You’d have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the issues and deep divisions surrounding this presidential race. And many voters are dissatisfied with both major candidates, but I consider voting a civic responsibility, so this election season, I was compelled to take action.

Sometimes I hear comedians talk about offending people in a way that sounds like bragging. They feel like having offended someone is a rite of passage, like it's proof that they have something raw and edgy to say that the world has to hear, and that anyone who doesn't like it is just too weak or ignorant.

As in the last two presidential elections, there’s a big push to register new voters. After all, Millennials – defined as being between 19 and 35 years old - now outnumber Boomers by a good half million. It’s a group both parties are eager to reach.

In a philosophical moment, Star Trek’s Mr. Spock professed that “logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.” And such is the case with the law and ethics. For those aspiring to higher levels of ethical conduct, the law sets the floor for behavior, not the ceiling – thus leaving space to navigate in between.

The very first time I voted for President of the United States, I proudly lodged a protest vote. And in my long career of voting, it’s the one and only vote I truly regret casting.

America has always had a split personality when it comes to immigration. On the one hand we have Emma Lazurus’ soaring verses on the base of the Statue of Liberty, both words and hands beckoning to those “yearning to be free.”

At the recent Burlington Book Festival, I looked over a selection of poetry for sale by Vermont writers, and a wave of sadness came over me when I spotted editions by Leland Kinsey and David Budbill.

The presence of Calvin Coolidge still hovers over White Pine Camp like the morning mist rising off nearby Osgood Pond. There are several photos of him scattered around the camp complex, and the largest two cottages are named for Coolidge and his wife, Grace. But why is his frowning, taciturn ghost here, deep in the northern Adirondack forest?

It was the first night of Art Hop in Burlington. I had organized a group of college students to produce a live webcast on Pine Street. We had a bunch of TV equipment we had to assemble in the afternoon, and put away at night. I was nervous whether everything would go ok – and thankfully, it did.

Vermont has a housing problem. For low and moderate income residents, there’s a well-documented shortage of affordable, rental housing. For middle class families, home ownership opportunities are receding as housing prices continue to rise. In Burlington, home prices climbed 5.5% last year so that the median price of houses that are currently on the market is $319,000.