Category Archives: Commentary

You Don’t Say

8/13/2009 – 10:02 am

Some days, it must stink to be president. Earlier this week, for example. Barack Obama was in Mexico meeting with President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Kind of a NAFTA meet-and-greet. The three big topics were supposed to be drugs, gangs and immigration. (The New York Times says Canada has a sudden […]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

The Price of a Life

8/6/2009 – 9:56 am

Today is the 64th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Sunday is the 64th anniversary of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. These detonations are the entire history of nuclear war, so far. Sunday is also the 66th anniversary of the execution of Franz Jaegerstaetter. Mr. Jaegerstaetter was an Austrian farmer beheaded […]

By floegel | Also posted in Catholicism, Economy | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

The Bee-Loud Glade

7/30/2009 – 10:00 am

It’s been a bad year for bees. Too much rain in Vermont, honey production is way off. On the other hand, varroa mites don’t seem as bad this year, which may also be due to the rainy weather. Or maybe it’s part of the mites’ natural cycle. No one seems to know. For me, it’s […]

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Copping an Attitude

7/23/2009 – 4:39 pm

I just got home after several days of travel. Between living in a non-hub city like Burlington and the state of the airlines these days, it was unsurprising that I didn’t get home last night, as scheduled. After the better part of two days hanging around airports or crammed into a seat in coach, I […]

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Call Me Charley

7/16/2009 – 10:05 am

I must have been in fifth or sixth grade when we were assigned to read “Call Me Charley,” by Jesse Jackson. Not that Jesse Jackson, but Mr. Jackson the author was an African American and “Call Me Charley” is about an African American youth trying to fit into a white community. Mr. Jackson said he […]

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Withholding Consent

7/9/2009 – 10:41 am

During last week’s Fourth of July festivities, it occurred to me that the celebration of our nation’s founding commemorates a political act. We could reasonably date the founding of the United States to the battle of Lexington and Concord or the battle of Saratoga or the battle of Yorktown. It’s true America was born in […]

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

The Children’s Table

7/3/2009 – 10:56 am

Are you planning a huge barbecue for the Fourth of July? Will it be in the backyard? (The kids are hoping for a pool.) Will it be at a state park or beach? (Send the teens early to hold down a grill and several picnic tables.) Wherever it happens, if the crowd is large enough, […]

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