Opinion category, Page 707
Editorial: Details matter with rail inspection
The devil is in the details. On Aug. 4, 2018, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed near Station Square in Pittsburgh. Given the proximity of people at the Port Authority T track below, it is providential that there were no casualties. But there were costs. Local transit riders were disrupted...
Letter to the editor: Anti-Christ
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...
Letter to the editor: Unions give workers power
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...
Letter to the editor: Collateral damage from anti-Trump actions
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...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 9
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 9....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 9
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 9....
S.E. Cupp: Trump wants to look tough on mass shootings, while doing little
In the span of just over a month, four mass shootings — in Gilroy, Calif.; Dayton, Ohio; and El Paso, and Odessa, Texas — have provoked varying words of comfort, condemnation and promised action from President Trump. After the Gilroy shooting, he offered, “While families were spending time together at...
Michelle Malkin: Stop mental health data mining of our kids
No, no, no. Hell, no! That’s my response to the latest trial balloon floated by the White House to join with Silicon Valley on a creepy program monitoring Americans’ “neurobehavioral signs” to (purportedly) prevent gun violence. President Trump’s old friend, former NBC head Bob Wright, has been pushing an Orwellian...
Editorial: The real challenge of gun debate
In August, days after shootings in California and Texas and Ohio, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto issued a challenge to legislators in Washington and Harrisburg: Do something about guns in 30 days. If nothing else, reconvene from recess and talk about what to do. The 30 days have passed. Nothing has...
Letter to the editor: Highlands should honor star athletes
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...
Letter to the editor: Pharmacists good resource for vaccine information
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...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Time is ripe for action on climate, guns, opioids
“There is no fruit that is not bitter before it is ripe,” according to Publilius Syrus, a Latin moralist in the century before Christ. It seems that we have always known that everything has its season. And in the last days of summer, we can relish those things that have...
Dani Ritchie: Raise the Wage Act will hurt tipped workers
I’m worried that some Pennsylvania representatives want to reduce my ability to earn a living. When House Democrats voted in July to pass House Resolution 582, the Raise the Wage Act — a bill that would not only raise the federal minimum wage to $15 but would also eliminate the...
Bill Godsey: From Pennsylvania to Texas, energy fuels economic growth
President Trump’s visit last month to an ethane cracker plant in Western Pennsylvania underscored a key fact that both political parties should be able to agree on: America’s remarkable shale renaissance is securing our country’s energy independence and bolstering industries throughout the economy. It’s hard to argue that Royal Dutch...
Bob Cranmer: For Catholics’ sake, Vatican must institute serious reforms
Although I was raised in the Catholic Church, for the majority of my adult life I was a conservative evangelical Christian. In 2005, after a 25-year absence, I returned to the Catholic Church during a time of crisis. I came to better understand and appreciate the historic position of the...
Editorial: Vaping epidemic can be stopped
Just stop the vaping. Take the little electronic device that you are using to inhale vaporized liquids and put it down. It might not be smoking, but you’re playing with fire. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined the latest ugly numbers about the health impacts of...
Sounding off: Heed musical wisdom, turn off your screens
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...
Letter to the editor: This country belongs to all of us
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...
Letter to the editor: Allegheny County police review board just politics
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...
Sister Sharon Costello: On immigrants, hateful rhetoric must stop
Inside a converted former nightclub steps away from the bus station in the border town of McAllen, Texas, Sister Janice Vanderneck touches the scarred, small hand of a 6-year-old Guatemalan boy who explains he was with his father that frightening day when someone burned down the family’s store. She listens...
Walter Williams: Biased liberal criminologists mislead us
John Paul Wright, professor at University of Cincinnati, and Matthew DeLisi professor at Iowa State University, penned a powerful article titled “What Criminologists Don’t Say, and Why,” in the summer 2017 edition of City Journal. There is significant bias among criminologists. The reason for that bias is that political leanings...
John Stossel: Recovering from labor
On Labor Day, did you celebrate workers? More likely, you made it a day of rest. Fine. It’s good to have a choice. I didn’t have a choice about joining a union when I was hired by CBS and then ABC. They told me that if I wanted to work,...
Editorial: Firefighter support is priceless
Putting out a fire isn’t cheap. According to the International Association of Fire Chiefs, that iconic helmet is $350. Goggles are $75. The hood that goes under the hat is $45, and that’s the cheapest thing they wear. The jacket and pants are $1,800, gloves are $75 and boots are...
Letter to the editor: Brighton Heights rat infestation must be addressed
I would like to comment on a dangerous condition for some residents living in Brighton Heights. I grew up in this area and lived there for over 30 years. It was always a nice area, but after marrying, I moved away. I was amazed to see residents of McClure Avenue...
Letter to the editor: Idea of reparations absurd
Many Democratic presidential hopefuls are advocating reparations for either or both African-American and LGBTQ communities. Their reasoning includes slavery compensation for the former and historical tax inequities for the latter. As a full-blooded Italian- American, I propose that individuals of my nationality also deserve similar consideration. In the late 1800s, Italians...
