Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

What do these three events have in common? (1) December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor was attacked. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were wounded. Eight battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer were either damaged or sunk. (2) September 11, 2001: Four suicide attacks against the United States resulted in almost 3,000 deaths. The twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed and a section of the Pentagon was demolished. The attackers intended to crash a fourth plane into the United States Capitol, but crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa. (3) August 1, 2012: The Affordable Healthcare Act required new health insurance policies to include FDA-approved contraceptives, an annual well woman preventive care visit with her doctor, and screening for gestational diabetes, STIs, HIV/AIDS and HPV. Also required are screening and counseling for domestic violence, and breastfeeding support, supplies...

     An escapade by a magisterial district judge made headlines in the local newspapers, but was probably relegated to page 10 in other areas.      In Pennsylvania such judges conduct criminal arraignments and preliminary hearings, issue arrest warrants and search warrants in some cases; hear civil disputes involving $8,000.00 or less, and Landlord-Tenant disputes other than matters involving title to real estate; issue temporary Protection from Abuse Act orders; decide traffic, game law, and fish and boat code cases; conduct marriages, administer oaths and affirmations, etc. They are elected for six-year terms, and draw an annual salary of $80K.      The judge apparently thought it was funny to hand out acorns stuffed with condoms to women near the State Capitol. Two of the women he approached disagreed with his humor, and complained to the Capitol Police. The judge was arrested forthwith and charged with disorderly conduct....

      As I mentioned in my posting of August 26, Americans always need to find some event about which they can disagree. Another such event has come along in the last week.       Terry Jones, the pastor of a church with a congregation of about 50 in Gainsville, Florida, threatened to burn 200 copies of the Quran. He feels that this is an evil book - one which incites its followers to kill non-believers. (In that respect, it is similar to certain sections of the old testament.)       As with the proposed civic center and mosque near ground zero in New York, there is no doubt that this kook has the right to do so, but having the right and doing the right thing are two completely different subjects. The trigger for his attitude is really the proposed center.       I have always felt that if one does the same as one's opponents, one is lowering himself to their level, and this is one of th...

      Two recent news stories make me wonder whatever happened to common sense. Both are taken from the Lancaster Pennsylvania Intelligencer Journal/New Era.       Four years ago a local woman was going through a very rough period in her life. She had been through a divorce, her daughters were all grown and had left home, and she was suffering from a debilitating illness which left her in a wheelchair. Unable to perform her preschool teaching job, she was stuck in depression.       One day she found a tiny bird which had fallen from its nest. It still had fuzz on its head and had not yet grown feathers. In spite of the fact that experts predicted it would not last more than three days, she nursed it back to health.       The bird eventually grew into a female house finch. After it learned to fly, it had the run of the house. It didn’t like the darkness, so her “mother” got her a night...