Monthly Archives: January 2018

“OSLO” – A Play About Peace

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

In Angus Deaton’s seminal work on inequality “The Great Escape” he observes, “Our current deep-seated concerns with fairness, as well as our outrage when our norms of fairness are violated, are quite possibly rooted in the absence of storage options … Continue reading →

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Italo Calvino – “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler”

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

I was prompted to start reading Italo Calvino’s novels after coming across an article in Foreign Policy magazine “The Land of Topless Minarets and Headless Little Girls” by a pseudonymed writer Amal Hanano who turned out to be Lina Sergie … Continue reading →

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The Measure of a Man

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

“That is it!” a man says to his son; I’ve done my part, and now my rest is won; To seek my peace in world that’s hard and cold; Of joy to find before that I am old. How to … Continue reading →

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The Vict’ry For to Keep

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

Can you feign that there’s naught wrong with you? Lest your close friends begin to doubt you too; Can you endure, alone to bear the scar; Received from your oft fought clandestine war? Can you wake, to fill the morning’s … Continue reading →

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That Which is Old

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

Why do we treasure that which is old? The mundane – an earthen bowl purchased for two-pence in an African market; ah but take it from the bottom of the sea, a shipwreck discovered. Priceless, they will call it; setting … Continue reading →

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“The Great Escape” by Angus Deaton – A Book Review

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

There is no more controversial of the social sciences these days than the study of economics. Yes, a social science – the study of human interactions; and though it does contain laws (supply and demand, unintended outcomes) proven and repeatable, … Continue reading →

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Dubai – And the Return of the City State

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

Often when I find myself in a faraway land I stop to take a minute, perhaps seated on a dock surrounded by the sounds and smells of fishermen and their craft or lounging unseen against an old wall beside a … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments