Featured Commentary category, Page 59
Lawrence W. Reed: Andrew Mellon, hero of the 1920s
Editor’s note: The following op-ed, which first appeared in The American Spectator, is excerpted from a speech delivered by the author at Grove City College’s Institute for Faith & Freedom on June 6. Of the nearly 80 people since Alexander Hamilton to hold the office of secretary of the Treasury...
Trudy Rubin: Lessons from a military funeral in Ukraine
TORKIV, Ukraine — At the entrance to the village cemetery, where they buried Vasyl Pushkar, stands a tall, gray stone marker. The stone is engraved with an Orthodox cross and the words ” Holodomor, 1932-33,” a memorial to the 4 million or more Ukrainian peasants who were starved to death...
Zachary Barber: As climate change becomes harder to ignore, new EPA proposal gives hope
The threat posed by climate change has never been more apparent. Across the country, record-breaking heat waves have battered the southwest, while ocean water temperatures in Florida have soared past 100 degrees. The smoky haze of wildfire smoke exposed Pittsburghers to unsafe levels of soot pollution. Our region measured its...
Elwood Watson: Men and mental health
The issue of men and mental health often remains a silent crisis in our society. The reasons for this vary, though many experts attribute it to the growing number of pressures placed on men in contemporary life. Rapid transformations ranging from work, family and personal life have taken their toll...
Peter Morici: Strict curbs on artificial intelligence would hurt striking writers and actors
Hollywood actors and writers are striking an industry in crisis. The dilemmas all face are a dress rehearsal for how Americans will cope with the growing gig economy and artificial intelligence. Covid-19 disrupted industries in similar ways as wars and financial crises by accelerating adjustments to new technologies and consumer...
David Vatz: Squirrel Hill needs more homes
July 31 was an important day for the Irish Center development project in Squirrel Hill, where a developer is trying to build 162 new condos on the former Irish Center site on Forward Avenue. As a member of the board of the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition (SHUC), I was one...
Bruce Antkowiak: Reflections on the trial of Robert Bowers
Among the many stories that have filled the news in recent weeks, many seem little more than echoes of pointless political bickering and posturing, requiring little substantive thought or reflection. But the case of Robert Bowers is very different. It demands our attention. As the jury has now reached its...
Colin McNickle: Darkness without dawn for Pittsburgh’s office vacancy rate?
The website writingexplained.org reminds that it was English theologian Thomas Fuller who coined the phrase “It’s always darkest before the dawn” in 1650. “The idea behind this is related to the literal of dawn,” the website notes. “Dawn (emphasis in the original) begins when the first light begins to show...
Anita Prizio: Pennsylvanians deserve bold climate action — and accountability
We don’t need to imagine a future where climate change is devastating our communities — we’re living it right now. Deadly storms in Western Pennsylvania. Hotter and hotter summers. One-in-100-years floods arriving with regularity in Allegheny County. We all deserve to live in a safe climate where our children can...
Rep. Chris Deluzio: Derailment rattled region 6 months ago; the fight for accountability, safer freight rail continues
The spotlight on the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has dimmed over the past six months, but the fight for accountability and safety continues. Massive railroad corporations’ reckless pursuit of power and profit is nothing new. And without badly needed safety reform, it will be just a waiting...
Greg Fulton: America the Generous
In watching cable news, reading articles on the internet or listening to certain pundits, you might get the impression that Americans are greedy and selfish people. In fact it’s become good sport for the media periodically to highlight a particular “ugly American” who has shown exceptional greed and been uncaring...
Jon Pushinsky and M. Jean Clickner: Personal reflections on the impact of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
We joined Congregation Dor Hadash as young parents over 30 years ago. We appreciated that the congregation was formed by a group of independent thinkers who were largely raised in the orthodox and conservative Jewish traditions. The congregational founders embraced their Judaism while striving to find new ways of applying...
Elwood Watson: Conservatives latest in long line of Barbie critics
Like many material icons, Barbie has had a complex history. When Mattel introduced Barbie to the public in 1959, America was beginning to enter deep into the throes of the Cold War. The modern civil rights movement was beginning to gain steam, and the nation was largely embracing the status...
Sens. Ryan Aument and Anthony Williams: Pa. students are struggling to read; we must help them
It’s time to sound the alarm on early literacy in Pennsylvania. Almost half of fourth-graders across our state are reading below grade level, a challenge that exists in every corner of Pennsylvania — from urban cities to our rural communities. Research consistently has shown early literacy is critical to academic...
Nathan Benefield: Pennsylvanians are leaving — but Shapiro, lawmakers can inspire them to stay
Do you know someone who left Pennsylvania — or is considering doing so — to find greener pastures? You’re not alone. Nearly half of Pennsylvanians flirt with moving out of state, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Commonwealth Foundation. Younger respondents show a higher propensity to look elsewhere....
Michael Reagan: GOP presidential debate will not be great again
Here we go again. The first Republican presidential primary debate is less than a month away and the GOP is hell-bent on making the same mistake it made in 2015. For its first primary debate back then Republicans had a herd of medium-caliber presidential wannabes that was so large the...
James Stavridis: NATO convoys can protect Ukraine’s grain harvest from Putin
In the latest escalation of his war crimes against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pulled out of the painfully negotiated grain deal that for months has permitted exports of Ukrainian and Russian agricultural products from Black Sea ports. There are several reasons for Putin’s withdrawal: frustration at Western sanctions;...
Point: Bidenomics is working for Pa. — and America
President Joe Biden’s visit to Philadelphia on July 20 offered a timely reminder of how much progress Pennsylvania has made under his leadership. Two years ago, Biden inherited a broken economy — one that didn’t reflect the American dream but instead a fundamental lie: the idea that an economy rigged...
Chris Impey: Whistleblower calls for government transparency as Congress digs for the truth about UFOs
A congressional subcommittee met July 26 to hear testimony from several military officers who allege the government is concealing evidence of UFOs. By holding a hearing on UFOs — now called “unidentified anomalous phenomena” by government agencies — the subcommittee sought to understand whether these UAPs pose a threat to...
Counterpoint: Bidenomics doesn’t add up for Pa. or America
President Joe Biden recently returned to his birth state to pitch his newly branded economic vision: Bidenomics. Though Biden seems eager to paint a rosy economic picture, the numbers show that Bidenomics is, at best, a mixed bag. Yes, the national unemployment rate is below 4%, where it has remained...
Dwan Walker: Credit card bill bad for Pennsylvanians
Here in Aliquippa and other communities like ours across Western Pennsylvania, we’re seeing how the hard work and determination of our ordinary citizens directly contributes to the strength and resolve of our commonwealth. Bouncing back in the aftermath of a global pandemic has not been easy, but our neighbors are...
Rachel Marsden: Controversial top appointment unearths divisions among Washington and its allies
Shortly after Yale professor and former Obama-era Justice Department official, Fiona Scott Morton, landed the role of the European Commission’s chief competition economist, the knives came out here in France. French President Emmanuel Macron led the charge himself. “If we have no (European) researcher of this level to be recruited...
Marci A. Hamilton: Time to open window for sex abuse survivors
Who takes their car to a mechanic, learns what repairs are needed and walks out without getting the actual work done? Who goes to a doctor, gets a diagnosis and leaves without pain relievers, a prescription or a referral to physical therapy? No one, right? But isn’t this really what’s...
Cal Thomas: Tony Bennett, more than a ‘crooner’
It was in the early ’60s. I was a copy boy at NBC News, and the overnight disc jockey for the local radio station called and asked if I’d like to go on a boat ride down the Potomac River with his guest, Tony Bennett. For several hours we cruised...
Elwood Watson: In Florida, learn about the benefits of slavery
Florida has justly earned its recent reputation as the most dysfunctional, surreal and outlandish state in the nation. The so-called Sunshine State continues to promote high-profile lunacy. Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the new, updated framework for how Black history will be taught in K-12 schools, including guidelines that...
