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The joy of bringing the spirit of Christmas to others

The spirit of Christmas came to Martins Ferry on Friday in the form of toys to bring joy to some of the youngest residents of our community. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. that day, The Times Leader office opened its doors to families with children age 10 and younger. At least an hour before we began to welcome them inside, people lined up on the sidewalk along Fourth Street, waiting for the opportunity to acquire some holiday gifts for the youngsters. As the children came inside, they were greeted by a familiar and jolly fellow, Santa (Mike Slenski). Each child had the chance to tell Santa ...

Giving the gift of hope to loved ones and the world

Last weekend, our daughter Dannielle and her husband gave Lynnda and me a Christmas present. It was an overnight stay in Morgantown and tickets to the Charles Wesley Godwin concert downtown at the Met. I had never heard Charles’ music. Others obviously had. The place was sold out and the audience enthusiastic. I think his music genre is country rock. Lynnda and I both enjoyed the concert. Charles and the band’s energy and talent resonated with me. It was obvious Charles and the band were having fun. When we can get paid for doing what we enjoy it’s not work. That’s one ...

Keeping the spirit of Christmas alive and well

Newspapers carried the joyous news of the birth of “Prince of a Baby” on Sept. 16, 1984. Princess Diana, with Prince Charles at her side, gave birth after nine hours of labor to her second child — a boy weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Buckingham Palace announced. “He’s a lovely baby,” said Prince Charles, who rushed from his wife’s side to a phone to call his mother, Queen Elizabeth, at BalmoralCastle in Scotland and Diana’s father, Earl Spencer. A crowd of hundreds of well-wishers outside St. Mary’s Hospital broke into cheers as a town crier from the Mayfair ...

Two wildly different economic solutions

The two parties disagree even when they agree, as they do about this: Federal spending is on an unsustainable trajectory under current law. They also agree that altering the most important drivers of this trajectory — Social Security and Medicare — is for tomorrow, which is always a day away. The parties propose, solemnly but implausibly, radically different solutions. Republicans propose cutting taxes and regulations enough to ignite economic growth so rapid and constant that a gusher of revenue will restore fiscal health. This approach is marginally less implausible than the ...

Sharing a few memories of the late Norman Lear

Television producer Norman Lear, who died last week at age 101, probably could not get away today with what he put on the small screen in the ‘70s with his iconic sitcoms “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” As Mel Brooks did in his movies”The Producers” and “Blazing Saddles,” Lear undermined the power of bigotry with humor. Lear also had a political side. It was politics that brought us together in the 1980s. He founded a group called People for the American Way, which was a counter to various groups on the Religious Right, including the Moral Majority, for ...

Atheism and antisemitism seen at America’s universities

Ryan Burge is a data analyst who synthesizes information about religion and politics in the United States. He publishes his findings and observations regularly on Substack. Last week, he wrote an article titled “How Weird is the Religious Composition of Harvard’s Student Body?” In it, he examines the results of a poll Harvard conducted of this year’s freshman class. According to the poll, nearly half — more than 46% — of Harvard’s freshman class identifies as “atheist” or “agnostic.” Burge explains how much of an “outlier” Harvard’s student body is compared ...