbors. When the so-called Morgenthau Plan was leaked to the press in September 1944, at first it was widely praised. After all, it would supposedly render Germany ...

The media have been playing up the “civil war” inside the GOP between what Politico calls the “MAGA Republicans and Big Tech.” The restrictionists in the party want fewer visas, and the pro-growth wing wants more. Recently, President-elect Donald Trump announced his support for expanding immigrant worker visas. He told the New York Post: “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them.” It wasn’t clear whether he was talking about special visas for seasonal workers or high-tech (H1b) visas. But he has the strategy ...

Community readies for 2025 Farm Show

Anticipation builds across Pennsylvania as Harrisburg prepares to host the 2025 PA Farm Show from Jan. 4 to 11. This event transforms the city into a vibrant hub of agricultural innovation and community pride, showcasing the strength and depth of Pennsylvania’s agricultural sector. The PA Farm Show, the largest indoor agricultural exposition in the nation, presents a diverse array of exhibits and activities. Attendees will experience everything from livestock competitions to cooking demonstrations, each offering a glimpse into the dedication of local farmers and ...

A light in the darkness

The week before Christmas in 2006, on the same day I lost my job, doctors gave my wife six months to live. I had to be the one to break the news to her. I sat in her recovery room following a lung biopsy surgery, waited for her to be awake and aware, and told her the doctors discovered she had an aggressive form of cancer that had spread to her lungs. There was nothing they could do. Merry Christmas. That night, in the hospital, though my wife insisted she was fine, we had the talks you only have when you do not want to have them. We had a 1-year-old. Where would I move? Should I get ...