Author Archives: floegel

The Moral Universe

5/10/2007 – 9:53 am

Theodore Parker, Unitarian minister, reformer and abolitionist, died 147 years ago today.  To save you from having to do the math, the year was 1860.  He did not live to see emancipation, nor even the election of Abraham Lincoln, which caused the slave states to secede from the Union.  I wonder if he even knew […]

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The Leaf and the Niagara

5/3/2007 – 9:37 am

This week I’ve been looking at satellite photos of the Niagara River and wondering about a hypothetical leaf floating on its surface. From the pictures, it seems the leaf would only be a few hundred yards from the renowned falls before it began to pick up speed. The leaf, of course, is a metaphor for […]

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Because We Can

4/26/2007 – 10:31 am

America is still grieving for the 32 students and professors killed at Virginia Tech last week, as we should. Several people pointed out to me – to you too, probably – that five or six times as many innocent people died in Iraq last week. News is a product of importance multiplied by proximity. The […]

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Through the Cracks

4/19/2007 – 3:01 pm

The more I learn about Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui, the less I understand.  Teachers, fellow students, even his family say they could rarely get him to say a word, that he was silent to the point that some wondered if he was autistic, but he put together a multi-media press pack complete with written […]

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The Oil Deficit

4/12/2007 – 12:10 pm

Late last week, the federal government’s Energy Information Administration posted the final global oil consumption figures for 2006. Although we pumped more oil than ever in 2006, on an average day, we consumed over 400,000 more barrels of oil than we produced. This is not the first time demand has exceeded supply; in 2002 we […]

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A Way Forward

4/5/2007 – 12:22 pm

It’s been a big week for the atmosphere.  Monday, the Supreme Court ruled five to four (Hang on, Justice Stevens!) that the Clean Air Act does allow the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.  Just because the EPA can regulate CO2 doesn’t mean it will, at least not under the current […]

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War of Words

3/29/2007 – 10:49 am

The late, great Molly Ivins called politics “the finest form of free entertainment ever invented.”  Sweeps week is coming to Washington, DC very soon. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund the troops in Iraq – on the condition that they’re brought home by the end of August 2008.  This week, […]

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