Lori Falce Columns

You cannot have order without having law. Well, theoretically you could. If everyone just instinctively did the right thing, that would be great. No laws needed! But once you involve people, human nature, emotions and all of the quirky little things that complicate our lives, suddenly laws become pretty important....

Christmas isn’t just a festive holiday. Not in the U.S., at least. Christmas is also business — big business. Overall, the National Retail Federation puts sales during November and December at about 19% of the annual total. For perspective, the monthly average is around 8%, which means those last two...

If you are not one of the people who was deeply offended by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent statements about the deficiencies of people with autism, I will assume that you do not know anyone with autism. Or at least, you think you don’t....

The term “on paper” acknowledges a good idea may be very different from a good reality. For example, open mic night at a club works in theory. The club gets entertainment, and new talent gets a shot at the stage. Win-win. In practice, however, open mic nights might be almost...

Things can be even and still be unfair. For instance, Pennsylvania jurors receive $9 per day in compensation. That’s even. Everyone gets the same. But is it fair for someone who is unemployed or retired and is, in essence, getting a $9 bonus for participation versus a self-employed plumber who...

Groceries are not old-fashioned. For some reason, President Donald Trump appears fascinated with the word. It started back in August on the campaign trail, when he was working on his economic record and the high prices Americans were seeing on food. He stood at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster...

My favorite part of “The Princess Bride” is when Vizzini, a sly criminal mastermind who is not that sly nor much of a mastermind, responds over and over to events with a shout of “Inconceivable!” The swordsman Inigo Montoya — brilliantly played by Mandy Patinkin — eventually looks at his...

In 1900, German drug company Bayer filed a patent in the U.S. for a tiny white pill that would be the foundation of future success: Aspirin. The company also filed a trademark for the name. It held, for a while. There were complications. As a German company, Bayer faced challenges...

The Super Bowl is one of the highlights of my year. Even when the Steelers aren’t participating, I revel in the rush. Sometimes not having your team in play can make you appreciate the game more than the score. I have been up front about my absolute loathing of the...

I am not a DEI hire. But I could be. I am a woman, which is probably the easiest way into the club. Women, after all, make up 47% of the workforce, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. I am over 50, which means I’m not quite in...

On Wednesday night, a tragedy happened. In the skies over Washington, D.C., an American Airlines commercial plane out of Kansas was approaching Reagan Washington National Airport. A Black Hawk military helicopter was on a training exercise. The two aircraft collided and crashed into the Potomac River. Rescue efforts quickly turned...

When I was a kid, my favorite part about going to church was the homily. While the rest of Mass was a patchwork of Bible stories, songs and the kneeling, standing and sitting calisthenics of a Catholic Sunday morning, the homily was always new. It was different. It had a...

On Wednesday, during the confirmation hearing for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to become secretary of state, something remarkable happened. Yes, it was political. Everything in Washington is political, whether it should be or not. Yes, it was partisan. In a narrowly divided chamber like the U.S. Senate, everything is partisan....

What is the value in checking a fact? According to Meta, there isn’t one. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads announced Tuesday the company will discontinue its third-party fact-checking program and replace it with “community notes.” ”We’ve seen this approach work on X — where they empower...

After almost two years in hospice care, former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100. I was born when Richard Nixon was in the White House. My first vote was a choice between George H.W. Bush or Bill Clinton. The first time I really paid attention to...

It is hard to have conversations about aging. We can talk about how to deal with illness because most people are stubbornly optimistic. We can talk about disabilities because we think those are things that happen to other people. We can place limits on children because we have been 16...

The prow of a ship is often decorated with a carved object. It may represent the name of the vessel. It may be something important to the owner or the nation whose flag flies on the mast. Over the years, these have been depictions of deities. They have been mythological...

I beg your pardon. It is a phrase you might hear as someone slips by you in an aisle at the store — unless you are in Minnesota, where it would be “Ope! Just gonna scoot past ya!” An “uff da” or “you betcha” might be thrown in for good...

On Wednesday, a man died — and a lot of people just didn’t care. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was gunned down on a sidewalk as he approached the Hilton Midtown Manhattan hotel for an investors meeting, right between Rockefeller Center and Carnegie Hall. It was an early-morning ambush, and...

The Meta Quest 3S virtual headset is prominently featured on the front of the Target Black Friday flyer. At Walmart, kids may be clamoring for the Hot Wheels hot deal. Kohl’s is cutting the price on Beats by Dr. Dre headphones in half and kicking in some Kohl’s Cash to...

“Holy s—-! I didn’t see that coming!” That was the reaction of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman to Matt Gaetz withdrawing his name from consideration to become U.S Attorney General. It was also the reaction of many people when President-elect Donald Trump nominated Gaetz — who resigned from the House of...

Sometimes justice isn’t something that can be delivered by the courts. A guilty verdict, for example, does not bring back a loved one. It doesn’t restore a reputation or rebuild a home. What it does is get as close to justice as the law can do after the fact. In...

America has always relied heavily on the concept of union. It is literally what holds us together. The colonies would not have defeated the British if it was just Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and Virginia facing off individually. We would have been swarmed under the red-coated army of the 18th century...

Buckle up. I’m about to castigate the third richest man in the world — for doing something I did, too. A week ago, the Washington Post released its endorsement for the U.S. presidential race. It picked neither Democrat Kamala Harris nor Republican Donald Trump. “We recognize that this will be...

When I was a kid, I loved seeing the Publishers Clearing House envelope show up in the mailbox. I would open it and spread out the contents on the dining room table — stickers in this pile, cards in another, forms in a third. I would read the rules like...