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Destroying Democracy

If you are a graduate of Yale University, you can vote every spring for a member of the Yale Corporation, which selects the school’s president. However, you can only participate if you vote for one of the two candidates nominated by the Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee, a group of university officials and graduates. There’s no way to write in a name or, if you don’t favor either candidate, to cast a blank ballot. You must vote for one of the insiders’ choices or not vote at all. Now Yale is a private institution, and no one is obliged to have anything to do with it (except ...

Keys in the past

Perhaps it is helpful to examine their views on American history to understand what Donald Trump and MAGA are all about. For Democrats, Trump and his supporters represent a regression to a bygone era. For MAGA, it is an effort to return to a period of what they perceive as traditional moral standards and a reinstating of small-town values. Both groups have reason to complain that the other sought dominance over their way of life. Consider Trump’s fondness for tariffs and his attempt to protect American jobs from outside competition. To people in the old industrial Midwest and ...

Community Calendar

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Community Calendar is reserved for nonprofit, civic organizations. Unless otherwise noted, events listed should be considered free and open to the public. Entries appear in chronological order and as space allows. ART CENTER’S PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD VOTING: Stop in the Arts Center to cast your vote for your favorite piece in the Gala Juried Arts Exhibition from today to May 16. The Art Center’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Fridays by appointment. Be sure to spend time browsing the gallery on the hunt for your favorite piece. How to vote: ...

‘Fannie’s Crazy Quilt’ for Mother’s Day

Family health and history will be the central topics of a Book Talk on “Fannie’s Crazy Quilt” scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 in the learning lab at Kump Education Center. Fannie Logan Scott was the mother of Edna Scott who became the wife of West Virginia Governor H.G. Kump. For “Fannie’s Crazy Quilt” I have pieced together letters and news clippings that we found to tell the stories of the family that built the Kump house. The book is available now at Amazon online publishing, and it can be read on Kindle or any computer app for accessing ...

Burnout can be more about a mindset than the system

When we talk about burnout, the conversation is often focused on “the system.” We point to heavy workloads, or toxic work cultures, or leadership issues. These things do matter. But there’s another part of the equation that also matters: our own thoughts and mindsets. That was the message from Dr. Roger Kapoor, author of Working Happy!: How to Survive Burnout and Find Your Work/Life Synergy in the Healthcare Industry, when he joined me on the Healthcare Plus Podcast. (Click here to listen.) He says sometimes we can have a great job and a decent work schedule and a good sense ...

Annual U.S. Capitol trip

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made my nearly annual trip to the U.S. Capitol Building to spend time with members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation. I’m writing this on Thursday afternoon from the U.S. Senate’s press gallery. I spent part of the day with U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, and U.S. Rep. Riley Moore. The first time I made this trip was in March 2021 to shadow Capito, R-W.Va., and then-senator Joe Manchin, following them to votes and meetings. That was already a pretty surreal visit. I’m someone who loves going to ...