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There’s still time for resolutions

Commentary

We can thank the ancient Babylonians for our tradition of New Year’s resolutions. Going back to c.2000 B.C., they celebrated the new year during a 12-day festival called Akitu which began the farming season. The gala included resolving to pay debts and returning borrowed farm equipment; obviously, theirs was an agrarian society. Over the centuries, the occasion evolved into today’s guilt trips. Most of us resolve to do something that we felt guilty of doing or didn’t do but should have done in the recent past. And we go public, making resolutions to people who might hold us to ...

America born through diversity

Peoples column

Editor, OBSERVER: I wholeheartedly agree with two comments in the Dec. 12 letter headlined: “We need to maintain values of America.” First, teachers should bring everyone to the highest standards possible, and second, Congress should not be beholden to any foreign government or take a dime from any of their interest groups. But other comments require a response. Perhaps the writer was unaware that most Somalis in the U.S. are citizens. Nationally, over 260,000 Somalis reside in the U.S., with significant populations in Ohio, California, and Minnesota. In Minnesota alone, about ...

Challenges remain as new year begins

Commentary

“Another year over, and what have you done?” If John Lennon were still with us, he’d be singing it once again as he would have needed to every year since he released it in 1971. His anthem to stop war plays every year in the Christmas mix along with “White Christmas,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” but his message has a much deeper meaning. He hopes we have fun, but he challenges each of us to stay informed, engaged, and civically active. He knew then, as it stands again now, that “war is over, if you want it,” that change and ...

BUFFALO SPORTS Magical moments close out holidays

The OBSERVER’s View

It is a historic weekend for Buffalo sports. On Saturday afternoon, the Sabres go for an unbelievable 11th straight win when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets while on Sunday at 4:25 p.m., it is likely the final game for the Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. For the Sabres, a team that has missed the playoffs for 14 years, the recent winning streak has boosted hopes and ticket sales. The 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Dec. 27 had KeyBank Center rocking. That’s been a very unusual happening during the last decade of hockey that has been filled with last-place finishes ...

Fingerprints from the same hand

Commentary

If issues are only seen through a partisan lens, you’ll miss the fingerprints besmirching them. There’s the issue of billions in alleged fraud perpetrated by Islamic Somalis in Minneapolis ripping off taxpayers through phony Medicaid and autism claims. As Democrat Gov. Tim Walz curries favor with this burgeoning voting bloc led by Ilhan Ohmar, the classically sarcastic Babylon Bee ran a headline saying how city officials are considering a name change for the Minnesota Vikings to the Somali Pirates. There’s the issue of Zohran Mamdani assuming the mayor’s office in NYC. ...

Unfairness can befall us tomorrow

Commentary

JAMESTOWN — Let’s pick up where we left off 60 weeks ago when we first considered ultimately successful efforts to save Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in Jamestown from closure. ≤ ≤ ≤ The Diocese of Buffalo has tough, unenviable decisions to make in addressing issues that Catholics aren’t alone in facing, such as attendance, finances, and clergy-shortages. Then there are the claims particularly—though not solely—impacting Catholics. For such claims, New York state government legislatively, temporarily extended the expired statute of limitations. No one ...