Letters: Polio epidemic a serious risk; Priorities gone awry
Polio epidemic a serious risk
News reports say that RFK Jr.’s lawyer has asked the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine.
Does America really want to return to the 1940s and 1950s when millions of people died or were disabled from polio before there was a vaccine?
Perhaps you have never met a polio survivor. I have.
I have a loved one whose earliest memory as a child is of pulling himself up in his crib and looking over a room filled with dozens of other cribs of children also afflicted with polio in the days before the polio vaccine was developed. The year was 1946 and a quarantined hospital received and isolated hundreds and hundreds of children struck by polio.
This highly contagious disease had many parents fearing the onset of summer lest their children be exposed to polio when swimming or playing with others.
Fortunately, my loved one survived to live a full life despite some lifelong complications from the polio.
But does America really want to risk a new polio epidemic exposing children to this devastating disease?
Priorities gone awry
This weekend people will spend thousands of dollars on tickets, parking, lodging, dining etc. to watch a football game in Beaver Stadium. I wonder how many of them will donate that same amount of money to charity during this holiday season? I really wonder.
Shooting shows true rift in society
The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has shown the true rift in American society is not between the left and the right but between the top and the bottom. While politicians and legacy media express their shock, the American people have responded with overwhelming sympathy and support for an assassin.
People do not so much believe in vigilantism as they despair in peaceful, systematic change. They see a country where law and government only exist to punish the poor and protect the rich who prey upon them, where justice is a weapon to some and a shield to others. As a result, people either disengage from politics entirely or become so clouded with disinformation they believe the Republican party of oligarchs has anything to offer them.
Even many Democrats, who fashion themselves the champions of the poor and middle class, remain tone deaf. Former Senate candidate Lucas Kunce wisely noted that voters remember, consciously or not, how the last Democratic trifecta shamefully defended the health care insurance industry. Supposed progressives like Tim Walz and John Fetterman appear more concerned with clutching their pearls over the death of one CEO than acknowledging how he and people like him have enriched themselves on human misery.
To fail to recognize the unspeakably cruel system that led to this response is not only politically foolish, it is downright immoral. If the Democratic establishment fails to understand this, they deserve to lose.
Being a team player has lost importance
NIL money is going to ruin college football. I don’t understand the recent transfer portal of Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula leaving during the playoffs. He is going for the money and not being a team player. This is disappointing that he would not help the team possibly win a national championship. I understand he wants to start, but leaving your team now is wrong. NIL money has become more important to these players than being a team player.
Mystery drones a cause for concern
Something strange is happening in our skies, and it deserves far more attention than it’s getting. Across New Jersey, New York, and now parts of Pennsylvania, residents have reported swarms of drones — large, brightly lit, and eerily silent — gliding low enough to raise concern, yet flying high enough to escape easy identification.
These aren’t your neighbor’s backyard toys. They’ve been seen hovering over critical infrastructure: reservoirs, power lines, and even emergency communication hubs. One incident grounded a medical helicopter near Somerset County. Officials have been quick to reassure the public, but their answers are vague. As Governor Murphy downplays the concern, I can’t help but wonder:
Who’s flying these drones, and for what purpose?
Why are they hovering near sensitive systems like reservoirs and military zones?
Should we take this as quiet preparation for something far bigger?
Drones have already reshaped the battlefield overseas. It’s unsettling to see similar technology glide through our quiet neighborhoods with so little explanation. If residents are watching these machines buzz by every evening —and they are — then we should be watching, too.
We’ve entered a time when curiosity isn’t just useful; it’s necessary. I hope the powers that be offer more transparency before the hum of drones becomes background noise we all accept.