THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS: A different kind of adventure in the mountains.

This happened in my neck of the woods (my wife and I have been to the Jacks River Fields Campground) and I'm pleased to report that most of my neighbors are that kind.

THAT MEANS 94% ARE SUPERFLUOUS: Only 6 percent of federal workers show up in person every day.

The fish are in the barrel for Elon and Vivek to shoot....

THEY FAIL, we pay.

WHAT'S NEXT IN IDIOCY? Customized bottled water.

IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HUNTER. It's always been about Joe.

GLENN REYNOLDS ON SUBSTACK: Worried about experts, and their dubious performance and questionable actual expertise? Read on:

Leaving aside the undemocratic nature of technocracy, technocracy has failed the ultimate in technocratic tests: It doesn’t work. Putting “smart” – which turns out to mean “credentialed” – people in charge of everything, and letting them run things with no real constraints except the blinkered and self-serving opinions of other members of their social class, has turned out not to work very well. Whether in agriculture or in governance, monocultures are unstable, and our ruling class monoculture has been a narrow and increasingly incestuous one. Its performance has failed to justify its existence.

Reynolds' earlier substack thoughts on our 'expert' monoculture is here.

BEHIND THE BLACK: The real proof that the American political scene is about to experience a new revolution.

MINIMIZING THE STATE as co-parent.

The post is about micro-schooling, but the scene depicted in the opening paragraph happened in Mineral Bluff, Georgia, about 2 miles from my home.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Universities have a 2025 rendezvous with reality.

I hope it hurts.

FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, my favorite:

Now go see the rest.

THE 'SECESSION' WORD appears again and has a venerable tradition in American history.

Kurt Schlichter's People's Republic book series considers the possibilities in modern America. They're not positive.

COULD [MORE OF THE SAME] turn out to be the Democrats' most viable candidate for 2028?

[I]t’s quite clear from each and every name touted for 2028 that the Democrats are quite clear about one thing they want for 2028: more of the same.

The party of Jackson, Truman and JFK has gone all-in on America-Last internationalism, contempt for ordinary people, the fetishization of deviance and fantasy, and the forcible impoverishment of American citizens through inflation and mass migration, and there’s no turning back now. Not a single Democrat hopeful for 2028 at this point is articulating any pathway back to sanity, patriotism, or sound economic and immigration policies. And so while a slim majority of Americans may have chosen not to commit national suicide in 2024, the Dems can always hope they’ll vote for a civilizational slashing of the wrists in 2028.

Attila the Hun is their logical successor ... or AOC, his female equivalent.

THAT'S THE DIVIDE? Big versus Little.

It's an interesting article (read it all) but I'm not sure I agree it's big versus little. To me it's about choice -- individual choice versus group choice (in other words, control).

THE FBI GOVERNMENT is a font of misinformation.

I struck out FBI because it's not just the FBI, it's true for the Deep State as a whole.

ABSOLUTELY: Should Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson be in jail for trying to frame Trump for 'insurrection'?

They will skate ... unfortunately.

IMPRIMIS: Populist conservatism and constitutional order.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Useful idiots remain idiots when their 'sell by' dates expire.

TECH BILLIONAIRE tells Joe Rogan the government plan ‘to control AI’ is why he left a White House meeting and endorsed Trump.

The Left is always about control -- their control.

MORE LIES FROM THE LEFT: 'MAGA' supporters are the ones threatening Democrats.

And Democrat supporters are simply angels....

LOOKS LIKE IT TO ME: Insurrection at the DoD?

The new Trump administration must, repeat must, adopt a take-no-prisioners approach with recalcitrant Deep Staters.