The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 87)

Untimely Thoughts on a World in Transition

* I have reluctantly decided to temporarily halt my ongoing series of essays on the selfishness/selflessness problem. I have a few essays that I’d still like to write, but I simply don’t have the bandwidth right now to work on them. I will return to the series at some point in the near future. Promise.

**That said, I’m hoping to launch a new series of essays in the weeks ahead on the topic of marriage. I’m hearing a lot of talk right now that the Supreme Court may take up a case challenging the Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision on same-sex marriage.

THE GOOD

OPENING AMERICA’S CONTINENTAL INTERIOR CAUSED A QUANTUM LEAP IN COMMERCE AND EMIGRATION TO THE TRANS-APPALACHIAN WEST: 200 YEARS AGO, THE ERIE CANAL OPENED AND AMERICA WAS NEVER THE SAME:

LESS (TAXATION) + LESS (REGULATION) + LESS (WELFARE) = BOOMING ECONOMY: America Is The World’s Hottest Economy.

I’M A PEACE-LOVING MAN AND DON’T LIKE WAR, BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT IT’S SOMETIMES NECESSARY. I also prefer that the good guys win in a world of bad guys. Ergo, it’s best to be prepared: The Coming Revolution in Warfare

MRS. REDNECK SAYS SHE’S GOING TO ORDER ONE FOR ME: Ancient practice of blowing through a conch shell could help treat dangerous snoring condition.

TAKE A STROLL THROUGH A CENTURY PLUS WORTH OF COMMERCIAL FLIGHT. Pretty cool: 15 fascinating photos of flying through the decades.

NOT MY IDEA OF A VACATION, BUT I’M IMPRESSED BY IT AS A TECHNOLOGICAL MARVEL: World’s largest cruise ship sets sail as industry nears record-breaking highs

MEDICINE/HEALTH ROUND-UP

• Vitamin D May Help Slow Aging, Study Finds.

• Heart Attacks May Be Infectious and Vaccines Could Prevent Them.

• This Over-the-Counter Vitamin B3 Supplement May Help Prevent Skin Cancer.

• Elon Musk’s Neuralink plans brain implant trial for speech impairments.

• A single blood test can measure how different parts of our bodies are aging.

• A 100-Year-Old Problem Solved? Scientists Discover How To Freeze Organs Without Cracking Them.

THERE ARE LAWS OF NATURE AND THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. MOREOVER, THEY CAN BE DISCOVERED AND UNDERSTOOD: Is life a form of computation?

NEWS YOU CAN USE: What happened before the Big Bang? Computational method may provide answers.

THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE LIVES! How to sail across the Indian Ocean: Everything you need to know.

OFF TO THE GYM I GO: Scientists Say Exercise May Actually Reverse Your Biological Age.

ARCHEOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY ROUNDUP

• Massive New Map Reveals 300,000 Km of Ancient Roman Roads.

• Roman warriors found stacked in ancient well suffered ‘humiliating’ fate after battle

• Metal detectorist uncovers gold ring linked to one of history’s most infamous plots

• Wisconsin lake reveals ancient vessels that predate Egyptian pyramids

• The cave where it happened: Denisova cavern’s congress of ancient peoples.

PROGRESS: Scientists sound alarm on DEI’s threat to academic freedom at ‘War on Science’ event.

WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON A FASCIST? We read history books we do not eat them.

ANYONE WITH THE SLIGHTEST AMOUNT OF REFINEMENT, TASTE, AND CULTURE KNOWS THAT SCOTTISH MEN SWEAR. That’s just a fact. Refinement, taste, and culture come with being culturally sensitive to cultural differences. Anyway, that’s my weak attempt at apologizing for all the swearing in this important video commentary. Disney’s Self-Inflicted “Boy Trouble”

SCIENCE ROUNDUP:

• Study shows evidence of habitable conditions on Saturn moon.

• It’s Official: Scientists Confirmed What Is Inside Our Moon.

• New Study Suggests Early Mars Hosted Conditions Suitable for Life.

• Scientists extract viable RNA from woolly mammoth remains.

• Kissing started 20 million years ago, long before humans existed.

LET’S HOPE SO, BUT I’M NOT HOLDING MY BREATH: Is This Finally the Dawning of the End of the Woke Corporate Era?

IT ALL STARTS WITH A SIMPLE QUESTION: WHAT IS MARRIAGE? Judge makes significant ruling for schools on ‘children’s book promoting same-sex marriage’

HEAL THYSELF: ‘The world is waking up’: Surveys show trans identification in ‘free-fall’ among young people

MORAL PROGRESS IN THE STATE THAT ONCE HANGED MEN AND WOMEN FOR BEING WITCHES: Health Centers In Massachusetts Suspend Transgender Care For Minors

EXCELLENT ESSAY FROM ROGER KIMBALL ON THE ALLEGED EVILS OF CAPITALISM: Capitalism’s critics cling to a mythic past, but the record shows the factory age ignited rising living standards, broader opportunity, and the modern prosperity we now take for granted.

THE BAD

YES, IT’S REALLY THAT BAD: Top 20 Insanities DOGE revealed in 2025.

COMING TO A BLUE CITY NEAR YOU: 16 Dead in NYC From Warmth of Collectivism.

WE ALL KNEW THAT MARGARET THATCHER WAS RIGHT . . . THEY’RE ONLY JUST ADMITTING IT 40 YEARS LATER: German Chancellor Admits That Welfare State Is Running Out of Other People’s Money.

CALIFORNIA TURNED INTO ZIMBABWE SO SLOWLY THAT NO ONE NOTICED: ‘Stolen Land’: Gavin Newsom’s ‘Agricultural Equity’ Advisers Prepare Plan To Redistribute Farmland to Racial Minorities. California has ‘the responsibility’ to help ‘rebuild the wealth that was stolen,’ task force says.

PORTLAND TURNED INTO CALIFORNIA SO SLOWLY THAT NO ONE NOTICED: Reactionary, Neo-Confederate Portland.

UK WATCH:

• Londonistan and the Death of Tolerance.

• You Can’t Make This Up: UK Theater Cancels Showing of Free Speech Documentary.

• Britain’s Plan to Abolish Most Jury Trials Should Make Us Grateful for the Constitution.

PRETTY SURE THAT DOESN’T SOUND GOOD: Deep Beneath The Pacific Ocean, Earth’s Crust Is Tearing Itself Apart.

BETTER GET A PARKA: Climate scientists’ controversial claim Gulf Stream could be near collapse — predicting a new ice age.

I LIKE “NICE” BUT NOT SUICIDAL EMPATHY. They’re not the same thing: American civilization is being destroyed from within by the ‘Republic of Nice’

CULTURAL SEPPUKU: German Christmas market installs ‘anti-tank’ barriers meant to stop invading armies, public media cheers ‘creative’ solution.

CHINA WATCH:

• China’s Engineering State

• Three Chinese scholars at UMich charged with conspiring to smuggle biological materials into U.S.

• US Nuclear Bomber Base Shares Fence With Trailer Park Tied To Chinese Intel-Linked Fraudster

• China’s 1st reusable rocket test fires engines ahead of debut flight.

• How China Raced Ahead of the U.S. on Nuclear Power.

THIS MAY BE THE GREATEST SCANDAL OF OUR LIFETIMES: New Docs Show More Connections Between Wuhan Lab and U.S. Intelligence.

BUILT INTO THE WELFARE STATE IS A BOTTOMLESS HOLE OF CORRUPTION:

• Watchdog Warns Of Hundreds Of Millions In Medicaid Payments To Deceased Enrollees

• US Government Awards Nearly $200M In Health-Related Grants To Help Illegals

LIKE ALL WELFARE, USAID IS A FRAUD: Lies, Damn Lies, and USAID Lies.

THE PLAGUE COMES IN MANY DIFFERENT FORMS: The Death Rattle of Apocalyptic Environmentalism.

SOMETHING IS HAPPENING: Can the ‘Lost Generation’ be found?

• Related: Feminism Burned Down the Home—Now the West Is Shivering in the Dark

THIS IS WHAT IT’S COME TO. Turns out, the needs of young men—the so-called “Lost Generation”—are pretty simple: they want a wife, kids, a job, and a little respect every now and then. Is that too much to ask?

YOU DON’T WANT THIS, AND YET YOU SEEM POWERLESS TO STOP IT: How Islam Caused — and Is Again Causing — a Dark Age in Europe.

THE UGLY

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE THEY SAID, BUT WHAT THEY GAVE US WAS QUACK SCIENCE AND QUACK MEDICINE: Did Dr. Spock’s parenting advice kill 60,000 babies?

THE DEEP STATE IS YOUR FRIEND—NOT! KASH PATEL DROPS COVID ORIGIN BOMBSHELL:

YES, IT WORKS SOMETHING LIKE THIS: The Left-Wing Terror Memeplex

I’LL BET YOU NEVER KNEW THIS WAS HAPPENING TO YOUR NATION AND TO YOUR CHILDREN: FBI Sees Dramatic Increase In Arrests Of ‘Nihilistic Violent Extremism,’ Individuals Targeting Children. There is a lot more to this story about which we need answers. For instance, we need to know more about the backgrounds of these of these two characters. Are they recent immigrants to this country? Did they go to university in the United States? If yes, which ones?

. . . and THE BEAUTIFUL

HERE IS ERNEST BARRIAS’S (1841-1905) stunningly beautiful polychromatic marble sculpture La Nature se dévoilant devant la Science (”Nature Unveiling Herself Before Science”), which was commissioned in 1889 to decorate the new Faculty of Medicine in Bordeaux. H/T to Kelsie Rose for bringing Barrias and his La Nature se dévoilant devant la Science to my attention.

Have a great week!