Category Archives: Commentary

A Man of Wealth and Taste

4/29/1999 – 5:45 pm

This week, let us consider the nature of evil, the human face Satan wears as he walks among us. No horns or tail, no goatee or widow’s peak, no pitchfork or scarlet jacket. No, I think Satan is serious and sober, righteous and mediocre. A churchgoer, a deep thinker, a man of best intentions. Satan […]

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To Have and To Hold

4/22/1999 – 5:43 pm

I came home to find a queer piece of mail the other day. It was third-class bulk mail, addressed to “resident.” The postmark was from here in Burlington, the return address was from Cincinnati, Ohio, but there was photo of a palm tree and the phrase “Aloha, Vermont friends,” on the outside. It was an […]

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Happy Taxes

4/15/1999 – 5:40 pm

Happy Tax Day, our annual celebration of American democracy. Today, more than any other day, Americans participate in the governance of their country. Last election day, only 36 percent of eligible voters went to the polls, but by April 15th, everyone but the wealthiest 10 percent has to have paid his or her taxes. A […]

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Beside the Golden Door

4/8/1999 – 5:38 pm

I’ve been looking at photos of Kosovo refugees in the paper. Last week, people in the photos looked stoic, this week everyone is crying. I think the enormity of the situation is beginning to sink in. NATO has begun airlifting refugees out and dispersing them among NATO nations. I suppose that’s the only option – […]

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Post-Modern Terror Warfare

4/1/1999 – 5:36 pm

Spring arrived suddenly in the Champlain Valley last weekend. Crocuses and hyacinths resolutely pushed green shoots through soil still damp from melting snow. Church Street was thronged with people, who having sat indoors for months, needed to do nothing more than stroll in the sun. Buskers and food carts were out; the more enterprising restaurant […]

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Not About Race, But Opportunity

3/25/1999 – 5:33 pm

It’s spring and the great migrations are underway. From throughout the north, college students are heading south for a week or ten days of sunstroke, public inebriation and reverse peristalsis. In college towns, administrators have a week to sort out all the nagging paperwork that never seems to get finished while the kids are around. […]

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Wanna Buy a Nuke?

3/18/1999 – 12:03 pm

Hey, friend. You there, yes, you. The one with the lights on, running the computer, the stereo. Did I just hear the compressor on your refrigerator kick on? You’re sucking a lot of juice there. Your electric meter must be spinning like a pinwheel in a hurricane. I’ve got a special deal for you – […]

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