Opinion category, Page 716
Editorial: Ms. Monopoly panders to women
Talk about diversifying your portfolio. The makers of an age-old favorite board game have created a new version that celebrates the contributions of women: Ms. Monopoly. That’s great. Women have consistently been unrepresented on the board, which has just one real character — Mr. Monopoly, the top-hatted, cane-wielding image of...
Letter to the editor: Leave judgment to God
Aside from being blasphemous, Rudolph Puchan’s letter “Was Trump divine intervention?” (Sept. 5, TribLIVE) borders on the inane. Only an idol-worshiping true believer could imagine that Donald Trump is a blessing from the Almighty. Puchan needs to get a grip. When such a self-righteous man gets on his anti-abortion soapbox,...
Letter to the editor: Jeannette ‘city of champions’?
After the shooting in my hometown (“Jeannette police identify fatal shooting victim, suspect in McKee Stadium incident,” Sept. 6, TribLIVE), I felt it was time for me to make my voice heard. My dad was brought up in Jeannette. Growing up, I viewed him as a legend, and on Sept....
Joseph Rogan: College admissions scandal hurts students with disabilities
The national college admissions scandal creates many problems, but it especially harms students with real disabilities. That parents paid a corrupt private counselor tens of thousands of dollars to fudge their children’s college applications raises concerns about their ethics, but also about the admission standards and processes of the institutions...
Cal Thomas: Dealing with the Taliban devil
PARIS — President Trump was right to cancel a “secret” meeting with leaders of the Taliban and the Afghan government following two bomb attacks by the terrorist group that killed 10 civilians, an American soldier and a Romanian service member in heavily fortified Kabul. The president is eager to fulfill...
Sen. Vincent Hughes: PA Forward gives students chance at better future
When the school year begins, I am always encouraged to see so many students from across the nation pouring into our state, where higher education is an important industry. Colleges, universities and trade schools employ tens of thousands of people and breathe life into so many of our communities. For...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Lesson from Britain on what’s best for America
When British politician Edmund Burke received news in 1774 that he had been elected to represent the people of Bristol in Parliament, he told a gathering of voters that he would not mimic their wishes or the desires of any faction when deciding how to vote on the issues. Instead,...
Editorial: Dick’s, other CEOs get to speak up
Who is Dick’s Sporting Goods to ask for stronger gun laws? Who is Gap? Who is Levi Strauss? Who is Credit Karma or Bloomberg or Condé Nast? According to the U.S. Supreme Court, they are people. In the 2010 decision that has rippled through campaign finance, the court decided that...
Letter to the editor: Steelers won’t overcome Mike Tomlin
The Steelers’ season opener debacle demonstrated what I have said for years: Mike Tomlin is a lousy coach. He has gotten by due to an abundance of talented players who were able to win in spite of Tomlin’s poor decision-making. With the loss of Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, the...
Letter to the editor: Of course vaping is dangerous
Is vaping damaging to lungs? Of course it is. The vaping debate is another instance where somebody or some group with an agenda has successfully created a controversy, knowing full well that for every controversy there are at least two points of view. And, very simply, a tidy profit can...
Letter to the editor: Politicians’ actions more important than words
I recently heard concern that representatives being sworn into Congress are no longer required to use the phrase “So help me God,” or use a Bible when being installed. This is not new. Neither has ever been a requirement. There have been presidents who were sworn in over a book...
John Stossel: Charter schools, better schools
With most services, you get to shop around, but rarely can you do that with government-run schools. Philadelphia mom Elaine Wells was upset to learn that there were fights every day in the school her son attended. So she walked him over to another school. “We went to go enroll...
Walter Williams: Academic stupidity & brainwashing
Just when we thought colleges could not spout loonier ideas, we have a new one from American University. They hired a professor to teach other professors to grade students based on their “labor” rather than their writing ability. The professor that American University hired to teach that nonsense is Asao...
Editorial: Shapiro right about Purdue Pharma offer
What is the cost of a life lost to drugs? According to Pennsylvania statutes, it is 40 years in prison. That’s the maximum sentence for drug delivery resulting in death. It’s decades in a concrete-block box with a metal tray for a bed. It’s matching jumpsuits that identify you as...
Sounding off: This country belongs to all of us
On Aug. 27, the Trump reelection campaign sent this message to its supporters in a fundraising email: “The President is calling on you at this critical time to remind (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and Democrats that this is our country, not theirs.” This cannot — and should not — be dismissed as...
Letter to the editor: Sloan Campus work to impact drivers
Murrysville Council on Aug. 21 voted 5-2 to approve the hauling away of excess and unusable dirt from the Franklin Regional Sloan Campus site (“Murrysville Council approves excavation plan for ‘poor soil’ on Sloan construction site,” Aug. 22, TribLIVE). This vote was in response to the July 29 surprise request...
Letter to the editor: Property tax system must change
The archaic school tax has been used to fund education since the 1830s. My home 0f 39 years cost $40,000, with current Deer Lakes tax at $3,600. I’ve paid for it almost three times over. I’m over 70 with no children and a low to moderate fixed income. My mother,...
Letter to the editor: Benefits of union CBAs
Regarding John Stossel’s column “Recovering from labor” (Sept. 6, TribLIVE): I assume you are an employee unhappily covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). When you are canned because you are old, fat, bald, mouthy or caught smoking legal tobacco cigarettes, you can instantly seek out your union steward and...
Paul Kengor: Why you should care about what’s going on in Hong Kong
What’s happening right now in Hong Kong is potentially very significant, albeit difficult to understand. First, the background: On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverted from British colonial rule to Chinese control. Britain preferred to grant full independence, but the Chinese demanded Hong Kong back. Even then, communist China promised...
Lori Falce: No offense intended
I don’t mean to offend. I try hard not to make people feel like I’m targeting them personally when I write. My goal is to make people think, not wince. I want to plant a seed and water it and see what grows, rather than have people close down and...
Laurels & lances: Counseling, foreclosure and mobility
Laurel: To helping kids cope. There are things that you might expect at a Friday night football game. Zealous fans. Uncomfortable bleachers. Both sides mad at the referees. What you don’t expect is a man being gunned down outside the field. That happened last week at McKee Stadium. Jeannette City...
Letter to the editor: Americans need polypills
To lower costs, low-dose combo pills, or polypills, need to be available and then prescribed (“Cheap combo pill cuts heart, stroke risks, study finds,” Aug. 22, TribLIVE). The five-year study of the combination of four low-dose drugs (two for blood pressure, one for cholesterol and aspirin) that lowered heart issues...
Letter to the editor: Vaccination bill would protect parents’ rights
In response to the op-ed “Vaccination info should be epidemic,” here are some facts proving that my Vaccine Informed Consent Protection Act, House Bill 286, is the best legislative cure for the real health care epidemic plaguing hundreds of Pennsylvania families. Across the commonwealth, medical care is now routinely denied...
George Will: Hong Kong’s summer of heroic dissent
HONG KONG — The masked men who recently tossed firebombs at Jimmy Lai’s home targeted one of this city’s foremost democracy advocates. Lai, a 71-year-old media billionaire, calls this summer’s ongoing protest “a martyrdom movement” and “a last-straw movement.” It has an intensity and dynamic that bewilders the protesters’ opponents...
Jonah Goldberg: Biden’s best bet is front-porch campaign
Here’s an idea: Joe Biden should run a front-porch campaign. Front-porch campaigns were once a common feature of American presidential politics, though the term wasn’t always applied to the practice. The most famous front-porch campaigns were in the 1880s and 1890s, culminating in William McKinley’s successful bid in 1896. While...
