Opinion category, Page 429
Paul Kengor: Why didn’t Putin do this under Trump?
Trump supporters are pounding their chests over what they believe is a rhetorical question: Why didn’t Vladimir Putin do what he’s doing in Ukraine when Donald Trump was president? It’s a fair question that fair-minded liberals ought to ask. In fact, one of them, Bill Maher, raised it: “If Putin...
Laurels & lances: Cooperating, contaminating, and carrying on
Laurel: To joining forces. Pennsylvania is peppered with lots of municipalities, overlapping with counties and school districts and authorities that all have their own little fiefdoms. The Keystone State is third in the nation when it comes to various local government divisions, with the U.S. Census Bureau putting only Illinois...
Paula Knudsen Burke: Sun is shining on Pa. government
Happy Sunshine Week! Wait. What? Last month Punxsutawney Phil emerged and declared six more weeks of winter, so we’re not talking about the weather. Sunshine Week is a annual celebration — this year March 13-19 — aimed at promoting open government. The annual observance was launched in 2005 by the...
Mark Hendrickson: Economic ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
As the world recoils in dismay and disgust at Russian aggression and grieves for the horrific suffering of the Ukrainian people, many Americans are just beginning to grasp the economic ramifications of this violence. After the devastation of two world wars in the first half of the 20th century, most...
Letter to the editor: Who really knows who was counted in census?
The article “Census undercount may lead to funding shortfalls, Western Pa. leaders warn” (March 12, TribLIVE) doesn’t explain how anyone knows — or can know — what wasn’t counted. If you can’t count it, how can you assign it a number? No evidence was offered to back up this claim....
Letter to the editor: Mean tweets are nothing compared to Biden’s actions
On Jan. 20, 2021, President Biden swore the presidential oath of office that he would “to the best of his ability” preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. To me, protecting and defending means the citizens of the United States while acting in their best interests. In...
Editorial: Prison van prompts petty parking tickets
A little intergovernmental interaction is good for everyone. It can, however, lead to some power struggles where those footprints overlap — especially in capitols. Washington, D.C., can bristle at its subordinate status enough to put its “taxation without representation” beef on license plates. In state and county seats, it can...
Letter to the editor: Recalling St. Patrick’s Day flood
It has been 86 years since the Great St. Patrick’s Day Flood hit Pittsburgh on March 17-18, 1936. Heavy rains and melting snows along the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers left more than half of Downtown businesses underwater. My father’s family company, Wagner Brothers Shoes, with seven stores and a warehouse...
John Stossel: Ron Paul, a principled politician
I dislike politicians. I don’t trust people who are so desperately eager to run others’ lives. But former Rep. Ron Paul is different. He wants government to leave us alone. He promoted the benefits of limited government and free markets long before I’d even thought about them. Paul ran for...
Jonah Goldberg: Let’s not confuse the Cold War of the 1950s with what’s happening today
It’s hard to pick up a foreign policy journal or even turn on the TV without encountering someone predicting, recommending or lamenting a “new Cold War” with Russia, China or both. This is entirely understandable and even justifiable, if you mean a new period of strategic competition, pressure and geopolitical...
Patricia DeMarco: Energy independence means good union jobs in clean energy
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has renewed calls for energy independence and increased domestic production of oil and gas. However, the call for “energy independence” is nothing more than a distraction, a disinformation campaign propagated by the fossil-fuel industry with the intentions of profiting off this crisis. Despite what they...
Letter to the editor: A forgotten parking law that should be enforced
Thought you know everything about driving? How long has it been since you’ve looked at that old Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual? There is one parking law not a lot of people know, but you should know it, or you’re liable to get a ticket. Page 52, Chapter 3, “Learning to Drive,”...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s year of bad decisions
President Biden stopped construction on the Mexico border wall the day after he became president. Fentanyl deaths have increased, and nearly doubled in the past two years for people ages 18-45. Drugs, covid, criminals — everything is coming over our borders now. In the spring of 2021, Biden passed the...
Editorial: Glass plant pullout leaves locals drowning in water bills
A business of a certain size does more than just occupy a building and write some paychecks. Its needs and its returns can define a community. There is no better proof of that than what happens when the business leaves. Just ask Tarentum or East Deer. In 2018, the Pittsburgh...
Letter to the editor: Fossil fuels vs. health of our children
Op-ed writer Anais Peterson is right to raise the alarm on oil and gas companies looking to use the Ukraine-Russia war as a pretext to further tether us to the fossil fuels whose emissions are polluting our air as they harm the health of our children (“Fracked gas in Appalachia...
Letter to the editor: Aiding Putin’s propaganda
The op-ed “Fracked gas in Appalachia won’t help Ukraine, but will hurt our communities” (March 8, TribLIVE) by Anaïs Peterson of Earthworks, attacking Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry and their employees — our neighbors and community members — should come as no surprise. A bit about Earthworks: This extreme anti-energy organization...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Conservatives about to lose the 21st century
They have never once been right. Did you ever notice that? Do you ever think about it? Never once. Oh, in matters of, say, foreign affairs or military strategy, one might contend that conservatives have had their moments, made arguments that, arguably, made sense. But on matters of social evolution,...
Madeleine Para: Clean energy transition would break Russia’s geopolitical hold
For years, our planet has been showing us the need to move away from fossil fuels. Extreme weather, driven by excess greenhouse gas emissions, continues to get more frequent and more expensive to recover from. But today, it’s not just the climate pressuring us to get off fossil fuels. Our...
Letter to the editor: Traditional holiday names are not offensive
Thank you, Greensburg Salem School Board member for speaking the truth regarding traditional holiday names on school calendars (“Greensburg Salem’s use of traditional school holiday names draws dissent”): “Our society is turning everything into a gray area.” And just to correct former school board member Lynna Thomas, traditional names such...
Letter to the editor: Our energy dependence is a national emergency
Buying oil from our enemies has got to be the most insane idea ever. The United States produces the cheapest, cleanest oil and gas with the lowest amount of CO2 emissions in the entire world. Energy dependence has become a national security emergency. The craziness of the far left’s false...
Letter to the editor: New Kensington teachers should be rewarded
It is both disheartening and infuriating to read about another administrator receiving a generous severance package (“Dave Heavner returns to alma mater as Valley’s new football coach,” March 2, TribLIVE) but the New Kensington-Arnold school board can’t seem to resolve a contract for their most important resource, their teachers. Board...
Editorial: Westmoreland County should have played ball with Hempfield
Counties can own a lot of real estate. There is the courthouse. The jail. There may be various other buildings housing things such as public services or district courts. Maybe some parking lots or recreation areas. The Pennsylvania Constitution lets counties buy land or buildings as necessary, provided they don’t...
Letter to the editor: Nice pandemic plan, Biden
President Biden ran for office with the repeated promise that he had a plan to end the covid pandemic. Before the election, Biden 1) criticized President Trump’s January 2020 action restricting travel from China as “xenophobic,” 2) promised to shut down the virus but not the country, 3) promised not...
Letter to the editor: Media to blame for racial divide
I believe the media is to blame for a lot of the racial divide due to the way news is reported. Many times, they include skin color in their news when reporting people being elected or selected to positions, or just reporting information. We see pictures of people in the...
Tom Purcell: A world in need of Irish wit and wisdom
With the world full of angst and disruption — with so many people filled with anger and hate — I can’t think of a better time to embrace the Irish spirit. So let me share some of Ireland’s most enjoyable blessings, proverbs and quotes, as gathered by IrishCentral. This blessing...
