Annie Holmquist

3 days ago | 1819news.com | Annie Holmquist

When asked for some of my favorite books over the years, one of the titles I regularly recommend is "Mother," written by Kathleen Norris in 1911. Although somewhat obscure and rather old, I love suggesting this bookbecause its subtle message is extremely prescient for our time, and one that I believe gets to the heart of the problem in our confused and chaotic society.

6 days ago | intellectualtakeout.org | Annie Holmquist

President Donald Trump unleashed another unorthodox idea the other day by floating the concept of tariffs on movies not made in America. Those in the movie industry “are downright apoplectic,” CNN reported, concerned that such an initiative will tank their business. I’m not sure what to make of this idea yet, as I can see benefits on both sides of the coin, but as others have observed, Trump at least gets points for consistency in applying his policies.

6 days ago | 1819news.com | Annie Holmquist

President Donald Trump unleashed another unorthodox idea the other day by floating the concept of tariffs on movies not made in America. Those in the movie industry “are downright apoplectic,” CNN reported, concerned that such an initiative will tank their business. I’m not sure what to make of this idea yet, as I can see benefits on both sides of the coin, but as others have observed, Trump at least gets points for consistency in applying his policies.

1 week ago | 1819news.com | Annie Holmquist

I can’t claim to be much of a poetry buff, but upon seeing a footnote reference to a poem called “The Gods of the Copybook Headings,” I was too intrigued to ignore it. Upon hunting down a copy, I found 10 stanzas of verse written by Rudyard Kipling in 1919. The “copybook headings” featured in the title refer to the short maxims once regularly copied by schoolchildren in America and Great Britain, not only for penmanship practice, but also for the wisdom they confer in short, snappy soundbites.

1 week ago | intellectualtakeout.org | Annie Holmquist

It’s the National Day of Prayer, that one day a year that we seriously take a few minutes (or maybe not even that) to say a prayer that our nation will turn back to God and get serious about living right. It’s a beautiful and good tradition – with leaders dating all the way back to the American founders, such as President John Adams, proclaiming “day[s] of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer” for the country and its inhabitants. There’s no denying that America needs prayers.