Uncategorized 1147
Localist Roundup: Small Parks and Big Data
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…
A Husband in Winter
“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…
Localist Roundup: Overconnected
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…
Localist Roundup: Local Bouquets
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.…
Having the Heart to Hope
“Here for the first time he took heart to hope For safety, and to trust his destiny more Even in affliction.” The Aeneid, I, Virgil The great city of Troy…
Localist Roundup: Polar Vortex
As I write this, it's cold. On the political front, this piece tells that the Senate recently propelled a unemployment benefit extension past a key procedural vote. Meanwhile, The Weekly…
Localist Roundup: Horse-Drawn Carriages and Portable Churches
This article reports on the continuing saga of legal challenges to NSA data collection. In other court news, as the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, Justice Sotomayor has issued…
A Wish for the New Year
"On New Year's Eve, at about quarter to twelve o'clock at night, the master of the house and all that are with him go about from room to room opening…
Localist Roundup: Walmarts of Higher Education
Happy New Year! Tomorrow, the Affordable Care Act takes full effect. In other news, this piece looks at Census Bureau statistics and analyzes population shift in the States. The article…
Localist Roundup: Farms and Fishermen
Merry Christmas! Last week, the FDA issued a message concerning the new food safety regulations. Meanwhile, this piece speculates about the fate of specialty crops under a new farm bill.…
What We Wish at Christmas
In practicing the rites of worship men hope that they will be vouchsafed a share in the superhuman abundance of life. From time immemorial, this very thing has always been…
If On A Northeastern Ohio Winter’s Night a Traveler…
The good folks at Mackinaw Valley Institute ponder the passage of time and the provisioning of shelter, as people travel from place to place, needing to find a home in…
Localist Roundup: Suburban Farms?
Late last week, Pope Francis gave an interview. Among other things, the Pope defended himself from the charge of being a Marxist. In other news, Target confirmed this morning that…
Belloc on Christmas
How we observe Christmas has a real urgency; at issue is our happiness, and even our sanity. So Belloc argues in A Remaining Christmas. I reflect on his profound essay at Aleteia, Why Christmas…
Localist Roundup: Deals and Decisions
This week's news is mostly on the political front. A budget deal seems ready to go through the Senate, wrapping up the congressional conflict from earlier this year. But another…
Has This Guy Never Heard of Downton Abbey?
Hillsdale, Mich. Jack Rakove reviews Yuval Levin's The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left (finder's fee to John Fea) and can't figure out…
Waiting for Benedict
Those long haunted by Alasdair MacIntyre's plea at the end of After Virtue - for that matter, even those who aren't - may wish to read Rod Dreher's piece on "The Benedict…
The Gates of Hell
Jeremy Beer gave a brilliant presentation at the FPR Conference on the problems associated with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, or "big philanthropy" in general. Over at Mother Jones is…
Teaching Responsibility
Ischomachus’ wife: “My mother told me that my job was to be responsible.” Ischomachus: “Yes, my dear, of course, my father gave me the same advice.” Xenophon, The Estate Manager,…
Visit Michigan
Do Porchers travel? Well, if they do, they can hardly do better than to come to West Michigan - God's country if ever there was one. So says The Lonely…
Localist Roundup: Telling Stories
As most everyone has heard by now, the renown South African activist and politician Nelson Mandela died last week. This brief editorial argues that Mandela deserves the near-legendary status that…
Flannery Will Get You Everywhere
Superb essay by Dana Gioia--keynote speaker at September's Front Porch Republic conference--on the Catholic writer in America today.
Localist Roundup: Walmart, Death, and the Pope
In a follow-up to a previous Localist Roundup, a petition has appeared on the White House Petition website urging that the runner-up turkey from this Thanksgiving's turkey pardoning be executed:…
Pointless Parties
“There are others too…that pretend to be pleasures, such as gambling and pointless parties; as time goes on, it becomes clear even to the victims of their seduction that they…