Opinion category, Page 767
Letter to the editor: Ignoring facts
So often, after reading the op-ed page and letters from readers, I’m amazed that so many people do not or cannot think for themselves; how many ignore or cannot comprehend facts and how many are sheep-like — i.e., must be led. Jack Bologna (“Global lukewarming,” Feb. 15, TribLIVE) wrote against...
Letter to the editor: Nation needs protection
There is a clear picture in the public’s mind of what takes place in a home invasion. The violation of the homeowner’s space, person, goods and financial well-being happens in an abrupt, mostly violent way. The invaders burst through the door and the nightmare episode begins. The emotional trauma continues...
Letter to the editor: Socialist snake oil
Hardly a day passes when I don’t encounter the term democratic socialism, but what is it? Democratic socialism is the socialist hucksters’ latest name for their snake oil. It is galley slaves voting for their drummer. It benefits those who ride the ship for free, those who gain a temporary...
Donald Boudreaux: Nothing to fear from China’s economy
Among my favorite books of this decade is “How China Became Capitalist” by Nobel-laureate economist Ronald Coase and Ning Wang (2012). In addition to offering fascinating details of Beijing’s post-Mao intrigues, the authors conclude that China’s remarkable economic growth over the past four decades occurred only to the extent that...
Lori Falce: Parents in college scandal cheated kids out of failure
I screwed up a lot in middle school. And high school. And college. I rolled my eyes with disgust at the things my mother didn’t understand. I had a moral objection to homework. If there was a way to work a shortcut, I probably tried it. I did a lot...
Laurels & lances: Musicals, memes, gadgets and guns
Laurel: To all the kids raising the curtains. Musical season at schools all over the area is in full swing, with cast members singing and dancing and hitting their marks while crew members build sets, prep props and focus the spotlights. Every show is as physical as a football game...
Letter to the editor: Shapiro, Highmark & UPMC
Why would Attorney General Josh Shapiro sue UPMC for having better pricing (“UPMC rejects state Attorney General Shapiro’s attempt to halt breakup with rival Highmark,” Feb. 21, TribLIVE)? Business 101: A lawsuit will make everybody suffer because prices go up. If UPMC has 2.5 million policy holders and Highmark has...
Letter to the editor: Drain the swamp
Drain the swamp: What does that mean? Is it just something to say to get votes? What swamp are they talking about — the one in Washington, or the one we all live in because of the people we continue to let run our country the way they think it...
Letter to the editor: Drawbacks to legal pot
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was in Greensburg recently to discuss making recreational use of marijuana legal (“Fetterman’s marijuana tour stop in Greensburg draws large, divided crowd,” March 4, TribLIVE). If medical professionals believe cannabis is a good tool in their medical bag for treating chronic pain or other issues, I...
George Will: Has Catholic Church committed worst crime in American history?
PHILADELPHIA “Horseplay,” a term used to denote child rape, is, says Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, part of a sinister glossary of euphemisms by which the Catholic Church’s bureaucracy obfuscates in documents the church’s “pattern of abuse” and conspiracy of silence “that goes all the way to the Vatican.” “Benevolent...
Scott Conklin: PIAA needs separate playoff systems
Since 2010, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) has been debating the question as to whether private, parochial and charter schools (nonboundary schools) have a competitive advantage over public schools (boundary schools). Since fair competition is something we all want, I believe our public school student-athletes should have the same...
Editorial: Boeing crash, FAA delay test confidence
Confidence is what makes transportation work. We have confidence in painted lines on the road keeping lethally fast cars in their lanes. We have confidence that a bus will follow its route and get us where we need to go. And we have confidence in all of the dominoes that...
Letter to the editor: Not true Democrats
My family — parents, uncles, aunts and cousins — were all members of the Democratic Party. They were members when it was the party of the working class; the people who came to America to worship God, work hard, raise a family and search for the American dream. I and...
Letter to the editor: Fracking worst-case scenario
The worst-case scenario for a fracked deep gas well is when the gas somehow escapes the confinement of the casing pipe and ends up outside of it. This gas, which is under great pressure, then blasts its way to the surface and creates a plume hundreds of feet high. This...
Letter to the editor: Why hunting is in decline
There are many problems in regards to the downward trend of hunting, and I believe that Sunday hunting is minuscule. Three of the major factors are lack of hunting grounds, lack of quarry and the fact that young adults just plain do not want to do it. Two of these...
John Baer: Time for another run at helping Pa. child sex abuse survivors
It was last October when the state legislature, specifically the state Senate, turned its back on victims of child sex abuse. Their own constituents. This despite the fact just two months earlier Pennsylvania became the epicenter of outrage over such abuse with the release by Attorney General Josh Shapiro of...
Cal Thomas: The Democrats’ Jewish problem
Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comment that the influence of the Israeli lobby in Washington pushes lawmakers to take a pledge of “allegiance to a foreign country” was bad enough. A watered-down House resolution condemning, not Omar, but “all hatred” was as tepid as denouncing drunken driving. After heated debate...
Colin McNickle: Wolf’s teacher pay raise plan dubious
A proposal in Gov. Tom Wolf’s fiscal 2020 budget to raise the minimum wage for Pennsylvania’s public school teachers and support staff by a whopping 140 percent would have expansive and expensive consequences for taxpayers, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. It was in the 1980s...
Editorial: Social media meets Social Security
If you put your life on social media, you may have to worry about security. Social Security. While Russian hackers and Chinese cyberattacks get all the attention for how they break into a system, the government here at home can use what you put out there without resorting to ransomware...
Letter to the editor: Vaccines are crucial
I was distressed to read Hank Baughman’s letter “Vaccines are safe?” (March 3, TribLIVE) and to think that it might spur some parents to delay or skip some vaccines. In Washington state, where vaccine exemptions are allowed, at least 69 children have contracted measles this year — 43 percent of...
Letter to the editor: Say ‘no’ to recreational marijuana
Please do not support legalizing “recreational” marijuana — for the sake of Pennsylvanians’ well-being. An article in the Aug. 4, 2018 edition of World Magazine titled “The Green Rush Begins” states, “According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, about 30 percent of users will develop some sort of dependence...
New Trump budget is a horror show for Dems and Paul Ryan’s dream come true
You may remember that when he ran for president in 2016, Donald Trump said lots of unusual things, among which were regular pledges that unlike his Republican primary opponents and others in his party, he’d protect the safety net. In the speech announcing his candidacy, he said, “Save Medicare, Medicaid...
Tom Purcell: Irish stereotypes no joking matter
Ah, St. Patrick’s Day is upon us — which means it’s time for retailers, and too many other Americans, to perpetuate the “drunken Irishman” stereotype. Here’s what three typical St. Patrick’s Day T-shirts available at Amazon.com say: “Half Irish, Half Drunk” “Irish Today, Hungover Tomorrow” “I’m So Irish, I Bleed...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump human pseudo-event at CPAC
Two years ago, at the dawn of the Trump administration, Kellyanne Conway predicted that 2017’s CPAC would really be TPAC, or “Trump Pac.” What was premature spin then is conventional wisdom now. The Conservative Political Action Conference has always been what the great historian Daniel Boorstin called a “pseudo-event.” It...
Editorial: How do you ask charities for charity?
Charity begins at home, and Allegheny County is home to a lot of charities. After six years, the county has only been able to review 72 percent of the tax-exempt properties owned by “complex nonprofits.” Out of 2,800 parcels, about 700 have not been reviewed to see if they really...
