Monthly Archives: May 2017

RCTV – The Day the Music Died

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” That’s what communism gives us; those who preach ‘progress’ in order to seize power give us instead a stale sort of stasis. Eating and re-eating the same saltine cracker. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs, Liberty, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

“Living to Tell the Tale” By Gabriel Garcia Marquez – A Book Review

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

I once had a friend, a Cuban/American professor of governance at Georgetown. We would meet occasionally for lunch in the elegant faculty lounge to discuss the affairs of the day in Latin America; what the future of his imprisoned birth … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

If You Don’t Read Books…

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

Is the current bloodshed in Syria the final battle of the First World War; or the first battle of the Third? And related to that, why is the House of Saud the center of the Arab world, and not the … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, philosophy, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 11 Comments

The Caveman and the Boorish

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

I don’t have Cable TV – or subscription TV of any sorts. Overseas, as we are, we make do with Netflix. So to a certain extent I am fortuitous to be somewhat sheltered from the boorish: “Nightly News” I think … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Politeness and our Struggling Democracy

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

A few years ago, on what is popularly called our “baby-moon” (that special trip you take with your wife before the hurricane descends in the form of a squealing, squeaking, energetic little boy who these days sits at the dinner … Continue reading →

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A House Divided

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

Abraham Lincoln once wrote, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Remember that? The civil war was upon us, two dramatically different views of the way to live our lives as Americans – of what rights meant – about what … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Liberty, Uncategorized | Tagged | 12 Comments

Rage Against the Dying

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

I’ve always thought that the best writers were those with too much money, or none at all. Both conditions leave the aspiring novelists and poets with the audacity to not give a two-penny damn about what others are saying or … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Castles, Civilizations and the Know-Nothings

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

Why do we hold the ancients so tightly in our imaginations? Civilization, I suppose. Because they are not built all at once: the brilliant dream of a tyrant, the epic ambitions of an emperor king. Plans of individual men – … Continue reading →

Posted in Honor, Liberty, philosophy, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The King of Lost Places

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

Do you ever want to fit in? To become lost in a crowd? To engender no interest in your fellow man? The other morning I was sitting in a vacant plaza in Frankfurt eating a croissant and drinking a cappuccino … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | 4 Comments