Monday evening reading - July 7, 2025
More goodies from the stack of stuff I read on a daily basis here on Substack.
When I get to between six and eight posts (or so) I think are worth sharing, you’ll get Monday evening reading. It won’t be every week, but likely more often than not. There’s nothing wrong with link love! Once again, I culled this down from about 15-20 posts to the ones you see here, all from authors to whom I subscribe (and maybe you should too.)
Go ahead and read these pieces, then come back and see what I have to say.
As you probably know, we celebrated our 249th anniversary as a nation last Friday. As he is wont to do,
reminded us how it all began.
From public reading of the Declaration of Independence to signing the One Big Beautiful Bill in one nation’s history.
Those who oppose the OBBB still have their areas of influence, though, as
details.
Since the Obama Administration, the Democrat Party has been using brute legal force to remake towns using a cookie-cutter formula that forces each to have the same proportion of houses and apartments, the same mix of low, middle, and upper-income residents, and the same reliance on public transit, all controlled by Blue State politicians. Any town that resists gets shamed as “segregated” or “racist” though this isn’t about race.
There is a reason some people want to live in small towns, and it’s not because they want to bring the big-city stuff to them. Leave our towns alone.
Speaking of big cities, Judd Garrett reminds us that it’s not all about free stuff.
Obviously, Zohran Mamdani, will be a disaster if he is elected mayor of New York City. His policy positions are absolutely indefensible because everywhere they have been tried, not only have they failed, but have brought nothing but misery and suffering to the people. He wants no cost childcare, free public transportation, city-owned grocery stores, defund the police and replace them with social workers, end cash bail, de-criminalize sex work, de-criminalize drugs, create safe injection sites, repeal mandatory minimums for violent crimes, and pay for everything by raising the New York City corporate tax rate to 11.5%.
Yes, I know I beat the dead horse from last week but it is an off-year election so some more minor races will capture our imagination.
So let’s talk about election strategy.
looks at the rise of the “stalking horse” - in political terms, a third or fourth candidate placed by one side to split the vote on the other side. (One example she uses is Curtis Sliwa from New York, but to me a better one is Andrew Cuomo, who was rejected in the primary. Sliwa is the duly nominated Republican.)But do you ever wonder why the Democrats are all for Libertarian candidates on the ballot but try to block the Green Party? Here’s why.
She gets the double dip this time around as she talks about bringing young voters out by giving them a reason to vote.
For years, Democrats have attempted to win over young voters with promises such as student loan forgiveness, free college, and government handouts. But here’s the truth: those policies, while emotionally appealing, come at a devastating economic cost that today’s younger generations will ultimately be forced to pay.
Republicans have a better, more innovative, and more sustainable way to connect with younger Americans: Let them keep more of what they earn.
That’s not just for younger voters. Have you ever asked what you’re really getting for all those hours you worked where the wages go to all the government deductions? Out of a ten working day pay period for me, I worked about two days for the government - and perhaps I got off light.
You probably don’t know this, but there’s a popular cover band around these parts called Great Train Robbery. (Years ago I saw them open here for Lynyrd Skynyrd, but the latter band never got to play this outdoor concert because a severe storm rolled through just before they were scheduled to play.)
That cover band’s name, though, is a reality in the Southwest according to
.
Cargo trains rolling across the Southwestern United States are increasingly being targeted and looted. I’m not talking about random punks breaking locks in a railyard and making off with some merchandise. I’m talking about organized transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel cleaning out entire trains.
Finally - and what a transition I’m making here - we look at the demise of the music industry through the eyes of one
.
You can cue up the old Jackson Browne song if you want, but chances are the rights to it have been hoovered up by some conglomerate who turns up its nose at new artists. Where’s the creativity in that?
As Ted concludes,
The solution for the big legacy music companies is obvious—return to their original mission of supporting new artists and new music. Face the future, not the past.
Just because my overall tastes stopped at the turn of the century doesn’t mean I don’t like some newer stuff, and that will be true for Generation Z when Taylor Swift is the same age as the Baby Boomers are now. Heck, some of the geezers when I was growing up still held on to their big band, ragtime, and jazz music. To them, Glenn Miller was the bee’s knees. (And people of today say “who?”)
Well, despite the fact that a couple of things that I originally wanted to place wouldn’t embed and got cut, all that should keep a good reader going and thinking for awhile. It’s a good way to start the week, right?
In the meantime, though, you can Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there now.
Great picture. Great selection. Thanks again for the mention Michael.