Opinion category, Page 446
Kirk Allen and John Kraft: Fauci warned about coronaviruses in 2003 — but didn’t act on it
Few would argue the United States, or any country for that matter, was prepared for the covid-19 pandemic, even though, starting in 2003, the U.S. devoted $5.6 billion to fund Project Bioshield, running through 2013, and another $2.8 billion of funding through 2018. Project Bioshield was designed to prepare the...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: The Nazis are coming
The Nazis are coming. That, to a distressing extent, is the crux of the argument being mounted by some of those who refuse to obey vaccine mandates. On Sunday, a group of them even showed up at the Bronx office of New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz with yellow Stars...
Letter to the editor: Socialist labels on Democrats
Hear, hear, Stewart Epstein (“‘Socialist’ labels on Democrats a dishonest strategy,” Nov. 17, TribLIVE). Sadly, why does it take a university educator to explain what caring and thoughtful politicians are trying to accomplish? What are these nonsupporters afraid of? Leonard Mucci Derry Township...
Letter to the editor: Let’s move past Trump
As part of my morning routine, I read a daily devotional. Part of a recent reading was as follows: “Remember that the evil one is the father of lies. Learn to recognize his deceptive intrusions into your thoughts. One of his favorite deceptions is to undermine your confidence in My...
Letter to the editor: Lucky elk hunting guide
I’m an avid newspaper reader; front page, Opinion, Sports, then comics. Sometimes I even find a hidden gem “somewhere in the middle.” A number of years ago, I came across changes to the Pennsylvania hunting guide program for elk. It seems that 2018 was the last year when one could...
Letter to the editor: Ending abortion would benefit Social Security
Hurrah to Texas voters for eliminating abortions in their state. Hopefully more states will follow suit. Keep up the good fight! More than 60 million babies have been killed since 1973, the year abortions became legal in the U.S. If those 60 million babies had the right to life, they...
Lori Falce: Treat addicts to save children
Keeping kids safe from medicine is something that is taken pretty seriously. Anyone who has tried to unscrew a childproof prescription bottle with arthritic hands or hack their way into the hermetically sealed bubble pack of some over-the-counter cold pills can testify to that. When my husband was taking nitroglycerin...
Letter to the editor: Climate change is a real threat
Climate change is an existential threat. The Government Accountability Offices states that climate-related changes have cost American taxpayers $350 billion over the past decade. The Pentagon has declared climate change to be a national security threat. The U.N. states that if global greenhouse gas emissions are not halved by 2030,...
Letter to the editor: UPMC workers deserve more
I’ve worked in food service assembly at UPMC Presbyterian for almost a year. I make less than $16 an hour, and even with five roommates, there’s not a lot left over at the end of the month. I just want to have some money in my pocket for once. We...
Laurels & lances: Stores, seats and lunch ladies
Laurel: To more stores. After years of the news out of malls being all about closings and going-out-of-business sales, it is refreshing to have the trend at one shopping center going in the opposite direction. Westmoreland Mall is seeing not just new tenants but also returning ones. It’s great to...
Rep. Mike Kelly: Parents deserve — and have earned — a greater voice in children’s education
Since Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s decisive win in Virginia, education has been deemed the top issue that propelled him to victory. Specifically, the infiltration of critical race theory (CRT) into some classrooms nationwide. Parents in Virginia revolted and ultimately awarded Youngkin the governorship, and he became the first Republican to win...
Cathy Bordner: 3 projects hamper Pittsburgh’s climate progress
Recently there has been a lot of news coverage about awards being won by the city of Pittsburgh for progress against climate change. These are certainly major accomplishments, but if you look closer at Southwestern Pennsylvania, you’ll recognize the irony of these awards. The Nov. 10 Public News Service article,...
Letter to the editor: ‘My body, my choice’ double standard
Hey, although I didn’t really want to, I decided to get my vaccines. But I have a question: If the national standard is “my body, my choice” for abortions, why doesn’t it apply to vaccines? Thomas Comini Sewickley Township...
Letter to the editor: Ask leaders to read entire Build Back Better bill
I have been examining the content of the social infrastructure (President Biden’s Build Back Better) bill that Congress is writing, now 2,500 pages. There are many free gifts, snooping options (financial privacy?) on your banking by 87,000 new IRS agents, free child care, clean energy give-aways to affluent groups vested...
Letter to the editor: Parklet sale one step in Greensburg renaissance
Is it a coincidence that all three letter-writers critical of the sale of the parklet on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg are all registered Democrats (“Questions about Greensburg parklet sale,” Oct. 12, TribLIVE; “Parklet sale slap in face to those who worked to create it,” Oct. 20, TribLIVE; “Transparency lacking...
Letter to the editor: Another Trump presidency not the answer
In his letter “Has Pelosi read Constitution?” (Oct. 27, TribLIVE), David A. Scandrol criticizes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the Jan. 6 commission’s investigation of the Capitol riot. “Who shows up for a coup d’état but fails to bring weapons?” he asks. I’d like to know what Scandrol was actually...
Editorial: Is Penguins sale good or bad for Pittsburgh?
Buying a sports franchise can be a little like flipping a house. Someone comes in with enough cash to do things that maybe haven’t been done in a while. Upgrade this. Rehab that. See if you can turn a profit. The difference is no one really sees a multimillion dollar...
Letter to the editor: Seditious actions by Biden administration
Twenty years ago, on 9/11, a small group of Muslim zealots attacked our country. This was enacted with a modicum of funds but maximum amount of cunning and zealotry. It was abetted by a maximum degree of U.S. naivete and incompetency. Today, the cunning and zealotry have been enhanced by...
Jonah Goldberg: Inflation and CRT have something in common
How is inflation like critical race theory? A lot of voters have a hard time explaining how either works, but they know they don’t like it when they see it. Obviously, it’s a silly comparison on the merits. For starters, some voters actually like critical race theory while nobody likes...
Letter to the editor: Lack of urgency for change in Jeannette
In response to the article “Westmoreland commissioners told to ‘do the right thing’ with covid relief money” (Oct. 28, TribLIVE): On Oct. 28, I attended as Westmoreland County Community College was host to county commissioners for suggestions on how communities could use part of the $105 million in federal covid...
Letter to the editor: Perplexing questions
To poet laureate David Ninehouser (“Trump’s not afraid,” Oct. 29, TribLIVE) and Joe D’Astolfo, Biden pugilist-in-the-making, for “knocking some sense” into President Trump (”Enough with Trump’s ‘big lie,’ ” Oct. 8, TribLIVE), my questions: If a president’s son has sex with a Russian prostitute while high on crack and records it,...
Editorial: Invasive species are environmental threat everyone can fight
Pennsylvania is a state often associated with industry. Steel and glass. Coal and gas. But the Keystone State is just as famous for its nature. The U.S. Forest Service confirms that it has more areas wooded than not, with 16.8 million acres or 58% of the state. There are more...
Letter to the editor: ‘Socialist’ labels on Democrats a dishonest strategy
It’s a good time for the Democrats to expose what Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics, refers to as the “dishonest political strategy” used by conservative Republicans: calling most (if not all) congressional Democrats names like “socialists,” “Marxists,” “communists,” “far leftists” and “radical leftists.” I do...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: How young is too young to teach white kids about race?
Isabella Tichenor killed herself a few days ago. She was 10 years old. Her mother, Brittany Tichenor-Cox, said last week that her daughter — she called her “Izzy” — had been the target of ongoing racist abuse from classmates at her school in North Salt Lake, Utah. Izzy, who was...
Pat Buchanan: Are Democrats looking to the lifeboats?
Not so long ago, President Joe Biden was being talked of as a transformative president, a second Franklin D. Roosevelt in terms of the domestic agenda he would enact. And there was substance to the claim. Early in his presidency, Biden had passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package. While his...
