Opinion category, Page 694
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Mulvaney, Taylor, Trump & the truth
In the old “cops and robbers” movies of the film noir era, they would usually have to sweat a guy or beat him with a rubber hose to get him to confess the way Mick Mulvaney willingly confessed at a recent White House press briefing. For weeks, Donald Trump had...
Dana Kellerman: Community seeks action on guns from legislators
One year ago a man armed with assault-style weapons and fueled by anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant and white nationalist hatred attacked our synagogue. He murdered 11 innocent people and seriously injured two worshipers and four dedicated Pittsburgh police officers. Our community has been changed irrevocably. All of us have been harmed, though...
Sen. Kim Ward: It’s time to reform emissions testing
Millions of Pennsylvanians are paying for an outdated vehicle emissions testing program in counties that already meet federal air quality standards. As chair of the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee, I believe the time to change that is long overdue. Pennsylvania’s federally sanctioned Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program requires...
Editorial: The lessons learned in mourning
How long should a death be mourned? Does it get measured in days or weeks or months? Is it a year or is it years? Judaism has several — the days between death and burial, the sitting of shiva for seven days after, the 30 days adjustment to the loss,...
Sounding off: Pittsburgh Pirates need an owner who cares
Pirates’ fans are fed up with the circus. Back in the Kevin McClatchy era, we were told the Pirates needed a new stadium to be competitive. Perhaps that’s true, but it won’t work unless we build a winning team. We need an owner who cares about our team and Pittsburgh....
Letter to the editor: Tree of Life death penalty
Leaders of Dor Hadash and New Light congregations who lost members in the Tree of Life massacre in October 2018 wrote to Attorney General William Barr weeks ago asking the U.S. Justice Department to avoid pursuing the death penalty. They asked instead that the Pittsburgh killer be incarcerated for the...
Letter to the editor: Educating public on fox hunting
Lynne Henry’s letter about the blessing of the hounds (“Strange way to treat God`s creatures,” Oct. 19, TribLIVE) is way off the mark. Obviously she knows very little about America’s oldest organized sport. I have been riding to the hounds for the past 16 years in over 350 hunts. It...
Letter to the editor: Columbus didn’t get there first
Just a couple of thoughts in response to Louis D’Emilio’s letter “Columbus Day feature biased” (Oct. 20, TribLIVE). In his praise of Columbus’ legacy, he states that “discovery is discovery.” If you go somewhere, and there are already people there, you didn’t discover that place. Perhaps Columbus was the first...
John Stossel: A better solution to student debt
Student loan debt keeps growing. There is a better solution than the ones politicians offer, which stick the taxpayer or the loan lenders with the whole bill. It’s called an income share agreement (ISA). Investors give money to a college, and the college then gives a free or partially free...
Walter Williams: William Barr was right about our moral decline
Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney General William Barr told a University of Notre Dame Law School audience that attacks on religious liberty have contributed to a moral decline that’s in part manifested by increases in suicides, mental illness and drug addiction. Barr said that our moral decline is not random...
Editorial: No mansions for lieutenant governors
There is something about a mansion. It speaks of the worth of the person inside. It regally registers what is valuable. It proclaims importance. And it’s all a lie, isn’t it? A swanky address may speak of net worth but not personal values. Take, for example, the residence of the...
Welcoming the stranger: A Christian worships with Tree of Life congregants
On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman entered a synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot 11 people dead while they were worshipping. Almost a year later, Jews from that same synagogue enter Pittsburgh’s Calvary Episcopal Church to celebrate the High Holy Days. They come from Tree of Life-Or L’Smicha, one of three...
Letter to the editor: Finfrock best for Greensburg
Randy Finfrock, as head of Greensburg City Council’s accounts and finance for the past 10 years, has delivered as promised: no tax increase — with no cuts to city services. His unparalleled list of noteworthy accomplishments and qualifications, as he seeks a fourth term as one of our city councilmen,...
Letter to the editor: Penguins’ Bryan Rust is inspiring
I was not surprised to read the article “As always, Bryan Rust is filling several roles for the Penguins” (Sept. 25, TribLIVE), as Rust has been one of the Pens’ top players the last few seasons. It should be noted that Rust fills another important role: inspiring young people who...
Letter to the editor: Trump as Jesus is too much
I can take a lot of crap from people about President Trump. But when you align him with Jesus, you are going a bit too far. Jesus would have never mocked a person with physical issues; cheated on his wife; aligned himself with an alleged mobster from Azerbaijan to build...
Paul Kengor: Remembering Tree of Life
“Pray for us, I will call you later.” We received that text message from our 16-year-old daughter at 10:16 a.m. on Saturday morning, Oct. 27, 2018, as my wife and I drove toward the Strip District. My wife called immediately. “Are you OK? Were you in an accident?” In a...
Lori Falce: Pink sprinkle doughnuts and rules
Explaining the rules to a child isn’t easy. Kids learn fast that a cute grin and an “I love you, Mommy” can be a shortcut around a “no.” They learn just as fast that a well-timed fit in the right venue can motivate an exasperated, embarrassed parent to give some...
Laurels & lances: Schools, hotel, arts center
Laurel: To being proactive. The Jeannette City School District scheduled emergency drills for Wednesday. It is the kind of thing that every school does, trying to keep the kids ready to follow directions and stay safe in the event of something unexpected. The unexpected happened a day early. Jeannette and...
Letter to the editor: Let’s talk corruption, GOP
It’s getting old hearing President Trump’s defenders use the fake news or hoax arguments to cover every lie he tells. The “most transparent president of our time” seems to be the exact opposite, blocking legal subpoenas, hiding personal documents in this nation’s most secure server, obstructing legal congressional oversight. How...
Letter to the editor: Give us pure gasoline again
In adjunct to Tom Pevarnik’s letter “We don’t need Saudi oil” (Oct. 6, TribLIVE): If the United States has reserves of oil coming out of our ears and we don’t need Saudi oil, then why are we still adding engine-fouling ethanol to our fuel? If anyone wants to use ethanol,...
Letter to the editor: Rally showed right/left differences
The difference between the “right” and the “left” was on full display at the recent Trump rally in Minnesota. A capacity crowd of 20,000 people filled the venue. They enjoyed a big, raucous, spirit-filled celebration of life, liberty, patriotism, Judeo-Christian values and a booming economy as President Trump spoke. Military...
George Will: Elizabeth Warren not suited to push swing voters away from Trump
WASHINGTON Along New York’s East River, which is not really a river (it is a 16-mile-long tidal estuary), perhaps 20,000 people actually chose to spend a gorgeous autumn afternoon Saturday listening to socialist Bernie Sanders, who is not really a socialist — he just wants to confiscate capitalism’s bounty to...
Jonah Goldberg: For Trump, alliances are strictly business
“Integrity lowers the price of capital.” An extremely successful investor once told me that. The context at the time was Donald Trump’s impending takeover of the GOP. This person meant it as an investment rule, an insight into Trump and a life lesson. The investment part is easy. Say you...
Editorial: No gratitude for fake school threat
Perhaps we should be grateful that there was no real danger. On Tuesday, a man passed a note across the counter of a North Huntingdon restaurant. It warned of “an active shooter threat and multiple bombs” at Norwin and Jeannette high schools. There was no active shooter. There was no...
Letter to the editor: Trump investigating corruption?
In one of the most absurd scenarios being played out in American history, Donald Trump commands corruption investigations of his political opponents … again. Trump supporters laud Trump as the one trying to clean up corruption in a Washington swamp? Hilarious, if it were not so threatening to democracy. This,...
