Opinion category, Page 108
Letter to the editor: Popular vote vs. Electoral College
So I started reading this book on the U.S. Constitution to get a better understanding of who we are as a country. The Founding Fathers put a lot of thought into what type of government we should have so as not to allow despotism (I had to look it up)...
Editorial: Irwin makes itself the Scrooge in a Christmas landlord story
In his famous story “A Christmas Carol,” Charles Dickens makes his main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, an unlikable character on many fronts. While it’s his miserly ways and dislike of Christmas that get most of the attention, let’s not forget that Scrooge is also an unscrupulous landlord. Whether renting or holding...
Letter to the editor: Plastic burning puts steel communities at risk
For steel-making communities, plastic-burning pollution is headed your way. The Department of Energy has proposed a $182 million taxpayer loan for a company that will build a plastic trash plant in Erie that would turn plastic waste into pellets to be used in blast furnaces for steel mills. The residents...
Jonah Goldberg: The US economy is doing very well. But don’t give too much credit to Biden — or Trump.
One of Donald Trump’s closing campaign arguments was that he would deliver a new “golden age” for America. This week, he announced that this Trump-powered golden age has already begun. That’s fitting insofar as Trump has rapidly eclipsed President Joe Biden in setting expectations and even an agenda for America...
Cheryl Towers and Nancy Weinstein: Time to add ERA to Constitution
History is watching and equality is on the line in the United States. Women and men all over the country are working hard to request that President Joe Biden contact the National Archives for publication of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution, but this movement has received little coverage...
Adriane N. Irwin: 28 miles to the nearest pharmacy? For many, that’s the only option
Pharmacies in the United States are closing at an alarming rate. The ACT Pharmacy Collaborative, a partnership between community pharmacy networks and academia, reported that 244 pharmacies closed in just the first six weeks of 2024. Rite-Aid has closed 500 stores, CVS will close another 300 stores by the end...
Letter to the editor: McCormick should do away with the ‘death tax’
I am writing about something that has bothered me for years. I hope Senator- elect Dave McCormick sees this. I hope he is a person who listens to the people, and I wish him the best of luck (he will need it). The one thing that really irks me is the...
Letter to the editor: ‘Poor loser’ hypocrisy
The profound hypocrisy evinced in the letter “Democrats are poor losers” (Dec. 4, TribLive) is more than I can bear without responding. Who was it that refused to admit he’d lost the 2020 election? Who was it that tried to steal the election? Who was it that insisted he’d won...
Editorial: Monroeville Mall should be on someone’s shopping list
There’s a sale at Monroeville Mall. Everything must go. That’s not unusual in December. Sales are everywhere. But this time, it isn’t just sweaters and toys and candles with a price tag. The big “SALE” sign is on the 187-acre location itself as CBL Properties, the Tennessee owner of the...
Letter to the editor: Fracking falsehoods
It’s time that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania distances itself from fracking. Over the last decade, it’s become clear that the costs far outweigh the benefits. Alongside enormous environmental harm and obvious risks to health, there’s another big problem that isn’t being discussed: fracking just isn’t doing what it’s supposed to...
Elias Wondimu: Not another revival of Band Aid’s ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’
On Nov. 25, Band Aid released the “ultimate remix” of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” the rock charity single from 40 years ago that, in addition to whatever good it has done, also broadcasts a narrative that undermines an entire continent’s dignity and agency. The recording has raised millions for...
Evan Ramstad: Anger and debate over health care will continue after Thompson’s killer is sent away
The arrest in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was the first step to putting his killer behind bars, though it won’t end the power struggle in health care illuminated by public reaction afterward. Another wave of criticism rose against Minnesota- based UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer, and the...
Letter to the editor: How to pay for services in Hempfield
The election is over, and the duly elected people in Hempfield have made it clear they want to grow the township. More parks and more people equal more traffic on roads, and more houses and buildings means the need for better public safety. So I do agree that at some...
Letter to the editor: Why don’t more schools test for radon?
Some of us will do anything to save a buck, even indirectly kill other people in the process. We let cancer kill about 500,000 Americans each year. Allow me to break this down to any hometown. A hometown is part of a school district, and the district is funded by...
Editorial: Pennsylvania should better regulate the products already available before legalizing more
Marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania. Kind of. Except not really. The twisting vines of what is and isn’t OK in the Keystone State have been growing like weeds since 2016. That was when the state legalized medical marijuana. It was broadly bipartisan. In a senate that has been solidly in...
Letter to the editor: Ladies, get your gun permits
It appears that law enforcement has become more dangerous. I have witnessed Sheriff James Albert write a letter to the editor in order to release a thinly veiled political rant and weaponize his public office (“Keeping Westmoreland County safe,” Dec. 10, TribLive). His office has seen an increase in women...
Stephen Mihm: Nixon set the stage for Trump’s plan to control the budget
As pundits imagine the coming Donald Trump presidency, much of the attention has focused on the most extreme measures he has promised to implement, from mass deportations to abolishing the Department of Education. Yet these may pale in significance next to his promise to use something less showy but ultimately...
Kerry Ann Knapp: I’m a longtime family caregiver. It makes me a better person.
Thirty-one years ago, my husband, Bruce, and I took on the role of a lifetime. I became the legal guardian, and Bruce the caregiver, for my nephew Dan Bivins, who was 7 at the time and born with Down syndrome. That still stands as one of the luckiest days of...
Letter to the editor: Luigi Mangione is not a hero
Why is so much praise being heaped on assassin Luigi Mangione? The man he killed, Brian Thompson, had two sons, ages 19 and 16. Please tell me what crimes these two young men have committed. Mangione has sentenced them to a life without their father. I lost my father when...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s reckless nominations
Since he won the presidential election this year, Donald Trump has demonstrated to me he will be every bit as unreasonable and reckless as many of us feared. When he nominated U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of State, there was hope, but then we saw the most unqualified...
Editorial: AI is ‘helping’ with your online holiday shopping, whether you like it or not
The holiday shopping season has started fast, especially online, and those automated chatbots are working overtime. Artificial intelligence is increasingly finding its way into decisions that once were purely human, like whether or not to buy a sweater. This year, more than ever, smart computer programs are stepping between customers...
Letter to the editor: No more tax cuts for the wealthy
In a March 2023 article, the Center for American Progress states, “Tax cuts are primarily responsible for the increasing debt … . House Republican leaders have used the size of the debt to call for spending cuts, but it does not address the true cause of the rising debt …...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 16
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 16....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 16
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 16....
Letter to the editor: Sources to locate mine risks readily available
With condolences to the family of Elizabeth Pollard, there are many ways to raise awareness of the history of Pennsylvania mining — and the subsidence risk across the state. Ground instabilities are common, and the peppering of fracking and oil and gas wells adds to the state of risk. Wide...
