Over the course of the last year, VTDigger.org has published hundreds of stories, most of which would fit in the straight news category. Once in a while though, we like to get beyond politics and public policy and tap our stable of essay writers for insight into issues, like Facebook fandom, McHouses, global warming, Vermontee nostalgia, a snowbird’s perilous trip down Florida’s I-95 and life under the Golden Bubble. Some are serious, others are zany satires. Here are 10 of our most thought-provoking pieces from 2010. Enjoy, and Happy New Year from all the writers at VTDigger.org.
~Anne Galloway, editor
Vermont architecture: The get-lost effect gets recognized
By Donald M. Kreis on April 17, 2010
What’s modest about a house that, with its adjoining and newly built barn, has almost 10,000 square feet of space and occupies a 210-acre parcel of land? Continue reading
Exile from Facebook Nation
By Barbara Ann Curcio on August 10, 2010
I don’t want you to know my whereabouts every minute of the day (“Status”), or the most boring, inane details of my life (mucking the horses now–I’m in deep doo-doo!). Don’t need to play FarmVille; I live there in real life. And I actually LIKE my privacy. Continue reading
The global volcanic feedback loop
By Terry J. Allen on May 25, 2010
If researchers are right about the impact of glacier melt and rising seas, volcanic and earthquake activity will accelerate. We are in for a hell of a ride. Continue reading
Personal essay: A contrarian view of the Tunbridge World’s Fair
By Donald M. Kreis on September 24, 2010 | Edit
The point here is not to idealize the 1939 New York fair.The point is that a forward-looking orientation is an infinitely more satisfying, inspiring and, frankly, honest source of pleasure than the false nostalgia served up every September in Tunbridge. Continue reading
BigPharma, the Orgasmatron and restless vagina syndrome
By Terry J. Allen on March 2, 2010
By promoting the idea that “normal” women have explosive sex all the time, BigPharma helped launch “female sexual dysfunction.” Continue reading
Antibiotic ban leaves farmers in a tough spot
By Terry J. Allen on August 10, 2010 | Edit
Many farmers and organic proponents recognize the USDA’s 100 percent ban on antibiotics needs to be re-examined in light of a growing concerns about animal welfare. Continue reading
Interstate 95: Drive it if you can
By Barbara Ann Curcio on June 30, 2010
Snowbirds from Vermont need a tank–make that a whole squadron of them–to feel secure negotiating the fearsome traffic and speed of the Florida Interstate. Continue reading
Death raises questions about U.S. conflict in Afghanistan
By Anne Galloway on July 4, 2010
How do we honor the war dead and those who have returned from the battlefield suicidal or permanently maimed? We use the euphemism “ultimate sacrifice” to describe soldiers killed in conflict, but have we lost a shared sense of that sacrifice? Continue reading
Food stamps, soda and the sweet nanny state
By Terry J. Allen on November 24, 2010
Mayor Bloomberg asked the Department of Agriculture to allow a two-year pilot program that adds soda to the list of items that the city’s food stamp recipients cannot buy with benefits. Continue reading
Digger Dirt: Farewell to the Golden Bubble, for now
By Anne Galloway on May 13, 2010
Though the Statehouse can seem like high school on steroids, in committee legislators plod through painstaking legal minutiae and wade through technical testimony like pros. Continue reading
