Sometimes it takes a small number to make a big difference.  Occasionally, the difference made is for the better; at other times, it’s for the worst. In 1774, Dr. Troy Kickler believes that Penelope Barker convinced 47 to 51 women to stop drinking English tea and purchasing and wearing English clothes. The act, dubbed the Edenton Tea Party, legitimated with the signing of a petition, became known as a defiant act of liberty in the face of English oppression. Troy’s exposition appeared in the Chowan Herald, Greensboro News & Record, and the Dunn Daily Record.  Another group, perhaps equally as small, has played a role in perpetuating the myth that passenger rail is a worthwhile government-funded project.  In reviewing Joseph Vranich’s book, End of the Line for Regulation magazine, George Leef notes that small groups of constituents, and the tinkering of numbers, can account for the perpetuation of an otherwise bogus investment.