Sounding off: Killing baseball in Pittsburgh

I am 66 years old and grew up in Pittsburgh watching the Pirates at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium and then PNC Park. Some of the best sporting events in Pittsburgh happened at those venues. The best one I experienced was the 2013 National League wild card game.

Since that time, I have seen the administration of the Pirates tear apart team after team, all with the promise of good prospects. This year the “administration” has disrespected and embarrassed the Pirates organization, the team, the fans and our city. To start the year saying this is not a year of wins and losses but of seeing who performs the best so we can trade them in July … how’s that working out for you, Mr. Nutting?

I love baseball and love the players, so I ask, please, stop the madness! Please give us our baseball team family back. Please restore the fun at the park. This year, spring training gave me hope until the front office began to release their plans of “the trade deadline.”

There’s a saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats.“ We need the tide to come in again. Ditch your plan before you kill baseball in Pittsburgh.

Rose Harris, North Beaver Township

Enabling disabled to marry

I am disabled. And this past year, I watched my able-bodied friends struggle with postponing and downsizing weddings, while living with the reality that I can never, marry without risking loss of life-sustaining health care.

Marriage should be an equal option for all, including disabled people. As long as we live in a society that grants social and legal benefits to married couples, we all deserve the right to choose.

In Pennsylvania, the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities (MAWD) program allows disabled workers to receive Medicaid and prescription assistance, but it comes with strict income and asset limits that often prohibit marriage.

Senate Bill 156, Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities, is now in the state House after passing the Senate. This bill would reform MAWD and change lives.

I implore you to ask your representatives to support that SB 156, which would allow MAWD recipients to have a financial safety net, take promotions at work and get married if they choose.

Kaitlin A. Kerr, Pleasant Hills

A history lesson on slavery

Contrary to statements made by some of our current political leaders, white slavery predates Black slavery in America.

The white slaves not indentured, who began to arrive here in 1618, included hundreds of children who had been rounded up from the streets of London. Other slaves came from the ranks of the homeless and the poor, and also from England’s swelling prison population. King James believed the homeless and itinerant of London were spreading plague.

At the time the Constitution was ratified in 1788, there were fewer than 50,000 slaves in America, and the vast majority of them were white.

The 1619 project was written for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the Virginia colony in 1619.

History tells us of the first 300 white slaves to land in Virginia, only 12 managed to survive four years. The others died of ill treatment, disease, attack by native Americans or overwork.

If we are going to change the way we teach history in our schools, maybe teach American children that between 1641 and 1652 alone, the population of Ireland fell from 1,466,000 to 616,000. That’s because roughly 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. That’s over 50% of their entire people in 11 years. And considering that many Irish were simply worked to death, wouldn’t this be some kind of genocide?

William O’Neill, Penn Township, Westmoreland County

Who’s spewing mindless diatribe?

Letter-writer Bob McBride (“Useful idiots of Democratic Party”) argues that those of us who are Democrats apparently have some kind of hive mind where we glean our information from such “socialist” sources as CNN, thus making us incapable of independent thought and action. He also makes disturbing accusations that we are anti-American and a cancer on the nation.

For someone who claims to be such an independent-minded “traditional-value patriot,” he sure seems to get his talking points directly from Fox News pundits. Sean Hannity must be proud that he’s created such a loyal stooge to parrot back almost verbatim the vitriol that he casts toward other Americans on a nightly basis.

Maybe he should take some of his own advice and not just spew mindless diatribe that he receives from dubious sources with obvious agendas.

Brian Luce, Buffalo Township

Biden’s reading, writing and arithmetic

While he is “reading” the teleprompter, does President Biden have any idea that numerous crimes, such as the gang rape of a little girl that was so violent that her screams destroyed her vocal cords, occur regularly at “his” border? Also, while his apparent irresponsibility somehow gets impunity, does he know that respect is not demanded, it is earned?

And while Biden is “writing” edicts, does anyone not know that his apparent abdication of representing the American people is an attempt to undermine and violate this country for purposes of making it a miserable and unsavory socialist one?

Obvious to those who have taken and passed their “arithmetic” courses, it’s clear that the first 100 days — or however many days he will be in office — will not add up to what our forefathers brilliantly designed, and what the government of the people, by the people and for the people should be, rather than an oligarchy. Overall, wouldn’t it be best for Biden to find endeavors outside of any imposing, self-serving government position?

Finally, isn’t it axiomatic that when the apparently unstable assert leadership of the apparently unlearned that unlawful results are unexpected? Don’t we know for certain that un-American activities do not give power to the people, but to the power hungry liberals?

Albert E. Depew, Buffalo Township

Pa. must fund long-term care

As a community, we are all trying to recover from the covid-19 pandemic. We’ve seen the profound effect of this virus, especially among those in the long-term care continuum.

Covid-19 is still present. Its impact has not subsided. And no matter the preventive measures prescribed by our state and federal partners, it is relentless in its attack.

Health care heroes — our friends and neighbors outfitted in PPE, not capes — have remained on the front lines of this pandemic since March 2020. But they need support from our elected leaders.

Skyrocketing costs associated with PPE, testing, infection control and other needs has put an immense financial strain on providers and operators of nursing homes, assisted living communities and personal care homes — jeopardizing the very care so many families depend on.

For example, to meet federal and state requirements, one round of testing for all staff can cost providers up to $20,000 per facility.

The sustainability of our long-term care continuum has been threatened. As Pennsylvania prepares to receive more than $7 billion in federal stimulus funding, legislative leaders can help preserve care for our seniors, and that starts with funding the front lines of care.

Cynthia Wolf, Hempfield

The writer is administrator of Hempfield Manor.

Are you a political fool?

Are your sources of news making you a political fool?

I hate liars, and news sites are the biggest liars of today. I read 10 or so different websites of news per week, some that I know are opposite of my politics. If I read “anonymous sources say,” I disregard what it has to say. If the news item does give a reference that I am not familiar with, I investigate it to see if it’s creditable.

Comparing a news story on two different sites can lead you to two different outcomes. The first site I read every day is this newspaper, but I only read the local stories, obituaries and comics. I have read this paper for 60-plus years. I disregard anything by the Associated Press. I can imagine a headline by AP, “The Downside of the Coming of Christ.”

So many people shut down a conversation when I bring up politics, and I always say to them, “You do realize that everything in your life depends on politics?” and they just shrug. There are so many people who are just totally ignorant of what is going on in our country and the world.

I have lived a life with a science background and have always tried to come to a logical conclusion on every decision. There are two basic kinds of people who search the internet: the ones who look for the truth and the ones who search to support their bias. The latter are “political fools.”

Howard L. McHenry, East Vandergrift