Monthly Archives: November 2018

“Defeating Dictators” – A Book Review

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

There are many kinds of books. Yes, I know, I am stating the obvious of course. However for me its always helpful when I read a book to try and place it within the panoply of other books seeking to … Continue reading →

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A Reason, A Season, or a Lifetime

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

I got accused of good writing yesterday. Naturally, it did not come in the form of a compliment – but nonetheless that is what my unfriend was saying. Unfriend, one of the clutter of people from our past who long … Continue reading →

Posted in Honor, Uncategorized | Tagged | 5 Comments

On I, Charles, From the Camps by Joel D. Hirst

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

Originally posted on Richard Ali's Blog:
I, Charles, From the Camps Book:                    I,Charles from the Camps Author:                Joel D. Hirst Publisher:            iUniverse(2018) Page Count:       213 The eponymous Charles is Charles Agwok, the northern Ugandan protagonist of Joel…

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Ours Are Not the Children of the Nobles

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

After a long hot day in Africa fighting the anarchy that came – heralding our arriving ordeal, an ordeal which is only just beginning – I sometimes sit down on my sofa wine-glass in hand, a silky red imported from … Continue reading →

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Where Have All The Readers Gone?

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

“Where have all the good writers gone?” It is a lament I have, often followed by “—and where are all the real journalists? Not professional ill-informed opinion holders but the great minds of old who still have that undying spark … Continue reading →

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Burmese Days – A Book Review

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

This was a novel about loneliness. Most people who post on travel blogs or the quotidian social media photograph parades of beachgoers and beer do not do justice to the loneliness of a life lived away from what one knows, … Continue reading →

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On Putting Down the Shovel

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

The year was 2006, and the table was set for a party. A coronation of sorts; Hugo Chavez had succeeded in overcoming six years of instability which included multiple electoral challenges, a national strike, an attempted coup. Those had been … Continue reading →

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Our Rolling Road of Wonder

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

I grew up in the haunted northern valleys of Argentina’s Andes mountains. Snuggled up against Chile’s Atacama and Bolivia’s Altiplano, for those who can make the trek and brave the 20,000 foot peaks and passes is an escarpment, a quebrada, … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberty, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

“It Can’t Happen Here”? — Nope, Not Like That

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

Some books are supposed to be good. And then they are not. Some authors are supposed to have mastered that special ability to put pen to paper and end up at the end of 80,000 or so words with a … Continue reading →

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