Category Archives: Economy

What They Say About Paybacks

6/12/2008 – 10:21 am

“Well, you know what they say about paybacks….” That’s not the kind of payback I have in mind, the payback that line refers to is more appropriately called revenge and is a dish best served cold. I’ve been thinking about other paybacks this week. Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have taken away […]

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

Symptoms

5/1/2008 – 8:31 am

Forgive me. Accept my apologies. For the first time in 11 years, I missed not one, but two weeks in a row. I was overtaken by events and in the midst of the overtaking, I realized this is a signature symptom, perhaps the signature symptom, of contemporary life. So I’m trying to fight against it, […]

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

The Luckiest Generation

4/17/2008 – 11:23 am

My father had just celebrated his 14th birthday and was sitting in a movie house in White Plains, New York watching “The Swiss Family Robinson.” The film stopped, the lights came on and a man walked down the aisle. Turning to face the audience, he said in a loud voice, “The war is over!” It […]

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

Waiting for Godot

3/20/2008 – 9:53 am

Because there’s an energy crisis, we have gone to daylight savings earlier in the year. Because we’ve gone to daylight savings earlier in the year, it was still light when Adrienne and I arrived at the sidewalk in front of the Unitarian Church just before 5 p.m. for the vigil. How many times have we […]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Iraq Invasion | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Bye, American

3/6/2008 – 10:33 am

You might have heard the story about General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. At a recent closed-door meeting with reporters, the 76-year-old, who’s in charge of product development said he thinks global warming theory is “a total crock of shit” and that hybrid cars “make no economic sense.” As you might expect, the people who […]

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

The Price of Certainty

2/14/2008 – 10:58 am

This is an election year. It’s a war year, the fifth, soon to be the sixth. It’s a recession year. If recent trends continue, it will be a year of heat, drought and storms. All of this year’s presidential candidates – the ones that have dropped from the race and the ones still in – […]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Electoral Politics, Peak Oil, September 11th | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Fortunes of War

1/29/2008 – 3:29 pm

Conventional wisdom holds that today’s Republican primary in Florida will narrow the race to two candidates – John McCain and Mitt Romney. Further wisdom from the convention holds that next Tuesday’s multiple primaries will determine which of the two men will receive the nomination. I won’t disagree with that wisdom, whether or not it proves […]

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