Sunday Reads...
- Greg McNeilly
- Nov 2
- 7 min read
An irregular roundup of thought-provoking reads. Most made me go “hmm…”
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The language of judicial decision is mainly the language of logic. And the logical method and form flatter that longing for certainty and for repose which is in every human mind. But certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
“Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence.” — Justice Tom Clark in Mapp v. Ohio
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN:
DOD salary donor: The NYT unveiled the patriot who provided gap-funding to pay uniformed service members during the Democrat government shutdown.
Big Dem Donor - the AFLCIO - now backs an end to the shutdown.
Dems blowing gaskets over their own shutdown failures.
Isn’t it time? Federal Budget has never been “austere” notes this essay.
Shutdown Bump? Republicans go up in voter polls over the Democrat’s government shut down.
America’s taxpayer debt is 42 times larger than it was in 1980.
CNN calls out Democrats for leveraging food-stamps to leverage their health-care for illegal aliens government shut down.
WaPo: Big praise for the dynamic and newly remodeled White House.
An intriguing conversation on faith, moral values and public policy. Watch here.
MAGA sabotages: How the conservative movement self-sabotages with complacency with MAGA shenanigans.
Forgotten: It was an epic failure when America tried to end Daylight Savings Time and it wasn’t that long ago - but nearly everyone has forgotten.
Rut-Roh: Too many people are so prejudiced (and morally bankrupt) against class they are willing to commit violence against complete strangers.
Founding Federalists: There is a reason our Republic was born with people opposed to Federalism - centralized power is always abused even at the dawn of our Founding notes a historian.
Visualizing the world’s population shifts.
WWI: A 100+ year old “message in a bottle” finally makes shore.
WSJ: Unpacking the in-flow of drugs from central and South America.
Finally! Europe is finally stopped from funding Russian aggression - by Trump.
Done well: Reflecting on his life, an interview with 87 year old Anthony Hopkins.
Help a Neighbor: Give up on the digital and mass virtue signaling circus and just help a neighbor like a human if you want a better world argues this essay.
Education: Can someone truly be educated without the classics? Definitions matter: Education v. Knowledge v. Information. You can’t beat the timeless wisdom of the ancients notes this reflection.
Harm: The “screen time” k12 schools deploy with children is a net harm notes this research.
Ouch: Democrat small donors having funds funneled to fill debt from the failed 2024 Kamala Harris campaign.
Hurl: Variety throws shade on the new Springsteen biopic.
Initial box office response is lackluster.
Indy Fed: How “independent” is the Federal Reserve (or should it be)? Interactions between the Article II Branch and the Fed are charted.
Radicalization: A review of mainstream media, cable and social media finds the distribution for crazy flourishes most on the Socials.
Oops: U.S. Navy has a challenge flying straight these days, apparently.
E-foot: Nike announces robot footwear.
WSJ: 250 years of labor charted, of note: People are working less and getting paid less. Which, is of course, just.
DOD Fail: America is under prepared for a major conflict (like homeland defense) notes this source.
The preverse incentives of government k12 school teacher unions is noted.
Mission Creep: How the scope and aim of government k12 education has succumbed to mission creep.
Doctor surrenders medical license after allegedly mutilating children in “affirming care.”
Great Awakening: Even the NYT can’t deny the spiritual revival percolating in America.
The worlds oldest joke book.
Top 5%: By state, charting what the top 5% incomes look like.
Left-wing radical Curtis Yarvin argues for a more dictatorship like America.
Cartel of the Sun: Inside the narco-terrorists based in Venezuela.
Article I Branch voices question the Article II actions.
BOO:
Prolonged: Did COVID-19 vaccines prolong the longevity of cancer patients?
Happy & Smart? It is apparently hard to be both happy and smart.
Hangovers: Apparently, they get worse as you age.
Trash: Cannabis products are harming kids.
Trans Violence: Another would-be transexual shooter plot is distributed.
Vance-Rubio ’28: Trump undercuts the retarded meme by Dems of a Trump Third Term.
Ukraine: Goes on offense against Russian damn in successful push.
Greatest Innovation in Society: The Free Exchange of Ideas - watch.
Sacrifice: Director Francis Ford Coppola bet it all on a film that flopped, now he’s auctioning off personal items.
ADHD or Sleep Deprivation? Another diagnostic failure by many practitioners.
Police Rad on Steroids: In Brazil, a “police raid” on a drug operation leaves 119 dead.
Say it Ain’t So! Dictionary.com announces its “word of the year.” No. No. No.
Our billionaires are better than yours! See how U.S. compares to the world.
A U.S. missionary is kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in Africa.
Sex-Traffic'd: NYT tracks the ongoing sex-trafficing on American streets.
Can you trust the “experts?” No, of course not.
Charting climate predictions versus reality.
AI:
You can now rent a virtual “Bot farm” to work for you.
Robots-to-Robot: The new HR-applicant cycle.
AI-Reviewed: How would you like it if your HR manager used AI to write your performance review?
Apparently AI is a magnet for the mentally ill.
Will your face be featured in ads pitched to you? A prediction says yes.
The rise of Parasatic AI.
CHINA:
Will China beat us?
MSM Spy: CCCP apparently has had a Politico reporter in its pocket.
COURTS:
Tantrums: Essay argues that tantrums undermine the argument for power needed to the Article II Branch.
Article III Tyranny: The made-up Court doctrine of governmental immunity continues to provide for unchecked abuses of power.
An argument that SCOTUS would strengthen America by striking down Trump’s Tariffs.
Sotomayor: “Your reputation and integrity are all you have...” The Justice gave another lecture.
Democrats have selective memory on judicial nominee answers and it gets noted.
Fail: Federal Judges deploy AI slop from the bench.
ECONOMY:
Slashed: Amazon axes 30,000 jobs.
General Motors cut another 1,700 jobs.
Golden: Apple’s market cap hits 4,000,000,000,000.
Stock Market Rally: Is it just beginning?
Egg prices down, Chocolate prices are up.
Meanwhile, Starbucks (with its monster logo) saw revenue up at same-stores for the first time in two years.
Repo Man: A surge in auto repossessions last year notes the WSJ.
Dalio: America becoming dependent upon the top 1%.
Good thing: Rate of bankruptcies is slowing.
Rate cut unpacked.
Economic Uncertainty: The current economy is without a script - like usual.
Yet, markets are excited over the low(er) inflation.
POLS BEHAVING BADLY:
Dems:
Liberals have misplaced loyalty in their Maine Nazi tattooed candidate.
But it stands to reason - National Socialism was a left-wing movement. Fact. And why today’s left-wing bemoans the battering of a left-wing branded Nazi.
How a Dem Pro-Hamas supporter’s fire bombing of Gov Shaprio’s home impacted his family.
Unhinged violent - or as liberals like to say “stochastic terrorism” - is on the rise and is noted.
TDS: When your Trump Derangement Syndrome morphs into Trump Projection Syndrome (will this be in DSM-VI?)
Abuse of Power: More information on Biden’s weaponization of government against political opponents.
Jefferies endorse NYC Hamas-loving socialist Democrat.
Congressional “squad” convorting in the Virgin Islands.
LOL: MSNBC host finds lying very comfortable.
Dem mouth piece can’t yak.
Yikes. More radical left-wingers calling for violence against conservatives.
MSM asks: Will Democrats be socialists and anti-progress?
Radicalization: A new report pegs the Democrats failures on their radical Left-wing base.
REPS:
Emergencies: When everything is an emergency then nothing is an emergency (remember COVID?).
Pence: His “tell all” memoir takes on Trump’s January 6th failings.
Snowflakes: Are Conservatives the new crybabies?
Trump’s nominee praised mass-murder Sadadm Hussein and now wants another U.S. taxpayer gig.
Trump’s DOJ attacks the Second Amendment.
The continued embarrassment that is Kash Patel.
TRAVEL:
Strange: Study claims Confederate Monuments reduced racial violence.
Falling birth-rates seems conflated to really one idealogical cohort data suggests.
Protestant Abusers: Assembly of God church caught up in abuse scandal and cover-up.
Gone: Gooners are gone. NSFW. But one should be aware this subculture is percolating and humanity will not be better for it.
Spots Music: Ranking the best U.S. sports theme songs.
Ready to Learn? Elementary school teachers starts day with uplifting chants.
Watch: Is University still worth it?
First Ever: White Iberian Lynx photographed.
Weird: An essay imploring us to take weird ideas seriously.
Government Fail: The deployment of “opoid settlement funds” has been anything but appropriate.
Sing the 50 States: Newly discovered unpublished Dr. Seuss book to find print next year.
