I love having a HomePod on my desk.

Just finished getting all of my Catholic Husband blog posts into Ulysses.

If that app ever goes away, I’m in big trouble.

Rain incoming.

There’s nothing like a clean house!

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10 Great Ways To Spend The $0.16 You Saved On This Year’s Barbecue - The Babylon Bee

Send it to the government to help pay down the national debt: Chip away at that pesky national debt– that grew by $2 billion while you were reading this sentence.

Local coffeehouse, hot July afternoon, cold brew.

Yes, Trump Really Did Lose Michigan - WSJ Opinion

As Democrats regained power after the 2016 election, Mr. McBroom writes, “they were quick to utilize all of it to spend two years chasing every conspiracy and specious allegation.” He adds: “I pray my own party will not repeat this mistake for the next four years.”

Second.

Just hit print on the rough draft of the first issue of my upcoming magazine. Another great milestone!

Gender Inequality: Women Will Only Save 12 Cents On Their Cookouts This Year - The Babylon Bee

This is because for every 16 cents a man saves on his cookout, the average woman will only save 12 cents.

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most consequential documents ever produced. The blueprint for America, the document espouses the central tenants of the Natural Law in perhaps its most well-known sentence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The framers express, as core to the idea of America, that there are moral principles that are “self-evident” and freedoms that are “endowed by their Creator” to all citizens. Although it took over a century from the publication of the Declaration for its aspirations to be fully realized, they are unique in political history.

What’s truly remarkable is that this document was drafted and adopted in 1776. This was a time in world history when slavery was the way of doing business and the inherent racism and cruelty was normal. Under those conditions, the Continental Congress put these words, ideas, and principles to paper. They did so despite the state of global affairs, and knowing full well that they were challenging the era’s preeminent and battle tested superpower, the British Empire. If America failed, the recriminations would be brutal, grotesque, and inhumane. But they signed the document anyway.

The United States is the most successful democracy, despite challenges that other failed democracies didn’t have to overcome. We are multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-religious nation. Our pluralism highlights that it isn’t hegemony that unites us, it’s our belief in these principles. It’s our mutual desire to build a society, government, and nation based on a shared belief in the Natural Law, whose tenants all people of goodwill share.

We are an imperfect nation searching for a more perfect Union. We’re better today than we were in 1776, and we’ll continue to strive for perfection every day that the American experiment continues.

🇺🇸

Goldeneye

Enjoying in 4K HDR!

🍿

Older Americans Stockpiled a Record $35 Trillion. The Time Has Come to Give It Away. - WSJ

Peter Buffett said his father tells him he disagrees with some of his views about capitalism but respects his opinion.

His dad makes a killing over a lifetime, gives his son $1B of the proceeds to invest in his community, and the kid turns around and rags on the system that made it all possible.

Student-Loan Holders Get Piecemeal Relief From Biden Administration - WSJ

Some borrower advocates say many people can’t afford to resume payments, or are unwilling because they have come to expect a chunk or all of their debt will be forgiven.

Huh. Now where did they get that idea?

Student loans are like any other loans: you borrow the money, you need to pay it back. They’re not special because they went towards a good cause.

“Hey, let’s number little kid and big kid shoe sizes using the exact same digits!”

• A real idiot

Bill Gates Announces He Too Will Go To Space Once His Rocket Is Finished Installing Updates - The Babylon Bee

Gates remains undaunted and has promised there are only 22 days, 22 hours, 37 minutes remaining until launch. No, wait– 5 days, 5 hours, 29 minutes remaining… Oops– 14 hours, 3 minutes remaining… Now just 3 minutes remaining… Ope– it crashed, never mind. 

Hey, this was my joke!

California’s Growing Cultural Blacklist - WSJ Opinion

More than 35% of Americans outside California now live in one of the boycotted states.

Great! Not much longer until representatives from California’s government aren’t allowed to travel anywhere to share their terrible ideas.

President Biden doesn’t enjoy answering questions about the continued US withdrawal and the simultaneous Taliban advances.

I don’t blame him. It’s a total mess. This was his call, and he owns it.

20 years is a long time. So is the 68 years we’ve been in South Korea. So is the 76 years we’ve been in Germany and Japan.

Security and stability take commitment.

We may have snuck out of Bagram under the cover of darkness (obvious red flag on strategy), but we’ll be back.

Summer showers. 🌧

Team USA Sprint Sensation Sha’Carri Richardson Fails Drug Test and May Miss Olympics - WSJ

Sprinting star Sha’Carri Richardson, the best American hope for gold in the women’s 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics later this month, failed a doping test for a chemical found in marijuana

Yet another tragic result of the marijuana decriminalization push.

Some people hearing news of Richardson’s suspension questioned why marijuana is banned since it’s become widely legal in the U.S.—including in the state of Oregon, where the U.S. trials were held.

Marijuana is still a Schedule 1 narcotic, meaning it has high potential for abuse, has no medical use, and it’s safety hasn’t been validated. Schedule 1 drugs are illegal under federal law.

When states and municipalities “decriminalize” it, kids get the false impression that it’s okay and legal to use.

Clearly not true.

Kids are the ones bearing the brunt of the consequences of this quibble.

Fun month for the calendar magnets.

U.S. Shuts Down Bagram Air Base as Afghanistan Pullout Speeds Up - WSJ

“We consider [the] evacuation of all U.S. forces from Bagram a positive step,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Friday

That’s all you need to know.

Apple Activity Coaching:

“Close all 3 rings 31 times this month to earn this award!”

What a ridiculous goal. The monthly challenge feature is so broken, it’s clear that Apple put zero thought into it.

And just like that, half of 2021 is over.