Opinion category, Page 516
Letter to the editor: Cashless PNC Park is bad policy
In the middle of May, I took my daughter to watch the Pirates at PNC Park. She loves going to the ballpark and watching the Pirates. Unbeknownst to me, the ballpark had initiated a policy of not accepting cash, but only debit or credit cards. I had brought $120 cash...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Something is wrong with our tax system
A few words about the makers and the takers. That, as you may recall, was the formulation once favored by Fox “News” and other organs of the political right to describe the dynamic between those at the top of the economic pyramid and those at the bottom. The poor —...
Pat Buchanan: All is hype for Biden-Putin summit
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. Karl Marx’s comment came to mind as President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to equate their tete-a-tete at the G7 confab in Cornwall, England, to the Atlantic Charter conference of 80 years ago. Those were historic days, to...
Rich Askey: Say no to largest transfer of taxpayer dollars out of public schools in Pa. history
Every June, Pennsylvania’s educators and parents find themselves in familiar territory — pleading with state lawmakers to increase funding that their public schools desperately need to educate students and keep up with expenses. Still, many school districts find themselves doing more with less year after year as they contend with...
Tierra Bradford: Zappala’s plea deal folly reinforces need for audit of DA’s office
On June 2, news broke that Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala sent an email to his office prohibiting staff from offering plea deals to the clients of defense attorney Milton Raiford. This email was sent several days after Raiford made remarks, on the record, about how the district attorney’s...
Letter to the editor: Burrell band missed during Memorial Day parade
I want to thank all the spectators who showed up to support our fallen soldiers on Memorial Day at the Lower Burrell parade. This was the largest crowd the VFW Auxiliary has seen in many years. It brought great joy to our veterans and their family members to see the...
Letter to the editor: In defense of D’Souza
Dr. Frank Zalakar’s letter “Dinesh D’Souza’s ‘truth’ ” (May 19, TribLIVE) responding to my letter about fascism being on the left, not right, of the political spectrum merits another rebuttal. His letter attacks Dinesh D’Souza, author of the “The Big Lie,” who I referenced in my earlier letter to back my...
Editorial: Vaccine success depends on keeping track of second-dosers
In boxing, a simple balled-up fist, delivered quick and hard, is the basic blow. But the sport depends on a strategic combination of attacks. The most basic is the one-two punch. It starts with a jab — a quick, straight punch delivered hard and fast like a bullet. That is...
Letter to the editor: EITC critical to parents seeking best schools
We would like to thank lawmakers in the state House and Senate for their continued support of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC). Education issues are always complex, and state lawmakers are working hard to improve how we teach children in Pennsylvania. Issues remain, but it’s our hope legislators and...
Tom Purcell: My dad taught me how
Need to learn how to unclog a shower drain, jump-start a car, shave your face without bleeding to death or successfully address dozens of other practical adult daily activities? Rob Kenney offers this kind of basic “dad advice,” and millions are tuning into his YouTube channel “Dad, How Do I?”...
Jason Killmeyer: In preparation for Putin
As a second major ransomware attack in the past month threatened a sensitive node of our supply chain — our food supply — America remains stuck in an old way of thinking. In the late 1990s, we saw the rise of express kidnappings across Latin America, where immediate ransoms were...
Letter to the editor: Ignoring science of abortion
It is commonplace today to demand that we accept the science of covid exposure and vaccination. Yet for the most part, many ignore the science of abortion and fetal development. Scientific progress is changing that debate. At six weeks, the fetal heart pumps blood to its own body and brain....
Editorial: All told, the school year was something amazing
Now that school is over for most kids, it’s finally time to take a good look at the way things went over the past nine months and give out some grades. Not to the students. Their final scores for math and reading and science and history are in. Their tests...
Letter to the editor: Assisting medical marijuana farmers
Pennsylvania has embraced the opportunity to establish an industrial hemp program. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has seen a significant increase in the request for new permits; Pennsylvania has been home to 885 hemp-growing permits over a four-year period. Ninety percent of Pennsylvania’s hemp farmers grow hemp for nonpsychoactive cannabinoids,...
Letter to the editor: What if Trump had kept his mouth shut?
A thought: Would Donald Trump still be president today if he’d slept soundly through the night and just shut the hell up? Just sayin.’ … Joe Marmo Cheswick...
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 14
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 14....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 14
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 14....
Ramesh Ponnuru: The phrase ‘systemic racism’ clouds productive debate
“It’s past time for America to discard the left-wing myth of systemic racism,” former Vice President Mike Pence said on a recent visit to New Hampshire. We should go a little further than that. Let’s discard the phrase “systemic racism” altogether. The chief function of that phrase is to make...
Mona Charen: Don’t cry for HR 1
When Sen. Joe Manchin announced he would oppose the For the People Act, Steve Benen of MSNBC spoke for many Democrats when he declared that “Joe Manchin is prepared to be remembered by history as the senator who did little more than hope as his country’s democracy unraveled.” One can...
Letter to the editor: Obscenities have no place in political discourse
Regarding the article “Leechburg man defends obscene anti-Biden flag visible from preschool, daycare, church” (May 21, TribLIVE): Yes, sir, you have the right to fly that flag as high as you choose. However, why must you express your political views in such a crass, graphic way? I had a political...
Letter to the editor: How about some more money for seniors?
I listen to the news and read in the papers about all the extra money being handed out to families, larger unemployment checks and even funds for businesses, and while I do not doubt that they are needed, once again the people on Social Security are being forgotten. We got...
Letter to the editor: Say thanks to a volunteer
We can define a volunteer as someone who offers to undertake a task without being paid. While many sign up, join a board or offer to help, the true volunteer is the person you probably have never seen in print, a photo or on stage. They are the Johnsons who...
Editorial: For women in Pa. politics, a steady rise
Women are not the minority. In the United States, they edge out men by 0.5%, but, if you look at the population of adult women, the numbers creep up to 58%, the U.S. Census Bureau tells us. In Pennsylvania, ladies make up 51% of the state’s residents. That means that...
Letter to the editor: Plant-based dairy a viable option
June is National Dairy Month. Time to review the financial, ethical and nutritional burden created by the dairy industry. Last month, NPR reported that New York dairy farmers, who are blaming slumping sales on the pandemic, are expecting more subsidies. Dairy is an outdated industry that relies on a cycle...
Letter to the editor: You’ll need a loan for that cone
In his column “Klavon’s wage hike great for business and workers,” reliably liberal Joseph Mistick lauds the owner of Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor in the Strip for increasing his starting wage to $15 an hour, in line with the current push for a similar nationwide minimum. The owner claimed he...
