Letters to the Editor category, Page 302

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

Pennsylvania’s historic strengths in energy and manufacturing rely in part on a federal system of laws and regulation that promote innovation and individual energy choices. Too often, policymakers in Washington respond to the debate on energy and sustainability with proposals that either mandate or ban particular energy resources. Several bills...

This has always been one of my favorite quotes. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat or American. It just speaks to you: a person with morals and values, common sense and intelligence, and hopefully a person who will not allow evil to triumph. “The only thing necessary...

I am a disabled Vietnam veteran. I fought for our country and the right to express my opinions without anyone hating me or calling me names — especially the people who have done nothing to earn the rights and freedoms we all enjoy today. I have sat in church for...

On this anniversary of 9/11, Americans will remember the passengers of Flight 93 as heroes and patriots, and so will I. In my mind, there is no doubt they will also be honored as saints. J. Mark Zink Youngwood...

What if we were to expand the definition of terrorist organizations beyond those that practice or promote terrorism to include any organization that works to obstruct all effort to eliminate or lessen that terror? If that were to happen I would nominate the National Rifle Association to be foremost among...

I know why I’m voting for Trump in 2020. He is for capitalism and not socialism (which I believe will not help our country, as nothing in life is free and the Democrats have already said it will increase the tax burden on the middle class); he has issued orders...

President Trump should buy Greenland. He could build his presidential library on a glacier, since he doesn’t believe in global warming (fake news). His library could offer free ice fishing, since it would have no books from his administration to educate. Or he could buy North Korea with his buddy...

There are people in every generation who believe the generation following theirs is either going to the dogs or will ruin the country. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll lends credence to that way of thinking, especially where Generation Z/millennials (those born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s) and Generation...

The Antichrist is closer than you think. Demonizing immigrants and refugees seeking asylum is anti-Christ. Building walls is anti-Christ. Stoking racial tensions and xenophobic hatred is anti-Christ. Using fear as an expedient political tool is anti-Christ. Selling arms to repressive regimes that murder journalists and bomb children is anti-Christ. Spending...

Our working men and women are in dire condition. The average CEO in this country earns 400 times more than the average worker on a production line. The top 10% control 90% of the money. This situation is similar to what was happening in the early part of the 20th...

I am writing this letter from Facebook jail. I wonder when the 24/7 anti-Trump nonsense will stop. We have a president who is trying to help protect our country and make the American dream last. Will he ever get a little cooperation? Bill Maher suggests we should hope for a...

School districts often recognize students’ and teams’ achievements in trophy cases or on gymnasium banners . Three individuals who grew up within the Highlands School District reached their sports’ highest level, and the district is remiss in not displaying recognition of their accomplishments: • Cookie Gilchrist: American Football League All-Star...

As you point out in your recent editorial, “Vaccination info should be epidemic” (Aug. 24, TribLIVE), the safety of life-saving vaccines is backed by science, and it is essential that the public receives accurate information about the value of receiving immunizations. Each year, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 U.S. adults...

In 1973, there were three TV channels and the average “screens” per household were rarely more than one. That same year, Frank Zappa released “I’m The Slime,” prophetically warning about “vile and pernicious slime oozin’ out from your TV set.” By 1979, average screens per household had doubled, and The...

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...

The proposed Allegheny County Police Review Board (“County council votes down Allegheny police review board, supporters vow to keep pushing,” Aug. 27, TribLIVE) is appropriate for the Allegheny County Police Department. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald supports this legislation, which is nothing more than a politically expedient gesture in the wake...