Opinion category, Page 739
Letter to the editor: Stop Iranian oil tanker attacks
After two more oil tankers were attacked in the Middle East, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump stated Iran was responsible for the attacks. This brings to six the number of oil tankers attacked by Iran. Iran is attempting to get the United States to lift its crippling...
George Will: Bernie Sanders is FDR’s unimaginative echo
WASHINGTON That the Democrats’ two evenings of dueling oratory snippets this week are called “debates” validates Finley Peter Dunne’s prediction that “when we Americans are through with the English language, it will look as if it had been run over by a musical comedy.” Already a linguistic casualty of the...
Bob Sherwin: Foster care, broken system or loving home?
Many have argued that the foster care system is broken. Dr. Phil has said it. The Boston Globe has said it. The Washington Post has said it. But as executive director of Bethany Christian Services of Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, I’m not sure I agree with this statement. While our...
Andy Carter: Pa. health care dollars at risk
A lot has changed since 1998, the year that Pennsylvania and 45 states stood up to big tobacco and helped create the Tobacco Settlement Fund (TSF). We may have moved on from CD-ROM, dial-up internet and the Y2K bug frenzy; but a few things have stood the test of time:...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Life’s struggles hit single moms hard
Tragedy lingers. The sadness and the heartache hang in the air — especially right after and even if the victims are gone. The horrible power of the moment has its own life, cautioning us and providing a lesson. It was that way last week, when a last-minute trip to the...
Jeff Dunetz: Restrict immigration to soften blow of automation
Automation and artificial intelligence could make 54 million Americans’ jobs obsolete within the next decade, according to McKinsey & Company. Lesser-skilled jobs in manufacturing, construction and service industries will be the first to go. Increasingly, robots can perform these jobs more efficiently than humans. Robots also don’t need costly benefits...
Editorial: Another Clairton fire, another shutdown
We barely finished talking about Clairton. The Tribune-Review spent months visiting the city and talking to the people in the wake of the Christmas Eve fire at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works that shuttered pollution control systems for 2½ weeks. It came together in a Sunday feature with the stories...
Sounding off: ‘Dangerous & Crazy’ party could bring all together
Let me get this straight. The left thinks President Trump is dangerous and crazy, the right thinks Pelosi and Schumer are dangerous and crazy, both groups think Bernie is dangerous and crazy, and everybody thinks Ocasio-Cortez is dangerous and crazy. Put this all together and it proves that Americans are...
Letter to the editor: Opportunities for women in energy
When I got started in the energy industry years ago, there weren’t many women. That’s beginning to change. My own trajectory is indicative of the growing influence women have in the natural gas sector. In 1994, I started in street service. My duties included meter reading, locating gas lines, and...
Letter to the editor: Walter Williams’ wisdom
Walter Williams had another brilliant, easy to understand and very insightful piece in the Trib (“How government creates conflict,” June 14, TribLIVE). He points out that a great proportion of the divide in America today is the result of the government deciding for us how to spend our tax dollars....
Letter to the editor: UPMC-Highmark decision will cause patients to suffer
The ruling from Judge Robert Simpson regarding the UPMC-Highmark debate (“Judge: UPMC-Highmark split set for June 30,” June 14, TribLIVE) may be the letter of the law, but it is a huge disappointment to chronically ill and disabled individuals. Qualifying for in-network access to a provider of choice by age...
John Stossel: Moral capitalism
Presidential candidates and the media keep telling people “it’s immoral” that a few rich people have so much more money than everyone else. They talk as if it doesn’t matter what the rich did to get the money. Instead, the fact that they are rich is itself immoral. Yaron Brook...
Walter Williams: Diversity & black education decline
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says that the city’s specialized high schools have a diversity problem. He’s joined by New York City Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza, educators, students and community leaders who want to fix the diversity problem. I bet you can easily guess what they will do...
Editorial: Don’t let fear slam door on refuge
Refuge. It is a place of solace and sanctuary. Shelter from the wind and weather. Protection from wolves and want. Refuge is safety. So what do we do when it becomes less safe? Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 21, a refugee from Syria who has been here for three years, was charged...
Letter to the editor: Love, hate for Donald Trump
If you honestly love truth, humility, grace, dignity and gentleness, then it stands to reason that you must hate the obverse. That is why, I maintain, that hatred has a legitimate place in the panoply of human emotions. I never thought that anyone could “unlove” Donald Trump more than myself....
Letter to the editor: Learn truth about global warming
Rudolph Puchan’s letter “Climate-change hogwash” (June 4, TribLIVE) is on the right track, although he seems to conclude that the issue of climate change is not all that important. In fact, it is very important because many who promote this myth have vested interests. Some want to garner research money,...
Letter to the editor: Video games & violence
It seems every day somewhere in this country there is some sort of incident in a school, be it a shooting, a threat or a weapon of some sort found on a student. Then we hear from experts and highly educated people that they cannot figure out the why. My...
Lori Falce: We need real-life superheroes
My friends are evenly split on a critical topic of our times. It’s not Trump or Mueller. It’s not Bernie or Biden. It’s not paper or plastic. It’s superheroes. In short, why is so much of our entertainment today wrapped up in masks and capes and “up, up and away”...
Laurels & lances: Helping, parking and paying
Laurel: To stopping to help. Good Samaritans Kim and Alex Kelley, who work at Kelley’s Pizza at the corner of routes 22 at 819 in Salem, dropped everything to rush out of their business to lend a hand to three injured passengers and a bus driver on a Westmoreland Transit...
Letter to the editor: Tariffs vs. free trade
Those who disagreed with President Trump’s planned tariff on Mexican products, understanding that it would most likely have resulted in higher prices for the American consumer, as well as higher costs to American businesses, are probably right. Their first response should be to contact their Democratic (and Republican) representatives and...
Letter to the editor: Dreaming of Democrats loving America
I had a dream that the Democrats and far left started to love America, defend America and most of all appreciate America. Some dream, huh. John W. Newhouse Shaler...
Letter to the editor: Highlands’ taxes
David Poskin hit the bullseye in his letter “Highlands budget woes” (March 19, TribLIVE) when he challenged the value received for the tax dollars being spent. He wrote that last year Highlands’ tax rate was the eighth highest among Allegheny County’s 45 school districts, yet the district requested a tax...
Donald Boudreaux: Save us from a ‘manufacturing czar’
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., proposes to establish a new federal agency for designing and directing national industrial policy. Named the National Institute of Manufacturing, this agency would be led by what The Washington Post calls a “manufacturing czar, who could report directly to the president. This person would be called...
George Will: Oberlin has graduated from self-caricature to disgrace
WASHINGTON Oberlin College has an admirable liberal past and a contemptible progressive present that will devalue its degrees far into the future. This is punishment for the college’s mendacity about helping to incite a mob mentality and collective bullying in response to “racist” behavior that never happened. Founded in 1833,...
Tirzah Duren: Pennsylvania budget can build on tax reform boom
State lawmakers are heading into budget negotiations with wages rising, record-low unemployment and state revenues surpassing projections — an economic windfall largely due to federal tax reform. With all this great economic news, it would be easy to grow complacent. But here’s the reality: Pennsylvania still lags other states. To...
