Opinion category, Page 325
S.E. Cupp: Can Paul Ryan save what’s left of conservatism?
“Toxic sludge, racism, disinformation and attacks on democracy.” This is how Charlie Sykes, a conservative commentator and editor of The Bulwark, recently described the Fox News diet to his longtime friend — and Fox News board member — former House Speaker Paul Ryan. It was a stunning interview between two...
James Steiner-Dillon: Why can’t Americans agree on, well, nearly anything? Philosophy has some answers.
Does wearing a mask stop the spread of covid-19? Is climate change driven primarily by human-made emissions? With these kinds of issues dividing the public, it sometimes feels as if Americans are losing our ability to agree about basic facts of the world. There have been widespread disagreements about matters...
Art Jipson and Paul J. Becker: 30 years later, Waco siege still resonates — especially among anti-government extremists
It’s been 30 years since the beginning of the Waco siege, the confrontation at a Texas compound that killed around 80 members of the Branch Davidian religious community and four federal agents. Part of the siege’s legacy in popular culture is tied to sensational coverage that has presented the Branch...
Letter to the editor: Death penalty warranted for killers
Regarding the article “Shapiro calls for ban of death penalty in Pennsylvania” (Feb. 16, TribLIVE): Gov. Josh Shapiro must never have lost someone to gun violence. Every life has meaning; when you take a life, your life should not be spared. Why should taxpayers pay for someone who will never...
Sounding off: Shootings, Bushy Run, Fetterman, Ziccarelli among week’s topics
Why can’t we stop the mass shootings? I always read the editorials and letters on the opinion page. The column by Jason Park, “A 3-part strategy to reduce mass shootings” (Feb. 14, TribLIVE), was wonderful. It is indeed a clear and knowledgeable read on the subject and was quite apropos...
Letter to the editor: Burning regulations should be updated
The recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has illuminated the health risks associated with burning polyvinyl chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is a component of plastics manufacturing and an extremely common part of our household waste. According to data from stopburning.org, Pennsylvania is one of 26 states that do not have...
Editorial: Transparency isn’t just valuable for bad government actions
A push for transparency is often associated with something people don’t like or don’t want. Something they would protest. Something that feels like a trick. It shouldn’t be. Transparency is just as important when it is something everyone agrees is the proper course of action. In fact, it might be...
Letter to the editor: Reimagining our food system
Our food system is broken. Giant corporations continue to rake in astronomical profits from industrial livestock, poultry and feed production at the expense of our communities, animals, farmers, workers and the environment. Fortunately, there is a growing movement to steer our food system away from the production of grains to...
Gary Franks: We need better handling of Black issues
This is the third time in U.S. history that the “Black issue” is being handled poorly with a serious need for correction. All three instances were caused by greed, ignorance or “because they could.” No one was watching; little oversight. The Civil War is the first and most obvious instance....
Nicholas Dagen Bloom: Why the humble city bus is the key to improving U.S. public transit
Public transit in the U.S. is in a sorry state — aging, underfunded and losing riders, especially since the covid-19 pandemic. Many proposed solutions focus on new technologies, like self-driving cars and flying taxis. But as a researcher in urban policy and planning, I see more near-term promise in a...
Elizabeth Stelle: Tackling poverty in Pa. starts with understanding barriers to prosperity
It’s hard to save money. “I have a daughter that goes to after-school care that I have to pay for,” one Pennsylvania mother said. “I have the gas to get to work. I have to pay fees for the turnpike to get to work. There’s just a lot of cost...
Letter to the editor: Heinz Chapel spire among Overly’s work
Regarding the article “$11.5M preservation of Heinz Memorial Chapel’s spire planned” (Feb. 23, TribLIVE): I think your readers will be interested to learn that the Heinz Chapel spire was built, and possibly designed, by Greensburg’s Overly Manufacturing Co. My recollection is that it was the first of many architectural metal...
Letter to the editor: Where’s our government’s common sense?
I found it interesting that all letters in the Trib on Jan. 31 dealt with the lack of logic and common sense in our government. One letter showed how Westmoreland County plans to spend $3.6 million to build a 12-bed homeless shelter. As the author notes, that’s $300,000 per bed....
Laurels & lances: Birthday, blast off, settlement
Laurel: To a major milestone. In 2023, Westmoreland County marks its 250th year. Commissioners kicked off the yearlong celebration Monday with the sweetest start to a birthday — cupcakes. It is just the beginning of a long list of activities expected in coming months. Among those is a public meeting...
Letter to the editor: Vote out climate change deniers
Over the past 50 years, oil and gas companies have spent a small fortune spreading misinformation to the public about climate change. Not surprisingly, the Republican Party seems to be the only political organization to swallow their lies. In fact, they might be the only governing body in the world...
Paul Kengor: Tightening the noose around Putin
It has been an unhappy birthday celebration for Vladimir Putin’s one-year anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine. Rather than handing the Russian authoritarian a birthday cake at the United Nations last week, the international community slapped him with a condemnation calling for Moscow’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine. The General Assembly...
Lori Falce: National divorce? Marjorie Taylor Greene has it all wrong
One of my favorite movies as a kid was “The Parent Trap.” Not the Lindsay Lohan one — although that was good, too. No, I was a fan of the old-school Hayley Mills version that came out when my mom was a kid. I found it doubly entertaining because my...
Colin McNickle: Evergreen issues in the coming Allegheny County executive race
The race is on for Allegheny County chief executive (ACE). And a number of evergreen public policy issues — some would argue nagging — should dominate the coming debate, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “(W)hile aspects of those issues may have changed, over all there...
Letter to the editor: What would Jesus do?
Jesus was a refugee. Jesus welcomed the stranger. Jesus cared for the poor. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus fed the hungry. Jesus stood for the oppressed. Jesus forgave his debtors. Jesus blessed the meek. Jesus opposed the proud. Jesus loved his enemies. Jesus was anti-racist. Jesus didn’t carry a weapon....
Letter to the editor: Our country is crumbling from within
Thank goodness we have F-22 fighter jets using $400,000 Sidewinder missiles to shoot down a cheap, innocuous hobby balloon. Our circus sideshows have now taken to the skies. But no matter what the distraction, the inevitable collapse of the big-top tent can’t be stopped. No need to worry about China...
Letter to the editor: Commission should help, not hinder, Bushy Run
I am a past president of the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society and have been a volunteer at Bushy Run for many years. During my term as president, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission tried to close Bushy Run. Thanks to the society members, friends and Sen. Kim Ward, we...
Editorial: Teacher financial aid would fill state education needs
Pennsylvania needs teachers. The U.S. Census Bureau puts the number of children in the state at 20% of its population of 13 million. That’s more than 2.6 million. It has 500 public school districts with more than 3,200 individual schools. That doesn’t include charters, parochial schools, private schools, preschools or...
Jonah Goldberg: How the U.S. can turn China from a foe into a friendly competitor
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party held its first hearing this week. In interviews and joint statements Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., have made it clear they are determined to make this committee a...
Peter Morici: AI programs like ChatGPT are going to serve us — and that’s the scary part
OpenAI’s ChatGPT3 is impressive and frightening. The artificial intelligence program can write authoritative-sounding scholarly papers, computer code and poetry, and solve math problems — though with some errors. It passed a tough undergraduate microbiology exam. and graduate law and business school exams from the Universities of Minnesota and Pennsylvania. It’s...
Letter to the editor: What Republicans voted against
One hundred percent of Republicans in Congress voted against prosecuting rich tax cheats, cheaper insulin and cheaper prescription drug prices. They voted against cheaper gas, voting rights bills, ending gerrymandering, fighting climate change, the stimulus checks, Roe v. Wade and the child tax credits. How will you vote the next...
