Opinion category, Page 264
Point: Colleges should solely consider merit in selecting students
On June 29, the Supreme Court delivered a 6-3 ruling that essentially prevents colleges from using affirmative action and race-based quotas in the college admissions acceptance process. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The race-based admissions systems … fail to comply with the twin commands of the Equal Protection Clause...
Counterpoint: Affirmative action has ended; the need for diversity hasn’t
When a conservative Supreme Court majority effectively ended the use of affirmative action in college admissions, it disregarded more than 40 years of precedent — and the realities of systemic racial discrimination. Meanwhile, the court left affirmative action for the wealthy in place. While colleges no longer can consider race...
Letter to the editor: Shearsburg Road not the Indy 500
Yes, there are roads closed and detours, but why must everyone come flying down Shearsburg Road instead of taking the Bonfire Shortcut to Route 56 to wherever they need to go? School will be back in session soon, and we have children on this road out to catch the bus...
Sounding off: Taxes, bigotry, student loans, Supreme Court, climate on readers’ minds
The government will always get you Regarding the article “Poll: Taxes, cost of living driving away young residents from Pennsylvania” (July 5, TribLIVE): I’ve developed a theory over the years that the government is going to get you somehow regardless of where you live. There will be exceptions, and one...
Letter to the editor: Insults on school choice won’t help kids
After Gov. Josh Shapiro’s sudden announcement that he would veto school choice vouchers in the state budget, the Trib prints an opinion piece, “The letter that sank school choice in Pa.” (July 15, TribLIVE) blaming it all on “noxious” Republican messengers. The author smears two previous Department of Education secretaries...
Editorial: Did we really need another special election?
Pennsylvania is facing a special election. Again. It will decide control of the state’s House of Representatives. Again. Sara Innamorato has resigned from her job as lawmaker representing the 21st District as she completes her run for Allegheny County executive. She secured the Democratic nomination for the position in the...
Letter to the editor: Cal Thomas’ comic take on our climate
In his column “The catastrophe du jour” (July 6, TribLIVE), Cal Thomas offers ample servings of scientific misunderstanding spiced with unfortunate attempts at humor. He mocks everyone from King Charles to the Green Party as hapless dupes of of a conspiracy of climate “experts.” Referring to climate predictions, he asks...
Gary Franks: Are both Reconstruction and affirmative action not ‘fair’ to nostalgic white Americans?
It is amazing how nostalgia turns into public policy. The state of Virginia is wrestling with what to do about an already removed statute of Gen. Robert E. Lee, military leader of the Confederacy and an outstanding student at West Point. However, Lee lost the Civil War to Union Gen....
Sheldon H. Jacobson: An AI Bill of Rights would be unenforceable and may do more harm than good
President Joe Biden put forward a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” that provides five guiding principles for the development and implementation of artificial intelligence. They outline aspirational goals that also align with principles in the Democratic Party platform. Technology leaders also have expressed concern about the untethered growth...
Elwood Watson: Aldean learns critics have freedom of speech, too
This week, Country Music Television pulled Jason Aldean’s highly controversial music video for “Try That in a Small Town” after its release last week sparked controversy. Aldean, one of the biggest country music stars, has been criticized widely for the song and video, which features intense hostility and threats of...
Letter to the editor: End affirmative action
The Supreme Court has ended one form of reverse discrimination (affirmative action in college admissions to achieve inclusion of minorities). White and Asian students have been denied admission to college so that less qualified Black students are given preferential consideration. That is racist. I realize that is how political correctness...
Letter to the editor: Who said it?
We will build a wall, and Mexico will pay. In the spring, when it warms up, it will disappear. (After about 1,127,000 U.S. citizens died, and it is still around.) If we rake the forest floors, there will be no more forest fires. If we paint China on our bombs...
Laurels & lances: Guns & money
Laurel: To a nice jackpot — or at least a piece of one. Visitors to Live Casino Pittsburgh generate millions in revenue for its owners. In 2022, the casino in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall reported almost $112 million between slot machines, table games and sports betting. That’s great for the company,...
Letter to the editor: Battling to save America
I realize with the diversity of opinions, philosophies and worldviews in a nation of 330 million people, there will be profound differences. Yet it’s reasonable to say that, when it comes down to the basic essentials, we all want the same things: abundant food, employment, health care, shelter, education, safety...
Letter to the editor: Pa. needs plan for dementia treatment
At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2023, researchers released the first-ever county-level prevalence estimates, finding east and southeastern U.S. states have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s dementia. In Allegheny County, the Alzheimer’s dementia prevalence estimate is 11.9% among residents age 65 or older. The research comes following the release...
Paul Kengor: Why are our churches so ugly?
My previous dispatch to you, faithful readers, came from far away, in Italy, where I reported on the strangeness of spending July 4 abroad. I mentioned in that column being inspired by the sites and traditions of the old country, including its churches. That thought inspires me again. I received...
Lori Falce: In support of writers
I have a serious love of television, and so I take things that stand between me and my ability to binge-watch it personally. How dare someone make me wait an additional year to see what happens on “The Last of Us.” I’m not sure I can live in a world...
Barry Markovsky: Why people tend to believe UFOs are extraterrestrial
Most of us still call them UFOs — unidentified flying objects. NASA recently adopted the term “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAP. Either way, every few years popular claims resurface that these things are not of our world, or that the U.S. government has some stored away. I’m a sociologist who...
Letter to the editor: Nicholson Township injection well opposed
Residents of Nicholson Township in Fayette County are fighting a proposed Class II D injection well site from a company called G2 Stem out of Virginia. A permit was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, and only residents within a half-mile radius from the site were notified. The permit was...
Editorial: Kopas appointment as commissioner is understandable but was it the best choice?
On Monday, the 11 Westmoreland County Common Pleas judges gathered together and acted as a kind of jury, deliberating and delivering a verdict on a case in a way they normally don’t get to do. The decision they reached wasn’t about guilt or innocence or a judgment with a big...
Letter to the editor: Supreme Court should not be above the law
Supreme Court justices are given lifetime appointments so they will be immune to political influence. But the Federalist Society has created a quid pro quo system in which they receive lavish gifts from wealthy benefactors. This legalized bribery has resulted in the court trashing our norms, customs, precedence and the...
Jonah Goldberg: Why July is the cruelest month for GOP presidential candidates — unless they’re Donald Trump
Perhaps T.S. Elliot was wrong. July, not April, is the cruelest month, at least for GOP presidential contenders trying to supplant Donald Trump. Before July, the campaigns have excuses for why the momentum hasn’t kicked in yet. They can say they’re just in exploratory-committee mode, or they’re just getting the...
Peter Morici: How Ukraine joining NATO would keep critical technology out of China’s hands
The future of Ukraine in the NATO alliance will prove critical to the balance of power in the Pacific and U.S. economic leadership around the world. Tensions within NATO on the embattled nation’s status were on full display at the Vilnius Summit last week. On the agenda was Ukrainian membership,...
Brad Bushman and Sophie Kjaervik: A 1-minute video helped preteens be more careful around real guns
Children who watched a 1-minute-long gun safety video were more cautious when they found a real handgun hidden in a drawer in our lab compared to children who watched a car safety video, according to our randomized clinical trial published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. We observed this difference even...
Letter to the editor: Ending frivolous lawsuits
A woman parks in a no-parking zone at a store, gets out and injures herself falling on black ice; never mind that she violated restrictions. A hot McNugget falls on a child’s lap, causing second- degree burns; never mind that food is supposed to be hot. A man showboats by leaping...
