Just One Thing
You really only need to read one thing today, and it's this:
Cole Summers: American Pioneer - by Cole Summers (substack.com)
Today's Guests
John "the Builder" Malecki is a former NFL (Pittsburgh Steelers) player turner builder whose motto is “Making Blue Collar Cool Again”. We'll talk about the increasing appeal of "blue-collar" trades. It's a subject that's come up with some frequency on my show over the years and seems to be even more true now given significant shortages in all sorts of skilled labor and significant increases in wages for talented skilled tradesmen who didn't have to spend $200K or $300K and four years of their lives on a college degree. BTW, I'm not anti-college but I think too many people go to college and I think it's much too expensive.
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Bill Deresiewicz is a writer and the author of a forthcoming collection of essays entitled “The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society.” It’s coming out in August and you can pre-order now.
His already published books include “The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech” and Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life
His recent essay which was published at Bari Weiss’s excellent substack carries on from his prior book:
We Aren't Raising Adults. We Are Breeding Very Excellent Sheep. (substack.com)
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Scott Lincicome is one of my favorite thinkers, writers and guests. He's true expert in international economics and the economics of trade. Today we'll talk mostly about refineries and how problems in the refinery industry are responsible for a significant part of our high fuel prices. We'll cover other stuff too, such as baby formula...and I hope we have time to talk about the Jones Act.
Scott Lincicome | Cato Institute
His great newsletter, part of the Dispatch family: Capitolism | Members | Substack (thedispatch.com)
What drives prices at the pump | American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (afpm.org)
Other Stuff
Uvalde cops were in the halls with AR-15s and shields but still did nothing: Uvalde School Security Cam Reveals Cops Had High-Powered Rifles (gizmodo.com)
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When "Pride Month" jumps the shark: Sexualized Pride ads stir debate about ‘problematic’ undertones in LGBTQ marketing campaigns (nbcnews.com)
See the video at the end of this blog, if you dare.
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I really don't care about LGBTQetc issues one way or another. Go live your life and be happy. The one place where I know I care a lot: It's outrageous that people born as men can compete in women's sports. FINALLY, we're getting a little bit of sanity from a couple of sports regulating organizations including the group that runs international swimming competitions. The former male Leah Thomas who now swims as a female for the University of Pennsylvania will not, under new rules regarding transgender swimmers, be permitted to compete internationally as a woman; that includes barring Thomas from the Olympics. This has been much too long coming but better late than never, and that's not an anti-trans comment but rather a pro-girls'-and-women's-sports comment. Cycling also took a step, though a much smaller one, in the right direction.
FINA transgender ruling: Everything you need to know - CNN
Cycling sets stricter rules for transgender athletes | AP News
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The always brilliant Bjorn Lomborg notes that the radical environmental left is getting what they've always wanted...but the results are probably the opposite of their intended goals:
Fossil-fuel price spikes are causing pain but little climate payoff (nypost.com)
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How can there be so many high-profile stories of young men being harmed or killed in fraternity hazings (usually by being forced to drink too much alcohol) and yet these stories still happen. This is one of the worst. I hate to say it, but part of me thinks that the victim here (who, of course, is also partially responsible for what happened) would be better off dead. So so terribly sad
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It's National Daylight Appreciation Day because June 21st is the longest day of the year. Denver will officially have 15 hours and 2 minutes of daylight today. It's interesting to see how the day length changes over time. Right now the daily change is quite small but as you get further away from a solstice, the daily changes become much bigger (moving toward about 2 minute daily changes in the amount of daylight.)
Sunrise and sunset times in Denver, Colorado (sunrise-sunset.org)
It's also National Selfie Day. I'd much rather have a National No Selfies Day.
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Part of me is tempted to see if I could do more than 10% of this...actually I bet I could, but I don't think I could do 20%
Watch This Guy Smash the World Record for Most Pushups in an Hour (menshealth.com)
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This is what happens when you destroy your brand: Cable News Ratings Friday June 17: CNN Tanks in the Demo, Records Lowest Day Since July 2000 (msn.com)
Today's Videos
A giant stingray caught in the Mekong river in Cambodia is believed to have set a new world record for the heaviest fresh-water fish ever caught. You'll be glad to know it was released back into the river and the fisherman was paid by conservationists.
Cambodian catches world's largest recorded freshwater fish | AP News
Your Dept of Defense tax dollars at work. Ugh.
Lest you think this is satire, nope, it's a real project of your US Navy. Again, ugh. (BTW, I'm all for a diverse workforce as long as we're not sacrificing the mission in order to pursue "social justice", diversity, etc., but I suspect that the mission is not helped by a nearly monomaniacal focus on "inclusion.")
And perhaps the ultimate (so far) in "Pride" activists going too far