Opinion category, Page 688
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Remembering the two Kennys of Westinghouse Memorial
It was only natural for me to think about our two Kennys last week. Kenny Rubbo and Kenny Kline were part of the “Class of 1967” of Westinghouse Memorial High School in Wilmerding. Within months of graduation, some of my classmates headed to the factories and mills and some to...
Charles Pratt: Adapting from steel & coal to hospitals & universities
The City of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Medic 5 is located at the border of two vastly different neighborhoods. One, Oakland, is home to the University of Pittsburgh, two major hospitals and a busy business district. The other, the Hill District, is a historically black community that...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Let markets solve health care crisis
The presidential election is just about a year away, and we are already being subjected to a steady diet of politicians telling us what we need to do to fix the health care industry. Their rallying cry is familiar: We cannot allow “unfettered capitalism” to “deny us access” to health...
Cal Thomas: The importance of ‘no men’
Shortly after Jim Bakker’s release from prison in July 1994, I invited the disgraced TV evangelist to my home. There was an important question I wanted to ask him. Some background: Bakker and his “Praise the Lord” (PTL) associates sold $1,000 “lifetime memberships” to people who were promised annual three-night...
Editorial: Veterans’ way out of homelessness
There are things that we promise our service members. We tell them that they will be paid and that they will be trained. We tell them that when they complete their service, they will have the opportunity to go to school. They will have medical care. They are told that...
Sounding off: Without consensus, no impeachment
In the last two impeachments, the facts were clear. Nixon was caught authorizing hush money, directing the cover-up, and using the IRS to harass accusers for starters. The consensus was that he had to go, and he resigned. Clinton was caught sexually exploiting a subordinate, lying about it under oath,...
Letter to the editor: Safeguarding our prosperity
What causes poverty? Wrong question, since poverty is the natural state of humans. It’s been that way for 100,000 years. The correct question is “What causes wealth?” Quick answer — free-market capitalism. Since the late 18th century, a middle class has been forming, thanks to small-business owners depending on their...
Letter to the editor: Atheism & politics
In response to letter-writer Dr. Joel Last (“Socialism & religious values”): As an atheist in Westmoreland County, I can guarantee you that my political leanings have zero to do with my lack of belief. We live in the information age, and the more you know, the less religious you become....
Letter to the editor: End emissions testing
I salute Sen. Kim Ward’s efforts to change emissions testing in Pennsylvania. Emissions testing is archaic and was not fair from the start. As a resident of Westmoreland County, I am required to have my car tested. But if I lived in Forest County, I would not be held to...
John Stossel: Government creates mandatory shortages
Governments create problems. Then they complain about them. “A public health crisis exists,” says Kentucky’s government, citing a report that found “a shortage of ambulance providers.” Local TV stations report on “people waiting hours for medical transportation.” “Six-year-old Kyler Truesdell fell off his motorcycle,” reported Channel 12 news. “The local...
Editorial: Myles Garrett’s helmet strike on Steelers QB should be investigated
It is easy to dismiss some post-game howling as poor sportsmanship. That call was blown! The refs were biased! The game was rigged! It so often comes down to the fact that one side won and the other side lost. Identify yourself so closely with a team and it can...
Letter to the editor: Support ‘heartbeat’ bills that protect children
There is nothing more sacred than the sanctity of life. It is truly a gift that has been provided to every human being on Earth from God — and it becomes a gift that we pass down to our children. Unfortunately, this gift is being taken from countless lives here...
Letter to the editor: Presidential heroes & zeroes
November, being the month to honor the sacrifices of America’s veterans, seems the perfect time to recount the military service of some of our recent presidents. Harry Truman served in the field artillery in World War I, memorizing the eye chart in order to gain induction. Dwight Eisenhower served as...
Letter to the editor: Drivers scarier than shooters
As horrific as mass shootings are and the terror they create through media hype, I am not afraid of them because of the pure randomness and infinitesimal odds of being caught up in one. However, I am afraid every day when I get in my car. Drunken driving alone kills...
Walter Williams: Young people are ignorant of history
A recent survey conducted by the Victims of Communism and polled by YouGov, a research and data firm, found that 70% of millennials are likely to vote socialist and that one in three millennials saw communism as “favorable.” Let examine this tragic vision in light of the Fraser Institute’s recently...
Laurels & lances: Growing, paying, climbing, working
Laurel: To making the holidays bigger. The Ligonier Country Market’s annual Christmas Market is getting a boost with a second location. The boost to the Nov. 30 event will not just accommodate more crafters, artisans and other producers, but also additional shoppers. Way to grow. Lance: To not paying up....
Donald Boudreaux: State of humanity is excellent — and improving
To encounter the news today is to encounter an America verging on destruction. Global warming will soon incinerate us, but not before income inequalities turn ordinary Americans into the slaves of oligarchs. And as these ghastly fates unfold, those of us who somehow escape being raped, robbed and cheated out...
Lori Falce: Pay attention to government
On Wednesday morning, it seemed like every television camera in the world was pointed at the House of Representatives for the first Trump impeachment hearings. As almost anyone could have predicted, the Democrats advanced questions in one direction while the Republicans pulled the other way. I watched the testimony with...
Letter to the editor: Humans are destroying our birds
The article “Where have the wild birds gone? 3 billion fewer than 1970” (Sept. 19, TribLIVE) should have grabbed everyone’s attention. I noticed a decline in the bird population many years ago. About 70 years ago, when I was just a kid, I used to see and hear the bobwhites...
Letter to the editor: Dump Trump while we can
President Trump’s actions with Ukraine for personal political gain should trouble us all. Worse is the fact that he sees nothing wrong with getting dirt on a political opponent from a foreign country, even after having said as much openly in an interview in June. But worst of all is...
Letter to the editor: Distraction can be deadly
Imagine you’re on a walk. You have your headphones in to distract you from the rest of the world. You come to a stoplight. You look. No one is coming. You start to walk, but you aren’t aware of the immediate changes in the world around you; you don’t hear...
Letter to the editor: Liberals & guns
Only in America because of the liberals would the legal gun owners have to jump through hoops while the thugs roam the streets armed with no problems. The liberals are the ones who ended “stop and frisk,” which I doubt any legal gun owner would object to. Clem Zahrobsky Delmont...
Editorial: Ethics have to be AG priority
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office sends out a lot of press releases. They come when a drug dealer is arrested or when a lawsuit is filed against a pharmaceutical corporation. They come when he releases a grand jury report. They come when charges are filed against an elected official....
Dr. Lawrence John: Patients want physicians involved in their health care
Nurse practitioners have been pushing state lawmakers to remove their collaborative agreements with physicians in Pennsylvania for a number of years. But a new public opinion poll should give state lawmakers in Allegheny County pause, as the vast majority of participants indicated they would not support such a move. Susquehanna...
Kathryn Kugler: To attract more physician assistants, Pa. needs modernized laws
Pennsylvania educates more PA (physician assistant) students than almost any other state. With one of the highest numbers of accredited PA programs in the country — 23, to be exact — our state has access to an enormous group of bright, ambitious, well-trained medical providers who can help to improve...
