Category Archives: Commentary

Judging By the Cover

10/11/2012 – 2:03 pm

I love books.  I’ve always loved reading, a gift from my mother’s (Irish) side of the family.  Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading to me or her father telling me stories.  To be honest, I suppose what I really love are stories and books represent stories to me the way the […]

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Mulch Ado About Nothing

10/4/2012 – 3:45 pm

I promised myself in January I’d devote the first comment of each month to the world immediately around me.  Today I feel obligated to say something about last night’s presidential debate.  I’ll try, perhaps foolishly, to do both.  Hang on. It’s rained every day of October, so far.  Right now it’s relatively warm and non-relatively […]

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Can You Recommend Journalism as a Career?

9/27/2012 – 3:27 pm

Later this evening, I’m supposed to speak to a class of college students.  My topic is “environmental journalism.”  I suspect one reason I received this invitation is a similar talk I gave to journalism students last year, in which my topic was “how to make money selling out as a journalist.”  What I said then […]

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The Most Typical Political Event

9/20/2012 – 2:06 pm

If you follow the presidential election and have a pulse, you know Vermont is one of the least battleground states in the country.  Mitt Romney was here recently, not to campaign, but to prep, at the home of former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, for his debates vs. President Barack Obama.  His motorcade got stuck […]

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The Grandkids

9/13/2012 – 2:01 pm

It’s mid-September and scientists are floating around the Arctic, something far easier to do this year than ever before.  Other scientists are far away, peering at satellite photos and maps.  They’re all doing the same thing: trying to gauge the minimum extent of the north polar icecap. This is the week every year when the […]

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

The Second Spring

9/6/2012 – 3:05 pm

Some gardeners refer to September as “the second spring.”  The heat and dry dust of summer has passed, rain returns and fast-growing plants like lettuce can be sown and brought to table before the first frost does them in.  Or so we’re led to believe.  A phrase from Grace Paley, “green as green September” returns […]

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Shakespearean Outlines

8/30/2012 – 2:45 pm

First, let me admit I was wrong.  Last week I predicted that incumbent Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell would defeat challenger TJ Donovan by five percentage points in the Democratic primary.  Actually, Mr. Sorrell won by fewer than two points.  I was right about Mr. Donovan winning the city of Burlington (home to both men) […]

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