Category Archives: Commentary

Go Along, Get Along

3/1/2007 – 11:51 am

Twenty-some years ago I was a newspaper reporter covering the courts in a rural county (population 50,000) in Western New York. People there were politically and socially conservative and had great faith in law enforcement. Defendants who went to trial were usually convicted. I remember one acquittal in four years. Defense attorneys counted themselves fortunate […]

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North America Goes South

2/22/2007 – 12:27 pm

I think it all goes back to NAFTA.  The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, was supposed to increase prosperity throughout the continent, instead brought economic insecurity to U.S. workers and a meltdown in Mexico.  The low-wage, assembly line jobs never got to Mexico; they left the U.S. and went skipping over the ocean to […]

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Skin Cell, Jail Cell

2/15/2007 – 11:12 am

As a word person, I resent the violence politics does to the English language.  It’s been going on for decades and it gets worse all the time.  The best-known recent example is the USA Patriot Act, which in fact is a vehicle for stripping the rights away from law-abiding citizens.  A new entry to the […]

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Gifts of Love

2/8/2007 – 9:51 am

It’s crunch week for American men. Payback time for all that lounging on Super Bowl Sunday. Valentine’s Day is less than a week away. Adrienne, bless her heart, does not expect me to take part in this bizarre mating ritual, but many men in America are expected to get out there and spend gobs of […]

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Smoke and Mirrors

2/1/2007 – 11:46 am

Tomorrow’s an important day. It is when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the first section of its Fourth Assessment Report. There will be no surprises: global warming is getting worse and it’s clear that our actions are responsible. Today, the Washington Post reports that the IPCC will state that in the increase […]

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Cheney’s Smirk

1/25/2007 – 1:36 pm

“You going to watch the State of the Union?” I asked a friend Tuesday. “I’m going to listen on the radio.  I want to hear it, but I don’t want to have to look at him.” Understandable, but by only listening, my friend missed the key to the speech.  Viewers might have missed it, too […]

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As Goes New Orleans…

1/18/2007 – 2:50 pm

I needed to talk and write about my experience in the flood zone when I came home from the gulf coast in October 2005. I fell into silence after a few weeks, because words were unequal to the experience, but the experience stays with me. One reason is simply the horror of the devastation visited […]

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