Featured Commentary category, Page 33
Kelly McKinney: Disaster preparedness must be front and center in the presidential campaign
Thirty-two years ago, a tropical storm wandered over an area of superheated water and exploded into a monster Category 5 hurricane with 174 mph winds. Compact and powerful, Hurricane Andrew slammed into south Florida, obliterating houses and leaving 65 people dead. In the days that followed, our response to the...
Patricia Murphy: Failing our students, 1 school shooting at a time
It was every parent’s nightmare — news Wednesday morning of a lockdown at Apalachee High School turned into reports of gunfire, then injuries, then deaths. Four people at the Winder, Ga., school — two students and two teachers — are dead, and nine were injured. Horrifically, the shooter was confirmed...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Is artificial intelligence for the birds? More than you may think.
The test for any breakthrough technology is often where you least expect it, but once it “conquers” that application, even more possibilities may emerge. We all know that artificial intelligence (AI) is touching every aspect of our lives. From when we turn on our smartphone to searching the web to...
Colin McNickle: Stadiums’ economic impacts laid bare
We all remember the hard sales pitch of nearly 30 years ago: The tax-our-way-to-prosperity crowd was pushing, if not attempting to shame, the public in 11 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties to vote for the misleadingly titled 1997 Regional Renaissance Initiative (RRI) referendum. A new and wondrous economic revival was promised for...
James C. Greenwood: Yet more senseless gun violence
Following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July, President Biden said “there is no place in America for this kind of violence.” On that July day, most Americans claimed to agree with Biden’s sentiment. On Wednesday, at least four high schoolers were killed in Georgia, and President Biden said...
John P. Rossi: Pa. politicians’ long history of insignificance
The things that truly last when men and things have passed, They are all in Pennsylvania this morning! Rudyard Kipling, “Philadelphia” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s being passed over as Kamala Harris’ running mate reflects the low esteem that the state’s political figures are held nationally. Since the nation’s founding, Pennsylvania,...
F.D. Flam: If killing 1 species might save another, should we do it?
It’s routine practice for government officials to kill animals deemed invasive or destructive. For the most part, Americans accept this or look the other way — especially if the “pests” are insects, rodents or garden-munching deer. That’s changed now that the Fish and Wildlife Service plans to shoot thousands of...
A brother’s eulogy: Domenico Schiano di Cola remembered as ‘the most kind and selfless person’
Editor’s note: Hundreds of mourners gathered Monday at Most Blessed Sacrament Church to celebrate the life of Domenico “Domen” Schiano di Cola of Harrison. Schiano di Cola, 29, co-owner of the popular J&S Pizza, died Aug. 6 in Italy after experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. His brother Vincenzo and lifelong friend...
Virginia Postrel: Tipping culture is out of control. Trump and Harris would make it worse.
If you left the U.S. for a summer vacation, you may have encountered a strange and refreshing custom: not tipping. Or at least not tipping everyone in sight. Americans have long been among the world’s most profligate tippers. “We tip more occupations than any other country, and we tend to...
Jessica E. Martinez: Workers are bearing the brunt of extreme heat
Ronald Silver II, a sanitation worker in Baltimore, won’t be spending this Labor Day weekend with his family. On Aug. 2, during a sweltering 100-degree heatwave, Silver died while working a shift in a city garbage truck. His death was preventable. In July, following worker complaints, Baltimore’s inspector general reviewed...
Dan DeBone: Small businesses can’t afford experimental changes to credit and debit cards
The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a well-earned heritage of economic resiliency and strength. And despite setbacks in recent years, western Pennsylvania is on the path toward recovery. An important part of that recovery is being driven by our local small businesses. As the president of an organization charged with ensuring...
Charles Bolden: Honoring our promise and commitment to military families
Supporting our military and their families is a sacred obligation of our nation and each of us as citizens — a debt we can never fully repay. This commitment unites all Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents alike. Vice President Kamala Harris has been by President Biden’s side in the...
Taleen Mardirossian: How lies on paper enabled Azerbaijan’s destruction of an Armenian community
My mother has two birth dates: the one on her passport, and then the real one. She was born in January in the late ’60s in Beirut, Lebanon. But because her birth was not registered for another 10 weeks, official documents give a date in March. With every phone call...
Peter Morici: College has to offer a better return on investment than students are getting
With students heading back to campuses, America’s universities need a reality check — and American business could provide it. Even before recent demonstrations disrupted campuses and forced embarrassing confrontations between university presidents and congressional leaders, Americans’ confidence in higher education was declining. A recent Gallup poll found that just 36%...
Cal Thomas: Questions to ask Kamala Harris
CNN has won the “privilege” of conducting the first interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday night, beating the promised “end of the month” deadline she had set. The Harris team had reportedly been “shopping” networks to assess what they believe would be...
Paul Alexander: Shapiro figured out how to combat high drug prices — can it help Kamala Harris?
In a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, health care was the third most important issue for voters in the presidential race, a concern voiced by 57% of respondents who were interviewed. In many cases, voters are worried about high drug costs. That’s why, this year before he...
Sen. Greg Rothman: Clean power plan reboot will cripple Pa.’s energy affordability
President Biden’s political implosion has sparked one of the most chaotic election cycles in modern history. Desperate to put the turmoil behind them, Democrats moved with lightning speed to anoint Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee. In doing so, they careened from one disaster to another by...
Donna Barbisch: We need a president who honors our military heroes
As someone who has dedicated my life to the service of this nation, I understand what it means to sacrifice for the greater good. I’ve witnessed the courage it takes to stand up in the face of danger and the strength required to put others before oneself. That’s why the...
Tom Pike: Shapiro needs to step up his environmental game
As attorney general, in 2020, Josh Shapiro made a name for himself by publishing a grand jury report that called for 2,500-foot protective buffers between residents’ homes and fracking well pads. It cited reams of evidence that living near fracking infrastructure is dangerous to Pennsylvanians’ health. Shapiro’s track record as...
Lindsey Galvao and Benjamin Klutsey: Teaching civil discourse — a classroom blueprint for all America
First-time teachers and first-time voters gearing up for the 2024 election may have only ever been exposed to toxic polarization — it’s their norm. But for those of us who’ve been in the classroom for decades, the landscape of teaching civics has changed dramatically. In the early 2000s, America was...
Aaron Brown: Wager on the NFL or invest? It’s not about morality
Does legalized online sports betting strain family finances? A recent study, “Gambling Away Stability: Sports Betting’s Impact on Vulnerable Households,” argues yes, but the conclusion reflects the moral assumptions of the authors rather than the statistical evidence. That’s not to say this is a bad study. It is a good...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: History hasn’t been kind to female nominees. Will it be different this time?
Once again, we are seeing how female nominees create excitement in presidential politics. But in the past, it’s mostly worn off by Election Day. Kamala Harris and the Democrats hope this time will be different, but it’s too early to know. The vice president’s nomination marks the fifth time in...
Point: Beware bias by omission
A long time ago, the American people expected reporters to gather and report the facts, explain the arguments of political parties and keep their opinions out of it. Today, reporters openly express their opinions, in their stories and in nearly every utterance on television and social media. The “objective” media’s...
Counterpoint: Media ‘bias’ is a perennial part of elections
Donald Trump’s esteem for Vladimir Putin is well known. For more than a decade, starting before he became president, Trump has expressed admiration for the Russian strongman, from his October 2013 claim that Putin had “done really a great job of outsmarting our country” to his July 2018 assertion at...
Harry Litman: What kind of prosecutor was Kamala Harris? The answer could be pivotal to her campaign
CHICAGO The presidential campaign is shaping up to be a tale of two prosecutors, both named Kamala Harris. Harris’ record as a tough-on-crime prosecutor was a constant refrain through much of the Democratic National Convention. A series of speakers echoed that theme. They touted Harris’ lock-’em-up bona fides. In his...
