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Speech at PSU Altoona cherished

Earlier this month was the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, the largest liberating amphibious invasion in history and the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. Many speeches have been delivered to mark that anniversary, but most have been largely forgotten … with one notable exception. That exception occurred on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, when former President Ronald Reagan delivered his “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” speech. The speech setting was the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc, France, overlooking the landing beaches of Normandy, Joining Reagan at the event were ...

Will this be an unhappy birthday?

In less than a month, the United States will observe its 250th birthday. It is shaping up more like a memorial service for a lost loved one than a party to celebrate something special. Rather than anticipating a happy occasion, America at 250 is increasingly characterized by anger, name-calling and scandals. Performers are withdrawing from President Trump’s Freedom 250 Great American State Fair in Washington, claiming organizers lied to them about its partisanship. Trump, who has contributed mightily to the growing divisions among us, is threatening to make a “major speech,” ...

Critics dead wrong about economy

Last week’s blockbuster jobs report, with more than 265,000 jobs added when including upward employment revisions, was very welcome news to almost all Americans. The exception would be the economists of the left who throughout Donald Trump’s now-five-and-a-half years in the White House keep getting the economy dead wrong. Just a few months ago economists on the left, led by Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, started warning of “stagflation,” a witch’s brew of high inflation and high unemployment at the same time. He wrote that “any statement that things aren’t as bad as ...

Americans grow increasingly cynical

In a 2011 Los Angeles Times column titled “When Unity Was All-American,” writer George Skelton marked the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor by recalling a time when Americans respected those whom they elected. “What I remember most,” he recalled about America during World War II, “are home-front adults pulling together, willing to sacrifice, committed to a common goal: victory. Gasoline, tires, meat, sugar and shoes, all rationed, and no one really griping. Government was the protector, not the enemy.” Last weekend saw the anniversary of D-Day, an occasion of mind-bending ...

U.K.’s exclusion of left-wing influencers

The U.K. government banned left-wing influencers Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker from traveling to the country because they blame everything on the Jews — and, true to form, Uygur and Piker blamed the Jews. Uygur and Piker were to speak at a South by Southwest conference in London and participate in an event at the Oxford Union, when their visas were canceled. They immediately smelled a rat, and, as usual, one emanating from Jerusalem. “I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel,” Uygur posted on social media. “Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own ...

Pharmacists integral to life in rural Pa.

I began my career at Patton Pharmacy, my family’s pharmacy in Northern Cambria County, which my father started from scratch in 1974 — one of the few independents left in that part of the state. For more than 30 years, I have practiced almost entirely in rural Pennsylvania, including years at Mission Pharmacy in Armstrong County and Klingensmith’s Drug Stores across Armstrong and Clarion counties. In each community, I watched the same pattern: hospitals struggle to stay open, physicians retire without replacements, specialists move to urban centers , and the community pharmacy ...