Opinion category, Page 76
Sara J. Brenneis: American liberators of Nazi camps got ‘a lifelong vaccine against extremism,’ a warning for today
When American soldiers liberated the Mauthausen Nazi concentration camp in Austria 80 years ago this May, Spanish prisoners welcomed them with a message of antifascist solidarity. The Spaniards hung a banner made from stolen bed sheets over one of Mauthausen’s gates. In English, Spanish and Russian, it read: “The Spanish...
Letter to the editor: Ackerman clearly best pick for county coroner
There are not many times people put their names on a ballot with the kind of experience Westmoreland County coroner candidate John Ackerman has: 25 years as a police officer; 50 years as a fire department member; 18 years as a deputy coroner, investigating more than 9,000 deaths; endorsements from...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler doesn’t represent us
I am a small business owner for over 30 years, a past business consultant and resident of Westmoreland County since 1976. As an independent voter, I expect the people I vote for to put country above party as well as represent our district with common sense and the ability to...
Editorial: Stock market volatility affects everyone
The stock market has been unruly over the past week. On April 2, President Donald Trump announced a broad swath of reciprocal tariffs on nations — and some uninhabited islands — around the world. On April 3, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,679 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500...
Letter to the editor: Senior quarterbacks not what Steelers need
When we last spoke, “Steelers serving up skunk” (March 7, TribLive) was the topic, but the solution offered today is DOSE (Department of Steelers Efficiency). With apologies to Elon Musk, I nominate the Honorable Mark Madden and Tim Benz to continue to weed out the waste, fraud and abuse permeating...
Jonah Goldberg: Markets to GOP — we won’t save you from Trump’s folly
John Maynard Keynes famously said, “Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” The point being that, even if you’re right about where the stock market is bound to go eventually, the market doesn’t have to follow your route or timetable in getting there. Since “Liberation Day” last...
Lisa R. Fox: If you pay close attention, you just might save a child’s life
Do you know 10 children? Then you likely know a child who needs your help. According to CDC estimates, at least 1 out of every 7 children in the U.S. experienced a form of abuse in the past year. That means around 600,000 children suffer from physical, mental, emotional or...
Letter to the editor: Automated enforcement of traffic violations no joke
I am glad the editorial “Local cops use radar in Pa.! April Fool’s!” (April 1, TribLive) ran on April Fool’s Day. Sadly, it was no joke. It promoted the use of automated enforcement cameras for traffic violations. There will soon be a state legislative bill to ban all forms of...
Letter to the editor: Transgender patients have right to care they need
Under pressure from the Trump administration, UPMC last month canceled the gender-affirming surgery of a transgender adult (“Officials, activists rally for transgender rights, call on UPMC to provide gender-affirming care to minors,” April 3, TribLive). As medical students, we find this decision abhorrent. In our classes, we learn about evidence-based...
Editorial: What will Trump’s new review mean for U.S. Steel deal?
The U.S. Steel roller coaster is continuing its wild ride. On Monday, the White House put out a memo that reset the clock on the question of selling the American steel manufacturer to Japanese giant Nippon Steel. The almost $15 billion deal was first announced in December 2023. U.S. Steel...
Letter to the editor: Trump not delivering on his promises
I voted for Kamala Harris for many reasons, one being that her predictions about a Trump presidency were spot on. Rather than focusing on lightening the economic loads, he would focus on petty retribution on those who challenged his video-evidenced misdeeds or beat him in an election. Doing what’s good,...
Letter to the editor: Democrat zombies
Fans of the “Walking Dead” TV series will recall that the zombies generally wandered around aimlessly in hordes until something, often a noise, would propel the group to move in the direction of the noise and continue in said direction until another noise would send them stumbling in a new...
Lisa Jarvis: This isn’t how you make America healthy again
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s grand plan for Making America Healthy Again is taking shape. It centers on dismantling the public health systems that have kept Americans safe for decades. The damage from sweeping cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, which Kennedy oversees, will be felt within public...
John Detwiler: No stopping the ‘data center’ bandwagon?
It’s still early in 2025, and the “data center” bandwagon is picking up speed, with ambitious plans announced for sites in Westmoreland County and Homer City (“Homer City site: Large gas-fired power plant to support data center,” April 2, TribLive). But before that bandwagon rolls over us, we should be...
Letter to the editor: It’s OK to disagree, but not to hate
So much talk about hate. Are we confusing disagreeing with hate? I am a Christian. I don’t hate anybody but I do disagree with many. The Bible says to hate the sin but love the sinner. I cannot agree with or vote for anyone who supports abortion. That does not...
Letter to the editor: Trump voters, are you ashamed yet?
Are you ashamed yet? If you voted for Donald Trump, you put a convicted sexual assaulter who I believe is arrogant, unhinged and constantly lies, a tyrant who has abandoned decency and encourages others to do so, into the Oval Office. In my opinion, he has acted shamefully toward our...
Editorial: Counties should account for children’s Social Security
Transparency is important for more than just keeping government accountable. We tend to think about transparency as finding out what someone did wrong. Want to make sure this government department didn’t spend your tax dollars frivolously? Want to know where your legislator got his campaign donations? Want to see exactly...
Letter to the editor: Spin was bad choice after Signal fiasco
It was Mark Twain who said, “First get your facts, then distort them.” The most recent example of this is our top defense, intelligence and executive branch leaders chatting about an upcoming military strike on an unsecured medium, Signal. So here are the facts that people involved agree with: •...
Cal Thomas: Injustice in Nashville
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There is a man who has spent nearly 30 years on death row in a Nashville prison for murders that substantial evidence shows he did not commit. His name is Kevin Burns (KB, as he is...
F.D. Flam: We used to disagree. Now we don’t talk to each other.
Since the covid pandemic began five years ago, the U.S. has gone from being merely polarized to split into two separate and incompatible realities. Worse, according to a recently released survey, we lack a “common understanding of facts.” So much for the new normal. Your reality depends on whether you...
Letter to the editor: Reagan rolling over in his grave
Reagan is rolling over in his grave. So are Eisenhower, Ford, H.W. Bush and a half-dozen other presidents who have had to deal with the Russians. No previous president ever liked or trusted Ivan. Now we have a chief executive who is oddly fascinated with an ex-KGB, criminal dictator. Worse,...
Letter to the editor: Sign pollution
Stay in your own lane and the hell out of the “wrong ways.” This applies to many things in today’s life and for everyone’s life and death situations, literally, figuratively and exponentially. Yes, wrong-way traffic deaths are on the increase and wrong-way campaigns, elections and decisions are always too present....
Editorial: Republicans can have their tax cuts and benefits, too
Congressional Republicans face some tough math. They want to extend tax cuts, set to expire this year, that would add perhaps $4.5 trillion in new deficit spending. To offset such extravagance, they plan to come up with $2 trillion in spending cuts. Can it be done, as the White House...
Letter to the editor: Net metering key to future of solar
We want to thank Rep. Abigail Salisbury for voting “no” on the amendment to House Bill 362 that would have drastically weakened Pennsylvania’s net metering policy and back-tracked years of bipartisan efforts. Pennsylvania is 22nd in the country for solar, based on the Solar Energy Industries Association. Net metering is...
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 7
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 7....
