Author Archives: floegel

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, […]

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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Four and Counting

4/9/2009 – 10:44 am

Tuesday, Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage and the first to do so via legislative, rather than judicial, action. Big deal? Big deal. Civil unions, the not-quite legal equivalent of same-sex marriage, have been legal in Vermont since 2000. Since that happened, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa (just this week!) legalized same-sex marriage. […]

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Who’s Anti-War Now?

4/2/2009 – 1:49 pm

I am. Principles aren’t principles unless they’re consistent. Now that the White House and Congress have changed hands since 2006, it’s interesting to see politicians and pundits on both sides of the ledger flipping and flopping. Still, the world is not two-dimensional and those who pretend it is do an injustice to reality. I’m willing […]

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