Ed Kerns

Ora et labora ▪️Montani Semper Liberi▪️@VMIalumni

[Mia♡ @luxemiaa]

My son came to me with some news.

He told me Dolly Parton had died and I said I knew.

And then he got quiet for a second and said she loved me. She used to send me a lot of books.

I had to just look at him for a moment.

He was talking about the Imagination Library. The program where Dolly sends books to children every month from birth until they start school. Millions of kids across the country get these books.

My son believed that Dolly Parton personally knew him. That she had specifically selected each book, thought about him individually, put it in an envelope, and mailed it to our house every single month because she loved him specifically.

Not as part of a program. Not as one of millions of children. But because she and my son had a personal relationship and she was devoted to his literary development specifically.

And honestly when you think about it from a child's perspective that's not even an unreasonable conclusion. Books showed up every month with her name attached. She clearly cared. Why wouldn't she know him personally.

I didn't have the heart to fully correct him in that moment.

Because also he wasn't entirely wrong. She did love him. She loved all of them. She just loved a lot of children at once and had a very efficient system for showing it.

Rest easy Dolly. My son misses you personally.

[Greg Carey @gcarey938]

West Virginia offensive line coach Rick Trickett on how he handles differences in today’s generation of college athletes:

“I don’t handle it. I let them worry about handling it. We know what wins. We know how to win and I’m not going to lower the bar for anybody.”

[Victor Davis Hanson @VDHanson]

Dr Fauci and Mr. Science

The Fauci files reveal not just a sociopathic narcissist, but also a pathological schizophrenic.

For years, Fauci was assuring the public of Covid narratives that he either knew were untrue, or knew little about.

He posed as a non-partisan, even as he collaborated with the leftwing cable news grandees and liberal columnists to hound his enemies and magnify his godhead.

From the virus’s origins and effects of the lockdowns, to the efficacy of the mRNA vaccinations to the always changing 0/1/2 masks wearing protocols, Fauci used his massive government agency, and sycophantic media, to promote his always fluid narratives by punishing enemies and rewarding friends—on the basis of their loyalty to Dr. “I represent science”.

He seemed to be obsessed with firing White House Covid advisor Scott Atlas, and demonizing Jay Bhattacharya, Sunetra Gupta and Martin Kulldorff—for the crimes of questioning the Fauci party line.

These critics were not radical “let it rip” herd immunologists as the Fauci camp caricatured them, but circumspect, cost-to-benefit doctors and savvy health policy analysts.

Their views, if embraced, might have avoided a multibillion-dollar global shutdown that wrecked economies—especially derailing the booming 4th quarter 2019 Trump economy—increased the death toll, destroyed millions of livelihoods, harmed perhaps permanently the education of millions U.S. children, and was hardly based on the “science”.

And what exactly were the so-called extremist views of Atlas, Bhattacharya, and others?

Healthy children were not at great risk from Covid—but keeping them isolated drained away key resources from the elderly and sick who certainly were vulnerable.

And the nationwide school closures had profound negative effects on children and teens as did the lockdowns on the general population.

Substance and familial abuse soared, small businesses were ruined, and children’s formative educational years were lost.

24/7 mask wearing was neither practical nor necessary as opposed to their beneficial use by health care workers in close proximities.

The experimental mRNA vaccinations may have initially saved lives, but they were not, as billed by Fauci and the pharmaceutical companies, lasting protection from either infectiousness or being infected.

And certainly the repeated booster regimens for some could pose serious health risks.

Herd immunity was not some crank idea, as the Fauci school libeled these experts, but, along with the initial vaccinations, were time-tested medical realities that would mitigate the toxicity of the pandemic.

We have seen a lot of obscene hoaxes recently that changed national events: the loony Jussie Smollett caper; the phony “Steele dossier”; the “51 intelligence authorities” and the Russian-produced Hunter Biden laptop con; and the media fabricated effigy of Joe Biden as “fit as a fiddle”.

But Fauci’s effort to attribute the virus to a bat or pangolin publicly, while privately accepting from his own consultants that it likely was birthed in the Wuhan lab’s gain of function research—which he had helped to support via Peter Daszak—and the policies that resulted from that initial lie, proved literally for thousands a matter of life and death.

[James E. Thorne @DrJStrategy]

The full Musk interview with The Economist is a must watch 👇

Musk draws the red line at the point where interest payments on the debt exceed military spending, because that is when a great power starts sacrificing security to service its past borrowing.

That is the warning history points to, and it is the part Wall Street keeps missing.

Trump opened the door for outsiders to attack waste, Musk stepped in, took the backlash, and is now focused again on building the future AI, robots, and abundance.

The part Wall Street keeps missing is that debt and government waste are not just accounting issues; they eventually crowd out growth, raise financing costs, and force painful tradeoffs.

Straightforward views on borders, crime, spending, debt, and waste are not radical right views. Common sense.

History tends to reward the people who take on hard problems, not the ones who only criticize from the sidelines.

An exchange of ideas, much needed.

[Joe Rogan Podcast News @joeroganhq]

Alex Karp on Zohran Mandani voters: "The average Ivy League grad voting for this mayor is annoyed their education is not that valuable—and that the person who knows how to drill for oil has a more valuable profession."

[Ted Cruz @tedcruz]

This is what happens when you don’t teach basic U.S. history.

[鈴森はるか 『haruka suzumori』 🇯🇵 @harukaawake]

🇯🇵🇺🇸 Happy Independence Day to our friends in the United States!

This song is very popular here in Japan and many artists often cover it. I particularly love this one.

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

Compare Calvin Coolidge on America’s 150th anniversary:

“It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers."

[Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47]

.@POTUS posthumously awards Colonel John W. Ripley, U.S. Marine Corps, the Medal of Honor — accepted on his behalf by his son, Tom ❤️

[MCRP @MCGOP_CA]

California Democrats trying to stop crime and fraud...

[ABC News @ABC]

JUST IN: Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103, bucking heavy odds to win a Game 7 on the road and sending the team to the NBA Finals. https://t.co/iJEfZj1Avx

[SharrellAnne @SharrellAnne2]

This is probably a long shot, but if anybody happens to be in DC this weekend and plans on visiting Arlington, I would love to see a fresh photo of my husband’s grave in Section 60.

SSG Alan W. Shaw
Section 60, Grave 8451
B Co 1/12 Cav, 1st Cavalry Division
November 10, 1975 - February 9, 2007

There’s just something about knowing people still stop by, still say his name, still remember. 🇺🇸⭐🇺🇸

[Brit Hume @brithume]

This is a wonderful piece.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

True

[Lee Zeldin @epaleezeldin]

Nothing infuriates an uninformed Congressional Dem more than when they realize they voluntarily triggered a debate with someone who actually knows what they are talking about, reads federal statute and adheres to Supreme Court precedent. Today’s self-implosion by @rosadelauro was quite remarkable to witness. Without apology or regret, I will always adhere to the best available reading of federal statute pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

There is a way past the absurd and deeply divisive “war” between the President and the Pope, which has been enthusiastically ginned up by the press. And it is indicated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2309 to be precise. After laying out the various criteria for determining a just war—proportionality, last resort, declaration by a competent authority, reasonable hope of success, etc.—the Catechism points out that “the evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.” The assumption is that the just war principles function, to use the technical term, as heuristic devices, designed to guide the practical decision-making of those civil authorities who have to adjudicate matters of war and peace.

The role of the Church, therefore, is to call for peace and to urge that any conflict be strictly circumscribed by the moral constraints of the just war criteria. But it is not the role of the Church to evaluate whether a particular war is just or unjust. That appraisal belongs to the civil authorities, who, one presumes, have requisite knowledge of conditions on the ground. So, is the war in question truly the last resort? Is there really a balance between the good to be attained and the destruction caused by the war? Are combatants and non-combatants being properly distinguished in the waging of the conflict? Do the belligerents have right intention? Is there a reasonable hope of success? The posing of those questions—indeed the insistence upon their moral relevance—belongs rightly to the Church, but the answering of them belongs to the civil authorities.

The Pope has said, on numerous occasions, that he is not a politician and that his role is not the determination of any nation's foreign policy. But he has just as clearly said that he will continue to speak for peace and for moral constraint. In making both of these claims, he is operating perfectly within the framework of paragraph 2309 of the Catechism. If we understand that the Pope and the President have qualitatively different roles to play in the determination of moral action in regard to war, we can, I hope, extricate ourselves from the completely unhelpful narrative of “Pope vs. President.”

[Gad Saad @GadSaad]

Thomas Sowell is a truly legendary and historic intellectual figure. Elegance, poise, dignity, and class, all wrapped up in one individual.

[Hector Resendez - Trade School Secrets @TS_Secrets]

One of my neighbors kid went to trade school for HVAC at 18.

His parents were embarrassed because everyone around us, college is the only option promoted.

He spent $6k and started at $65k while his friends were still in school.

At 25 he got his contractor license. At 27 he opened his own shop.

Last year his company did $2.1 million in revenue with 3 trucks. His friends just started to pay off their student loans.

Now, my neighbors cant stop bragging about their son who also is our neighborhood HVAC tech.

Day 96 tagging @mikeroweworks to let everyone know that we need more kids like this.

[Jennifer Weber @DrJenniferWeber]

The key takeaway from Mississippi should be that accountability isn’t just testing, it’s also what you do with the data. They tracked growth, focused on their lowest-performing students, and intervened early with support. That’s why the results changed for the state.