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Pete Hegseth’s Holy War becomes major disaster

Watching Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth lead us to war against Iran reminds me, as war stories often do, of a scene in one of my favorite war movies. I’m talking about the unforgettable Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, brilliantly played by Robert Duvall, in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War classic, “Apocalypse Now.” The strutting, bare-chested Kilgore delivers one of the most memorable lines in cinematic history, as artillery explodes around him and others take cover in foxholes: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. ... Smells like ... victory.” Having just ...

Ohio lawmakers explore measures on affordability

Ohioans are facing increasing struggles with “affordability.” In fact, we have been for several years now. Lawmakers know that, but aren’t always clear on what to do. A group of state representatives has come up with a collection of ideas they believe will gain bipartisan support. “Ohio is too expensive for too many, and it’s time that legislators and leaders stepped up to take action,” Ohio state Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, told the Ohio Capital Journal. “For too long, politicians in Columbus have steered the economy in the wrong direction.” Ideas ...

Trump must do more in Iran

In Western civilization, Christian ethics still, in some ways, dominate society. Murder is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Lying is wrong. Iran is dominated by Shiite Muslims who, at heart, embrace Taqiyya, or religious dissimulation, in ways Sunni Muslims tend to reject. It is why more must be done to Iran. Taqiyya, in practice, means lying to the infidel. The Hadith, or traditions of the prophet, says “war is deceit” and commanders may use lies to advance their cause. The Iranian regime outmaneuvered the Obama administration with peace talks. To this day, Democrats insist Iran was not ...

Opposition to data centers grows

It appears that folks living in the gently rolling farmland of southwestern Ohio don’t want a 2-million-square-foot data center plopped down the road from their front porches. What’s wrong with them? Are they snotty not-in-my-backyard liberals? Not quite. Wilmington, Ohio, is a very Republican region marked by modest incomes. Such demographics may have made the locals, and other rural Americans, look like an easy sale to the tech companies hunting for places to plop their massive data centers. Amazon Web Services, which is proposing this nine-building data center on about 500 ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To the Oak Hill Collaborative under the leadership of Patrick Kerrigan and to Charter Communications Inc., doing business as Spectrum, for their successful efforts in narrowing the digital divide in the Mahoning Valley, particularly in Youngstown. For its part, Oak Hill over the past year has given away more than 500 computers and taught nearly 950 classes on navigating the internet. For its part, Spectrum recently donated $20,000 to the collaborative to add momentum to its noble and highly needed mission. How needed is it? Sadly, the city of Youngstown ranks as the second least ...

Multi-pronged attack is needed to wage war on child abuse

Those cruising past Warren G Harding High School or Boardman Park this month cannot help but notice the gargantuan garden of colorful pinwheels planted firmly in the ground and spinning whimsically in the wind. That plethora of 2,500 total pinwheels is designed to grab attention to a noble but challenging cause: preventing child abuse and neglect in our community, state and nation. The symbolism of the pinwheels is stark and heart-rending as each represents a case of abuse or mistreatment of a child in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in 2025. As April has been declared Child Abuse and ...