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Violence is the enemy. Seek togetherness, instead

For as much as our culture likes to hold itself as above political violence, people historically sure do a lot of it. The horrendous attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump, as he campaigned in Butler, Pa. — nearly three hours to our west, just north of Pittsburgh — is another wretched entry to an equally wretched list. Political violence extends beyond presidents and candidates, of course — consider the shooting of Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise and the assault of Paul Pelosi, both among recent examples. In 2022, a man paused and called the police on himself ...

Don’t trust our digital world

The latest theft of digital information is massive beyond scale. AT&T has reported that hackers stole six months’ worth of call and text message records of nearly every AT&T cellular network customer. This breach has the potential to reveal sensitive information about millions and millions of Americans. The data contains records of calls and texts between approximately May 1 and Oct. 31, 2022, and on Jan. 2, 2023. The company insists that content of the calls and messages was not compromised and customers’ personal information was not accessed. Yea, right. Yet, AT&T ...

Come together this Fourth of July

We write this ahead of the Fourth of July holiday — our Independence Day, to quote both our founding fathers and also Bill Pullman. Wry humor aside, Independence Day is many things to many people. It can be a party with family and friends, a somber moment of reflection, or just an opportunity to see borderline military-grade pyrotechnics. We would suggest that it can be all three. This year, more than most, Americans are divided and scared. We still haven’t recovered, emotionally if nothing else, from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the fabric of our ...

Pride is American

We frequently hear comments about, “when is it our turn?” regarding Pride celebrations. There are myriad ways to respond to this, but with the juxtaposition of the Pride in the Haven celebration, happening this weekend, and the 4th of July holiday in less than a week, we wanted to point out — respectfully — that there are striking similarities between the desires of the LGBT community and most Americans. A few examples from an Associated Press story which ran in late April on how most Americans agree on core values include: — 91% of Americans polled find “the right of ...

80th anniversary of D-Day is a notable event

Not every year can be a milestone year for a given notable historic event. For better or worse, we ascribe extra meaning to years ending in 0 and 5 — for example, the 80th anniverary of D-Day, which happened on June 6, 1944. Astute readers may have noticed that the Associated Press has produced many more — and we have tried to run many more — stories for this anniversary event than is typical, even for a capstone year such as the 80th. Frankly, the World War II veterans who remain are older — perilously so. In the D-Day anniversary stories in this edition of The Express, ...

Remember what the holiday represents

On America’s political front, 2024 might end up being the most divisive year people of this nation will witness and experience in their lifetime. Many Americans already are longing for the day when the presidential election will have come and gone and, on that note some already are looking forward to winter, even if winter has not been their favorite season up to now. Most Americans want harmony and cohesiveness, even if they harbor differences of opinion on certain major or not-so-major issues. The kind of disrespect being lobbed virtually non-stop within and from virtually ...