Guest Column
- Guest Column
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- Tuesday, February 1, 2011
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Fatherhood gives insight into abortion issue
More years ago than I care to remember, my wife was pregnant with our oldest daughter. Other than a little morning sickness and a new, expandable wardrobe, nothing much changed. I don't recall how far along she was, but early one Sunday morning as I lay in bed, I felt something kicking me in the back.
- Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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Gas could be accelerant for economy
Upon returning from a meeting in southern Pennsylvania, we were heading north on Pennsylvania Route 61. This is by no means Interstate 88. Even routes 7 and 23 are bigger roads.
- Saturday, January 15, 2011
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Political climate in America is our beast
"In one of the most beautiful films ever made, Jean Cocteau's 'Beauty and the Beast,' a young woman is held captive in a chateau by a man who wears elegant lace shirts and speaks French in a husky, passionate voice. The young woman is clearly attracted to this philosophical and aristocratic beast/man until the night she hears grunts and shrieks from the front lawn. She discovers her host, her captor, gnawing on a stag he has just trapped. Repelled by the carnage, La Beaute reproaches La Bete, but his reply is quick and honest: what did you expect from a beast? It is at that moment that the lace shirts and husky voice begin to pale on La Beaute and she begins to plan her escape." Thus began a Nov. 15, 1982, article by New York Times sportswriter, George Vecsey, ("The Beastliness in Boxing"), as boxer Duk-Koo Kim lay in a coma following a bout against Ray Mancini. Kim would die from his wounds two days later.
- Tuesday, January 11, 2011
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A Christmas leftover you can't eat
As we begin the New Year, I hope it's not too late to remind everyone that white Styrofoam is recyclable and should not be thrown out with the garbage.
- Saturday, January 8, 2011
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Strengthening Oneonta city government: Revising our city charter
A city charter, like the federal constitution, defines the overall organizational structure and key roles and responsibilities for government operations. For the past year a group of Oneonta city residents has been working to understand our city government operations and develop suggestions for improvements to our guiding city charter. We are now beginning to consolidate and finalize our recommendations.
- Saturday, December 18, 2010
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'Friends' should unite for Rogers
Not only can concerned citizens be "Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center," but "Friends of Natural Gas" as well. Why not let Rogers generate its own funds? Hydrofracking doesn't just have to be insanely profitable; it can be fun and educational too! Let's take a look at the possibilities.
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Change for sake of change not the way to go
Democracy isn't the only thing I just can't seem to define lately. I seem to have misplaced belief in "political ethics," decency, AKA, honesty, and the meaning of "for the people and for the betterment of humankind."
- Saturday, December 11, 2010
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Why First Night?
Times are tough. But so are we.
- Friday, December 3, 2010
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Lamenting the death of compassion
There are moments when I feel that I have awakened on the wrong planet. Some of these moments came this past week.
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Look past hysteria surrounding deer hunting
There are pursuits in life that attract the best and worst of people. Those pursuits usually are described or written about with the attachment of great deals of misinformation and unsupported emotional opinion. Hunting is one of them, and the guest column by David Irving in the Nov. 27 issue of The Daily Star is a good example of the hysteria that is attached to the pursuit of deer hunting.
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Schools can help promote health and nutrition
Parents, schools, and the community, with the support of the health care system, can have a real and lasting impact on the health and nutrition of our children. This fall the Bassett Healthcare Network launched an initiative with five area schools that aims to do just that as part of the Healthy Schools, N.Y. campaign.
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Northrup and Muehl are first-rate district attorneys
Residents of Delaware and Otsego counties should feel fortunate to be protected by their respective district attorneys -- Richard Northrup and John Muehl. I have opposed hundreds of prosecutors at the state and federal levels, and can say without hesitation that these two men are among the fairest, most knowledgeable and hardest-working prosecutors I've ever faced.
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Hydraulic fracturing poses grave dangers
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It's nightmare season for the animals
The hunting season is here once again. And while hunters strap on their boots, don their hunting gear, take out their guns and head for the woods, it is hardly a time of celebration for the animals soon to be victimized by the exploits of the hunters. No, for the animals it is the season of the nightmare.
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Property rights argument doesn't support gas drilling
In a Nov. 12 article in the Daily Star, Otsego County Rep. Stephen Fournier predicted that banning natural gas drilling would give leaseholders the right to bring lawsuits under the Takings Doctrine. This is the legal concept stemming from eminent domain that if government regulations are so onerous that a property owner no longer has any economically beneficial use of his property, the government must pay the property owner for that land at its fair market value had the regulations not been in place, because the government has figuratively "taken" the entire value of his property. Mr. Fournier, an obvious proponent of private property rights, is letting his pro-drilling ideology trump reality.
- Saturday, October 30, 2010
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Brand captures what makes Oneonta special
I am impressed with and buoyed by the passion of the criticism, controversy and feelings expressed by so many about the "City of the Hills" and "Life Enjoyed."
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Tired of all the fighting?
“I can’t believe the way that they are disrespecting our President, the leader of the free world,” the woman in front of me said. “It’s horrible, I have never seen anything like this in my life,” she commented.
- Saturday, October 9, 2010
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Now is the time for Sidney to show strength
I have been following the unfortunate controversy in my hometown of Sidney regarding the Islamic cemetery with some concern. The town does not benefit from its new-found fame, and it tends to paint an incomplete picture of Sidney residents. I graduated from Sidney High School in 1976 and lived on Wheat Hill Road in Sidney Center in the 1980s. I worked on the farms there; started the Sidney Center (Maywood) Historical Society and served as its president; and helped create the museum in the O&W railroad depot. I'd like to share a few lessons that I have learned from Sidney's history.
- Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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Environmental movement is polluting minds
The environmental movement has polluted our country and the minds of our youth. Never has there been such an agenda with so little science, so much emotion and so little common sense.
- Saturday, September 4, 2010
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Drilling won't necessarily bring jobs for locals
While I was preparing for my first trip to the Marcellus Shale region, I was approached by someone who lived in upstate New York to discuss the issues going on in DISH, as well as the Barnett Shale in general.
