Monthly Archives: June 2024

In Defense of Good Things

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

My little boy just rushed in to grab a popsicle as he tries to beat the heat on a hot summer’s afternoon. Then back out to jabber and play and kill time. Scooter riding or playing ‘infection’ (whatever that is, … Continue reading →

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In Defense of Beautiful Things

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

One of the defining factors of Weimar Germany as the country slid into Nazism was the glorification of the ugly. The music was shreakish; they printed literature without punctuation as a ‘novelty’; a toilet nailed to a 2X4 was ‘art’. … Continue reading →

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Theodor Herzl’s Utopia

Posted on June 16, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

…But, if you do not wish it, all this that I have related to you is and will remain a fable. (…) Dreams are not so different from deeds as some may think. All the deeds of men are only … Continue reading →

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Embarking on a New Endeavor

Posted on June 15, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

Since nobody buys my novels, I’ve decided to embark on a new endeavor. How’d I do? P.S. You can still buy my novels…

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The Noise of Typewriters – A Review

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

I wonder what the opposite of a rant is? Stream of consciousness? This book is Lance Morrow’s stream of consciousness reflections on 40 years as a journalist. A lot of it is about Harry Luce, the founder of Time Magazine; … Continue reading →

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Una Épica Sobre La Venezuela Chavista

Posted on June 5, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

La revolución socialista sudamericana más significativa de nuestros tiempos, es contada desde varios puntos de vista, con humor e intimismo. El peligro de la utopía, cuando se apodera de los corazones y las mentes, termina por incendiarlo todo. Sus personajes … Continue reading →

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On Peggy Noonan and Nostalgia

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

Nostalgia is memory with the pain removed, and conservativism is the political utopia of this nostalgia. As we get older, we get more nostalgic. We sort of realize that things that seemed ragged and scarred as we lived them are … Continue reading →

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Verano

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

Y así la primavera terminó en Estados Unidos, trayendo el majestuoso verano. Después de vivir tantos años en el trópico, donde no hay estaciones como las del norte, me sorprendió cuánto me gusta ver el pasar del tiempo reflejado en … Continue reading →

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The Bleeding Hearts and the Greedy

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

Every time I go to Argentina I am amazed that despite 80+ years of Peronism (named after Juan Peron, the erstwhile dictator who generated his own brand of politics; sometimes a fascist, sometimes a socialist, always a populist) Buenos Aires … Continue reading →

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