Opinion category, Page 692
Peter Morici: U.K. elections could be beginning of end for EU
In Thursday’s elections, Boris Johnson has a decent shot at winning a workable majority in Parliament to pull the U.K. out of the European Union. This could be a turning point for Europe — rather than enabling consolidation of the continental bloc, Brexit will provide the contrast that blows it...
Editorial: It’s flu season. Did you get your shot?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s color-coded map indicates how much influenza has been detected by the end of November, a month that is normally outside of serious concerns about the disease. Pennsylvania is purple — the darkest shade for the highest threat. Influenza here is widespread — just...
Letter to the editor: Pa. Legislature should be cut down
Pa. Legislature should be cut down The Dec. 2 editorial cartoon in which the public serves the lawmakers could not be truer. In 2018 we were to vote for a constitutional amendment to cut the state House from 203 to 151 members, which would save millions, but it was voted...
Letter to the editor: Religious beliefs & adoption
I am deeply troubled by Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services, which refuses to grant a religious exemption to Catholic adoption agencies who place children with a family of a man and a woman (“Catholics halt adoption, foster care programs in Greensburg, Pittsburgh over state rule.”) According to a 2016 American...
Letter to the editor: Hateful professors convict Trump
Guilty as charged. President Trump stands convicted. The jury has spoken. Who is the jury? Three pompous, arrogant members of academia, full of hate, have given their verdict. Their courtroom was the first House Judiciary Committee hearing on impeachment. Sadly, they cannot hide their loathing of the president behind a...
Pat Buchanan: Democrats’ diversity — only in the back of the bus
The “Our diversity is our strength!” Party is starting to look rather monochromatic in its upper echelons these days. The four leading candidates for its presidential nomination — Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — are all white. The six candidates who have qualified for the Dec....
Colin McNickle: Port Authority’s (still) costly bus service
The latest available cost numbers are in for the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s bus service. They remain wholly unflattering. And that should raise new concerns as the mass-transit agency embarks on its highly touted Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public...
Editorial: Answers on fire suspensions hazy
There is nothing more confusing than a lack of answers. Except, perhaps, answers that point in all different directions. Latrobe has opted for a grab bag filled with no information and contradictory finger-pointing in the case of one fire company. Seven firefighters have been suspended by the city. They say...
Letter to the editor: Harpies of the apostasy
The biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are pestilence, war, famine and death. There is a version in Congress that I term the Four Harpies of the Apostasy: Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar. A harpy is a covetous, grasping person; apostasy is the desertion of one’s...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s interference with Navy is dangerous
As a former Navy enlisted and officer, I am highly concerned with the commander-in-charge-of-White-House-chaos’ interference in Navy matters. The commander-in-charge-of-White-House-chaos overruled the Navy’s decision to demote Chief Petty Officer and Navy Seal Edward Gallagher. Gallagher was convicted of posing with a dead detainee. President Trump’s rationale was that he was...
Letter to the editor: Look beyond division at U.S. economy
American history has had several momentous conflicts that divided its people. The American Revolution divided Tory against Patriot ideals. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” swayed many to advocate for independence. The Civil War divided Union against Confederate ideals. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” swayed many to choose Union ideals. The...
Jonah Goldberg: Nostalgia is the ace up Biden’s sleeve
I like the word malarkey, consarn it. It’s the bee’s knees. Sure, the youngsters might say, “OK, Boomer” on hearing Joe Biden utter the word, but if you think he’s all wet for using it, you can take your phonus bolonus and tell it to Sweeney. Biden has never really...
Tom Purcell: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
We could use a good snowstorm right about now. I love a good dusting of snow. I love how it disrupts our routines and throws everything out of whack. I lived in Washington, D.C., for nearly eight years. It delighted me how that city went into a panic every time...
Editorial: Traffic fine alternatives a good idea
In Pennsylvania, a driver’s license is often a lifeline. The state Legislature’s Center for Rural Pennsylvania puts the number of residents who live in rural areas at 27%. That’s definitely not the majority. But those 3.5 million or so people are scattered over the largest part of the state. Not...
Letter to the editor: Charter school misinformation
In the article “Freeport’s cyber charter school is helping district save money, officials say,” Freeport Area School District Superintendent Ian Magness said, “In an outside cyber charter setting, there is very little accountability, and that is common knowledge across the commonwealth.” This is a common misconception, but it’s not true....
Letter to the editor: Wolf’s veto of abortion ban
Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 21 vetoed a bill, passed by the state Legislature, that would have prohibited abortions because of a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis. I believe that any abortion, with the exception of saving the life of the mother, is out-and-out a murder. Not only are Wolf’s statements...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 9
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 9....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 9
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 9....
Michael Butler: Gas & solar together benefit Pittsburgh Airport
The decision to marry solar energy and natural gas to power the Pittsburgh Internationl Airport with a self-contained “microgrid” is the rarest kind of union: one where the partners together create something bigger than the sum of the individuals. Too often, natural gas and renewable energy like solar are presented...
S.E. Cupp: What unites Trump & Bloomberg
Tell me if this sounds like someone you know: Brash New York businessman with a history of scattered political affiliations and controversial ideas jumps into crowded primary, spending his own money on long-shot presidential bid. Of course, that accurately described Donald Trump in 2015. But in 2019, it also fits...
Editorial: Peduto should sign gator law
Lock up your gators. Or at least tell people you have them. Pittsburgh City Council took a bold stance against modern-day dinosaurs last week when passing an ordinance that requires dangerous reptiles be registered. It might seem ridiculous in a city north of the Mason-Dixon line, a community with cold,...
Letter to the editor: Trump a disgrace
“Bone spurs” draft-dodger. Failed marriages. Numerous bankruptcies. Operated corrupt university. Used his charity foundation money for his campaign. Tax evader. Admirer of dictators. Owes hundreds to unpaid contractors. Ridicules Mexicans, immigrants, the handicapped, women, Gold Star parents. Is Putin’s “lapdog.” Purveyor of 13,000-plus cataloged lies. Reads nothing but knows everything...
Letter to the editor: Wile E. Coyote Democrats
The Democrats’ newest made-for-TV investigation into President Trump is turning into another Wile E. Coyote cartoon, this time starring Adam Schiff. The Dems spends most of their time plotting some way to capture Trump, and it seems every one of their schemes blows up in their faces. This is the...
John Warren: One nation under God?
“I had no idea how critical religion is to the functioning of democracy.” So said a Marxist economist from China conversing with Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. This Chinese communist supposed that American democracy has worked because “most Americans, most of the time, follow the rules, not just because they are...
Paul Schemel: Statute of limitations ‘window’ wrong path for past abuse cases
The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that next year the annual dues for Scouts will increase by 80%. According to the Boy Scouts, the reason for the increase is the growing cost of legal settlements relating to old claims of child sexual abuse by Scout leaders who served decades...
