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NCCF Local Economic Development group: Region has to adapt for its future

There’s no stopping the march of time. Making this more difficult for some is the increasingly rapid pace of change. In many cases, people and businesses are having to adapt much faster than ever before. Think back to how quickly many of us were forced to change the way we did things a mere five years ago during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of people and businesses struggled miserably in the beginning, but the most adaptable survived. Ultimately, some of those adaptations ended and we reverted to the way things were before. However, other modifications appear ...

Worries over rights, privileges add to nonsense

Judging from recent commentary, it seems the definitions of rights and privileges have been conflated in our political discourse. To start: A legal right is an action that an individual can take that cannot be legally infringed by other people or by the government. Natural rights for American citizens are defined in the second sentence of the Declaration, and are constitutionally protected by the Bill of Rights. Logically, one person’s rights cannot contradict another person’s Rights; else they cannot be considered rights. A privilege always requires infringement of one ...

Courageous parishioners might prevail

On seven previous occasions over the course of the previous century, six familiar Latin words have come forth in Vatican City. In 1939, 1958, 1963, 1978 twice, 2005, and 2013. They follow white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and, beginning in 2005, the ringing of the bells in St. Peter’s Square. They come from a cardinal on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus papam.” If you’ve ever learned a Romance language, you probably don’t need a translation: “I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope.” With those ...

Life is a ‘Special Occasion’

I get a bang out of advertisements for “Special Occasions.” Restaurants, wedding venues, florists, greeting cards – each market their goods to help us celebrate. We all have birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, and other special days in our lives tugging at our heartstrings. But at my age? Every day is a special occasion. My BFF in New York City and I have been friends since 1963. Every year, we celebrate our special occasion: our graduation date from the American Airlines Stewardess College on April 10th. Most years it’s just a phone call, but we don’t forget. That day is ...

Antisemitism a worry for young and old

I found the recent OBSERVER article presented by Linda Dunn to the Fredonia Shakespeare Club on “Antisemitism in Children’s Literature” eye opening. We see In the creation of characters like Shylock in the Merchant of Venice or Fagin in Oliver Twist that neither Charles Dickens nor Shakespeare were above creating blatantly antisemitic characters, but I took notice when I found that even Mother Goose, allegedly a grandmother who lived in Boston in the 17th century and who wrote stories for her grandchildren was an antisemite who wrote about a “rascally” Jewish individual who ...

Patriotism comes in all forms, voices

We all probably believe we are good citizens. We pay our taxes, well at least most of us do. Celebrations are arranged throughout the year, and many are rooted in patriotism. Some people display the flag daily or mostly on special days like Memorial Day, or Flag Day and we enjoy the festivities of the Fourth of July with fireworks and picnic meals. Some of us decide that within our love of country, which is what we really mean by the nomenclature of Patriot, is to serve our country in the Armed Forces. Young men and women join the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast ...