Column by Mike Zagata for November 23, 2018 Knowledge Workers? Great, But Traditional Industries Needed, Too As I began to read an article in last week’s edition, I felt a surge of excitement. The author, an elected official, had just stated that her constituents elected her twice because they understand that protecting our environment and growing our economy are not mutually exclusive policies. That is close to a statement in my recent book, “A Journey Toward Environmental Stewardship.” My excitement,…
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Column by Mike Zagata for November 2, 2018. Is Upstate Downbeat? Blame Slow Recovery According to a newly released report from the Empire Center for Public Policy, “New York’s Uneven Economic Recovery: A Tale of Two States,” those of us who live in Upstate New York escaped the real estate/housing bubble that led to the economic crash in 2008. Why? Because our economy was so bad that we didn’t experience a bubble like the rest of the country. How’s that…
Column by Mike Zagata for October 26, 2018. Science Can Be Political Tool, And Even Worse, Up For Sale I read with interest and admiration the article in last week’s paper about the different kinds of “truth.” Objective truth is the “truth” that is supported by fact. Subjective “truth” is what circumstances point toward or what we want, based on the information we have at our disposal, to believe. The Senate confirmation hearings for judge, now justice, Kavanaugh were used…
Column by Mike Zagata for October 12, 2018 Natural-Gas Issue Is A Ruse; Real Intention Is No Growth Apparently something happened to The Professor during her youth to cause her to come forward during the confirmation process for The Supreme Court Justice, but we’ll never know for sure exactly what happened, nor will we know who was responsible. That wasn’t the intended outcome of the public spectacle we’ve been subjected to. The intended outcome was to delay the confirmation process…
Column by Mike Zagata, August 31, 2018 Rising To The Fly On Natural Gas One of the main reasons that local brook trout don’t get very big is that they tend to rise to and take the first dry fly that is drifted over them. During my professional career, I have avoided “rising to the fly,” but my fellow columnist, Adrian Kuzminski, in his Aug. 23-24, 2018 article, floated one that was just too tempting. He was commenting on my…
Column by Mike Zagata for August 17, 2018 Exotic? Natural Gas As Common As … Manure It’s amazing that the natural gas opponents all talk about wanting to protect the environment by moving from natural gas to “renewables.” Is it that they are misinformed or have an agenda? It’s difficult to tell, but here’s what the science tells us. Natural gas, or methane, is naturally occurring. It is emitted from volcanoes, manure piles and humans. It is the cleanest burning…
Column by Mike Zagata, August 3, 2018 What Can Be Done About Deer Overpopulation? Most of us enjoy watching and/or hunting deer. They seem harmless enough – that is, until one runs in front of your shiny new car. Many people enjoy feeding deers with deer feeders you can learn more about at places similar to feedthatgame.com which is great if you have the population of deer under control. However, the 650,000 or so forest landowners in the state may…
Column by Mike Zagata for July 20, 2018 Face-To-Face Is Better. But If You Communicate Electronically… When thinking about the joys and pitfalls of communicating electronically, I’m reminded of these words from a John Denver song: “She sang to me in silence with her eyes”. How beautiful is that! Those of us who began communicating before the advent of e-mail and texting with our cell phones understand what’s behind those words. The “millennials” may, through no fault of their own,…
Column by Mike Zagata, July 6, 2018 Is There No Way To Stop Child Separations? Most of us are the descendants of immigrants who legally entered the country via Ellis Island. As Americans, we should be proud that people want to come to our country. However, there are laws that control the rate of entry and processes to follow in adhering to those laws. Today we’re besieged with a media blitz focused on the separation of children from adults caught…
Column by Mike Zagata, June 8, 2018 Doctor-Patient Discussions Private? Little By Little, Confidentiality Goes Are there circumstances where it’s OK to violate your privacy? It might be OK if you make an informed decision to allow that to happen – but what if you don’t? Have you heard of HIPPA – the Health insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996? If you have, you probably have a sense of comfort that it protects conversations your doctor has about your…