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The goal posts keep shifting

Renee Good should be alive. The activist, killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, met her end in tragedy. What has happened since, predictably, saw people rush to their tribal corners. ICE “murdered” Good. Good was the villain. Your politics positioned your stance. What got left behind were the facts and a press corps that proved again it cannot be trusted. On the day of Good’s death, those who took ICE’s side claimed Good hit the ICE agent with her car. Others denied it. Some insisted ICE agents were sending mixed signals, some telling her to drive off and ...

Working on the business or in the business?

A book I have found helpful is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. It was first published in 1995. When small business owners or individuals considering starting a business ask me what book I would recommend, this is my go-to suggested read. It is where I learned the concept of working on the business rather than only in the business. I became aware of The E-Myth Revisited as part of a roundtable of small business owners. An attendee suggested that we all read a book. As I waited for one of my own books to be suggested, The E-Myth Revisited was recommended. I bought ...

Hard promises

Overhauling Venezuela promises to be a chore. The Trump administration has had bad timing. Perhaps the President should be guided by Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, written in 1516. He observed that “the king, being distracted with the charge of two Kingdoms, could not properly attend to either.” Given the affair in Minneapolis, this seems to be what Donald Trump is facing. Having an explosive situation incited by the killing of Renee Nicole Good and the subsequent distortion of that action by the White House, it seems the President is “distracted” to say the very least. Even his ...

Time for planning tree planting

After setting up 100 Christmas trees to celebrate 100 years since the Kump House was completed, we are starting to think about a better landscape plan outdoors. When the house was built, it was on an eleven-acre farm that stretched from Seneca Road to the railroad high on the hill that is now south of highway 33. Soon a white wooden fence encircled the whole farm to protect cows and horses from cars on the highways. There was a wide rolling pasture and lots of room for an apple orchard, barn, chicken house, dog pen, garden, pig pen, and smoke house. However, after 1937 when highway ...

State of confusion

Donald Trump has managed to plunge the United States into a state of confusion on both the domestic and international fronts. In Venezuela, the quick “victory” is rapidly losing its allure. In Minneapolis, the shooting of a citizen by ICE agents has added to the perception that the administration simply makes up its narrative without a concern for truth. This is perhaps a reflection of the divisions within the White House staff. Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem have engaged in bombast and misstatement. The situation in Minneapolis was made infinitely worse by Noem’s premature ...

Primary

With the start of the new year, the 2026 election cycle is just around the corner. The May 12th Primary Election is now 4 months away, beginning with the candidate filing period on January 12th. For just over 2 weeks, West Virginians seeking their party’s nomination to the General Election must file certificates of announcement to officially become candidates. Elections are the voices of the people. Elected officials make decisions at the national, state, and local levels that affect our daily lives, future, and our next generations. Perhaps some of the most important decisions we ...