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Christmastime is full of opportunity

Pope Francis’ appeal for peace in the world last Christmas fell on deaf ears. The world is no closer to peace now — Christmas 2024 — than it was then, and perhaps even farther away, judging from the scope, deaths and destruction of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and the long-running civil wars in Syria and Yemen. Whether there are any prospects for “constructing” a more peaceful world over the next 12 months is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the only one who knows is the Savior Jesus, whose birth on earth Christians around the world are celebrating today. For the Jewish ...

New breast cancer options under review

At this purportedly joyous time of the year — although for many people it is not — there is reluctance to focus on topics perceived to be troubling, especially health topics that have a potentially negative implication. However, the Wall Street Journal, on Dec. 13, reported on a health issue whose details will be welcomed by many women and couples but rejected without hesitation by others, and each group’s reasons for embracing its respective position are worth reflecting upon. Neither side is wrong, at least not at this time, although some individuals — women as well as men ...

Airport optimism good for all

Altoona-Blair County Airport Manager Tracy Plessinger delivered a message to the airport authority on Dec. 11 full of optimism and evidence of how airport leadership has poised the air facility for the future. But perhaps unbeknownst to him at the time, he also made the best of the opportunity to deliver a scope of understanding beneficial to entities well beyond the specific environs within which the airport is headquartered and conducts operations. The important question then is whether enough non-airport entities grasped the wider reference of what Plessinger outlined and, better ...

‘Hero’ notion for Mangione needs a rethink

Altoona has been accorded deserved praise but also has been inflicted with an undeserved black eye over the Luigi Mangione case — Mangione being the suspect in the high-profile murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Dec. 4 outside a New York City hotel. The latter is totally without cause, saddening people here who still firmly believe that murder is not a good thing. But reject any thought that Mangione, from a prominent Baltimore real estate family, is destined to rot and die in prison, a forgotten man, if he is convicted of the heinous New York crime. Considering the ...

Mathematics hysteria long overdue

Disagreement persists inside and outside of the political arena over what books school children should be permitted to read, tied to classroom work, and over what books should be banned from their eyesight. Censorship always will be a volatile discussion issue in what is touted as a free country. For many adults, including parents and politicians, what education professionals think — including education professionals who have spent decades helping to educate children without others second-guessing — now doesn’t matter. Some people prefer to form their changes-need-to-be-made ...

Generous gift ensures pool for future

Most people maintain a special place in their heart for memories related to the community where they were born and/or grew up — even decades after leaving to pursue their life’s dreams and ambitions. However, it is much rarer for that fond remembrance and loyalty to be demonstrated years later by way of a large gift to benefit the community as a whole or some specific part of it. Meanwhile, there probably isn’t a place in America where natives of a community are lined up waiting to give a gift having lasting significance to that “home” of happy memories. Fortunately for ...