Opinion category, Page 253
Editorial: Require more transparency, less politics
Football practice will begin next week at Pennsylvania’s big state-related universities, but the Legislature’s game of political football with the institutions’ funding is a year-round, far-less-entertaining spectacle. Teams from Penn State and Temple universities and the University of Pittsburgh all will have played at least three games by the time...
Letter to the editor: Climate change not causing more wildfires
The air is smoky again, and the media smoke is all about how climate change (warming) is causing more and more wildfires. As a retired U.S. Forest Service employee and one who has been recognized by federal courts as an expert in public lands policy and history, I can say...
Editorial cartoons for the week of July 24
Editorial cartoons for the week of July 24....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of July 24
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of July 24....
Letter to the editor: Book-banning futility
The article, “Hempfield book policies up for future vote with further revision” (July 10, TribLIVE), states that the school district is banning pictures of female breasts. How perverse. I believe this book banning thing has gone too far. Are we going back to the Spanish Inquisition with banning books and...
Letter to the editor: Biden won’t accept ‘no’ on student loans
President Biden’s plan to cancel an estimated $430 billion of student loan debt that is now held by more than 40 million borrowers was struck down by the Supreme Court. He has now proposed a “Plan B,” which, like his original scheme, is intended to minimize the cost of, or...
Editorial: Cyber charter reform needs to be about education, not politics
Education is a touchy subject in Pennsylvania. There is the question of funding for state-related universities. There are the concerns about tuition; Penn State just opted to increase the cost of attending its main campus yet again. There are school vouchers. The tug of war over them is behind the...
Letter to the editor: Pa. needs to hike minimum wage
I disagree with Colin McNickle’s op-ed “The lose-lose situation of a $15 Pa. minimum wage” (June 30, TribLIVE), which begins with “the Law of Unintended Consequences” — implying that unknown bad things will happen. But we know the consequences of raising the minimum wage from the myriad of recent examples....
Letter to the editor: Grateful for lifetime of Crabtree fireworks memories
My husband and I, and many others I’m sure, would like to thank St. Bartholomew Catholic Church and the businesses and patron saints of Crabtree for the spectacular display of fireworks July 15. Coming to Crabtree on this evening has been a 70-year tradition for my family. My dad would...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump knows how to feed fears
With each report of a new Donald Trump indictment or target letter, the polls show Trump solidifying support. And some political commentators continue to announce this phenomenon breathlessly, amazed at Trump’s polls as his legal troubles get worse. What they still miss, and what they should have learned years ago,...
Point: Colleges should solely consider merit in selecting students
On June 29, the Supreme Court delivered a 6-3 ruling that essentially prevents colleges from using affirmative action and race-based quotas in the college admissions acceptance process. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The race-based admissions systems … fail to comply with the twin commands of the Equal Protection Clause...
Counterpoint: Affirmative action has ended; the need for diversity hasn’t
When a conservative Supreme Court majority effectively ended the use of affirmative action in college admissions, it disregarded more than 40 years of precedent — and the realities of systemic racial discrimination. Meanwhile, the court left affirmative action for the wealthy in place. While colleges no longer can consider race...
Letter to the editor: Shearsburg Road not the Indy 500
Yes, there are roads closed and detours, but why must everyone come flying down Shearsburg Road instead of taking the Bonfire Shortcut to Route 56 to wherever they need to go? School will be back in session soon, and we have children on this road out to catch the bus...
Sounding off: Taxes, bigotry, student loans, Supreme Court, climate on readers’ minds
The government will always get you Regarding the article “Poll: Taxes, cost of living driving away young residents from Pennsylvania” (July 5, TribLIVE): I’ve developed a theory over the years that the government is going to get you somehow regardless of where you live. There will be exceptions, and one...
Letter to the editor: Insults on school choice won’t help kids
After Gov. Josh Shapiro’s sudden announcement that he would veto school choice vouchers in the state budget, the Trib prints an opinion piece, “The letter that sank school choice in Pa.” (July 15, TribLIVE) blaming it all on “noxious” Republican messengers. The author smears two previous Department of Education secretaries...
Editorial: Did we really need another special election?
Pennsylvania is facing a special election. Again. It will decide control of the state’s House of Representatives. Again. Sara Innamorato has resigned from her job as lawmaker representing the 21st District as she completes her run for Allegheny County executive. She secured the Democratic nomination for the position in the...
Letter to the editor: Cal Thomas’ comic take on our climate
In his column “The catastrophe du jour” (July 6, TribLIVE), Cal Thomas offers ample servings of scientific misunderstanding spiced with unfortunate attempts at humor. He mocks everyone from King Charles to the Green Party as hapless dupes of of a conspiracy of climate “experts.” Referring to climate predictions, he asks...
Gary Franks: Are both Reconstruction and affirmative action not ‘fair’ to nostalgic white Americans?
It is amazing how nostalgia turns into public policy. The state of Virginia is wrestling with what to do about an already removed statute of Gen. Robert E. Lee, military leader of the Confederacy and an outstanding student at West Point. However, Lee lost the Civil War to Union Gen....
Sheldon H. Jacobson: An AI Bill of Rights would be unenforceable and may do more harm than good
President Joe Biden put forward a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” that provides five guiding principles for the development and implementation of artificial intelligence. They outline aspirational goals that also align with principles in the Democratic Party platform. Technology leaders also have expressed concern about the untethered growth...
Elwood Watson: Aldean learns critics have freedom of speech, too
This week, Country Music Television pulled Jason Aldean’s highly controversial music video for “Try That in a Small Town” after its release last week sparked controversy. Aldean, one of the biggest country music stars, has been criticized widely for the song and video, which features intense hostility and threats of...
Letter to the editor: End affirmative action
The Supreme Court has ended one form of reverse discrimination (affirmative action in college admissions to achieve inclusion of minorities). White and Asian students have been denied admission to college so that less qualified Black students are given preferential consideration. That is racist. I realize that is how political correctness...
Letter to the editor: Who said it?
We will build a wall, and Mexico will pay. In the spring, when it warms up, it will disappear. (After about 1,127,000 U.S. citizens died, and it is still around.) If we rake the forest floors, there will be no more forest fires. If we paint China on our bombs...
Laurels & lances: Guns & money
Laurel: To a nice jackpot — or at least a piece of one. Visitors to Live Casino Pittsburgh generate millions in revenue for its owners. In 2022, the casino in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall reported almost $112 million between slot machines, table games and sports betting. That’s great for the company,...
Letter to the editor: Battling to save America
I realize with the diversity of opinions, philosophies and worldviews in a nation of 330 million people, there will be profound differences. Yet it’s reasonable to say that, when it comes down to the basic essentials, we all want the same things: abundant food, employment, health care, shelter, education, safety...
Letter to the editor: Pa. needs plan for dementia treatment
At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2023, researchers released the first-ever county-level prevalence estimates, finding east and southeastern U.S. states have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s dementia. In Allegheny County, the Alzheimer’s dementia prevalence estimate is 11.9% among residents age 65 or older. The research comes following the release...
