Monthly Archives: August 2023

A Speech of Mine on Christian Charity

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I came across this speech the other day that I delivered to a fundraiser in Chicago a decade ago. Back then I was a Fellow in Human Freedom at the George W. Bush Institute and working as an advisor to … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Liberty | Tagged | 2 Comments

Close My Eyes

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

Listen to this song first: Did it haunt you, like it did me? If so, you may now read on… —— My wife thinks this song is about suicide. But my wife is wrong; though only partly wrong. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberty | Tagged | 3 Comments

“Vengeance” – A Movie Review

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I rarely write movie reviews; there are so few that deserve it. Especially modern movies that are in essence political. Movies don’t stay with us like books do; but I have a feeling that this one will. “Vengeance” is part … Continue reading →

Posted in America | Tagged | 5 Comments

What Putin’s War Is About

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I’ll be the first to admit I’m baffled by the decisions of Russian decision-makers. Take the most recent dustup between Vlad and his personal chef Evgeny Prigozhin, who it seems was assassinated this week for his wild “march on Moscow” … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, International Affairs | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Where the Islamic State Came From, What It Wanted, And Why It Failed

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

The War on Terror likely ended when SEAL teams dispatched by President Trump killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019. 18 years of war, of special operations and invasions and counter-insurgencies were essentially over. To be sure there are still terrorists … Continue reading →

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Homage to Catalonia by Orwell

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

In many ways the Spanish Civil War defined the fight (violent and non-violent) that has plagued the industrialized world. The left (utopian progressives who see a new order of harmony and equality just over the bloody horizon) wins elections and … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs, Liberty, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Armenians of Artsakh

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

“Don’t bother with it,” a colleague of mine told me of the Armenia/Azerbaijan stalemate when I first arrived in Yerevan in spring of 2019. “That conflict was frozen long before you got here and will be frozen long after you’re … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | 4 Comments

The Birth of North American Protest Music

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

In Latin America there’s a genre of music called “Trova”, protest music. Played in the jungles and beside streams and on top of make-shift brick barrios self-engineered up the hills surrounding the neighborhoods and clubs of the elites. It comes … Continue reading →

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Help Rebalance Our Unbalanced World

Posted on August 13, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

“Growth for growth’s sake is the ideology of a cancer cell,” is the famous quote by environmentalist Edward Abbey. My mind is brought here to Twitter — Oh excuse me X — the historic effort of Elon Musk to take … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy | Tagged | 4 Comments

RIP GVDL

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I learned today of the death, a few months back, of somebody I’d never met but who I’d corresponded with off and on for several years. He was an odd fellow, an old man by the time I met him, … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Honor | Tagged | 10 Comments