Opinion category, Page 540
Laurels & lances: Ladies, lawsuit, prevention, pay
Laurel: To grand dames. March is Women’s History Month, and it has started with recognition of some amazing centenarians. Julia Parsons of Forest Hills was honored on her 100th birthday Tuesday with a parade that included a Color Guard and fellow servicemembers. During World War II, Parsons was Navy codebreaker...
Colin McNickle: Cold job comfort in Greater Pittsburgh
There can be no doubt that Greater Pittsburgh’s jobs situation for 2020 was, in a word, disappointing, concludes the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic warrants the lion’s share of the blame. But the Pittsburgh think tank’s analysis also puts into stark perspective a nagging fact....
Cynthia Fisher: Patients should know actual, not estimated, prices
Beginning this year with the implementation of a new Health and Human Services rule, American consumers won the right, upheld by a U.S. Court of Appeals, to access real hospital prices. The new rule requires hospitals to post their actual prices, including their discounted cash and secret negotiated rates. Armed...
Letter to the editor: Government needs fresh air to get U.S. back on track
I am sure many Americans haven’t any idea as to where we go from here. There is such turmoil in the Capitol that makes for a heads-up for our senators and representatives. They are the bodies of strength that are to hold the country together. Each one of them is...
Letter to the editor: Letter-writers should educate themselves
I resisted writing this opinion for a few weeks. As I read more letters, I realized I had to speak out. Thank God we have the First Amendment. And this page is just what it says it is, opinion. (We can write or say almost anything in this country.) One...
Letter to the editor: Knowing right from left
Regarding Dr. Joel Last’s letter “Capitalism is on the right side” (Jan. 30, TribLIVE): I didn’t read Larry Josephs’ letter “Socialism vs. fascism” (Jan. 16, TribLIVE), which he was responding to, but fascism is on the far right. Fascism is far-right, authoritarian ultra-nationalism with dictatorial power of strong autocratic control....
Editorial: At Springdale basketball, the agony of default by covid
Sports can be a passionate proposition for some people. Communities can tie their identity to their local mascot. A school district can live or die with its football team’s record as much — sometimes more — than their standardized test scores or graduation rate. If you have been to a...
Letter to the editor: Destruction of the left
Columnist S.E. Cupp’s position on political accountability (“The new nihilism — actually, almost everything matters,” Feb. 21, TribLIVE) is truly a distorted account of current political reality. If you juxtapose the policies/actions of the divergent positions and actions of the sides, you simply cannot objectively make such a case. Cupp...
Letter to the editor: Westmoreland commissioners must show leadership
As a Westmoreland County resident, I was not surprised by the article “Commissioners dash calls for Westmoreland health department, trumpet broadband upgrade” (Feb. 18 , TribLIVE). More than 11 months into a pandemic, Westmoreland lacks a countywide plan for testing, contact tracing and vaccine distribution. And with no health department,...
Sally Pipes: Biden’s health care agenda entrenches a status quo that isn’t working
Health care reform is back on the agenda in Washington. At the end of January, President Biden signed two executive orders that aim to make it easier for people to sign up for coverage. On Saturday, the House passed a $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package that includes billions in new...
Jonah Goldberg: CPAC shows there’s no Republican civil war
Greater Orlando, Fla., hosts several of the most visited theme parks in the world. At the Magic Kingdom you can dress up like a princess, pretend you’re a pirate or just act like you’re a kid again. Universal’s Islands of Adventure lets diehard Harry Potter fans pretend they’re students at...
Editorial: A good step for Penguins fans, but caution is on deck
The Pittsburgh Penguins took their shot two weeks ago when they asked the state for a little more freedom. PPG Paints Arena was only allowed to have 500 people at games — including the players, the coaches, the guy who drives the Zamboni, the workers who run the lights, the...
Letter to the editor: Dems threatening each other?
Once again, Joseph Sabino Mistick does his “OK for me but not for thee” routine (“Our represenatives must have room to do right,” Feb. 20, TribLIVE). He goes on about how the elected Republicans need to be independent from the wishes of their electorate but, again, conveniently ignores the Democrats...
Letter to the editor: College students come through with vaccination help
Regarding the article “Pitt students, volunteers create VaccinatePA to connect residents with vaccination info” (Feb. 20, TribLIVE): So the people that we pay taxes to, who are supposed to know stuff, have let us down in a big way. They’ve had since mid-October to prepare a Pennsylvania-wide site for registering...
Letter to the editor: America’s dangerous money game
After having read the article “Board games provide low-tech alternative to online obsessions”, which claimed renewed interest in board games during the pandemic, I decided it might be a great day to blow the dust off the family Monopoly game. As my game dealer dealt me out the designated $1,500...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Forget Q — listen to Y before it’s too late
You’re not reading this on a smartphone or tablet, are you? I hope not, for your sake. They say the government can use imperceptible fluctuations in the light to reprogram your brain waves, giving them complete control over your thoughts and actions. You’ll be Joe Biden’s zombie and you won’t...
Pat Buchanan: Is Biden reenlisting in the forever wars?
Thursday, in its first military action, the Biden Pentagon sent two U.S. F-15Es to strike targets of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia just inside the eastern border of Syria. The U.S. strikes were in retaliation for a missile attack on a U.S. base in Irbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan,...
Al Frazier and Jeffrey Shook: Time to talk about UPMC wages
There is no single organization that is more intertwined with our state’s health and well-being than UPMC. It is the largest health care provider, the biggest landowner, the largest employer and the largest tax-exempt charity in Pennsylvania. UPMC loves talking about its “life-changing” medicine, but it is time to talk...
Letter to the editor: Should we all be compensated?
I am of Irish ancestry. Before, during and after the Civil War, the Irish were at a low social station — “No Irish Need Apply.” I have never owned a slave, nor did any of my ancestors. During the Civil War, some estimates say 480,000 white people lost their lives...
Editorial: Confronting the reality of Westmoreland population decline
Accounting is a simple, color-coded kind of arithmetic. When the numbers go up, they are in black ink. When the numbers go down, they are in red. It doesn’t take much effort to figure out the bottom line when the visuals are that easy to see. Westmoreland County has been...
Letter to the editor: Fetterman better chill if he wins Senate seat
Oh my, John Fetterman is running for U.S. Senate. I sure hope before he goes he takes a chill pill so we don’t see another childish outburst like the one he had during the election fiasco. Maybe while he is out and about he can spot the illustrious Sen. Pat...
Letter to the editor: Trump did not incite riots
Former President Trump did not incite the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The Democrats, RINOs and mainstream media incited the riots. Over the last year we watched Black Lives Matter and antifa loot and burn our cities, with many of their actions condoned by Democrats and the media. The...
Letter to the editor: Thank you, Casey and Toomey
The Jan. 6 insurrection will be an indelible memory for nearly all Americans. Five people lost their lives and our democracy was tarnished because of the calibrated planning of President Trump, as he encouraged his supporters to “take back” an election which had no evidence of fraud. I felt anger...
Letter to the editor: Veterans should get vaccine priority
Veterans have no preference in receiving the covid vaccine anywhere except the Veterans Administration health care system, but even this is limited to qualified veterans registered within the system. I am a relatively healthy (knock on wood) 72-year-old Vietnam combat vet with private health insurance. I’m guessing I’m not alone....
Letter to the editor: Biden must be held accountable, too
Regarding the Associated Press story “Biden reframes his goal on reopening of elementary schools” (Feb. 16, TribLIVE): Reframes? The media has certainly revamped their journalistic integrity in the last 30 days, haven’t they? Maybe they are just “reframing” it? The questions President Biden is getting are a complete 180 from...
