Opinion category, Page 149
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 19
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 19....
Tyler Cowen: Maybe legalizing weed wasn’t such a great idea
Depending on where you live and how you want to use it, it is pretty easy to get marijuana in the U.S. At first medical marijuana, which has legitimate palliative uses, achieved widespread acceptance. Over time, however, the requirements for proof of medical use weakened, leading to de facto legalization...
Letter to the editor: Pa. Promise would provide opportunities for all
During the 2024-25 state budget process, elected officials recognized the challenges faced by students, families and businesses. In a bipartisan fashion, they created and funded Grow PA scholarships aimed at attracting and keeping students in Pennsylvania for college, and once they graduate. These goals are vitally important. The commonwealth has...
Editorial: The pollution of our waterways belies their beauty
People are fascinated with finding things that have sunk in water. The wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic in the North Atlantic has been a draw since it sank in 1912, but especially since it was found in 1985. In 2023, billionaires died in an experimental craft trying to see it...
Letter to the editor: Celebrating Steelers’ impact on Westmoreland County
I want to express my deep gratitude to the Pittsburgh Steelers for consistently choosing Latrobe as their training camp site. This annual tradition not only excites our community but also significantly benefits our local economy. A special thank-you goes to Saint Vincent College for its exceptional hospitality. Its commitment to...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Harris vs. Trump, love vs. fear
As the 16th-century political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli said about the nature of political leadership in his treatise “The Prince,” “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.” Being both is a tough act for any political leader, so most leaders choose one — love or...
Ken Stringer: Vance’s accusation of stolen valor dishonors himself and all veterans
J.D. Vance has just insulted every veteran who earned and wears an award for valor on their uniform. In saying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is guilty of “stolen valor” in representing his military career, Vance displays his ignorance of what the term means, and he misappropriates it for personal and...
Colin McNickle: An unflattering portrait of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh compares poorly to a composite of four cities that serve as a performance benchmark, concludes an updated analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “Pittsburgh’s lethargic emergence from the covid-19 pandemic … stood in stark contrast to the impressive recovery and improvement of the benchmark city,” say Eric...
John G. Geer and Jacob Mchangama: Americans love free speech — until they realize everyone else has it, too
Americans’ views on free speech change directions every so often. One of those times was during the protests at U.S. universities about the Israel-Hamas war. As scholars of free speech and public opinion, we set out to find out what happened and why. The Supreme Court itself, as recently as...
Sounding off: Presidential politics
Harris is no moderate We now know the Democrats’ presidential candidate, after they pushed the sitting president, and the only candidate to receive any primary votes, out of the race. Do we really know her? The Kamala Harris campaign, with the help of the mainstream media, is trying to rewrite...
Letter to the editor: Facts about Walz’s military record
I know this is an opinion page and facts don’t really matter to a great many in Westmoreland County … i.e., the Sherry Hamilton legal, financial and procedural mess we are experiencing at the Register of Wills Office. Vote R no matter what! The truth is about performance records. In...
Editorial: Are police dog programs a community benefit?
Beware of dog. It’s a simple sentiment and one that requires little explanation. See a sign with those words on a fence, and you know there’s a guard on the other side whose bark could be worse than his bite — if you’re lucky. Similarly, the letters “K-9” on a...
Letter to the editor: Vance enters the lion’s den
On Aug. 11, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance sat down for an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Absent from Fox News’ equivalent Sunday morning show was Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz. But that shouldn’t shock, given Walz’s aversion to combat zones. Right out of...
Gary Franks: Honeymoon with Kamala Harris will end soon
The Democrats’ current strategy is to manufacture enthusiasm and raise money for their presidential candidate. Easy task. Why? Because people are thrilled that President Joe Biden will not be running. Eighty percent of Americans in polls said they did not want him to seek reelection. Thus, it was easy to...
S.E. Cupp: Glitchy streams, migrant memes and stupid themes — Trump’s playbook is a mess
On Monday afternoon, former President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, was on Fox Business discussing the state of Trump’s campaign with former Trump adviser Larry Kudlow. Conway was pointed in criticizing Trump’s attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, which have centered on everything from her intelligence to her...
Letter to the editor: Project 2025 and Agenda 2030
There has been recent talk of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as a means to slander President Trump. But I haven’t seen any talk of the United Nations’ far-left Agenda 2030 and implementation by President Biden and his “squad.” Agenda 2030 was created in 2015 by the UN and...
Letter to the editor: Vote to continue American progress
Since the time of our country’s founding we have been a progressive people. We threw off the yoke of British colonialism and established a nation “of and by the people.” This was radical thought in the 18th century. This November I believe we will be challenged to continue America’s progress...
Letter to the editor: Support Biden’s plan to correct Supreme Court
The majority of Americans do not approve of the actions of this Supreme Court, which has been bought and paid for by the Federalist Society. For decades the Federalist Society has groomed, indoctrinated and bribed lawyers and law schools with their millionaires’ and billionaires’ money. They see our government working...
Laurels & lances: Summer celebrations
Laurel: To the celebration of the summer. The event of the season is upon us — the opening of the 70th Westmoreland Fair. Maybe you come to the fair to show off the produce from your garden. Maybe you have a child entering livestock in the 4-H and FFA events....
Letter to the editor: Harris is no moderate
We now know the Democrats’ presidential candidate, after they pushed the sitting president, and the only candidate to receive any primary votes, out of the race. Do we really know her? The Kamala Harris campaign, with the help of the mainstream media, is trying to rewrite history and rebrand her...
Paul Kengor: Picking Shapiro could have been key for Harris
Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was a shock. The wide consensus was that she would pick Shapiro, especially with her announcement coming in Philadelphia. Everyone was stunned by the unknown Walz, including Donald Trump, who said he was “thrilled,” and rightly so....
Lori Falce: The American prisoner in Russia who desperately wants to be freed
On Wednesday, The New Yorker published a story about Ilya Yashin. “The Russian Prisoner Who Didn’t Want to be Freed,” it was titled. Yashin was part of the complex, multinational prisoner exchange that moved 26 people on Aug. 1, including Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva. He is...
Alyssa Cholodofsky: Reducing food waste key to reversing climate change. Can our outdated food systems catch up?
It’s a cruel summer: Surging temperatures are spiking climate anxieties, and food insecurity concerns remain urgent. In Pennsylvania, nearly 1.7 million people are food-insecure, and 2024 has seen the state’s highest SNAP enrollment ever. At the intersection of these crises is the daunting challenge of food waste: In the U.S.,...
Letter to the editor: Trump in a league of his own
Policywise, Donald Trump follows the standard Republican line: take away environmental protections and lower taxes for the rich (trickle down economics theory). In his rude and crude manners, puerile name calling and in playing to the worst prejudices of a frighteningly large cohort of middle Americans, he is in a...
Letter to the editor: Different coverage for Trump
Wow, a multipage article on using Sen. John Fetterman’s comment out of context (“’Cheap fake’ video clip posted online misstates Fetterman’s pick to win Pennsylvania,” Aug. 8, TribLive)! President Biden, Vice President Harris and many Democrats continually take President Trump’s comments out of context. I don’t remember seeing anything in...
