Opinion category, Page 485
Sheldon Jacobson: Emotion gets in way of covid consensus
People tend to overestimate or underestimate risk. The pandemic brings this into stark relief. Picture someone wearing an N95 mask while walking their dog through a deserted park. Contrast that with someone entering a crowded bar maskless in an area with high coronavirus transmission rates. Risk is a function of...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: The end of an endless war
Any discussion of the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan must start with the recognition of the troops themselves and the essential duty they have met for the rest of us. They were sent there to protect us from another terrorist attack like 9/11, and they did that. They...
David Super: Vietnam mistakes repeated in Afghanistan; we must break the cycle
The rapid collapse of the Afghan government has lessons to teach us, if we will listen. Many of these are lessons we could have learned from the Vietnam War, but we did not. In both Vietnam and Afghanistan, the enemy was very real. The Viet Minh began as a nationalist...
Sounding off: Ignorance, apathy threaten democracy
A university professor told his class that the greatest threats to democracy were ignorance and apathy. When he asked his students to explain the difference, one responded, not knowing it was the correct answer, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” In the 2020 presidential election, voters took a step...
Rich Askey: Follow CDC mask-wearing guidance in Pa. schools
Pennsylvania’s public school educators and support professionals are looking forward to returning to school to welcome a new class of eager students to their classrooms. As we do so, we are at a crossroads. We look ahead with enthusiasm but recognize that, in order to make this school year successful...
Letter to the editor: Blood on Biden’s hands
President Biden has a lot of blood on his hands . His misguided decision to announce, and then implement, the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, while leaving behind billions of dollars in weapons and equipment for the Taliban to use, is insane. Regardless of what the Taliban says, I...
Letter to the editor: Commissioners should gather input for spending plan
I am concerned that our three commissioners have shown no effort to gather public input around American Rescue Plan funds. Westmoreland County leadership has failed to provide both a community engagement plan and a spending plan, both of which are required by the law. The $105 million coming to Westmoreland...
Editorial: Westmoreland Fair fun is back
Is there anything more quintessentially summer than a county fair? It’s the kind of event that brings all of those snapshot memories of summertime fun into focus. Cotton candy. Blue ribbons. Funnel cake. Carnival rides. Midway games. The Westmoreland Fair runs through Aug. 28. For the next week, dads will...
Letter to the editor: What will Jan. 6 justice look like?
Pat Buchanan’s comparison of Jan. 6 to 9/11 (“Why the left can’t let go of Jan. 6,” July 27, TribLIVE) is a good example of turning the facts upside down. Jan. 6 was not “just a protest, a riot, a shameful disgrace.” Most sources say it was an act of...
Nicole Molinaro: Criminal justice system failing domestic violence victims
The article “Police: Desperate notes in Walmart, Fallingwater led to woman held captive” (July 16, TribLIVE) described incidents of violence that shocked the mind and the soul. Like others throughout our community, I was horrified to read about the extensive abuse this victim survived, including being held captive, multiple physical...
John Stossel: Coronavirus censorship
YouTube froze Sen. Rand Paul’s YouTube channel. That’s just wrong. Small-minded. Counterproductive. YouTube says Paul violated its covid-19 misinformation policy when he told an interviewer, “Most of the masks you get over the counter don’t work … virus particles are too small and go right through.” Paul didn’t make that...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Racial temper tantrum can’t last forever
Chris Rock described it as a kind of temper tantrum. This was in 2011. “When I see the tea party and all this stuff,” the comedian told Esquire, “it actually feels like racism’s almost over.” He likened the tea party — with its street theatrics, overwrought histrionics and overt panic...
Greg Fulton: The day St. Franco was anointed
Similar to today, in 1972 our nation was polarized. The Vietnam War, the Equal Rights Amendment providing equality for all sexes and busing of children for integration were dividing lines for many. Then, on Dec. 23, something magical happened in Pittsburgh, what some would call an early Christmas present. According...
Letter to the editor: No vaccine, no treatment
Short and sweet, executive order: Everyone age 12 and up gets vaccinated. If you refuse, your name goes in a file and when you get covid, you don’t get treatment at a hospital. Christopher Morelli Ligonier Township...
Letter to the editor: God does care about church rules
In his letter “God doesn’t care about churches’ rules”, Carl Jones opines that God, not for one second, cares about the rules and regulations of the Catholic Church. Thus he thinks all letters relating to the receiving of Holy Communion by President Biden should stop. Jones claims God has no...
Lori Falce: Failures in Afghanistan don’t erase service
Do not say the lives were wasted. As the U.S. military forces drew closer to the Aug. 31 deadline that was drawn for pullout from 20 years of presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban advanced, gaining momentum as villages and cities fell like dominoes. It was a messy wreck of an...
Letter to the editor: Will Shell really trigger growth?
In his op-ed “The Shell cracker plant is a boon for business” (Aug. 9, TribLIVE), Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco said the “science of economics” shows that Shell’s massive plastics factory in Beaver County is going to “trigger a period of regional economic growth unrivaled by any industrial project since...
Laurels & lances: Slippery Rock, rats and guns
Laurel: To a new school. There is nothing like a global medical crisis to make everyone realize exactly how crucial careers in medicine are. Thus it isn’t surprising to see Slippery Rock University taking the opportunity to better augment the workforce needs in those areas that were increasing even before...
Paul Kengor: Pa.’s forgotten and canceled governor
Gov. George Earle. Have you heard of him? Born in Devon, Pa., Earle was governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939, one of only two Democrats to be elected to that spot between the Civil War and World War II, and a respected and popular politician, featured on the cover...
Letter to the editor: Leslie Rossi deserves medal of honor
Regarding the letter “Time to repurpose the Trump House” (July 25, TribLIVE): The Trump House and Leslie Rossi are more important to this country right now than the White House. They stand for freedom and the American way. It is up to people like Rossi who are not afraid to...
Editorial: Foster care makes the key difference in a kid’s life
People have certain basic needs. A roof overhead. Clothes on their bodies. Food and water to fill their stomachs. These are the things that keep us alive. There is a comprehensive word for what brings this together: “home.” It’s both a place and a state of being. And for children,...
Letter to the editor: Frelick will go far in MLB
The Major League Baseball draft has come and gone, and once again top prospects from around the country have made their decisions to go on to the next level of their profession. I have followed the career of Sal Frelick, who signed as the No. 1 prospect with the Milwaukee...
Letter to the editor: Democratic regime killing our principles, values
President Trump was a bit unpolished but a great, patriotic leader and a powerful advocate for our country and its citizens. This statement will undoubtedly ignite a dumpster fire in the minds of the brainwashed hordes, but it’s demonstrably true. Trump kicked down the door of the establishment’s country club,...
Jonah Goldberg: Afghanistan withdrawal shows allies that U.S. isn’t a reliable partner
When Joe Biden came into office, we were told that the “adults are back in charge” because he immediately set to work undoing as much of Donald Trump’s legacy as he could. “The new president in his first week issued more than three dozen executive actions on a wide range...
Letter to the editor: Mountain View Amphitheater recipe for disaster
With barely a month before show time, local residents are only now being informed of the Mountain View Amphitheater’s opening (“New outdoor concert venue in Harmar set to hold 1st act next month,” Aug. 8, TribLIVE). Funny, I never heard it was even being planned. It is an open-air venue...
