The Country That Banned Milk
What would we think of a government that banned milk? Would we think it over-reaching, even oppressive? Would we condemn it for rejecting a...
The Economics of Splitting Wood by Hand
Hilaire Belloc once wrote that he never burned anything but oak in the huge fireplace of his ancient home in West Sussex. For a...
Free to Share
When SueAnne Bassett learned that she had stage four cervical cancer eight years ago, her doctors gave her a 20 percent chance that she...
The March for Life, Poetry, and ‘Epimethean Men’
“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.” --Wallace Stevens
January 25, the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, will mark the fifth time...
Modesty’s Retreat
Over a drink with a fellow Canadian ex-pat about a month ago, I rather wistfully (and irresponsibly) indulged in some wishful thinking as I...
Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and the Ground on Which Communities Are...
The final sentence in Behind the Beautiful Forevers--Katherine Boo's wonderfully written, devastatingly detailed narrative of several fascinating, despairing stories that took place over the...
Where Will You Die?
Hidden Spring Lane. “I plan on dying here.” The words came quite unbidden and surprised me. We were in the process of building a...
Life Under Compulsion: Curricular Mire
In my last essay, I took issue with the inescapable computer, that costly thing on the student’s desk in “good” schools, inducing the itch...
I’ll Take My Economy Black, Please
I woke up early last Friday morning, still in a slump from my post-Thanksgiving food-coma. Not too keen on the idea of braving an...
Life Under Compulsion: If Teachers Were Plumbers
This is Part IV of a series of essays. For previous installments of "Life Under Compulsion," see Part I, Part II, and Part III.
“Good morning,...