Opinion category, Page 38
Allison Schrager: How can an economy this good feel this bad?
On paper, these are good times for the U.S. economy. The latest GDP numbers show growth was at 3.3% in the second quarter. Business investment is up. The unemployment rate remains low, and the inflation rate is reasonable. Still, underneath it all lies a nagging question: If the economy is...
Letter to the editor: Bring on high school football
The crisp air on a Friday night and the sun glistening on the rustling leaves on a Saturday afternoon always brings back memories and the excitement of WPIAL high school football. Fall is my favorite time of year because it brings on the football season. I like high school football...
Letter to the editor: Stand up, speak out and vote
This current administration is pounding dangerous chaos on us: troops in our cities for no good reason; on-and-off-again tariff wars; loyalty-style governance; photo ops with a Russian dictator; voter suppression measures, including possible elimination of mail-in balloting; strong-arming our libraries, universities, media companies and private corporations; scare tactics of intimidation...
Editorial: Florida is promoting dangerous policy to please anti-vaxxers
President Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be health and human services secretary to shake up the country’s public health status quo. Shake it up he has, putting vaccine skepticism at the helm of life-changing decisions and placing chosen outcomes ahead of data. Florida is proving to be...
Letter to the editor: Society is unraveling
If you follow current events, I think it’s obvious to you that societal cohesion and cooperation are quickly unraveling. The thin veneer of civilization is peeling off like a bad paint job. When I was in grade school we said the Pledge of Allegiance and prayed every day. Students respected...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 8
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 8....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 8
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 8....
Letter to the editor: Solar facilities are not ‘farms’
Regarding the article “Derry Township residents object to proposed solar farm, cite concerns about health, water” (Sept. 3, TribLive), I suggest that using the term “solar farm” is inappropriate. There is no farm here. Instead, there is utility-scale solar energy generation. Please consider the phrase “solar energy facility” as an...
Letter to the editor: Trafford will become a transit desert
Trafford’s only fixed route bus service is on the chopping block — but it doesn’t have to be this way. You can help us save the Trafford bus. Trafford is in danger of losing its fixed route bus service unless Pittsburgh Regional Transit receives secure funding from the state. Westmoreland...
Editorial: No stocks for Congress
While a Gallup poll this year indicated about 62% of Americans own stocks, the numbers are not quite what they seem. Many people may have retirement money in a 401(k) or sock away savings in an investment account of some kind. Far fewer actually own shares. Federal Reserve data says...
Letter to the editor: Mr. President, stop school shootings
Dear Mr. President, I’m sure many Americans appreciate the fact your administration is putting forth great effort to fight violent crime in our cities. Not sure we are very comfortable with armed National Guard troops being on patrol, since it seems it is a vague assignment as to what specific...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Partnership key for Pittsburgh’s Renaissance III
With an election upcoming and the promise of a new mayor, Pittsburgh once again is at the crossroads. If there is a chance to escape the post-covid urban malaise that most American cities are experiencing, Pittsburgh will have to revive the public-private partnership model that was invented here and that...
Parmy Olson: ChatGPT’s drive for engagement has a dark side
A recent lawsuit against OpenAI over the suicide of a teenager makes for difficult reading. The wrongful-death complaint filed in state court in San Francisco describes how Adam Raines, aged 16, started using ChatGPT in September 2024 to help with his homework. By April 2025, he was using the app...
Solomon D. Stevens: We can rebuild social trust, but it won’t be easy
We are witnessing an unprecedented drop in social trust in America. This lack of trust is directed toward other people and the government. Social trust began to decline in the United States in the mid-1970s, after Watergate, and it has gotten significantly worse in the last decade. The Pew Research...
Ronald L. Hirsch: What does ‘all men are created equal’ really mean?
What exactly does ‘all men are created equal’ mean in the Declaration of Independence? I used to think the answer was obvious; it was self-evident. But it’s not, at least not in today’s political context. MAGA Republicans and Democrats have a very different take on the meaning of this phrase...
Natalia Arcos Cano: Maybe I will ‘go back to where I came from’
As part of the Trump administration’s many moves toward tackling the United States’ “immigrant crisis,” the DOJ recently announced a prioritization of denaturalization procedures, a move that some migrant support organizations recognize as setting a dangerous precedent. But that’s not all. The Trump administration has also requested over $175 billion,...
Letter to the editor: Trump reaches new low with Putin
There he stood on the red-carpeted tarmac of the U.S. military installation Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, dressed in his red tie, white shirt and blue suit uniform, awaiting his invited guest. Would an honor guard and flyover add to the pomp? President Donald Trump applauded the approach of...
Editorial: Are solar farms the latest NIMBY?
What do solar farms have in common with fracking, strip clubs, halfway houses and landfills? On the surface, it might be hard to see. Solar farms and fracking couldn’t be more different, with one promoting green energy and the other built on fossil fuels. Adult entertainment might be questionable, but...
Letter to the editor: Mankind endangered
Is mankind becoming an endangered species with this present generation of humanity being the last generation that can be termed pure humans? My opinion is yes. Consider: In the beginning of mankind’s creation, all things were clean, pure, unblemished and without fault. Since then, mankind has slowly and tumultuously progressed...
S.E. Cupp: It’s Trump against America and Americans now
It had a slightly more noble sound to it in 2023, when then-former President Donald Trump made the lofty but creepy promise to a friendly MAGA crowd at CPAC. “In 2016 I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: Democrats face continued divisions over aid for Israel
At last week’s Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis, chairman Ken Martin avoided a showdown over competing policy proposals on the troubled and increasingly divisive U.S.-Israel relationship. But neither Martin nor the party’s congressional leaders are likely to prevent continued collisions in Congress and some Democratic primary splits reflecting divisions...
Steve Lopez: I got covid for the first time and can’t smell. But RFK Jr.’s vaccine policies still stink
For five years, I dodged every bullet. I don’t know how I managed to beat covid-19 for so long, even as family, friends and colleagues got hit with the coronavirus. Although I took precautions from the beginning, with masking and vaccinations, I was also out in public a lot for...
David V. Auth: Pittsburgh must grow
Pittsburgh’s failure to grow has directly contributed to the simmering fascism that has exposed its face under President Trump’s second term. With cuts to lifesaving research and foreign aid, militarization of ICE, the National Guard being deployed in our own cities, and raids at work sites, it has never been...
Letter to the editor: Is Trump’s National Guard takeover a diversion?
Taxpayer costs to repair damage to our Capitol from the Jan. 6 attack were nearly $3 million, with only 15% of the damage paid back by the offenders. There were 140 police officers hurt during the attack; one officer died from his injuries, and four officers died by suicide. Donald...
Lori Falce: Who wants to be a Powerball billionaire?
The tickets to my future are tucked in my wallet next to my driver’s license and an overburdened credit card. They are the 10 different lines of numbers to play for the Powerball lottery. They should have cost $20. They were only $16 because I won $4 in Wednesday’s drawing...
