Letters to the editor
Data center questions
I am obviously confused about data centers, which are currently the subject of so much debate.
My first bit of confusion is, why do we need them? Everybody from the president to state political candidates tell us that these data centers are great and wonderful, but they never tell us what they are for.
My second bit of confusion is why do other electricity users in the area of data centers have their bills go up? I have always understood that each user pays for what they use, not for what others around them are using. If some of the cost of the electricity these centers are using is being passed on to other local consumers, that is totally wrong.
If that is what is happening, I recommend we look at who is responsible and who is profiting from this abuse of the taxpayers.
Just remember the old adage, “The answer to all of your questions, my dear, is money.” Somebody is making a killing on these data centers and is selling us down the river to do it.
Stanley Myers
Washington
The Golden Rule
Recently, a friend stopped me at the grocery store to have a chat about high prices and why our society is in such a mess. He began by asking a rhetorical question, “Whatever happened to the Golden Rule we taught our children?” Neither of us could come up with a good answer.
Later that day, I thought more about this issue and concluded that a partial reason is we are clearly living through an unprecedented period of selfishness in America. There is a new rule now and it has three parts. The first part is greed is good and money is everything. The second is to pay no attention to the less fortunate – they don’t matter. The third is that lying is always acceptable and encouraged. We see these tenets being displayed every day at the highest levels of our government. Unfortunately, there is very little pushback for this behavior, especially from Congress, so it eventually becomes normalized. Disagreement with this administration brings disfavor and retaliation, but silence is complicity.
Speaking of silence, we in the 14th Congressional District haven’t seen or heard from our U.S. representative for quite a while. I wouldn’t know him if he showed up at my door. However, I have met someone who wants to take his place and has been holding town halls everywhere. Alan Bradstock is a native of Donora, served our country in the Iraq war as a helicopter pilot and spent 20 years in the FBI. He values our opinions and wants to hear them.
The Golden Rule doesn’t mean we should cover our statues and buildings in gold because that’s just nonsense. It means that civility and politeness can once again be the principles of our culture. Alan Bradstock can help lead us there.
Bob Willison
Rices Landing
Let’s pretend
Fearing that Republican voters will not turn out to vote in the November midterms because he is not on the ballot, Donald Trump has instructed his supporters to “pretend” he is on the ballot in hope they will turn out to vote and keep his spineless Republican sycophants in office and remain unchecked by Congress for another two years.
OK – let’s pretend.
Let’s pretend the Russia-Ukraine war has been over since Jan. 21, 2025 (just as Trump promised) and that Vladimir Putin’s Russia is our closest ally – not Canada or the U.K.
Let’s pretend that Israeli prime minister Netanyahu (who since 1992 has repeatedly declared with “absolute proof” that Iran was within two weeks of having a nuclear weapon) and Fox Weekend host Pete Hegseth didn’t convince Trump to go to war with Iran – against the judgment of U.S. intelligence.
Let’s pretend the Iran war is not an endless war and that Iran will not ultimately have some form of control (maybe an EZ Pass toll system?) of the Strait of Hormuz.
Let’s pretend that tariffs were paid by other countries (not American importers) and brought in trillions of dollars of revenue.
Let’s pretend that trillionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE team cut trillions in government spending and significantly cut the national debt.
Let’s pretend you went to your mailbox and received your “DOGE savings” and “tariff income” checks as promised.
Let’s pretend that the national debt is not over $40 trillion dollars and that $12 trillion of the $40 trillion didn’t occur during the 67 months that Trump was in office.
Let’s pretend the national debt can be reduced by increasing spending while reducing revenue (can you say 2017 tax cuts?).
Let’s pretend consumer prices have fallen steadily since Janu. 21, 2025.
Let’s pretend that the “affordability crisis” is a hoax and the inflation rate is not 3.7% (3% when Trump took office), and that gas isn’t over $4 a gallon and ground beef isn’t approaching $7 a pound.
Let’s pretend that only the “worst of the worst” illegal immigrants are targeted for deportation – not immigrants seeking asylum who are abiding by current laws (only 4% of detainees had some form of criminal record).
Let’s pretend we have the most competent administration in history with the head of Health and Human Services having no medical background, and the head of the Department of Education having a background in professional wrestling – not education (and don’t forget the former television show hosts serving in the cabinet).
Let’s pretend that the Epstein victims have got justice and that the files being withheld by the Justice Department do not implicate Trump in any way.
Let’s pretend that the Constitution dictates that the primary function of a president is to enrich himself and his family – “Mission Accomplished!”
And let’s pretend that our absentee representative Guy Reschenthaler is all about interacting with his constituents by holding town halls during House recesses, and that he could find his district without the use of GPS.
As Trump said – “Let’s pretend!”
You’ll feel much better about the current direction of our country.
D.W. Jones
Washington
We can do better
It seems from reading all of the opinion pieces that people are way too concerned about things that just aren’t that important.
Look at all of the backlash concerning Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.
This isn’t an important thing to worry about; yes, it is stupid and extremely unpresidential to write an executive order for this but really who cares? In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t have any impact on our lives and it can easily be undone by the next administration.
Our politics has become a choice between a lesser of two evils, and as long as voters keep making the same tribe choices we are going to keep getting the same result.
Democrat or Republican doesn’t matter as long as we keep choosing the same people who promise things there is no chance of delivering.
Neither party has any real solution to fix the economy, and as much as we need changes to fix healthcare, claims to tax the rich and have Medicare for all is not realistic. Neither party is going to tax the hand that feeds them. Eliminating fraud is the best solution. Will some mistakes be made? Sure; humans are not perfect, but corrections can be made when necessary.
We don’t need men in women’s sports, and we need to do a way better job of managing immigration. There is a right way and a wrong way, and the law is the law until Congress makes changes. Like it or not doesn’t justify people getting shot or protesters harassing enforcement.
We need more independent politicians not beholden to either tribe and a start to this would be for Pennsylvania to have an open primary so independents can be involved in the process.
Tom Tichnel
Washington