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

Dear Dr. Wallack: I would like to congratulate you on your appointment this past year as chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, and thank you for the hard work you're putting into Vermont's latest attempt at health care reform. It's truly a cause for the people. Recently, your letter to the editor of the Bennington Banner caught my eye.   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

Wednesday February 1, 2012 Joe Bushika Early every morning I can be found at a local fitness center working on the various machines that purport to help one get in better physical condition. I don’t know if that’s possible at my age but it can’t hurt, and maybe I can retain some of the flexibility that I still have.   Full Story

Wednesday February 1, 2012 Tina Dupuy One of the richest men in the country, ranking in the 0.006 percent of Americans, likes to accuse the President of creating an "entitlement society." Mitt Romney, the heir apparent, next in line GOP nominee ... is against entitlement. When I hear "entitlement society," I think "country club.   Full Story

Tuesday January 31, 2012 Will Durst As rare and mythical as the unicorn, it too cavorts amongst the clouds with double rainbows birthing from its unfathomable depths. But instead of worshipful 12-year-old girls, it is conservative politicians who tack drawings of this inamorata on walls above their beds.   Full Story

Tuesday January 31, 2012 Charles Putney Everyyear, when we get to our local elections, candidates proudly proclaim that they are "native." Those who are not, underplay their origins in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and places further away and flatter. Is this a real attribute? Does it make someone a better "Vermonter" if they were born here?   Full Story