When a helping hand is needed, service organizations are there — to provide food to those who are hungry, to offer shelter to those in need, to offer a shoulder to lean on or to simply listen. These groups make Blair County special — and make us proud. The Mirror is seeking help to ...
Friday, August 14 Cameras find you, people admire your shine and feel more special just for spending time with you. Aries (March 21-April 19) Additions and subtractions from the collective unconscious happens one song, one joke, one invention, one conversation at a time. Your contribution doesn’t have to dominate the scene to make an impact. It just has to lodge itself in somebody’s imagination. Taurus (April 20-May 20) Entertainment is never just background. Media becomes habit, sets your standards, shapes your aspirations and influences your definition of things like ...
Dear Dr. Roach: I had a preemployment physical for my current position as a firefighter/EMT back in January. I had another preemployment physical for a new position with the fire department last month, and both physicians suggested a statin based on my high cholesterol. Both tests had similar results; my cholesterol was 272 mg/dL, my HDL was 52 mg/dL, and my LDL was 199 mg/dL. My other blood tests and electrocardiogram were fine. I figured that I should probably try to get on a statin and manage the situation. I had a telehealth visit with a physician’s assistant who put me on 40 mg ...
Dear Annie: I’ve been married to a wonderful man for 30 years. His family has always made me feel like an outsider — rude, dismissive, the works. Ten years ago, I finally stepped back from them. We reconnected briefly five years ago when his father passed, mostly with his mother, but this year they’ve slid right back into their old habits. It’s to the point where it’s affecting my health: I’ve developed real anxiety, even depression, over it. I’ve decided to cut them off again, for good this time. I’ve given them more chances than they deserved. What I don’t know is ...
The budget of the federal government is the largest of any organization in human history. It’s larger than the entire economy of every foreign country except China. And it mostly grows automatically, without regular input from elected officials. In the past, huge surges in the national debt were largely caused by wars or recessions. They were temporary. When the war concluded or economic growth resumed, debt as a share of the economy would fall. That’s not how it works anymore. The debt increases due to demographic trends as the bulk of spending goes to programs that serve an aging ...
“We are the United States of America and there is nothing we can’t do if we do it together.” — President Joe Biden I am not in the habit of favorably quoting the former president, but he was right when he said this. Why, then, are we still beholden to Iran and Saudi Arabia for so much of our oil needs? A Wall Street Journal headline says: “Gulf States are Resigned To Iran Control of Straight (of Hormuz).” Must we also be resigned to an unending dependence on Middle East oil? Presidents since Jimmy Carter have said we must overcome that dependence and loosen their grip ...
