The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 52)
Untimely thoughts on a world in transition
Ok, folks, so I understand that you’re a tad disappointed that you haven’t seen a long-form essay from me in over a month. All I can say is that life has been a tad complicated the last few months. I’ve been traveling and doing a lot with my, ya know, day job. (I also spent a fair amount of time writing a very long essay in response to one of my academic critics who smeared and defaned me in in a high prestige academic journal. I hope to be able to share my response going forward.) The good news is that I have an essay almost done and expect to publish it next week.
The Good
THREE CHEERS FOR CAPTAIN E. ROYCE WILLIAMS: Navy Pilot Who Secretly Killed Four MiGs On One Mission Finally Recognized.
REVEALING NATURE’S SECRETS: Study reveals average age at conception for men versus women over past 250,000 years. “According to the study, published today in Science Advances and co-authored by IU post-doctoral researcher Richard Wang, the average age that humans had children throughout the past 250,000 years is 26.9. Furthermore, fathers were consistently older, at 30.7 years on average, than mothers, at 23.2 years on average, but the age gap has shrunk in the past 5,000 years.”
UH, OH. This is like watching the prequel to Planet of the Apes: Monkeys – Not Humans – Made Ancient Sets of Stone Tools in Brazil, Study Finds.
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED, BUT IT’S HAPPENING NONETHELESS: The Quiet Right.
THE REDNECK INTELLECTUAL WOULD BE OK WITH MOVING THE AGE TO VOTE TO 25 (DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH 35, EITHER), UNLESS ONE HAS SERVED IN THE MILITARY: To Save America, Repeal the 26th Amendment.
ENDORSED. I just purchased a copy: Author warns 'leeches' are making life more difficult for 'everyone'
I PREDICTED THIS EIGHT YEARS AGO IN THE WAKE OF THE OBERGEFELL DECISION. A colleague told me I was “nuts” and that it would never happen. I may be nuts, but it did happen and I was right. Marriage is nothing if it’s everything: NYC judge rules polyamorous unions entitled to same legal protections as 2-person relationships
IN WHAT SANE UNIVERSE DID THESE PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN WIN THIS, AT LEAST IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION. Even if they “win,” they lose. They just teed up Jordan Peterson to make complete fools of them: JORDAN PETERSON: I will risk my license to escape social media re-education.
SERIOUSLY, CAN WE PLEASE JUST STOP THE RACIAL POLITICS AND HELP THE CHILDREN: ‘Anti-adoption drumbeat’ leaves kids in foster care.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CULTURE: Social influence driving teens to gender transition.
THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS, INDEED! Game-changing surgery can cure prostate cancer in one hour. “It uses a technique called irreversible electroporation to administer electrical pulses into the tumour, cutting open the membrane of the cells in a far less invasive manner than standard treatments, meaning there are fewer risks to surrounding organs and tissues.”
A GOOD ARTICLE 25 YEARS TOO LATE: We’re in the midst of a coup. Who the hell’s behind it?
ON THE VIRTUES OF FEDERALISM. If you don’t like the politics of the place where you live, you can move to a place that is more in accord with your values. I left Canada after they raised the drinking age from 18 to 19: LGBTQ leaving Florida? SHOCK POLL...
MORE AND FASTER, PLEASE: The next generation of US nuclear plants could be tiny but powerful: The newly-approved small modular reactor is just one-third the size of traditional designs.
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL, BUT THE QUESTION IS: ARE THEY WILLING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT? GALLUP: More Americans Cite Gov't as Top Problem...
NOT GOING TO HARVARD. As someone who spent a couple of years hanging around Harvard, I can tell you that the day I left was a happy one: What makes a good life? The five secrets to happiness, according to an 80-year study by Harvard
The Bad
THE TRAGIC TRUTH OF OUR TIME IS . . . The destruction of truth is at the heart of Western cultural decline
IT’S JUST THAT KIND OF WORLD: Oxford dictionary adds 'multisexual,' 'sistergirl' and 16 other words related to gender-identity
IF THEY’RE OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE, THEN SURELY THEY’RE OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK (AND DRIVE UNDER LEGAL LIMITS) AND TO OWN AND CARRY FIREARMS: Democrats push to amend Constitution so 16-year-olds can vote.
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE JUST SAY WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS BUT WON’T SAY: THE LOCKDOWNS WERE A MORAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND, YES, HEALTH DISASTER FOR AMERICA: New study offers even more proof lockdowns were deadly.
***STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU READ THIS ESSAY: Soccer Moms are giving way to Single Woke Females – the new “SWFs” – as one of the most potent voting blocs in American politics. “Their power is growing thanks to the demographic winds. The number of never married women has grown from about 20% in 1950 to over 30% in 2022, while the percentage of married women has declined from almost 70% in 1950 to under 50% today. Overall, the percentage of married households with children has declined from 37% in 1976 to 21% today.”
YOU ARE THE PIGGY BANK. You will have to pay for this, one way or the other, and pay you will: Feds borrowed $4 billion per day in 2022, totaling $10K per household.
“LITTLE JUSTIN” IS TAKING AWAY THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING A CANADIAN: Maximum two drinks a week, Canada guidance advises.
TRUE, BUT DO YOU CARE ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT? Your Living Standards Have Declined Dramatically
AND WHEN YOUR GRANDCHILDREN ASK YOU WHAT YOU DID TO STOP THEIR ENSLAVEMENT, WHAT WILL YOU TELL THEM? US plummets in annual freedom ranking for one big reason.
“The index’s main results point to a new question: Why did global freedom plummet in 2020? Well, things were already trending slightly downward, but the COVID-19 pandemic—and governments’ subsequent authoritarian policies—drove a huge decline in freedom. From mask mandates to lockdowns, the ways the government restricted peoples’ freedom in 2020 are too vast to put into words.”
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: World Health Organization Recommends Stockpiling Meds for Radiological Catastrophe.
SOCIALISM IS EVIL, AND THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT IT ARE IMMORAL. This is a demonstrable fact: 100 Members of Congress Refused to Denounce Socialism - Here Are Their Names
The Ugly
YES IT IS: The Case for Pediatric Gender Transitioning Is Built on Lies.
NO. Remember the morons who said, “follow the science.” Was it worth it? America has suffered 300,000 NON-Covid excess deaths since 2020 — as experts blame lockdowns and delayed healthcare for spike in drug overdoses and firearm fatalities
CULTURAL DECLINE AND FALL IS A CHOICE: Fentanyl's deathly grip on America: Cheap synthetic opioid flooding US street drug supply is dragging down life expectancy, turning our cities into Zombielands and killing 1,500 people a WEEK
IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES: Looming food shortages is the next ‘slow-moving disaster’ to hit world.
THE LEFT HAS LATCHED ON TO REPARATIONS AS THE NEW “THING.” You can expect this to be in the news a lot in the coming year. Promise:
Reparations Resolution for African Americans tabled indefinitely in 4-1 vote
Sacramento is studying reparations for Black residents. How you can help
OVERNIGHT MILLIONAIRES: Dem city's reparations proposal would give $5M to longtime Black residents
DISNEY GOES ALL IN FOR REPARATIONS:
THE RESPONSE TO REPARATIONS:
. . . and the Beautiful
ONE OF MY STUDENTS, ANNA SCOTT NUTTAL, SHARED THIS LOVELY PIECE OF MUSIC WITH ME—AND NOW I WITH YOU. The song is “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre. Enjoy.
Thanks very much for reading. Have a great week!
Selling my Disney shares.