Albany Herald

Empowerment through wrong is still wrong

Some seem to have trouble realizing that wrongs utilized to empower certain individuals or groups are still wrong, no matter how much we might personally enjoy their ill-gotten fruits. Twenty-first-century Americans, for the most part, seem to have forgotten the ideals that made their country great. That sacrifice for the greater good thing? Pshaw, not for them. And until we come to the realization that freedom does not give us the right to infringe upon someone else’s freedom, we’ll continue to flounder as a nation.

'Drill, baby, drill' will not meet U.S. oil needs

I have the day marked in my memory: It was Dec. 17, 2011. That was the day I stopped at a gas-'n-sip in east Alabama and paid $1.99 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. I don't expect to pay less than $2 again in my lifetime, so I've mentally preserved the moment.

Things may not be as bad as they seem

How many communities Albany’s size can make this claim? We have a MillerCoors brewery, a Procter & Gamble plant, M&M Mars and Coats & Clark manufacturing facilities, one of the nation’s premiere logistics defense bases, a nationally recognized hospital system, Equinox, one of the most lauded small businesses in the nation, and Thrush, an airplane maker that is one of two of its kind in the world.

Gas guzzlers have special place in car pickup

As each of us goes about our daily business, we tend to see things along the way that strike us as somehow unusual or out of the ordinary. These can be good things or bad, but they kind of stick in a place that puts them on memory rewind and keeps them coming back to us, often at inopportune times.

Obama’s pipeline decision politics as usual

President Obama was hailed by environmentalists last month when he rejected Canadian company TransCanada’s plan to build a 1,700-mile pipeline that would carry oil extracted from tar sands in Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast to be refined. And while the move may indeed have helped head off a potential environmental disaster that some experts say could have left parts of the nation’s breadbasket without drinking water, Obama doesn’t deserve the accolades. Essentially, the president was forced into taking one tough election-year choice over the other, and he took the path of least resistance.

Mitt's millions skew candidate's perspective

A door opens to the Oval Office at the White House in early February of 2013. President Romney is talking with members of his inner circle.

Ex-ACRI Director Formwalt ‘comes out’

Lee Formwalt is a man of varied and large talents. He gained renown as a college professor, an activist, an author and as director of the local Albany Civil Rights Institute. Under his guidance, the museum’s attendance and relevance soared.

School employees tarred with same brush

I ran into Brent Fowler, the excellent young assistant principal at Albany's Lincoln Magnet School, this weekend. After we exchanged greetings, he looked at me expectantly, and I did the same. He was waiting for the inevitable question, and I guess I was expecting a response. Finally I settled the issue: "I'm proud of you," I said.

‘Justice’ going for cheap in Lee County

Justice has a price in Lee County. And the going rate right now is $181.

Procedure results worth discomfort

Mention that you’re scheduled for a colonoscopy, and you get one of two reactions: An involuntary wince accompanied by that “fwooo” sound that comes with a sudden intake of breath, or a look of sheer horror at the thought of the procedure.

Dueling for the souls of the ‘true believers’

In an old Mad magazine parody, two neighbors are standing at a fence between their properties talking about the beauty of their shared religious beliefs.

If not illegal, intrusion denigrates right

It would be a shame to see Turner Job Corps’ good works sullied by those who would use the sacred voting rights of individuals as a means of furthering their own selfish personal agendas.

Chains lack a ‘human touch’

If we still had town criers, or better yet, if Paul Revere — the colonial American patriot, not the organ player for Paul Revere and the Raiders — were still doing his thing, I can just imagine him spreading the glorious news in Albany: “The Olive Garden’s coming! The Olive Garden’s coming!”

Weighing in from the edge of irrelevance

It’s time to talk about what was really important in 2011: the pop culture moments that made the year unique.

Mother, son provide face of scandal

The CRCT scandal has a face for me now. When I listen to some bureaucrat use mumbo-jumbo to try and explain away the action of people who should have known better, I’ll think of this mother and her son, innocents who are left to pay a steep price for others’ betrayal. And I’ll also think, sadly, about the words of a friend who teaches in the school system: They’re only beginning to scratch the surface.

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