Opinion category, Page 217
Letter to the editor: The left isn’t very tolerant
I am always fascinated when I hear people speak or see writings about tolerance as exemplified by the op-ed “Pittsburgh can use the arts to fight intolerance” (Dec. 11, TribLive). Tolerance in the conventional sense is a good thing. When I hear a car pass my house playing music I...
Jonah Goldberg: Nikki Haley’s slavery gaffe is a rare misstep for a good politician
Nikki Haley gave a bad answer to an easy question: What caused the Civil War? She replied with a word-salad on freedom and the role of government while failing to mention the word “slavery” at all. We don’t need to dwell on why it was a bad answer. The Civil...
Chris Heck: Bipartisan hope to protect Medicare
In the complex and often contentious world of health care policy, a glimmer of hope has emerged on the horizon. A bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives has taken a stand to protect Medicare from looming cuts to physician compensation. The introduction of House Resolution 6683...
Letter to the editor: Steelers’ coaching controversy
For two years I have spoken about what Steelers Nation saw in the Dec. 23 shellacking of the Bengals. It knocked those rose-colored glasses right off Mike Tomlin’s nose and the rest of the excuse-making Kenny Pickett supporters. Only Matt Canada is laughing harder than yours truly. Tomlin finally let the...
Letter to the editor: God save us from ourselves
America has become a place of evilness. A Congress that doesn’t do anything about gun violence and immigration. Do nothing and become millionaires from political donations. All we hear is excuses. Every day we are bombarded with lies, fear, hate and conspiracy theories to where we can’t figure out the...
Editorial: Keep track of your gun or face the consequences
There is only so much you can rely upon people to do for themselves — especially when it’s clear they aren’t doing it. Given the opportunity, people will drive their cars faster than the speed limit. To address that, we have speeding tickets that make it expensive to ignore the...
Letter to the editor: Biden should be impeached over immigration
Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states: “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The Constitution is very clear about what constitutes an impeachable...
Elwood Watson: Generation X is almost 60
Latchkey kids. Slackers. Caffeine lovers. Grunge. That’s how a lot of people have referred to Generation X, the 46 million Americans, like myself, who were born between 1965 and 1980. We were a generation that has been perennially pegged as cynical, self-indulgent, aimless, contrarian and often peripheral when it comes...
Noah Feldman: The New York Times has an edge in suit against OpenAI
The lawsuit filed by the New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement pits one of the great establishment media institutions against the purveyor of a transformative new technology. Symbolically, the case promises a clash of the titans: labor-intensive human newsgathering against pushbutton information produced by artificial intelligence....
Jason Opal: Even as American colonists defied the British, they understood the importance of the rule of law
The dominant storyline of our American Revolution is about patriotic defiance — refusing to pay taxes, dumping tea into the Boston Harbor and shooting redcoats once we saw the whites of their eyes. It’s about virtuous lawbreaking in the name of freedom. There is plenty of evidence to support this...
Letter to the editor: Westmoreland County tax increase and commissioner raises
Regarding the article “Westmoreland commissioners blame past fiscal neglect in approving 32.5% tax hike” (Dec. 21, TribLive): Dear Westmoreland County commissioners: How dare you! Raise property taxes 32.5%? Give yourself a 3.5% raise? I will not be getting a cost of living raise. When I have a debt to pay,...
Letter to the editor: Space pigs on PRT buses
On Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses, the first two seats behind the driver and the first three seats by the door entrance have the back toward the windows. The first two seats on each side that face the front, along with those first five seats, have one thing in common —...
Editorial: Humans over machines — New York Times seeks to protect journalism in suing OpenAI, Microsoft
The New York Times is not content to let OpenAI and Microsoft get rich using the newspaper’s web content for artificial intelligence like ChatGPT without paying and sued this week in federal court. We don’t know if the pun on the word “content” is particularly funny or if an AI...
Letter to the editor: From Reaganomics to Bidenomics
After 40 destructive years of supply-side Reaganomics, the vulture capitalism that President George H.W. Bush called “voodoo economics,” where big donors are enriched and budget deficits are increased, finally we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to the American people, no matter what religion, race,...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 1
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 1....
Tom Purcell: The urgency to become cybersecure in 2024
Cyberattacks will be significantly worse in 2024 for anyone who uses a digital device. Yet few are aware of, or prepared for, the threats they face — or how their poor cybersecurity skills are putting them and their families at incredible risk. Case in point: Last year, the top 10...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 1
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 1....
Letter to the editor: Westmoreland County leaders should fix finances without tax increase
So our elected Westmoreland County officials have mismanaged our tax money again (“Westmoreland commissioners blame past fiscal neglect in approving 32.5% tax hike,” Dec. 21, TribLive). Because of this, we are facing a record tax increase. I don’t know where they expect everyone on fixed incomes to find this money....
Letter to the editor: Grateful for law enforcement, school leaders for keeping children safe
On Dec. 21 our family was at Burrell High School for a preschool program when the call for a lockdown came over the PA system. This was a new experience for us, as, during our school years, we only experienced the occasional fire drill. I can attest that the situation...
Editorial: Who owns Pennsylvania’s historical records?
Pennsylvania’s history is frequently bigger than the state. From the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in Philadelphia to the sweeping battlefields of Gettysburg to the remains of Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh, the Keystone State is a rich cache of evidence of what came before. But it isn’t all buildings and...
Letter to the editor: Child care tax credit will help working families
The Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit recently approved by the Pennsylvania Legislature is a monumental milestone in supporting parents and caregivers, offering relief to working families throughout Pennsylvania. Recognizing the challenges posed by the lack of accessible and affordable child care, employers raised concerns about hiring difficulties, and the child...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Resolve to pay attention in this new year
Anyone who writes a newspaper column welcomes the holidays as good column fodder. New Year’s Day is an opportunity to write about new beginnings, leaving the tough parts of the past year behind and starting fresh with the turn of the calendar page. It’s almost formulaic. My 2021 New Year’s...
Counterpoint: A gilded age for college football — and the rest of us
The richest men in college football, as in the rest of the economy, are getting richer. In 1982, the legendary Bear Bryant made $450,000 coaching football at Alabama, or $1.4 million in today’s dollars. Alabama’s current coach pulls down $11.4 million, over 10 times what Bryant pocketed. Five college football...
Point: In college football, a sport driven by tradition, a revolution looms
College football is a game of tradition — from marching bands and fight songs to rivalry games and raucous student sections. But the game is undergoing its biggest revolution since the introduction of the forward pass. Billion-dollar television deals, continuing conference consolidation and the uncharted waters of player compensation threaten...
Mark Z. Barabak: Biden’s fellow seniors have advice for the 81-year-old president
For those who doubt Joe Biden’s capacity to be president, Herb Klar has a suggestion: Swing by his neighborhood sometime. “They don’t come to Rossmoor and see all the octagenarians … and see how lively and bright and competent we all are,” said Klar, 76, a retired clinical social worker,...
