Opinion category, Page 565
Letter to the editor: Not all disabilities are visible
I have nothing but respect for veterans. I have several in my own family, and applaud stores that have designated parking spots for those who have served our country. But the letter “Veterans deserve ‘primo’ parking spots” (Nov. 9, TribLIVE) stating that handicapped spots should be given to those who...
Walter Williams: Correct diagnostics needed on racial problems
You present to a physician with severe abdominal pain. He examines you and concludes that your ingrown toenails are the cause of your abdominal distress. He prescribes that you soak your feet in warm water, but that does not bring relief to your abdominal pain. Then he suggests that you...
Local nurse leaders: Please be vigilant on covid-19
The recent rise in covid-19 cases across the United States is a serious reminder of the strength and longevity of this pandemic. Western Pennsylvania is not immune to the increased number of cases. There have been more than 1,000 deaths and over 45,000 in our 14-county region, and we continue...
Letter to the editor: Media playing part in kabuki dance
We are witnessing a kabuki dance. News outlets, including Fox News, are acting their part. Unless we are in a time warp, and missed it, no electoral votes have been cast, votes of the states certified or all legal challenges adjudicated. Now that the news media, including Fox, have been...
Letter to the editor: Health department must dodge U.S. Steel bullet
The Allegheny County Board of Health is proposing updates to coke oven gas emissions at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. Years ago, the corporation committed to upgrading those ovens but stopped partway through the job. Last year, U.S. Steel made another commitment, to invest $1.2 billion in its Mon Valley...
John Stossel: The climate hustle
I hear that climate change will destroy much of the world. “There will be irreversible damage to the planet!” warns a CNN anchor. Joe Biden says he’ll spend $500 billion a year to fight what his website calls an “existential threat to life.” Really? I’m a consumer reporter. Over the...
Lori Falce: Teachers need sick days, too
My friend was alone in her house. Her husband and daughters had taken refuge elsewhere because she hadn’t only tested positive for covid-19 — she was clearly sick with it. She couldn’t taste or smell anything. She coughed and coughed and felt kitten-like weakness. She was scared for herself and...
Letter to the editor: RGGI hikes energy costs
As over 1 million Pennsylvanians struggle to pay their utility bills, Gov. Tom Wolf pushes for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade policy that increases energy costs. In his letter “RGGI will help Pa. in post-coal world” (Oct. 20, TribLIVE), environmental activist Andrew Woomer challenged opponents of RGGI...
Laurels & lances: Neighbors, risks and connections
Laurel: To good neighbors. The Tree of Life Congregation still has no permanent home since the 2018 shooting at its synagogue, where two other congregations worshipped, as well. The attack killed 11 from the three congregations in the largest, deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. The synagogue in Squirrel Hill...
Kenneth Thorpe and Erik Paulsen: Superbugs will kill millions — unless Congress acts
We’re in the midst of the worst health crisis of the 21st century — and it’s not covid-19. The coronavirus is a terrible disease, of course. In just 10 months, it has killed more than 1 million people around the globe. But there’s a far more dangerous plague circulating through...
Peter Morici: With Biden, relations with Europe will only be cosmetically better
Many establishment foreign-policy experts blame Donald Trump for the poor state of relations with Europe. However, a Joe Biden presidency cannot resolve enduring differences and dysfunctions that stress trans-Atlantic cooperation. For example, Biden can stop blocking World Trade Organization dispute settlement, and rejoin the World Health Organization and the Paris...
Carol Ann Gregg: Farmers, consumers beware — natural gas foes have vision but no plan
Farmers in Pennsylvania and other states have good reason to be uneasy about future energy policies popularizing the political fringes. Unlike a sudden and unpredictable pandemic that threw the world into turmoil, differing paths on the use of America’s abundant fossil fuel resources could have predictably bad consequences for agriculture...
Letter to the editor: Playbook of political losers
So the election is over and since the 15th president of my lifetime is to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, does that mean the losing party will start the impeachment and collusion proceedings on Jan. 21? This is the recent history of our so-called political leaders, or should I say...
Letter to the editor: Election autopsy would clear the air
What’s the rush? We have had four years of investigations. Three (at least) on Russia. One impeachment. Probes on taxes, the FBI, foreign involvement, Department of Justice hearings, etc. Now with “dead time” before the electors meet Dec. 14, there is a call to pack up and move on. What...
Editorial: Tranquilli resignation is last judicious word
Nolle prosequi is one of those formal, Latin phrases that abounds in the law. Translated to English as “not to follow,” in court it refers to a charge that isn’t pursued, often because of a plea deal where other charges were completed. On Tuesday, Allegheny County Judge Mark V. Tranquilli...
Letter to the editor: No voter fraud; let’s move on
It is unfortunate that in these times anybody can throw out any sort of nonsense, and so many people will believe anything. Letter-writer Al Bianchini, offering no evidence, states that the election was “a fiasco” and “mail-in balloting is a disaster” (“U.S. voting system is a disaster,” Nov. 11, TribLIVE)....
Sen.-elect Cris Dush: Confirming election results needed for public trust
Pennsylvania is an epicenter of the 2020 general election. Just 82,000 votes separate former Vice President Joe Biden from President Trump, but in the world we live in, whichever candidate ultimately wins, half the country — and half of Pennsylvania — may distrust the results. I represent Indiana and Jefferson...
Jonah Goldberg: To the end, Trump’s presidency is all about him
“Despite the Left’s attempts to undermine this Election, I will NEVER stop fighting for YOU,” President Trump assured me in a fundraising email. I don’t take campaign fundraising emails seriously (never mind literally). They’re all pretty stupid. But this one was obviously different, for the simple reason that the election...
Letter to the editor: Questioning Steelers’ helmet choice
I want to thank Bill Kute for his letter “Won’t watch NFL” (Nov. 14). I, too, don’t understand why the Steelers would put Antwon Rose’s name on their helmets, especially when he was involved in criminal activity. Hats off to Alejandro Villanueva. Marie Miller Derry Township...
Letter to the editor: Following Democrats’ protocol
Now that we have a Democrat as president, we should follow the Democrats’ protocol. To me, this means giving everyone free everything regardless of not having funding, making many unsubstantiated accusations for anything we can think of, filing as many frivolous lawsuits as we can dream up and, very importantly,...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s taxes
Before the election, I saw a small sign indicating that while President Trump paid $750 for two years in federal income taxes, registered nurses, firefighters and police officers, on average, paid $2,500 in federal income taxes. Remember what he said when asked prior to the 2016 election — that he...
Editorial: The commonwealth’s appeal to serious common sense on coronavirus safety
Is Pennsylvania doing what it should have been doing all along with the coronavirus pandemic? Secretary of Health Rachel Levine announced Tuesday “targeted efforts” to address rising covid-19 numbers. The measures include beefing up the mask mandate she issued in April. It will demand people be masked inside anytime they...
Letter to the editor: Left’s hypocrisy on display
The hypocrisy of the left revealed itself on Nov. 7 with the media’s proclamation that Joe Biden will be the country’s 46th president. Despite businesses boarding up their windows in preparation for mass chaos, there were no signs of violence or looting by the more than 70 million people who...
Sen. Jay Costa: Our election was fair and secure
I did not expect President Trump to take his loss gracefully, but I have to admit I did not expect to see my Republican colleagues in the General Assembly run to his aid and make bad-faith allegations about our election. Pennsylvania ran a methodical, secure and accurate election, and I...
Pat Buchanan: Beijing sends Biden a warning
Because of Donald Trump, Vice President Joe Biden thundered during the campaign, the U.S. “is more isolated in the world than we’ve ever been. … America First has made America alone.” Biden promised to repair relations with America’s allies. And he appears to have gone some distance to do so...
