Monthly Archives: December 2011

To Appease the Gods

12/29/2011 – 11:25 am

So the last Americans pulled out of Iraq, eight and a half years later, leaving an uncertain nation with an even more uncertain future. As I watched the video of the last trucks crossing the Kuwait border, all I could see were the black hulls of the Greek ships sailing away, gray smoke still hanging […]

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

The Christmas You Get

12/22/2011 – 12:00 pm

Last weekend I realized I’m heading into my 51st Christmas.  Not that I don’t have 50 of every other day of the year under my belt, but we tend to remember holidays in ways the third Thursday of April can’t match. As I began remembering Christmases, I wondered how many years could I pin to […]

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

Daddy Issues

12/15/2011 – 6:59 pm

Whatever happened to Leslie King, Jr? He grew up to be president of the United States, but we know him as Gerald R. Ford, Jr.  Mr. Ford’s mother left his father (who was said to be abusive) 16 days after little Leslie’s birth.  Two years later, she married Gerald Ford, Sr. and though the future […]

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

A Goon’s Brain

12/8/2011 – 3:15 pm

I have lived most of my life within 100 miles of the Canadian border, i.e. hockey country.  So I read John Branch’s excellent New York Times series on Derek Boogard’s brain damage with interest and the response from the National Hockey League with dismay. A post-mortem examination of Mr. Boogard’s brain – he died at […]

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Shut Up and Pay

12/1/2011 – 4:31 pm

New York Times columnist Joe Nocera hinted Monday at something that’s been on my mind for a while, but he didn’t come right out and say it. His column was on the European money crisis and the gist of his argument is this: it makes economic sense for Germany (Europe’s economic powerhouse) to bail out […]

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