Articles Archive
A Genuinely Original Libertarian Argument?
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Yesterday evening, I participated in a symposium sponsored in part by Northfield School of the Liberal Arts, a private Christian academy, here in Wichita, KS.…
What Can Be Sweeter?
An Ash Wednesday Quotation and Reflection “And the Lord, seeking his workman among the multitudes to whom he thus crieth, saith again: ‘What man is he that desireth life and…
Localist Roundup: More Drones
The Food and Drug Administration has recently unveiled plans to revamp the nutrition labels on packaged food, as explained in this piece. Also, according to this article, the U.S. Department…
They Been Here
“You don’t say that,” my grandfather was telling me, gently but with obvious annoyance, as I’d just embarrassed him. We were walking out of a small store on a country…
Localist Roundup: Escape from Google
This piece is an interesting interview about the importance of philosophy. The interviewee appears primarily concerned with the idea that philosophy is obsolete--she contends strongly against this notion. In other…
Zeus’ Plan for February
“Aegis-bearing Zeus has a design for each occasion, and mortals find this hard to comprehend.” Hesiod, Works and Days Hesiod was convinced that Zeus has a plan for every occasion.…
Localist Roundup: Trains and Drones and Farms
According to a recent study, loneliness is actually a cause of death. On a less macabre note, this article discusses the implications of local news agencies using camera-equipped drones. Meanwhile, this piece describes…
The Patron Saint of Place
For several decades now, the business plan of fast-food chains has been to build restaurants with a similar design: a drive through around the back and side, an indoor playground…
A Good Essayist is Hard to Find
Wiseblood Books is about to publish Dana Gioia's superb "The Catholic Writer Today" as the first in its series of "Wiseblood Essays in Contemporary Culture." Order now: Not for papists…
Localist Roundup: Bankers Are Miserable
This piece describes a new line of hotels designed with millennials in mind. It's interesting to see what the company sees as the preferences of their target generation. Meanwhile, this…
When Your Mother Grows Older
“For other animals have their natural ‘forethought’ which enables them to provide for themselves: whereas man lives by reason, which can attain to forethought only after long experience: so that…
Localist Roundup: Politics and Farms
Now that the congressional drama regarding the farm bill is over, this piece offers some less-than-optimistic thoughts on the process and results. According to this piece, Rand Paul is apparently…
New England Patriot
From The American Conservative, my appreciation of the decentralist Republican (yes, they do exist) John McClaughry of Vermont.
California Splits
When a "boomer" hits the Pacific Ocean, how does he redefine starting anew? Here are some suggestions from the West Coast.
Localist Roundup: Amazon’s Empire
Apparently, physical activity combats depression. It's nice that we have studies to tell us these things. Meanwhile, this piece describes the downfall of corporeal toys. And this piece describes the…
Ciceronian Society Conference at Mount Saint Mary’s University, March 27th-29th
We are pleased to announce the coming Ciceronian Society Conference, March 27-29, 2014, at Mount Saint Mary's University, Emmitsburg, MD. Scholars such as James Matthew Wilson, Jeff Taylor, David Walsh, Bruce Frohnen,…
Virgil and Valentines
“Duty-bound, Aeneas, though he struggled with desire To calm and comfort her in all her pain, To speak to her and turn her mind from grief, And though he sighed…
American Political Praxis
What words best describe present-day Washington politics? The commonplace answer, endlessly repeated by politicians themselves and media observers alike, is this: dysfunction, gridlock, partisanship, and incivility. Yet here’s a far…
What I Saw at the High School Speech Meet
Here in northwest Indiana, I agreed to be a judge for a recent regional speech meet, partly because our middle daughter was a contestant herself and partly because I love…
Room with Askew
Just finished reading a beautifully written, if unsettling, comic gem: The Disaster Artist, an account of the making of the cult movie The Room, by Room costar Greg Sestero and…
Come and Hear, or Read, “The Violent and the Fallen”
My second collection of poems, The Violent and the Fallen, is now available on amazon.com, and directly from the publisher. Those interested may also write directly to fourverseletters@gmail.com to order one of only seven signed sets…
Localist Roundup: Super Bowl
Apparently, small-scale chicken farms in Utah have been shut down by meat inspectors recently. The reason appears to be that multiple farms shared a single processing facility. Meanwhile, the author…
Cobbett on Fires
A good fire might even save a marriage... “Fire is a capital article. To have no fire, or a bad fire to sit by, is a most dismal thing. In…