http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/ All Opinion en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:09:56 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12041/1209204-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Experience is said to be the best teacher, but advice from experts can be quite helpful, too. Unfortunately, when it comes to selection of a new leader for Allegheny County's beleaguered public defender's office, Executive Rich Fitzgerald seems to be disregarding knowledgeable counsel. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12041/1209205-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Pittsburgh has a formidable reputation in the arts that runs through music, dance, visual art and letters. With major home-grown talents like playwright August Wilson, jazz legend Billy Strayhorn and photographer Teenie Harris, among others, a key facet of that excellence emerged from African-American households. This rich history deserves to be not only understood but also appreciated. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12041/1209206-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml All the trouble in the Middle East that has come in the wake of the Arab Spring should be a clear signal to the United States, which has its own problems, to resist becoming involved in further warfare there. The wave of change that arrived last spring, starting with the revolution in Tunisia that triggered the fall of a long-standing dictator, was bright and inspiring. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12041/1209207-110-0.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml I am a Port Authority transit rider and I am very concerned about the upcoming cuts. These cuts are the most drastic ever! A cut of 35 percent means reduced or eliminated service affecting the most vulnerable citizens of our great city. For example, I like to ride buses after 10 p.m. many nights. Guess what? I will have to come home earlier or face being stuck somewhere. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12040/1208993-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml When the Post-Gazette editorialized Tuesday about the threat of closure to the 911th Airlift Wing, we suggested that the best way to save the base was to make an argument on the military merits of keeping it open. Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12040/1208994-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Last year, at his inauguration, Tom Corbett took office with a desire to "unleash a new common prosperity to benefit all Pennsylvanians." Two budget proposals later, it's hard to see how the governor is doing his part. Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12040/1208995-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Unless America is visited by biblical plagues -- and maybe not even then -- Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator and perpetual moral scold, is unlikely to be the next president. But politicians often have a highly inflated opinion of themselves and some voters will always indulge them. Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12040/1208996-110-0.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml The editorial "Equitable Compromise: Faith-Based Employees Deserve the Same Coverage" (Feb. 3) states that "President Barack Obama has not declared war on the Roman Catholic Church, no matter what the faithful may be hearing in church." As a Catholic, I have to object to the inference that the truth is not heard in the Catholic Church. Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208691-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml You know it's a hyper-partisan age when GOP svengali Karl Rove professes offense at a Super Bowl ad extolling American resilience. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208692-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Longtime Democratic state Rep. Bill DeWeese has lost his right to public office. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208693-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Whatever the prospects are for diplomacy by Russia to end the Syrian conflict, the tragedy is that the bloodshed will continue while that occurs. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208694-110-0.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Now is the time for Pennsylvania legislators to reform state government. By combining two key reforms, they can eliminate two threats to good government -- a cumbersome, costly, oversized Legislature and the partisan gerrymandering of election districts. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208505-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml Pittsburgh, which owes its existence to its beginnings as a frontier garrison town, has always had a close, historic relationship with the military. In great numbers, men and women from Western Pennsylvania have served to help the nation fight its wars. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208506-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml The dangers of lead-based paint have been well-established for more than 30 years. The knowledge that even low-level exposures to lead can affect mental capacity led the United States to ban the use of paints in this country with lead content above 600 parts per million since 1978. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208507-192.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml All he is saying is give peace a chance. No, not John Lennon -- Fredrik Heffermehl, a Norwegian jurist and critic of the Nobel Peace Prize selection process. It could mean trouble for the committee, which faces a formal investigation into its selections. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208508-110-0.stm?cmpid=opinion.xml I felt I had an obligation to "weigh in" on the ongoing discussion about the Weights and Measures Bureau in Allegheny County ("Two in a Measured Dispute: County Executive, Controller Each Want to Monitor Meters," Feb. 1). I had the privilege of supervising this group during my five years in county government under the three commissioners and then Jim Roddey. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500