Opinion category, Page 690
Jonah Goldberg: Cancel the primaries
The Democratic primary campaign started in January, but it already feels as if it began in the late Jurassic period, and the first votes are still three months away. Primaries are a lot like Christmas: The shopping season begins way before, and things rarely live up to expectations. (I mean...
Earl Tilford: The strategic effect of Operation Kayla
Raids, like Operation Kayla — named for murdered humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller — resulting in the death of Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi and other ISIS terrorist leaders, are usually small affairs with limited results. Nevertheless, such meticulously planned and superbly executed raids also can have significant strategic implications. Roughly five decades...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Politicians should listen to what the people want
There have been times when politicians from both parties have listened more than they have talked. Lately it has been the other way around. You know what they sound like. They claim to have all the answers, and they assure you that only they know the way out of whatever...
Ashley Klingensmith: Casey should work to give Congress vote on tariffs
Pennsylvania was once known as “the steel capital of the world.” We have grown and diversified beyond that distinction some time ago, but steel remains a sizable component of the commonwealth’s economy. More than 30,000 workers are directly employed in the industry, producing more than $20 billion in economic output....
Editorial: Is Pittsburgh bullying out-of-town jocks?
It can be hard to think of jocks as being bullied. The whole idea turns everything we know on its head. Jocks don’t get pushed around, right? They’re the ones who get the attention, the ones who make up their own rules. Except maybe they don’t. In a lawsuit filed...
Sounding off: Crime in Jeannette must be addressed
After the recent shooting homicide on Cuyler Avenue in Jeannette, Mayor Curtis Antoniak stated on camera, “I will say, that once again, this is not Jeannette.” His wife made a similar comment following the shooting homicide outside the main gate at McKee Stadium in September. There have been five shooting...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment a smokescreen to swing votes
Those on the left do not want to impeach President Trump. The impeachment process is a smokescreen. The left wants to create doubt in the voting public. Doubt changes votes. Doubt is enough to swing a vote. John Greco Cheswick...
Letter to the editor: 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: Let’s celebrate Veterans Day, too
I am always curious this time of year. As the calendar leads up to Oct. 31, I see yards, houses and businesses decorated with the images of ghosts, monsters and spooky tombstones. Some displays are elaborate and expensive to construct. As a veteran, I often wonder if the same effort...
Letter to the editor: Socialism & religious values
The growth of socialism in our society appears to correlate with the decline of religious values. Socialism advocates the replacement of faith in God with faith in government. Capitalism requires following God’s commandments by encouraging the creation of wealth without lying, stealing, etc. Thereby capitalism creates wealth through innovation and...
Walter Williams: Disproportionalities — whose fault?
Jews have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes in economics, 30% of those in medicine, 25% in physics, 20% in chemistry, 15% in literature and 10% of the Nobel Peace Prizes. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been just over 900 Nobel Prizes awarded. Since Jews...
John Stossel: Libra, Bitcoin show promise
House members summoned Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to Washington, D.C., and grilled him — harshly — about his plan to create a new currency, Libra. I liked it when Zuckerberg said, “I actually don’t know if Libra’s going to work, but I believe that it’s important to try new things.” He...
Editorial: Healthy investments pay off
The Greater Pittsburgh area will always be synonymous with steel, but it’s definitely become a hub of health activity more than metal in recent decades. That is why it’s good to see area health systems making investments in the services that keep people healthy and keep area workers employed. Highmark’s...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s new low
So sad to see the sickening commercials that Donald Trump is airing to counter his inevitable impeachment by the House of Representatives. He repeats the debunked conspiracy theory of the Biden family’s alleged misdoings in the Ukraine. By doing so, I believe he is actually admitting to one of the...
Letter to the editor: None of Democratic candidates should be president
After listening and talking to others about the Democratic people running for president, I came to the conclusion that most of them are idiots. And we thought we couldn’t get any worse. Let’s take Bernie Sanders, for instance. He has three homes and lots of money (everyone would like to...
Letter to the editor: We should celebrate outdoorsmen
American hunters and fishermen contribute millions of dollars to conservation every year and pour billions of dollars into our general economy, including thousands of jobs in the outdoor industry. In honor of their leadership in conservation, Congress designated the fourth Saturday in September as National Hunting and Fishing Day almost...
Paul Kengor: Our vanishing World War II veterans
On Tuesday I picked up my kids from church youth group. “Dad, we had an amazing experience,” said my oldest daughter. “We went to a nursing home. We met two people who were almost 100 years old. They lived through World War II!” It was a nice experience for them....
Lori Falce: The politics of parties
Everyone loves a party, right? Not true. Sure, a party can be a lot of fun, if you are meeting new people, eating good food, listening to great music. A party can also be really stressful. It can feel like an obligation. It can make you tense and uncomfortable and...
Laurels & lances: Moving on, monuments and memorials
Laurel: To change when it needs to happen. The Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department has had a rocky couple of years as it faced problems from the top-down. Sheriff Jonathan Held’s public corruption charges continue to hang in limbo after a December 2018 mistrial and subsequent appeals over a retrial. Other...
Carla Balakgie: Before Thanksgiving, vending industry commits to ‘better’ choices
With Thanksgiving just a fortnight away, tables across America will soon be teeming with turkey and all the trimmings — and the potential for Americans to overindulge. At the same time, millions of those same people are trying to be more mindful about their overall nutrition, including snacking. In fact,...
Letter to the editor: Remembering Oak Lake Golf Course
I wanted to add to Mary Ann Thomas’ article on the closure and sale of Oak Lake (“Auction at Oak Lake Golf Course in Upper Burrell draws hundreds,” Oct. 26, TribLIVE). The original 9-hole course was designed and built by brothers Bert and Judd Dunbar of Lower Burrell, along with...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s Syria decision
In his op-ed “In betrayal of Kurds, Trump was winging it — again” (Oct. 21, TribLIVE), Jonah Goldberg writes about his displeasure with President Trump pulling troops from Syria. He explains that on three other occasions, Trump’s predecessors had taken advice or out and out followed the advice of government...
Letter to the editor: Wind turbines kill birds
I’m glad someone finally published something about missing birds (“Missing: Nearly 3 billion birds that used to live in North America,” Sept. 19, TribLIVE). If you do your research, you will discover that wind turbines kill a year roughly 500,000 birds each year. It’s estimated that 900,000 bats are also...
Benjamin Allison: Killing Baghdadi not defeat of ISIS
On the night of Oct. 26-27, the caliph (commander) of the Islamic State (ISIS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died in a U.S. raid on his compound in Idlib, Syria. The leader of the deadliest terrorist group in history is dead. Now what? For months, experts have warned against the notion that...
Editorial: The toll of a cashless turnpike
Some things in life are inevitable. There’s death, obviously. Taxes, of course. And apparently there is also cashless tolling. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says that the state is just two years away from complete conversion to a system that demands you use an E-ZPass transponder or receive a bill via...
