The Editors

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

According to this piece, online grocery shopping is on the up and up. Meanwhile, this article describes something similar happening with book subscriptions. This article tries to delineate boundaries between…

The other night I saw the end of a life well-lived. I didn’t know him; I just saw his funeral. My bus rolled through the dark night I was riding…

A version of the long-expected farm bill has passed the House of Representatives. This piece sees the bill as an indicator of a good trend for Congress. Meanwhile, snow has…

“But would the father have the heart to work if he didn’t have his children? If it weren’t for the sake of his children. And in winter when he works…

The news has been abuzz recently with Pope Francis's comments that the internet could be utilized to encourage community. Meanwhile, this piece looks for a silver lining in a study…

A few days ago was the first time I heard Chinese being spoken with a heavy Indian accent.  Given the tenor of our times, one might expect this to have…

To the left of our Southern California driveway is a little plot of land, 400-500 square feet. Some homeowners just pave over a space like this, to add another parking…

According to this piece, American presidents may be becoming more polarizing. Also on the political front, the legally powerless Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board considers NSA phone record collection illegal.…

“I am Aeneas, duty-bound, and known Above high air of heaven by my fame, Carrying with me in my ships our gods Of hearth and home, saved from the enemy.”…

This piece indicates that President Obama has recently scheduled a meeting with Pope Francis. Meanwhile, this article describes how food hubs help novice farmers turn a profit, thus encouraging local…

Berwyn, PA. Everyone knows G.K. Chesterton's aphorism that, if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.  Dappled Things writer Karen Ullo has deepened our understanding of that…

This week, in Strasbourg, there was a fine and frank denunciation of the European Union by Nigel Farage, British member of the European Parliament.  Developments across the Atlantic mirror the…

If the assessment in this piece is correct, President Obama won't shy away from using executive orders to implement his agenda for the year. Meanwhile, legislators in Washington state have they're…

“At the very moment when the vine has shed Its latest leaves and the cold north wind has shaken The glory from the woods, at that same moment The lively…

What is it about the modern world that causes us to forget that every choice comes with a cost?  The answer cannot be that modern men obsess on wish-fulfillment; ancient…

According to this piece, Congress has recently devised a compromise government funding bill. At the same time, the institution seems to be entertaining the notion of moving on the long-discussed…

Hillsdale, Michigan.   Patrick Deneen posted a vigorous rejoinder to pro-free market critics of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. Deneen’s takedown of Rush Limbaugh got me thinking less about the…

According to this interesting piece, school closings in response to the dreaded polar vortex demonstrate that "today we're all wimps." Meanwhile, British cabinet member Owen Patterson recently urged the U.K.…