Yearly Archives: 2005

What Will It Take?

11/10/2005 – 9:55 am

My country invaded a nation was not a threat to ours. We didn’t have good intelligence before the invasion and when I write “we” I mean the citizens and, apparently, the Congress. As far as we can tell, the vice-presidential-Pentagon cabal that runs our government had good intelligence, but instead cooked up a pack of […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

The Tonya Harding Defense

11/3/2005 – 10:35 am

A week after Harriet Miers withdrew her name from consideration for Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court, the search for a qualified candidate goes on. Yes, George Bush nominated Samuel Alito Monday morning, yes, Mr. Alito has experience as a constitutional lawyer and yes, 15 years behind the bench on the Third Circuit […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

Candle in the Wind

10/27/2005 – 9:10 am

It was raining Wednesday evening when 60 or 70 people gathered in City Hall Park with candles to mark the death of the 2,000th American soldier to die in Iraq. The wind was blowing; candles kept going out, we kept turning to our neighbors to rekindle the flames, trying hard not to think of the […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

We Bet Your Life

10/20/2005 – 3:11 pm

In an increasingly theocratic America, an anomalous dispensation has been granted to gambling, a vice that was once grouped with excessive drinking and fornication. Deep in the Bible Belt, the Mississippi legislature and Republican Governor Haley Barbour have allowed the state’s casinos to come ashore (and expand) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. My local […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

Harvest Festivals

10/13/2005 – 11:43 am

Monday was Columbus Day, now America’s most ignored holiday, outside of New York City and Columbus, Ohio. I forgot about it until I encountered a locked door at the post office. Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada. I’m not sure why Canada’s Thanksgiving precedes the United States’ by five and a half weeks; I suppose they […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

Chronic Symptoms

10/6/2005 – 11:48 am

Warm evening air, too warm for Vermont in October, comes through the open window as I sit and write. I’m a hypocrite; I’m against global warming, but there are times when I like some of the symptoms. I’m still trying to get some effects of global warming out of my head. At night, my dreams […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)

Apocalypse Here

9/29/2005 – 10:23 am

Mid-day Wednesday I was relieving myself against the wall of someone’s house in St. Bernard’s Parish, Louisiana. I was not expressing my displeasure with the homeowner; I have no idea who the homeowner is. Nor is that kind of behavior typical for me. A month after Hurricane Katrina, there wasn’t a working toilet within 20 […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)