Opinion category, Page 305
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 6
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 6....
Tracey L. Rogers: Teach Black history — don’t ban it
When Republican President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, he called on Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.” He also acknowledged that Black Americans had shown “courage and perseverance” when our country had failed to live up to its...
Michael Reagan: IRS tightens the screws on the gig economy
The IRS is so kind. Our most beloved federal agency has delayed until next year a new income-reporting law it has carefully designed to squeeze the last drops of tax revenue out of many of us. The new IRS rule is aimed at millions of self-employed people and small business...
Letter to the editor: Giving up guns won’t end carnage
Regarding “‘Don’t be numb to this’: Battling despair over gun deaths” (Jan. 29, TribLIVE): As a lifelong hunting and firearm enthusiast, I would gladly give up my modern firearms if it would end the active shooter carnage we are now experiencing. But it won’t because the bad guys who have...
Letter to the editor: Let’s live up to Franco’s legacy
During his swearing-in ceremony as our new governor, Josh Shapiro said, “Pennsylvanians can indeed find light in the midst of darkness and drown out the voices of hate and bigotry. ... Here in Pennsylvania, we didn’t allow the extremists who peddle lies to drown out the truth. ... We assume...
Editorial: Let’s not forget what working at home taught us
It’s back to normal for Pennsylvania government. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Thursday that 2,300 state employees will be heading back to the office. That move came on the heels of President Joe Biden’s decision that federal emergency measures related to the coronavirus pandemic will end in May. These are positive...
Letter to the editor: School book proposals problematic
The Hempfield Area School District recently drafted a proposed update to the district’s resource material policy, which applies to library books (“Hempfield book policy draft could provide guardrails to sexualized content,” Jan. 19, TribLIVE). The proposed changes are extremely problematic. One proposed revision says that high school students may view...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Our real Groundhog Day, an endless loop of tragedy
Another Groundhog Day has come and gone. It was started by German immigrants in Pennsylvania in 1887 in Punxsutawney. Historians say it is based on a pre-Christian ritual that used the behavior of small animals to predict the weather, back when believing that you could predict the start of spring...
William D. Hartung: Can Biden keep sending Ukraine weapons without provoking Russia?
The Biden administration announced last month that the U.S. will provide 31 Abrams M-1 tanks to Ukraine, and Germany said it will send 14 of its Leopard tanks to Kyiv. The tank deal and the first anniversary of the start of the war in February offer an opportunity to evaluate...
Jim Warren: NewsGuard tested ChatGPT’s potential for misinformation. Here’s what we found.
The Oscar-nominated short film “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It” could be the name for Silicon Valley’s latest gift to Western civilization — and to many practitioners of misinformation. The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has been heralded as if it’s a techno-...
Neil Hare: Winning GOP strategy in 2024 – back to business with immigration reform
The recent GOP attacks on the business community, including its leading advocacy group the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, arguably contributed to a poor showing in the 2022 midterms and is not the answer for success in the presidential and congressional elections in 2024. The main policy targets for these attacks...
Alexis Karteron: Tyre Nichols’ death prompts calls for federal legislation to promote police reform — but Congress can’t do much about fixing local police
The severe beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, by five Memphis police officers — leading to his death three days later — has sparked renewed calls for federal measures to combat police violence and racism. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a package of reform initiatives aimed...
Letter to the editor: Republicans holding abuse victims hostage
There seems to be no depth that Republicans in Harrisburg will not sink to in order to get their way. An amendment to the state Constitution would have opened a new time window for reporting sexual abuse of minors. No one in their right mind could openly oppose it. The...
Sounding off: ‘Equity,’ documents, ‘wokies,’ taxes and roadside trash among week’s topics
WCCC’s ‘equity’ isn’t ‘equality’ Isn’t this special. Westmoreland County Community College has created a “Center for Equity, Inclusion and Belonging,” according to a glowing newspaper report (“Westmoreland County Community College opens Center for Equity, Inclusion, Belonging,” Jan. 27, TribLIVE). Lots to unpack here, but let’s pick one nit. Equity. “Equity”...
Letter to the editor: Biden should close borders
Hey, President Biden, when are you going to get your priorities straight? You and you alone are destroying America by not closing our borders. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is a joke, and, so far, so are you. The amount of drugs, criminals, “gotaways” and probably terrorists coming over our...
Editorial: Is Pennsylvania using anxiety as a gateway to marijuana?
Feeling anxious? You aren’t alone. The National Institute of Mental Health puts the number of people diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder at about 6.8 million adults. That’s more than 3% of the population. It doesn’t necessarily include those suffering from social anxiety disorder, panic attacks or phobias that also could...
Letter to the editor: Comparing Trump, Biden administrations
Both politically conservative and politically left-wing letter writers call each other names and traffic in disinformation. And, since the biased mainstream media is full of omissions and lies, how can we voters determine the real facts? Perhaps comparing presidential job achievements the past six years might make the picture clearer....
Gary Franks: Our 21st-century Klansmen no longer have sheets and hoods
Maybe I have been too exposed to the Ku Klux Klan and their sympathizers over the years — whether they were dressed in white robes or now wearing Brooks Brothers suits. I have had classic KKK experiences. As a youngster I was a victim of the KKK when they burned...
S.E. Cupp: Moving on from Trump and his voters
“Press them hard enough, and most Republican officials … will privately admit that Donald Trump has become a problem,” writes McKay Coppins in a new Atlantic piece. “Aside from his most blinkered loyalists, virtually everyone in the party agrees: It’s time to move on from Trump.” I don’t doubt that’s...
Letter to the editor: Why doesn’t PennDOT keep roads clean?
Which PennDOT division is responsible for keeping our highways free of litter, trash and animal carcasses? Whoever they are, they’ve either retired, been fired, quit, moved or died. Route 28 north of Pittsburgh looks like a dump, both north and southbound lanes. It’s embarrassing! I guess all of the PennDOT...
Letter to the editor: WCCC’s ‘equity’ isn’t ‘equality’
Isn’t this special. Westmoreland County Community College has created a “Center for Equity, Inclusion and Belonging,” according to a glowing newspaper report (“Westmoreland County Community College opens Center for Equity, Inclusion, Belonging,” Jan. 27, TribLIVE). Lots to unpack here, but let’s pick one nit: equity. “Equity” is not “equality.” Equality...
Lori Falce: Bad actions hurt good police and all communities
Tyre Nichols was 29 years old the day he was stopped by police officers in Memphis. Body cam videos released by the police department showed an agonizingly long process that led to his death. He was dragged from his vehicle. He was beaten and Tased and pepper-sprayed. He broke free...
Laurels & lances: Vaping, heating and smiling
Laurel: To adding new tools. As the song says, “Everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school.” That historically has been about cigarettes but has branched out to the modern version — vaping. It is illegal to sell any tobacco products, including vaping products, to those under 21 in Pennsylvania....
Letter to the editor: Voting encouraged in Feb. 7 special election
If there is one thing we know at AARP, it’s that Pennsylvanians 50-plus vote. That’s why we want to ensure that people age 50-plus and their families know about the quick-approaching elections in Allegheny County. Although the first opportunity to vote in the 2023 election cycle was anticipated to be...
Paul Kengor: The sad, slow death of cinema
“Watching cinema inexorably die … brings me little pleasure,” writes cultural observer and film critic Lou Aguilar. “I dedicated most of my life to the art, first as an admirer then a critic.” Aguilar is a colleague of mine at The American Spectator. What inspired his lament, a piece that...
