Category Archives: Commentary

Three Days on Wall Street

10/2/2008 – 8:56 am

Twenty-one years ago this month, Wall Street plummeted, losing 508 points in one day. We beat that record Monday, when the market lost 777 points. The difference is that in 1987, the market was trading between 2,000 and 3,000 points, whereas Monday – or before Monday – the market was hovering around 11,000 [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Economy | Tagged | Comments (0)

“My Hot Little Hand”

9/25/2008 – 8:29 am

It was an evening in the mid-1970s and I was riding with my dad in his pickup. The AM radio was tuned to 1180 WHAM and Ed Hasbrouck’s talk show was on. The topic was the American economy, which at that moment wasn’t doing very well.
Ed was recalling the bank failures of the [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Economy, Electoral Politics | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

The Watershed

9/18/2008 – 11:28 am

Come gather ‘round people wherever you roam
As we prepare to bury the life we have known
And accept that from now there’ll be no going home
Your money’s no longer worth saving
The meat is all gone, we’re left nothing but bones
For the times, they are a changin’
Apologies to Bob Dylan, but my mind has been rewriting the [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Economy, Energy, Global Warming, Iraq Invasion, Nuclear Energy | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

State of the Race

9/11/2008 – 12:06 pm

The front page of today’s New York Times says George W. Bush in July gave orders for American forces in Pakistan to carry out operations without notifying the Pakistani government.
Nearly a year ago, in a Democratic debate, Sen. Barack Obama said that if he is elected president and has a chance to capture or kill [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Electoral Politics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

Off Limits

9/4/2008 – 6:46 am

One of the classiest moments of Bill Clinton’s political career occurred in the middle of the 1992 general election. After weeks of battling “bimbo eruptions,” the press was starting to pick up on rumors about George H. W. Bush’s mistress. In response, Mr. Clinton said, “I didn’t like it when people said it [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Electoral Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Run for the Border

8/28/2008 – 9:11 am

I live 40 miles from the Canadian border. If I’m given the right incentive, I can walk from my house to Canada. But what’s sufficient incentive? What if a hike to the border could save my life and the lives of my friends and family? That would be sufficient incentive.
Let’s raise [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

General Wheeler’s War

8/14/2008 – 10:45 am

On the morning of June 24, 1898, American forces advanced toward Las Guasimas, Cuba under the command of Brigadier General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Wheeler. The aged general was a cavalry commander who’d fought for the Confederates in the Civil War. Heavy fire from Spanish troops halted the advance and battle ensued. Gen. [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)