Opinion category, Page 19
Letter to the editor: Protect our forests
Our forests are more valuable to us when they still exist. They act as our planet’s lungs, house activities, provide jobs and help to beautify our landscapes. I’m talking about the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, more commonly known as the “Roadless Rule,” which has been under attack from the current...
Letter to the editor: More funding needed for mental health
Today, Oct. 10, is World Mental Health Day. It was established by the World Federation for Mental Health in 1992 to raise global awareness and support for all things related to mental health. As a now-retired counselor in the field for many decades, I have seen how mental health funding...
Lori Falce: Holding our friends responsible is maybe more important than calling out enemies
It is not just easy to criticize those with whom we disagree. It can also be deeply enjoyable. It’s part of what makes social media so addictive. It feeds that spot in our brain where we all have the capacity to be, bluntly, awful. We turn it toward our opponents...
Laurels & lances: Fixing up & tearing down
Laurel: To restoration. Outside the VFW Post 92 in Lower Burrell stands a piece of history. It’s a Vietnam-era helicopter, the kind that carried service members, rescued the wounded and took enemy fire in battle. It stands there as a kind of memorial to those who served in those actions...
Letter to the editor: Let’s look at the Republicans
I’d like to respond to the self-indulged “expose” of the Democratic Party, the letter “Democrats have become party of evil” (Sept. 20, TribLive), by taking a closer look at Republicans. First, many of them claim they don’t like gay people but they drive around in pickup trucks flying flags with...
Paul Kengor: Tipping is getting ridiculous
Let me begin this column by stating for the record that I’m a big tipper. I say this certainly not to boast but so my overall theme isn’t misunderstood. Well beyond the standard 20%, if a waitress/waiter does an especially good job, or tugs at my heartstrings, I err on...
Letter to the editor: Irony of first lady’s anti-bullying campaign
It’s ironic that first lady Melania Trump, who campaigns against bullying, particularly cyber bullying, is married to a man who practices it constantly. He, along with Vice President JD Vance, seem to be amused by behavior that, by any rational measure, is egregious. Sandy Finley Greensburg...
Letter to the editor: It’s a challenge to find the facts
Many Democrats call President Trump a liar, a fascist, a dictator, while many Republicans say President Biden’s policies at the border, promoting woke culture, overspending and weaponizing the Department of Justice against Trump were ruining our country. Extreme wings of both parties are accused of accelerating political partisanship between them....
Letter to the editor: We need competence, not chaos, from our leaders
Competence in leadership is crucial. When Democrats and President Joe Biden were at the helm, America experienced tangible results. Under Biden’s leadership, our economy thrived, unemployment reached record lows and families benefited from significant corporate taxation. In my opinion, Biden prioritized American workers, safely secured our borders (actually more than...
Editorial: This shutdown is as pointless as all the others
With funding expired, new appropriations bills stalled and progress on a stopgap nonexistent, Congress has for the 15th time since 1981 allowed the federal government to shut its doors. Don’t expect this round to be any more edifying than the others. Republicans want to extend current spending levels until November,...
Letter to the editor: Protecting pets from domestic abusers
In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I’m writing to bring attention to Act 146, a Pennsylvania law passed in 2024 that helps survivors get help sooner by protecting their pets from abusers. Act 146 addresses the powerful role that animal abuse can play in domestic violence. In fact, 41%...
Jonah Goldberg: Mad about politics? Blame Congress.
The judiciary isn’t supposed to be the primary check on the executive, the legislative branch is. Whatever you think about American politics and government, whether you are on the right, the left or somewhere in the middle, you should be mad at Congress. I don’t just mean the Republican-controlled Congress...
Patricia Murphy: The biggest losers of the government shutdown, for now
This column started out as a list of winners and losers of the government shutdown. But it’s obvious that there are no winners in a situation like the one we’ve got today. It’s the first government shutdown in seven years, but also the first I can remember where both sides...
LZ Granderson: Anyone calling Bad Bunny un-American needs a geography lesson
Is there a better inkblot test for America right now than reaction to Bad Bunny being the halftime act for Super Bowl LX? Soon after his name was announced, social media exploded into meritocracy debates as if the National Football League’s decisions are culturally motivated and not commercially. Taylor Swift...
Letter to the editor: Support free speech? Support right to guns, too.
After listening to the media and the public, it makes me proud of the American people who backed Jimmy Kimmel with our First Amendment of the Constitution, for our right for freedom of speech, just like I am doing now, exercising my right to freedom of speech. One thing bothers...
Letter to the editor: Lentz best choice for Hempfield tax collector
Hempfield Township needs leaders who put residents first, and Andrew Lentz is the clear choice for tax collector. Lentz has already shown strong community support, winning the Democratic primary and earning the second-highest votes on the Republican ballot as a write-in. That kind of bipartisan backing proves people trust his...
Editorial: There is more than 1 way to show up at the polls
Politics is ugly. Elections can be the worst expression of that ugliness. In recent years, the voting process has become riddled with skepticism, distrust and hostility. But does it have to be? Is there a way to get back to a place where we not only do our duty in...
Letter to the editor: Natural gas is Pa.’s advantage
Decades of independent research and fact-based data about clean and abundant American natural gas tell a very different story than what was conveyed in the op-ed “Natural gas not sustainable for Pa.’s data centers” (Sept. 19, TribLive). An overwhelmingly clear majority of voters across Pennsylvania — Democrats, Republicans and independents...
Albert Eisenberg: Congressional Republicans can win big with health care solutions
We are living in a time of high and growing suspicion toward “the Establishment,” be it political, financial, cultural, media — and especially health. Much of this is well-founded. For years, Americans have been told to “trust the science” and not believe our own eyes. The disconnect between experts and...
Kim Scouller: The financial nightmare of domestic violence
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Many people think of bruises or broken bones, but there’s another weapon of abuse that leaves scars you can’t see on the outside: financial abuse. Experts estimate that more than 10 million adults experience domestic violence, and almost 100% also experience financial abuse. Sadly,...
Letter to the editor: Voting should be contingent on IQ
I’ve been seeing a lot of opinions on ballot curing and felt the need to add mine to the heap. I vote by mail. The instructions that accompany the ballot are simple. I feel that if a person isn’t bright enough to follow these extremely simple instructions, perhaps their vote...
Letter to the editor: Get involved in your community
Civics is a subject that used to be taught in school about how the government works. It needs to be revisited. I am writing this because of the things I have been hearing about the fireman’s tax possibilities in West Leechburg. If you don’t like what is happening you need...
Letter to the editor: We must learn to listen to each other
As a pacifist who has spent a lifetime preaching nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution, I feel compelled to write this letter. The writings of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have provided me guidance in living my life during this time of high conflict and violence in the...
Editorial: The end of national retail at Pittsburgh Mills
Another one bites the dust. In this case, it’s another national retailer bidding farewell to the Pittsburgh Mills mall. This time it’s Bath & Body Works, the fragrance and personal care shop that has been as critical to the operation of every mall as a pretzel stand since 1990. Have...
Letter to the editor: Hypocrisy in our democracy
Don’t we think there is too much hypocrisy in our democracy? In my opinion, as a former Pennsylvania health and safety inspector for licensed child care programs, our public-school administrations and school boards need more ethics and civics and less politics in our programming. We the taxpayers are already invested...
