Featured Commentary category, Page 56
Steven Kratz: Pa. manufacturing starts with chemistry, sustainability
Every October, manufacturers throughout the Pittsburgh region and beyond, including our Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council (PCIC) members, celebrate National Manufacturing Month and the positive contributions manufacturing has on our society. The economic impacts are significant. According to the American Chemistry Council, the chemical and plastics industries inject over $14 billion,...
Colin Kohlhaas: Today’s white working-class young men who turn to racist violence are part of a long, sad American history
In recent years, the United States has seen a surge of white supremacist mass shootings against racial minorities. While not always the case, mass shooters tend to be young white men. Some journalists and researchers have argued that class and ideals of white masculinity are partly to blame. This argument...
Peter Morici: Biden gets no credit for the improved U.S. economy — but that won’t cost him votes
The U.S. economy and voter polls have been delivering both good and bad news to Joe Biden, but Republicans have more to worry about than what voters think of the U.S. president. U.S. inflation has moderated and jobs growth is generally robust. Voters feel better about the economy, but don’t...
David J. Marmins: Kiski School deserves support
I graduated from the Kiski School in 1987, so I am a contemporary of David Conrad, who wrote an eloquent op-ed lamenting the decision of our alma mater to begin accepting girls next year (“What The Kiski School has lost,” Oct. 9, TribLIVE). David went so far as to speak...
Jonah Goldberg: Who’s to blame for Hamas attack on Israel — debate already off the rails
Within hours of the slaughter in Israel, the question of Israel’s “massive intelligence failure” — as many have called it — came to dominate a lot of the media coverage and conversation. On one level, this is entirely defensible. Israeli officials acknowledge the obvious fact that it was, with the...
Stephen Herzenberg: Pa. must invest in career-related learning for high school students
This week, the state’s Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) will meet in Pittsburgh to gather testimony from educators and education advocates on the state of public education in Pennsylvania. Considering the Commonwealth Court’s ruling this year declaring the state’s funding of public education to be unconstitutional, the BEFC is tasked...
Dov Waxman: Hamas assault echoes 1973 Arab-Israeli war — a shock attack and questions of political, intelligence culpability
The parallels were striking — and surely not coincidental. Exactly 50 years and a day after being taken completely off guard by a coordinated military attack by its neighbors — Egypt and Syria — Israel was again caught by surprise. Early on Oct. 7, Hamas militants invaded southern Israel by...
Elwood Watson: History in the House
Oct. 3, 2023, will go down in American history as the first time a speaker of the House was expelled from Congress by his own peers. Kevin McCarthy, a man consumed of blind personal ambition and self-interest, was shown the exit door by his congressional colleagues. Eight Republicans — Andy...
Aaron Pilkington: The Israel-Hamas war — no matter who loses, Iran wins
There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas. In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel...
David Conrad: What The Kiski School has lost
If you’ve heard the word Kiski, it’s usually followed by the word “Area,” or if you’re lucky enough to have spent some time in a kayak or a canoe, perhaps you know it as the lovely river that starts in Saltsburg where the Conemaugh and the Loyalhanna join to run...
Commentary: Food inflation is a hardship outside the Fed’s control
It’s nearly impossible to have a conversation about inflation without mentioning food prices. And no wonder, as they are up 24% since the start of the pandemic and account for one-sixth of the increase in consumer prices overall. After the recent monetary policy meeting, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said...
Bradford Fitch: What really are ‘special interests’ in Washington — and how they influence Congress
It’s no secret that Congress is not held in high esteem by the American people. Much of the blame for dysfunction in Washington, and our system of government, is directed at so-called “special interest groups.” About 70% of Americans polled in a national survey said that “Congress works for the...
Michael Reagan: House Republicans need to grow up
OK, my fellow Republicans, you got rid of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Eight of you joined with every Democrat in the House of Representatives — the only part of the federal government we control — to vote McCarthy out, 216-210. In the process you threw the House into chaos, killed any...
Kim Cross: How Polly Klaas’ kidnapping and murder 30 years ago changed crime and punishment in America
When 12-year-old Polly Klaas was kidnapped by a stranger from her Northern California home on Oct. 1, 1993, the efforts to find her drew worldwide attention. When Polly’s body was found 64 nights after her abduction, the outpouring of grief in her hometown and beyond was overwhelming. Why had Polly’s...
Harry Litman: Here’s the real reason Trump didn’t try to move the Georgia prosecution to federal court
What should we make of Donald Trump’s surprising recent decision not to try moving Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against him to federal court? Most observers, including me, had anticipated that Trump would attempt to get the case out of the Georgia court, and not simply because it’s...
André O. Hudson: Tenacious curiosity in the lab can lead to a Nobel Prize
The 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine will go to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discovery that modifying mRNA — a form of genetic material your body uses to produce proteins — could reduce unwanted inflammatory responses and allow it to be delivered into cells. While the...
Jason C. Mueller: Despite one of U.S. military’s greatest fiascoes, American troops still in Somalia fighting an endless war
Thirty years after the infamous Battle of Mogadishu, the U.S. military is still conducting operations in Somalia. Popularized in the U.S. by the 2001 film “Black Hawk Down,” the Battle of Mogadishu occurred on Oct. 3, 1993, and saw the downing of two U.S. helicopters and the deaths of 18...
Cal Thomas: Trump is not a great man
“It is a great advantage to a President, and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know that he is not a great man.” — Calvin Coolidge Donald Trump is not a great man. His rhetoric, which has included denunciations of those who have served in...
Peter Morici: Biden, Trump pushing dangerous trade tariffs that will hurt American jobs
International trade will be a key issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign. Sadly, both the Republican and Democratic parties are taking positions on trade that will leave Americans in a perilous situation. I doubt anyone would view GOP promises to cut or reform taxes as credible avenues to lowering...
Neeli Bendapudi: Accountability from Penn State
In early July, a vote to fund the public missions of Penn State and our fellow state-related universities ended in a stalemate, falling six votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the Pennsylvania House. Nearly three months later, this funding for our Pennsylvania students remains unresolved, despite the...
Cal Thomas: Honest talk on immigration
The phrase “Climate change denier” has wormed its way into the modern lexicon to shame those who have a different view of the science supporting, or not, the idea that the world is in danger of burning up in weeks, months, or years (they can’t seem to decide on the...
Editorial: National Newspaper Week celebrates readers and trusted community journalism
The Friday night high school football game. Notice of a city council meeting where higher property taxes will be discussed. News of an impending county commissioner election and plans for a Veterans Day parade, the opening of a downtown cafe and the retirement of a beloved police officer. These are...
Danielle Arigoni: We’re not ready for rising temperatures in a rapidly aging nation
We will remember the summer of 2023 as our hottest season on record — at least until next year. Communities in Texas and Florida endured weekslong stretches of record-setting high temperatures, and Phoenix beat its own previous record when it reached an average monthly temperature of 102.7 in July. For...
Greg Puschnigg: Benefits of Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law a year ago is helping companies like ours invest in communities, while also protecting the environment and saving consumers money. The Inflation Reduction Act is helping bring back made-in-America manufacturing, with construction spending for manufacturing reaching its highest level in 60 years. Over...
Elwood Watson: Academic freedom is under assault in America
Those of us who work in academia understand that academic freedom represents the cornerstone of successful colleges and universities. It epitomizes the right of freedom to teach, discuss, engage in research and freely publish your findings. It also means the ability to dictate one’s own teaching and scholarship agenda, the...
