Opinion category, Page 562
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Big resolutions for a tough year
We can add the usual New Year’s resolutions to the list of things the pandemic has taken off the table this year. We all have made those promises with the turn of the old year into the new year, and they are usually something about breaking bad habits and starting...
Peter Morici: Biden can bring nation together with bold infrastructure program
President-elect Joe Biden needs a large-scale project that will summon the political class and national imagination to rescue the country from another four years of partisan distrust. A bold infrastructure program to reshape the American economy for a more prosperous and greener future could be just the ticket. Congestion alone...
Dr. G. Richard Olds: Physicians educated abroad can fill covid-induced doctor shortage
The United States will be short nearly 140,000 doctors by 2033, according to the latest estimates from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Covid-19 may drive the number of doctor shortages up further. Large numbers of physicians are leaving the profession. Consequently, we must begin preparing now to rebuild the...
Sounding off: What’s the thinking on ‘living our lives’?
Headlines in the Dec. 13 Trib included “Calls flood ambulance services” and “Hospitals plead for public’s help.” Excela Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carol Fox describes staff holding the phone for a dying covid patient to hear a hymn sung by a pastor, and others holding the hands of patients...
Letter to the editor: Silent acquiescence to evil
In his letter “Why aren’t we autonomous?” (Dec. 17, TribLIVE), Don Carrera asks the whereabouts of all the free people who previously opposed despotic abuse of political authority. The tragedy he observes is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty...
Letter to the editor: Red-light grant money should be refused
Regarding the article “Busy Frankstown Road intersection in Penn Hills to get facelift using more than $300K grant” (Dec. 10, TribLIVE): While Automated Red Light Enforcement (ARLE ) grant projects can be worthwhile, no municipality should accept the money, since it came from red-light cameras — which should be banned...
Letter to the editor: Can’t forgive reps’ approval of Act 77
Remember, remember the third of November. Although he may not have actually said it, P.T. Barnum is credited with saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I believe with high confidence we can apply this saying to Gov. Tom Wolf’s manipulation of the Republican Pennsylvania Legislature in September 2019. Act...
Laurels & lances of 2020
Laurel: To a life lived in service to others. On the last day of 2020, Pennsylvania lost a bedrock political figure. Dick Thornburgh, a two-term governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, died at the age of 88. He left behind a legacy of work...
John Stossel: 2020’s good news
Was 2020 the worst year ever? The media keep saying that. We did have the pandemic, a bitter election, unemployment, riots and a soaring national debt. But wait, look at the good news, says historian Johan Norberg. His new book, “Open: The Story of Human Progress,” points out how life...
Letter to the editor: Why are legislators first in line for vaccines?
Move over hospital workers, step aside first responders, get out of the way old people, forget the nursing homes, because we have “very important” legislators who really need to get ahead of all of you. The politicians — including Sens. Bob Casey and Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Speaker...
Letter to the editor: Nursing home tales
Anne is an orphan. She lies between 60 and 70 years of age. Her pure white hair cascades down her back like a waterfall. Cut short at the ear level with bangs in the front, the rest of Anne’s hair slips over the back of her head, not to be...
Lori Falce: Making resolutions about others
We have it in us to be better. On New Year’s Day, televisions and social media ads will be filled with the same thing. They will offer a hundred different ways to sell self-improvement. Download this app and track your calories. Subscribe to that streaming service and learn a language....
Editorial: Prioritizing problems for 2021
It’s 2021! Everything is going to change, right? Well, let’s not put too much pressure on the healing power of flipping a page on a calendar. The New Year is definitely a time of hope and optimism. Even when things are good, there’s something about New Year’s Day that just...
Letter to the editor: Closing schools is not containing spread
Regarding the recent letters to the editor from the Pennsylvania Pediatric Health Network (“Mitigate to end pandemic”) and Dave Bonazelli (“Schools should be online”), and the article describing the Greensburg-Salem school district’s decision to shut down in-person schooling and athletics until Jan. 26 (“Greensburg Salem shuts down athletics until Jan....
Ralph Reiland: Will Rogers’ commentary on American life timeless
“Read his remarks now, and you want to cry, because so little has changed” stated the Des Moines Register, referring to the wisdom, humor, wit, philosophy, power of observation, popularity, and political and cultural influence of Will Rogers, the chronicler of an age, serving, because he did it better than...
Editorial: The scary year that was 2020
The Tribune-Review editorial from Jan. 1, 2020, could have been prophecy. The headline has proven to be an undeniable truth: “2020 promises wild ride.” “If 2019 seemed like a roller coaster, hurtling to the peak of one local, state, national or global event after another before veering wildly off in...
Letter to the editor: GOP comes full circle on Russia
It took the GOP 40 years, but they finally have come full circle concerning the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, it was President Reagan who “conquered the Commies” and “tore down the wall.” (Russia actually went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan for 11 years. We have fought there for nearly 20.)...
Letter to the editor: Municipalities disobeying governor’s orders
While I agree wholeheartedly with your editorial on the need for Westmoreland County to stop passing through funds to North Huntingdon for officials’ refusal to obey the governor’s covid-19 restrictions (“North Huntingdon hurts its residents by defying state covid mandates,” Dec. 19, TribLIVE), I am curious if you are willing...
Letter to the editor: Mail-in voting invites fraud
In his letter “Rep. Bob Brooks’ contempt for democracy” (Dec. 16, TribLIVE), Ray Ramondino stated “the only problem with mail-in voting is it allows more people to exercise their constitutional right to vote.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The real problem with mail-in voting is that there aren’t...
Letter to the editor: Easy to understand Trump’s defeat
After four years of experiencing the President Trump brand, American voters defeated him at the ballot box. Instead of building bridges to unite Americans, he built walls between families and friends. The other wall he promised never materialized. Americans were lied to, a lot, “believe me.” We were fed ludicrous...
Letter to the editor: Venting on vaccine, stimulus, career politicians
Thanks to the Tribune-Review for printing my 2020 opinions. Let me wrap up my 2020 venting with the following. For months we were promised the vaccine would be given to health care providers and elderly in nursing homes first. Then I see politicians and their spouses (Jill Biden) receiving it....
Chris Johnson: Beyond the pandemic — transforming health care operations
When covid-19 reached America early in 2020, the U.S. health care system mobilized like never before to anticipate and meet the demand for treatment and vaccines. Ten months later, health care providers today continue to work courageously and tirelessly to deliver patient care. Talented and dedicated medical researchers have spent...
Letter to the editor: Does Trump love America?
Donald Trump loves America? Why did he hold America hostage with failed lawsuits as he tries to overturn his election defeat with lies about a rigged election? I believe the rigged election was in 2016, and Trump won then with the help of Russia, WikiLeaks and emails. And he still...
Letter to the editor: Election deserves scrutiny
I’m a Westmoreland County precinct election judge. On Nov. 3, one honest voter turned in duplicate mail-in ballots to be voided and vote in person. I mentioned this to another election judge while standing in line to turn in results that night and discovered it wasn’t unusual. This may be...
Letter to the editor: People had the power on pandemic
We the people had the power on our own to prevent hospitalizations, deaths and state restrictions. Despite the fact that our leaders themselves stated that we the people had a personal and collective responsibility to curb the spread of covid-19 without the need of any state or local restrictions, we...
