Letters to the Editor category, Page 323
Letter to the editor: Treatment of seniors during pandemic shameful
We should be ashamed of ourselves for how we have treated dying patients and nursing home residents during the pandemic. There is no excuse for it. There is no reason nursing homes can’t have visitors rooms where people can make appointments to visit their loved ones. Isolation precautions can be...
Letter to the editor: Words from 1968 Kerner report ring true today
Many readers of the Trib are old enough to remember the Kerner report of 1968. This was the finding of a special commission appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to determine the reasons for the 1967 race riots in Detroit, Newark and other cities, and other riots going back to 1964,...
Letter to the editor: Divisiveness belongs to Democrats
Letter-writer Jim Hillebrecht (“We can’t take 4 more years of divisiveness”) is correct that every four years half of the country will be understandably upset by the results of a presidential election. And the election of Donald Trump was different because of the division and hatred. He’s wrong, however, to...
Letter to the editor: Voting, bearing arms in a free country
Every legal U.S. citizen should vote. Remember, elections are not beauty or personality contests. You are voting for the kind of country you will live in. I believe in the right to bear arms. I’m too old to defend myself and too slow to run away. My guns are my...
Letter to the editor: Actions can offset world’s hate
I’m watching the news about all of these protest marchers around the country, and I assume these people believe they are doing something important. I doubt they are. But it’s not too late. If anyone would really like to offset the hate in our world, here’s how you do it:...
Letter to the editor: Surprise medical bills unhealthy
The feel of a financial shakedown should not come from our medical providers, but that’s the effect of a surprise medical bill. A surprise medical bill is a financial burden that occurs when some part of our medical care is deemed out-of- network, which many times happens during emergency care. Surprise...
Letter to the editor: Why tax hike in West Leechburg?
As revealed in the article “Leechburg Area considers $15.3M budget with tax increase for West Leechburg residents” (May 18, TribLIVE), the Leechburg Area School Board has found yet another way to raise taxes on the residents of West Leechburg. They are, as usual, blaming the obscure State Tax Equalization Board...
Letter to the editor: Answers to important questions
Thought experiments such as the one Lori Falce references in her column “Trolleys, Star Trek and a pandemic” (May 21, TribLIVE) are very common in studies of ethics. Their purpose is to test and refine the intuitions and principles we use in ethical decision making by applying them to difficult...
Letter to the editor: Use positive actions to bring about change
OK, Pittsburghers, you’ve done it again. You use violent, unlawful protests to protest unlawful behavior that didn’t even happen in your city. What have you proven, what good have you done? Nothing and none, yet you have caused damage and unreasonable cost to your city. What was the looting supposed...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s reality-TV photo op
President Trump’s final comment at his June 1 Rose Garden address was “Thank you very much. And now I’m going to pay my respects to a very, very special place. Thank you very much.” A few minutes later, he was at the base of the steps of St. John’s Episcopal...
Letter to the editor: Pandemic shows need for smaller government
It has become clear to me that Gov. Tom Wolf intends to keep our economy hobbled with undue restrictions on private business for as long as possible, or until after the election, whichever is sooner. Was it “science based and data driven” when his administration directed vulnerable nursing homes to...
Letter to the editor: Recalling pope’s wise words on freedom
In light of the recent birth centenary of Pope St. John Paul II, and given the amount of public misbehavior of late in the land of the free — disrespecting the lives, livelihoods and well-being of others by way of violent rioting and looting, and/or simply flouting mask and social...
Letter to the editor: Other countries need our help
In times like these, it is hard to think about much else other than the ways that covid-19 continues to change our daily lives. Our normal has become watching our families and friends lose their jobs, our favorite restaurants and small businesses shutting down for good, and having to wear...
Letter to the editor: Coronavirus and common sense
Let’s apply some common sense to Pennsylvania, people. Sooner or later, death is a fact of life. There are about 13 million people in Pennsylvania. If 74,000 may have the covid-19 virus, that leaves 12,926,000 Pennsylvanians without. Did they deserve to lose their jobs? Lose their businesses? Go on unemployment...
Letter to the editor: Life is short, take precautions
With over 107,000 deaths in this country from the coronavirus, thought should be given to the late 18th-century writer Xavier de Maistre and his autobiographical novel “A Nocturnal Expedition Around My Room”: “So — I will die one day? I will die? I — the person speaking, the person able...
Letter to the editor: We need a moral compass
Over the last couple days I’ve been reflecting, talking with family, going down the proverbial internet rabbit hole to find a morsel of wisdom to cure an aching psyche as a result of George Floyd’s life being taken from him. I failed to find the antidote. The one answer I...
Letter to the editor: War on virus is hijacking our liberty
The covid-19 threat is much more than just a viral pandemic. It’s the hijacking of normalcy for nefarious purposes. It’s a dark occult ritual taking place in plain view in the light of day. It’s a monstrous criminal consolidation of wealth and power. It’s version 2.0 of hijackers with box...
Letter to the editor: Donations of human milk for infants needed
There is ongoing concern about the decline in donations of human milk in the Pittsburgh area due to the coronavirus. Being a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse, I see firsthand how important these donations are to our fragile babies. Mothers of these babies have difficulty producing the milk they...
Letter to the editor: Now’s the time to ‘lean green’
Because of record rainfall supercharged by the planet’s climate crisis (“Thousands evacuate ‘historic’ mid-Michigan flooding,” May 20, TribLIVE), dams were breached in midland Michigan in mid-May, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes. We’ve heard these stories before. But now it’s not enough to escape the floodwaters — those...
Letter to the editor: Focus on value of human life
Many people are focusing on individual rights and livelihoods during this pandemic. Many seem to be forgetting the value of human life. Our first responders and essential workers are risking their lives to save lives. Without life, there are no rights or livelihood. Marilyn Dvorsky Greensburg...
Letter to the editor: Kim Ward’s protest warning a disservice
An open letter to state Sen. Kim Ward: I witnessed the absolute best of my community on May 31 at the Westmoreland County Courthouse. People came together from all over the county to mourn George Floyd and stand in solidarity against police brutality. The event, organized by a local mom,...
Letter to the editor: Students must return to school
It is imperative that Pennsylvania students return to in-school instruction in the fall without restriction. Everyone has an opinion on the effects of this current pandemic, but, based on statistics, children seem to be much less susceptible to this virus. We need to stop focusing on the remote risks of...
Letter to the editor: Legislatures’ ‘executive authority’
I found the first sentence of the Associated Press article “GOP makes power grab to rein in governors on virus response” (May 10) striking: “Republican-controlled legislatures are increasingly trying to strip Democratic governors of their executive authority to close businesses and schools.” From my earliest grade school civics lessons, I...
Letter to the editor: How will you behave in the next pandemic?
How will you behave during the next pandemic if the virus kills children, adults and seniors equally? Would President Trump behave differently if his family was at risk? Would he treat preventable deaths as just part of doing business? Would you insist on opening everything and not wear a mask...
Sounding off: On masks, noncompliance is selfish
Even during Pennsylvania’s red phase, what I witnessed in stores such as Walmart was incomprehensible. People would wear masks just to gain admittance, and then take them down to their necks. Only when ready to check out would many bother to put it back on. They were playing a dangerous...
