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No sour grapes when it comes to aging

Nostalgia — that bittersweet feeling we get when reminiscing about the past, about simpler times when the world was softer, warmer, fuzzier. It can be therapeutic to let your mind wander to some place where a really good thing happened. In general, I try to avoid thinking about the past. For me personally, there is always the danger of a dark page popping even as I’m trying to hone in on an otherwise pleasant chapter. Or a reminder of a failed endeavor, or the dreams that never came true. And in general, there isn’t much point in trying to square what happened back then with what ...

Education costs too high for troubling outcomes

On July 11 I wrote that the tax burdens in Fredonia and Dunkirk have become excessive, punitive, and detached from the principles of limited government. That concern has only deepened. County, town, and school taxes continue to climb while the performance of too many elected and appointed officials remains disappointing. Residents are asked to pay more and receive less in competence, transparency, and results. Nowhere is the gap between cost and outcome more troubling than in education. Decades of rising tax-supported spending have not produced corresponding gains in public school ...

No hate for Trump, it’s a lack of confidence

I am responding to the writer of “Why so Much Hate for Trump?” (Aug. 10). The issue is not one of hate. The most important issue in regard to President Donald Trump is whether you have confidence in this individual to make good decisions that help our people, that strengthen the country, and that strengthen our democracy. No other president and administration has done more to damage American democracy than Trump. You can accuse people of “hate” because you are blind to his sins. I say the question the writer should be asking is “What are the issues that show why Americans ...

Weed herbicides biodegrade in lakes

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE — Herbicides are an effective tool against weeds and algae in lakes, including Chautauqua Lake. Yet what happens to those herbicides once they’re introduced into a lake? That question arose at an Aug. 18 Chautauqua-Lake-focused public-information session in the Casino ...

Is that nasty smell really a skunk?

An attentive reader of The Post-Journal responded to my column about the nighttime marauders on our deck — the nocturnal animals. I mentioned that some friends in Russell, Pennsylvania, were being overwhelmed by skunks, and entire neighborhoods there reeked. Whoa — I had never noticed that ...

Sorting through the war, Mideast mess

Is our war with Iran necessary? Some see attempts to give diplomacy a chance as a waste of time and want to see it brought to a swift conclusion with the current regime destroyed. Others, because Americans are peace-loving people, want our nation to get out now, and some Democrats, remembering ...