Sounding off: We need both faith, masks

In response to letter-writer Cindy Wallace (“We need faith, not masks”): There is an old Irish saying, “God is good, but never dance in a small boat,” meaning God takes care of us when we do our part to take care of ourselves.

Jesus’ message is to love our neighbor and ourselves. I believe we will be judged on how well we love and take care of others. Please wear your mask! Even when we go to “green,” the virus will still be active until we get a vaccine.

And by the way, the Constitution does not guarantee everyone the right to do whatever they want whenever they want. When you read it, please note that part of it was written to “promote the general welfare.” We are a society that depends on all our citizens to be respectful and watch out for each other.

Peg Mulcahy, Derry Township

Heroes Act, jobs and cannabis

The U.S. House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi passed a $3 trillion package to help save the economy during the covid-19 pandemic. It is titled the Heroes Act.

Certainly there are many still suffering, and we can acknowledge there have been heroes all around us. But in a bill to help ease unemployment and, judging by the title, honor heroes, it is a bit confusing that the word “cannabis” appears more often than the word “job.” (The bill contains provisions for banking to serve the cannabis industry.) Who are the heroes we are honoring — Cheech and Chong?

Richard J. King, New Kensington

Polling location consolidation is a bad plan

Allegheny County has announced that polling locations are being consolidated due to coronavirus (“Allegheny County votes to consolidate primary polling locations”). Monroeville’s one polling location will be at the Monroeville Convention Center.

I believe the proposed consolidation plan is counterproductive from the perspective of both public health and voters’ rights. In the yellow phase, large gatherings of more than 25 people are prohibited, yet we are going to have one polling location for our entire town? One reason stated is that many people may not want to work the polls due to their vulnerability to covid-19, yet I am aware and it has been reported that there are numerous people expressing their desire to work but have been turned away.

Voters will certainly be disenfranchised by this consolidation plan. Why haven’t voters been notified yet? Voters will appear at the wrong polling places without a doubt, and lines will be long. This is not only inconvenient, it is a health risk.

Ballots will be paper, and only one person is responsible for transporting the ballots to the elections office. This is unacceptable. It calls into question the security and integrity of our entire election process.

This is not just happening in Allegheny County, it is happening across the state. Everyone should be calling their elections bureaus and elected officials to change this plan to ensure the health of our citizens and the integrity of elections.

Mary Beth Cirucci, Monroeville

The writer is executive administrator in state Rep. Bob Brooks’ Murrysville office.

Weigh the risks, make your choices

Common sense is now an uncommon virtue. In statistics it is important to understand that figures can lie and liars can figure. Statisticians can have a bias, and the numbers may be unreliable and not relevant.

Political polls predicted Thomas Dewey would win the 1948 presidential election. Most polls were done telephonically. Who owned telephones in 1948? Mostly upper- to middle-class people (i.e., Republicans).

Public officials, many unelected, are making decisions on science they do not know rather than science they do know. Call it mathematical modeling, decision theory, regression analysis or algorithms. All the praise and the glory is to be given to science.

The inalienable rights enumerated in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights conflict with the science and is anathema to the acquisition of power in the name of “public safety”.

Get in an automobile, bus, train or airplane, and there is a statistical probability — remote as it is — you may not arrive safely at your intended destination. Eat raw fish or an egg sandwich — you risk food poisoning. You weigh the risks, make a choice and then get on with life.

We the people are aware of risks. If some are ill, have an underlying medical condition, elderly or high risk, it would be prudent to avoid or take preventive measures.

The point is: We the people should make the choice — not some flawed apparatchnik, elected or not — infringing on our God-given liberties.

Your choice is clear: The risks of freedom or a secure slavery.

David A. Scandrol, Lower Burrell

I will happily pay extra in restaurants

I’m no economist, but I understand need and money. I need to enjoy some of my favorite restaurants, from the pierogies in the South Side to terrific fish at the top of Mount Washington.

My co-workers are in their early 30s and want to enjoy a wonderful meal with their potential significant other or unwind with their friends. They want the experience of enjoying each other.

I am more than bored eating at home. I want someone to serve me, someone who can cook better than me, and someone to clean up after I am done and bring me an after- dinner drink.

I know the 50% capacity scares restaurant owners. Still, I know I miss good food, and understand reduced capacity will mean loss in revenue.

So charge me. I am willing to go out to dinner with a few friends to keep my favorite joints open even though they are half empty.

Charge me $40 for a meal that you used to charge me $20 for. I can afford it now, because I have been hunkered down at the house all this time. I will pay. I understand this is a temporary gig. I will enjoy it and I know the higher prices won’t be forever.

Robert Stack, Lawrenceville

Joe Biden has big problems

In her letter “Joe Biden knows how to be president” , Renalda Arndt states that facts will be important to Biden and he will never put his own interests ahead of Americans’.

Biden has some big problems, including accusations of corruption and inappropriate contact, and he shows signs of confusion. And it seems to me Biden only cares about Biden and his family’s interests.

I believe evidence shows the Obama presidency was the most corrupt in history, from the sale of shares of Toronto-based Uranium One, which had mines, mills and land in the U.S., to Russia, to the alleged lies about Benghazi and the Hillary Clinton email scandal.

Many women have accused Biden of inappropriate contact during public events. Tara Reade has accused him of sexual assault. Where are Alyssa Milano and Ashley Judd and the #MeToo movement protests with their kitty hats and megaphones? What about “believe all women”? This movement only seems to protect the left ideology.

If Biden wins the presidency, I predict the Democrats will utilize him like a puppet on short strings, or they will question his mental stability and the vice president will become president. Why do you think it is taking so long for him to appoint a running mate? I pray it is not Hillary Clinton.

Pamela Anderson, Mt. Pleasant

Squandering military sacrifices to covid-19

I was standing at the Memorial Day observance in Vandergrift, having taken advantage of the long weekend to spend time with my elderly parents. As the ceremony was winding down, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” was played. I can’t shake the irony of listening to the chorus of that song while we are being limited as to where we can go, restricted as to how many can gather in one place, controlled as to being granted or not granted access by virtue of a flimsy face mask, and threatened with civil consequences should we fail to comply.

I can’t help but conclude that we have thoroughly dishonored the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in service to our country, choosing instead to be cowed by pronouncements of impending death based on highly flawed models driven by defective “data” pushing unproven mitigation strategies.

We have allowed family, friends and neighbors to have their livelihoods destroyed by a ghost. We have seen supply chains hobbled by an illusion. We have allowed ourselves to be driven into isolation, terrified by the fantasy that covid-19 is deadly to everyone.

To those who have served, or are serving in our armed forces, I apologize for squandering your sacrifice.

Ray Hesketh, Fairlawn, Ohio

The writer is a former Vandergrift resident.