Opinion

Here are a few observations that make many of us uncomfy. This year, a few billion people will have to take off their shoes to board an airplane. That is not an exaggeration. This is a lot of tootsies, bother, and nuisance. All because 17 years ago, a doofus boarded a plane wearing explosive shoes […]

You know the Pledge of Allegiance, probably by heart. You may recite it only occasionally, or get the chance several times a week. Sometimes, I’m guessing, you say it mechanically, and other times filled with deep meaning.  I hope it’s more often the latter, because here’s what’s remarkable about the Pledge: in a few short phrases,

Our firm has had the privilege of working with local business and civic leaders in designing some of our community’s oldest and most prestigious buildings, including Crouse College (1889), the Onondaga County Courthouse (1907), and the iconic National Grid building (1932).  Historic buildings tell stories and are integral components of our community’s identity. They also

The 2018 legislative session has officially ended in Albany. Unfortunately, much of the dialogue in Albany was spent focused on President Trump instead of seizing the opportunities to improve New York state.  Even before the session began, Gov. Andrew Cuomo claimed New York was under assault from the federal government. Due to anticipated cuts in health-care

President Donald Trump confounds his critics and friends. Maybe he confounds you. But you can understand a lot about Trump if you follow my friend John’s advice. John is a big-time corporate headhunter. He finds people to fill jobs that pay multi-millions. He gets paid only if he finds the perfect executives. When they flop,

A 2016 article in Quartz projected that 94 percent of net job growth in the past decade was in the alternative-work category, with more than 60 percent being due to the rise of independent contractors, freelancers, and contract company workers. This growing change is known as the Gig Economy or the future as contractual work.

Recently, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the federal government met its small-business federal contracting goal for the fifth consecutive year. The end result was that small businesses across the country were awarded 23.88 percent in federal contract dollars totaling $105.7 billion, an increase of $5 billion. This marks the first time that

Surely you must feel safer after you recently read or heard that a Southwest Airlines pilot made an emergency landing to protect his passengers. This was after a passenger lit a cigarette in a bathroom.  Yes, the pilot aborted a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. He landed at San Jose after the smoker

Every so often, I jot down a list of the things that discourage me about our country. There’s the widespread disregard for our core values of tolerance and mutual respect, for instance. Or our declining national optimism. There’s wage stagnation, income inequality, a high poverty rate, failing infrastructure, inadequate health-care coverage, a dysfunctional Congress …

You are ringside to one of the greatest political brawls in the history of this country. And chances are that we are only in its early rounds. You will likely witness more bruisings, knockdowns, and perhaps a knockout. Of course, I refer to the current Washington, D.C. slugfest over President Donald Trump. In Rounds 1