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Building a flourishing democracy requires many tasks of the citizens and residents of the United States. One of the most important elements democracy requires is our attention — not only on the issue of the day at the national level, but also on the challenges we can impact closer to home in…

With less than two years until the 2024 presidential election, the forever campaign amps up, as politicians on the right side of the aisle focus on fooling enough of the people enough of the time into thinking every perceived issue facing the country — including bank failures and train wreck…

In this month of honoring women, especially on March 8, International Women’s Day, my mind and heart are filled with thoughts of women and girls around the world. Having worked globally, I have witnessed their lives, heard their stories, seen their grief, abuse and abject poverty. I have bee…

In a recent commentary, John Nassivera asks: “Why bother to be a Christian?” He answers this question by stating “Hebrew and Christian scripture (sic) show us a supreme God who is reaching out to us, is revealing himself (or itself) to us. The revealing is done via the Son who came to Earth …

I’ve recently finished an extended period of time in South America, where my wife and I went this year rather than our usual time in Mexico. For me, the city of Lima, Peru, was the high point. There are various reasons for this, but one of them was our visit to the Larco Museum of pre-Colomb…

‘Careful what you wish for” is a warning I generously impart to others whenever they become enthralled by a yearning to the point they are oblivious to the risks, implications and unintended consequences achievement of their goal might entail. This rule of thumb comes to mind in the woods, n…

Every year, there are international Council of Parties meetings on climate change, where it is simply accepted the fossil fuel companies will not pay for any of the global damages from burning the fossil fuels, despite making hundreds of billions in profits every year. There is no choice. At…

The recently dropped charges against a man who was arrested for refusing to stop speaking at a Montpelier City Council meeting didn’t have anything to do with free speech. The point was whether we support local elected officials in their efforts to maintain order at public meetings. Washingt…

While speculation regarding the Republican Party ranges from an imminent, humiliating implosion to retaking the presidency and both houses of Congress in 2024, one thing appears certain: this ain’t your grandfather’s GOP; or your dad’s for that matter; and quite possibly, not even your older…

I received two responses to my last column, “Why bother to be a Christian,” that really grabbed my attention. One was from an old friend and colleague (whom I’ll call by his initials CC) and the other was from a Times Argus reader who has been an ordained minister, holds his doctorate in rel…

During the past few weeks, we have been co-hosting candidate forums along with public access television centers in Montpelier, Barre and Rutland. The aim has been to get to know the candidates beyond the articles in the newspaper and have a robust conversation about the issues facing the com…

As we approach another, stomach-churning, general election cycle, it feels as though we just broke free of the previous, stomach-churning, election cycle, probably because that’s exactly what we did. In fact, with presidential elections scheduled every four years and midterms in-between, it’…

Two opposing opinion pieces in last weekend’s edition speak volumes about the decision by Vermont State Colleges System to radically remake the nature of our state college libraries. The proposed changes, which involve converting libraries into all-digital information centers, are planned fo…

As we begin a new year with the relief of midterm elections behind us, many Americans are enjoying a sense of comfort about our political future. We saw a blue wave when a red one was predicted and a long overdue increase in diversity among those elected at all levels of governance. We moved…

Twenty-five years ago, two middle-school students climbed an Arkansas hill and shot 13 classmates and two teachers. Newsweek’s cover dubbed them the “schoolyard killers.” Advocates, armed with haunting snapshots of little boys toting lethal weapons, indicted our “guns and hunting culture” as…

Historians didn’t identify the Industrial Revolution for some decades after its genesis. By contrast, the start of the Atomic Age can be dated to the second the first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Much of the developed world has recently moved into a new era the general populace will …

‘Now what new mess are you making?” I can just hear the judgy tone in my cat’s voice, as she eyes the big square of cardboard on my dining room table, surrounded by a stack of catalogs, scissors, paint, glitter and an oversized glue stick. (Kitty and I often have conversations, at least in m…

Twenty-seven million Earthlings watched the State of the Union show. Most were Americans. That’s because the rest of the world has enough of its own problems, like wars and earthquakes. However, based on the antics of the Mar-a-Lago administration and the majority status recently acquired by…

Somewhere along the line within the last year or so, I’ve begun watching “X-Files” reruns while Helene is out or otherwise engaged, following the close encounters of FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they wade through the vast gulf of unexplained phenomenon that has forever inundated …

I grew up in a family of five generations of Vermonters. When I was young, I hunted with my father. Later in life, I hunted with a bird dog. I have the deepest respect for those who hunt to feed themselves as opposed to those of us who depend on slaughterhouses, cattle cars and factory farms…

When I was a kid in junior high, I wanted to be a doctor. By the time I got halfway through high school, I’d discovered I didn’t enjoy dissecting frogs nearly as much as I liked combatively exercising my larynx. Since lawyers, as I understood it, got paid to argue, practicing law became my n…

Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation wants input on a potential rule that would regulate where and how wake boats can be used on the state’s waterways. If you’re concerned about water quality and want to keep lakes safe for paddlers, sailors, swimmers and other users, it’s time…

Last weekend offered a lesson on how our tidy, little world can profoundly change in a heartbeat, compounding the existential dread that has been our invisible friend for several years. Millions living in the wealthiest of countries consider having a roof over our heads and something to eat …

In the heat of continuing political madness, many important issues that should continue to be addressed in news cycles have been sidelined or ignored. Among crucial missing topics is the necessary reminder that we are living on a soon-to-be unsalvageable planet.

As an anxious nation busies itself elsewhere, counting the hours until next Sunday’s Super Bowl 57 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, my own growing distaste for football in general and the NFL in particular has reached an apex — I’ve stopped watching completely. Among t…

In the middle of our country, the headline question probably doesn’t make much sense or is slightly offensive. But here in the Northeast, and especially in Vermont (the “least religious state in the union”), the question is simple and straightforward. Why bother? We’ve moved beyond superstit…