Thursday February 9, 2012 Chuck Wooster What do you think, Chuck, oak or beech?" This was my forester asking, and my immediate response was not to say anything because I was gasping for air after pursuing him up a rocky hillside. Also, I suspected it was a question with no easy answer. We were cruising our woodlot this past fall in preparation for drawing up a new forest management   Full Story

Thursday February 9, 2012 Telly Halkias If anyone ever wondered what déjà vu is like, they should look to last Sunday’s Super Bowl. The eerie playoff buildup to the game, as well as the contest itself, unfolded with similarities to the first matchup of the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, four years ago.   Full Story

Wednesday February 8, 2012 Joe Gandelman Barring some big political development that again upends the conventional wisdom, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney still seems poised to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Here in the center of America newspapers are filled with stories about the Republican political nomination battle.   Full Story

Wednesday February 8, 2012 Steve Kimbell Recent critical editorials about Vermont’s health reform plan are welcome. Perhaps they will spur the Vermonters affected, particularly small business owners and their employees, to take a closer look at the real opportunities available to them as we implement the federal and state health reform laws.   Full Story

Wednesday February 8, 2012 Harriette Leidich Some time ago I was doing my grocery shopping at one of the supermarkets when I heard a little voice say, "Mama, it’s Harriette over there." I looked for the voice and sure enough it was my little friend Lena. She was sitting in one of those big grocery carts surrounded by packages, cans and produce.   Full Story

Tuesday February 7, 2012 Peter Funt You can’t make this stuff up," Johnny Carson used to say when truth trumped fiction in one of his monologues. The line is perfect for the current GOP presidential campaign, where the candidates’ seemingly serious pronouncements leave joke writers with little to add.   Full Story

Tuesday February 7, 2012 Tina Dupuy Gen X was popularized as an advertising term. Marketers used the label to describe young people of the late 1980s, and the focus was on how to sell goods to the MTV generation. Advertisements at that time, just as one example, started to feature unmarried couples to appeal to this group of consumers.   Full Story

Tuesday February 7, 2012 Will Durst It’s been more exciting than a zip-line over crocodile-infested streams watching the Republican reality TV show currently playing across the nation. Specifically talking about their grueling marathon gladiator contest where the last person voted off the island becomes Red American Idol and wins the opportunity to oppose Barack Obama in the grudge   Full Story

Monday February 6, 2012 Michael J. Caduto One frosty winter's day, while tracking a mink along the edge of a stream, I discovered some tiny winter stoneflies creeping on top of the snow. Unaccountably, the stream-dwelling larvae of these insects metamorphose into adults and emerge in the depths of winter.   Full Story

Monday February 6, 2012 John McClaughry On Jan. 20 U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha ruled that federal law preempts the state from regulating the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant over safety concerns. Well down in the media reports it was mentioned that the judge also found that the interstate commerce clause of the U.   Full Story

Sunday February 5, 2012 David Sirota The release of Apple’s computer-based textbooks last month had the usual technology triumphalists buzzing. "Apple And The Coming Education Revolution," blared the headline at Fast Company magazine. "Apple puts iPad at head of the class," screamed MacWorld.   Full Story

Sunday February 5, 2012 Jan Ting The belated disclosure of his 2010 tax return by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney confirms the public speculation that Romney and his wife pay income tax on his enormous income of nearly $22 million in 2010 at a lower rate than many middle-income taxpayers.   Full Story

Friday February 3, 2012 Kevin McDonald If there is one service that this nasty Republican presidential nominating contest has done, it is in illuminating just how bankrupt that party has become on a national level. Let’s go through the list: * The front-runner Mitt Romney has done us the service of shining a light on just how much Republican tax policies have favored the rich in   Full Story

Friday February 3, 2012 Bob Stannard In all likelihood the Republican presidential primary is down to two. Yes, as of this writing Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are still in the race, and both have declared that they are in it for the long haul. However, the pressure on these two to get out of the race will be mounting as the slugfest between the Newt and the Mitt continues in debate after   Full Story

Thursday February 2, 2012 Alden Graves For those of you who are keeping track, Newt Gingrich now has Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Todd Palin in his corner, and Mitt Romney just welcomed Angelina Jolie’s father onto his bandwagon. Curly, Moe, and Larry remain undecided. Sarah Palin has called the media’s treatment of Gingrich "Stalin-esque.   Full Story