Opinion category, Page 396
Letter to the editor: Citizens kicked to curb
So unbelievable and disgusting is the fact that our governmental officials in Washington and in some of our states seem to have kicked the legal citizens of the United States of America to the curb. Unbelievable that the day has come when we have to consider whether we buy a...
Gary Franks: Biden can turn this all around, really
Our democracy is strong. But I have some questions. Can a very unpopular president with a 36% approval rating lead? Can a president with 80% of Americans telling him he is going in the wrong direction still be effective? And if he cannot be, what does this do to our...
Sheldon Jacobson and Janet Jokela: What impact will graduation season have on covid-19 cases?
College and high school graduation season has begun. With masking on the decline and new covid-19 cases on the rise, a perfect storm is brewing for the new omicron variant (labeled BA2.12.1) to anchor itself across the nation as everyone prepares for summer travel and vacationing. The good news is...
Colin McNickle: Hurdles abound for PIT passenger growth
Myriad challenges must be overcome if there is to be anything approaching significant passenger traffic growth at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. And it’s all because some prior endemic issues are colliding with newer ones in very turbulent times, says Jake...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Sen. Bill Cassidy still doesn’t know what hit him
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy still doesn’t know what hit him. That’s the only logical conclusion following a Sunday tweet in which he responded to the political firestorm he ignited last week. For those who missed it, it came when an interviewer from Politico asked about his state’s high rates of...
Letter to the editor: Biden, Pelosi have no power with Catholic church
Recently the San Francisco Examiner editorial board made an appeal to the pope to dismiss Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for his action of banning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion due to her support of abortion. Their assumed opinion, thinking the pope will listen to them, is as absurd...
Letter to the editor: Will we survive Biden destruction?
OK, enough is enough. When President Obama was in office, he declared that he would fundamentally change America. Look back with an honest eye and you will see what I see: that Obama started the great divide of our citizens and promoted racism at every opportunity. And don’t forget his...
Letter to the editor: We should do what we can on climate change
I take issue with op-ed writer Dave Murray (“What would I give up for a climate emergency?”) on many counts. He doesn’t want to treat climate change as an emergency, describing a future without so many products made from fossil fuels, while not mentioning the biggest ones, transportation and electricity...
Paul Kengor: Yes, your vote really does count
I remember a column years ago by a writer arguing that your vote doesn’t count. A curmudgeon who enjoyed tweaking readers, he took on the sacred civics aphorism: “Your vote counts.” He insisted that, in fact, your single vote really doesn’t count, except for the rarest occasions where a one-vote...
Laurels & lances: Running, skimming, counting
Laurel: To hitting stride. A national program is working with girls at Highlands Elementary. Girls on the Run is, as the name would imply, largely about helping girls in third through fifth grades with building their physical fitness through running. But that’s only half the story. The program is also...
Lori Falce: Stop telling me what won’t work
Every single time I hear about a school shooting, I am back to that Friday in December 2012. Around 10 a.m., I started making calls to area schools to get reactions to the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. I was asking if the districts would be placing schools on lockdown or...
Mark Roth: Health care lessons from the military
The inescapable pain and death of war have also produced many of the medical breakthroughs that have enhanced our health in peacetime. The Civil War created advances in surgical techniques. World Wars I and II led to the development of prosthetics and the widespread use of antibiotics. And the Vietnam...
Letter to the editor: Jesus on abortion — thou shalt not kill
I am writing in response to David Ninehouser’s letter “Jesus never preached about abortion” supporting the supposed “right” to abortion. To paraphrase, Ninehouser criticized Republicans (and Christians) for opposing abortion. To support his argument, Ninehouser wrote that Jesus spoke of God’s “all-embracing love” but never once mentioned abortion. Apparently, in...
Letter to the editor: Clemente was the greatest
OK, OK, enough already! Where’d you get this Paul Kengor guy from, anyhow? Put a couple letters and a title after his name and he goes berserk? I usually ignore his “oblique” ramblings, but this time he went too far (“From GOAT to Groat,” May 12, TribLIVE). I’m not going...
Letter to the editor: Solution to school shootings
Solution to horrific school shootings: Make every school a hard target with one entrance with an armed guard and a metal detector; keep all other doors locked. Protect a school like a Tiffany jewelry store. Allow teachers with training to carry concealed pistols. Problem solved. The government can ban guns,...
John Stossel: Blame government for pilot shortage
Planning to fly this summer? Good luck. Delays are up. Cancellations, too. Why? Because of the pilot shortage. A pilot shortage? How can this be? Flying is a popular job. Some people fly small planes just for fun. Why aren’t there enough commercial pilots? Because the government passed another dumb...
Editorial: In the wake of the Texas school shooting, is there any hope left?
The children of Uvalde, Texas, are no different than the children of Greensburg or New Kensington or Pittsburgh. The parents of Uvalde are no different than the parents of Latrobe or Sewickley or Tarentum. The kids of Robb Elementary were looking forward to school ending on Thursday and the start...
Jonah Goldberg: Why do Democrats and Republicans agree on Ukraine aid?
During the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden was outspoken in his desire to “revive the spirit of bipartisanship in this country.” On May 15, Politico reported that, at the urging of many advisers, Biden had mostly given up on working with the GOP, which he purportedly now “views as an existential...
Letter to the editor: AP article on Mastriano, Shapiro unbalanced
“Mastriano to face Shapiro” (May 18) was a completely useless “news” article written by the completely useless Associated Press. Apparently, it’s the far-right wing Doug Mastriano against the reasonable and saintly Josh Shapiro. The second paragraph’s “Mastriano, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and has promoted his lies...
Letter to the editor: Casey’s mink vote appalling
I am a concerned Pennsylvania citizen, and I am appalled that Sen. Bob Casey voted to keep alive the United States’ cruel and virally dangerous mink farms. But, unfortunately, he was one of a small number of Democrats backing this form of factory farming of wild animals for their fur....
Editorial: State-related schools should be more answerable to Right-to-Know Law
It should go without saying that an agency that is state-related should be subject to the same demands as other state organizations. Except it isn’t. Plenty of groups or institutions that live off their official-sounding titles when it comes time to ask for money try to distance themselves from those...
Letter to the editor: Criminal charges warranted in fatal crash
I disagree with District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli’s comments that the crash that killed Adam Garvin was an “unfortunate accident” and criminal charges other than mere traffic violations could not be filed on the man responsible, Thomas M. Sekelsky (“Scholarship set up to honor Plum motorcyclist who died in crash; family...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: The Republican Party stands for the Republican Party
So it looks like they finally found their red line. Meaning the Republican Party. The GOP seems to have finally identified the barrier no Republican may be allowed to cross. Many of us had wondered where it was — or even if it was. We were genuinely, if morbidly, curious...
Kellie Lynch: Heard/Depp trial opportunity to discuss intimate partner violence
Strip away the celebrity intrigue and media frenzy, and the high-profile court battle between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard involves issues painfully familiar to many women and men across America. The civil defamation case, which is due to conclude May 27, centered around discussion of intimate partner violence. IPV...
Stephanie Catarino Wissman: Natural gas fundamental to bringing manufacturing back to Pa.
Not long ago, the U.S. was reliant on unstable regimes for natural gas and oil. Now, the U.S. is the largest producer of natural gas and oil in the world thanks in large part to the shale revolution and expansion of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. This homegrown energy now...
