Sunday Reads...
- Greg McNeilly
- Feb 15
- 5 min read
An irregular roundup of thought-provoking reads. Most made me go “hmm…”
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"The highest form of love is to be the protector of another person’s solitude." - Rainer Maria Rilke
Moderna claims the FDA is refusing to evaluate its news mRNA vaccine.
Another mass shooting in Canada.
The Vatican introduces two new indexes that track firms that comport with Catholic values.
Men in tights: $1 billion in bets placed on the Super Bowl.
Naughty hop: Super Bowl lost 7% of viewers in its half time show.
And a columnist notes the retarded nature of the bunny’s message.
Flipping Out: The American dazzling the world with talent on ice.
Odd: Unspecific security concern closes city’s airspace for 10 days.
Mexican cartel drones in area disappear.
Visualizing the cost-of-living worldwide.
Trump apparently pushed for Epstein investigation 10-years prior to running for President.
Not morning again: American optimism plummets.
Wait what? Claims that Kurt Cobain’s death was a homicide not suicide surface.
The political causes of higher education decline reflected upon.
On the value (let alone virtue) of reading, every day.
Exploring the connection between athletics and writing.
What do young women want in young men? Research suggests: 1) Political conformity, 2) Protection, and 3) General value alignment.
Subsidizing parenthood (tax-dollar welfare) has been tried and failed.
National unity: Who supports voter ID - nearly everyone.
Another Newsom refugee. Zuckerberg fleas California for the Sunshine State.
Misadry: Women react, per research, less tolerant to men than women in a similar situation.
Sorting the signals from Georgia 2020.
Senate 2026: GOP is in trouble.
Meta chief claims their platforms are not addictive, science and internal docs indicate otherwise.
Meditation alters (in positive ways) brain pathways and networks.
Good news: House passes the SAVE act. 80% of American’s support it - there is consensus in America!
Gallup: After 88 years, Gallup is ending Presidential approvals, given that we’re simply not going to approve of them anymore.
Science: Exercise beats brain-altering prescription drugs for depression.
The forgotten Republican: Rand Paul.
Coloring books on demand: Check out this resource.
Must watch: Bondi + Gillis on recounting recent abuses of power.
The best and worst of new Kitchen gear, watch here.
Cuba: A fascinating update on dynamics in Cuba at present and immigration in America, listen here.
Schizophrenia: Long-form profile of parenting a schizophrenic child.
Love:
St. Valentine remembered.
Chaucer made St. Valentine’s Day a staple of modern Western Civilization.
Cards to express love have been a common place tradition - until modernity has sought to tear these practices down.
A WWII solider and his love letters rediscovered.
The lost art of sharing vino.
Valentine’s Day spending expected to hit peak levels. American’s are still hooked on celebrating the magic of love.
Looking for a match at a themed restaurant.
Attraction unpacked.
Advice against the narcissism of single-hood.
Living with a “partner” aka marriage, extends lifespan.
How the middle-class made the “wedding” industrial complex.
Visualizing the cost of a wedding by state.
Lent follows Valentine’s Day in 2026 which means so does Mardi Gras!
Remembering the board game Candy Land, originally targeted at children battling polio.
New looks at the White House remodel.
A decade of loss: CNN has a third of the viewers it once did.
More on the Mississippi Miracle - the fact that they teach children to read better than the Midwest continues to embarrass the Rust Belt.
Rahm Emanuel campaigns in Michigan.
Before Substack, there was the Republic of Letters.
ICE officers investigated for allegations of lying.
World’s longest python documented.
The odd history of tarot cards.
Soviet asset: Epstein and Putin ties become more clear.
VPOTUS recognizes the Armenian genocide.
Researchers uncover the cause of a COVID-19 vaccine “side effect.”
Feb 28: Parade of Planets.
Interspecies harm: TV shows targeting pets.
Ranking states and European countries by church attendance - from Utah to Iceland.
AI:
CHINA & RUSSIA, IRAN & TERROR:
The Dutch arrest 15 for spreading terrorism on TikTok.
DPRK’s Kim Jung Un identifies his heir as his 13-year old daughter.
Iran executed wounded protesters in their hospital beds.
COURTS:
A retrospective on Justice Alito.
ECONOMY:
UAW buys Clear Channels and now owns a purity of U.S. roadside billboards.
Delinquencies near 10-year high.
Eddie Bauer enters Chapter 11.
January: + 130,000 jobs.
Ranking all crypto currencies by market cap.
Parsing American’s emergency funds.
Taxpayers fund 95% of Trump’s tariffs/taxes.
After the dust settled 2025 holiday retail sales were cooler than expected.
POLS BEHAVING BADLY:
Dems
Succession: Mamdani orders city to not comply with federal law.
Congressman Bennie Thompson appears to be a serial fraudster.
Government school unions are organizing efforts to impede law enforcement.
An entire government school system turns against Western Civilization.
Majority of Democrat voters believe the “Democrat Party” is too “woke.”
An alleged arsonist “protests” ICE.
Federal law prohibits the creation of a gun registry, but the bureaucrats made one regardless.
Top Obama official resigns in disgrace over Epstein connection surfaced.
Rep. Nadler fell asleep during a Congressional Hearing.
Reps
TRAVEL:
Best U.S. hotels per U.S. News.
How Peloton convinced the world its bikes were high-quality, by raising its prices. And how Peloton gets you hooked.
Graphing nations by average household debt.
MSM mocks Christians for eschewing the narcissism that performative obsession with events is a virtue.
A shortlist of the wildlife photographers for 2026.
Babysitting rates by major U.S. city.
An interactive tool for exploring the roots of a words heritage.
