Category Archives: Commentary

Smart is Not Enough

1/15/2009 – 11:07 am

I’m in Washington, DC this week and the town reels already with inauguration fever, even as the temperature plunges. As I type, a flatbed truck bearing 12 port-o-sans drives past the window, headed for the National Mall, there to await the expected millions next Tuesday. At least this week, the capital’s homeless will find a […]

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

A View from the Cave

1/8/2009 – 11:18 am

Just over 29 years ago, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and a number of Muslims decided they’d had enough interference by western nations in the affairs of Islamic nations and launched what they considered holy war against the invaders. The US, via the CIA helped with money, weapons and training. If you watched “Charlie Wilson’s […]

By floegel | Also posted in Iraq Invasion, September 11th | Tagged , | Comments (0)

“Your reclamation, then.”

12/25/2008 – 11:50 am

Merry Christmas. Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” has been on my mind frequently during this holiday season. There are three (maybe more) potential reasons for this. 1 – Mr. Dickens wrote a timeless piece of literature, one that speaks to people in every age and circumstance. 2 – With the global economy crashing, this Christmas […]

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Headed for Trouble

12/11/2008 – 11:36 am

Shortly after he was nominated as Barack Obama’s running mate, reporters overheard Joe Biden speaking with a National Guardsman. “If I had your hair, I’d be president, you know what I mean?” Mr. Biden said. “I wouldn’t be screwing around with this job.” Mr. Biden, long known for working the border between candor and too […]

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

Does Not a Tibetan Bleed?

12/4/2008 – 12:26 pm

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has accomplished a difficult task since taking office 18 months ago: he’s made me miss Tony Blair. Mr. Blair was George W. Bush’s lapdog on foreign policy and when he left office, I thought anyone had to be better. Mr. Brown had a promising start, putting some distance between the […]

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

What We are About to Receive

11/27/2008 – 11:22 am

Happy Thanksgiving. Today is the day for which gratitude was made. I don’t mean that in a traditional sense, in that the last Thursday of November has rolled around. I mean that in the sense that this day, the 27th of November 2008, is a day for which gratitude was made. There are several reasons […]

By floegel | Also posted in Economy | Comments (0)

Where Things Used to Be

11/20/2008 – 11:35 am

I’ve been driving around southern Louisiana this week. It’s my first visit in three years, since I was here in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Life has changed here. I’m not sure if Louisianans live in the future while the rest of us live in the present or if they live in the present while […]

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