Monthly Archives: July 2017

In Venezuela the Revolution is Over – They Won

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

I’ve never written an epitaph before – turns out they are hard. How do you condense a lifetime of longing, of striving and dreaming, loving and yearning – a lifetime of wonder – into a few black words on a … Continue reading →

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The Repentance of the Djinn

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

The djinni was seated high on the summit of an eerie windswept peak of the Adrar des Ifoghas massif, deep in the Sahara. She was thoughtful, she was lonely, and she was angry. Sila they called her, the humans did, … Continue reading →

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Darkness at Noon – A Book Review

Posted on July 23, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

“The Party denied the free will of the individual – and at the same time it exacted his willing self-sacrifice. It denied his capacity to choose between two alternatives – and at the same time it demanded that he should … Continue reading →

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Our Republic of Second Chances

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

This morning I met an old gang banger in the play area at the mall. Teeth capped, tattoos decorating his neck, plaid shirt buttoned at the top over low pants and a scar down his arm that looked like it … Continue reading →

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Leopoldo Lopez Is Home – For Now, That’s Enough

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

Venezuela’s most renowned political prisoner is home. Not free; not yet. But home; that will do for now. For him – to eat food mixed with love by his wife instead of excrement by his hostage takers; to talk on … Continue reading →

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Fahrenheit 451 – A Book Review

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

I now remember reading this book during high school, although that fact had escaped me when I saw the novel perched alongside Ayn Rand in a bookstore in Arizona. I had actually been thinking about reading it, and I knew … Continue reading →

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Ideas of Home

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

I know I haven’t written for a while. I have been reacquainting myself with America; a process that does not lend itself naturally to a pen and paper. Smells and sounds; my land, my people – my desert. We all … Continue reading →

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