Category Archives: Economy

The Wrong Direction

12/3/2009 – 10:26 am

I’m back in Washington, DC this week; Tuesday evening I flipped on the radio to listen to President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan. Clearly, there are no good options available, but the choice Mr. Obama’s made seems worse than it needs to be. The Afghan war is an oil war. The connection is not as clear […]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Energy, Global Warming | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

On New Hampshire

11/19/2009 – 8:18 am

I’m in Washington, DC this week. It’s warmer here than in Vermont, I feel overdressed. It’s autumnal, but in a mid-Atlantic kind of way. Monday evening I walked northwest on New Hampshire Avenue. The evening was balmy; the leaves were piled thick and dry along the gutters and across the sidewalks. The air was rich […]

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The Edge of History

11/12/2009 – 9:31 am

I hate anniversary journalism, but the remembrances of the fall of the Berlin Wall this week got me thinking. I was in Chicago that week in 1989, watching the news in a hotel room as I rested my feet, which ached from walking all over town in new shoes. Never visit Chicago if you’re wearing […]

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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 […]

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Fiscal Fitness

5/21/2009 – 4:43 pm

Among the better pieces of advice I got from my dad was: “The only two things worth borrowing money for are an education and a house.” I took that advice. It took ten years to pay off the education; I’m still paying on the house. When I landed my first job as a newspaper reporter, […]

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No Hope, Bad Dope

4/16/2009 – 10:14 am

I am the measure of all humanity. My height is average. If you’re shorter than I am – well, sorry, you must have been the runt of the litter. If you’re taller – perhaps you should consider a career in pro basketball. My income is average. If you earn less than I do, it’s clear […]

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The Value of an Anniversary

3/19/2009 – 8:06 pm

Thirty years ago today was a Monday. After track practice, Dan O’ Hara and I went to Al Oliver’s house to help kill what was left of a keg of Molson’s Golden Ale from Al’s St. Patrick’s Day party the previous Saturday. It was warm, flat and skunky, but we pushed through, as returning a […]

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