Clearing the Tabs January 15, 2022

Happy New Year! Here are some things I've read so far this month or will be reading soon. A lot of people are staying at home looking for things to read, so I've broken this month into two parts again, expect a post on January 31 as well. Also, just because I post something here does not mean I agree with it, it simply means it made me think and I think my readers might enjoy it.

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January 1
Small town is a feeling in the Strip District

January 3
Trouble in Paradise: The Crumbling California Model
California is broken, but it is not doomed.

Welcome to the end of democracy
A rising tide of money and administrative power defines the rising autocracy

January 4
Philly's crime wave could affect the midterm election results in Pennsylvania

The Economics Of How San Francisco’s Drug Policies Are Devastating The City

Is this the end of progressive America?
Multiple fronts of resistance are taking shape

January 5
Class War is Just
Seismic economic and demographic changes will feed division and conflict.

Imagine electric vehicles in bad weather

January 6
Free Markets, Not Slave Markets
On the enmity between human bondage and capitalism

January 9
COVID-19 allowed too many to pervert their power

Is it Time for Intellectuals to Talk about God?
It's a New Dark Age. Evil abounds. Is a postmodern embarrassment about discussing spiritual matters, keeping us stupid and putting us in danger?

January 12
Inflation is eating away at the heart of America’s small businesses

California Is a Bastion of Innovation Marred by Deep Inequality. Is That America's Future?

January 13
How to Succeed at Failure
Sometimes you just can’t win. Make the most of it.

Sasse Blasts Biden’s ‘Senile’ Demagoguery
The Nebraska senator also took aim at the Democratic voting bills in question and made the case for reforming the Electoral Count Act.

Ultimate Agglomeration Diseconomy: The Standard of Living

January 14
Plenty of Waste at the Pentagon, but America’s Big Fiscal Problem Is Domestic Spending

Clearing the Tabs February 15, 2021

Here are some things I've read so far this month or will be reading soon. A lot of people are staying at home looking for things to read, so I've broken this month into two parts again, expect a post on February 28 as well. Also, just because I post something here does not mean I agree with it, it simply means it made me think and I think my readers might enjoy it.

February 4
Strong Communities Need Public Spaces—and Private Enterprise
We need parks and libraries and town squares for gathering. We also need shops, restaurants, and other commercial amenities.

Febuary 8
Nor’easters would be disastrous to a Green America

February 9
Government Spending Is Becoming One Big Fraud-Fest

Homeless, but dying with dignity

Despite wishful thinking, cities won’t come back without major reform

February 10
The Other California
After Covid-19, the Inland Empire offers a way forward for the Golden State.

February 13

Ben Sasse’s Conviction: Trump’s Lies Caused This

In a series of interviews leading up to Saturday’s impeachment vote, the GOP senator described the stakes as he sees them: nothing less than the integrity of the Constitution.

February 14
COVID-19 and the Ongoing Global Workplace Revolution

February 15

Gina Carano and Crowd-Sourced McCarthyism
Talking with the Star Wars actress about her cancellation and a meme.

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After Words: Arthur Brooks Interviews Ben Sasse

Two of my favorite people joined together to put together an amazing discussion for an hour. Spend an hour watching Arthur Brooks of American Enterprise Institute (AEI) interview Senator Ben Sasse about his new book, Them. This is NOT a political discussion. So grab a beverage, relax, and enjoy this presentation.

Senator Ben Sasse Rightly Takes On Sean Hannity

Hannity of course will never accept this challenge, but good for Senator Sasse for not just letting Hannity go unchecked.

If you write a book about the outrage merchants that are dividing America and you fail to mention Sean Hannity because he’s in your party, you aren’t being honest.#Them https://t.co/F9QJIoUtvW https://t.co/QxD7YEOavE

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) October 17, 2018

.@seanhannity -

I invite you to come out from behind the safety of your cable news desk and join me at a neutral forum to debate the role of the media—Left and Right—in dividing us.

Honest conversation isn’t where the quick-hit $ and ratings are — but it’d be good for America. https://t.co/ho8IMTZ80j

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) October 17, 2018

Eclipse!

I am not one of those people that was overly enamored with the eclipse. What did amaze me about the eclipse, and did actually surprise me, was the amount of attention given to the eclipse, especially by schools and students.

There was plenty of social media attention given to the eclipse, which can be good and bad and often irrelevant. Part of this coverage included kids and schools that were making special effort to see the eclipse and to teach about it, and to also protect young eyes from staring right at the eclipse without proper eye wear.

If this eclipse got these kids, any kids, to give thought to big ideas in their world, then that is awesome. These might be the kids that go on to study medicine or science or just attempt discovery. Again, this is a great thing. Maybe these kids reach for the stars and are behind the next great idea is space travel, maybe these kids develop medicines that alleviate certain pains or maybe these kids cure a disease or illness in their lifetimes.

It is a lot to ask of an event like an eclipse, but this is what dreaming and discovery and learning is really all about. And maybe this eclipse, an event we cannot control, change or alter, affected a fraction of a percent of the millions of children that observed it with awe and wonder. That is a great thing, and I am even more intrigued by this than I was about the eclipse itself.

I recently read a book by Ben Sasse called The Vanishing American Adult. I sincerely commend it to you. I mention that book here because the need to develop better, more capable adults in our society is an ultimate outcome of getting our kids to read and discover and wonder and dream...and even to venture outside their tiny circles, be they personal or online, and reach beyond their comfort zones.

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I might deflate my entire point now, but this Instagram post made me laugh and I am still laughing over this one.

Pretty much all I saw 😂😂😂 #nutsquad

A post shared by The Meme King (@laughsfromthe6) on Aug 22, 2017 at 7:49am PDT

Mark Levin Continues to Expose Mitch McConnell

Mark Levin is continuing to expose the fraud that is deal makin' Mitch McConnell. McConnell is apparently a king maker, and prospective candidates and others have to goose step around him and kiss the ring in order to get his blessing. This brief segment mentions a recent meeting with Ben Sasse of Nebraska going to meet with Ditch McConnell.

McConnell is more interested in having a powerful name than is the future of his country, or even his party, as you can see with these petty games he plays.

Take a listen here.