Opinion category, Page 108
Lori Falce: Black Friday in the time of tariffs
The Meta Quest 3S virtual headset is prominently featured on the front of the Target Black Friday flyer. At Walmart, kids may be clamoring for the Hot Wheels hot deal. Kohl’s is cutting the price on Beats by Dr. Dre headphones in half and kicking in some Kohl’s Cash to...
Laurels & lances: Social media & bad sports
Laurel: To accessibility. Many people don’t have much contact with their local governments. If you are a renter, for instance, any contact with your municipality might be between your landlord and officials. You might not even know where the local government offices are. So what is the best way for...
Letter to the editor: Proposed county budget should confront jail staffing crisis
Many of the correctional officers at the Allegheny County Jail are working 80 hours in five days. Over 60% of first-year correctional officer recruits have terminated employment primarily because of being forced to work these unimaginable shifts. Correctional officers’ life expectancy is 61 years of age. Millions are being proposed...
Tad Weber: If Trump deports farm workers, who will be left to pick California’s crops?
Do you enjoy fruits and vegetables? Assuming the answer is yes, come next year who do you think will harvest the oranges, almonds, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes and the other 300-plus crops grown in California? Who will work in the state’s dairies, meat plants, and food processing factories, most located in...
Jonah Goldberg: What if most Americans aren’t bitterly divided?
Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there’s one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that’s wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the “’60s” didn’t really start until...
Christine Flowers: I discovered the meaning of Thanksgiving in a Paris apartment
Thanksgiving was never an important holiday for me. Gathering the family from near and far for a celebratory meal wasn’t unusual; our family was composed of Italians and a small sprinkling of Irish. Growing up, we always gathered around different tables at different houses, broke out the biscotti and anisette...
Bethany Mandel: How super glue saved my childhood Thanksgivings
For most kids, Grandma and Grandpa’s house is their favorite place to visit. Filled with toys and endless affection, treats and hugs. For ordinary people, Thanksgiving is a particularly special time to spend with family. That wasn’t my childhood. Don’t worry — this isn’t a sob story. My grandparents were...
Letter to the editor: Counting Thanksgiving blessings
Responding with advice to the article “Western Pa. experts offer tips on navigating lingering election-related tensions over holidays” (Nov. 24, TribLive): If you are not happy with the recent election results, you could isolate yourself and not associate with family and miss out on being around others; or rise above...
Editorial: Break bread, not hearts, this Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not the same from one house to the next. Some families spend all day with relatives coming and going, talking and laughing and eating from an endless buffet. Some gather around an elegantly laid out table for a formal dinner. Some hold hands as they say grace. Some...
Letter to the editor: Thankful for Pa.’s energy bounty
The first Thanksgiving in 1621 occurred after the pilgrims of Plymouth overcame food scarcity thanks to the bountiful harvest their Wampanoag neighbors helped produce. Fast- forward four centuries, and New Englanders face two modern scarcities: Patriot wins and affordable energy. The former is a gift for Steelers fans hoping Pittsburgh finally...
Allison Schrager: Trump’s economic policy can’t be just nostalgia
President-elect Donald Trump’s economic legacy may well depend on whether he prefers the comparative form of an adjective. Specifically, does he believe it is hard to make a living in the U.S. — or harder than it used to be? It is not an insignificant distinction. The central conceit of...
Jason W. Park: Trump has a clean slate; we’ll see where it goes
President-elect Donald Trump will wield what he calls an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” handed to him by voters to help him reach his goals. There is no doubt on the part of Democrats that he will ram his agenda down their throats while all three branches of government have swung...
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Why I voted third party and I’m not sorry
I’m a progressive Californian, a Black man, and I did not vote for Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris this year or Donald Trump. I voted for Claudia De La Cruz, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for president. The decision was easy. With two exceptions over the past four decades...
Letter to the editor: Riverview president shows poor leadership
I am embarrassed by Riverview School Board member and board President Jennifer Chaparro’s derogatory social media post (“Riverview School Board member faces backlash after political post, a trend in local politics,” Nov. 15, TribLive). Her conduct is unbecoming of a school board member. Her post eschews hatred and poor leadership....
Letter to the editor: Trump’s simple approach to serious problems
An open letter to President-elect Trump: Sir, your simplistic approach to serious problems is fraught with undesirable, unintended consequences. Here are this lifelong Democrat’s fears: 1. The border. Rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants is no small matter. Its huge cost will be assumed by average Joes while your rich...
Editorial: Offer of fire station dorm room benefits college students and community
You can learn a lot of things in college. You can study the law. You can explore history. You can become an artist, a scientist, an engineer or a teacher. Most college students also learn a lot about debt. The average cost of a year’s in-state public university tuition in...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s comeback gives us a chance
Nov. 5, 2024, was arguably the greatest presidential comeback in political history. A man who was relentlessly demonized by corporate media for eight years, attacked by a weaponized Department of Justice, charged with numerous questionable criminal indictments, schemed against by deep-state traitors, impeached twice — I believe without cause —...
Victor Peskin: ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas leader doesn’t mean those accused will face trial anytime soon
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Nov. 21, 2024, for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and one leading Hamas official. Those named in the action are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by the Palestinian...
Erran Carmel: Crypto is soaring after Trump’s election — but is it a good ethical investment?
An estimated 18 million Americans are invested in cryptocurrency, according to the Federal Reserve. And the United States just elected a pro-crypto president. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have become a trendy digital asset. Supporters claim crypto subverts capitalism because it bypasses traditional bankers. Crypto can offer quick riches along with...
F.D. Flam: Trying to quantify everything is hurting our decisions
The usual rule of thumb is that stories sell; data doesn’t. But new research suggests that’s not necessarily true. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that numbers are dull and uninspiring, numbers dominate our decisions — on what to buy, whom to hire and where to donate money. A paper published...
Letter to the editor: Allegheny County taxpayers already pay enough
By now many have probably heard that the Allegheny County executive is proposing to raise county property taxes by 46.5%. Not only is this an obscene and unaffordable increase, but Allegheny County taxes, at the current rate, are already among the highest in the country. According to tax-rates.org, Allegheny County...
Letter to the editor: How will deportations help us?
I’m wondering exactly how deporting millions of undocumented people living in America is going to personally benefit me. I never believed the lie told by Donald Trump and others of that ilk that Haitians are stealing and eating family pets. Nor do I understand how sending them back to their...
Editorial: Crypto’s coming back. Here’s how to avert disaster
The crypto party seems to be getting restarted. Bitcoin is surging, and big players are celebrating amid expectations that President-elect Donald Trump will make the U.S., as he put it, “the crypto capital of the world.” Lest this experiment go awry, regulators need to keep some guardrails in place. In...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s win will make us safe, secure
It was a historic day, the Nov. 5 election. The Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for how much the country had declined economically, morally, scholastically, heath-wise, militarily and in law and order over the past four years, while the legacy mainstream media, who were the biggest offenders, got off...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Nov. 25
Editorial cartoons for the week of Nov. 25....
