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<u><i>Vol. 16, No. 3,995</i> - The American Reporter - <i>July 30, 2010</i></u>
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<dl><dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/3,995/1.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/3,995/2.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 are protected by the First Amendment. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/3,995/3.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>SHINING THE LIGHT OF THE NEW COLOSSUS INTO ARIZONA</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/4.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AUSTERITY FOR WHOM?</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/5.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>RACE AND FACE</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/6.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>VENTURE SOCIALISM</b></a></dt><dd>
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<b>by Joyce Marcel</b>
<p> DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Henry Ford understood that his business couldn't survive unless his workers could buy his product, and so he paid them well. <p>
<dt><a href="http://www.american-reporter.com/3,995/7.html"><b><i>Reporting: Immigration</i><br>MIGRANTS OPPOSE IMMIGRATION CAP IN THE UK</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/8.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>BREAD AND CIRCUSES</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/9.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WHO KILLED THE AMERICAN DREAM? THE REPUBLICAN PARTY DID</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/10.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/3,995/11.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>LeBRON, THE MEDIA, AND AMERICA'S SOUL</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/12.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>RE-INVENTING VERMONT</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/13.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ESPN SCOOPS ESPN ON THE LEBRON JAMES STORY</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/14.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/3,995/15.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/3,995/16.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>ONE MAN'S VUVUZELA IS ANOTHER MAN'S CURSE</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/17.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>F.I.F.A. FEVER</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/18.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/3,995/19.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>THE CIVILIAN AND THE GENERAL: BEHIND THE McCHRYSTAL INTERVIEW FALLOUT</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/20.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>IS THIS AMERICA'S TIME OF RECKONING?</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/21.html"><b><i>Press Release</i><br>10 ALLEGED RUSSIAN SECRET AGENTS ARRESTED, 11th CHARGED IN THE UNITED STATES</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/22.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>A PETRI DISH FOR INSPIRATION</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/23.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>WHY DON'T AMERICANS LIKE SOCCER?</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/24.html"><b>GENERATION JOBLESS: AMERICANS UNDER 30 AND THE GREAT RECESSION</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/25.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>DAY 59</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/26.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>WE NEED ILLEGALS - AND IT'S TIME TO ADMIT IT</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/27.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>R'OIL INDIGNATION</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/28.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>IN DEFENSE OF HELEN THOMAS</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/29.html"><b><i>Reporting: Manatee County</i><br>'GREAT DEBATE' FRAMES BROAD IMPACT OF FLORIDA'S AMENDMENT 4</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/30.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>RUBBER STAMPS MAKE EDITORS LAZY</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/31.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>SELF-REGULATION IS A DISASTER FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/32.html"><b><i>Passings: Dennis Hopper</i><br>A MAN AND A SUMMER TO REMEMBER</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/33.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>SEX AND THE SICKIE</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/34.html"><b><i>Brasch Words</i><br>OILY POLITICS LEAD TO ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/35.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>TEXAS TWISTERS: CONSERVATIVES REWRITE HISTORY FOR ITS SCHOOLCHILDREN</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/36.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>OUTRAGE, ANYONE?</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/37.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>THE END OF PETROSEXUAL MAN</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/38.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>HOW TO FIX THE OIL SPILL </b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/39.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>
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<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/3,995/40.html"><b><i>Reporting: Nepal</i><br>13-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN BOY SETS RECORD ON EVEREST</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/41.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>THE FISH PLATE</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/42.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>ELENA KAGAN: A GOOD, BUT NOT GREAT, PICK FOR THE SUPREME COURT</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/43.html"><b><i>An AR Exclusive</i><br>CRIST GETS ‘COLD FEET' ON OFFSHORE DRILLING BAN</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/44.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>AN ODE TO THE PILL</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/45.html"><b><i>Politics: 2012</i><br>TAMPA PICKED TO HOST 2012 GOP CONVENTION</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/46.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>HISTORY IS NO BIRTHDAY PARTY</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/47.html"><b><i>The Willies</i><br>WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT THEM?</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/48.html"><b><i>On Native Ground</i><br>AMERICAN MUST LEAD IN GREEN ENERGY</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/49.html"><b><i>Momentum</i><br>UNAIDED</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/50.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i><br>BAN ALUMINUM BATS FROM YOUTH BASEBALL</b></a></dt><dd>
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<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/3,995/51.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/3,995/52.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/3,995/53.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/3,995/54.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/3,995/55.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/3,995/56.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/3,995/57.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/3,995/58.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/3,995/59.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/3,995/60.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/3,995/61.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/3,995/62.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/3,995/63.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/3,995/64.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/3,995/65.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/3,995/66.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/3,995/67.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/3,995/68.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/3,995/69.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/3,995/70.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/3,995/71.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/3,995/72.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/3,995/73.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/3,995/74.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/3,995/75.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/3,995/76.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/3,995/77.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/3,995/78.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/3,995/79.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/3,995/80.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/3,995/81.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/3,995/82.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/3,995/83.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/3,995/84.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/3,995/85.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/3,995/86.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/3,995/87.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/3,995/88.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/3,995/89.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/3,995/90.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/3,995/91.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/3,995/92.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/3,995/93.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/3,995/94.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/3,995/95.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/3,995/96.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/3,995/97.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/3,995/98.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/3,995/99.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/3,995/100.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/3,995/101.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/3,995/102.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/3,995/103.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/3,995/104.html"><b><i>Make My Day</i>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/3,995/105.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/3,995/106.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/3,995/107.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/3,995/108.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/3,995/109.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/3,995/110.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/3,995/111.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/3,995/112.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/3,995/113.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/3,995/114.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/3,995/115.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/3,995/116.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/3,995/117.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/3,995/118.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/3,995/119.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/3,995/120.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/3,995/121.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/3,995/122.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/3,995/123.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/3,995/124.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/3,995/125.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/3,995/126.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/3,995/127.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/3,995/128.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/3,995/129.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/3,995/130.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/3,995/131.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/3,995/132.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/3,995/133.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/3,995/134.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/3,995/135.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/3,995/136.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/3,995/137.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/3,995/138.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/3,995/139.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/3,995/140.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/3,995/141.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/3,995/142.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/3,995/143.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/3,995/144.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/3,995/145.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/3,995/146.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/3,995/147.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/3,995/148.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/3,995/149.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/3,995/150.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/3,995/151.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/3,995/152.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/3,995/153.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/3,995/154.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/3,995/155.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/3,995/156.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/3,995/157.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/3,995/158.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/3,995/159.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/3,995/160.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/3,995/161.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/3,995/162.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><p>
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Copyright 2010 <A STYLE="color: blue" HREF="mailto:editor@american-reporter.com">Joe Shea</A> The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved.
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