Russellarbenfox
MY BLOGS
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In Medias Res
http://inmedias.blogspot.com/
Essays, notes, and fragments--personal, political, and philosophical--from the midst of things
LATEST ARTICLES ( 588 )
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The 10 Best Movies I Saw in 2014
I'm doubling the number from last year, and doing a proper top 10. As before, this isn't my favorite 10 films from 2014, but rather the 10 best movies, from... Read more
Posted on 30 December 2014 SOCIETY -
What Cuba Teaches Us About Equality, Sustainability--and Poverty
[Cross-posted to Political Context]Every since President Obama announced that the U.S. would relax its travel and economic restrictions on and open up normal... Read more
Posted on 29 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Five Blessings from Reading (Really Reading) the Five Books of Moses
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]A few months ago, I began reading the Old Testament, a book of scripture which I have never before been able to read all the... Read more
Posted on 26 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Seeing Him in 2014
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]This year our youngest daughter turned eight, and as her older sisters are busy with other things and her mother has been... Read more
Posted on 24 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Christmas Memories from Korea
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Despite recent (and ongoing) changes to the Mormon missionary program, the majority of those charged with traveling the... Read more
Posted on 18 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Don't Get Essayists Angry!
Regarding the collapse of The New Republic, of which much has been said, Cynthia Ozick (whose wit is legendary), takes the cake:The Siliconian came down like th... Read more
Posted on 12 December 2014 SOCIETY -
The Ten Least Successful Christmas Specials of All Time
Has it really been exactly six years since I last shared this, one of the greatest holiday creations of All Internet History? Apparently so! Read more
Posted on 11 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Jimmy Durante, New Deal Economist
Via Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns Money, who is always (re)discovering new and wonderful evidences of the way a very different (and, from my point of view, in... Read more
Posted on 09 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Why This Socialist Likes Stegall
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... Read more
Posted on 08 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Four Wieseltier Favorites
Lots of commentary last night and this morning about the shake-up (or stake-through-the-heart, if you prefer) at The New Republic. Read more
Posted on 05 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Bobby Keys, RIP
Bobby Keys, a tremendous rock, blues, and funk saxophonist, and a lucky Texas boy who just happened to be in the right place at the right time 50 years ago,... Read more
Posted on 02 December 2014 SOCIETY -
Thanksgiving Morning Live Music: "Thanks A Lot"
I realized early this morning, while extracting the giblets from our now thawed turkey, that it had been ten years since I last shared these sentiments on... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Obama, Immigration, and Why I Am Not (Much Of) a Constitutionalist
So, if you haven't seen the SNL video which this image comes from, go watch it here right now. I'll wait.It's a simplistic and unfair--what did you expect?... Read more
Posted on 25 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Recognizing the Religion of Total Security, and Its Costs
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... Read more
Posted on 24 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Saturday Night Live Music: "Lawyers, Guns & Money"
Because I'm being made to think hard this evening by David Watkins, a friend and longtime Lawyers, Guns & Money blogger, here's Jackson Browne singing the Warre... Read more
Posted on 23 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Mid-Sized Meditations #6: Anarchism, Global Citites, and a Confucian Cosmopolita...
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]So, as I mentioned, I recently attended a conference in Nanjing, China, hosted by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and... Read more
Posted on 21 November 2014 SOCIETY -
There's Actually a Name for Those People, Secretary Kobach
As the hysteria over President Obama's upcoming and, sadly, rather run-of-the-mill abuse of presidential power over immigration policies builds to a fever pitch... Read more
Posted on 20 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Rank Your Favorite Presidential Tyrants!
With only hours to go until President Obama presents his executive order that will--unless he pulls a fast one on his Republican opponents--remove the threat... Read more
Posted on 20 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Some Populist Perspective, Ten Years (and Two Weeks) in the Making
[Cross-posted to Political Context]This image on the left--which shows how the Democratic candidate for governor, Paul Davis, was systematically slaughtered... Read more
Posted on 18 November 2014 SOCIETY -
Flight Films
Right about now exactly a week ago, as best as I can calculate it, I was halfway between Seattle and Minneapolis, after having left Nanjing, China, early... Read more
Posted on 17 November 2014 SOCIETY