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Responding To Pre-, Post-Election Rhetoric

Before the election, I wrote on Facebook, “Even if you have been called a racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe, transphobe, xenophobe, Islamophobe, misogynist, white Christian nationalist, cultist, fascist, NAZI, and every other kind of insulting pejorative, put down, and label including garbage, deplorable, bitter clinger , and anti-American (by our governor in NY), yet may you and I be gracious in losing, humble in winning and always praying.” Facebook friend Rob replied, “I’m trying, boss, I’m trying.’” Melanie, a seminary classmate, said, “This is my prayer” ...

Adding Diversity To Business Ownership

The American Dream for many people means starting a business and working for themselves. That’s a good thing because small businesses form the backbone of our economy. According to recent statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99.9% of American businesses are small and employ 45.9% of American workers, or about 59 million people. Small businesses have accounted for 65.3 percent of net new job creation. There are 34,752,434 small businesses in the U.S. compared to 19,688 large businesses. In fact, most of the biggest of big companies started as small ...

Reasons To Pay More For EVs

Who wants to buy a dozen doughnuts and throw 9 of them in the trash before they leave the store? That is about what you’re doing when buying gasoline for your car. Americans spend $179 on gasoline each month on average. That adds up to $2,148 a year. What makes this even worse, according to the Department of Energy, is that only 12-21% of the energy you paid $2000 for is used to move your car. The rest is lost in waste heat from the engine and out the exhaust (that’s why you have a radiator, muffler, and tailpipe). Think of that next time you are filling up at $3.70 per gallon. ...

To Succeed, Air Service Must Be Good

Some say commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Airport ended because the passenger count plummeted. Yet that misses the point. What’s worse is that it misstates the problem. The real cause wasn’t that the passenger count plummeted. Rather, the real cause was that the quality of the commercial-air service declined. Let’s repeat that: The real cause was that the quality of the commercial-air service declined. If the quality hadn’t declined, the passenger count wouldn’t have plummeted, and commercial-air service would have remained. Good commercial-air service ...

Unexpected Loss Leads To Lingering Issues

Morton called. He wanted to talk to a marriage counselor about issues in his marriage. Asked if his wife would join us, he said “No. I need this for myself.” We set up a time after his workday. We met one late afternoon. He made time to wash up and change clothes. So, what brings you here, sir? An unassuming man of approximately 35 years of age cast an emotional eye on me. “This wasn’t easy. I’ve been looking to call for months now. I was raised to fix my own problems. My mother and father took care of their own problems. I’ve got something going on at home. I’ve been ...

Enjoying The Wildlife

Hickory Heights has an abundance of wildlife. I enjoy every minute of it. This morning, I watched a black squirrel running around the yard. First, I saw him in the grass. Then he was halfway up a tree. I let my dog out, but the squirrel did pay any attention. I know there are at least two of them around my yard because I have seen them both at once. They are fun to watch. They run a little, then stop and stand up to look around. If there is nothing to disturb them, they continue on their way. One winter I watched a squirrel as it made its way through the snow. He would duck under the ...