Category Archives: Commentary

The Job is Over, the Work Goes On

9/25/1997 – 10:56 am

This is the last week I’ll be greeting you as “Mark Floegel of Greenpeace.” By this time next week, I will no longer be working for Greenpeace. I’m sure many of you have heard the news reports of Greenpeace’s recent financial woes and our subsequent downsizing. I’m part of that downsizing. Much has been made […]

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All the News That Fits, We Print

9/18/1997 – 10:55 am

Will Rogers used to say he didn’t know anything, except what he read in the newspapers. After saying that, he’d usually launch into a strange tale he’d picked up in the daily news sheets. Will’s phrase kept ringing through my head last Saturday morning as I choked down my breakfast over the Seattle-Post Intelligencer. Everything […]

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Fast Track to Where?

9/11/1997 – 10:53 am

This week the president and Congress take up the question of “fast track” authority for trade agreements. Under fast track authority, the president can present negotiated, international trade agreements to the legislative branch of government for approval or disapproval, but not for amendment. The reason for this, argues the administration, is that if Congress were […]

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A Light at the End of the Tunnel

9/4/1997 – 10:52 am

The first week of September, traditionally, signaled the start of the campaign season. I say traditionally, which is the polite way of noting something that has become obsolete. Presidential campaigning has become a sport for all seasons and in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, Republican hopefuls gathered for a beauty contest that is three years […]

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Anything Worth Doing

8/28/1997 – 10:50 am

Monday, September first, is Labor Day. This year the actual Labor Day falls on the Monday holiday on which we will all celebrate our jobs by not working. It seems fitting that Labor Day actually falls on Labor Day this year; it seems like a good omen. American Labor has had a good year in […]

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Aero-Darwinism

8/21/1997 – 10:49 am

Every few weeks I find myself in the second-class cabin of an airplane. This has been going on for years. I have been flying, on a regular basis, throughout most of the age of airline deregulation. It’s not as much fun as it used to be. Don’t get me wrong – after thousands of air […]

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Playing Chicken

8/14/1997 – 10:48 am

Do you sometimes comfort yourself with small, seemingly meaningless rationalizations? Things like, “Yes, I own a tee vee, but I don’t watch it very much – PBS mostly,” or “I’m not a vegetarian, but I try to eat healthy food.” Those statements are more about where we want to be than where we are. I’m […]

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