Author Archives: floegel

Zero to Seven Billion

10/27/2011 – 4:11 pm

When I heard the seven billionth person is due to be born Monday, I thought I must have made a mistake a few years back.  “Didn’t I just write a commentary on the six billionth person?  Was my math wrong?”
My math was not wrong.  I wrote that commentary the first week of October 1999.  What [...]

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How to Read the Washington Post

10/20/2011 – 1:17 pm

Sunday, the Washington Post published “Obama allies’ interests collide over Keystone pipeline,” which on its face is a news story.  It’s also a guide to life in our nation’s capital.
The gist of the story is that when it comes to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the White House is pinched.  On one side are environmentalists, [...]

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Gotta Be Cool on Wall Street *

10/13/2011 – 2:30 pm

I have no desire to occupy Wall Street.  Not that I think it’s a bad idea.  I think it’s a great idea, I just have no desire to participate.  Maybe that makes me part of the problem.
On the other hand, heading down to Wall Street would take me away from my day job and since [...]

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Not to Look Away

10/6/2011 – 2:43 pm

When I was in grade school, we learned the Nazis came to power in a time of economic dislocation, the worldwide Great Depression.  We learned Germany was a once-great nation in decline after the military defeat of World War I and the Nazis appealed simultaneously to the fears and the nationalism of the German people.  [...]

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What the Left Hand is Doing

9/29/2011 – 2:55 pm

Cognitive dissonance is name given to the discomfort caused by trying to simultaneously hold two conflicting ideas.  Policy dissonance might be the name applied when two conflicting ideas are the basis for government action.
An example: Texas is still in the worst single-year drought in its history and the hottest summer in Texas history just ended [...]

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Cowards, Every One of Them

9/23/2011 – 9:00 am

A week ago, I asked how bad political discourse can get in this country.   Discouraged as I was, I hadn’t seen this coming.  Perhaps – despite everything my family and friends tell me – I’m too optimistic.
Last week, Republicans who hope to be president stood silently by as their constituents cheered for the notion [...]

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Pure Speculation

9/22/2011 – 3:38 pm

Along toward the end of August, I received an email from my state’s junior senator, Bernie Sanders (I).  I look forward to these because a) Senator Sanders is even more PO’ed about the state of the nation than most of his constituents (although right-winger politicians can say the same) and b) he’s not beholden to [...]

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