Opinion category, Page 31
Jason “J.J.” Park: Three cheers for the (unappreciated) American worker
When doing entry-level, frontline jobs, I often felt (1) overworked and (2) underpaid. But if those few special customers appreciated me, life was still good. I connected to these empathic individuals who understood that doing a good job, all day long, day in and day out, was tough. But there...
Elisabeth Rosenthal: Health insurance price hikes should cause Americans alarm
Wary of inflation, Americans have been watching the prices of everyday items such as eggs and gasoline. A less-noticed expense should cause greater alarm: rising premiums for health insurance. They have been trending upward for years and are now rising faster than ever. Consider that, from 2000 to 2020, egg...
Letter to the editor: We need a moratorium on new coal mines
A moratorium on new mines is the only way the Rustic Ridge II Deep Mine will not happen, as I gather from attending the Department of Environmental Protection’s informal conference Aug. 20 at St. Raymond Catholic Church in Donegal. Even though everyone who spoke was against it being built, the...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s tough-guy act fails
How many chances does President Trump get before Republicans realize their mistake? What a slap in the face with the Putin meeting. Macho Trump cowered to Putin immediately as they met on the red carpet. During numerous handshaking, Trump appeared intimidated. It was apparent things would get worse. It seemed...
Editorial: New drugs, same crisis
The history of drug use in America is not necessarily a story of opium dens and crack houses. It’s a story of substances that weren’t illegal until they were abused. Patent medicines might be everything from a cold medicine on the shelf of a general store to the snake oil...
Letter to the editor: God and prayer are still in our schools
Fall creates a flurry of activity and a return to a routine as teachers and students head back to school. There are those who will say, as they always do, that education went downhill when they took God and prayer out of the schools. Who said that God and prayer...
Paul O’Neill Jr. and Geoff Webster: Supporting Nippon, US Steel in a better, safer way
The Pittsburgh Futures Collaborative leaders have decades of experience in industry, health care, nonprofits and government creating learning systems to make “habitual excellence” results possible. As CEO of Alcoa, Paul O’Neill Sr. proved that the world’s best aluminum could be manufactured efficiently, at a lower cost, while treating employees well,...
Matt K. Lewis: Newsom’s knives-out memes show plausible strategy against Trump
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on TikTok, viral Gavin Newsom memes are taking over social media. There’s Newsom Photoshopped into a classic black-and-white Calvin Klein ad (faux ripped abs and all). Newsom on the cover of a pretend romance novel (Fabio “bodice ripper” vibes abound)....
Harper Brod: We were raised in the storm — why young people still don’t trust politics, but I do
We were raised in the middle of a political hurricane. Our childhoods came with breaking news alerts: lockdowns, impeachments, mass shootings, a pandemic and presidents tweeting threats in real time. We never saw the so-called “good old days.” We learned early that politics wasn’t some distant, dignified machine — it...
Letter to the editor: Down is up, up is down with Trump
There is an old man in the White House living in his fantasy world where down is up and up is down. He says crime is up nationally while it is down. In Washington, D.C., and Baltimore in particular, violent crime rates have dropped sharply. He claims that inflation is...
Letter to the editor: Applications for SUN Bucks food assistance due Aug. 31
No Kid Hungry urges Pennsylvania families to apply for SUN Bucks benefits before the Aug. 31 deadline. These summer grocery benefits are critical at a time when new polling finds the majority of adults are dealing with stress in the face of increasing food costs. The poll from AP-NORC reveals...
Editorial: IUP should clearly spell out hazing penalties
When you have a child or a pet that does something wrong, it’s important to address the situation immediately. Did your son hit his sister? You don’t want to let the fight go on and on and maybe talk about it Saturday. That sends the message the action wasn’t important....
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ desperation
Obviously, the Democrats have learned nothing from their national humiliation last fall. Instead, they are doubling down on their failed, anti-America policies that the citizens have soundly rejected. Democrats refuse to understand America does not want open borders, biological males in female sports and girls’ bathrooms, out-of- control crime in our...
Audrey L. Tanksley: Katrina was bigger than a hurricane
When Hurricane Katrina touched down near New Orleans 20 years ago on Aug. 29, 2005, I was just beginning my journey as a first-year medical student. I remember watching the footage of families stranded on rooftops, hospitals submerged and the bodies of people and pets floating in the floodwaters. I...
Mary Ellen Klas: NIMBYs are coming for the data centers AI needs
The emerging political battle over data centers has a feature unfamiliar to present-day policymaking: The opponents are not divided along partisan lines. Instead, the conflict is between local communities and Big Tech developers, with elected officials caught in the middle. Politicians — from both parties — who have greenlit these...
Letter to the editor: Jan. 6 rioters pardoned, but hoagie-thrower charged?
In January, having taken office, President Trump immediately pardoned 1,500 Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Among these domestic terrorists were 170 who were convicted of assault of a police officer with a deadly weapon. On Aug. 12 in Washington, D.C., a man was charged with felony assault on a U.S. Customs and...
Letter to the editor: American Dream is possible
I have stood in parks where children laughed under streetlights, safe and free. I’ve walked downtown plazas alive with music, boarded spotless subways arriving to the second, saw maglev trains over 600 mph and visited schools with the latest technology. I saw a people happy and proud of their country....
Letter to the editor: Under this plan, worst teams could win World Series
There’s nothing good about seeing the Jolly Roger raised on a sinking ship. I have a way for the Pirates to make the playoffs and maybe win the World Series. Don’t laugh just yet … hear me out. Many baseball tournaments have a loser’s bracket with a chance to win...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 25
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 25....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 25
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 25....
Letter to the editor: Questions on mass transit funding crisis
I have three questions regarding mass transit funding (“Pa. Senate leaders look to skill games tax as transit funding debate continues,” Aug. 17, TribLive). First, how did state government get into transit in the first place? Second, school districts go to private bus companies to transport kids; why not put...
Letter to the editor: Fighting for those living with Alzheimer’s
When I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s seven years ago, I never would have imagined that I would now be working with the elderly as an emergency medical technician and using my new degree in biology and neuroscience to start my career in research. I also never would have imagined...
Editorial: Power, money and the cost of scrapping our election system
It is no secret that President Donald Trump does not like mail-in voting. “Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans,” he said of it on Twitter in 2020. Despite pushback from officials across the country who have maintained the practice is safe...
Letter to the editor: Energy solutions will never happen
The need for a meaningful and sensible energy plan for our nation is nearly impossible with attitudes expressed in the op-eds “Point: Coal needs to be part of America’s energy future” and “Counterpoint: America needs affordable energy — coal doesn’t fit the bill” (Aug. 9, TribLive). Little change has taken...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Taking a bite out of justice
When Sean Charles Dunn cursed and threw his foot-long Subway salami sandwich at a federal agent in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 10 — protesting President Trump’s deployment of federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets there — it normally would not have been a big deal. But the MAGA...
