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<u><i>Vol. 16, No. 4,019</i> - The American Reporter - <i>September 2, 2010</i></u>
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<dl><dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/1.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>GAY MARRIAGE BODY COUNT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If you've ever wondered why so many Americans become agitated over the idea of gay marriage, you might be interested in an explanation by author Jonathan Rauch. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/2.html"><b><i>Andy Oram Reports</i><br>THE NETWORK NEUTRALITY DEBATE: IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU FEAR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Andy Oram</b>
<p> CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Was the future of the Internet wrenched onto a new path on Nov. 7, 2005? Bloomberg Businessweek posted <A HREF="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_45/b3958092.htm">an interview</A HREF> that day with Edward Whitacre, Jr., CEO of the telephone company SBC, posing some general questions about his plans in the wake of purchasing AT&T Wireless. When asked what he thought about "Internet upstarts like Google," Whitacre replied with some heat: <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/3.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>IRAQ REPRISE: AMERICA GETS A PRESIDENT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., Aug. 31, 2010 -- It took 19 months, but as President Obama addressed the American people tonight on the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq, it was clear to me that the young Illinois Senator had grown into the job a majority of Americans entrusted to him. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/4.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>DE GUSTIBUM NON EST DISPUTANDUM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- For most of us, people, places and things are of interest in one way or another. I'm a people person. I like to learn about a person - where they're from and what molded them, either into the person in front of me or in the pages of a book. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/5.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>DANGEROUS IGNORANCE AND BIGOTRY IS LOOSED UPON OUR LAND</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Given the myriad of economic, environmental and geo-political crises we are saddled with, it seems absolutely unbelievable to me that people are arguing about whether a $100 million Sufi Muslim community center should be built near the former site of the World Trade Center towers in New York. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/6.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>BECK & CALL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 28, 2010 -- Like many Americans, I was startled and transfixed by the enormity of the response to Glenn Back's call to "restore honor" in America. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/7.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>McSTUPID LAWSUITS BY McDONALD'S McLAWYERS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- It's understandable: if you own a company, you don't want people to confuse yours with another company that sells a similar product with a similar name. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/8.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A BUSHEL FULL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- August is usually the silly season for news, but this year it seems somehow different; America seems to be drowning in dumb. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/9.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IS RUSSIA'S HEAT WAVE WARNING OF A HOTTER EARTH?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's hard to imagine a 100 degree day in Moscow. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/10.html"><b><i>AR Endorses</i><br>TIME FOR NEW BLOOD IN FLORIDA</b></a></dt><dd>
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<b>by AR Staff</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 22, 2010 - The woes of Florida are well known. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/11.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>A NEW E.P.A. EDICT IS A THREAT TO FLORIDA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Richard Griswold</b>
<p> DESTIN, Fla. -- Over the past several years, Floridians have seen more than their share of disasters. Hurricanes, recession and an ecological disaster of monumental proportions have dealt severe blows - but the economic devastation of these events pale in comparison to the manmade disaster looming on our horizon. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/12.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A HOT PRIMARY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week in this column I studied the Democratic primary candidates for governor and decided, in the end, to support Peter Shumlin. (Which, according to my e-mail, pleased his mother and ticked off Matt Dunne.) <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/13.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>A DAY AT THE MUSEUM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Okay, remember kids, this is a museum filled with very expensive items. You absolutely may not touch anything." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/14.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>THE FIRE OF RESISTANCE STILL IGNITES ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eileen Fleming</b>
<p> KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 17, 2010 -- On Monday morning, Aug. 16, some 14 non-violent peace activists - mostly nuns, priests and other clergy - were arrested for blocking a Caterpillar truck on the site of a proposed WMD Facility in Kansas City, Mo. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/15.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AMERICANS SEEK COMPETENCE, ACTION FROM THEIR GOVERNMENT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Americans have little confidence in the federal government. At the same time, Americans want the federal government to be more effective. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/16.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>WEIGHING IN ON FAT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Here is a disclaimer right up front: This article is not to defend obesity but, rather, to point out how it is and how it was. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/17.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>COUNTING UP THE SAVINGS OF THE 2010 CENSUS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by George Grandy, Jr.</b>
<p> ATLANTA, Ga. -- One of my responsibilities as regional director is to make sure that taxpayer money is used responsibly. This week, we put a number to our collective good use of federal dollars: The Census Bureau will return not less than $1.6 billion of our budgeted funds for 2010. This figure represents about 22 percent of the total amount Congress gave us to do the job nationally this year. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/18.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ENGAGED? ENGAGED IN WHAT?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A friend of mine told me today was his 22nd anniversary - five years longer than I've been married. It got me to thinking about when my wife and I got engaged. When we did it, it was a complete surprise. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/19.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Bear with me as I try to reason my way through the embarrassment of riches that is the Democratic gubernatorial primary. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/20.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>'NO DRAMA OBAMA' NEEDS A STRONG SECOND ACT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The Obama Administration is a welcome change from the Bush-Cheney years. Against severe Republican opposition, President Obama has kept campaign promises to reform health care, curb Wall Street excesses, create a federally-funded stimulus program to help bring the nation out of the recession, and to remove American troops from the needless Iraq war, which has already cost Americans more than $740 billion and 4,400 lives. He has also pledged to eliminate the Bush-Cheney tax cuts for the rich, while not raising taxes on the middle- and lower-classes. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/21.html"><b><I>Ron Kenner</i><br>KRUGMAN HITS BULL'S EYE ON 'AMERICA GOES DARK' </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ron Kenner</b>
<p> LOS ANGELES, Aug. 9, 2010 -- Paul Krugman's 'America Grows Dark' <A HREF="http://tinyurl.com/39yw283">, an opinion piece in today's <i>New York Times</i></A HREF>, is brutally on target. It is a telling column, I think, on how America is shutting down, needlessly, and at disastrous cost. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/22.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>FROM GETTYSBURG TO HIROSHIMA TO GROUND ZERO</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A few days ago American Ambassador to Japan John Roos attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan. On his second visit to Hiroshima, the first by an American ambassador, he expressed respect for all the victims of World War 11. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/23.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE WAR AGAINST SECRETS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Some have argued that there's little that's new about the U.S. war on Afghanistan in last week's document dump by WikiLeaks. These people are wrong. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/24.html"><b><I>The Willies</I><BR>THE U.S.P.S. NEEDS TO GO THE NEXT LEVEL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 5, 2010 -- Forty-seven years ago, driving a '55 Dodge with three kids working with me on a construction site, I hit a tree going 40 miles per hour and nearly killed myself. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/25.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THAT LONG LAST MILE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a simple fact of life that fast and reliable Internet service is indispensable in a country that wants to continue enjoying a high standard of living. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/26.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF CLEANLINESS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- As I get older, I'm more concerned with cleanliness and neatness. (Not the rest of the house, mind you. That's still a free-for-all.) <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/27.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IS IT 1994 ALL OVER AGAIN?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The calendar may read 2010, but politically, all I see is 1994. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/28.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>TALK TO THE YOUTH</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>BY Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- This year the dog days of August began in late June and persist as I run from one air-conditioned place to another. I pre-cool my car before getting in for the morning's drive but, today, I have the leisure to read every page in Sunday's hefty edition of <i>The New York Times</i>. I'm just not going out of the house while the heat index is 105 F. again. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/29.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>BRAVE MEN AND POISONED BEER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- One picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes 70,000 pages of words can give you a very strong picture. I'm talking about the Afghanistan War Logs that Wikileaks released on Sunday. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/30.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>SAGGY PANTS & CRUSHED CARS: JUSTICE FOR SOME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- As much as I hate to admit it, a teenager's right to wear his pants below his butt is protected by the First Amendment. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/31.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>SHINING THE LIGHT OF THE NEW COLOSSUS INTO ARIZONA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> PHOENIX, Ariz., July 26, 2010 -- Two things are assured this coming week. One is that Arizona will do its best to put into practice its controversial anti-immigration bill. The other is that a federal district court will rule whether that law is constitutional. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/32.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AUSTERITY FOR WHOM?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- When you hear conservative politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, talk about the need for austerity, the first question to ask is "austerity for whom?" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/33.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>RACE AND FACE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., July 20, 2010 -- What a sad story the Shirley Sherrod saga has become. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/34.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>VENTURE SOCIALISM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Henry Ford understood that his business wouldn't survive unless his workers could buy his product, and so he paid them well. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/35.html"><b><i>Reporting: Immigration</i><br>MIGRANTS OPPOSE IMMIGRATION CAP IN THE UK</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Chiranjibi Paudyal</b>
<p> LONDON, England, July 18, 2010 -- With the soaring popularity of the South Asian food, "masala tikka" and "chapati" have become English words in the United Kingdom. The aroma of Indian food has given a new ambience to the cities and towns of the former colonial power, and helped more than 9,000 Indian and Pakistani restaurants flourish. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/36.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>BREAD AND CIRCUSES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The Romans figured that if they provided bread and gladiator matches, people wouldn't notice that their leadership was inept and corrupt. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/37.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHO KILLED THE AMERICAN DREAM? THE REPUBLICAN PARTY DID</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In a recent interview with the <i>Pittsburgh Tribune-Review</i>, a newspaper owned by the far-right billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, House Minority Leader John Boehner - the Ohio Republican with the day-glo orange fake tan who thinks he is going to be the Speaker of the House next year - complained about how Democrats "are snuffing out the America that I grew up in." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/38.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>GHOST WRITERS IN THE SKY</b></a></dt><dd>
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<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I'm a ghost writer. Other people hire me to write stuff for them, but they get to put their name on it. I've ghost-written blog posts, brochures, press releases, Websites, and half a book. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/39.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>LeBRON, THE MEDIA, AND AMERICA'S SOUL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Millions of Americans had pleaded with basketball superstar LeBron James to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and come to their city when he became a free agent. Bloggers, media pundits, and reporters of every kind seemed to devote much of their lives to figuring out what team James would be a part of for the 2011 season. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/40.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>RE-INVENTING VERMONT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Earlier this week, in my day job as a business reporter, I interviewed the founders of a Vermont solar energy company. I found it interesting that it was only founded in 1998, yet from 2004 to 2007 its revenue grew 463.3 percent. That's a huge jump. Since then, it's doubled its revenue - and the number of its employees - again. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/41.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ESPN SCOOPS ESPN ON THE LEBRON JAMES STORY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- LeBron James will play for the Miami Heat, although you probably knew that already. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/42.html"><b><i>Passings</i><br>BRUCE KELLY: 70 YEARS TOLD IN ONE STORY</b></a></dt><dd>
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<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., July 8, 2010 -- They laid Bruce Kelly to rest this week at the age of 70. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/43.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>HOW ONE REPORTER BROKE THE SILENCE ON McCHRYSTAL</b></a></dt><dd>
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<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I've been in journalism in one form or another for my entire adult life. When I broke into the field, in the afterglow of Watergate, journalism was more than a job. It was a public service where you could make a real difference in peoples' lives. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Go after the bad guys. Stand up for truth and justice and have fun doing it. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/44.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ONE MAN'S VUVUZELA IS ANOTHER MAN'S CURSE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Kid, is that what I think it is?" asked Karl the Curmudgeon. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/45.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>F.I.F.A. FEVER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I have spent the past few weeks glued to the television set watching World Cup Soccer. It's like eating cashews. I can't stop. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/46.html"><b><i>Reporting: Affordable Health Care Act</i><br>WILL PRE-EXISTING COVERAGE BE AFFORDABLE FOR THE POOR? NOBODY KNOWS</b></a></dt><dd>
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<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., July 2, 2010 -- "Affordable" health care? Maybe. Maybe not. The government doesn't seem to know. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/47.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE CIVILIAN AND THE GENERAL: BEHIND THE McCHRYSTAL INTERVIEW FALLOUT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- For a few days last week, the harpies of the extreme right assaulted the President of the United States for first considering, and then firing Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/48.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IS THIS AMERICA'S TIME OF RECKONING?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The banks wrecked our economy, and they are still raking in record profits while escaping all accountability for their misdeeds. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/49.html"><b><i>Press Release</i><br>10 ALLEGED RUSSIAN SECRET AGENTS ARRESTED, 11th CHARGED IN THE UNITED STATES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>Press Release</b>
<p> WASHINGTON -- Eight individuals were arrested Sunday for allegedly carrying out long-term, "deep-cover" assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation, the Justice Department announced today. Two additional defendants were also arrested Sunday for allegedly participating in the same Russian intelligence program within the United States. In total, 11 defendants, including the 10 arrested, are charged in two separate criminal complaints with conspiring to act as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States. Federal law prohibits individuals from acting as agents of foreign governments within the United States without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General. Nine of the defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/50.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A PETRI DISH FOR INSPIRATION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Since 2002, Vermonters have been told - endlessly - that Vermont is bad for business. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/51.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>WHY DON'T AMERICANS LIKE SOCCER?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Now that the World Cup soccer championship is underway, I'm starting to realize which of my friends like soccer, and which of them are change-hating xenophobes who automatically mistrust anything invented outside the United States. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/52.html"><b>GENERATION JOBLESS: AMERICANS UNDER 30 AND THE GREAT RECESSION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here in Vermont, it is high school graduation season. It is difficult to look at the faces of the young people of the Class of 2010, knowing they are walking out into the worst economy in generations. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/53.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>DAY 59</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The other evening in Bellows Falls, Vt., Beausoleil sang "The Problem," a song JJ Cale wrote and recorded in 2004, long before the BP oil spill: <i>Have you heard the news that's going 'round here/The man in charge has got to go/Cause he dances 'round the problem, boy/And the problem is the man in charge, you know...</i>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/54.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WE NEED ILLEGALS - AND IT'S TIME TO ADMIT IT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- "Wanted: Person willing to work long hours from dawn to dark year round. Must be good with large animals and be able to handle heavy machinery. Must be able to do hard, difficult labor under constantly changing conditions in all types of weather, and be available and ready to work every day." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/55.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>R'OIL INDIGNATION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The British are upset with the United States. That's not too unusual. There was this revolution thing a couple of centuries ago. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/56.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>IN DEFENSE OF HELEN THOMAS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In the bad old days, old women were often labeled as witches. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/57.html"><b><i>Reporting: Manatee County</i><br>'GREAT DEBATE' FRAMES BROAD IMPACT OF FLORIDA'S AMENDMENT 4</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., June 10, 2010 -- The Great Debate over Florida's "Hometown Democracy" Amendment 4 at the Manatee County Central Library here last night lent a frame to the broad impact of the Nov. 2 initiative to require any changes to a county master plan to be approved by voters. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/58.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>RUBBER STAMPS MAKE EDITORS LAZY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- <b>Editor's note:</b> <i>Erik is out of the office this week, so we are firing up the way-back machine, and republishing a column from 1997. However, out of sympathy for our readers, we have edited and improved it. A lot. Like, "it would have been a whole lot easier if he had just written a new one" edited and improved</i>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/59.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>SELF-REGULATION IS A DISASTER FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If the old definition of a conservative is "a liberal who's been mugged," is the new definition of a liberal now "a conservative who's had his beachfront property coated in crude oil?" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/60.html"><b><i>Passings: Dennis Hopper</i><br>A MAN AND A SUMMER TO REMEMBER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> REYNOLDS PLANTATION, Ga., May 29, 2010 -- Dennis Hopper died today at 74. He was a friend once, and thinking of him last night, and knowing he was sick, I said a prayer for him before I fell asleep. I'm glad I did; he's gone now, and ever after, it will be too late. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/61.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>SEX AND THE SICKIE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If you want to see the line between sexism and misogyny skid into a puddle of sheer nuttiness, read some of the reviews of the new film "Sex and the City 2." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/62.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>OILY POLITICS LEAD TO ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa., June 1, 2010 -- Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) had a good idea to slow or stop the Gulf Coast oil spill from reaching shore. Build artificial barrier islands, he told the federal government. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/63.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TEXAS TWISTERS: CONSERVATIVES REWRITE HISTORY FOR ITS SCHOOLCHILDREN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The late, great Molly Ivins famously called Texas "the laboratory for bad government," and what the Texas State Board of Education did last week reinforces that notion. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/64.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>OUTRAGE, ANYONE?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Have you noticed that Tea Baggers and anti-government activists seem to be worrying about all the wrong things? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/65.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE END OF PETROSEXUAL MAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Look at your man. Now back to me. Now back at your man, now back at me. Sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped using hair product by the pound, he could - and stopped wearing his pink shirt - he could - and didn't accessorize - you know what, forget it. Just forget it. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/66.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>HOW TO FIX THE OIL SPILL </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., May 25, 2010 5:30PM ET -- Have you ever wielded one of those little New Year's Eve noisemakers that roll out and straighten as you blow your heart out at midnight? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/67.html"><b><i>Politics 2010</i><br>BUD CHILES, SON OF "WALKIN' LAWTON," TO SEEK DAD'S FORMER JOB AS FLORIDA GOVERNOR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, May 21, 2010 -- Lawton "Bud" Chiles, 57, the son and namesake of former Fla. governor and U.S. Senator "Walkin' Lawton" Chiles, will announce his own candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor at an event in Lakeland, Fla., next Saturday, a top elected official close to the Manatee County restaurant owner said Friday evening. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/68.html"><b><i>Reporting: Nepal</i><br>13-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN BOY SETS RECORD ON EVEREST</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Chiranjibi Paudyal</b>
<p> KATHMANDU, Nepal, May 22, 2010 -- A 13-year-old American boy, Jordan Romero, became the youngest person to scale the Mt. Everest, at 29,028 ft. the highest peak in the world. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/69.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE FISH PLATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Some time ago, middle-class suburban ladies like my mother held teas. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/70.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>ELENA KAGAN: A GOOD, BUT NOT GREAT, PICK FOR THE SUPREME COURT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I can't say that I was surprised that President Barack Obama would nominate Solicitor-General Elena Kagan to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. I can say that I was disappointed that he played so safe by picking Kagan, rather than a more experienced and more liberal nominee. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/71.html"><b><i>An AR Exclusive</i><br>CRIST GETS COLD FEET' ON OFFSHORE DRILLING BAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., May 18, 2010 -- Gov. Charlie Crist may not be so independent after all. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/72.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>AN ODE TO THE PILL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> PLANTATION, Fla. -- It was 1959. Barry had a greasy pompadour and a big goofy smile. He was my college boyfriend's best friend, and when he and his girlfriend got pregnant, they thought the world was coming to an end. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/73.html"><b><i>Politics: 2012</i><br>TAMPA PICKED TO HOST 2012 GOP CONVENTION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> TAMPA, Fla., May 13, 2010 -- The waiting was not quite agony. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/74.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>HISTORY IS NO BIRTHDAY PARTY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Today, I had the awful realization that I'm turning 43 next month. It's awful for a couple of reasons, mostly because I will no longer be 42. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/75.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT THEM?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., May 11, 2010 -- I was a goner. I was in the middle of a very busy intersection when my car ran out of gas and I drifted into the nearest northbound lane of Cortez Rd. at 43rd St. W., trying to start it in neutral to no avail. After a few yards, I stopped. Even with my flashers on, it was only a few second before someone sat on their brakes and screeched to a stop behind, narrowly missing my back bumper. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/76.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AMERICAN MUST LEAD IN GREEN ENERGY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As we watch hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico after the the explosion and sinking of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform, perhaps this is another wake-up call to start moving our economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/77.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>UNAIDED</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> PLANTATION, Fla. -- Here in Florida, live-in home health care aides are like mail-order brides. The agency sends you a certified aide complete with his or her own issues. You either get along or fight like cats and dogs. If it's the latter, the agency sends you another aide. And so on. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/78.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>BAN ALUMINUM BATS FROM YOUTH BASEBALL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Baseball has its own soundtrack. The crack! of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the food vendors with their cries of "COLDbeer! Getcha coldbeer HEAH!" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/79.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>HOW TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, May 7, 2010 -- British Petroleum says the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may ultimately cost them $16 billion. Where does that kind of money come from? Say that BP has a computer genius who is commissioned to hack the stock markets. They figure out how to do it, place buys in street name through 500 different brokers, then make their move. Wham! <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/80.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>ANOTHER BATCH OF PRIVATIZATION SNAKE OIL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform - better known as the deficit commission - began its work this week to try and make Americans so frightened about the federal deficit that they'll support cutting Social Security and Medicare. As with every previous attempt to scare Americans into cutting Social Security and Medicare, it's nonsense. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/81.html"><b><i>Panache</i><br>STOP THE WORLD: CHARLIE CRIST WANTS TO GET BACK ON</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Tony Panaccio</b>
<p> CLEARWATER, Fla., April 30, 2010 -- I'm blocking out a week right after election night this November, because if Florida Governor Charlie Crist wins the Florida seat in the US Senate in that election, I am hijacking him and taking him to Vegas. He is one helluva gambler! <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/82.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>ART CREEP</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It isn't often noticed because the state line serves as a great divide, but art has been creeping up the Connecticut River Valley. And it's been a very powerful force for good. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/83.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>TIMES SQUARE BOMB IS A PUZZLER </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., May 2, 2010 -- The strange car bomb found yesterday evening in Times Square by an alert T-shirt vendor and NYPD cavalry officer is the work of an amateur, it appears; but was it also the work of a bomber? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/84.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL WITH TWITTER?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Are you on Twitter? Are you a power tweeter, with severe thumb cramps, because you're constantly tweeting to your friends? Or do you think it's the little yellow bird Sylvester the cat kept trying to eat? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/85.html"><b><I>Brasch Words</i><br>IN PENNSYLVANIA, DESPERATE WORKERS FIGHT FOR A FAIR CONTRACT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Art Welch, the in-school suspension supervisor at the Columbia-Montour Area Vocational Technical School - known simply as Vo-Tech - in Bloomsburg, Pa., earns $8-hr., just 75 cents above minimum wage. In the six years he has been at Vo-Tech, he has never had a raise. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/86.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>GETTING TO ZERO: IMAGINE A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- This month has been, arguably, the most eventful month ever regarding reducing the dangers of nuclear weapons. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/87.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>UNDERSTANDING SARAH</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- My copy of Vogue arrived in the mail the other day. (What? Like you don't have any secret vices?) It had a Photoshopped picture of Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover. On the very first page, a huge photo of Julia Roberts' teeth leapt out at me. I was bit. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/88.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>GEE, CAN FLORIDA GET ONE OF THOSE? </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, April 27, 2010 -- As the oil seeps from the capsized carcass of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig 52 miles off Venice, La., and the bdies of 11 workers remain undiscovered in the Gulf of Mexico, the incredible stupidity of recent White House approval for drilling off the coast of Florida is dramatized in a way nothing else can. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/89.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>THE SEVENTH SENSE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- He came out of the men's locker room with such a smile on his face that we all said, "What's so funny, Chris?" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/90.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE RISE OF THE NEW CORPORATION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Margaret Thatcher once said, "There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/91.html"><b><i>Reporting: Panama</i><br>KIWANIS' GIFT OF FUN CHEERS PANAMANIAN KIDS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> TORTI, Panama, April 19, 2010 -- Smiles and cheers were the order of the day as 35 pupils at the La Tosca Elementary School in Torti received gift bags and kindergarten furniture from 18 members of the Kiwanis Club of Panama. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/92.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>NET NEUTRALITY AND THE BATTLE FOR AN OPEN INTERNET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The Internet has changed so much in the 15 years since The American Reporter first appeared on the scene as the first exclusively online newspaper. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/93.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>DIARY OF A DAY OFF</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I just took my first vacation in a couple of years. I've been working like crazy on my new business, and an eight-hour day feels like a day off. This was one of the first times I wasn't going to work at all, and my wife was determined that I wouldn't do any work. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/94.html"><b><i>AR's 15th Anniversary</i><br>15 YEARS IN 15 MINUTES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., April 10, 1995 -- Last year, reporter Billy Cox of the <i>Sarasota Herald Tribune</i>, a solid if struggling local institution and regional <i>New York Times</i> daily newspaper here, spent a total of 17 hours interviewing me for a story on our 15th anniversary. He wrote it and rewrote it, revised it again and again, and was finally persuaded by his editor that his account was "too depressing," and that our situation here was "pathetic." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/95.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>A WORLD WITHOUT NUKES BECOMES MORE POSSIBLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It looks like President Barack Obama is going to follow up his biggest domestic policy achievement - health care reform - with his biggest foreign policy achievement - a new strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty and new U.S. policies regarding the use of nuclear weapons. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/96.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE GRUMP IN EARLY SPRING</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I've been known to wax poetic about spring. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/97.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE ECONOMY IS IMPROVING FOR WALL STREET, BUT NOT MAIN STREET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In March of last year, the U.S. stock market was at the lowest point of the current recession. Since then, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen nearly 70 percent. Housing prices around the country have stabilized. Commodity prices have begun to rise again. Economic growth, as measured by the Gross Domestic Product, rose at double the rate that economists predicted. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/98.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME GOOGLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> PANAMA CITY, PANAMA, April 1, 2010 -- <i>Editor's Note:</i> Search engine company Google, after a long period of negotiation, last week ended censorship of Websites sought by Chinese citizens on the mainland. AR's Senior Financial Correspondent Mark Scheinbaum takesa look the impact and origins of Goggle's decision. <blockquote><i>But every man who prefers freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honor you as men who have baffled the attempt of tyranny, and by an impartial and uncorrupt verdict have laid a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbors, that to which nature and the laws of our country have given us a right to liberty of both exposing and opposing arbitrary power (in these parts of the world at least) by speaking and writing truth."</i><br><b> -- Andew Hamilton, Esq., 1735</b> - <i>Summation of defense at trial of newspaper editor John Peter Zenger</i></blockquote><p> <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/99.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>SOMEONE TO HAVE YOUR BACK</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt -- The so-called "Curse of the Oscars" has very strong legs. At Google you'll find 2,660,000 possible sites to read about it in just 0.26 seconds. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/100.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>HOW TO SAVE OUR ECONOMY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, March 29, 2010 -- There is one, and only one, answer to America's burgeoning national debt, now in the many trillions of dollars and seemingly impossible to repay. There is a way - and also a means - and both can be summed up in one word each. The first is prosperity. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/101.html"><b><i>Reporting: London</i><br>PAKISTANIS IN BRITAIN SEEK A BRIDGE ACROSS CULTURES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Chiranjibi Paudyal</b>
<p> LONDON, April 3, 2010 -- Islamic extremists have waged their propaganda war against the United States and its coalition partners by saying the coalition's presence in Afghanistan and Iraq is an attack on Islam. By now, thousands of people have lost their lives and billions of dollars have been spent on these conflicts, but they don't seem likely to end in the immediate future despite efforts from many quarters. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/102.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>GOP GAMBLED ON THE TEA PARTY, AND LOST</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a sign of how totally insane this nation has become when the passage of a health care bill that has so many conservative elements within it is labeled as socialist. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/103.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>EVEN POPES ARE FALLIBLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla. -- It seems to me I'm always defensive when the Catholic Church is implicated in another sex scandal. Our menu of links to newspaper and online headlines around the world often seem to focus quickly on wrongdoing by the Israeli government but rarely on the reprehensible conduct of my fellow Catholics in their roles as priests and religious. Why is that? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/104.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A YIDDISH MAMA IN VERMONT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Author Deborah Lee Luskin has <i>chutzpah</i>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/105.html"><b><i>Opinion</i><br>DON'T MEXICANS BLEED LIKE WE DO?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Patrick Osio</b>
<p> LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2010 -- Are Mexican citizens' deaths any less deserving of sadness and outrage? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/106.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>WHY KARL THE CURMUDGEON IS UPSET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "I'm getting tired of all the sloppy grammar people use these days," lamented Karl, my friend and part-time curmudgeon. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/107.html"><b><i>Editorial</i><br>BIDEN FLAP HAS FAR-REACHING FALLOUT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., March 17, 2010 -- The recent diplomatic flap over the Israeli announcement of construction of 1,600 Jewish housing units in disputed East Jerusalem has focused attention on the deteriorating relationship between that country and the United States. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/108.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>SHUT UP BACK THERE: MOVIE ETIQUETTE TIPS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I rarely go to movies anymore. My wife and I go about once a year, and take the kids a second time, but that's about it. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/109.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>CARGO CULT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Every February, one of the last South Pacific islands to host a cargo cult puts on a major festival. Reading about this year's party made me think of cargo cults in general, and one in particular that I joined for a little while. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/110.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>HOW TO SAVE AMERICAN JOURNALISM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I read "The Death and Life of American Journalism" by media professor and activist Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols, the Washington correspondent for The Nation, with great interest, and not just because I've been a professional journalist in one form or another for nearly 30 years. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/111.html"><b><I>Momentum</I>THE OUTRAGE AND THE JOY: WOMEN IN FILM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- March is Woman's History Month - as though we don't have any history during the other eleven months - and it was somehow fitting that Kathryn Bigelow won the Academy Award for best director and best film at last Sunday's Oscars. That's the first Oscar given to a woman for directing, even though women - including Bigelow - have been directing films for years. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/112.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>THE POLITICS OF FEAR AND SMEAR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a long-standing principle in the American justice system that even the most unpopular defendants are given adequate legal representation and that the rule of law is followed without exception. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/113.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>INDIANA STUDENT SUSPENDED FOR JUST SAYING NO</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I thought we were safe here in Indiana. I thought we didn't do Zero Tolerance. Turns out the stupidity and harm of this blinded-to-logic-and-reason way of thinking has hit the Hoosier state. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/114.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>DEAR SEN. DOYLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Town Meeting Day has come and gone in Vermont, and I hope everyone filled out their Doyle Poll. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/115.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>PATRIOT ACT DEMANDED REPEAL, NOT RENEWAL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- After a bit more of a year of President Barack Obama's first term, we have been treated to one disappointment after another. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/116.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- That title just brought on a collective groan among readers, "Well, duh," since most of us have had "live and learn" moments in our lives: Live and learn; love and learn, lock keys in the car and learn, put your red sock with the white in the washing machine, and learn. We've experienced and we've learned. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/117.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>BEFORE YOU ORDER FROM DELL, BE PREPARED FOR FRUSTRATION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, March 6, 2010 -- My 10-year-old Sony computer, once one of the best available, has crashed again, and with help from my brother Pat, I'm getting a new one. Unfortunately, I chose to get it from Dell to help out an American company with a so-so reputation for quality. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/118.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>IT'S SNOW NEWS OR NO NEWS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Up to four feet of snow hit the mid-Atlantic and New England states over the past three weeks, bringing record snowfalls, school closures, power outages and more. Around here, it was one of the most memorable winters in anyone's memory. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/119.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOUR FAMILY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Hasn't feminism taken some weird twists and turns since the Second Wave splashed over the U.S. back in the 1970s? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/120.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>OBAMA NEEDS A PRIMARY CHALLENGER IN 2012</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- President Barack Obama came into office with a reputation for being a sharp and canny politician. So why does he keep alienating the people who helped get him elected president in 2008? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/121.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>FAMILY GUY 1, PALIN 0</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Tony Panaccio</b>
<p> HOLLYWOOD -- If you're a reporter, don't ask Sarah Palin any questions. She ain't answering. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/122.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>FLYING WITHOUT FEATHERS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Mankind has always wanted to fly, and not by being X-rayed at an airport and then scrunched into a tiny seat three across with a change of planes in Atlanta. That's the kind of flying that inspired Orson Welles to say, "There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/123.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WE CAN'T BE A SUPERPOWER ON BORROWED MONEY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's hard to believe, but according to the Project on Defense Alternatives, the Defense Department has been given about $7.2 trillion since 1998, when the post-Cold War decline in defense spending ended. This includes President Obama's proposed total military budget for fiscal year 2011 of more than $1 trillion - which represents the biggest share of the federal budget since World War II. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/124.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>WHEN WILL SARAH PALIN DISCOVER THE CONSTITUTION?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Sarah Palin stood before an audience of 600 at the first Tea Party convention and in her twinkly home-spun rhetoric declared we don't need a professor of law but a commander-in-chief. As expected, she received roaring applause. And, as expected, she was wrong. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/125.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE 2010 WINTER SWISH-WHACK-TAKE-THAT! AWARDS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I created the Swish-Whack awards during the 2004 Athens Olympics, to shine some light on the sport of fencing, after America's Mariel Zagunis, 19, won America's first fencing gold medal in 100 years. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/126.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>FOX NEWS NATION AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Recently, news stories proclaimed that the Fox News Channel was the most trusted television news source in the country. The stories were referring to a poll done by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling, which asked Americans whether they trusted each of the country's major television news operations. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/127.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>TOO COOL TO RULE?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Lester Young is cool. Miles Davis is cool. Jack Kerouac is cool. President Barack Obama is cool. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/128.html"><b><i>Music</i><br>A NIGHT WITH BLUES LEGEND MOJO COLLINS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. -- Last night, legendary blues guitarist Mojo Collins graced the stage of the Outer Banks Brewing Station. The word "grace" cannot be overemphasized. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/129.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>A 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS PREVIEW</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- As I write this, we're just 24 hours away from the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I love the Winter Olympics. You can keep your track and field, your gymnastics, your women's softball. Give me downhill skiing, the bobsled, and curling. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/130.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>HOWARD ZINN EXPANDED OUR VIEW OF HISTORY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- "Who controls the past controls the future," George Orwell once wrote. "Who controls the present controls the past." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/131.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>NUCLEAR FOLLIES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- When President Barack Obama said, during his State of the Union speech, "But to create more of these clean energy jobs... that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country," I literally howled. How could an ostensibly intelligent man be so wrong, wrong, wrong? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/132.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><BR>THE RELUCTANT EVOLUTION OF A COMPUTER GEEK</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I've been amazed at how far computers have come from the first days I used one. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/133.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE SUPREMES KEEPS ALIVE THE FICTION OF CORPORATE PERSONHOOD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's easy to make the case that there is nothing that has done more to damage the proper functioning of our democracy than the system of legalized bribery and graft that now dominates the American political process. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/134.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>KATE McGARRIGLE: A SOUND FROM ANOTHER TIME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- No matter where it's performed, on the stage of Carnegie Hall or around a wood-burning stove, folk music is redolent of hearth and family. Maybe it's because so many folk songs are rooted in character and place. Maybe it's because a good tune can turn a local story into a legend. Maybe it's because a lot of people can play and sing together -- the very opposite of performance. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/135.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATS HAD A LOUSY CANDIDATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In 1972, Massachusetts was the only state that went for George McGovern over Richard Nixon for president. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/136.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A WORLD OF HURT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There are too many traumatized people in the world right now, and there aren't enough therapists to go around. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/137.html"><b><i>Reporting: Appamattox</i><br>DEATH ON A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> APPOMATTOX, Va. -- You drive over the long sloping hills of State Highway 460, watching the farms and thick trees slip over the horizon, how they rise and rise until you begin to think they are an endless procession speeding past in an infinite blur. In the distance, there is the dark sapphire blue pressing into the clouds, the haunting shadow violet limning the worn undulations of water-carved phosphorescent rivulets trickling down the ancient slopes. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/138.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE SAD CRASH LANDING OF AIR AMERICA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Air America, the liberal radio network, went down in flames on Jan. 21, when it filed for bankruptcy. It wasn't because of air-to-air combat with conservative talk shows and bloggers. It wasn't because of the Recession, although reduced advertising revenue, a reality of all media, also affected Air America. It wasn't even demographics, even though older, marginalized conservatives tend to listen to radio more than do younger liberal professionals. And media history was only part of the problem. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/139.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE DECKERS FAMILY, INC., 2010 ANNUAL REPORT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Since it's been a year since my last annual report, in keeping with our family by-laws, I want to evaluate our progress over the last 12 months. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/140.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHY REWARD FAT CAT BANKERS? MOVE YOUR MONEY!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Only in America can the people who drove the global economy off a cliff and pushed tens of millions of people into poverty and joblessness get lavishly rewarded for doing so. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/141.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>FOR REAL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Cross-cultural experiences come when you least expect them. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/142.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>POOR HARRY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>By Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Today would be Carroll O'Connor's birthday. In the person of Archie Bunker, starring in "All in the Family," a sitcom in the 70s, he personified an American bigot. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/143.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE RIGHT AND WRONG WAY TO DEAL WITH TERRORISM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There is much about the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused of attempting to explode a plastic device aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, that doesn't add up. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/144.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE NEW YEAR'S EVE DATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In 2002, I went to Florida for the auditions for one of my mother's musical theater productions. Here is part of what I wrote afterwards: "And then there was Red Gershon, 80, handsome, white-haired, a former mailman who lives to dance with my mother. He had such serious back problems that it was widely understood he couldn't be in the show. But only a few days after major back surgery, Red came to rehearsal 'just to watch.'" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/145.html"><b><I>Brasch Words</i><br>IN A PENNSYLVANIA TOWN, A COLD SHOULDER FOR THE FREEZING HOMELESS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> SUGAR NOTCH, Pa. -- A regional advocate for the rights of the homeless says actions by Sugar Notch, Pa., officials to deny shelter to homeless men may be based upon fear and a lack of knowledge. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/146.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>HELP! HELP! I'M REALLY CHILLY!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The television weather people are turning us into sissies. They're doing everything they can to force us all into our homes, where we'll be found dead after the Spring thaw, huddled together in frozen heaps. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/147.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>A PLEA TO THE MODERN READER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. -- Recently. as a requirement for a literature symposium. I was forced to read a number of "great" late 19th Century short stories, most of which were far from great, much less enjoyable. In general. they were a formulaic brand of commercial slop that academics consider literature by virtue of the conditions which bred the writing, i.e., a matter of "social commentary." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/148.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE UFO VIDEOS?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 4, 2009 -- Readers who see three YouTube videos on our front page this past week must be curious. Has The Americzan Reporter become tabloid? Is the editor out of his mind? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/149.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AFTER A YEAR IN OFFICE, OBAMA HAS YET TAKE POLITICAL RISKS FOR CHANGE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Has President Obama's first year in office been a failure? There are plenty of people arguing about that one. But I'd say there's one thing he has definitely failed at: articulating a vision of the future and working hard to make it happen. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/150.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE RICH GET RICHER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The events of Sept. 11, 2001, of course, indelibly mark the decade that is ending tonight. But when you step back and look at America from a distance, you will see that the years 2000-2009 are more defined by the growth of the largest disparity in wealth since the Gilded Age, which lasted from 1870 to 1900. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/151.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>LSSU'S LIST OF BANNED WORDS FOR 2010</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- It's the end of the year, which means word nerds and writer-types around the country are rejoicing: the Lake Superior State University has released their 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use, and General Uselessness. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/152.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>'DOUBT INDUSTRY' MUDDIES THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There were many reasons why the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen ended without a binding agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/153.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE 'COURAGE' OF MICHAEL VICK</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch and Rosemary Brasch</b>
<p> PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 30, 2009 -- The Philadelphia Eagles honored reserve quarterback and admitted dog-killer Michael Vick with an award for courage. Yes, you read that right. "Michael Vick" and "courage" are in the same sentence, now etched in brass. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/154.html"><b><i>2010</i><br>A SONNET FOR THE NEW YEAR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla. -- I wrote <A HREF="voice/auldpoemmix.mp3">this poem</A HREF>, which is flawed as a sonnet (as were some of Shakespeare's), at a deli and coffee shop in Santa Monica, Calif., on New Year's Eve 1982. The deli is gone now, and the poem, too, has changed in several ways over the years - a word here, and years later, a word there - and I probably never read it the same way twice. Worst of all, a phrase is missing from the recorded version. I'm not sure how that happened. The version below is more or less complete. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/155.html"><b><I>Make My Day</I><BR>A ONE-SIDED CHRISTMAS TREE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "No, I don't want an artificial tree this year." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/156.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>DON'T HOLIDAY ME!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 24, 2009 -- Yesterday, without warning, my right leg suddenly became paralyzed five times for about two minutes each time. It's already happened twice today. So don't holiday me. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/157.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>PRO-WAR SPEECH BETRAYED THE SPIRIT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Erwin Knoll, the late publisher of The Progressive, said that in 1991, as the United States went to war against Iraq, "There is no such thing as a just war - never was, never will be." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/158.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>GREED, CORRUPTION, AND HATE PLAY BIG IN N.E. PENNSYLVANIA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> SHENANDOAH, Pa. -- Dick Wolf, who created "Law & Order" and its two successful spin-offs, "Law & Order: SVU" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," should probably consider establishing a branch office in Pennsylvania. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/159.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>WILD HORSES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It was 6 a.m. here in south Florida and the sky was still a midnight blue when Lee pulled up in her truck. She was playing Susan Boyle's "Wild Horses" on the car stereo and it was lovely. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/160.html"><b><i>Fiction</i><br>MY LAST CHRISTMAS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> After suffering through a bout of heavy, drunken emotions, I've been forced to face the facts: My life has been defined by nothing more than a series of petty skirmishes with the Moral Majority. This is the utter truth. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/161.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>10 PHRASES TO ELIMINATE FROM BUSINESS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- As a writer, I don't like trite phrases, marketing jargon, or clichés. So I was pleased to see a piece by Frances Cole Jones on CNN.com talking about her 10 worst business sayings. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/162.html"><b><i>Ex Libris</i><br>NAPIER'S 'THE FURIES' STARTS FAST, ENDS WELL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec, 23, 2009 -- I like thrillers when they have a great pace and clever plotting, and that's not so common as it once seemed. Bill Napier's books, and especially his last, "The Lure," leapt out at me from the bookstands when I didn't know his name. In fact, it was only after glancing through the frontispiece the other day that I noticed I'd already read two of his books. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/163.html"><b><i>Editorial</i><br>JOIN THE BOYCOTT AGAINST TIGER WOODS' EX-SPONSORS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>American Reporter Staff</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla. -- Is it the business of the media or the public to look into the private lives of celebrities? We say, short of heinous crimes, no! And while we think, based on our own religious heritage, that infidelity is wrong, we think it is God's work, not ours, to judge. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/164.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>IS EVERYBODY HAPPY?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Women's happiness is once again in the news. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/165.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>TIGER, TIGER, BURNING BRIGHT: LESSONS FROM CARNER AND HOGAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., Dec. 13, 2009 -- Tiger Woods is in the enviable position of looking trouble in the eye, and dealing with it by quitting his job. "After much soul searching I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf," Tiger tells us. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/166.html"><b>MILO MINDERBINDER IS ALIVE AND WELL AND WORKING IN AFGHANISTAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There's a reason why Afghanistan is known as the graveyard of empires. Afghans are not just tenacious fighters, they are equally tenacious when it comes to corruption and playing every possible angle for fun and profit. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/167.html"><b><i>Reporting: Science</i><br>EINSTEIN, NEWTON, AND THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE: A BOOMERANG BOUNCE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. -- Isaac Newton. Albert Einstein. Iconic names nearly synonymous with the word "science" itself. Petr HoYava. Who? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/168.html"><b><I>Reporting: Copenhagen Summit</i><br>BIG INSURERS FEEL THE HEAT OVER CLIMATE CHANGE </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 7. 2009 - Support for an accord on climate change in Copenhagen has come from a surprising place: Germany's mammoth re-insurer, Munich Re, which says huge losses due to climate change demand that "fundamental framework conditions should be established" iat the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, whicxh opened today. "We cannot afford a delay at the expense of future generations," the company said in an official statement. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/169.html"><b><I>Make My Day</I><BR>HOW I GET MOST OF MY COLUMN IDEAS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "I need a topic to write about," said Karl the Curmudgeon, plonking his beer on the bar, and picking up a pen. He held it over a small notebook, ready to write down whatever I said. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/170.html"><b><i>Opinion</i><br>COPENHAGEN TALKS ARE NOT JUST ABOUT ENERGY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by John Seager</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2009 -- As world leaders convene the Copenhagen climate talks, discussion has focused on the need for wealthy countries to reduce emissions. Far less attention has been paid to the inevitable reality that emissions in the poorest parts of the world need to increase. And there has been scant recognition of the role played by rapid population growth in rising emissions worldwide. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/171.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE NO-NEWS, NO-COLUMN COLUMN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- I don't have a column this week. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/172.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>A CHILL IN THE MARKETS MAY PRECEDE RECOVERY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., Dec. 4, 2009 -- Happy Holidays to all from Angel Fire, N.M., where it is -15°F. at this writing. With a wind chill of -25°F., we're one degree off the coldest temperature ever recorded on this date in New Mexico. But the morning job figures provide a spark, if not a fire, to warm up my seldom-used strategist's seat much faster than climate change will. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/173.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>OBAMA'S WAR PLAN FOR AFGHANISTAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Most nations view war as a last resort, a serious act used only when absolutely necessary. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/174.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>LONG DISTANCE CARE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- She seemed so frail. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/175.html"><b><i>Ex Libris</i><br>IT'S NO MASTERPIECE, BUT 'AVERTON' TELLS AN IMPORTANT STORY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 5, 2009 -- Remember Tim McVeigh, the former soldier who teamed up with a military buddy and bombed the Albert J. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 163 people? It happened just nine days after The American Reporter began publication, and it remains unforgettable. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/176.html"><b><i>Music Review</i><br>THE FRONT PORCH COUNTRY BAND SHINES ON "HERE WE GO AGAIN"</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C., Dec. 5, 2009 -- After forming in 2001, members of The Front Porch Country Band found themselves suddenly catapulted into the international spotlight after gleaning well over a million plays from the free-download Website MP3.com. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/177.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>CANADIAN MAN SUES OVER HIS SERVICE 'DOG'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Believe it or not, there's a controversy brewing within the blindness community about service dogs (also called Leader Dogs, Guide Dogs, Seeing Eye Dogs, and Pilot Dogs - named after the school where they're trained). One organization, the American Council of the Blind, loves them. They believe service dogs are a valuable help to people who are blind or visually impaired. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/178.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>THE WAR AGAINST THE CALIPHATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Nov. 30, 2009 -- The President has already met with his top military and civilian defense advisors and has ordered a surge in U.S. troop deployment in Afghanistan, so what I have to say to him is too late to make much difference. After months of deliberation, another 30,000 troops are on their way to a nation that in the space of a decade has become a fractured pawn in the game that Islamic extremists play. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/179.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>DARWIN AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION HE MADE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- One hundred and fifty years ago this week, the age of modern science began. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/180.html"><b><i>Film Reviews</i><br>'2012,' 'BLIND SIDE,' 'THE ROAD,' ALL RESONATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 4, 2009 -- The one remarkable film of 2009? "The Road,' starring Viggo Mortensen with a cameo by Robert Duvall, is based on Cormac McCarthy's National Book Award winner of the same name and is, if possible, even more unrelievedly grim than the novel. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/181.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Thanksgiving. Lists. Things to be grateful for. Whatever. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/182.html"><b><i>Ex Libris</i><br>'THE EXTINCTION GENE' IS MORE THAN WORTH A READ</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 2, 2009 -- One of the great things about the Internet is that it's encouraged thousands of new writers to self-publish their books, and hundreds of publishers to offer new books by them online and in print. One of these emerging authors is Robert Gross, whose book "The Extinction Gene," (iUniverse, 2009) is not only a first-class thriller and a natural for the screen, but short and punchy instead of long-winded, as so many new books are. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/183.html"><b><i>Reporting: The Outer Banks</i><br>ONCE DISMISSED, 'ATLANTIC ASSAULT' TOOK A HEAVY TOLL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. -- Driving down Hwy. 12 - the beach road here - sand and debris were heaped in tall piles along both shoulders. In many places deep standing water forced the traffic to a near halt. It was the unexpected aftermath of a Nov. 18 "no-name" storm with hurricane-like winds that many storm-weary locals had dismissed as just another breeze. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/184.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WORLD LEADERS FIDDLE WHILE THE PLANET BURNS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- For anyone hoping that definitive emissions limits and other aggressive measures to curb rising global temperatures will come out of next month's United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, think again. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/185.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>WHERE'S THE PIETA?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The loveliest part of writing this column is the unexpected response I sometimes get from readers. A few weeks ago, for example, a woman who declined to give her name called with an odd question. Wasn't I the one who had written about having a job at the 1964 New York World's Fair? Well, yes, I was. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/186.html"><b><i>American Traveler</i><br>FOR A HUNGRY JOURNALIST, A FABULOUS FEAST UNFOLDS AT KONA GRILL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 24, 2009 -- The greatest achievement of Kona Grill, the stunning new 7,900-foot restaurant beside the upscale International Plaza on Boy Scout Blvd. here - a few blocks from the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII venue, Raymond James Stadium - is that it exists at all in an economy tighter than a snare drum and a city as badly battered by the recession as any in America. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/187.html"><b><i>Reporting: Outer Banks</i><br>OUTER BANKS AWAITED THE 'NO-NAME' STORM WITH YAWNS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Eric J. Wallace</b>
<p> KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C., Nov. 18, 2009 -- You saw it on the news. A region on the stormy shoulder of the Atlantic seaboard known as the Outer Banks was bracing desperately for a storm that was about to ram a nameless pile-driver into its quaint and pretty towns. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/188.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>RUSH, TALK RADIO'S 'TRUTH DETECTOR,' BLOWS A FUSE AGAIN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- It wasn't unusual that Rush Limbaugh went ballistic on his show, Nov. 13. He does that several times a day. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/189.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE PREVALENCE AND RELEVANCE OF PORN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Let's talk about porn. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/190.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IT'S TIME TO PLAY HARDBALL ON HEALTH REFORM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The good news? For the first time since Medicare was enacted in 1965, one chamber of Congress has passed health care reform. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/191.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>LEGACIES, CELEBRITIES, AND MEDIA SKANKS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa -- NBC news correspondent Jenna Bush Hager had a news exclusive. And, like news exclusives in the Era of Infotainment, this one was broadcast by the entertainment division. Specifically, Jenna Bush interviewed her mother, Laura Bush, on 38th episode of "The Jay Leno Show." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/192.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>DELTA'S WORLD SERIES BY WiFi RATES A 'WOW!'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M. -- I have no idea where this fits in the scheme of "new media" or online news, but in my brief life I don't think 20 or 30 years ago I could have imagined this. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/193.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>WHAT THE BLEEP IS WRONG WITH MEEP?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I hate it when people bleep themselves. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/194.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>MEMO TO DEMS: IGNORE THE BASE AND YOU'LL LOSE ELECTIONS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- For political junkies, the off-year elections held around the nation on Tuesday were pretty thin gruel. There weren't many surprises. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/195.html"><b><I>The Willies</i><br>A RICH DESSERT FOR OBAMA'S HEAPING PLATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Nov. 9. 2009 -- When you think about all the issues President Barack Obama has piled on his plate, it's enough to give you the willies. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/196.html"><b><i>Make My Day</I><BR>JUSTICE IS NOT ONLY BLIND BUT ALSO NOT VERY SMART</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I'm a big supporter of civil rights and personal liberties. In this country, we're all guaranteed certain inalienable rights, and are allowed certain dignities, even when facing criminal charges. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/197.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>BRATTLEBORO'S PETER PAN OF ART</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I first met Mara Williams 20 years ago, when she came from New York City to be the director of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/198.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>FOX NEWS AND THE TRIUMPH OF FATHEADS OVER FACT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If you were President Obama, why would you bother to give the time of day to an organization dedicated not just to the destruction of his presidency, but to liberalism in general? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/199.html"><b><i>Weekend Report</i><br>MY APOLOGY TO DRUG ADDICTS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2009 -- Full disclosure requires the author to reveal he is currently whacked out on drugs. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/200.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE CHURCH OF LEONARD COHEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As Leonard Cohen says in "Anthem," <i>Ring the bells that still can ring/Forget your perfect offering/There is a crack, a crack in everything/That's how the light gets in</i>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/201.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TIMID, PASSIVE REPORTERS PRODUCE TIMID, PASSIVE JOURNALISM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There are many reasons why newspapers are in trouble. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/202.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>REALITY BITES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If you're like me, at some point in the past few years you've had the conversation about why there are so many dead bodies - fake dead bodies - on television. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/203.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>DECK YOURSELVES IN DAD'S OLD TROUSERS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- On Thanksgiving, we begged. On Hallowe'en, we bobbed - for apples, that is. That was how it all began and from that time until now, traditions and meanings have changed. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/204.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>INSIDE THE HEALTH CARE NIGHTMARE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2009 -- I wonder if a national health plan bordering on socialism would be a slam dunk if liberal Democrats like the late Ted Kennedy had "spun" the issue so that departed Senate icons such as Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, hard-core Carolina conservatives, could make it a "populist" cause. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/205.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>SCARY ISN'T A KID IN A HALLOWE'EN COSTUME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa.-- One of the joys of Hallowe'en is to dress in scary costumes and pretend to frighten others, who pretend to be frightened. But with less than two weeks until an evening of trick-or-treating, it's possible there won't be anything scarier than what's already happened in the country. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/206.html"><b><i>American Essay</i><br>EPIDEMIC OF PRISONER RECIDIVISM HAS A CURE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by David Koch</b>
<p> COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When ex-cons violate parole and are sent back to prison on a new felony conviction, as six out of 10 will be, their average stay in jail is from three to six years. The cost to jail them is $94,834 per "recidivist," as prison systems call them. The total incarceration cost for these recidivists alone is between $3 and $7 billion a year - just for the taxpayers of Ohio! <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/207.html"><b><i>Free Press</i><br>L.A. PRESS CLUB CONDEMNS SHERIFF ON SEIZURE OF TMZ HEAD'S HOME PHONE RECORDS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>American Reporter Staff</b>
<p> HOLLYWOOD. -- The board of directors of the Los Angeles Press Club has condemned the actions of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in violating a reporter's right under state law to maintain confidential sources. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/208.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>AMERICAN STAGE BRINGS KEROUAC BACK TO LIFE IN McELROY'S 'END OF THE ROAD'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- If God was going to bring Jack Kerouac back to life, perhaps for Hallowe'en, there couldn't be a better place than St. Petersburg, where he died at 47 in an alcoholic stupor, outlived as all his siblings were by his mother, Gabrielle, the fierce "Ma Mčre." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/209.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>IN OCTOBER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The wind came racing down the mountain last week and whipped the golden and ochre leaves into the air like snow. They fell for hours, swirling around my head and filling the sky. Rapt with wonder, I stood in the center of the dirt road and let them fall around me. I thought I had never seen anything more beautiful. As Robert Frost wrote in his poem "October," the wind enchanted the land with amethyst. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/210.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>FROM THE SLASHER HIMSELF, A FEW WORDS ABOUT VIOLENCE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> SARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 11, 2009 -- I found a three-day old email a few hours after Mass tonight from Rochelle Herman, a lovely publicist here on Florida's Gulf Coast, about an event that was already in progress at a huge home on Longboat Key. It's owned by Lorraine and Larry Ziff, an insurance executive and philanthropist who is helping a Sarasota-based producer named Beau Burton of Florida Films LLC on a couple of projects. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/211.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>DO CONSERVATIVES HATE OBAMA MORE THAN THEY LOVE AMERICA?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In the past couple of weeks, the pettiness - bordering on anti-Americanism - of the right-wingers has been a sight to behold. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/212.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>THE OIL AND GAS MONSTER THAT ATE AMERICA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2009 -- In the conspiratorial world it goes something like this: "the largest oil and gas reserves in the world are in - pick a state, usually North Dakota, Montana, Alaska - "but the devious" - (pick one or more) Arabs, automakers, politicians, environmentalists - "are conspiring with the news media to bury the news." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/213.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>GROWING CLOUT OF INDEPENDENTS IS A GOP NIGHTMARE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Jackie Salit</b>
<p> NEW YORK, N.Y. When we finally get far enough down the road on health care reform, it will become clear that a driving force in the intensity of the fight was a heart attack. Not the medical kind. The political kind. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/214.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>NEOCONS ARE BACK, AND OBAMA SHOULD IGNORE THEIR 'ADVICE'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Remember The Project for a New Century? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/215.html"><b><i>One Man's Opinion</i><br>AMERICA NEEDS 'MOORE' DEMOCRACY, FEWER CLICHÉS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by James J. Murtagh</b>
<p> LOS ANGELES -- Michael Moore has a knack for juxtaposing key moments in history. His new film starts with the fall of Rome, intercut with the collapse of American industry. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/216.html"><b>GOODBYE, GOURMET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Is it wrong to be sad about the closing of Gourmet Magazine when many Americans are having a hard time putting food on the table? Why should we care about recipes featuring truffles and pheasant when people are eating fast food because its cheap and filling and they're hungry? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/217.html"><b><I>Make My Day</I><BR>HONEY, IT'S OVER. BURMA SHAVE!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- It's been the talk of the town around Bilgola, New South Wales, Australia. A series of romantic signs from some unnamed bloke to his girlfriend Jennifer takes a nasty turn just 40 percent of the way through the message, like some sort of emotionally-sadistic versdion of the ancient Burma Shave campaign. Five signs along the Barrenjoey Road that start out promising a lifetime of happiness end in embarrassment. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/218.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>MECHANICAL DIFFICULTY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Remember when people dressed up to fly? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/219.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>PETER GALBRAITH PAYS THE PRICE FOR TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT AFGHAN ELECTIONS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It seems pretty clear that the Aug. 20 presidential election in Afghanistan was not on the level. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/220.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>RACE HATRED RUNS RAMPANT IN POLITICS THESE DAYS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It might have been too much to hope for, but wasn't the election of President Barack Obama supposed to mark a watershed in America? Wasn't it supposed to be another important step toward a post-racial America, where old hatreds would be consigned to the dustbin of history? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/221.html"><b><I>The Willies</i><br>TV LACKS THE HUMAN TOUCH </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 30, 2009 -- Just follow along with me as I attempt to send a note to the author of a story on the <I>New York Times</I> Website. I want to contact Julie Bosman, the author of <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/nyregion/30elect.html?hp"> a story on their homepage</A HREF> about one of the winners in the race for public advocate (an elective office post I didn't even know existed). <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/222.html"><b><i>American Poetry</i><br>A BRIEF SOJOURN IN POETRY HEAVEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by T.S. Kerrrigan</b>
<p> LOS ANGELES -- When I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley, which now seems a century ago, I had the ambitious idea of reading through all the volumes of the Loeb Library. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/223.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>A LOT OF 'SORRY, BUTS'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter and Rosemary Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Within two weeks in September, Americans were cluster-bombed by hate speech and a shock wave of incivility. From politics to music and sports, with the mass media more than willing to devote thousands of column inches and hours of air time to salacious reporting, those shock waves eventually degenerated into mere ripples that have become commonly accepted. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/224.html"><b><I>Momentum</I><BR>RIDING THE WILD BULL OF HEALTH CARE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- When the phone rings at 11:30 at night, you know it's not good. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/225.html"><b><I>Make My Day</I><br>MY BABY IS GROWING UP (DESPITE MY BEST EFFORTS)</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Earlier this week, my wife sent me the text message from Hell, the text message every father dreads getting. The words no father of a daughter wants to hear or read. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/226.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WHERE THE ROAD GOES DARK</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 24, 2009 -- I had become a Redbox customer. After several years of off-and-on patronage of Blockbuster, the world's largest video rental company, I discovered the simplicity of Redbox at Walmart. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/227.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE RECESSION'S OVER? DON'T BELIEVE IT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Some economists are talking like the current recession - the worst since the 1930s - is over. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/228.html"><b><i>One Man's Opinion</i><br>DID MIDDLE EAST MEETING <a href="#top">BOMB ON BROADWAY</a></b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Michael D. Evans</b>
<p> NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2009 -- <i>Editor's note:</i> If you are searching for the "Times Square Bomb Is A Puzzler" story on the May 2, 2010, car bomb, please click <i><A HREF="#top">here</A></i>, or on "Bomb on Broadway" in the headline above, or use the "Back to home page" link above-right. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/229.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE MORE THINGS CHANGE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Nineteen-thirty-five was not that great a year for America. The country was still in the Depression. It already lagged behind other countries in health care. Women were far behind men in status, freedom, education and financial security. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/230.html"><b><i>Remembering Sept. 11</i><br>TOWERS IN OUR HEART</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 11, 2009 -- What we can never know is why the Bush Administration's top officials watched the flow of reports that warmed of an impending attack on the United States and did nothing to stop it. One FBI undercover operative tells of being ordered to ignore bomber Mohammad Atta and pay more attention to innocuous "wannabes" instead. An Army unit called Able Danger saw its testimony ignored after the event about an early identification of Atta; they said his photo was on their bulletin board up until the day the attacks occurred. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/231.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>CLEAN YOUR DEN, OR NO MAIDENS FOR YOU</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Buddy, is your room clean yet? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/232.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>A NATION GONE INSANE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Writing in <i>The Washington Post</i> last week, columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. offered perhaps the best explanation for why the right-wingers have hijacked the political agenda of the Obama administration. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/233.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>RUN LIKE A GIRL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.. -- Along with "If God had wanted a Panama Canal, he would have put one here," "The Titanic... could keep afloat indefinitely after being struck" and "Truth will become the hallmark of a Nixon Administration," we can now add, "Colts should run against colts, and fillies should run against fillies." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/234.html"><b><i>American Opinion</i><br>PASSWORDS FOR SALE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Roger Bray</b>
<p> MARIETTA, Ga., Sept. 8, 2009 -- I had a strange, stilted chat today with a guy named "Rick." a customer service rep at Hackerz.com, a company that sells software for $99 that will find other peoples' passwords and sell them to you. With it, you can read everything your victims write, every character stroke they make, and even send out emails in their names. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/235.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>THE COMMIES ARE COMING</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 8, 2009 -- When I was a kid growing up in the rock-ribbed Republican stronghold of Orange County, N.Y., we had a name for people who would start a movement to get kids not to listen to a Presidential address in their schoolrooms: "Communists." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/236.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>AMID HOLLAND'S BEAUTY, QUESTIONS FOR AMERICA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> AMSTERDAM -- Driving by farms with their brick barns and red tile roofs as opera played on the car radio was like being on a movie set. Was I really seeing windmills both modern and old, and a landscape dotted with cathedrals, and colorful wash on clotheslines? Yes! Pinch, pinch - I'm really here in Holland. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/237.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>WHY WE CELEBRATED LABOR DAY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa., Sept. 8. 2009 -- Labor Day is over now, and that means about 140 million Americans are back at work after celebrating a three-day vacation. But most Americans still have no idea what Labor Day is, other than speeches, hot dogs, burgers and a pool party. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/238.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A FRAGILE TENSION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- "Are Artists Special?" was the title of an amusing and insightful talk that the painter Wolf Kahn gave at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center on Saturday. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/239.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>A CRUCIAL MOMENT FOR THE U.S. IN AFGHANISTAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's been overshadowed by the ongoing battle over health care reform and the lingering effect of the current, but it's time for Americans to start paying attention to Afghanistan. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/240.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>MASS MURDER IN MY BACKYARD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> GLYNN COUNTY, Ga., Sept. 3, 2009 -- The wooden sign is plain and simple: New Hope Plantation. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/241.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>RENEWING THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The most remarkable thing about one significant anniversary yesterday was that it passed unremarked. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/242.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>MICHAEL VICK: REMORSEFUL EAGLE OR DIRTY BIRD?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 1, 2009 -- The crowd at Lincoln Field gave superstar quarterback and convicted felon Michael Vick a standing ovation when he entered the game on the second play against the Jacksonville Jaguars. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/243.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>IT'S NOT A DIET: IT'S A LIFESTYLE PLAN!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- <b>Day 1 -</b> Starting a new diet my wife wants me to try. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/244.html"><b><i>Sen. Kennedy Remembered</i><br>SAIL AWAY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla. -- At the instant they lowered Ted Kennedy's casket into the ground, lightning struck up from the earth. Yes, at precisely that instant - huge flashes illuminated the near horizon from the ground up. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/245.html"><b><i>Passings: Edward M. Kennedy</i><br>THE LAST LIBERAL LION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The Democratic Party's most stalwart defender of civil rights, labor rights, health care, immigration, housing and education for nearly five decades in the U.S. Senate has left us. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/246.html"><b><i>Sen. Kennedy Remembered</i><br>WAS KENNEDY GOOD FOR HEALTH CARE?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> BOCA RATON, Fla.. Aug. 26, 2009 -- Ironically, I have long thought that if anyone but Sen. Edward Kennedy had been the spearhead of the national health care reform movement it would have passed long ago. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/247.html"><b><i>First Person</i><br>INTERN TO THE LION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Zett-Alexandra Scheinbaum</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 28. 2009 -- In the fall of my senior year at American University in Washington, D.C. I was an Intern in Senator Ted Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor and Policy Committee Office. My experience as an intern was probably vastly different than most as I started about two weeks before Sept. 11. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/248.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>LIKE ARGUING WITH A TABLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Curiouser and curiouser. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/249.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHEN WILL OBAMA START FIGHTING FOR REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Like many Americans, I had hopes that President Barack Obama would live up to the high rhetoric of his campaign. At the same time, I had few illusions about the amount of resistance he would face as a President trying bring about real change. What I hadn't counted on was that the President and his Administration would prove to be so inept in dealing with an issue that's the proverbial no-brainer - health care reform. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/250.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>HEALTH INSURERS ARE FAILING 2 MILLION CHILDREN OF OUR MILITARY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> THE NETHERLANDS, Aug. 23, 2009 -- I am currently assigned to a small NATO base in the Tri-Border Area of Europe, where Belgium, The Netherland and Germany meet. It is tiny compared to other installations I've worked at. The airfield is home to AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) E3 Century planes that are serviced and flown here by 3000 people from 16 countries. The American presence of 550 personnel is just a slice of the pie that makes up the larger group. Those stationed here are high-ranking enlisted men and women and officers. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/251.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE GREAT GOVERNMENT SWINE FLU CONSPIRACY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa., Aug. 23, 2009 -- -More than 230,000 cases of the HIN! swine flu have been confirmed world wide. About 2,100 persons have died. As much as one-fourth of America's workforce an 2 billion of the world's population may be infected by the new swine flu when it peaks in Winter, according to studies conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, respectively. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/252.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>FAME IS FLEETING</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga -- My shopping cart had what I call "go funny" wheels and with difficulty I eased it along the long line to the conveyer belt for checkout. I shifted from one foot to the other and stared at the ever-present magazines and tabloids on the racks along the way. These are so common, so similar one week to the next, they are like wallpaper - interesting patterns but not enough to hold my attention long enough to remember. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/253.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>JUST IMAGINE THEM NAKED</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- What is it about public speaking that scares the bejeezus out of some people? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/254.html"><b><i>Woodstock Remembered</i><br>A MIGHTY CHANGE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 15, 2009 -- I knew the back roads to Bethel, and I still parked 7 miles away from Max Yasgur's farm that Friday afternoon. But if I'd had my way, it wouldn't have been in Bethel, anyway. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/255.html"><b><i>Reporting: Washington</i><br>AS G.O.P. RAILED AT DEMOCRATS, IT HID FLAWED FINANCE REPORTS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Margie Burns</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2009 -- Documents from the Bush White House and the Republican National Committee newly released by the House Judiciary Committee show that while the Justice Department under President Bush was aggressively prosecuting local Democratic officeholders around the nation, the White House Political Affairs Office was simultaneously circulating weekly broadsides about the legal actions on a flier entitled <A HREF="http://www.gop.com/news/NewsRead.aspx?Guid=1c5dc80b-6068-42f2-80ba-3aa8fcd59d1e">"Democrat Ethics Breakdown</A HREF>." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/256.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE STIMULUS WORKED. LET'S HAVE MORE.</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's still way too soon to proclaim an end to the current recession, but the good news is that we have avoided sliding into a depression. And we have the Obama Administration's economic stimulus plan to thank for this. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/257.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>REMARKABLE WOMEN ARE IN THE NEWS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In August of 1983, Benigno Aquino, an opponent of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, returned home from three years in exile. He didn't even make it into town - he was shot and killed at the airport. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/258.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ONCE MORE TO THE FINISH LINE, DEAR FRIENDS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I'm not a young man anymore. I got a harsh reminder last week when my family and I went for a walk in our local park. As we walked back to the car, we got separated; my two youngest were with me, my oldest daughter and wife were a couple hundred yards ahead. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/259.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE REPUBLICAN WAR AGAINST FIRST RESPONDERS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- It isn't unusual that the Republican party is anti-union. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/260.html"><b><i>Reporting: Panama</i><br>AS BUS STRIKE BEGINS, PANAMA HAS NO SYMPATHY FOR DRIVERS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> PANAMA CITY, Panama, Aug. 11, 2009 -- If a machete-wielding wild man who is foaming at the mouth with blood dribbling from one reddened eyeball tries to hitch a ride with me today, I'll probably give him a lift. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/261.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>A LOVELY NIGHT IN DÜSSELDORF</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> DÜSSELDORF, Germany -- What a wonderful, rich week in Germany! After arriving in Düsseldorf on Sunday, August 2, I drove past some fantasyland buildings designed by Frank Gerhy on my way to my hotel near the Rhine River. After I took a short nap and a long walk, my friend Maki arrived at 11 p.m. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/262.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>DO WE WANT TO CONNECT, OR NEED TO?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley </b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- According to a 1943 article on "self-actualization" by the late, great psychiatrist Dr. Abraham Maslow, we've learned our basic human needs are air, water, food, shelter and clothing. What Maslow formulated was a needs-based effort to motivate us using what he learned through clinical experiences with real people. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/263.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>BIG MONEY CONTROLS THE HEALTH CARE REFORM DEBATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), the nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures, the people who support health care reform are getting swamped by those who don't want to see any significant change to the U.S. health care system. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/264.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>SHUT UP AND GO AWAY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I'd put my life on the line for free speech, so every time I find myself telling people to shut up and go away, I'm surprised. After all, everyone has a right to his or her own opinion, no matter how deluded he or she may be. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/265.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ORDERING AT McDONALD'S ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Oh my God!" I exclaimed to my wife, slamming the car door. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/266.html"><b><I>First Person</I><BR>MY BATTLE WITH TECHNOLOGY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Rebecca L. Hein</b>
<p> CASPER, Wyo. -- To solve an incorrigible problem is like gazing into an overcast sky as the clouds break. Light beams onto your chilly face and in this moment of brilliance you see everything. Warm and comforted, you find strength to continue. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/267.html"><b><i>AR Editorial</i><br>WHY YOU DON'T NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 3, 2009 -- Tonight, in a remote and rural part of west-central China's Qinghai Province, a town of 10,000 mostly Tibetan people is entirely quarantined as officials try to contain an outbreak of pneumonic plague. Residents can go anywhere in Ziketan within the quarantined area, but the roads in and out are blocked and no one can leave, <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/world/asia/04china.html?_r=1&ref=global-home">the <i>New York Times</i> reported today</A HREF>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/268.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHO HAS 'THE RIGHT STUFF' IN THE POST-APOLLO AGE?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It still seems hard to believe that 40 years ago this week, men walked on the moon. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/269.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>BROADCAST NEWS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Has Michael Jackson been buried yet? And is his brain in the same place as his body? Inquiring minds want to know. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/270.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>KARL THE CURMUDGEON DEALS WITH HIS GRANDSON</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Kid, I need your help," said the voice on the other end of the phone. It was Karl, my friend and part-time curmudgeon. "Come over to the house. I've got a problem." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/271.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>IS 'CAKE' THE CURE FOR THE HEALTH CARE CRISIS?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMBURG, Pa. -- Marie Antoinette, contrary to popular opinion, never said a solution for the starving masses of revolutionary France in late 18th-Century was "Let them eat cake." But Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) apparently said something close to it. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/272.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>CLOSING CIRCLES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- This has been a summer ritual in my home for many years: the Mom visit. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/273.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</i><br>THE SUDDEN DEATH OF A SMALL TOWN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As I watch the world of print journalism implode, I've taken comfort in knowing that at the level of the business that I inhabit, the end would be years away. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/274.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>DEVILS DANCING ON THE GRAVES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- If I were to suggest being shocked that someone would rob a grave, I'd be misinforming you. Body snatchers and grave robbers have been around for at least a few thousand years. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/275.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE JOYS OF TURNING 42</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I turned a wonderful age last week. An age I've been looking forward to for a few years. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/276.html"><b>i>Make My Day</i><br>MADOFF DESERVES PLENTY OF COMPANY IN PRISON</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's hard to resist being gleeful at seeing Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff get the maximum sentence - 150 years in prison - for bilking investors out of anywhere between $65 billion and $171 billion. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/277.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>NOBODY LISTENED, NOBODY LEARNED</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In 1892, Rudyard Kipling ended his poem "The Young British Soldier" with these immortal lines: "When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains/And the women come out to cut up what remains/Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains/An' go to your Gawd like a soldier." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/278.html"><b><i>Washington Whirl</i><br>ATTORNEY FOR BLAGO'S BROTHER GOES ON THE RECORD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Margie Burns</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, July 8, 2009 -- The attorney representing Robert Blagojevich, brother of ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, in the "honest services" case charging Blagojevich and five others with fraud and corruption, says he will ask for public release of the famous wiretaps in the case. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/279.html"><b>PALIN'S NOT A PROBE TARGET, U.S. ATTY. IN ALASKA SAYS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Margie Burns</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul 6, 2009 (8:45PM EDT) -- The office of U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler in Alaska today backed up the FBI in denying that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is under federal investigation. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/280.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>CONGRESS FIDDLES WHILE THE PLANET BURNS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here in Vermont, we take it as a given that the weather can be extreme. But after a June that saw Seattle-like weather, with only a handful of rain-free days and precipitation that was double the norm, I'm beginning to doubt it's an aberration. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/281.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE ODD CASE OF THE MISSING IRANIAN REVOLUTION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears, does it make a sound? If an oppressive government brutally kills its young and it's not reported, has it really happened? And if young people are giving their lives for democracy, does anyone care if a weird pop star has died? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/282.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IRAN'S FUTURE WILL BE DECIDED BY IRANIANS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The massive public protests have ended in Iran. When unarmed protesters confront water cannons, tear gas and gunfire, they usually lose. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/283.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FALLS ON ITS 'FAMILY VALUES' SWORD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Some columns are easier to write than others. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/284.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>EVIL EATING EVIL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's been a good week for evil. It started with a phrase in a <i>New York Times</i> story this past Sunday that has stuck in my head. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/285.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>A BACKWARDS GLANCE AT GARY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- In a climb up the United States Steel corporate ladder, my husband John moved from steel city to steel city with several years between each move. Finally, it was time to leave his responsibilities in Cleveland for new ones at American Steel & Wire and the Lorain Works, both U.S. Steel companies. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/286.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>KARL THE CURMUDGEON HATES THE OXFORD COMMA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "So, Kid, what do you think about this whole serial comma business?" asked Karl, my friend and part-time curmudgeon. He was referring to the second comma that appears in a list, like "red, white, and blue." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/287.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>TWELVE ANGRY WHITE PEOPLE: JURY NULLIFICATION IN A PENNSYLVANIA COAL TOWN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p>POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- The Schuylkill County, Pa., justice system managed to do something that insurance actuaries do with mixed results - it has determined not only the penalty for threats to a human life, but also the value of a human life. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/288.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHY DO WE FEAR SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The conventional political wisdom says that single-payer health care - where the government collects taxes to finance national health insurance that covers every citizen and pays the bills for medical care - is off the table. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/289.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>WHAT IF?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- What if America is no longer the King of the World? What if the dollar is cast aside as the world's reserve currency? Everybody knows that the American economy is hanging by a thread. What if someone pulls that thread and unravels the whole shebang. What if? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/290.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>BOX IT, BAG IT, SHRED IT, PITCH IT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- It's been over 50 years since I wore the exquisitely fashioned fur scarf made of three Stone Marten skins attached to each other, flashing those beady glass brown eyes as the wearer shrugged her shoulders to adjust the draping. But, I have them. They're wrapped in tissue and placed in plastic, always ready for the style to come back. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/291.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>STUDENT DENIED DIPLOMA FOR BLOWING MOM KISS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The end of a school year is always great fodder for this column. Lawsuits by high school students unhappy with their grades, senior pranks ranging from the very minor to the outrageous, school administrators who crack down on small incidents, controversial or weird commencement speeches, and general high school shenanigans that makes normal people roll their eyes and say, "Meh, what are you gonna do?" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/292.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TIME TO REIN IN THE OIL SPECULATORS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- So, why is the price of crude oil now trading above $70 a barrel? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/293.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>SUCKING UP THE JUICE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Now that newspapers are crumbling, many people are professing a smug kind of gladness. Newspapers are "unsustainable." They're the "dead tree" model. They're old-fashioned. Hip hip hooray for the Internet! Only old folks read newspapers anyway, and who cares what they think? Information wants to be free. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/294.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>A HIGH-RENT DISTRICT WITH A LOW FIXED RENT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Immigration is in the news again, or is it "still?" There is a big difference between what I see here on St. Simons and what I see when I visit my friend in Queens, New York. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/295.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>DON'T MESS WITH INDIANA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I love Indiana. I love the people, I love the cities and towns, I love everything we stand for: corn, car racing, and the belief that any high school basketball team anywhere can win a state championship and have a movie made about them. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/296.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>EQUAL TIME FOR HATE SPEECH?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., June 15, 2009 -- I've seen a lot of crazy stuff, and a lot of great stuff, on YouTube, but only one video has taken my breath away. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/297.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE RIGHT TO KILL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Who do you blame when you're trying to comprehend the murder - in his church - of Kansas OB/GYN Dr. George Tiller? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/298.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TIANANMEN, PLUS TWENTY YEARS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Looking back over two decades, it still seem hard to believe that the events of 1989 actually happened. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/299.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WHY IS ALL THE NEWS SO SLOW?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Hermosillo, Mexico, nursery fire that killed 42 toddlers was front and center on CNN today - four days after it happened. A glance at the crawl line before 9AM showed that story after story was four or five days out of date. When I searched cable television shows after midnight Monday morning for anything about the historic Lebanese vote for a pro-Western multicultural (Druze, Christian and Islamic) governing coaltion, not even Bloomberg had anything. More and more, it seems, "news" is old, already digested and discarded by an information-hungry public. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/300.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>THE CENSUS AND CONSENSUS OF OPINION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- The 1990 Decennial Census was an eye opener for me; it was not just counting heads for an accurate picture of population growth or decline in the previous 10 years. I learned it was far more than that. We had just moved to Troy, Ohio - a small town north of Dayton, south of Toledo - and I didn't know anyone. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/301.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>SOTOMAYOR IS A GOOD CHOICE FOR THE SUPREME COURT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The speed with which Sonia Sotomayor was attacked by conservatives this week shows how high the stakes are in the upcoming confirmation hearings that will decide if she gets to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court this fall. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/302.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>NUISANCE HUMANS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's early summer. Two male goldfinches in ravishing splendor are sitting at the thistle feeder, while several varieties of hummingbirds dart around the sweet water. What's missing from this picture? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/303.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>THE RELATIVITY OF TORTURE </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., May 25, 2009 -- As the rancor and noise about torture and the present furor over President Barack Obama's concept of "preventive detention" have grown, I've been forced by simple honesty to look at these two things in a larger context. What I see troubles me. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/304.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE ADVENTURES OF VACATION DAD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I took my family on vacation this week for the first time in a long time, and I was struck by a frightening thought: I've turned into Vacation Dad. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/305.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- We always called this day "Decoration Day," even though it had long since been officially named Memorial Day on calendars and posters. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/306.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>FEAR NOT, CLASS OF '09. KNOWLEDGE IS STILL POWER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If you're a liberal arts major, you've been probably been getting an earful as we head into the college commencement season. In the midst of the bleakest economic landscape in decades, you've been continually told that you'll have few prospects and that you should've majored in something practical. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/307.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A RIGHTEOUS NATION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- "Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps the faith. - <i>Isaiah</i> 26:2." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/308.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>A MOMENT WITH HUGO CHAVEZ </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> LOS ANGELES -- Stopping into the Misawa bookstore for a fun book to read as I prepared to travel for another 10 days, I spotted T.C. Boyle's newest book, The Women. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/309.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE NEWSPAPER I LOVE IS ABOUT TO DIE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, for the first time in my adult life, I didn't buy a copy of <i>The Boston Globe</i>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/310.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE OBAMA PARADOX</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It was a joke when he said, "My next 100 days will be so successful I will be able to complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day, I will rest." Right? Wasn't it a joke? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/311.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>WHAT DICK CHENEY WON'T SAY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Dick Cheney has apparently been on a magical mystery media tour. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/312.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>KARL THE CURMUDGEON HAS AN IDEA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "I've got a great idea for a business. I think you're going to want a piece of this action," said my friend Karl, my literary curmudgeon and occasional drinking buddy. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/313.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>GLIMPSES OF MAMA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga, -- Today, when I selected Mothers' Day cards, they were for my daughters who are mothers themselves. Yet, as I scanned the verses, I was thinking the words were just what I'd want to say to my own mother. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/314.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A FIGHT I'D LIKE TO SEE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - The first time I was called a "content provider," I knew things were all downhill from there. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/315.html"><b><i>First Person</i><br>THE GOVERNMENT REALLY DOES WORK (FOR US)</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by T. Johnson</b>
<p> SOMWHERE IN THE DEEP SOUTH -- A long time ago and far away, a veritable child finished his baccalaureate and decided (since that was the way the political wind was blowing at the time) to run out on his student loan - for future reference, a total of three thousand dollars. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/316.html"><b><i>Andy Oram Reports</i><br>REPLACING JOURNALISM: NEW FOUNDATIONS FOR EXPERTISE, DIVERSITY, AND DEBATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Andy Oram</b>
<p> CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 4, 2009 -- Watching with an almost prurient fascination the tragic plunge of a sister institution - because the newspaper industry is cutting a path that the book industry will follow - I've noticed a subtle shift over the past few weeks from discussions of how to <i>save</i> newspapers to discussions of how to <em>replace</em> them. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/317.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>ABOUT THOSE GLIMMERS: THINGS ARE STILL LOUSY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There's been a lot of talk of late that there are glimmers of hope in the American economy. Since President Obama's economic stimulus package was enacted and the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department both announced plans to buy up distressed assets and backstop mortgage-backed securities, the financial markets seemed to have steadied themselves. The S&P 500 - the broadest of the main stock indices - rose 28 percent between mid-March and mid-April. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/318.html"><b><i>Reporting: Panama</i><br>SUPERMARKET HONCHO FAVORED OVER LABOR IN PANAMA'S ELECTIONS </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> PANAMA CITY, Panama, May 3, 2009 -- A ban on sales of alcohol and heightened securities greeted Panamanian voters Sunday as a frantic and factious three-year presidential campaign finally went to the voters. Supermarket magnate Ricardo Martinelli, 57, is the odds-on favorite to replace Pres. Martin Torrijos for a six-year term. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/319.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WAS 'SWINE FLU' AN ATTEMPT TO ASASSINATE OBAMA?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., May 2, 2009 -- About six months before the H1N1 'swine flu' virus broke out, an immigrant from Bangladesh began selling food on the streets of Mexico City. Shortly before his own death, the food vendor was <A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-swine-flu1-2009may01,0,6489412.story">visited by his brother, who became ill and returned to Bangladesh</A HREF>. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/320.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>CALM DOWN, AMERICA!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The way I heard the story, a chicken is eating lunch when an acorn falls on her head. Deciding that the sky is falling - she's a chicken, see, so she's not very bright - she runs around telling everyone, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" Her friends join her to spread the word, and soon everyone is pretty much wiped out by a wily fox who sees this mass hysteria as a dining option. (Insert Dick Cheney joke here.) <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/321.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>DON'T DRINK THE WATER; DON'T BREATHE THE AIR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- During most of my adult life, the flu was considered an inconvenience - usually 24 hours of an upset stomach, throwing up, and perhaps a fever. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/322.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TAKING A STAND AGAINST TORTURE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's good news for the Constitution and the rule of law that President Obama ordered the release of <A HREF="http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html">the Bush Administration memos</A HREF> that justified the use of torture and that he has not ruled out prosecuting officials who devised the policies that allowed torture to happen. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/323.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>DOES PRIDE GO BEFORE A FALL?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Actually, saying "pride goes before a fall" rings true to me, but we've always been aware of it and never really hit rock bottom. We've managed to be resourceful at home and too proud to crumble outside the home. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/324.html"><b><i>An AR Editorial</i><br>HOPE FOR EARTH</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., April 22, 2010 -- A bright, clear day is rising here on Florida's beautiful Gulf Coast as I write, bringing with it the new hope inherent in every day and the bedraggled promise that all we have done to the Earth we live on can somehow be mostly undone, its ills healed and its beauty restored. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/325.html"><b><I>Momentum</I><BR>WAITING FOR OBAMA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- To say that the past two weeks have been surreal does not begin to explain why I spent the entire Easter weekend waiting for a call from Pres. Barack Obama. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/326.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE RESURRECTION OF INTOLERANCE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The fanatical Far Right, after taking a few days off to catch their collective breath, is back again - with a vengeance. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/327.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>THE FINE LINE BETWEEN OPPOSITION AND INCITEMENT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's hard not to laugh at the people who went to the various "tea bag" protests on Tax Day. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/328.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>DINOSAUR WALKING </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Quick! Name five things we used to depend upon that are rapidly disappearing. Okay - newspapers, magazines, landlines, network television, mail. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/329.html"><b><First Person</i><br>VISA'S ZOO AND AQUARIUM ADS MISLEAD ABOUT ITS PHILANTHROPY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Rudy Socha</b>
<p> LORAIN, Ohio -- Recently, as part of its GO global advertising campaign, Visa ran an ad showing a father taking his daughter to a public aquarium. The commercial was very well done and should have great appeal to young families with children, especially those who regularly visit zoos and aquariums. The tag line asks "When was the last time you took your daughter to an aquarium on a Tuesday?" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/330.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>VERMONT STRIKES A BLOW FOR FREEDOM, EQUALITY AND LOVE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It was a great day on Tuesday when Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage and the first state in the country to enact it without a court order. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/331.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE PROBLEM WITH BRITISH JOB TITLES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Look, if the British want us Americans to stop making fun of them, they have to quit doing this stuff," said Karl, my drinking buddy and literary curmudgeon. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/332.html"><b><i>Dungeons of Debt</i><br>THE ROWBOAT AND THE DESTROYER: A PARABLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, April 10, 2009 -- Somewhere in the godforsaken waters off Somalia, a rowboat with four pirates and a brave hostage aboard is holding off an American destroyer. A rowboat is a launch that has run out of gas, which is why it no longer merits the more elegant name. But the pirates aboard are defiant and determined to succeed, and have threatened to kill their hostage if attacked. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/333.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A DRAWN-OUT DEATH</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - When it comes to newspapers, I'm locked into a love-hate relationship. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/334.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>FOR THESE TIMES, 'THREEPENNY OPERA' IS TIMELY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., April 8, 2009 -- Halfway through the second act of an innovative Northern Arizona University production of "The Threepenny Opera" one demonstrator in a New York City crowd waves the sign: "AIG IS CRUEL !!!" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/335.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>By Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- And yet again we are waking up to news of another disaster, this time a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Italy, 60 miles east of Rome with 237 confirmed dead and 17,000 homeless as the rescue iof anyone living or dead in the rubble continues. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/336.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>FIXING THE ECONOMY VIA SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.. April 6, 2009 -- The debates are going 'round and 'round on "fixing the economy." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/337.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WILL OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY DIE ON THE PLAINS OF AFGHANISTAN?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The British couldn't win there. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/338.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>VERMONT FIRSTS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If you get into the game early, you can make your mark on a lot of things. But Vermont boasts a remarkable list of firsts that go far beyond just being the 14th state in the Union (Vermont was the first state to join, on March 4, 1791, after the Constitution was ratified). <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/339.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>TEXTING AND SEXTING AND THE VIBES IN-BETWEEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Hold on a minute while I take a deep breath, before I comment about the latest phenomena to strike us. It doesn't take an earthquake or a bolt of lightning to knock me flat: "Sexting" can do it, and it's all the rage among our pubescent teens and young adults. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/340.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>MY TOBOGGAN DIARY: FUN AND HALLUCINATIONS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Several weeks ago, my family and I had the chance go with some friends and their kids to the Pokagon State Park Toboggan Run. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/341.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>OBAMA DOING TOO MUCH? WHY HIS 'TO-DO' LIST IS LONG</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In the latest sign that the Republican Party has no ideas, no plan and no hope, their latest talking point against President Barack Obama is that he is trying to do too many things at once. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/342.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>VERMONT SPEAKS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - They called him "Silent Cal," but Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States - the second one born in Vermont (the 21st president, Chester A. Arthur, was also born here) and the only U.S. president to be born on the Fourth of July - said one of the most beautiful things I've ever read about the state. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/343.html"><b><I>My Horizons</I><br>OVERCOMING CULTURE SHOCK </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan </b>
<p> AOMORI, Japan -- The theme of this past week naturally unfolded to become Arts and Crafts. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/344.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE SECOND CIVIL WAR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- This year marks the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, and if he were still among the living, he would recognize the same sort of conflict that sparked the Civil War in the ongoing congressional battle over the Employee Free Choice Act. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/345.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>DANCING QUEEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- "I can't work like this" screams the dresser, throwing a costume down. The co-producer is yelling, "OK. I'm gone! Take my name off the program. I won't have anything to do with this show!" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/346.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>ANIMAL MUTILATION BY ANOTHER NAME: 'BREED STANDARDS'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Legislatures in Pennsylvania and Illinois are considering bills that would reduce or eliminate what animal welfare advocates call mutilations, and what breeders and American Kennel Club (AKC) call "breed standards." Because dogs are considered by state laws to be property, individual owners may currently cut and shape dogs' ears (cropping) or amputate part or all of their tails (docking), often without a proper sterile environment or anesthesia. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/347.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>BARE-NAKED BARBIES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- From the outside looking in, you would probably say I had a hardscrabble life growing up, but the world of make-believe existed on the inside as I played with my paper dolls. They were something affordable and especially nice to find under the Christmas tree. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/348.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>POETRY NIGHT!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> AMORI, Japan -- The sublime intelligence of Japanese life is traditionally encapsulated in the highly compressed poetry called the <i>haiku</i>, one that doesn't allow for words that are not filled with meaning. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/349.html"><b><i>Reporting: Panama</i><br>MESSAGE FOR TODAY: A GOOD MAN GUNNED DOWN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> PANAMA CITY, Panama, Mar. 13, 2009 -- They laid Anel Omar to rest yesterday with full state honors. The murder of a complex renaissance man who was the type of guy who probably would have cried at a funeral such as his own, was also a measure of the growing, uncontrolled violence in Panama. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/350.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>LOSING OUR RELIGION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Greetings from Vermont, the least religious state in America. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/351.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>GETTING A BUZZ</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- How timely is it that this year's Women's Film Festival in Brattleboro is showing "Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm," a 2007 film by Wendy Slick & Emiko Omorias? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/352.html"><b><i>An AR Exclusive</i><br>DID THE HOUSE PLAY THE HOUSE? CASINO ADS SPORTING OBAMA LIKENESS PULLED AFTER WHITE HOUSE 'DISAPPROVES'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS. March 10, 2009 -- By e-mail and telephone, the White House has signaled its disapproval of <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppKLkzYLFs">a full-blown ad campaign for an Indiana gambling firm</A HREF> that opens a new casino Friday, the American Reporter has learned. The offending ads show a likeness of President Barack Obama calling for economic growth and "change." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/353.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>'CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Eight years ago my curiosity was aroused when a beautiful, rich and famous actress - Winona Ryder - was arrested for shoplifting $6,000 worth of clothes and hair products from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/354.html"><b><I>My Horizons</I><br>THE RIGHTNESS OF THE JAPANESE WAY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> AOMORI, Japan -- In an attempt to learn more about the Japanese culture, I have been talking to people who are Japanese as well as foreigners that have lived here for a five or more years. Arriving in this country, I fell under the spell of the famous Japanese custom of extreme politeness to visitors. I found myself falling in love with a tidy, friendly, fascinating country that seemed at first, like a well-organized paradise. Now I am having the opportunity to see some stressful aspects of Japanese life. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/355.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>FINDING A WAY OUT OF IRAQ, AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- After nearly six years and the deaths of more than 4,250 deaths of U.S. military personnel, after spending more than $700 billion on a disastrous war of choice, after missteps and miscalculations that left Iraq a shambles, it looks like this nightmare is almost over. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/356.html"><b><i>Case In Point</i><br>THE F.T.C. CHALLENGES HYDROGEN KIT CLAIMS, AND LOSES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., March 6, 2009 -- A New Jersey man whose company guarantees that its hydrogen-injection kits for cars and trucks will produce mileage gains of 50% or more has won a key stage of his battle with the Federal Trade Commission after a Federal Judge ruled the agency had not been able to disprove his claims. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/357.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A DIFFERENT KIND OF MOTHER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Not since the horrors of Abu Ghraib have I been so disturbed by a story that combines women, sadism and murder. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/358.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>WORKIN' FOR THE YANKEE DOLLAR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you live in a coastal region almost totally dependent upon tourism to stimulate the economy, it's quite obvious that one hand washes the other - if I may use the old British expression for bartering. It's no secret we're "workin' for the Yankee dollar." Unlike the song, the working force here does not on "next day, sit in hot sun and cool off." More likely, they are cooling their heels waiting for a call and a job. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/359.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>DON'T HOLD THE PRESSES, PLEASE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- We've all heard about the town without pity, but a town without newspapers? Please. Yet is entirely possible that in a short while, both San Francisco and Philadelphia will be without them. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/360.html"><b><i>Toothless</i><br>PART II: WHEN THE LAPDOGS GOT TEETH</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- In May 2004, the <i>New York Times</i>, while claiming it was aggressive in pursuing stories about the Bush-Cheney Administration, slipped in an apology for acting more as the mouthpiece for politicians than as a watchdog for society. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/361.html"><b><i>AR Opinion</i><br>LET'S BE SERIOUS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Richard Thieme</b>
<p> MILWAUKEE, Wisc. -- It is getting dark early, and although it's almost spring, it feels like late autumn, less and less light each day, cold winds biting our faces as we turn instinctively from the wind ... when we ought to be looking into the wind, looking for clues to how to trim our sails and adapt to a world that will never be quite the same again. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/362.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> AMORI, Japan -- Japan sits on three interacting plates of the earth's crust. They interact, grind and cause quakes. This country is part of an archipelago of 3,922 islands that were formed 15 million years ago by magma-spouting volcanoes. The people here learn to live on the edge of the hostile sea and on very unstable land. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/363.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IT'S NOT PERFECT, BUT OBAMA'S STIMULUS IS A NEEDED START</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Set aside the blather of the political pundits for a moment and let this sink in: On the 24th day of his presidency, Barack Obama recorded a legislative achievement that few of his predecessors had accomplished at any point of their terms in office. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/364.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>HOW VERY HIGH SCHOOL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Even if it's true that we're all separated by a few degrees, I was still surprised to learn that I was connected to criminal financier Bernie Madoff. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/365.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>NEW MEXICO'S DARK THURSDAY SEES UNEMPLOYMENT SOAR 6.3% HIGHER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., Feb. 22, 2009 -- What if you woke up and found out the "recession" means that the number of your unemployed friends and neighbors in your home state, New Mexico, rocketed up an astounding 6.3% in one single, solitary, sad and sorry day? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/366.html"><b><i>PART 1:</i><br> 'TOOTHLESS:' HOW THE WATCHDOG PRESS BECAME A GOVERNMENT LAPDOG</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The president of the Associated Press (AP) was spewing venom at the Bush-Cheney Administration for having turned the Dept. of Defense into a propaganda machine. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/367.html"><b><i>Reporting: Denver</i><br> OBAMA SIGNS $787-BILLION STIMULUS PACKAGE IN STRUGGLING DENVER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna</b>
<p> DENVER -- Hoping to jump-start the American economy and restore sagging consumer and corporate confidence, President Barack Obama today signed the <A HREF="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-and-Vice-President-at-Signing-of-the-American-Recovery-and-Reinvestment-Act/">American Recovery and Reinvestment Act</A HREF>. It is, in his words, "the most sweeping economic recovery act in our history."<p><img src="figs/obamasignsstim.jpg" table border="1" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="20" align="right"><table align="right" width="20%" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10"><td><tr><small><b><i>As President Barack Obama signed it into law and Vice President Joe Biden looked on, a Denver audience cheered the Democrats' historic $787-billion stimulus plan.</small></i></b></tr><p><td align="right"><small><i>AR Photo:</i><b> Tony Manna</b></small></td></tr></table><p> <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/368.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>REPUBLICANS HAVE NOTHING TO PARTY ABOUT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Every House Republican and 11 Democrats voted against President Barack Obama's $819 billion stimulus package. It still passed by a vote of 244 to 188. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/369.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>HOMELAND INSECURITY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. -- My next place of work will be Japan. The past few days I have been preparing for the two-month trip. Preparations have included several trips to the chiropractor and acupuncturist. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/370.html"><b><i>T.S. Kerrigan</i><br>SEAMUS AND ME: LATE BIRTHDAYS IN A LOST WORLD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by T.S. Kerrrigan</b>
<p> LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- It's true, Seamus, you and I were both born in 1939, that year Hitler was marching into Czechoslovakia and Poland, that forerunner of a decade that introduced the Atomic Age. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/371.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TIME TO SHUT OFF THE FAT CAT'S MONEY MACHINE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- On Friday, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said what a lot of us are thinking about Wall Street fat cats and how they are taking federal bailout money while handing out bonuses and pay raises to themselves. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/372.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>CONSTRUCTIVE DESTRUCTION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- When the Incas ruled South America, they created a series of stone highways running up and down the Andes mountains and westward to the sea. Trained runners were organized into relays. A fish caught in the Pacific Ocean in the morning could be on the plate of the Inca king in the mountains of Cuzco that night. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/373.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> SONOMA COUNTY, CA. -- I'm sad about the state of the world economy - yet happy that the shop 'til you drop mentality is over. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/374.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>STIMULUS FOR RURAL AREAS BEGINS WITH BROADBAND</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The future of rural economies, such as where I live in Vermont, is tied to increased high-speed broadband Internet access. However, it is clear that the dream of universal access in Vermont, and other rural areas of the United States, is just that - a dream. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/375.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>TAXING A HOUSE OF CARDS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- My wife is a smoker. Except for one year when she quit, she's been a smoker since she was about 18. But she's cut back, from as many as three packs a day to just three cigarettes. And, she now smokes outside the house. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/376.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>NEWS WE CAN'T USE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- On National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" the other evening, I caught a story about President Barack Obama and the news media. The gist of it was that while Obama has promised to run an open and transparent administration, and while he's already loosened the stranglehold that former President George W. Bush put on the Freedom of Information Act, the traditional press was feeling excluded. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/377.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>THE HIGH MORAL GROUND</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> NEW YORK, NY. -- I got to talking to the Fort librarian about the conflict I was having working for the military while it was conducting an unjust war. She let me borrow a book for chaplains on ethics. I find it very helpful as I struggle with my troubled conscience. It gives me guidance by offering questions to help me focus on my behavior and those I work for. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/378.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>IT'S NATIONAL FEBRUARY MONTH!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I was disappointed to learn that I had missed Men's History Month this January, also known as MANuary. I blame it on the fact that I thought I knew when it was, and I just didn't look at the calendar or ask for directions. So, to assuage my guilt, I'll cover some of the different holidays, celebrations, and observances for February. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/379.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>A NATION REDISCOVERS THE VALUE OF WORDS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of excitement over a presidential inauguration. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/380.html"><b><i>Reporting: Mexico</i><br>11 ARE KILLED IN 20 HOURS. SO WHERE'S THE MEDIA?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> EL PASO, Tex., Jan. 25, 2009 -- By early Sunday, 11 more residents of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, had been slain in a 20-hour period, including the sixth police officer killed this year in growing drug cartel violence. More than 65 police officers have been murdered in the border city of 1.4 million in the past year. Too often, U.S. and Mexican media have been AWOL from coverage. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/381.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>WE HAVE OVERCOME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In 1940, believing that "God Bless America" was too passive an anthem, the great folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote an answer called " Your Land." Pete Seeger, God bless him, sang it at the Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/382.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>INDIANA'S OFFICIAL STATE BEVERAGE IS ... WATER?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- We made food history last week when Indiana declared the Wick's sugar cream as its very own State Pie. I celebrated the event by having my wife tell me I couldn't eat any because of my cholesterol. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/383.html"><b><i>Reporting: El Paso</i><br>CIUDAD JUAREZ IS MEXICO'S POSTER CHILD FOR VIOLENCE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> EL PASO, Tex., Jan 22, 2009 -- Do you start with the decapitated heads of police officers found in local ice cream coolers, the kindergarten kids threatened with mass kidnappings, the vigilantes who have emailed the media to prove they are serious about murdering "criminals," or do you just give up explaining it in Ciudad Juārez, Mexico, a mile from Interstate 10 and just down the road from El Paso?. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/384.html"><b><u><i>The Inaugural Address</i></u><br>A PROMISE DELIVERED UPON</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 20, 2009 -- The words that reached out to me from the<A HREF="http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/20/obama-speech-text.html"> Inaugural Address of President Barack Obama</A HREF> were when he spoke of what Americans can achieve when "imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage." Imagination and courage are the most powerful qualities of the American character, because it is we as a people who have progressively imagined annd created this great nation, and we who have courageously defended and extended its ideals. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/385.html"><b><center><u><i>The Inauguration</i></u></center><br>FROM THE HUDSON TO THE POTOMAC, COURAGE AND HOPE FOR A DEPRESSED NATION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa., Jan. 20, 2009 -- The people are good at anointing who they believe are heroes. It gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling to know there are those among us who do extraordinary things, often at the risk of their own lives. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/386.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHY CONSERVATIVES STILL HATE FDR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Why do conservatives still hate President Franklin D. Roosevelt? Why have three generations of right-wingers attacked his accomplishments? It's because FDR stood up to the most concentrated and vicious attacks by the men he called "economic royalists," and came out on top nearly every time. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/387.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WILD RAMBLINGS AT 4 A.M.</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Jan. 18, 2009 -- I'm uncomfortable with hate. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/388.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>DEMOCRATS HAVE LITTLE TO FEAR FROM OBAMA </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) flexed their muscles, shook their rattles, and told President-elect Barack Obama not to tread upon them. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/389.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>FAMILY TALES FROM NYC</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J. M. Sylvan</b>
<p> NEW YORK -- One great aspect of a job that requires traveling is the opportunity to visit with family and friends who live in the area. I have had the pleasure of meeting with my great-fraternal cousin, "Uncle Teddy", whose real name was Dan Brosnon, from Flushing, N.Y. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/390.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>PETA RENAMES FISH, WORLD ROLLS ITS EYES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Would you eat a kitten? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/391.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE WAR OF THE THEATER GROUPS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Ask me why I take such a gloomy view of human nature and the possibility of peace in our time and I'll tell you the story of the dueling theater groups. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/392.html"><b><i>Breakthrough</i><br>FUEL GENIE IS ONE MAN'S ANSWER TO ARABIAN KNIGHTS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 16, 2009. 4:04AM -- Here in this coastal resort town that is home to more Scientologists and assorted inventors and kooks than you can shake a stick at, Barry Holzsweig is breaking the mold today as he opens a long, sleek service station on a busy U.S. Highway 19 in an event that could be almost as important as the sale of the first Model A some 106 years ago. If Holzsweig and his handful of investors have their way, after today Americans may soon drive hybrid cars on hydrogen produced from water, added to ordinary gasoline - but much less of it. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/393.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>NOT ALL ECONOMIC STIMULUS IS CREATED EQUAL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- President-elect Barack Obama will soon take the reins of government, and with it, the challenge of trying to keep the U.S. economy from sliding into the abyss. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/394.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>GOTTA DANCE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- On the way to industrial development and globalization, groups of people lived in cultures they created themselves. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/395.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>BOYS' BASKETBALL PRACTICE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Okay, boys. Put down the basketballs, I want you to do some warmups, and then you'll do some layup drills. First, let's do some jumping jacks." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/396.html"><b><i>An AR Editorial</i><br>AN UNJUST WAR MAY YET YIELD PEACE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 3, 2:22PM ET -- Israeli troops in the past hour have finally launched its long-awaited invasion of the 220-square mile Gaza Strip, following seven days of intense bombardment that killed at least 430 Palestinians, destroyed thousands of offices, apartments, businesses and homes and left the ordinary people of Gaza and its tens of thousands of refugees shaking with fear. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/397.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE END OF 'THE AMERICAN CENTURY'</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As we begin a new year, it's hard not to look back on how much damage the Bush Administration has done to this nation's reputation over the past eight years and how much work will have to be done to mend it all around the world. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/398.html"><b><i>AR Archives: 2001</i><br> TROVE OF CIA DOCUMENTS TOLD OF SOVIET WEAKNESS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Andrew S. Tully</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, March 16-18, 2001 -- <I>Editor's Note</I>: At the turn of the century, a batch of recently declassified analyses by the Central Intelligence Agency offered new insight into U.S. intelligence during the Cold War. The papers covered the Soviet Union's military capabilities and social, economic, political, and foreign policy issues, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Andrew F. Tully told The American Reporter. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/399.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>HAPPY NEW YEAR!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It was the best of times; it was the worst of times; it's January 1, 2009. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/400.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE $6 MILLION SOCIAL WORKER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The New York Yankees just bought a first baseman for $180 million. For the next eight years, Mark Teixeira will earn about $22.5 million a season. The week before, the Yanks bought seven years of pitcher C.C. Sabathia's life for $161 million, about $23 million a season - and five years of A.J. Burnett for $82.5 million, about $16.5 million for each season, according to the Associated Press. None of the salaries include any incentive pay or outside endorsements, which add millions to each salary. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/401.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>LAKE SUPERIOR STATE'S BANNED WORDS FOR 2009</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- It's that time of year again. Or at least it was. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/402.html"><b><i>Inauguration Day</i><br>LIVE-LINK SOCIAL MEDIA TO BRING GALAS HOME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Benjamin Perkins</b>
<p> WASHINGTON -- A social media site called LINK-Live, based on the Obama campaign 's Web outreach, plans to bring Inauguration Day ceremonies into the homes of millions around the world. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/403.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>A YEAR TO LEARN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 29, 2008 - You can't watch events in the Middle East, South Asia or on the world's financial pages without a deep sense of foreboding. Hair-trigger tempers paired with nuclear arsenals threaten even more wars, while huge financial frauds and vast stock market debacles dash our hopes for a better world economy. Basic human needs for food, water, shelter, clothing and clean air go unmet in dozens of nations. A deep malaise of the human spirit pervades much of humanity with anger, hatred, despair, and hopelessness. Meanwhile, millions embrace Mayan predictions that the end of the world will come in 2012. It certainly feels like it could, sometimes. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/404.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>EVIL OR STUPID?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In Sicily, they say that fish start rotting from the head. In the past few months, as we've gotten closer and closer to the end of President George W. Bush's failed terms in office, we've been witnessing a mind-boggling amount of corruption, greed, evil, and downright stupidity. The smell has become almost overpowering. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/405.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>MY BACK PAGES: WATCHING MY CRAFT CHANGE OVER 30 YEARS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I got my first job in journalism at the age of 18 in the spring of 1980. I was a freshman in college and landed a night shift gig at WSPR, a radio station in Springfield, Mass. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/406.html"><b><I>Market Mover</i><br>BUSH'S MINI-BAILOUT MISSED A MEGA-OPPORTUNITY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum </b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., Dec. 21, 2008 -- It's not productive to spend too much time analyzing the expiring Bush Administration's bridge loan/bailout of two U.S. automakers, since the new Obama Administration will either have to enhance, ignore, or unravel the deal. But even on its face it is a squandering of one last opportunity for American industry. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/407.html"><b><I>Brasch Words</I><BR>DECONSTRUCTING THE GOP'S BEST LIES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The chairman of the Republican National Committee has begun an irreversible descent into fear-bound paranoia and functional amnesia following his post-traumatic hysteria over the overwhelming victory of Democrats in the 2008 election and the nation's definitive repudiation of Republican policies. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/408.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE SIT-DOWN STRIKE RETURNS FOR A NEW ERA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Every worker in America should be cheering for the workers at the Chicago-based Republic Windows and Doors. The 240 employees at Republic offered the nation an important lesson in the power of collective action. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/409.html"><b><i>My Horizons</i><br>MILITARY MOMS ABROAD TORN BETWEEN PAY AND FAMILY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by J.M. Sylvan</b>
<p> NEW YORK -- I hope your Thanksgiving was relaxing and delicious. The holidays can bring tension and grief with them in addition to joy and celebration, especially on military bases for military moms. Did you know that the Army grants six weeks of maternity leave for new mothers and gives four months before she can be sent into combat? This does not give them enough time to establish a good bond with their infants, nor the year to breast feed them suggested by the American Academy of Pediatrics. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/410.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>OFF THE GRID</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- We may talk about running out of oil in this country, but up here in Vermont, we're already practicing a lot of the survival skills we'll be needing if - or when - it happens. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/411.html"><b><i>An American Reporter Editorial</i><br>NO TIME FOR WAR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 1, 2008 -- Ever since I lived and worked in India for about six months in 1972, when I had the chance to meet heads of state throughout the region and many of the diplomats posted there, I have had a strong interest in its affairs. That interest was particularly well-served by two of the distinguished American Reporter Correspondents who covered the South Asia region for us. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/412.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>NOW, THE ECONOMY; LATER, THE DEFICITS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- John Maynard Keynes' most famous contribution to the science of economics was his principle that, in a recession, government must take the lead in stimulating demand through increased spending - even if it means running up a deficit. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/413.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE MEDIA AUTO KNOW BETTER: FUELING THE FIRES OF ANTI-UNIONISM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Our local newspaper editor, as he does regularly, once again attacked unions as the problem in America. This is the same editor who once said "all the laziest goof-offs and goldbricks in the newsroom" where he began his career were union officials - and that the unionized <i>New York Times</i> editorial writers are nothing more than "limousine liberals." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/414.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>HOLIDAY SHOPPING TO A DIFFERENT DRUMMER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> SIERRA VISTA, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2008 -- Black Friday shoppers of goodwill and kind heart might hope that the neighbors near the mall in this retiree-and-military southern Arizona town never find out the home address of the Best Buy marketing genius who hired the high school drum, bugle, and glockenspiel band to pulsate the parking lot at 4AM. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/415.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>HOW THE LAWYERS LOST CHRISTMAS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- He's no poet, but AR Correspondent Erik Deckers has put his heart into the good fight for a Christmas free of lawyers and their fees. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/416.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>LOVE IS ALL AROUND</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- One of the many things I'm thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day - and thank you, America, for giving us an intelligent president once again (and to you, the 58 million or so people who voted for John "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" McCain, whatever were you thinking?) - is that we've finally seen the end of Nancy Reagan eyes. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/417.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IT'S TIME FOR A NEW CAPITALISM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As we've seen over the past few months, Americans are not happy with the way things are. They want change. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/418.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>AUTO BAILOUT? WASHINGTON JUST DOESN'T GET IT </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The thoughts below were written three years and one month ago. No one cared about my ideas. On local and national radio for more than 14 years I made the same health care warning loud and clear to anyone who would listen. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/419.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>LIZARD BRAINS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The blogosphere exploded last Tuesday with the rumor that President-Elect Barack Obama might ask Sen. Hillary Clinton to be our next secretary of state. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/420.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>A TURKEY BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL GOVERNOR OF ALASKA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- President Bush, as has every president since his father began the practice in 1989, annually pardons a Thanksgiving turkey. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/421.html"><b><i>Rebecca's World</i><br>RECORDING THE VIRTUES OF CELLO PLAYING</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Rebecca L. Hein</b>
<p> CASPER, Wyo. -- Technology has given us practically everything, so why can't it provide a heat sensor for your phone line? Then, when you start breathing fire at the vendor you're trying to reach, someone at that company will get a clue that their automatic routing system is provoking you past all reasonable limits. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/422.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>'TWAS THE MONTH BEFORE CHRISTMAS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The holiday season is right around the corner, and the stores have had their Christmas decorations out since late July. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/423.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>OBAMA'S FIRST PRIORITY: STOP THE LOOTING</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- President-elect Barack Obama clearly won the 2008 presidential election because of the market meltdown. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/424.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Well, our long national nightmare is over. America had its Frank Capra moment, Mr. Smith is going to Washington after all, and it's about time. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/425.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE TOP 10 MOST ANNOYING PHRASES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Those people at Oxford University sure are smart," said Karl, my friend, literary drinking buddy, and part-time curmudgeon. "Smart and irritating." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/426.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>DEAR ANDREW: THERE'S THIS GUY NAMED OBAMA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> PANAMA CITY, Panama -- After hosting my own election night party I awoke with a slight hangover, vaguely recalling this dream that a black guy had been elected President of the United States of America. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/427.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>REPUBLICANS FOUGHT THE WRONG WAR - AND LOST</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- One of the most famous football pictures of all time came to mind during this election season. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/428.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>A BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- In July 1944, with victory over Germany and Japan in sight, 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations gathered in the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, N.H., to shape the economic system for the post-World War II world. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/429.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>CHANGE, AND TEARS, AT LAST</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Nov. 2, 2008 -- You would have thought I was a lunatic, the way I went walking down the street shouting into the air that Jesse Jackson was running for President. You really need to be a little odd to do something like that, but ever since my friend Dennis Gurrant, an Olympic-class broad-jumper who had beaten Bob Beamon at the Randalls Island Invitational, I have been a little odd on the topic of electing a black man president. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/430.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>PANAMA: INITIAL COOPER DUCK REACTION</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> PANAMA CITY, Panama, Oct. 31, 2008 -- I'll use Halloween to relate a Panamanian horror story to anyone who is not born and bred in Panama: this is the country where one's "initial" reaction is absolutely incomprehensible. We're talking about acronyms and initials which bypass even Canada's manic imprimatur of the suffix or prefix Canada on every agency, office, and charity you can imagine. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/431.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>COURAGE OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It looks like the undecideds are going to carry Vermont's gubernatorial election, and until Saturday, I was one of them. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/432.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>FREEDOM</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Oct. 28, 2008 -- Take this guy: His wife works at McDonald's, pulling down $180 a week on $7.50 an hour, and he makes a solid $15 an hour and brings home $600 a week before taxes. That $2,960 is enough to let them borrow plenty - on a home mortgage, on an F-150, a boat trailer and a snappy-looking outboard, for a family vacation with her parents, for athletic gear and special training for the older two kids. And best of all, their cinder-block 3-bedroom home that cost $132,000 in 2003 has soared in a hot market to nearly $180,000. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/433.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>FACED WITH LOSS, REPUBLICANS LOOK FOR ALIBIS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- With only nine days to go before the presidential election, it looks more and more like Democratic candidate Barack Obama will defeat Republican candidate John McCain by a substantial margin. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/434.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>DEWEY WINS! AGAIN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> ALBERQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 26, 2008 -- I 've visited North and South Florida and North and Central New Mexico in recent days, and the political temperature 10 days before the Presidential election is elevated by the teeter-totter of global recession. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/435.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>TO THEIR ETERNAL SHAME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Outrage is a columnist's best friend. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/436.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>CHEAP-SHOT ADS COST McCAIN DEARLY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- During the final debate last week, Barack Obama called John McCain on the negative ads, saying that 100 percent of his radio and television ads were negative. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/437.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>POET OF THE AIR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's rare that a film haunts me the way that the recent "Man on Wire" does. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/438.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>A UNITED, STABLE, DEMOCRATIC IRAQ? NEVER HAPPEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Despite Sen. John McCain's belief to the contrary, the situation in Iraq has become increasingly twisted and convoluted. It is almost like Milo Minderbinder, the wheeler-dealer from Joseph Heller's World War II novel "Catch-22," is in charge. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/439.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>SIMPLE LIVING AIN'T SO SIMPLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- My family and I moved recently. We went from the heart of Indianapolis to the northern suburbs, something which did not excite me. I don't know what I hated more, leaving our little urban dwelling, or loading and unloading two truckloads of stuff in 36 hours. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/440.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>DEBATING WHILE THE HOUSE BURNS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla. -- The presidential debate Wednesday night never mentioned the words $2.2 trillion: that's how much the banks, brokerage and investment houses and insurance companies have so far taken from the American people's Treasury of the United States. Just for your edification, that was $7,333 for every single one of America's 300,000,000 people. Of course, the people can't be trusted with it. They just pay it. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/441.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE $700 BILLION MISTAKE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- So, how's that bailout thing working out? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/442.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>EVEN IN FRESNO, FREE SPEECH IS NOT AN ISSUE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The Sunbird Conservatives, a student group, put out some pro-McCain literature at a recruiting table at Fresno Pacific University a week ago. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/443.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>IT'S NOT SEX, STUPID - IT'S COMMITMENT!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Many of us grew up listening to the preamble to the radio and television show, "The Shadow." A deep voice asked a question opening the show that I'll paraphrase here: Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men? Given the fact that "The Shadow," who does know what lurks therein, is a fictional character shedding no light on anything in the real world, we will have to acknowledge that no one knows what lies in the hearts of men - men being generic for mankind. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/444.html"><b>CAMPAIGN COWARD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I'm thinking of taking a lot of Valium until the elections are over. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/445.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE BIRDS AND BEES ARE OUT TO GET ME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Sure, I'd be glad to help you with your homework, Honey." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/446.html"><b><I>Market Mover</i><br>A FINANCIAL PRESCRIPTION FOR THE GLOBE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum</b>
<p> TRINIDAD, Colo. (Oct. 9, 2008, 12:51PM) -- Until yesterday your choices for depositing safe money around the globe were basically Ireland, Germany or the Mafia. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/447.html"><b><i>The Crisis</i><br>WHAT YOU REALLY LOST TODAY </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea </b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Oct. 3, 2008 (3:55PM EDT) -- Like a bad joke, the Dow swung up close to 300 points today as lawmakers voted at 1 PM on the bill to bail out Wall Street banks and brokers, and then fell 450 from that point as traders began the clamor for more at the close. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/448.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>McCAIN, OBAMA BOTH COME UP SHORT ON GLOBAL ISSUES IN DEBATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week's presidential debate was supposed to cover foreign policy issues, but the ongoing market meltdown was too big to ignore. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/449.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>LET CONGRESS PAY YOUR BILLS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Oct. 2, 2008 -- With $700 billion dollars - about $2,400 for every man woman and child in America - Congress has just about paid back American and foreign banks for every bad loan they've ever made. All those credit card debts people didn't feel like paying will son be paid for by taxpayer money, courtesy of Congress. So why not let them pay our bills, too? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/450.html"><b>THE DUMBING OF AMERICA</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here are some of the characteristics I want in the next President of the United States: strength, character, intelligence, confidence, the ability to learn from mistakes, empathy, emotional control, a moral compass and the ability to inspire. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/451.html"><b><I>The Crisis</i><br>AN URGENT LETTER TO THE SENATE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Oct. 1, 2008, 7:42PM EDT -- In the last two hours, I have sent the versions of the following letter to Sens. Obama, McCain, Clinton, Dodd, Biden, Kerry, (Mel) Martinez and Nelson. I have contributed to all but Martinez, who is my U.S. Senator. I told them each the same thing: <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/452.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>HOW TO PASS OUT A BAILOUT BILL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 30, 2008 -- Will wonders never cease? I never thought the right-wing Republicans of the House of Representatives would join arms with the progressive Democrats that populate this newspaper and put the kibosh on President George W. Bush's greedy, unrealistic and anti-American $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/453.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>AMERICA WITHOUT THE POLITICS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- It was Monday evening and the phone rang - again. It was probably the fifth time in two hours. A pleasant voice said she was from the - oh, that really doesn't make any difference. Both presidential candidates have volunteer minions on the phones and Internet day after day, month after month, for what has seemed like years. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/454.html"><b><I>Make My Day</i><br>THE FELLER IS A SMELLER</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- As a typical Guy, I've complained loudly about the deadliness of another Guy's gas. Or joked about whether he would have to register an impact statement with the Environmental Protection Agency. Whether his butt should be registered as a lethal weapon. Whether the smeller is truly the feller. About whether - you get the picture. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/455.html"><b><I>On Native Ground</I><BR>BAIL OUT MAIN STREET FIRST!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's always time to worry when you hear that something has to be done, and done right away, or else a calamity of unimagined proportions will strike. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/456.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>MY PRESCRIPTION: GET REAL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Being old-fashioned and terrified of needles, I approach all surgery with trepidation. So I'm not really clear why other people regard it as a necessity, or at the very least, a vacation option. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/457.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>IS IT ALL OVER BUT THE CRISIS?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 25, 2008 2:01PM EDT (Updated 7:50 PM EDT) -- As I write, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 260 points on the greedy anticipation of Wall Street that a bailout package will restore CEO salaries and bonuses, and that all their bad decisions will be rectified by the American taxpayer for just $700,000,000,000. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/458.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>CELEBRATING IKE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A front-page New York Times photo update of their Website at 5:10 p.m. last Sunday led off with this sad caption: "Thousands of people who refused orders to evacuate were feared stranded across a swath of Texas. Above, residents waited outside a shelter at a high school in Galveston." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/459.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>UNCHARTED TERRITORY FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Those who thought that last week's government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would stabilize the financial markets got a wakeup call this week. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/460.html"><b><I>The Banking Crisis</i><br>PLAYING THE FED</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 17 (Updated Sept. 18, 2008) -- As some of the world's largest financial institutions are marched one by one to the Federal Reserve's lending window to pick up bailouts, bridge loans, cheap cash and the rest of our money, the orderly queue is getting ready to go wild. Washington Mutual is next in line, followed by Morgan Stanley and then Goldman Sachs - but who's the last before the Fed goes broke? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/461.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>LIPSTICK ON WHICH PIG?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- This is for all of you who are truly frightened by Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin: give it a rest. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/462.html"><b><i>Dungeons of Debt</i><br>BEST BUY CHARGES $15 TO PAY BILLS DAYS BEFORE THEY'RE DUE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 19, 2008 -- When it comes to paying your bill, Best Buy's vaunted technology is a total bust. Anyone from your bank to Chevron or a brokerage house can post a payment on the same day, but if you are within less than two days of the payment date, Best Buy wants you to pay an additional $15 - that's how corrupt this outfit is. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/463.html"><b><i>Campaign 2008</i><br>OBAMA, PALIN STUMP IN COLORADO, PROMISE ACTION ON CRISIS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna</b>
<p> DENVER, Colo., Sept. 16, 2008 -- Partisan politics paused for a breath in toss-up state Colorado Monday, as the Democratic presidential candidate and the Republican vice-presidential pick both sought to sooth Americans shocked Monday morning by news of Wall Street's steepest drop since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, wiping out $800 billion in assets in a 504-point dive. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/464.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>9/11 PLUS SEVEN YEARS: MOURNING OUR LOST LIBERTIES</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- We've been told this time and time again by the Bush Administration since the terror attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001 that the civil liberties guaranteed by our Constitution are luxuries we can no longer afford and that we must learn to live without. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/465.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>SARAH PALIN: WHAT'S THERE TO TALK ABOUT?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Defibrillator usage increased last week after John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate and only a heartbeat from control of the nation's nuclear arsenal. But, shortly after most Republicans were shocked back to life they circled the wagons to declare she was the perfect choice. Apparently, the cure also included a dose of psychotropic drugs as well. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/466.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE LEAN MEAN PROPAGANDA MACHINE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Vermont's unemployment rate is the highest it's been in the last 14 years (and remember - "Jim equals jobs"). It has made no progress on developing new energy resources. It's barely put a Band-Aid on health care reform. There's a gas price crisis now and one looming for heating oil this winter. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/467.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE GOOD SCISSORS: BANE OF CHILDHOOD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Don't use the Good Scissors! <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/468.html"><b><i>Campaign 2008</i><br>PALIN: OUT OF THE PLANE AND INTO THE FIRE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna</b>
<p> COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Sept. 6, 2008-- This is how it starts, this elaborate electoral dance with the country's voters. Republican candidate for president Sen. John McCain and and Gov. Sarah Palin stepped off their brightly-lit Straight Talk Air chartered jet last night, into a cool mist visible in the blazing headlights of the happy caravan that waited to carry them straight toward their date with destiny - Election Day. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/469.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>PALIN: FROM QUAYLE TO EAGLETON TO AGNEW</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's been nearly a week since he announced it, and I still cannot believe that John McCain would choose someone who is arguably the most unqualified and inexperienced vice presidential nominee in recent memory. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/470.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>NO MORE MR. NICE GUY </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Voters here are being entertained by an unexpectedly passionate primary race. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/471.html"><b><i>Denver Dispatch</i><br>JOYOUS DEMOCRATS CHEER OBAMA ACCEPTANCE SPEECH</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna and Joe Shea</b>
<p> AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, DENVER, Aug. 28, 2008 -- The Democratic Party celebrated its hard-fought choice of a presidential nominee with world-class music, triumphal speeches and a mile-high fireworks display that mirrored the powerful emotions on display at Invesco Field in Denver as the first African-American in American history accepted the party's nomination with "profound gratitude and great humility." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/472.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>HOW KATRINA AND ITS AFTERMATH SWEPT AWAY THE G.O.P.</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The feeling at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week is one of euphoria, and deservedly so. Democrats believe that 2008 will be a watershed year for the party and liberalism and an electoral repudiation of the Bush years on an epochal scale. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/473.html"><b><i>Denver Dispatch</i><br>WITH SADNESS, THE ARKANSAS DELEGATION LETS GO, AND BARACK OBAMA BECOMES THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna and Joe Shea</b>
<p> AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, DENVER, Colo., Aug. 27, 2008 -- On the southernmost fringes of Democratic convention territory here, in a nondescript hotel dining room in suburban Douglas County, Colo., 17 miles from the downtown Pepsi Center where the convention's business is being conducted, 47 Arkansas delegates seemed to have a little trouble saying goodbye to their favorite sister, Sen. Hillary Clinton. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/474.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>KEEPING VERMONT VERMONT</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Vermont is beautiful in late summer. Just a drive up to Burlington gets me drunk with the rolling greens and golds dotted with reds, pinks and blues. It lifts the heart to be here. But for how long? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/475.html"><b><i>Denver Disptach</i><br>'THE FIRE IN HER EYES:' A DIALOGUE ON HILLARY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna and Joe Shea</b>
<p> AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, DENVER, Aug. 27, 2008 -- American Reporter Correspondent Ted Manna and Editor-in-Chief Joe Shea watched the Hillary Clinton speech at the Democratic Convention here with different perceptions Tuesday night. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/476.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>AMERICANS NEED TO TEAR DOWN OUR WALL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The superstar of the 2008m Beijing Olympics may not have been the multiple medalists like Michael Phelps, but the Great Wall of China. Every network covering the Olympics took the world to see it. Almost every newspaper and magazine reporter also visited the ancient wonder of the world. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/477.html"><b><I>Denver Dispatch</i><br>'AWESOME' MICHELLE OBAMA THRILLS DELEGATES, BUT ARRESTS SOUR MOOD FOR SOME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea and Ted Manna</b>
<p> AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, DENVER, Colo., Aug. 26, 2008 [Updated 11:30PM MT] -- As Denver police sprayed tear gas and shot pepper balls at radical protestors in a park more than a mile from the Democratic National Convention here, a prospective first lady of the United States told a compelling story of a black family's hard work, struggles and slow rise to the pinnacle of American politics. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/478.html"><b><i>Denver Dispatch</i><br>DEMS PROMISE TO LISTEN, BUT PROTESTS GO UNHEARD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna and Joe Shea</b>
<p> AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, DENVER, Colo., Aug. 25, 2008 -- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi started off the Democratic National convention press briefings this morning with a promise of unparalleled openness and a willingness to listen, but when 4,000 protestors concerned about everything from the Iraq War to diminishing Arctic habitat for polar bears marched two miles from the State Capitol to the Pepsi Center headquarters, convention officials were nowhere to be seen. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/479.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AMERICA PAYS DEARLY FOR PILING ON RUSSIA IN '89</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- For the part, history is filled with missed opportunities. Perhaps the biggest one for our country came two decades ago. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/480.html"><b><i>Campaign 2008</i>DENVER'S BIG MOMENT ARRIVES AT LAST</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna</b>
<p> DENVER, April 22, 2008 -- The lights are strung and the banners are hung. The Pepsi Center is ready for the Democratic National Convention, which starts Monday and runs through Thursday. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/481.html"><b><i>Campaign 2008</i><br>WARY OF PROTESTS, DEMOCRATS PAY FOR A JAIL</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna</b>
<p> DENVER, Colo., Aug. 20, 2008 -- Just a few blocks from Martin Luther King Blvd. but seven miles from downtown, the Denver County Sheriff's Dept. today unveiled a collection of big steel cages - paid for by a $500,000 grant from the Democrats - for protestors arrested at their presidential nomnating convention here next week. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/482.html"><b><i>Reporting: Pakistan</i><br>PAKISTAN'S TORTURE OF AMERICAN MAN RXPOSES NATIONAL SCHISMS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ahmar Mustikhan</b>
<p> WASHINGTON -- He was forced to live like a blind man in a dark dungeon for eight months, so completely denied daylight that he could not know if it was day or night, after Pakistan's Military Intelligence secretly abducted him on suspicion of promioting U.S. interests. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/483.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THESE OLYMPICS ARE GOLD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>i</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Shawn Johnson has the loveliest green eyes. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/484.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>ON THE HUMAN SCALE, IS AMERICA A LIGHTWEIGHT?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As Americans, we tend to think we are the greatest country on Earth. Few ever question whether this is really so. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/485.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A JOHN EDWARDS SERENADE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - You've got to love John Edwards; he's the gift that keeps on giving. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/486.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>PARIS FOR PREZ</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- It was the snit heard 'round the world. The snarky, scantily-clad video response that got pundits tongues wagging about something other than politics, at least until their wives saw them. Maybe its echo has faded from the news, but it still makes me wake up screaming in the middle of the night. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/487.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>MURDER, REVISITED</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When Sherlock Holmes says "Elementary, my dear Watson," he bases his further explanation of the who, when, where and why of a murder after deducing through careful investigation why he has reached that conclusion. He does not jump to conclusions based upon similar situations on record. Nor does he offer his personal opinion without having gone over every element of the case at hand. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/488.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>GOODBYE, NORMA JEAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Unconditional love is rare, but I was lucky enough to find it in - of all places - my mother-in-law. With your permission, I'd like to tell you something about her and why I loved her so much. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/489.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>OIL DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC: AN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Are we so desperate for one last big fix of oil, that we're willing to destroy one of the world's last pristine and unspoiled regions? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/490.html"><b><i>Campaign 2008</i><br>McCAIN STOP WINS MANY OVER IN A DENVER SUBURB</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ted Manna</b>
<p> AURORA, Colo., July 30, 2008 -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain brought his trademark humor and down-home charm to Colorado for the second time in a week today, seeking to shore up support in this "battleground state." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/491.html"><b><i>Reporting: Washington</i><br>PAKISTAN'S PRIME MINISTER U.S. DEBUT IS A ROCKY ONE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ahmar Mustikhan</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, July 28, 2008 -- Pakistan prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani debuted in the United States at time when his nation is seen as pivotal in a number of arenas impacting regional and world security and particularly the War in Iraq and relations with Iran and al-Qaeda's Osama bin-Laden. Meeting with leading U.S. think tanks and thinkers, he parried key questions pertaining to nuclear security, threats to the regional and world security posed by current and former members of Pakistan's dreaded Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and its controversial role in Afghanistan. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/492.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, MR. LEE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - The day before the casting call, I fantasized that they would take one look at me - my frizzy red hair, my bright smile, my aura - especially my aura - and hand me a major part. Hollywood money would flow through my hands. The recognition I've always deserved would be mine at last. The worry over the coming winter's heating bills? Vanished with the wind. How could they not see that I was meant to be a star? <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/493.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>CARBON-FREE ELECTRICITY BY 2018? WE CAN DO THIS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/494.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>10 REASONS WHY JIM DOUGLAS MUST GO</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- People always say that Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas is a nice man. But he has character as well as policy failings which we can no longer afford to overlook. Douglas's tenure has been disastrous. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/495.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>THE HOUSE OF CARDS STARTS TO WOBBLE</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I have written often over the past few years about the house of cards that is the American economy, but the events of the past week should frighten everybody. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/496.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>ON LOVE AND LOSS</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- When I first came to southern Vermont, in 1987, I had been on the road in South and Central America - literally on the road - for 14 years. You could say I had been a homeless person. Some called me "feral." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/497.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE BETTER B.S. DETECTOR</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- As a self-appointed fighter against corporate gobbledygook (I'm an Official BS Detector), I have railed against all jargon, corporate speak, and, well, BS that I hear from corporate America and the government. My usual method of BS detecting is to read something, point a finger pointed skyward, and shout, "This is complete and utter BS!" <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/498.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>RESTAURANTS OFFER WI-FI, BUT AT WHAT PRICE?</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joe Shea</b>
<p> SARASOTA, Fla., June 18, 2008 -- I had a strong desire to write tonight, but by the time AT&T got through with me, I was exhausted, so I only wrote this. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/499.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING US</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- When it comes to politics, I've been feeling more like a virgin every day. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/500.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>STRETCHING YOUR BUCK IN A BEAR MARKET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum </b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., July 9, 2008 -- Okay, you asked for detailed recommendations in a Bear market. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/501.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>CHRISTIAN NEOCONS WANT A WHITER WORLD</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- There are around 6.7 billion people sharing our planet today. And the human family is currently growing by about 1.2 percent per year. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/502.html"><b><I>Brasch Words</I><BR>LEGISLATORS COULD SHOOT DOWN AIRBORNE CRUELTY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Dave Comroe stepped to the firing line, raised his 12-gauge Browning over and under shotgun, aimed and fired. Before him, a pigeon fell, moments after being released from a box less than 20 yards away. About 25 times that day Comroe fired, hitting about three-fourths of the birds. He was 16 at the time. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/503.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>OBAMA, YOU'RE LOSING ME!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum </b>
<p> BOCA RATON, Fla., July 2, 2008 -- <b>Dear Sen.Obama:</b> Thanks for repudiating Gen. Wesley Clark's stupid comments regarding John McCain's military service and preparedness to be Commander in Chief. I really don't care about your apologies. <b>Hello? Anybody home upstairs? This is Spring training for the most important try-out of uyour life!</b> <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/504.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THAT 'ROCKET'S RED GLARE' MAY BE CHINESE </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Wearing a pith helmet and brandishing a blunderbuss, Marshbaum burst into my office and ordered me to the floor. I looked at my faux friend and media foil, about to ask him what his latest scheme was. With Marshbaum, who was fed "Honeymooners" episodes by IV when he was a child, everything is a scheme to make money. But, in the fraction of time I had before he yelled for me to get under my desk and cover my head, I quickly determined he was serious. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/505.html"><b><i>Constance</i><br>THE ELECTRONIC HIGHWAY IS A TWO-WAY STREET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Constance Daley</b>
<p> ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Shakespeare's character, Iago, begins a dialog in Othello saying: "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls." Well, my good name was robbed! Iago goes on to say: "Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/506.html"><b><i>Reporting: Pakistan</i><br>U.S. ARMS SALES BRING BLOODSHED, BANKRUPTCY TO PAKISTAN</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Ahmar Mustikhan</b>
<p> WASHINGTON, June 30, 2008 -- The interests of the U.S. military-industrial complex appear to take precedence over U.S. national interests and human rights concerns, a recent transfer of fighter jets to Pakistan shows. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/507.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>PENNSYLVANIA NEEDS TO RE-AFFIRM THE AMERICAN WAY</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Walter Brasch</b>
<p> HARRISBURG, Pa. -- There should have been absolutely no controversy in a resolution presented in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this past week. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/508.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>MAKING THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Randolph T. Holhut</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- You'd think that in the 21st Century, we could do things better than we did in the 1930's. But when it comes to train travel, that's not the case. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/509.html"><b><I>One Woman's World</i><br>LIFE CAN BECOME TOO QUIET</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Elizabeth T. Andrews</b>
<p> CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- They live across the street from you and something about them tugs at the corners of your mind. They have lived there for years but you hardly know them. As you pass by you wave or say hello. They wave back and some vague order is again confirmed. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/510.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>CATCH!</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Erik Deckers</b>
<p> INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Okay, Buddy, put your mitt on." <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/511.html"><b><i>Market Mover</i><br>HURRY UP FOR THE WALL STREET EXPRESS </b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Mark Scheinbaum </b>
<p> ANGEL FIRE, N.M., June 26, 2008 -- The Wall Street Bull Market Express is leaving the station and you have two months, maybe three to run down the platform, take the leap, and latch on to the caboose. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/4,019/512.html"><b><I>Momentum</I><BR>A DANGEROUS REBEL BITES THE DUST</b></a></dt><dd>
<p>
<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. - The only good thing about George Carlin's death on Sunday at the age of 71 - and there is no good thing about George Carlin's death on Sunday at the age of 71 - is that he has already given us such a rich body of thought, analysis, observation and truth that it will take us the rest of our lives to work through it all - and even then, we probably won't be able to absorb or act on even a percentage of what he's said. <p>
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