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USS Liberty incident wasn’t Israeli treachery

Columnists

For elements of the anti-Israel right, it’s a time when everything old is becoming new again. So, a half-century-old theory that the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War has renewed currency. Conspiratorial-minded influencers hostile to Israel like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have promoted the notion, and it was a topic of discussion at the recent TPUSA conference. One speaker said that the official explanation “doesn’t feel like it’s good enough,” and floated his own wild speculation (involving the complicity of LBJ). The fact ...

Fixers

Editorials

Those who have the opportunity to spend time with younger family members over this holiday break may be tempted to ask questions such as “What do you want to be when you grow up?” or “What are you studying in college?” A growing number of employers are hoping the answer to that question is plumber, carpenter or even conveyor belt repairperson. There are so few people entering (or staying in) the skilled trades that consulting firm McKinsey predicts an estimated imbalance of 20 job openings for every one net new employee between 2022 and 2032. Employers such as Walmart ...

Alumna concerned about Harman kids

Letters to the Editor

I too am concerned about the travel of Harman School students to Elkins and back every day. When I was in school during the 60’s we traveled from the Sinks of Gandy to Harman every day by bus. We left our house at 6:45 a.m., arriving at Harman High School at 8:45 a.m., and left after school at 3:30 p.m., arriving at home at 4:50 p.m. There was only enough time for supper, homework, bathing and then to bed. I was exhausted, sometimes worse than now, at 74 years of age. There was no time for extra activities in the evening. Somehow you just made do, but is that the way you would ...

Give Blood

Editorials

If your New Year’s resolutions included finding small ways to do good more frequently, the American Red Cross has some ideas for you. You — yes, you — are needed, right now. A glance at the organization’s website reveals an alert that there is an “EMERGENCY NEED for type O blood” because winter weather has caused a decline in donations. There’s even a pitch that if you donate by Jan. 4, you will receive a Red Cross long-sleeved t-shirt; and if you give blood before Jan. 31, you can earn points to be used toward rewards. Local opportunities to give blood include: * ...

Politics get stranger

Columnists

Politics is becoming stranger than ever and worst mannered. Despite some hints that bipartisanship would somehow break out, the evidence does not support such an occurrence. Amity is not the spirit of the season; blood red partisan fury, unfortunately, is. Mike Johnson’s eagerness to adjourn the House of Representatives is so frequent that one is tempted to believe he would prefer the one-session popular in the 19th century. As for Donald Trump, he is not in a particularly good mood, so forget National Brotherhood Week. As a result, much does not get done, and Republicans seem ...

Take time to collect all the bright spots

Columnists

Sometimes as we’re wrapping up the year, it’s easy to drift into negativity. End-of-year evaluations tend to produce mixed finding — some areas show strong results, while others fall short. It’s human nature to focus on what didn’t go as planned. Add in the stress and exhaustion of the holiday season, along with budget pressures and goal-setting for the year ahead, and it becomes even easier to miss all the good things that were accomplished over the past year. This is why it’s powerful to end the year by collecting and sharing bright spots that occurred in ...