Featured Commentary category, Page 53
Christopher Baxter: Spotlight PA’s nonpartisan journalism cuts the noise and gets results
HARRISBURG State capitols are the testing grounds for the future of our country. New policies and novel legal theories on everything from abortion to education to election administration are being shaped at the state level. And the decisions made in Harrisburg have a far greater effect on your life than...
Daniel Pimentel: Sustainable fashion is a farce without virtual try-ons
Fashion brands entered this Black Friday seeing green not just because of sales but because they’re offering more sustainable products than ever before. From carbon-neutral T-shirts to sustainable shoes and eco-friendly hats, Santa will have his hands full keeping up with the more than $41 billion in projected online apparel...
Roger McNamee: Kids have been used like guinea pigs on Big Tech’s platforms. How much harm will we tolerate?
After more than a decade of uncontrolled experiments by internet platforms on millions of users, there is an emerging possibility that one group of users — kids — may finally gain some protection. A wave of court cases has an opportunity to fill a void left by the inaction of...
Letter to the editor: Dangerous vision for the future
You may not have heard of Project 2025. It is the Heritage Foundation’s vision for our future. Heritage, along with the Federalist Society, are radical-right, ultra-conservative groups that want to restructure our government. If you like how the Federalist Society has groomed lawyers since their college years with gifts and...
Raz Segal: Here’s what the mass violence in Gaza looks like to a scholar of genocide
I cannot stop thinking about the dozens of Israeli children held in captivity by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in underground tunnels in Gaza, while above them Israel’s attack has killed, so far, nearly 4,500 Palestinian children. Stopping the violence, and returning the hostages, is urgent for any person who...
Ron Grossman: Today’s backlash against Jewish people is steeped in a long history of hatred
At the first reports of a massacre of Israeli civilians, I shuddered, fearing the worst was yet to come. Sadly, I was right. Before sundown on Oct. 7, Israel was being blamed for Hamas’ killings, mutilations and kidnappings of Israeli civilians. As a historian, I know only too well the...
Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari and Rabbi Shawn Zevit: Fetterman should join call for cease-fire
As rabbis, we have been proud to have John Fetterman representing us as a strong voice for humanitarian values in the Senate. We come from a faith that teaches that each and every person is created in the image of the Divine. We understand Fetterman to be someone who shares...
Jason Kavulich: Aging in Pa. will only get better
Pennsylvania is home to more than 13 million people, according to the 2020 Census, with more than 2.5 million of those residents being aged 65 and older. The growth rate of the commonwealth’s older adult population is more than 20 times higher than the growth rate of its entire population....
Cal Thomas: Solution to debt — cut spending
Congress just passed — and President Biden just signed — the latest short-term government funding bill to keep the government running. The bill, which essentially kicks the can down the road, ensures that taxpayers will continue to pay for a bloated government until January, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray,...
Kim Anderson: Well plugging must continue for health of Pa.
Seeing the sign for Hillman State Park in Hanover Township, Washington County, I turned off the main road onto a dirt one and followed it deep into the woods for about four miles. On this beautiful fall day, I noticed the colors of the trees and the brisk air. I...
Mayor Ed Gainey: Grateful for the people who make Pittsburgh the greatest
This year as we gather around tables with our families, friends and neighbors, I ask that we all take a moment to reflect on the year and lift up and celebrate those in our lives that we are truly thankful for. When I came into office, I knew that I...
Elizabeth Stelle: Don’t believe the hype — hydrogen hubs won’t create jobs or ‘green’ energy
Leading Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Gov. Josh Shapiro, are gleefully celebrating hydrogen hubs as a political two-for-one deal: good-paying union jobs coupled with clean, renewable energy. However, hydrogen hubs will create neither jobs nor clean-burning energy. Instead, these overhyped projects provide publicity to Biden and Shapiro, who are...
Michael Evans: What if we’re not feeling thankful?
Thanksgiving is upon us, and with it comes many mixed emotions. Houses will be filled with or vacant of loved ones, family and friends. There may be food, traditions and laughter. Or it could be this year is going to look different than years past due to the complexities of...
Jim Nelson: A house (of cards) divided cannot stand
When I announced my candidacy for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 17th district, I did so with purpose, conviction and authentic intentions for service to my country. I’ve been a public servant most of my life, first in the U.S. Air Force, then as a law enforcement officer for 30 years, and...
Kenneth P. DeFurio: Independence will overcome financial challenges
The recently reported financial challenges facing Independence Health System are a result of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic. This is true for Independence Health and every health care provider in the U.S. Despite it not being long ago, it can be hard to recall the realities of the pandemic,...
Jackie Calmes: The GOP shutdown drama in Washington costs us plenty, even when Congress averts a stoppage
Tired of Congress’ repeated partisan standoffs every time a big fiscal deadline approaches, like last week’s? Weary of the breathless cable coverage of looming government shutdowns or debt defaults, knowing the partisans (almost) always come to some 11th-hour compromise, as they did last week? Or have you tuned out by...
Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis and Anita Prizio: Opening the door to people-based economic development in Western Pennsylvania
They say that, when one door closes, another opens. Western Pennsylvania lost its bid for a regional hydrogen hub this October as the Decarbonization Network of America (DNA) hydrogen hub project failed to win federal funding from the Department of Energy. It’s a hit to business leaders and the oil...
Erwin Chemerinsky: Supreme Court finally has a code of ethics, but it has a fatal flaw
Although it is welcome and overdue that the Supreme Court finally adopted an ethics code for its justices on Monday, the approach is seriously flawed in that it includes no enforcement mechanism. Instead it continues to leave it to each justice to decide whether to be recused in a particular...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: 60 years ago, in Dallas
It was one of those mild November days, typical of Washington autumns, the temperature pushing 70. Because I worked nights, I was trying to nap between picking up the 3-year-old at play school and her older siblings at 3. But excited voices interrupting the music on my favorite oldies station...
Guy Ciarrocchi: The parties have irreconcilably different visions for America
“It’s so nice to have Representative Jones, who’s a Republican, and Representative Smith, a Democrat, with us today. Even though they belong to different parties, we know that we all want the same thing for our community, and our nation.” As the former CEO of the Chester County Chamber, I...
Jodi Hirsh: Demanding an Israel-Hamas cease-fire
I am the Jewish grandchild of Holocaust survivors. My grandfather was in a camp. Although I was very close to them, I never learned exactly how my grandparents escaped Austria and then Vichy France, because the experience was so traumatizing that neither one would discuss it for the rest of...
Cal Thomas: Attitudes of gratitude and ingratitude
We have again entered the season of gratitude. You remember gratitude, don’t you? It was what we expressed before we became entitled. Last Saturday was the observance of Veterans Day, during which many thanked those who served in the military and have protected our freedoms. Next week is Thanksgiving, when...
Ari Mittleman: Pa. must work harder to combat antisemitism
Last week a 69-year-old Jewish man was killed on the streets of Los Angeles. Paul Kessler suffered blunt force head trauma when an anti-Israel protestor deliberately struck him with a megaphone. This homicide was preventable. It did not happen in a vacuum. The primary contributing factor was the increasingly normalized...
Erika Strassburger: Region at center of clean energy economy
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently visited Greensburg and hosted a town hall in Pittsburgh to talk about how Western Pennsylvania can benefit from a clean energy economy. It makes sense that Pittsburgh, long a hub for industry and innovation, would be a focus of clean energy investment. We’ve been...
Elwood Watson: Israel and free speech at our nation’s universities
Debates over free speech have deeply immersed themselves into the fabric of our culture over the past few years. Wild and sharp finger-pointing has gone in both directions. Last week, a Cornell University junior accused of posting violently threatening statements against Jewish people on campus was held without bail after...
