Loyalty is an essential quality in any close relationship. It’s a strong assurance from another of their feelings of support or allegiance, whether it be in business, in a family, or in friendships. And not because they have to – but because they want to. Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” That’s good advice, indeed.

Do you remember back, a couple of years ago, when an anonymous donor paid the City of New Orleans to remove, and store away, the Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, P.G.T. Beauregard and the monument to the Battle of Liberty Place? It made national headlines.

As of 2018, public support for legal abortion remains as high as it’s been in two decades of polling. And even though 58 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, eight out of 10 of us still believe it should be illegal in the third trimester.

“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck,” right? This is often said when you are making a point that you can identify an unknown situation by just observing the characteristics of that situation.

For example, don’t stand next to windows during tornadoes. Be careful what you wish for. Be nice to the little people as they may have powerful friends. When something knocks the “stuffings” out of you, just stuff it back in and move on. If life tosses you lemons, make lemonade.

Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean you should buy it. Just because you can eat whatever you want without gaining weight doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can skip that workout, or have just one more drink, or bail out of a commitment, doesn’t mean that you should.

So for just a moment, let’s take this opportunity to thank all of the candidates – from all the political parties (including those who are “no party,” as well).

There’s an assumption here, among many mayoral candidates, that the problems Shreveport is dealing with are a lack of new ideas. For example, Adrian Perkins says it’s time for Shreveport to become a “smart city” and set aside around $400 million to construct a city-owned broadband network.