Featured Commentary category, Page 71
Jason Park: A 3-part strategy to reduce mass shootings
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more than 60 mass shootings so far in 2023 — almost two a day. As a formerly untreated mentally ill person who angrily erupted into violence earlier in my life, I know the importance of keeping guns out of the wrong...
Chris Talgo: This Valentine’s Day, show some love for America
Although the last few years have been difficult for most Americans, there still is much to love about the country President Abraham Lincoln called “the last best hope of Earth” and President Ronald Reagan labeled “the shining city on a hill.” So, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, here...
Patrice Onwuka: ‘Only in America,’ not ‘Once Upon a Time’
I love America because only in America can a poor “guy off the boat” speaking with a thick Croatian accent rise to become one of the most successful businessmen and recognizable TV personalities today, “Shark Tank’s” Robert Herjavec. Only in America can an aspiring female screenwriter from communist Russia (Ayn...
Hank Kalet: Adjuncts are the gig workers of higher education
Today’s word is “adjunctification.” Adjunctification is the process by which the gig economy is imposed on America’s colleges and universities and turns formerly tenured professors and instructors into contingent workers. Adjuncts are the part-time component of this, earning a fraction of what full-time faculty earn and having few of the...
Peter Morici: Powell shouldn’t let up in the fight against inflation
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, through the FOMC statement and press conference remarks this month, made clear we’ve made progress fighting inflation, but it’s far too early to quit. Financial markets are proving skeptical — forward contracts anticipate the Fed will increase interest rates a bit further, then start cutting...
Sen. Ryan Aument: How the Grinch stole the power grid
As a holiday cold snap gripped Pennsylvania in December, energy officials warned of rolling blackouts and called on families to turn down their thermostats and turn off the decorations. Truly, this was a Christmas gift with batteries not included. How did the power grid become so feeble that your Christmas...
Cal Thomas: Biden and Sanders, a fading star vs. a rising star
We’ve heard it all before. In fact, a recording of last year’s State of the Union could have been replayed, saving President Biden a trip to Capitol Hill. Numbers can be selectively used to hide reality and advance one’s political agenda. Both parties do this, but Democrats and their media...
Rep. Greg Vitali: Shapiro must lead on environmental funding
A new governor offers hope that the chronic underfunding of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will finally end. This underfunding has compromised the department’s ability to regulate the oil and gas industry, monitor and reduce air and water pollution, protect the Chesapeake Bay and clean up hazardous waste sites....
Elwood Watson: Police interaction with young Black girl had happy ending
Last month, the Yale School of Public Health held a ceremony to celebrate Bobbi Wilson, a 9-year-old Black kid from Caldwell, N.J., who efforts to eradicate spotted lanternflies was seen as an environmentally progressive gesture. The ceremony also recognized Wilson’s donation of her personal spotted lanternfly collection to Yale’s Peabody...
Dr. Andrew Smolar: The balancing act of parenting adolescents
The task of parenting adolescents has changed a great deal, given how fast the world is moving. For one, information is plentiful and immediately accessible. When I was 17, we checked card catalogs and descended into the library’s catacombs to research a subject. Now, with the stroke of a thumb,...
John Hinshaw: Where is the Latino vote headed in Pa.?
Nationally, Latinos are flexing their growing political muscle. They now make up 11% of the U.S. House, for example. In Pennsylvania, however, Latino voters essentially sat out the last election. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, turnout in the state’s most heavily Latino districts was less than half that of 2020....
Cal Thomas: Trial balloons
KEY LARGO, Florida — Say the words “espionage” and “communism” to a younger generation and they might think you’re talking about spy novels and Cold War history. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thinks both words describe contemporary threats. During a visit to a town made famous by the 1948...
Tracey L. Rogers: Teach Black history — don’t ban it
When Republican President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, he called on Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.” He also acknowledged that Black Americans had shown “courage and perseverance” when our country had failed to live up to its...
William D. Hartung: Can Biden keep sending Ukraine weapons without provoking Russia?
The Biden administration announced last month that the U.S. will provide 31 Abrams M-1 tanks to Ukraine, and Germany said it will send 14 of its Leopard tanks to Kyiv. The tank deal and the first anniversary of the start of the war in February offer an opportunity to evaluate...
Jim Warren: NewsGuard tested ChatGPT’s potential for misinformation. Here’s what we found.
The Oscar-nominated short film “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It” could be the name for Silicon Valley’s latest gift to Western civilization — and to many practitioners of misinformation. The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has been heralded as if it’s a techno-...
Neil Hare: Winning GOP strategy in 2024 – back to business with immigration reform
The recent GOP attacks on the business community, including its leading advocacy group the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, arguably contributed to a poor showing in the 2022 midterms and is not the answer for success in the presidential and congressional elections in 2024. The main policy targets for these attacks...
Alexis Karteron: Tyre Nichols’ death prompts calls for federal legislation to promote police reform — but Congress can’t do much about fixing local police
The severe beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, by five Memphis police officers — leading to his death three days later — has sparked renewed calls for federal measures to combat police violence and racism. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a package of reform initiatives aimed...
Maggie Rose Macar: George Santos is a bad role model for the LGBTQ+ community
The 118th Congress, who have finally been sworn in after a nightmarish House speaker election, is composed of more LGBTQ+ lawmakers than at any time in history — 13 — including two senators and 11 representatives. Unfortunately, in the midst of what is set to be a record-breaking and glass-ceiling-shattering...
Peter Morici: WTO no longer serves U.S. foreign-policy interests
The World Trade Organization no longer serves U.S. foreign policy interests. The U.S. and its allies established the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to limit tariffs and quantitative restrictions and to promote trade in goods. Rechristened the WTO in 1995, agreements were added to cover trade in services and...
Guy Ciarrocchi: Pa. Republicans must solve the suburban puzzle
Political pundits rate Pennsylvania among the swing states. Reviewing the Keystone map, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are overwhelmingly Democratic strongholds. Rural Pennsylvania — what political pundits call the “T” — has always been Republican and now has gone super-red. So, the critical battle concerns Philadelphia’s suburbs, with about 22% of the...
Elwood Watson: Tyre Nichols’ death shows how racism even impacts Black officers
The death of Black people at the hands of law enforcement has become so commonplace that it’s easy to feel both outraged and psychologically numb. Over the past few decades from Rodney King to George Floyd, we have become front-row spectators to grainy and, in some cases, graphic footage of...
Athan Koutsiouroumbas: Can Chat GPT3 make Pa. a red state?
In the past three weeks, policymakers had their worlds rocked by generative artificial intelligence. The problem is that they don’t know it — yet. First, a team of researchers demonstrated that Open AI’s Chat GPT3 can pass the stringent United States Medical Licensing Exam. Days later, Chat GPT 3 passed...
Colleen Hronich: Pa. celebrates Catholic Schools Week
I still remember celebrating Catholic Schools Week in my elementary school. We had a grandparents’ breakfast, special dress-up days, an open house where we showed off special projects for our families and a school night at the roller-skating rink. It was a special time and helped us appreciate how lucky...
Jordan Clark: Graham Spanier’s so-called ‘rush to judgment’
“A scheduled on-campus appearance by former Penn State President Graham Spanier was canceled Wednesday after the university canceled classes and some school activities because of wintry weather. Spanier had planned to promote his book, ‘In the Lion’s Den: The Penn State Scandal and a Rush to Judgment,’ in an appearance...
Cal Thomas: Inhumanity in Memphis
No adjective is sufficient to describe the reaction one gets from watching five Memphis police officers beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols to within an inch of his life. He later died of his injuries in a local hospital. “Inhumane” and “senseless” are as close as it comes. While Nichols was accused...
