Tag Archives: America

An Empire Wilderness: Wonder and Contempt

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

This book was enlightening, not only about America but to the perspective of Robert D. Kaplan. Watching somebody describe themselves, you get a feel for what they think is noteworthy and important. You understand better the lens through which they … Continue reading →

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His World Now

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

The future will be nothing like the past. The trick is, the future is now. That is one of the rules of life. We all know of somebody, a cancer patient or a diabetic in our midst who was fine, … Continue reading →

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A River Runs Through It

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

In days of angst and rage it is to art, and specifically to literature that we return to remind us of the American experience and what it means to be part of each other. “Eventually, all things merge into one, and … Continue reading →

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History Has Started Again

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

I never expected to have a ringside seat to the end of an order. Edward Gibbon live-streamed on YouTube; Cicero in 140 characters. “The enemy is within the gates; it is with our own luxury, our own folly…”  You always … Continue reading →

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Visit Bisbee

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

You might want to take a trip this summer; and you might want in doing so to visit the lost places in our own lands. So you grab the old road atlas that your dad left up in the attic … Continue reading →

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Marco Polo’s World – A Book Review

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

Curiosity – and a joyful quest for wonder. For wonder is not something that hangs low on branches for the feckless or lazy to grasp. Wonder is a reward for hard work, searching and understanding and discovery – a journey … Continue reading →

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Our Tremendous Inequality

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

Painters and poets and inventors, dreamers all – starving and blind. Paul Gauguin on a tropical island painting the interior walls of his desperate cabin before burning it to the ground in his madness (if we are to believe W. … Continue reading →

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

While Belshazzar Drinks

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

While Belshazzar drank; the aromas of fine wine and elegant foods prepared by the cooks of the greatest empire in the world filled the opulent Assyrian halls of power. The party was reaching crescendo, that moment of inebriation and abandon … Continue reading →

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“East of Eden” – This Story of Us

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Joel D. Hirst

There exist in nature archetypal stories, product of life which repeats itself over and over again in an endless closed loop. Eventually these stories, so profoundly part of the human experience, become trapped so completely in our psyche that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Drugs

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Joel D. Hirst

There’s an old magazine from where I hail called Arizona Highways – for decades it has captured in pictures and stories the character of my indomitable state, my home. A country really – deserts and forests and lakes and mountains. … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments