Letters to the editor: Enough is enough; The case for a 20-second hug club
Enough is enough
Why does anyone support Trump? A Pew Research poll in August 2025 found 38% of voters approve of Trump’s job performance. But why? Under his so-called leadership, the job market has collapsed while grocery bills soar beyond reach of citizens. Name one solution he has brought to national problems while he has been in office. None. Instead of tackling the crises crushing ordinary Americans, he struts about chasing a Nobel Peace Prize and indicting his political enemies.
Meanwhile, the government sits paralyzed. The economy weakens daily. Yet Trump and his toadies in the GOP —who control the House, Senate and a majority on the Supreme Court — play political games. Instead of fixing the mess, they point fingers at Democrats. They care more about hiding the Epstein files than in creating jobs or lowering prices.
It is time for the American people to show that we will not be ignored. A national strike — where planes, trains, toll roads, and businesses stop cold — would send an unmistakable message: enough is enough. When the economy grinds to a halt, billionaires will finally understand that their job is to serve the people. Until the government reopens, we must refuse “business as usual.”
William J. Rothwell, State College
The case for a 20-second hug club
Modern society faces a crisis of disconnection. Loneliness, mistrust and polarization fuel anger, anxiety and violence. Yet one of the simplest ways to rebuild connection and calm conflict has always been with us — the healing power of human touch.
Neuroscientist James Prescott showed that pleasure and violence circuits in the brain act like a switch: when one is active, the other is suppressed. Healthy touch such as hugging activates oxytocin — the “bonding hormone”— which fosters trust, lowers stress, and reduces aggression. This is not sentimentality; it is biology’s antidote to fear and hostility.
Longer hugs, especially around 20 seconds, significantly boost oxytocin, lower blood pressure and reduce depression. Children who receive affectionate touch grow up less aggressive; adults who hug more often show better stress resilience and stronger relationships.
A “20-Second Hug Club” could revive empathy in our homes and communities. By starting with shorter hugs and normalizing longer, consensual hugs — among families, friends, and trusted groups — we retrain our collective nervous system toward calm and care. Organized, transparent settings ensure safety and mutual respect.
The goal is simple but transformative: to make caring connection an everyday norm. There should be no “other” — only we. Supporting this movement means investing in a future that is less violent, more cooperative, and healthier — emotionally, physically and spiritually. Let’s start small but think big: share the science, model the warmth, and discover what 20 seconds of genuine connection can do.
Doug Keith, State College
Trump as peacemaker?
He laid claim to the Nobel Peace Prize, for “stopping seven wars” ... in his imagination.
He announced a desire to build golden condos in Gaza, as war ravaged the region, killing innocents with American bombs.
Now he claims to have brokered peace in Gaza, sending Jared, likely to finesse a way to profit from tragedy. Always a transaction. No consistent plans for starving children. Homes reduced to rubble. Food and humanitarian aid today slowed to a snail’s pace by Netanyahu.
The Orange One continues to send ICE thugs in full face masks, emboldened cowards with guns, to Blue states to make trouble, ripping entire families from their sleep, transporting them to oblivion under cover of darkness. Faceless agents have disappeared people working their jobs, going to the store, picking their children up from school, terrorizing them under cover of darkness, and shooting pellets at clergy and nonviolent protesters.
The Orange Man divides Americans. A heartbreaking moment in the history of a country whose people have valued their democracy, its laws and each other for the work we have done together, as citizens of a free society, a democracy evolving for 250 years.
The shape-shifting Trump is a pretender to Christianity. A walking, incoherent sacrilege. A gross testament to lies, greed and self indulgence.
And yet, these remain.
“Blessed are the Peace Makers … the Meek …. the Merciful …Those who Mourn… The Pure in Heart …Those who are persecuted for righteousness sake…” (Matthew 5:3-12.)
Marylouise Markle, State College