News from the Network, Vol. 5, No. 6

What with the Republican potential candidates seemingly floundering around to keep from making any more mistakes, and the Democratic incumbent floundering around trying to recover from his mistakes, and the lack of response (so far) from any of the candidates or incumbents with whom we've been in touch, it's been a pretty grim week. So why are we so hopeful?

Because there are definite signs of hope, believe it or not. We don't have to wait for the system to collapse before we fix it. We can organize and start pushing for Capital Homesteading now. In keeping with that, these are this past week's highlights:

• The CESJ Core Group had a telephone conference with Chris S. this past week. He's a Notre Dame graduate who, with some associates in Albany, is working to establish a school that would, in part, incorporate the "Great Books" program for grades 7-12, and employ the latest in advanced technology. They haven't started fundraising yet, but it is definitely something to watch and, if it suits your needs and goals, support. It appears to be consistent with the Just Third Way. There's more here.

• There is a concerted effort to inform potential presidential candidates — and even the current incumbent — about the possibilities for financial and economic reform found in CESJ's "Capital Homesteading" proposal, and to suggest that candidates meet with CESJ president Norman G. Kurland to learn about the proposal. There's been a special emphasis on Rick Santorum, simply because he has less to lose and more to gain by coming out in favor of Capital Homesteading (and can be reached at info@RickSantorum.com, if you want to add your voice to those recommending that Santorum meet with Kurland), but every candidate would benefit by being made aware of the program's potential.

• Of course, there are our ongoing efforts to try and insinuate moral values into the general culture by publishing and republishing subversive (i.e., consistent with the Just Third Way) works of fiction and non-fiction. These expand our efforts to try and turn around the direction our culture is taking, from new, humorous science fiction and fantasy, to reprints of "long-lost" classics, to neglected works by renowned authors. The bottom line is that there is cause for grave concern, but not for despair. By organizing in social justice, it is possible to reform the system without destroying it or waiting for it to collapse.

• We had a meeting today with a gentleman who is looking to rebuild sections of the moribund District of Columbia using advanced prefabricated structures. The concept could work very well with the HEC concept.

• We reconnected with the people at the Chesterton Press, who have what looks like a pretty good line of "Catholic fiction," admittedly a term with as many meanings as "capitalism." It's a well-designed site and the subtle touches of humor make it well worth the visit.

• If explicitly religious fiction isn't your bag, try the offerings in the CESJ "bookshop" if you haven't already. Don't forget to scroll down the page to the link where the freebies are.

• As of this morning, we have had visitors from 59 different countries and 50 states and provinces in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past two months. Most visitors are from the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. People in Croatia, Hong Kong, Australia, the United States, and the Netherlands spent the most average time on the blog. The most popular postings this past week were "Raw Judicial Power, Part IX: Scott v. Sandford," "Thomas Hobbes on Private Property," "It's the Academics v. the Politicians . . . v. Economic Reality, Part III: Finance," "Raw Judicial Power, Part VIII: Cotton is King," and "Raw Judicial Power, Part I: The Assault of Legal Positivism."

Those are the happenings for this week, at least that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and we'll see that it gets into the next "issue." If you have a short (250-400 word) comment on a specific posting, please enter your comments in the blog — do not send them to us to post for you. All comments are moderated anyway, so we'll see it before it goes up.

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