Category: Opinion

The Outside Story: Northern species of flying squirrels differ from the southern

Posted on January 28, 2013 |

• Opinion
• The Outside Story

By Madeline Bodin

The calls come in all winter, said Paul DeBow of DeBow Wildlife Service in Plymouth, N.H. If there is no snow, the peak will be in January or February, when it’s the coldest. Some people think the animals they hear partying in the attic are chipmunks, he says. Chipmunks in the attic in the middle of winter. But they are not.

Chipmunks, DeBow explained, hibernate in winter and what homeowners are probably hearing are flying squirrels. Because flying squirrels are nocturnal, few people ever see them.

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Politically Thinking: Will eloquence lead to more equality?

Posted on January 24, 2013 |

• Opinion
• opinion
• Politically Thinking

By Eric Davis

The most enduring inaugural addresses in American history — Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy — have all been first inaugurals that marked a change in the political direction of the nation. Only Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural, delivered in March 1865, just a few weeks before the end of the Civil War and the re-elected president’s own assassination, is counted among the great speeches in American history.

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Between the Lines: On climate, divestment as investment

Posted on January 24, 2013 |

• Opinion
• Between the Lines
• opinion

By Gregory Dennis

There’s an esoteric-sounding word echoing across campuses and board rooms this winter.

Like many colleges and universities across the country, Middlebury College is suddenly facing demands from students, faculty and alumni about “divestment”: withdrawing investments from companies whose primary business is the production and sale of fossil fuels. UVM is facing similar demands.

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Clippings by Andy Kirkaldy: First the guns, then the cars ... or not

Posted on January 17, 2013 |

• Opinion
• Clippings

By Andy Kirkaldy

I’m not trying to scare business away from my good friends at Vermont Field Sports, who tell me they always see sales spike when gun control hits the news, but it’s safe to say the state’s law-abiding hunters can breathe easy. No one is coming for their rifles, or is going to pass a law that says they can’t buy newer, better ones.

That’s not really the point of the current discussion on guns — and, make no mistake about it, it’s time to talk.

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