Opinion category, Page 633
Laurels & lances: Answers, inspection, education, cruelty
Laurel: To listening to grief. When Marquis Jaylen Brown fell to his death from the 15th floor of Duquesne University’s Brottier Hall in 2018, it left questions about why and how — and it created a hole in the heart of his mother, Dannielle Brown. On July 4, she began...
Lori Falce: Coin shortage is circulation problem
You might be hearing about a coin shortage. Businesses that often depend on cash — or specifically on the little discs of zinc and nickel and copper that form those smallest molecules of our currency system — have reported trouble getting enough to keep going as usual. Quarters keep the...
Jeff Coleman: A conservative’s case for paid family leave
It may not be the end of covid-19, but in the words of Winston Churchill, we may be seeing “the end of the beginning.” Even at this stage, we’ve watched trillions spent to help families keep their heads above water as the unemployment rates seem stuck in the double-digit range....
Greg Keeley: The accidental Manchurian candidate
I pulled the lever for Donald Trump in 2016. As a former GOP Senate staffer, combat veteran and immigrant, when faced with two impossibly unpalatable candidates, I chose party. It was a mistake. Like many who serve or have served this country in the military, intelligence and national security communities,...
Letter to the editor: DEP must limit toxic air pollution
Aiming to fulfill its “mission … to protect the people, to ensure their safety, to make their lives better” (“Grand jury report on fracking indicts the state,” July 7, TribLIVE), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is considering a proposed rule to limit toxic air pollution (volatile organic compounds, VOCs)...
Letter to the editor: Trump not making America great
Many letter-writers who voice their contempt for President Trump are labeled by Trump supporters as Kool-Aid-drinking CNN followers. I’d much rather drink Kool-Aid than bleach. I do watch CNN and have much more regard for its anchors than for Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh. I try to get...
Letter to the editor: Wolf’s directive hurting nonprofit clubs
The latest directive from Gov. Tom Wolf is very disheartening to our membership. Our club followed the previous guidelines and requirements and were in the process of providing some sort of normalcy for our members to have social interaction in a safe way. I believe that nonprofit clubs should be...
Letter to the editor: BLM, antifa treasonous radicals
We, the American people, are having war waged upon us by groups that are intent on replacing capitalism with communism while the American news media downplays and even quietly encourages the treasonous actions of these groups. In 2015 Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors said that she and her...
Editorial: Does FirstEnergy have too much power?
Utility bills are the kind of thing that can feel a little like extortion. You can’t just tell your water company you have found another option and to please dig up their pipes. Sewer service isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can shop around for and find the best...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s questioning of Biden’s mental acuity is risky
President Trump’s interview with Chris Wallace, which aired on “Fox News Sunday,” was remarkable in more ways than there is room to recount here. But let’s start with what should be the lead story: The president of the United States told Wallace that the mental competence test he recently took...
Letter to the editor: Reduce size of Pa. Legislature
I agree with Helen Sitler’s letter “Now is the time to reduce Pa. Legislature” (June 4, TribLIVE). There are way too many legislators, and their pensions and salaries are extreme, plus all the help they get to do their jobs. Reducing the Legislature can’t be done with an occasional letter...
Letter to the editor: Trump has accomplished much
The headline on Joanne Garing’s letter “Reschenthaler’s Trump view out of touch” was aimed at Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, but the letter was a rant against President Trump. This president has done all the things his predecessor announced would be impossible. As for the number of people working, of course it...
Letter to the editor: Pa. should join RGGI, work toward cleaner future
We all love to complain about Pennsylvania weather, and unfortunately, it could get worse. Pennsylvania already feels the effects of climate change through heat waves, increasingly severe storms and flooding. Pennsylvania contributes large amounts of fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere, leading to the worsening of these natural events. The...
Letter to the editor: What I learned during covid-19
1. The world slowed down, so did pollution, stress and crime. 2. There really is “no place like home.” We weren’t stuck at home, we were safe at home. 3. I could spend hours just talking to my wife every evening across the kitchen table. 4. You really can lose...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s incompetent covid-19 response
How the President Trump-named “Chinese virus” became the “Trump Virus,” bringing the most powerful country in the world to its knees: After a single case of coronavirus in China became a pandemic and reached our shores in January, we had a federal response I believe was incompetent. Trump and his...
Pat Buchanan: Rising diversity is Joe Biden’s worry, too
Is her racial diversity America’s greatest strength? So we are told. Yet even before America becomes a majority-minority nation, 25 years from now, recent changes in the composition of the country are going to impact both parties in 2020. According to Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, between 2010 and 2020,...
Editorial: Diversion is good step toward criminal justice reform
On Monday, Pittsburgh announced a pilot program that would work to keep people out of the criminal justice system. As a pilot program, it’s starting small, just on the North Side. The idea is a “public health-focused, pre-arrest diversion program,” something that would address issues of substance abuse or behavioral...
Mark Hendrickson: Why has 3% economic growth been so elusive?
Here is an economic riddle that has been puzzling many people: Why has economic growth in the United States remained below 3% for so long? The growth of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) going all the way back to 1790 has averaged less than 3% in only three decades: the...
Letter to the editor: People ignoring coronavirus dangers
Amazing, the stupidity of the general population. Even though words of caution were presented when states eased restrictions and allowed some businesses to reopen, too many threw caution to the wind. Personal desires for a drink or dining out have contributed to the resurgence of covid-19 on a nationwide level....
Letter to the editor: A vote for Biden is vote against unborn
Simply put, any vote for Joe Biden is a vote against unborn children and a vote for your pocketbook. The rest doesn’t matter. Susan Keyser East Huntingdon...
Letter to the editor: No reason to cancel fall college sports
Mark Madden is, in my opinion, 100% incorrect about playing college sports (“College sports need to tap out for fall season,” July 10, TribLIVE). I believe there is zero reason for colleges to be canceling seasons, or to be holding classes online. (The same argument applies to K-12 even more...
Letter to the editor: Wolf’s severance tax would hurt Pa.’s pandemic recovery
So many Westmoreland County residents are more than ready to return to work. While we need to continue observing public health guidelines, we also need to make sure our leaders are putting smart policies in place. These policies need to ensure that businesses will have access to reliable, affordable energy...
Letter to the editor: If Joe Biden wins, USA will never be the same
To put this upcoming election in perspective, one only need go back to 2016 when President Obama dismissed Joe Biden, his vice president, as the Democrats’ endorsed candidate for president, and instead christened Hillary Clinton. So this is what we have as the left’s best to offer in 2020, an...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler’s kumbaya moment over
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler’s op-ed “Trump built greatest American economy before. He’ll do it again” (June 22, TribLIVE), intended as a kumbaya moment for unity, was actually a commercial for Donald Trump, as noted by letter-writers Leonard Mucci (“Reschenthaler drank the Kool-Aid,” July 6, TribLIVE) and Joanne Garing (“Reschenthaler’s Trump view...
John M. Crisp: Ominous days ahead for post office
A strange thing happened last week. The mail didn’t arrive. In a world beset by climate change, racial injustice and a pandemic, the failure of my letter carrier to swiftly complete his appointed rounds is a minor disappointment. Besides, like most Americans, I communicate largely via email. It’s immediate. Messages...
