At 3Arena, the music of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith sounds as pristine as ever
— Read on www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/tears-for-fears-review-sad-bangers-from-a-brilliantly-gloomy-band-1.3778833

Only better with age!

Is Your Heart Full of Joy?
— Read on www.ncregister.com/blog/elliott/is-your-heart-full-of-joy

Winston Elliott continues his brilliant streak of writing. Enjoy and be filled with joy.

February 13th & 14th were the 68th anniversary of one of the cruelest allied acts of World War II, which most Americans still consider our Good War. On Tuesday evening, February 13, 1945, and for much of the next day, British and American heavy bombers pulverized the defenseless city of Dresden, Germany. The destruction was complete, worse even than the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is till much dispute over the number killed in Dresden, and why it was ordered, and how it can or could be justified. Winston Churchill, who must take responsibility for the bombing, if not necessarily for its extent or precise timing, himself called it an act of terror a little over a month later, and then tried to minimize it in his memoirs of the war.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2013/02/willson-bombing-of-dresden.html

One of America’s horrific crimes.

An abandoned airport terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport has been reborn as the TWA Hotel, a stylish stay channeling the jet age. While the once-groundbreaking Trans World Airlines ceased operations in 2001, and the terminal closed in October of that year, the luxe hotel pays homage to the original architecture of the 1962 building designed by architect Eero Saarinen
— Read on www.dwell.com/article/twa-hotel-jfk-airport-eero-saarinen-open-for-reservations-d4ac1649

Yes, they were. Yes, we were. There were some rotten choices to be made in Latin America, from the point of view of the U.S. government, and there were often not many democrats on offer. But the Reaganites’ record is honorable, even laudatory, and this silly, ignorant House freshman, though she did not intend so, has given us the happy opportunity of lauding them again.

— Read on www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/the-honor-of-elliott-abrams/

I must admit, when I read recently about some advice-giver on Netflix claiming that a home should have no more than thirty books, I was horrified. I suppose there are people who grow up with few books around them, and, frankly, I pity them. Not only is the art of making a book sacred, but, when done well, the words within those books are sacred as well. After all, Christ came as the Word, and words, when properly understood, reflect His eternal glory and dignity, even if confined to ink on a page.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/02/on-loving-words-bradley-j-birzer.html

Depending on several factors, Hulu could potentially give Marvel’s Netflix shows a new lease on life.
— Read on www.cbr.com/hulu-open-to-reviving-marvel-netflix-series/

How is the faithful Catholic to respond to the disturbing signs of the time? What is the “solution” to the problem of reigniting lukewarm Catholics and stoking the fires of those who wish to dedicate their lives to Christ and his Church? Pope Benedict XVI said “we are in need of a new evangelization—if the art of living remains an unknown, nothing else works… this art can only be communicated by [one] who has life—he who is the Gospel personified.” We must rely upon Christ, the one who has life.
— Read on www.ncregister.com/blog/elliott/lord-to-whom-shall-we-go

My great friend, Winston Elliott. Stunning piece.

As important as that truth is, it is easily misapplied. In practice it has meant that conservatives emphasize certain “cultural” forms of argument without seriously confronting the hard questions of politics or economics—as if worldly matters will take care of themselves if only our rhetoric is elevated and our intentions pure. Sometimes this leads to a politics of cant. Sometimes it leads to political quietism or a drift toward literary utopianism. And sometimes it just leads to ham-fisted attempts to produce “conservative” films or other forms of popular culture, in which the political message is almost always more conspicuous than the artistic merit.
— Read on www.firstthings.com/article/2019/03/a-new-conservative-agenda

My long-ago personal connection to Jackson parallels the underlying theme of BradleyBirzer’s book. Birzer, a historian at Hillsdale College, and a scholar-at-large at TAC, posits that Jackson was, in some ways, “the first truly American president.” His experiences and attitudes were deeply rooted in our young nation’s soil, his military leadership during our “Second War of Independence” echoed that of General Washington, and he became an exemplar of democracy.
— Read on www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/andrew-jackson-our-first-populist-president/

I’m very grateful to Jeff Taylor of the very fine Dordt College for his painstaking review of IN DEFENSE OF ANDREW JACKSON.