Opinion category, Page 32
Letter to the editor: Political theater is necessary
To Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew, When you call civic engagement “political theater” “Nothing to see: Westmoreland commissioners debate streaming of public meetings,” Sept. 28, TribLive), you may not realize how right you are, and how proud that should make all of us. Western theater was born as civic engagement....
Bill Johnson: Universities must lead the way on freedom of speech
Freedom of speech has always demanded courage, and courage is the one virtue universities cannot delegate. When free speech becomes fatal speech — as it did recently with the assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus — Americans demand — and deserve — a change. I believe our nation’s...
Panini A. Chowdhury: Southwestern Pa. must plan smarter for data centers
Artificial intelligence is changing nearly everything about the way we live, work and — before long — govern. We see the headlines about breakthroughs in generative models and predictive engines, but what we don’t see as easily is the physical backbone powering all of this: data centers. Every AI application...
Letter to the editor: Labeling all Democrats as ‘evil’ is wrong, divisive
A recent letter attacking the Democratic Party was false, dangerous and self-serving (“Democrats have become party of evil,” Sept. 20, TribLive). Claiming Democrats “hate America” or reject “God-given freedoms” is simply untrue. Millions of Democrats are veterans, first responders, union members, small-business owners, parents and church-going Americans who love this...
Letter to the editor: Spread pain around instead of county layoffs
Westmoreland County has 1,700 government employees. Beginning Oct. 13, 125 workers will be furloughed because of the Pennsylvania budget impasse. Would it have been both legal and fair to cut everyone’s wages by 5% to spread the pain around instead of 125 workers losing all their wages and having to...
Letter to the editor: Pollution coming to creeks near you
A warning to all anglers, conservationists and nature lovers: Stay out of Dawson Run, Deer Creek and Bull Creek moving forward. And keep your pets and children out of there, too, because those waterways are about to suffer the impact of yet another natural gas well. On Aug. 6, the...
Editorial: Irish trip during budget impasse is tone-deaf for lawmakers
On Sunday, Pennsylvania leaders were overseas. A certain amount of business travel is to be expected for elected officials. Legislators regularly traverse the state for in-person events and hearings in various areas, as well as moving to and from their home seats to Harrisburg. They may have to go to...
Editorial: A chance to save Ukraine: Trump’s sudden Ukraine support is worth capitalizing on
Now that Donald Trump has come around to publicly stating that besieged Ukraine could use military support from the U.S. and the European Union to fully recover all of the territory taken over by Russia, the world should lock in the president’s U-turn, which stunned policymakers everywhere. Trump has clearly...
Cory Franklin: The dark reality behind the Chinese president’s hot mic moment about transplanted organs
During a recent military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin was caught on a hot mic saying to Xi Jinping, his Communist Chinese counterpart, “Human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and (you can) even achieve immortality.” Xi responded:...
Elizabeth Shackelford: Why we need dissent
This month I began teaching a new undergraduate course on Dissent and Democracy in the World. I started developing the course over a year ago, convinced that the subject is not only essential to well-functioning communities, but also not well understood or appreciated in American society today. When the class...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s Ukraine lesson
Well, I guess President Trump found out that he/his family couldn’t make any money out of the war in Ukraine no matter who he backed or who wins. He also found out that ending a war of this magnitude requires skillful negotiating, sustained thinking talents and patience. I don’t think...
Letter to the editor: Competent leadership matters
Competence in leadership is crucial. When Republicans and President Trump are at the helm, America experiences tangible results. Under Trump’s leadership, our economy thrived, unemployment reached record lows and families benefited from significant tax cuts. He prioritized American workers, secured our borders and emphasized that law and order are nonnegotiable....
Letter to the editor: AI killing resources
As of Sept. 18, parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania are in extreme drought. Climate change will only make this more common. While people are warned to conserve water, our elected officials like Gov. Josh Shapiro are looking to pave the way for water-greedy data centers. Food & Water Watch research points...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 29
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 29....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 29
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 29....
Letter to the editor: The hate has to stop
The writer of the letter “Soft-on-crime policies have tragic consequences” (Sept. 26, TribLive) says Democrats are soft on crime and let criminals out on the street. Did you forget the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and President Trump pardoning everyone charged with or convicted of crimes related to the day? Many...
Letter to the editor: Community voices not being heard in West Leechburg
I recently proposed an amendment to our borough’s backyard chicken ordinance, but instead of giving the idea fair consideration or allowing residents to weigh in, our borough council dismissed it almost immediately. Their reasoning was that enforcement would be “too costly” and that allowing backyard chickens would somehow “destroy the...
Editorial: What does U.S. Steel’s $100 million announcement mean?
A promise has been made for the Pittsburgh steel industry. Again. Last week, U.S. Steel announced it was committing $100 million to a new slag recycler at the Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock. Any investment in the steel industry facilities throughout Western Pennsylvania is more than an investment in equipment...
Letter to the editor: Ideas to freshen up our communities
After being reminded that local leaders are always looking for suggestions on how to improve our communities, I thought I’d offer a few ideas. Hopefully, one or two are useful. First, I realize budgets are limited and everything can’t be accomplished overnight. Perhaps in conjunction with other future projects, something...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: In politics, friends are hard to come by
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, “Of all possessions a friend is the most precious.” We all know that personal friendships are priceless and enduringly important in our lives. Public friendships, as we have seen recently, test personal loyalty and consistency in the most visible way. When President Donald Trump...
Patricia Lopez: ICE raids or work permits? The White House wants it both ways
President Donald Trump’s promise to ratchet immigration levels back is colliding headlong with his other goal: a thriving economy that brings manufacturing and foreign investment back to the U.S. He can’t have it both ways, but he doesn’t seem to understand that. Perhaps that’s why his administration keeps dangling —...
Counterpoint: The Smithsonian should not propagate ideology
President Donald Trump is right. The Smithsonian is “out of control.” And it should be a concern to all Americans, whether you agree with Trump on other issues or not. It is the heritage of us all that is under assault. The Smithsonian’s 19 museums and galleries in the Washington...
Point: Yes, Trump is censoring history
On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Trump administration is rewriting history by wielding the tools of censorship and erasure. At the National Park Service site honoring Charles Pickney, who wrote a draft of the Declaration of Independence, for example, references...
Letter to the editor: Steelers’ overpayments
In his column “Steelers not getting their money’s worth from T.J. Watt” (Sept. 20, TribLive), Mark Madden observed: “Look at the Steelers’ roster and stat sheet. Paying name veterans too much money to underperform seems a developing theme.” Also telling is that since Cameron Heyward was drafted in the first...
Letter to the editor: Political violence from the left
I’ve heard and read the quote “there is no place for political violence” many times in the past week or so. It’s been said by elected government officials, pundits and podcasters. While political violence does seem on the rise, and it is not unique to the left, I find it...
