Opinion category, Page 159
Editorial: Rustic Ridge report doesn’t deliver final answer
Investigations give us answers. They do not necessarily make us feel better. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission delivered an answer to a question lingering since August. Did the Peoples Gas service lines play a part in the Rustic Ridge explosion that claimed six lives, obliterated three homes and...
Letter to the editor: Trump hate stems from promise to drain swamp
MSNBC pundit Joe Scarborough and many Democratic politicians call Pesident Donald Trump an “existential threat to democracy” and cite the importance of keeping Trump out of the White House as their overriding concern, despite the prospect of an 81-year-old man with obviously declining cognitive abilities in the White House and...
Letter to the editor: Supreme Court’s moves
The Supreme Court conservatives essentially lied through their confirmation hearings, piously saying they would “respect precedent.” Now we also know some are demonstrably corrupt. Less noted is that, going back decades, they are also remarkably stupid. They made George W. Bush president, and he gave us two of the longest...
Sam Rosenberg: The Secret Service failed
There has been no shortage of political and cultural commentary related to the attempted assassination that occurred in Western Pennsylvania on Saturday night, so I will avoid that sort of commentary here. What I would like to focus on instead is related to security, and what I see as a...
Anita Prizio and Erika Strassburger: Pa. stands to gain from methane reduction funding
The recent announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy regarding $850 million in federal funding for methane reduction projects marks a significant opportunity for Pennsylvania’s economy and environment. This investment, part of President Biden’s ambitious climate agenda, not only aims to cut methane emissions from oil and...
Dennis Aftergut and Austin Sarat: The American tragedy of the Trump assassination attempt
Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was a crime against the entire country and against democracy itself. Every American should be grateful that it failed, and that Trump has survived it. Let’s say it plainly. It is an abomination that he was wounded as he campaigned for a...
Letter to the editor: Scary scenarios under Biden
I’m wondering where the writer of the letter “Project 2025 would end our freedoms” (June 27, TribLive) came up with all those terrible situations. Oh, I know — we already have them under President Biden. Frances Olyarnik Hempfield...
Letter to the editor: Trump advocates violence
Let me see if I have this right. Donald Trump, the same man who encouraged an insurrection and publicly advocates violence, escapes an assassination attempt, and the right-wing media and Republican voices blame the Democrats and their rhetoric. Wasn’t it Trump who promised a “bloodbath” if he doesn’t win the...
Letter to the editor: Sotomayor’s poor example
Donald Trump “(o)rders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune.” I take great umbrage at the use of the Navy Seal Team 6 example utilized in the presidential immunity decision by the Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor to “whack” a presidential enemy or opponent. Elected...
Letter to the editor: Why would you vote for Biden?
Why would you vote for a person for president of the United States that you would not want driving your kids’ school bus? Clem Zahrobsky Delmont...
Letter to the editor: Ligonier needs a pool like Youngwood’s
Recently, our daughter and grandkids came to visit us from the Richmond, Va., area. Even though they belong to a massive pool complex at their neighborhood, I wanted to take them to a local pool. They were skeptical at first, but we all went to Youngwood Park and Pool. They...
Editorial: Challenging times require people to do the reading
There has never been a time when it was this important to consume the news critically. It is important to know what is happening. This is an Olympic year and an election year. There are wars raging in Israel and Ukraine. Governments are being upended in Europe and South America....
Editorial: U.S. primary-care system can’t withstand the next pandemic
An unprecedented strain of bird flu is spreading among dairy cattle in the U.S. An outbreak of a flesh-eating bacteria has infected more than 1,000 people in Japan. At least 13 communicable diseases including measles, dengue and polio have surged past pre-pandemic peaks in regions across the world. The threat...
Letter to the editor: Biden, Trump from different planets
I almost choked when I read George Will’s June 30 column, “Debate displays representative government.” He states President Biden and Donald Trump are two peas in a pod. I am afraid Will is showing his age by his muddled thinking. Biden is empathetic, caring and kind toward his follow man....
Letter to the editor: We’ve been gaslighted about Biden
If you watched the recent presidential debate and still believe Joe Biden is qualified to run the country, you are either delusional or a fool. That said, the conversation should not be focused on Biden’s age/mental acuity. The more important discussion is how the Democratic Party and its friends in...
Helen Ubiñas: There’s only 1 right response to the Trump shooting
I was boarding a plane from Los Angeles back home to Philadelphia when the news hit that former President Donald Trump had been injured during a rally in Butler County. The details were sketchy, but the responses online and on the plane were already wild — and entirely predictable. This...
Gaurav Singal and Anupam B. Jena: It’s not just hype. AI could revolutionize diagnosis in medicine
The history of medical diagnosis is a march through painstaking observation. Ancient Egyptian physicians first diagnosed urinary tract infections by observing patterns in patients’ urine. To diagnose diseases of the heart and lungs, medieval doctors added core elements of the physical examination: pulse, palpation and percussion. The 20th century saw...
Letter to the editor: Supreme Court rulings jeopardize our safety
Thank you to Lori Falce for an insightful, clear explanation of the effects of the recent Supreme Court rulings (“Politics is infection in Supreme Court rulings,” July 5, TribLive): “Let us hope Roberts, et al., have a better understanding of nuclear physics and software engineering than Congress has shown.” Federal...
Letter to the editor: Unity should protect community when considering solar farm
Unity Township residents are concerned about a proposal to build a solar farm on 34 acres along Charles Houck Road north of Route 982. The Unity Township supervisors have the responsibility to protect the community with meaningful zoning ordinances pertaining to commercial solar facilities. As more solar projects come, so...
Letter to the editor: Pa. leadership must advance Alzheimer’s funding
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 840 and House Bill 2400 have passed their respective chambers, each receiving bipartisan support. But both have stalled. SB 840 is with the House Health Committee, while HB 2400 has yet to be referred to a Senate Committee. Each has the potential to drastically improve the commonwealth’s...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of July 15
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of July 15....
Editorial cartoons for the week of July 15
Editorial cartoons for the week of July 15....
Editorial: Democracy must stand up to violence
Violence and democracy cannot exist in the same arena. On Saturday, former president and GOP candidate Donald Trump was struck by a bullet as he spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Butler County. Trump, bloodied and defiant, was quickly removed from the stage. Despite the injury to his...
Letter to the editor: Choosing candidates based on polling data?
It is interesting to read the stories regarding the calls to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president. Those calling for his replacement are the same ones who have said “every vote matters” and “the voters decide.” In this case, the voters have spoken. They chose Joe Biden...
Letter to the editor: Legislators’ inaction on gun legislation shameful
In response to the op-ed “Supreme Court gives Pa. way to stop domestic violence killings” (June 29, TribLive) — I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly. I’m the mother of a 12- and a 10-year-old, and I worry every day about their safety at school. Every parent remembers where they were when...
