Uncategorized 1404

Philadelphia, PA R. J. Snell A slow thinker and slower writer—some might say the reverse—I’ve been chewing over the Christmas season for the past few days, a remembrance of things…

Pete Davis made his debut on this blog this week, with an essay on the poisonous politics of The West Wing. But he's not just a writer or community reformer. Today he has…

Stephen Heiner writes about about why he didn't participate in the Paris march. http://theamericaninparis.com/2015/01/10/je-ne-suis-pas-charlie-why-im-not-marching-in-paris-tomorrow/

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Would I read Charlie Hebdo? (Assuming I could read French, that is.) Would I want anyone in my family to read it? Would I want…

"He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Handel's Messiah, Air from Part II, quoting Isaiah 53 Being acquainted with grief does not…

Hunting season is a time for fathers and sons. I have posted a reflection at The Catholic Gentleman on the need our sons have for more time with us their…

Dear Readers, With the end of the year soon upon us, it is time once again to think about making a tax-deductible gift to FPR. Your donations are used to…

“It’s no easy task—indeed it’s very difficult—to realize that in every soul there is an instrument that is purified and rekindled by such subjects [liberal studies] when it has been…

On Friday, Caleb Stegall--lawyer, farmer, family man, rabble-rouser, and long-time Front Porcher--was appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court by Governor Sam Brownback. The criticisms of Stegall's appointment are many--he's been…

Her breasts are too good for the local market.

This last September, the Future Symphony Institute invited me to address its first annual conference on some of the philosophical problems in our age that make it difficult for the…

This piece complains that Small Business Saturday remains in the shadow of the more famous day which precedes it. Meanwhile, this article reports that skilled young people may be returning to their…

“So if one doesn’t know how to make use of it, Critobulus, then money must be kept at such a distance that it isn’t even included among one’s assets.” Socrates,…

Hidden Springs Lane. It’s raining. Yesterday we were told to expect 4-8 inches of snow. I was looking forward to the snow. Getting a good snow for Thanksgiving somehow seemed…

I am ambivalent about Thanksgiving. Giving thanks is not a problem though I am sure I could show more gratitude especially when stuck behind some driver in the passing lane…

I've had a number of students over the past few days ask me for my opinion of the events in Ferguson, MO. They register shock when I tell them I…

“Nothing is better for man than a good wife...” Hesiod, Works and Days One might wonder whether that is an overstatement. It was once suggested to me that Thanksgiving is…

When "progressive" means doing things the way your grandparents did.

I am pleased to announce J. Arthur Bloom will be the new managing editor at FPR. Jordan comes to us with a great deal of experience both as an editor…

There are relatively few developments in the world's present socio-economic and cultural moment that gives me much hope--but one of them is the increased frequency in which I see people…

A special Thanksgiving Edition will be appearing Wednesday.

This does.

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] I recently attended a conference in Nanjing, China, hosted by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and organized our fellow Porcher, Adam Webb. You can read a short…

This piece offers some criticism of trends in the local food movement. Meanwhile, this article condemns excess and waste in the use of food. This article contends that current American…