Category Archives: Commentary

Farewell, Sally Bowles

1/13/2011 – 3:48 pm

Jill Haworth died January 3 in Manhattan at age 65. The British-born actress originated the role of Sally Bowles in the musical “Cabaret” in 1966 On January 8, I read the news to see five people connected to WikiLeaks had their Twitter accounts subpoenaed by a grand jury that had previously been operating in secret. […]

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Numbers, Large and Small

1/6/2011 – 12:43 pm

“As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens.” It’s an old Vermont weather proverb and reads like one, too. I can see the crusty old dude by the potbellied stove with the gumboots and plaid mackinaw draped over the back of his chair. Alert readers will remember I referred to the proverb a year ago this […]

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You Can’t Lose Them All

12/30/2010 – 11:35 am

Michael Ruppert came through town last May. Not familiar with him? Mr. Ruppert is a former Los Angeles police detective, who in 1996 famously confronted then-CIA Director John Deutch with allegations that the CIA was heavily involved in drug trafficking in the United States. From there he became something of a prophet. He doesn’t claim […]

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The Christmas Gift

12/23/2010 – 3:25 pm

The first significant snow of the season is here, right on schedule to transform the backyard fences and sheds into a holiday card. The roads are greasy; the people driving on them all seem impatient, as if they are running out of time and have decided to make bad conditions worse by driving foolishly. I’ve […]

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Do It (For) Yourself

12/17/2010 – 2:54 pm

The Bush tax cuts for the rich are now the Obama tax cuts for the rich. As we wait for the Great Recession’s double dip, as the smart economists (Hello, Paul Krugman!) tell us we need more government spending to offset the consumer spending that just ain’t there, Congress today sends a bill to Barack […]

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Hypocrisy

12/9/2010 – 10:35 am

Week two of the WikiLeaks massive document dump and I have yet to be surprised. By anything. I’m not surprised the US government has a dishonest and unreliable partner in Afghanistan, the State Department thinks Vladimir Putin is an ass, the Americans put pressure on the Germans not to prosecute the CIA assets that kidnapped […]

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Thank You, Bumbler

12/2/2010 – 2:56 pm

I thought they had me this time. I was coming home via DCA Tuesday night and in every security line stood the full-body scanner, dead ahead. Either that, or the pat down, no way around it. I was resigned to my fate. It was a late evening flight; there were few people ahead of me […]

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