Opinion category, Page 208
Letter to the editor: Rudolph the Black and Yellow Steeler
Rudolph the black and yellow Steeler Had a very shiny throw. And if you ever saw it You would even say go GO! All of the other coaches Used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any football games. Then one foggy Christmas Eve...
Letter to the editor: Fetterman, be a better man
Like many young Pennsylvanians, I’ve been disappointed to watch Sen. John Fetterman flounder in his elected role of representing us. We were told (by him and his family) that we would be getting a progressive champion of human rights, and instead we get a worse-dressed version of Sen. Joe Manchin,...
Editorial: Personal finance class long overdue for Pennsylvania students
William Penn opened schools when Pennsylvania was just a colony. Public schools in the state were put in place constitutionally in 1789. The Free Public Schools Act passed 45 years later, formalizing a public education system in the Keystone State. Education represents about 39% of the state’s budget, according to...
Letter to the editor: Biased press
Seeking the truth (a lost virtue) should always be job No. 1 of any in a free press. But too often the truth gets slanted to fit an agenda. Case in point: In November, a march in Washington of pro-Israeli supporters had an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people in attendance,...
Letter to the editor: Foie gras ban shows Pittsburgh’s compassion
I am in support of the recent ban on foie gras sale and production in the city of Pittsburgh, as it reflects our city’s progressiveness and commitment to a more compassionate future for all beings (“Pittsburgh bans foie gras, pauses efforts to bar fur sales, horse-drawn carriages,” Dec. 18, TribLive)....
Rich Fitzgerald: Reflecting on 12 years of service
As I near the end of my third and final term, it provides a perfect opportunity to say thank you to Allegheny County residents. It has been the privilege of my life to serve in this position, and to represent you as county executive. Together, we have accomplished a great...
Jonah Goldberg: 2023 was the year I started believing in the horseshoe theory of politics
This is the season for columnists to offer some new idea that encapsulates the year that was. I got nothing. But 2023 was the year I finally abandoned my opposition to an old idea — the horseshoe theory of political ideologies. The term is often attributed to French author Jean-Pierre...
Kelly McKinney: Are we as a nation ready for the next big threat? What Oct. 7 and the pandemic have taught us
I was stunned by the early morning headline that appeared in my email. According to The New York Times, Israeli officials had known about Hamas’ plan for more than a year before it launched its Oct. 7 attacks. This could not be true. The Israel that I have come to...
Letter to the editor: AI, digital dollar will destroy us
So here we are in year 3 of the most senseless government the U.S. has ever had. The funny thing is everyone is going along with their stupidity. Let’s have a little checklist. I think Bidenomics is a lie; not abandoning our soldiers — a lie; making your life better...
Letter to the editor: Vegan New Year’s resolution benefits all
It’s that time again. Millions of people around the world will make New Year’s resolutions that they plan to keep. Some decide it’s time to lose a few pounds or maybe make the decision to unplug from social media. One of the more popular resolutions is choosing to go vegan....
Editorial: What mattered to readers in 2023?
Every day in this space, we try to open a conversation. The idea isn’t to tell you how to think or what to think. It’s to take the stories that are breaking across the other pages and explore them. Are there questions you want answered? Are there angles that should...
Letter to the editor: Consumers would pay bills for carbon regulation
The Dec. 14 op-ed “Legislators should come to table for Pa.’s energy future” (Dec. 14, TribLive) offers “a form of cap-and-invest carbon regulation for the power sector” as an alternative to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). However, cap-and-invest is just a scheme by another name to impose costs on...
Bobby Ghosh: Pro pickleball’s woes won’t dent the sport
In the great national divide over pickleball, one side is enjoying a serving of schadenfreude over the news that the sport’s professional league is in trouble. Those who view the sport as an abomination — and they are legion — will take heart from the fact that Major League Pickleball,...
Letter to the editor: Which party is looking out for seniors?
The writer of the letter “Who’s going to help senior citizens?” (Nov. 2, TribLive) seems to forget that seniors got an 8.7% cost of living adjustment (COLA) in Social Security payments in 2023, the largest increase in 40 years. While this was not nearly enough for struggling seniors on a...
Editorial: Why Biden can’t convince voters he has beaten inflation
Economic happy talk doesn’t lower mortgage payments. It’s one reason Bidenomics remains deeply unpopular. President Joe Biden wants the public to believe the economy is doing great. At a recent campaign event, Biden bragged that he had overseen “record job creation, historic economic growth (and) among the lowest inflation rates...
Letter to the editor: Only Trump can save us
For the last 50 years we have been warned about the dire consequences of “global warming.” I believe this is one of the primary vehicles America-hating globalists are using to destroy our country: It was never about saving the planet, but about exercising control over the population. Here’s how: Scare...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 25
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 25....
Tom Purcell: Adopting a pet a win-win New Year’s resolution
Here’s a great New Year’s resolution: Get a pet. As we wrap up a very inflationary 2023, pet shelters across the country are at maximum capacity, and they don’t have room to house the pets people are turning in. ABC News reports that animals entering shelters began to climb in...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 25
.Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 25....
Letter to the editor: Love the Steelers, but not Tomlin
Mark Madden’s column regarding the Dec. 16 loss to Indianapolis was spot on in every point (“Steelers’ loss to Colts another embarrassment for Mike Tomlin,” Dec. 17, TribLive). We have watched the loss of spirit, the poor decision-making, the relentless pursuit of mediocrity instead of excellence — since the opening...
Letter to the editor: Immediate action needed on gun safety
Gun violence is an epidemic that claimed 1,900 Pennsylvanian lives in 2022 and is the leading cause of death in U.S. children ages 1-19. Yet since publication of my letter “Protect our children from gun violence” (May 4, TribLive), nothing has changed, due to a state Legislature that is so...
Editorial: We wish you a merry Christmas
What is your Christmas tradition? Do you open presents on Christmas Eve? Is that the night you finally decorate the tree? Do you eat homemade candy and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Do you dress in matching pajamas? Do you put your kids to bed and then eat the plate...
Letter to the editor: Ceasefire won’t work in Gaza
It’s clear that ceasefires have not brought peace in the Middle East, but instead prolonged the violence. Over the past 80 years, terrorist groups have attacked Israel and frequently killed innocent civilians. And whenever Israel fights back to the verge of victory, the U.N. calls a ceasefire. Ceasefires allow terrorists...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: People who care keep Christmas alive for those in need
“Santa isn’t coming to certain homes because they’re poor? I don’t think so. Santa’s sleigh stops here first,” according to the Rev. Tracy Hudson, the manager of volunteers and the holiday coat and toy drive for Pittsburgh’s East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM). That’s the Christmas spirit that will make the...
Llewellyn King: Christmas is the world’s festival, its happy place
I am an oddball. I like to work on Christmas. I don’t know how it is now, but when I was younger and worked for newspapers, variously in Africa, Britain and the United States, I always volunteered to work over the holiday and loved it. There was a special Christmas...
