Category Archives: Commentary

Candle in the Wind

10/27/2005 – 9:10 am

It was raining Wednesday evening when 60 or 70 people gathered in City Hall Park with candles to mark the death of the 2,000th American soldier to die in Iraq. The wind was blowing; candles kept going out, we kept turning to our neighbors to rekindle the flames, trying hard not to think of the […]

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We Bet Your Life

10/20/2005 – 3:11 pm

In an increasingly theocratic America, an anomalous dispensation has been granted to gambling, a vice that was once grouped with excessive drinking and fornication. Deep in the Bible Belt, the Mississippi legislature and Republican Governor Haley Barbour have allowed the state’s casinos to come ashore (and expand) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. My local […]

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Harvest Festivals

10/13/2005 – 11:43 am

Monday was Columbus Day, now America’s most ignored holiday, outside of New York City and Columbus, Ohio. I forgot about it until I encountered a locked door at the post office. Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada. I’m not sure why Canada’s Thanksgiving precedes the United States’ by five and a half weeks; I suppose they […]

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Chronic Symptoms

10/6/2005 – 11:48 am

Warm evening air, too warm for Vermont in October, comes through the open window as I sit and write. I’m a hypocrite; I’m against global warming, but there are times when I like some of the symptoms. I’m still trying to get some effects of global warming out of my head. At night, my dreams […]

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Apocalypse Here

9/29/2005 – 10:23 am

Mid-day Wednesday I was relieving myself against the wall of someone’s house in St. Bernard’s Parish, Louisiana. I was not expressing my displeasure with the homeowner; I have no idea who the homeowner is. Nor is that kind of behavior typical for me. A month after Hurricane Katrina, there wasn’t a working toilet within 20 […]

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Who Pays? Who Profits?

9/20/2005 – 7:06 pm

I’m in Louisiana, in the flood zone. Katrina was here, in many ways is still here. Now Rita is in the gulf, gaining strength. I’m sending this early because I can’t predict where I’ll be Thursday and I doubt I’ll have time to write. While the tragedy of New Orleans has been well reported, there […]

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Unready for Anything

9/15/2005 – 11:42 am

I’ve been spending time in airports and on airplanes recently; I’ve accommodated myself to the security drills, sequestering all metal objects into my briefcase before I pass through security, getting my shoes off and on again quickly, practicing compliance when I’m selected for “additional screening.” Burlington is a non-hub airport, so most of the flights […]

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