Opinion category, Page 83
Lori Falce: Due process, habeas corpus and the burden of American jurisprudence
Navigating the law isn’t easy. There is a reason lawyers go to school for so long, pay so much for their education and in turn charge what they do per hour. The law is not as easy as “thou shalt not.” It requires deeper understanding of not just what is...
Laurels & lances: Pay attention please
Laurel: To greater focus. When you get behind the wheel, there is a lot to grab your attention. You need to watch the road in front of you. You have to be alert for other cars at intersections. You need to watch for pedestrians and bicycles. You need to check...
Letter to the editor: We deserve accountability on Biden
I have written several letters to the editor over the past few years regarding Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline during his presidency and the damage that it has caused our nation. When his handlers had exhausted his usefulness and could no longer hide his obvious mental decline after the disastrous...
Paul Kengor: The ‘least American’ but ‘very American’ pope
Prior to the papal conclave, I did a column titled “The pope of surprises.” It made the point that, throughout history, the Catholic cardinal-electors leave the Sistine Chapel selecting a pope few expected. But gosh, no one expected an American pope. “One of the more extraordinary days of my life,”...
Letter to the editor: We’ll all suffer under Trump administration
I think Kamala Harris was right about everything. She warned us what Donald Trump would do if he was elected again. I believed he would exact revenge on Americans because he was not elected in 2020. You don’t tell Trump “no.” It’s absolutely shameful the leader of our country is...
Letter to the editor: Walmart and tariffs
In 2018, Walmart purchased 80% of its products from China. Since then, these purchases have dropped to 60% with items being sourced from countries such as Vietnam and India. In fiscal year 2024, Walmart claimed two-thirds of its product spend was from suppliers that reportedly were made, grown or assembled...
Editorial: Voters ousted incumbents in dramatic primary races
Pennsylvanians went to the polls Tuesday. If they cast ballots earlier via mail, those votes were counted Tuesday. It might have been a bit anticlimactic. Turnout was so low in some areas that the Greensburg Fire Department Central Hose Company No. 2 polling place saw only 15 people as of...
Letter to the editor: Norwin doesn’t need a new stadium
After reading about plans the Norwin School District has for a new football stadium, I had to write expressing my feelings on this topic (“Norwin’s $25M stadium renovation project panned by critics,” April 21, TribLive). My wife and I moved here five years ago from New Jersey to be close...
Jonah Goldberg: History alone should have made more reporters skeptical about Biden’s health
Hundreds of thousands of photos were taken of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And yet there are only four known photos of him in a wheelchair. This was deliberate. FDR hid his disability from polio, even from his mother. He ordered the Secret Service to destroy images of him in a wheelchair....
Beth Kowitt: The old model of billionaire philanthropy is ending
Bill Gates is an optimist. He believes the world will be a better place in 20 years, that diseases like polio, measles and malaria will be eradicated, and that there will be other rich people lining up to fill the void when, as he announced recently, his foundation shuts its...
Kevin Snider: An open letter to Penn State trustees, leadership
Penn State must evolve to survive. Penn State New Kensington already has. At a time when the university faces a choice between retreat and reinvention, it is poised to close one of the few campuses already evolving — and succeeding. That’s what is at stake in the May 22 vote...
Jay Paterno: For Penn State, today’s challenges vs. tomorrow’s dreams — a call for defiant optimism
On July 2, 1862, this nation was at war for its very existence. The Union Army was retreating from a campaign to capture Richmond. Victory was far from certain. On that day, the United States Congress and President Abraham Lincoln had their eyes on a future clouded by massive uncertainty....
Letter to the editor: Realities about Trump
I have some “lefty” reality for the author of the letter “Letters from left not based in reality” (May 10, TribLive). During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump often promised grocery and fuel prices would drop on “day one” of him being elected. After taking office, he stated that it is...
Editorial: It’s Trump’s move on U.S. Steel sale
Nippon Steel is putting more money on the table. But will it matter? The nearly $15 billion elephant in the room is the Japanese company’s offer to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. It’s a deal that has been dragging on since December 2023. It slow-walked through the Committee for Foreign Investment...
Letter to the editor: Analyzing why the U.S. is in financial trouble
Dear fellow taxpaying citizens: Do you understand that the U.S. is in deep financial trouble? As ham-handed as President Donald Trump is, he is doing what he thinks is best for the country. What suggestions or alternative plans do any of you have to solve the future economic train wreck?...
F.D. Flam: Quantum computing could be the future of drug development
One of the first and most promising uses scientists envision for the rapidly evolving technology of quantum computing is a new approach to drug development. A quantum computer could, in theory, eliminate much of the trial and error involved in the process to help researchers more quickly zero in on...
Sarah Gundle: TikTokers are self-diagnosing. That’s good and bad.
“My ADHD? I figured it out on TikTok,” a new patient told me proudly. She hadn’t turned to social media for answers because she wanted to; she just couldn’t afford the cost of a formal psychiatric evaluation. Appointments for neuropsychological assessments, the gold standard for diagnosing conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh teams paying big money to bad players
As a “youngish” man in my early 70s, I’m astounded by the amounts of money Pittsburgh sports teams pay much younger men to stink up the playing field. My message to the Pirates and Steelers is, “Hey guys, I’m right here, give me a call.” Team owners are paying tens...
Letter to the editor: Pine-Richland’s book ban sham
On March 17, the Pine-Richland School Board approved a sweeping revision to Library Policy 109.1 after 16 months of deliberation. This effort was sparked in October 2023 when a group of religious activists demanded the removal of 14 books they deemed “pornographic.” At a December board meeting, board member Michael...
Editorial: In red and blue Pennsylvania, primaries matter more than ever
Elections follow a certain rhythm. Presidential years are followed by municipal years where the ballots are filled with local, school board and county races. Then there are the midterms, in which state and federal lawmakers are elected. In Pennsylvania, that’s also a gubernatorial year. Then it goes back to more...
Letter to the editor: Tariffs don’t improve economy
To those who still believe that tariffs will improve the economy: Ain’t gonna happen. Never. Not ever. No matter how long you wait. Tariffs are not magic beans from which factories spring. For example, take the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930; a depression grew from that. Tariff revenue goes directly...
Jackie Calmes: Will the Qatar gift to Trump fly?
The real value of President Donald Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million “palace in the sky” — a super luxe Boeing 747-8 grift, er, gift, from the oil-rich Qatari royal family — could be in what it reveals to his fellow Americans about his unprecedented, global grab for wealth and...
Bradford Fitch: How veterans, plane travel and sausages lead to less partisanship
It’s no secret that partisanship is more intense than at any other time in recent history. And these intense political feelings don’t just play themselves out through gridlock in Congress. The threats of political violence have increased dramatically. Politics seeps into the workplace, resulting in coarse relations with colleagues (and,...
Letter to the editor: Protecting county’s appeals process
Allegheny County Council is about to vote on a bill (May 21) that would insulate the appeals board from the political process. Under present law, the people who make the frozen base year assessments also administer the appeals process. The part-time appeals boards’ role is limited to only hearing and...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s war on women
President Trump said that he would protect women, whether the women like it or not. However, through his actions, I belieev he has declared a war on women. By demonizing “DEI,” he seems to be seeking to wipe out the gains women have made since the 1960s, gains in equality...
