Opinion category, Page 495
Letter to the editor: TV’s influence on conspiracy theories
TV may be at fault with the problem we have today with QAnon and other conspiracy theories. Once upon a time, History and the Travel Channel were my favorites. Now they should be renamed Pseudoscience Channels 1 and 2, as they are filled with programs about UFOs, Bigfoot, ghosts, ancient...
Letter to the editor: Billionaires’ climate hypocrisy
So, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are off to space! Wow! Isn’t that special! Or is it? I thought these two “philanthropists” were on the “cutting edge” of stopping man-made greenhouse gases with all their “foundations” and “initiatives.” But I guess getting your kicks by going to space is...
Letter to the editor: Priorities for Amtrak’s success
My recent trip/experience on Amtrak has led to these conclusions and concerns: lack of management insight, lack of federal government vision of transportation, and concern for security of rail travel. Every Amtrak employee I encountered was courteous, helpful and passionate about their job. But they were mostly apologetic for the...
Editorial: No masking the opioid epidemic that’s destroying lives
The coronavirus pandemic stole the spotlight in 2020, but it was not the only epidemic threatening lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the opioid crisis didn’t just fade into the background while people worried about masks, respirators and social distancing. The 2020 numbers hit a record...
Letter to the editor: Biden, not bishops, should make his Communion decision
I would like to ask the United States Catholic Bishops something concerning the possibility of denying President Biden Communion at a Catholic Mass. Section 1415 of the Second Edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic Communion must be in the...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Thanks to vaccine, we’re making sauce again
It was a simple question on social media — and I weighed in with over 700,000 others — but it is a sure sign that many of us are breathing a little easier now that the covid-19 vaccines are taking hold. Here’s what triggered the great debate: Should sugar be...
Amanda Cylc: Pa. Legislature can save fitness industry
Like so many others, the fitness industry has been devastated by the covid-19 pandemic. Leaders on both sides of the aisle in Harrisburg introduced legislation to help, but no action was taken before they adjourned for the summer, leaving gyms and health clubs waiting for assistance. Action is needed to...
Ben Bear: Pittsburgh’s innovative spirit is making it a leader in car-free mobility
I grew up in the East End, steeped in Pittsburgh’s history of innovation and entrepreneurship from Carnegie Steel to Heinz Ketchup to Salk’s polio vaccine. Yet, more and more, I see my hometown innovating and transforming in ways that could make it a blueprint for cities around the world. When...
Sounding off: Who really benefits from Biden’s tax plans
Letter-writer Kathleen Bollinger (“Liberals’ class envy will cost Americans dearly”) tells only half of the story of higher taxes on the rich. President Biden says he will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year, and unless she makes that much, she will actually benefit. Even if...
Sheldon Jacobson: FAA weighing in on weighing air travelers
Air travel is surging as more passengers pack onto more airplanes. The month of June 2021 saw four times the number of air travelers compared to June 2020. With that, airplane weight is back in the news. The FAA is requiring all airlines to provide better methods to estimate the...
Letter to the editor: God, not Christians, should do the judging
In response to letter-writer Joseph Krill (“Church has right, duty to excommunicate Biden”): Let me qualify this, sir. I am a Roman Catholic who strongly disagrees with abortion. But I choose to let the Almighty judge and punish. Leonard Mucci Derry Township...
Letter to the editor: Nothing to see here
The letter “Questioning mental health of Trump, Greene” (June 17, TribLIVE), a pseudo-psychologist analysis of our former president and current Pelosi- shamed congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, which also reviles us knuckle-dragging Republicans, brings to mind the Bard’s coined phrase “methinks thou doth protest too much.” Or perhaps I misinterpreted the author’s...
Editorial: A reform that promotes and respects police professionalism
P olice departments across Pennsylvania have a new law to enforce. This law is a little different than most. It is one they will have to enforce against themselves. It requires police departments to participate in a database that keeps track of complaints and misconduct allegations against officers. The goal...
Letter to the editor: Doug Mastriano is no patriot
Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who represents four rural counties in Central Pennsylvania, has humiliated himself and our commonwealth on the national stage by meddling in the Arizona presidential election vote of Nov. 3, traveling to that state in efforts to secure yet another recount of the vote at the...
S.E. Cupp: Now right wing supports population control?
I’m old enough to remember when, along with lowering the debt and deficit, anti-protectionism and so-called “family values,” a strong opposition to population control was one of the bedrock principles of the conservative movement and Republican Party. But apparently, like lowering the debt and deficit, anti-protectionism, and so-called “family values,”...
John Stossel: Innovation happens when rules are broken
America has so many regulations today that often the only way to do something new, to create something great, to prosper is to ignore rules. Minutes before SpaceX launched a rocket, the government told the company the launch would violate its license. SpaceX launched anyway. CEO Elon Musk says the...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Democracy worth the trouble every time
It was, let us say, an interesting weekend for democracy. Call it a tale of two cities. One is Dallas, where thousands of so-called “conservatives” — the word has less meaning by the day — gathered in support of Donald Trump and his ongoing efforts to delegitimize a free and...
Jonah Goldberg: Republican stance on voting rules doesn’t amount to a war with democracy
What a mess. Democrats (and their allies in the media) have convinced themselves that the Republican Party is at war with democracy. Republicans (and their allies in the media) have convinced themselves that the Democratic Party is at war with democracy. They’re both wrong, although in very different ways. Let’s...
Letter to the editor: Trimming Pittsburgh’s trees
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, but moved to another state in 1980 to work as a local government employee in planning and zoning. I’m not an arborist but had to work with them wherever I went. I am surprised that Pittsburgh’s tree code seems to prevent the local...
Letter to the editor: Reason for Route 28 lights
If you frequent the Route 28 Expressway between Exits 15 and 16, you will now have no excuse for failing to turn and cross over Saxonburg Road on the curved bridge. Apparently many of you have been missing this turn and continuing straight into some other time space continuum, so...
Lori Falce: High cost of college is no joke
My sister’s youngest child just graduated from high school, which means come fall, she will have two kids in college at the same time. Teasing her about the campus visits and paperwork and packing and all of the costs was funny. Until I realized my son is 13. That puts...
Letter to the editor: Kamala Harris’ character
Did Lester Holt’s intriguing interview with Vice President Kamala Harris appear to elicit an answer that revealed her irresponsible (or delusional) character? Didn’t she say, more than once, “We’ve been to the border”? And wasn’t Holt’s response, “You haven’t been to the border,” a known fact? She answered again in...
Colin McNickle: Right-to-Work and the post-pandemic jobs recovery
Recently released May 2021 employment data for Greater Pittsburgh show a significant jump from the covid-depressed May 2020 level. But an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy suggests the numbers could have been even better had Pennsylvania been a Right-to-Work (RTW) state. “It is, in large part, a...
Laurels & lances: Scooters, seller, saviors
Laurel: To a new way to move. The City of Pittsburgh is planning to get people up and running with a Move PGH pilot program launching in the Manchester neighborhood. The program will put 100 electric scooters in use to push the city’s efforts for Universal Basic Mobility — a...
Editorial: A compounded error on unemployment payments requires state to come clean
The government is trusted with a lot just because it is the government. It is easy to balance your checkbook and figure out if the bank overcharged you for a fee. It isn’t hard to glance over your receipt from Walmart to make sure that you weren’t charged for two...
