The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 39)
April 1, 2022
***Update: I’m leaving this weekend for a week’s trip to Nevada and Utah. I hope to have a long-form essay for you on Tuesday and “Dumb & Dumber” for Friday, but no promises.
The Good
THIS IS PRETTY DARN COOL: Putting Time in Perspective.
A NICE ESSAY WORTH READING: When "Freedom" Is Problematic, Discussion Ends
A WOMAN OF PRINCIPLE (AND GREAT BEAUTY): Russian prima ballerina leaves Moscow theater over Russia-Ukraine war
I KNEW IT WOULD BE SOMEWHERE BELOW THE MASON-DIXON LINE. New York man bicycling across US reveals his favorite state so far: ‘Feel at home’ Here’s a clue:
This is good news for me because one of my sons is moving to Mississippi, and I plan to be going there with some regularity.
WE SHOULD ALL FEAR ANGRY MOTHERS. I DO. Conservative moms fed up with the past two years started organizing. Now they’re winning — and they don’t plan to stop.
AN ESSAY WORTH THINKING ABOUT: The two countercultures
FINALLY, A POLICY THAT VIRTUALLY ALL AMERICANS CAN GET BEHIND: 99.9% Of Americans Support Sending Mitt Romney To Fight In Ukraine.
NO LEFT TURNS: The Turn
You might be living through The Turn if you ever found yourself feeling like free speech should stay free even if it offended some group or individual but now can’t admit it at dinner with friends because you are afraid of being thought a bigot. You are living through The Turn if you have questions about public health policies—including the effects of lockdowns and school closures on the poor and most vulnerable in our society—but can’t ask them out loud because you know you’ll be labeled an anti-vaxxer. You are living through The Turn if you think that burning down towns and looting stores isn’t the best way to promote social justice, but feel you can’t say so because you know you’ll be called a white supremacist. You are living through The Turn if you seethed watching a terrorist organization attack the world’s only Jewish state, but seethed silently because your colleagues were all on Twitter and Facebook sharing celebrity memes about ending Israeli apartheid while having little interest in American kids dying on the streets because of failed policies. If you’ve felt yourself unable to speak your mind, if you have a queasy feeling that your friends might disown you if you shared your most intimately held concerns, if you are feeling a bit breathless and a bit hopeless and entirely unsure what on earth is going on, I am sorry to inform you that The Turn is upon you. . . .
But, having been there before, I have one important thing to tell you: If the left is going to make it “right wing” to simply be decent, then it’s OK to be right.
I am happy to counsel anyone thinking about making the turn—in either direction. Feel free to reach out. I’m here for you.
The Bad
The twenty-first century is not turning out how I thought it would: Radical feminists protesting Lia Thomas: 'Democrats don't care about women'
MEANWHILE, IN THE UNITED STATES, WE’RE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN THAT MATH IS RACIST AND TRANSPHOBIC: China is developing new solid rockets to boost overall space capabilities.
AMERICA’S RULING CLASS DOING WHAT IT DOES BEST. You do know that money was stolen “taken” from YOU, right? At what point do you say, “enough is enough”? Secret Service: $100,000,000,000 in pandemic relief cash stolen!
"Nearly $100 BILLION AT MINIMUM has been stolen from COVID-19 relief programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic," the report said.
"Who couldn’t have guessed that the Big Government would pay no attention to the distribution?"
The report said most of losses came in the form of unemployment fraud, with the Labor Department estimating some $87 billion was paid out in benefits that probably should not have been paid.
BECAUSE, TO PARAPHRASE ABRAHAM LINCOLN, A NATION THAT HATES ITSELF CANNOT STAND: Why are so few Americans willing to defend their country?
NOT GOOD. Not good at all: The Dominance Of The U.S. Dollar Is Fading Right Before Our Eyes.
GOOD QUESTION: Canadians: Why Is Biden Seeking Oil From Tyrants; ‘We’re Right Next Door’
ACQUIRING OIL FROM IRAN IS STUPID AND IMMORAL. Acquiring oil from Iran when we can get it from Canada is insane and evil! Canadian energy official is 'frustrated' Biden is looking to Venezuela and Iran for oil
IT’S A SUICIDE CULT: Reviving Iran nuclear deal will make Joe Biden the ‘number one funder of terrorism in the world,’ says Sen. Ted Cruz.
WHOEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WOULD BRING GLOBAL STARVATION: War in Ukraine Sparks Concerns Over Worldwide Food Shortages.
On March 14, the UN’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a stark warning about the wider threats of the war in Ukraine: world hunger. “We must do everything possible to avert a hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system,” he said.
The comment echoed a similar concern voiced by David Beasley, the head of the World Food Programme, just a few days earlier: “The bullets and bombs in Ukraine could take the global hunger crisis to catastrophic levels. Supply chains and food prices will be dramatically impacted,” he said.
“ALMOST” THERE? I’m pretty sure we’re well down that road: The Road to Serfdom—We’re Almost There.
TIME TO WAKE UP PEOPLE. Socialist fascism is a thing as is fascist socialism. What connects them to each other is the notion of the “common good,” which is uncommonly bad: Forget the Great Reset. Embrace the Great Escape. Watch the video:
THESE PEOPLE ARE PATHOLOGICALLY DISHONEST: Why the word 'freedom' is such a useful rallying cry for protesters
"Freedom is a slippery concept," said Anker, an associate professor of political science at George Washington University and author of Ugly Freedoms, which examines the history of how freedom, as a concept, has been used in American society.
"On the far right, [individual freedom] is often translated into somebody who refuses to be bound by norms of equality, treating all people equally or norms to remedy inequality, whether that's trying to remedy racial discrimination or gender discrimination."
The word has been used by far-right groups as part of push-back against efforts to remedy inequality, she added.
And “equality” means socialism. Just so we’re clear.
IS THAT ACTUALLY TRUE, YA KNOW, THE SUSPENSION PART? Obviously, Rachel Levine is a woman because, well, ya know, Rachel is a woman’s name. Twitter just suspended The Babylon Bee for calling Rachel Levine a man and the Bee is refusing to delete the tweet because, ya know, it’s true.
THE BUREAUCRACY DOING WHAT IT DOES BEST—SCREWING UP! CDC Says It Accidentally Inflated Children’s COVID Death Numbers In ‘Coding Logic Error.’ Of course, the error was 100% unintentional.
I OPPOSE ALL WELFARE INCLUDING, IF NOT MOST ESPECIALLY, CORPORATE WELFARE. The redistribution of wealth is immoral, and decent people should say so: Americans slam secretive deal that gives Apple millions in taxpayer dollars
TAXING THE POOR IS NOT COOL: Gas Prices Shoot Up at Fastest Rate on Record.
AMERICAN GROCERY STORE SHELVES ARE BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE SOVIET GROCERY STORE SHELVES FROM THE 1970S AND 1980s.
America then:
America now:
THAT’S ‘CAUSE 43% OF THE POPULATION ARE PAYING FOR EVERYONE ELSE. Where is the justice in that? Let’s do a 20% flat tax and then lower it by one percent every year until we cut all the government necessary to have a balanced budget: 57% of households paid no federal income tax in '21...
The Ugly
SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN: Child Abuse: ‘I Just Want Them to Stop Transing the Children’.
A CIVILIZATION THAT WON’T DEFEND ITS CHILDREN ISN’T CIVILIZED, NOR IS IT WORTH SAVING: Wisconsin schools: keeping parents in the dark.
IT’S A FORM OF MENTAL ILLNESS: Of course we should challenge woke young people
Price and other woke educators see children as the ‘saviours’ of a politically backward older generation. But arguing that adults need to shut up and learn from their woke offspring is insulting to parents. Parents are assumed to be indifferent to society’s problems and to not know what is best for their own children. Worse, the ‘learn from the children’ mantra calls into question the meaning of adulthood and undermines the relationship between parent and child. And while Price’s comments may sound kid-friendly on the surface, putting children’s views beyond criticism is patronising. If we are to take the next generation seriously, we should not be afraid to subject their beliefs to criticism and challenge.
Schools themselves can often be the source of these woke beliefs. Schools are offering ever-more explicitly political instruction on a whole range of issues. Some schools use teaching resources developed by campaign groups like Stonewall to teach children about trans issues. Some schools even permit children to swap gender against their parent’s wishes. This is why Price is wrong in her key claim: children are not routinely challenged for espousing woke values. On the contrary, they are generally praised and celebrated when they repeat these views back to adults.
Schools themselves can often be the source of these woke beliefs. Schools are offering ever-more explicitly political instruction on a whole range of issues. Some schools use teaching resources developed by campaign groups like Stonewall to teach children about trans issues. Some schools even permit children to swap gender against their parent’s wishes. This is why Price is wrong in her key claim: children are not routinely challenged for espousing woke values. On the contrary, they are generally praised and celebrated when they repeat these views back to adults.
Read the whole thing:
ARE YOU OK WITH THIS? Mom blames trans agenda for death of daughter, who walked in front of train
The mother accused the Los Angeles County area school of encouraging Yaeli to take hormones and undergo gender reassignment surgery, explaining that school staff told her daughter "not to speak to her mother about transgender issues," and then secretly referring her to an LGBTQ group where members persuaded her she would only be happy by becoming male. . . .
"The school was telling her to go to these LGBT groups behind my back. She went from questioning her sexuality to her gender. She had these peers at school two years older than her. They were the ones who brought these ideas – 'Maybe you're depressed because don't you feel like you're a boy?' – and the school was supportive of that." . . .
Yaeli then was told the only way to get the trans surgery paid for by the state was to be in foster care, and social workers arranged that after Yaeli was "coached" into making a false claim about being slapped, the report said.
It wasn't long before Pomona police called, she said.
"Around 9:30 p.m. that night, she walked in front of the train tracks facing a train. She went on her knees, raised her arms up and just laid on the tracks," Abigail Martinez explained.
Read the whole thing.
THIS IS A VERY GOOD ESSAY THAT I’M RECOMMENDING HIGHLY. More people, particularly young people, need to know what happened in the world’s first socialist nation and why it matters today. A Hidden History of Evil.
THIS IS A RED ZONE ALERT, FOLKS. These people are both morons and wicked: Top global agency calls for 'lockdowns' to curb oil use
. . . and the Beautiful
I’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN: I do not think Terrence Malick is a great filmmaker, but I do think he is the greatest filmmaker of the movie trailer. His trailer for “Tree of Life” is beyond beautiful and sublime. The trailer for his latest film “The Hidden Life” cuts to the core of man’s deepest needs and greatest aspirations. These trailers are not to be watched; they are to be absorbed and studied.
P.S.: Don’t forget to submit your aesthetic recommendations to: redneckaesthetic@gmail.com. Please always use as your subject line: “The Beautiful.”
Have a great weekend!