Author Archives: floegel

First and Last Words

10/29/2009 – 9:35 pm

There was a funeral here last week. Laura, a local midwife, died after struggling against cancer for years. Among those delivering eulogies were the parents of some of the children whose births she’d attended. One man told of his panic as he watched his child emerging blue from lack of oxygen. He said Laura intuitively […]

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Above the Law

10/8/2009 – 12:50 pm

No one is above the law. Not Charles Rangel (D-NY) chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. One of the most powerful members of Congress, responsible for writing the tax laws, he has recently been found to be obeying very few of them. Oops. He forgot to declare $75,000 in rental income he earned […]

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An American Tragedy

10/1/2009 – 6:48 am

Here’s a sad, true story. On September 17, construction worker Timothy Hill of Willston, Vermont was struck in the head with a shovel. He did not seem seriously injured and soon left the job site in his pickup. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hill lost consciousness behind the wheel. His truck jumped a curb on Route 2 […]

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Worst. News. Ever.

9/25/2009 – 9:25 am

This item popped up, briefly, on the front page of the Washington Post’s web site yesterday afternoon. By this morning it was on page A4 of the print edition. I found it using the search function. If you haven’t clicked the link above, it will take you to a story about the United Nations Environment […]

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Still Learning Nothing

9/24/2009 – 9:25 am

The best time to announce the worst news is late on Friday. The federal government and public relations firms have known this for years. So it was that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) scheduled its press conference last Friday for 3 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time or (even better!) 6 p.m. in the east. As […]

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Summer’s Over

9/17/2009 – 12:42 pm

Labor Day was late this year, so even though we had the warmest weather ever for our annual camping trip up near the Canadian border, the leaves were more than usually tinged with color. One mountain maple blazed fiery red on the shore of the reservoir as I floated along in a canoe at sunset. […]

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Condemned to Repeat It

9/3/2009 – 9:24 am

The actual quote from George Santayana is, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (Those who cannot remember the quote are condemned to misquote.) Today’s New York Times has a story about Ted Kennedy’s posthumous memoir, in which he says President John Kennedy’s “antenna” was up over the misbegotten situation in […]

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