More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- How protectionism turns friends into rivals. For the record I support reciprocal tariffs. If a country has a zero tariff on our goods we should have reciprocal zero tariffs on theirs. Canada does not have reciprocal tariffs with us even though we are their largest trading partner.
- The complete insanity of the Democratic Socialist agenda.
- Some mostly forgotten history - George Thomas the Rock of Chickamauga.
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- I Secede, You Secede. We all Secede.
- Five points of military reform? As Marc Andreessen would say "time to build!"
- When emotions take the wheel. A lesson from Kobe Bryant. I need to learn to control my breathe and emotions better.
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Shelby Foote was an American treasure. Never realized Foote never graduated college. Guessing he had more knowledge of the Civil War than any PhD.
- Peter Attia on the relationship between health anxiety and mortality. Hypochondriacs were found to have a 69% chance of all-cause mortality. Being a hypochondriac is literally bad for your health.
- 25 blogs guaranteed to make you smarter. Following these blogs is really worthwhile.
- Joe Biden never considered the "specifics" of the 1,500 people he commuted. Some of these people are considered "monsters" by their victims and its rumored that the only "specifics" he considered was how much cash they were giving to "the big guy."
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Historical nugget that may only interest me - in one of the final acts of the Civil War the Confederacy set Richmond, their own capital, on fire.
- Michael Shermer: There's a UFO in my garage. Feel I'm forced to be a doubting Thomas on this subject.
- Historian Tim Snyder - "Our misreading of Russia is deep. Very deep."
Have a post up on Substack describing how the two may have more in common than you think.
My conclusion is worth repeating:
Reminder that nobody had the right to impose the institution of slavery upon another free person just as no one has the right to impose their religion upon another. We would not accept a version of Christianity or Islam imposed upon us - so why would we be forced to accept versions of woke culture?
Have a post up on Substack regarding the importance of Gettysburg.
Also currently re-reading Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels which I try to do every yea around this time to remind myself the importance of the battle. Highly recommend the book.
Whitney was on to a more lucrative venture altogether. Starting in 1798, having come to terms with the fact that little money would come to him from the cotton gin, he had turned his attention to weapons. With his skill in manufacturing and fame as inventor of the cotton gin, he received an initial order for ten thousand muskets for $134,000 from the US government. His long-awaited fortune eventually came from guns. In doing so, Whitney set the stage for the Connecticut River Valley to become a leader in arms manufacturing, a competitive advantage for the North that poetically would be felt by South Carolina and Georgia decades later.
Really enjoying this book which looks at American history through the lense of capitalism and what the economic motives of the times were.
The history behind The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
I was taught the song in 3rd grade - in public school. I doubt very much that the song is being taught today. And we are a poorer nation for that change.
Excellent observation from IowaHawk - the new footprints of the Big 10 and the SEC do match up with the Free and Slave States just prior to the Civil War. Just like the Gypsy woman said it would.
Brings to mind the Sun Tzu quote - "Every battle is won before it is ever fought."
The lack of an industrial base doomed the Confederacy from the start.
EDIT: I should note that I'm not somehow making the case for how the Confederacy blew it. What came to mind after reading that nugget is how America is at a similar disadvantage today due to our lack of chip manufacturing plants.
Did you know that the King of Spades on a playing card was originally supposedly designed to represent King David from the Bible? The sword he holds was supposed to be the sword used to cut off Goliath's head after young David killed him with a rock from his his sling.
During the early parts of the Civil War - Robert E Lee was given the nickname "King of Spades" because of his propensity to dig trenches as part of his strategy. At first the nickname was derisive because soldiers hate to dig. Later when the effectiveness of his tactics saved the lives of many of these same soldiers - the nickname became affectionate. Reportedly Lee always loathed the nickname.Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
What CNN really needs now - ratings wise is for another jetliner to go missing so they can return to their journalistic roots... Six Beers and a Gummie would be a good name for a band or an update on the Irish 7-course meal joke (old joke was a six-pack and a potato)... Business idea: a line of condoms called "Sanitized (for your protection)"... Mathematical Abstractions would also be a good name for a band... Who knew? The last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch, was a Confederate victory... One of my favorite pieces of trivia - the JAWS character Captain Quint's last name means "fifth" in Latin. In the move he's the fifth person killed by the shark...
Today is the anniversary of Robert E. Lee surrendering to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox in 1865. One of the most important dates in US history goes by with little or no mention and we wonder why kids today seem so uninformed.
