Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

Charles van Heck

  • Why Civil Resistance Works

    The other day I received permission from Canada Resist to republish this from their blog on Substack. There are lessons to learn from history. The question is whether or not we are willing to learn and apply those in this… Continue reading

  • SKATING ON A RAZOR’S EDGE

    This morning, I awoke feeling as if I were skating on a razor’s edge to the Rolling Stone’s “Sympathy for the Devil.” I distinctly recall one of the last conversations with my father. This took place on an April afternoon… Continue reading

  • RANDOM THOUGHTS ON FRIENDSHIP: A REFLECTION IN A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY

    A friend recently suggested to my wife that I post blogs regularly or risk losing readership. His advice is sound. Three blogs have been researched and roughly drafted. My thoughts, however, have been with mi amiga de combate. We have… Continue reading

  • PURIM: ESTHER IN TRUMPLAND

    Purim is a holiday of joy and remembrance. There is a carnival spirit to the holiday celebration of the triumph of Mordecai and Esther in thwarting King Ahasuerus’s advisor Haman’s scheme to exterminate all the Jews in the Persian empire.… Continue reading

  • The Unitary Executive Theory

    Part II: The President, the Ghost of Justice Scalia and the Ghostbusters    Have you ever thought about the word all? This simple word, used either as a noun or an adverb, when used for emphasis, is easily taken for… Continue reading

  • CANADA AND DONALD TRUMP’S UNJUSTIFIED TARIFFS

    “As President John F. Kennedy said many years ago, “geography has made us neighbours, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies.” That rang true for many decades prior to President Kennedy’s… Continue reading

  • THE FOX AND CHANGE: A FABLE

    “Things are going to change around here since they moved in,” Andy Jost said. “You saw him?” Fred Haisch asked. Andy nodded. Fred and Andy are my neighbors. Years ago when I first moved to Evoraburg, they and Andy’s three… Continue reading

  • THE UNITARY EXECUTIVE THEORY

    PART ONE: ON MONARCHY On February 11th, Justice Sonia Sotomayor reminded faculty and students at a Florida college that, “Our founders were hellbent on ensuring that we didn’t have a monarchy, and the first way they thought of doing this… Continue reading

  • Remembrance: The Highest and Purest Democracy

    There are times when one must pause to remember. Today is such a day for me. At 10:30 on the morning of February 23, 1945, a 54×28-inch American flag was raised on a volcanic island in the Pacific. The island… Continue reading

  • Welcome

    Henry David Thoreau’s words summarize my perspective on how to approach our all too brief time on this good earth. “I went for a walk in the woods…. It was wonderfully warm and pleasant.” I hope you will find your… Continue reading