The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 90)

Untimely Thoughts on a World in Transition

***Note to readers: I’ve been doing a lot of traveling recently and writing commissioned essays, all of which has slowed down my Substack writing rather significantly in the last couple of months. I do hope to get back into the writing saddle this weekend as Mrs. Redneck is heading out of town to see some of the grandkids. The goal is to start my long promised series of essays on marriage next week. I’m using these essays to try and figure out what marriage is, why it matters, what its consequences are for individuals and society, what its relationship is to the government of a free society, and many other important questions. Some of you will no doubt be upset by some of my arguments. Please feel free to disagree and offer better arguments in the comments section. I should also let you know that I may be putting parts of some essays behind the paywall with the hope that you’ll be motivated to think my work is worthy of support.

THE GOOD

PLEASE WATCH THIS WONDERFUL INTERVIEW WITH MY FORMER TEACHER, WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE GREATEST SCHOLAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:

SIMPLY OUTSTANDING! The United States of America needs more Milei and a lot less of everything that we have right now: Davos 2026: Special address by Javier Milei, President of Argentina

SUPREME COURT JUST CLARENCE THOMAS ON PROGRESSIVISM’S ANTI-AMERICANISM:

• Related: Why Is Progressivism Incompatible With the Declaration of Independence? Clarence Thomas Explains

MORE PLEASE: Life Expectancy In US Hits Record High Of 79 Years In 2024, CDC Says

IF THIS FAILS, WE SHOULD JUST STOP PRETENDING AND ESTABLISH A WELFARE STATE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, WHICH WE’RE PARTIALLY DOING ALREADY: Sen Rand Paul Introduces Bill To Halt Welfare Payments To Non-Citizens

I’M SORRY THIS HAPPENED TO HER, BUT PLEASED THAT SHE WON THIS LAWSUIT. My only disappointment is that she didn’t win a much higher award: Jury Awards Detransitioner $2 Million In Historic Medical-Malpractice Lawsuit:

WE LIKE OLIVE OIL: Extra Virgin Olive Oil Linked to Better Brain Function.

MEDICINE/HEALTH ROUND UP

• Engineered stem cells yield millions of tumor-fighting natural killer cells at reduced cost.

• Scientists Extend Lifespan by over 70% in Elderly Male Mice with New Treatment.

• Researchers Discover the Cell’s Secret Anti-Aging Mechanism.

• A Common Pain Relief Drug May Have Anti-Cancer Properties.

• Parkinson’s Discovery Suggests We May Have an FDA-Approved Treatment Already.

NICE: Report Finds More Low- And Middle-Income Americans Are Investing

IS MANLINESS TRENDY AGAIN? Not so toxic: Masculinity’s comeback makes America thrive.

GEE, I’M PERSUADED. Communism sounds really cool: The warmth of the collective.

ARCHEOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY UPDATE:

• New Dinosaur Species Discovered In Sahara Desert

• Earliest known writing dates back over 40,000 years.

• Humans invented writing to track debts. The world’s first writing system, cuneiform, emerged in Mesopotamia around 3200 BC to record who owed what to whom. Clay tokens for accounting date back as far as 8000 BC. Debt isn’t some corruption of a golden age. It’s so fundamental to human cooperation that we created literacy because of it.

• Hidden Crotch Detail Solves a 500-Year-Old Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery.

• A 5,500-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals the Deep Origins of Syphilis.

THE RETURN OF SANITY: As Lawsuits Grow, Transgender Detransition Movement Builds Momentum

INTERESTING QUESTION (AND I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER TO IT): Courts To Decide Whether Founders Intended To Count Illegal Aliens In Census

YOU DON’T SAY: Anti-DEI medical group debunks study claiming black patients benefit from black doctors.

DOUBLE BONUS: Viagra Linked to Much Lower Risk of Death in Men, But Questions Remain.

IT’S FALSE TO CLAIM THE WELFARE STATE WAS BUILT WITH GOOD INTENTIONS. It was built to satisfy the guilt and envy of upper-middle-class “progressives”: Millions may be falsely enrolled in ObamaCare.

BRAVE OR STUPID? The True Story of a Tornado Scientist Who Got Trapped Inside One.

HOW ‘BOUT MORE, MORE, AND MORE: Trump Ends Obama Climate Regulations and Finalizes Massive Deregulation.

THE BAD

THUS IT HAS EVER BEEN: Iran’s Greatest Ally Is the Left.

WHAT SAY WE JUST LEAVE THOSE LITTLE BUGGERS WHERE THEY ARE: Scientists Warn: 5,000-Year-Old Ice Cave Bacteria Resistant to Modern Antibiotics.

YES: Was Climate Change the Greatest Financial Scandal in History?

WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY HAS BEEN A DISASTER FOR THE WEST. We need more nuclear and a lot more real fast.

WELFARE STATE UPDATE:

• States spent welfare cash in ‘crazy ways’

• California Has Lost $180 Billion To Fraud, According To Experts

HEY REPUBLICANS: NOTHING TO SEE HERE . . . MOVE ALONG: It’s True: Gavin Newsom’s California Government Has Paid Protestors Over $100 Million.

SOCIALISM NEVER WORKS, NOT TO MENTION THAT IT’S IMMORAL: Nordic Countries Are Not Socialist Paradises: Most of the descendants of Scandinavian immigrants to America in the 19th century are more successful than their cousins in Scandinavia, which suggests that the latters’ welfare policies have impeded the growth of economy.

OH CANADA:

• Canada Considering Door-To-Door Gun Confiscation Program

• Canada’s Suicide Culture Is Devolving Into an Assisted Suicide Death Machine.

• Woman waits over 12 hours in emergency room amid Canada healthcare crisis

AND YOUR FIRST CLUE WAS . . . : Pathological narcissists have taken over the political left.

AT WHAT POINT DO WE SAY “ENOUGH”? Is ‘White Supremacy’ Causing an ‘Epidemic’ of Transgender Murders?

FEMINISM IS DEAD: Outraged by grooming gangs? You’re an extremist.

(NOT) GREAT BRITAIN WATCH:

• The Humiliation of Great Britain Is Complete

CHINA WATCH:

• Xi Jinping Carries Out Record-Breaking Punishments In CCP Amid General Purge

• China Is Starting to Pull Ahead of US in AI Race.

GEE, I WONDER HOW THAT HAPPENED? Americans believe in founding principles, but not sure we’re living up to them

THE UGLY

DECLINE AND FALL:

NO KIDDING, SHERLOCK: Finnish Study Links Transgender Procedures to Decline in Youth Mental Health

THE TRANS-LEFT HAS ALL THE MONEY: THE HIGHER ED DEEP STATE: How the Mellon Foundation Funds Trans Ideology

. . . and THE BEAUTIFUL

THE PAIN OF IMPENDING LOSS CAPTURED IN MUSIC. I find this hauntingly beautiful piece of music by Tristan Barton, an Australian composer, deeply moving. It makes me think of the moment when a man wakes up in the early morning on the day he knows he will die. The opening evokes a sense of confusion that quickly turns into the painful realization that brings a dying man into full consciousness and the knowledge that that today is the last day.

***Enjoy the rest of your week!