Money does not grow on trees

June 8, 2020

About 156.5 million Americans are categorized as members of the civilian labor force. At least 41 million people who can work and by definition want to are unemployed. In other words, approximately one of every four people able to work is not employed — and is being supported by the rest. That is unsustainable even in the short term. Money does not grow on trees. In truth, the numbers probably are even worse. The 41 million people referred to above are only those who have filed new claims for unemployment benefits during the past couple of months. Nearly 5.9 million ...

Immediate testing at nursing homes overdue

June 5, 2020

Once the grim tally of deaths from COVID-19 is finalized — sometime later this year, we hope — there is little doubt it will be clear that nursing homes are the coronavirus’ favored killing grounds. To most public health leaders, that already is obvious. In some states, most of the epidemic’s victims have been in long-term care facilities. We know already that mistakes were made in how nursing home patients were handled. New York was a leading offender. There, according to The Associated Press, more than 4,500 people recovering from COVID-19 after hospital stays were ...

Rioters, peaceful protesters and our police

June 4, 2020

Sometimes we wish we could “rewind” something we have just seen because we can’t believe our eyes. Sometimes we see something hateful on TV too often as stations play video over and over and over again. What we see can’t be what really happened, we reason. Hundreds, if not thousands of times over the past week or so the media has aired video of what occurred May 25 in Minneapolis. There, a black man, George Floyd, was arrested for a non-violent offense. He was taken into custody by four police officers. He was handcuffed, then forced to lie prone on the ...

Going back to school

June 3, 2020

Many school districts and individual teachers have contingency plans for classes to be interrupted for a few days. We doubt more than a handful had strategies for the current situation, in which the last couple of months of school for millions of students was “canceled.” There is evidence many educators have handled the situation remarkably well. Unfortunately, there also are reasons to believe it has not worked out well for many children. Often, it needs to be noted, that is because parents have not been conscientious in requiring their children to pursue school work while ...

We prefer that Americans go to the polls

June 1, 2020

Pennsylvania voters will head to the polls Tuesday for the primary election. But there are problems that could complicate the process this year as we head into the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3. Two decades ago, Florida was using punch cards for voting that often resulted in dimples, or “hanging chads.” The result of Florida’s polling was unclear for a month after the election. The matter of who would receive Florida’s 25 electoral votes ultimately was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor or Republican candidate George W. Bush over Democratic candidate Al ...

Protocol essential as more businesses open their doors

May 30, 2020

Be careful out there. Don’t throw caution to the wind and please don’t use the argument that your “individual freedoms” or “constitutional rights” are being violated when you’re asked by a business or public institution to wear a mask. Wearing a mask (if your health allows) amid a pandemic that has taken more than 100,000 American lives in just three months isn’t about freedom; it’s about keeping people — including our blessed front-line health care workers — safe. Clinton and Lycoming counties remain in the “yellow” phase until June 5 and while there are ...