Opinion

Our language police have their hands full. Lately, they have pushed the Berkeley (California) City Council to scrub supposedly sexist words like manpower and manholes — in favor of human-effort and maintenance holes. (Please imagine a worker saying “Hey Sam, pry open that maintenance hole, would ya?”) Berkeley also wants its employees to use they […]

I’ve been struck recently by news coverage of climate change and humans’ degradation of the planet. Two opposing themes keep appearing. One is the sense that, as individuals, there’s little we can do; the forces are too large. The other — and I think many Americans would agree with this — is that as citizens of the

Too many salespeople find themselves running on fumes when it comes to prospects. “I get up every morning and ask myself the same question: Who am I going to talk to today,” said a life-insurance salesperson who had been in the business for 30 years. He’s far from alone. Closing sales is the goal, but

Across New York state, we have many county fairs, festivals, and events taking place this summer, and the Finger Lakes Region is no exception. County fairs, in particular, are a big draw to some communities and help local businesses with economic growth and exposure, particularly in the agri-tourism sector.  I invite you and your family,

In the fall of 2013, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) announced that it would ban hunting with firearms on 5,300 acres of its property in the Adirondacks. The ban was a result of the ill-conceived SAFE Act that was enacted earlier that same year. I am pleased to report that an amendment

A few years ago, I heard a professor condemn book-banning. This was in a public lecture. She condemned Christian groups in the hinterlands, because they wanted to ban books from school libraries. Books on same-sex relationships, for example. An audience member asked if the professor and her ilk would ever do the same. Would they

A few years ago, I was at a polling place here in Indiana where a long line of people stood waiting to vote. A woman recognized me and called me over. “Why is it,” she asked, “that you politicians make it so hard and inconvenient to vote?” We have an archaic registration process, restrictive voting

Lately we have seen everything from school lunches to sneakers to the 4th of July politicized. That’s a pity. But a greater pity is the politicization of the U.S. economy. The left declares the economy is the opposite of what it is. Left-wing voices try to drown out the good economic news. The improvements in

The other day, someone I’ve known for years offered a pointed bit of criticism. “It’s easy for people like you to make long lists of things Congress should do to improve,” he said. “But you know good and well most of them won’t happen. So, if you’re really serious, what’s the one most important thing

The latest fad from politicians is to promise to wipe out all student debt — with your money. They wave their magic wand and you pay. That is what they propose. Let’s say you did not get a college degree. Instead, you went to work. Or maybe you did graduate from college, but you avoided