Yearly Archives: 2009

Boneheads with Guns

6/11/2009 – 10:04 am

This week, the National Rifle Association appealed to the Supreme Court a ruling that upholds Chicago’s ban on the ownership of handguns. A year ago, the court ruled that the District of Columbia couldn’t ban handgun ownership. The district, however, is a federal colony and the court’s ruling applied to federal law. The Chicago ban […]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Tuesday Night in a Small Room

5/28/2009 – 12:03 pm

Tuesday, the first day back to work after the holiday weekend and The English Beat was playing at Higher Ground. Dave Rap, my former colleague, calls and says we should go to the show because Dave Wakeling, another former colleague, leads the band. (In the early ‘90s, Dave Wakeling worked for Greenpeace on the west […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Fiscal Fitness

5/21/2009 – 4:43 pm

Among the better pieces of advice I got from my dad was: “The only two things worth borrowing money for are an education and a house.” I took that advice. It took ten years to pay off the education; I’m still paying on the house. When I landed my first job as a newspaper reporter, […]

By floegel | Posted in Commentary, Economy | Tagged | Comments (0)

Catching Reality

5/14/2009 – 9:40 am

In the 21st century, change in America happens from the bottom up. That’s a sad commentary on our national leaders. Barack Obama, who has moved the federal government more in the past four months than the previous 30 years, is still playing catch-up to where most Americans have long since been. A few weeks ago, […]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Like a Rolling Stone

4/30/2009 – 9:32 am

“May you live in interesting times,” is supposedly an old Chinese curse. I doubt it’s really Chinese, but I’m becoming convinced on the curse bit. I like to keep up with the news, but I’m suffering from sensory overload: a huge economic crisis, what is on the verge of being labeled a global swine flu […]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Global Warming, Iraq Invasion, September 11th | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Our Tortured History

4/23/2009 – 12:07 pm

The weird thing about the torture memos in the news this week is that I can’t stop thinking about Harry Potter. In those books, the bad guys – the wizards and witches that had been drawn to the Dark Side – make their case thusly: This isn’t about good and evil, it’s about power and […]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Iraq Invasion | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

No Hope, Bad Dope

4/16/2009 – 10:14 am

I am the measure of all humanity. My height is average. If you’re shorter than I am – well, sorry, you must have been the runt of the litter. If you’re taller – perhaps you should consider a career in pro basketball. My income is average. If you earn less than I do, it’s clear […]

By floegel | Posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Economy, Oceans | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)