Opinion category, Page 391
Letter to the editor: Children suffer when we cater to minority of gun owners
The horrifying murder of small children is not the worst of it. The worst of it is catering to a minority of paranoid gun owners, who do not represent a majority of gun owners, to force millions of small children to endure drills and the presence of armed guards. They...
Letter to the editor: Are we OK with child sacrifice?
As a 70-year-old female, I vividly remember growing up during the Cold War and the school drills where we cowered under desks to prepare for nuclear bombs. I was 11 when President Kennedy avoided a nuclear crisis with Russia shortly before his assassination. Those years scarred me, as I have...
Editorial: What is the fix for gas price increases?
The price of gas is rising faster than almost anything — except the profits of oil companies. The average price per gallon in the greater Pittsburgh area topped $5 for the first time last week, with Somerset up to $5.08. The national average is over $5, too. It’s a 35%...
Letter to the editor: Commissioners should make meetings convenient, and known
Westmoreland County residents: What does a typical Thursday at 10 a.m. look like for you? Many of you would probably be at your job. Perhaps you’d be attending class or taking your kids to soccer practice. I’d wager few of you would say 10 a.m. on a Thursday would be...
Letter to the editor: We’re all Americans first
I don’t care if you identify yourself politically, right or left, conservative or progressive, by your national heritage, race or skin color. If you are a citizen of the United States of America, you are an American first over other identification types. If you are a visitor of this great...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: It’s possible to combine fighting crime, reforming system
When San Francisco’s reform- minded District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled by the voters in an election last week, he lost more than his job. He lost the chance to carry forward his reform agenda. It turns out, the people will give you room to be a reformer, but you better...
Sounding off: Require military service for weapons
In the early 1980s, I purchased a 12-gauge shotgun at Sears in the Westmoreland Mall, and I walked through the mall to carry it out to my car. Unthinkable today, as society’s views on weapons have changed in the last decades. In reflecting on those changing societal views, I think...
William Hartung: Ending the war in Ukraine is a key to crafting a foreign policy for the middle class
The Biden administration has responded forcefully to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both in terms of the attention paid to the conflict and the resources devoted to supporting that nation. This was evidenced most recently by the passage of the administration’s proposal for a massive $40 billion aid package for...
James Stavridis: Climate change is a military problem for the U.S.
The U.S. military has its hands full at the moment with a vicious war in Ukraine and U.S.-China tensions over issues from human rights to sovereignty over the South China Sea. But it cannot delay taking action to address climate change, the most persistent strategic threat we face. As a...
Letter to the editor: Government propaganda
Most hard-working Americans probably have never even heard of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948. Which would comport with not knowing about the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012. Both these laws are critically important. Basically, they repealed the law to use propaganda on the American people. Look it up. So now...
Letter to the editor: Remembering veterans’ sacrifices
I read with special interest the article “Joy, sadness intertwine at Normandy’s D-Day commemorations” (June 7). Two Pennsylvanians were among the many heroes who made history on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Lt. Richard (Dick) Winters commanded Easy Company, 101st Airborne Division. He was made famous by the TV miniseries “Band...
Editorial: Will rebranding Pittsburgh buses work?
On Thursday, Port Authority of Allegheny County ceased to be. But it didn’t go anywhere. The buses still roll. So does the T. But with the unveiling of a new idea, Port Authority became Pittsburgh Regional Transit. It’s called rebranding. It’s a way that organizations — often big names —...
Letter to the editor: Meaningful gun legislation needed now
One of the most shameful aspects of American society is the epidemic of gun violence and our failure to respond with meaningful restrictions. Continuously, we allow access to assault weapons, permit unlimited magazine capacity and thwart meaningful background checks. We even go so far as to permit “open carry,” allowing...
Gary Franks: How about offering thoughts and prayers ‘before’ a tragedy?
We offer our “thoughts and prayers” after a tragedy like the one in Uvalde, Texas. It is noble. But it seems misplaced and at times perfunctory. Why not do something that has worked in America’s past — religious observance? Let’s give thoughts and prayers before a tragedy. For decades, we...
S.E. Cupp: The GOP picks performance over problem-solving
It’s often pointed out that, under the tutelage of former President Trump, the Republican Party abandoned long-held conservative orthodoxies and interests — think lowering the debt and deficit and anti-protectionism — in favor of whatever Trump just said. For the four years Trump was in office, the GOP busied itself...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: The Janes thought it was over
It opens with a woman’s voice and a black screen. “I had no other options,” she says. “I wanted it over with.” Then you see her. White, gray-haired, maybe somewhere in her 70s. And she continues her story. “I didn’t care how it was done. I was that desperate.” Someone...
Letter to the editor: Fireworks violators should be charged
With July 4 just weeks away, we hope that Penn Hills gets the message out that serious violations of Pennsylvania’s fireworks law will not be tolerated and that fines up to $1,000 will be levied on adults or their unsupervised children who violate the law, in particular the fire hazard...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 13
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 13....
Letter to the editor: Honestly, how’s Biden doing?
How’s President Biden doing? This is the question Americans should be honestly asking themselves. I’ve recently read letters blasting Republicans and President Trump (who hasn’t been in office for 17 months). Trump’s policies benefited Americans. Under Biden’s watch, we had a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal with 13 servicemen dead, record high drugs...
Lori Falce: The tarnished crown of being a princess
Like most little girls, I went through a phase where I wanted to be a princess. It lasted until my early 40s. You have to admit the position has a lot to recommend it. Castles. Plural — as if one castle wasn’t enough. A very real possibility of promotion to...
Letter to the editor: After Amazon, working for the best for Churchill
The proposal to build an Amazon distribution center in Churchill has finally come to an end. On May 31, Judge Joseph James signed an order ending the appeals filed against the Borough of Churchill. Churchill Future had appealed the borough council’s approval of a conditional use permit to build the...
Laurels & lances: Rodeo, resignation and graduation
Laurel: To a wild ride. Westmoreland Mall might not seem like the Wild West, but you wouldn’t have known it over the weekend. The Pro Bulls & Barrels Rodeo and Concert — coordinated by Live! Casino — took place in a makeshift arena in an empty parking lot at the...
Claire Leavitt: How a public hearing is different from an investigation — and what that means for the Jan. 6 committee
Today, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol holds the first of several public hearings. The committee aims to lay out the results of months of investigative work into the involvement of President Donald Trump and his political allies in the 2021...
Sally Pipes: A look under the hood of ‘Medicare for All’
“Medicare for All” is back. For the fifth time in the last decade-plus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced legislation that would launch a government takeover of the U.S. health insurance system. “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” he insisted from the Senate floor May 12. But...
Letter to the editor: Taxpayers, not ‘cities,’ bear the costs
The opening paragraph of the story “Pittsburgh police scrap plans for leasing warehouse space in $1M deal” (June 1, TribLIVE) states that “Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Police has scrapped plans to lease new warehouse space in a deal that would have cost the city just more than $1 million through 2031.”...
