Opinion category, Page 751
Lori Falce: Biden uproar shows consent, intent matter
We have all been there. A sweaty hand shake that lasts forever. Aunt Margaret’s aggressively red lipstick kisses. The airplane seatmate who falls asleep on your shoulder. It’s all about the overlapping circles of a Venn diagram. It’s where consent meets comfort and intentions. It’s easy to make this about...
Laurels & lances: Healing, benefits, milk and beer
Laurel: To healing with those who understand. Parkland to Pittsburgh is a program that will bring together survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School shooting with the local Jewish community. While many people have said they empathize and understand and offered prayers and tears, the two groups are the...
Letter to the editor: Value of penmanship instruction
Tom Purcell’s column “Time to embrace cursive again” (Feb. 4, TribLIVE) poses an important question. Along with strong indications of value to be had, he points out that cursive instruction is being reconsidered by many educators. Rather than alphabet preference, consider ways handwriting instruction can help to improve language skills....
Letter to the editor: Facts on drugs
Letter-writer George A.West (“Ignoring facts,”) stated that most opioids are manufactured in the United States. While many legal prescription drugs are manufactured here, most illicit fentanyl — a major cause of fatal overdoses in the United States — is produced in China and transported through Mexico. Most of the world’s...
Letter to the editor: Separation of powers
Article 1 in our Constitution ensures that the Senate and Congress keep the separation of powers intact. A president trying to become authoritarian is courting fascism. When the majority of the people state that a border wall is not the answer, and it’s not wanted, and even the Senate has...
Donald Boudreaux: Conversation with a young socialist
Recently near my office at George Mason University I ran into a student of mine who was showing his friend around campus. The friend is thinking of transferring from Radford University to George Mason. The friend — call him “Jack” — wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the famous image of...
George Will: Madness of college hoops’ amateurism
WASHINGTON Appropriately, during the crescendo of this college basketball season, in which the most significant event was a shoe malfunction, a lawyer whose best-known client was a pornographic actress was indicted for threatening to shrink a shoe company’s market capitalization by making allegations about the company misbehaving in the meat...
Editorial: Student loans are the new mortgage
The changing demographics of the Pennsylvania Legislature are going to do more than increase Harrisburg’s social media presence and a demand for avocado toast. They are producing a whole new perspective on debt, and it’s an important view to understand as we move forward. We might pine for the old...
Letter to the editor: Drain the swamp
Donald Trump’s presidency is rooted in his love of country, God and family. Candidate Trump promised an ambitious agenda to which he has been faithful. He promised the American people jobs, a growing economy, unprecedented manufacturing opportunities, securing of our southern border, an allegiance to the Constitution and Supreme Court...
Letter to the editor: Nursing home Medicaid rates
Thanks for the article “Flat Medicaid rates concern Pennsylvania nursing homes” (March 7, TribLIVE). It highlights the inadequacy of the current state budget proposal, which calls for no increase in Medicaid rates for nursing home care. Pennsylvania has one of the largest 85-plus populations in the nation, and seniors are...
Letter to the editor: Commending Toomey
It is only appropriate that citizens give Sen. Pat Toomey credit for his vote to void the president’s “state of emergency” declaration. Whether one approves of Donald Trump or not, that declaration gives him the ability to override the constitutional power of Congress to set spending. This erodes the basis...
Lenny McAllister: Fight for education equality marches on
Equality in Pennsylvania can never be obtained as long as education is not an even playing field. In pursuing the dream of equality in this country, let’s keep in mind: “Education equality is the civil rights issues of our time.” Unequal education can thwart the most important aspects of civil...
Aaron Blake: How the White House is casting Puerto Rico
It’s tempting to view President Trump’s many grievance-filled tweets as angry, indiscriminate lashing out against political opponents. It’s unhinged! It’s unpresidential! They’re “rage tweets!” Etc. Often, though, if you look closely, you’ll see some design. Behind the invective and often-incorrect claims will be a controversial suggestion with some built-in plausible...
Pat Buchanan: Must West beg world for forgiveness?
As the Democratic Party quarrels over reparations for slavery, a new and related issue has arisen, raised by the president of Mexico. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has written Pope Francis and King Felipe VI to demand their apologies for the Spanish conquest of Mexico that began 500 years ago with...
Editorial: Pittsburgh gun ban is politics’ fault
On Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s council passed a package of laws that would ban some weapons within the city limits and regulate access for people deemed an “extreme risk.” There are people who see this as a step forward in a nation where gun violence has become heartbreakingly commonplace while action to...
Letter to the editor: Rose verdict unbelievable
I can’t believe a jury found a man not guilty of homicide for shooting a boy in the back. To me that says it’s OK for police officers to shoot people in the back and kill them if they think they might have done something wrong or might do something...
Letter to the editor: Health care nightmares
I recently awoke from a nightmare in which I had come home late on a cold winter’s night to find my grandmother sitting on my front porch with a blanket wrapped around her and a note from the hospital which she had been admitted to only hours before. The note...
Letter to the editor: Be a responsible pedestrian
Distracted driving (texting, cellphone calls, drinking, etc.) is certainly a problem for pedestrians, as the latest death toll statistics indicate. However, pedestrians are a significant part of the problem. When you walk or run along the road, you are required to face oncoming traffic as far to the left as...
Nicholas Theis: UPMC workers & the need for a union
Ensuring everyone has access to UPMC’s nonprofit hospitals should be a no-brainer, yet both Pittsburgh City Council and the mayor have failed in recent years to hear their constituents out, or use their powers to protect them. Now, tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians face the prospect of being shut out...
Jennifer Rubin: A little oversight uncovers a lot of lawlessness
With a Democratic House majority in place, we see more clearly than ever how Republican docility enabled President Trump’s lawlessness for the first two years of his presidency. When “normal” congressional behavior appears to check the executive branch — e.g. oversight hearings, subpoenas, use of the bully pulpit — we...
Tom Purcell: At tax time, better to laugh than cry
Tax season is upon us, which gives us a choice: Laugh or cry. I choose to laugh. Dave Barry offers useful advice for getting through this trying time: “It’s income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and...
Editorial: The empty threat of Pennsylvania’s death penalty
An empty threat might seem like a good middle ground. It could give all the weight of a hefty penalty without any of the responsibility for the follow-through. It could seem strong while not actually being prepared to show strength. The reality is that it is a frustrated mother telling...
Letter to the editor: Trump & McCain
President Trump continuously bashes John McCain about various McCain positions that Trump disagrees with, which is somewhat amazing since McCain has been dead for seven months. I believe Trump wants to be in the spotlight all the time and doesn’t care if he receives negative criticism about his comments. As...
Letter to the editor: If you choose debt, it’s your burden
Sen. Lindsey Williams chose to go to law school on borrowed money. Due to her choice she has debt and thinks the state taxpayers should help her and others in her situation (“In Pennsylvania, young lawmakers drive conversation on reducing student debt,” March 24, TribLIVE). She is what is wrong...
Letter to the editor: Congress & war
On March 13, the Senate passed a resolution to end any U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen that has not been authorized by Congress. The bilateral support for this resolution demonstrates the recognition that Congress must reassert its authority over decisions regarding the use of the U.S. military in...
