Opinion category, Page 346
Letter to the editor: Let’s follow third-grader’s example and be kind
Regarding third grader Ava Kostewicz’s letter “Kindness keeps us connected” (Sept. 4, TribLIVE): When I read your letter (which I clipped and kept), it brought tears to my eyes. It wasn’t because it made me sad, but that this was coming from a young lady who could see the needs...
Letter to the editor: Remembering the generous heart of Franco Harris
It is with a heavy heart that I write this memory of Franco Harris. It is a unique glimpse into his heart. A few years ago, in my position as executive director of a drug treatment center during the height of the opioid epidemic, Franco agreed to be the keynote...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: O Holy Night
It turned out to be my last chance to shine at Christmas Eve Midnight Mass with the boys’ choir of St. Robert Bellarmine Church in East McKeesport. By the next year, my voice would be changed, one more sign that I was moving along in life, aging out of things....
Paul Kengor: ‘Home Alone’ — a truly Christmas movie and message
If you’re looking for a family Christmas movie this year, I’d like to suggest an obvious favorite, but for reasons perhaps less obvious. The movie is “Home Alone,” and the unexpected reasons? Well, read on. And as I share these explicitly Christian elements, please understand that it is, well, a...
Gary Franks: A Trojan horse at our border?
Could America be engaged in a Trojan horse war? If so, we are losing badly. I am referring to the crisis at the Mexican border. Do Democrats really want to fix it? Many have said that politics is not rocket science. They would be right. After all, numerous occupations are...
S.E. Cupp: Mike Pence is a man without a prayer of winning
“We’re giving it consideration in our house — prayerful consideration.” That was former Vice President Mike Pence, telling ABC News last month that he’s contemplating a run against his former boss and the only entry in the 2024 presidential election thus far, Donald Trump, a man he served dutifully for...
Brian Backe: Use your head, not just your heart, when making charitable donations
It is that time of year when a little voice in our head reminds us that it is time to start thinking about giving to charitable nonprofits doing good work in our community and world. Sometimes there is another voice in the background asking, “How do I know they are...
Letter to the editor: Mr. President, take action on gun violence
President Jimmy Carter tried to get the hostages out of Iran from 1979 to 1981. If you’re sincere, President Biden, about stopping gun violence in America, I’m advising you that every public building — stores, schools — and even homes should have metal detectors at all entrances to detect guns....
Letter to the editor: Christmas wish list
A Christmas wish list: 1. Tribune Review — continued success and viability, where our opinions matter. 2. Republicans — a backbone. You have more fight against each other than the opposition. 3. Democrats — a brain. Enough said . 4. D.C. political leaders — they should burn in effigy from...
Letter to the editor: Scrooge-like ghosts ought to visit Musk
Elon Musk is crying out for an intervention. Do ghosts in the Twitter machine exist who can perform Scrooge-style visitations on the misbegotten magnate and help him reclaim his wayward soul? It’s hard to picture such a natural born, amoral, noxious blowhard awakening as a reborn and glorious Christmas butterfly,...
Laurels & lances: Naughty & nice
Laurel: To a worthy legacy. When Lower Burrell’s Brian Shaw, a New Kensington police officer, was killed in the line of duty in 2017, it didn’t bring an end to his service to the community. Five years later, a scholarship in Shaw’s name is making a difference in the lives...
Letter to the editor: Thanks to police for help resolving NJ nightmare
My most sincere thank-you to Officer Zakary Fedunok of the West Deer Township Police Department for resolving a four-month nightmare of mine. In August, I was billed for running a toll gate on the New Jersey Turnpike, on which I had never traveled. After numerous efforts to prove my innocence,...
Carl Kurlander: Franco Harris, a true hero
There already was going to be much written about Franco Harris, the legendary Pittsburgh Steeler who 50 years ago caught a deflected pass off his teammate at the last minute of a game against the Oakland Raiders in a play that would be known forever as the “Immaculate Reception.” Now,...
Lori Falce: The beautiful perfection of an imperfect Christmas
I don’t love Christmas the way I did when I was kid. As a child, everything about the season was a holly, jolly marathon of music and lights. It stretched out for weeks and weeks in a candy-striped scavenger hunt of glee. It started the Saturday after Thanksgiving when we...
Sheldon Jacobson: Tech meltdown will help the economy — eventually
Technology companies are shedding jobs at disturbing rates. Those with experience in computing are being laid off, sometimes with little warning. Freshly minted computer science graduates are facing employment headwinds not seen for well over a decade. Is this the next dot-com bubble burst, which could send the economy spiraling...
Letter to the editor: Brittney Griner’s release will aid Democrats
Brittney Griner is a very lucky person. Other Russian prisoners are not so lucky. President Biden has messed up this country. He and the Democrats need an edge in future elections. Bringing Griner home may do that. In return, we gave them a notorious illegal arms dealer. How many thousands...
Letter to the editor: Trump trading cards? Again, you can’t make this stuff up.
Many of us who were familiar with Donald Trump and his lifelong pattern of taking advantage of others and acting outrageously were confident that he would not grow into the presidency and that he would consistently embarrass us. We did not know exactly what he would do to bring himself...
Editorial: Franco Harris and how to play the game
Sports heroes don’t have much say in where they end up playing. It comes down to things like what team is highest in the draft and what positions that coach has to fill. By the same token, the cities that play host to those teams don’t have a say in...
Letter to the editor: Our teachers are worth more
I discovered a long time ago that teachers don’t choose their profession for the monetary rewards. They start with grand ambition and much hope to shape our youth to their fullest potential and prepare them for the demands of a productive life in a modern world. They deserve our admiration...
Paul Muschick: Drug addicts, drivers will benefit from new Pennsylvania laws
The Christmas season is a time to be cheery and celebrate the good things in life. So I will take a break from my running criticism of our overpaid state legislators to note some of the positive work they’ve done recently that should make Pennsylvania a safer place to live....
Letter to the editor: Richard Simmons star of mall memory
After reading the article “Malls’ best days may be long gone, but memories remain strong, particularly at Christmastime” (Dec. 11, TribLIVE), I am reminded of a visit that my husband and I made to Century III in October 1994. We did indeed meet Richard Simmons when he invited us up...
Letter to the editor: Doom and gloom
The good of the world may be balanced out with bad. Wouldn’t it be funny if all the religions of the world had the same God? TV preachers and politicians prey on the weak for donations. Some TV preachers have a net worth of over $7 million. Talk about profiting...
Editorial: Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew’s unforced error
In 2019, when running for office, Doug Chew made a loud and proud campaign promise. Send him to the courthouse as a Westmoreland County commissioner, and he would take 60% of his paycheck and donate it to the drug court. The people listened. They gave him the job. Like other...
Letter to the editor: Energy independence and border security
From her point No. 1, it’s apparent that letter-writer Mary Beth Walling (“So what are Republicans’ plans to help?” Dec. 14, TribLIVE) has been reading and watching her news on the mainstream media (except for FOX), or she would understand that under President Trump, we had already achieved energy independence. In...
David Lenga: As a Holocaust survivor, the most important thing I can do is share my story
From Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., antisemitism is once again on the rise, being echoed by celebrities with wide audiences such as Kanye West and Kyrie Irving. To Jewish people who remember the Holocaust — or those, like myself, who survived it — this shameless bigotry is nothing new. Although...
