At the Chief’s request (which we are hardly in a position to refuse) this week’s poem of the week is A. E Housman’s Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries.

We blame the poor quality of this weeks essay on the fact that the Chief has been interacting with the Apeman. Thus, we decided that J. Dueck’s rant on the virtues of not interacting with other people ought to be rant of the week.

We are a day late updating the essay of the week and it is all the Chief’s fault. He made us wait a day so that he could put the finishing touches on his essay.

Anyway, since he is the publisher, his essay in now the essay of the week. We think that it one the worst essays that Chief has ever written, but what do we know?

This poem is the Chief’s favorite lullaby. He says that reading about the Civil war always makes him think of this poem.

The Ape man is so excited that he is frothing at the mouth in this week’s rant. We think that he might be going a little over the top, but we are afraid to tell him so.

In some quarters it has long been argued that the North should have let the South leave the Union. We have been assured that if that had been allowed to happen slavery would have died a slow death and much bitterness and bloodshed would have been avoided.

But in this essay, “Spengler” argues that South would have spread slavery throughout the southern hemisphere if they had not been stopped by the Lincoln.