Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 622 )

• American Conservatism, and the Socialist Specter Which Haunts It Still

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Back in February, Rod Dreher shared with his readers an idea for a new book: to introduce conservative Christians in... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Some Thoughts About Wichita and Baseball

  

  For those who care, some thoughts about the controversy over the proposed baseball stadium (with its attached riverfront development package) here in Wichita. Read more

  Posted on 18 March 2019 SOCIETY

• A Tale of Two Congressmen (with a 10-Point Constitutional Excursus)

  

  [The Wichita Eagle ran this morning an editorial of mine praising Senator Jerry Moran, one of my senators here in Kansas, for breaking with his party and... Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2019 SOCIETY

• Listening to Macca #2: Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway

  

  The next two albums Paul McCartney put out were his first with Wings. The way Sir Paul felt about this always shifting, never stable collection of... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2019 SOCIETY

• One Way to Tell Elizabeth Warren's Story

  

  [This began at a Facebook comment Monday morning, and now it's a Politico article. The version below is the one I wrote before it was edited down. Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2019 SOCIETY

• Listening to Macca #1: McCartney and Ram

  

  My pop music project for 2019? Listening to Paul McCartney's entire post-Beatles oeuvre. Why? Well, why not? Is that a good enough reason for you? Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2019 SOCIETY

• Definitely Not My Favorite Python, But Probably the Most Pythonesque Python for...

  

  I've talked about Michael Palin's fascinatingly comprehensive and yet un-critical diaries, John Cleese's funny and sometimes scary arguments with himself, and... Read more

  Posted on 21 January 2019 SOCIETY

• 五十而知天命

  

  The above characters, in spoken Chinese, are "Wǔshí ér zhī tiānmìng"--but I can't speak Chinese, so that is irrelevant. What is relevant is the phrase's meaning... Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2018 SOCIETY

• The 10 Best Movies I Saw in 2018

  

  Once again, these aren't necessarily movies that came out in 2018; in fact, only three of these ten are. But they are all movies I saw for the first time this... Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2018 SOCIETY

• The 10 Best Books I Read in 2018

  

  No fiction made my list this year, in part just because of different reading choices I made this year, and also because the largest fiction reading projects I... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2018 SOCIETY

• Songs of '78: "I Wanna Be Sedated"

  

  Yep, one more, though I basically wrapped up this series back at the end of November. True, there were songs released in December of 1978, but none that really... Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2018 SOCIETY

• Five Silent Nights (Plus One)

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Probably just about right now (or if not now, then within the next few hours), in Oberndorf, Austria, at Central European... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2018 SOCIETY

• Our Own Private Idaho

  

  This past summer, Melissa and I, along with our two youngest girls, visited the old Fox family cabin on the Moyie river, north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2018 SOCIETY

• Mid-Sized Meditations #16: Local Identity and Cities In-Between

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]2018 has been a busy year for those of us who aspire to--or are at least somewhat animated by--localism here in Wichita,... Read more

  Posted on 20 December 2018 SOCIETY

• The Worst Christmas Specials Ever. Still.

  

  Exactly ten years ago I shared this wonderful relic of the Olde Days of the Blogosphere, by John Scalzi. It was old then, and it's even older now. Still make... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2018 SOCIETY

• Songs of '78: "Shattered"

  

  The fifth and final song from Some Girls that my pop radio memories of 1978 present me with--following "Miss You," "Far Away Eyes," "Running Away with Me," and... Read more

  Posted on 29 November 2018 SOCIETY

• Losing (Some Of) the Local Commons

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]The annual Prairie Festival at The Land Institute just outside Salina, KS, was held two months ago, but it's been much on... Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2018 SOCIETY

• Songs of '78: "Y.M.C.A."

  

  40 years ago today, on November 13 (a Monday), the Village People released "Y.M.C.A.," and proceeded to conquer the world. Disco, and perhaps America too,... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2018 SOCIETY

• What Kind of Democracy Do Localists Want?

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Last week the United States went through another one of our regular, mostly ritualized exercises in mass democracy. What... Read more

  Posted on 12 November 2018 SOCIETY

• Songs of '78: "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy?"

  

  Nope, not done with the disco of 1978 yet. But "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?," despite--or maybe because of its cheesy title--is so much more than a fine, groovy... Read more

  Posted on 10 November 2018 SOCIETY