Got that jury duty summons.

Biden To Save Taxpayers Nearly 30% By Selecting Female VP - The Babylon Bee

According to calculations, a female VP would only make about 78 cents for every dollar we’d usually pay a male vice president.

In an era of big tech and deeply rooted social media, why have your own blog on the Internet? What good does it do if there is little traffic? Why pay when you can get it all for free? In a word, freedom.

This blog is my space. I control its design, its location, and every single post. There are no censors, paywalls, or rules. I am the final authority on what appears at this domain and what does not. There are no ads, no tracker, or no business model. This website traffics in ideas.

We need this kind of freedom today. Self-censorship is the gravest threat to any free society. If people are not free to express their ideas, especially contrary or unpopular ones, then we are not truly free.

The woke culture of today seeks to destroy the personal and professional lives of anyone that dares stand up to their set of ideas. It’s the new cultural colonialism, no different than the colonization of centuries ago. There is one way of thinking, it is the only way of thinking, and anyone who dares speak against it must be eliminated.

This very blog post could be referenced, decades from now, and used to attack me personally. That attack would be an attack on liberal values and liberty itself. I do not advocate for violence nor do I support any idea or action that in any way reduces the dignity of the human person. I benefit from a variety of viewpoints, especially those thoughtfully articulated and debated. To use liberty as a bludgeon is an affront to the idea of free society itself.

Freedom and liberty are always a generation away from disappearing entirely. The Iron Curtain of Wokeness is being built, day by day, brick by brick. This blog will remain a part of the beacon of liberty, promising tolerance of ideas, and respect for the dignity of the human person.

Boeing Confirms 747 End, Production Rate Reduction for Most Programs – AirlineGeeks.com

The last Boeing 747 in history will leave the factory in 2022, closing a production cycle of more than 50 years.

Dismal earnings call.

Trump Opens Private School To Teach Kids Himself Since Public Schools Refuse To Open - The Babylon Bee

The energetic Trump even goes to recess with the kids, playing kickball, tag, and tetherball, though he got into a tense verbal disagreement with one boy who continued to do “tag backs” despite Trump clearly declaring there were no tag backs allowed. “Little Johnny is a PATHETIC, disturbed individual. It’s really sad,” he wrote on Twitter later that day. “Sleepy Johnny has FAILING grades!”

Good tweet.

Portland Police Disperse Wall Of Moms With Air Drop Of Target Gift Cards - The Babylon Bee

others said the mom wall was already crumbling when hit by the Target card airdrop. “They were getting into a huge argument about breastfeeding and what type of car seat to buy”

Shady trees, fountains, and a nice courtyard breeze on a hot summer afternoon.

Visa Profit Falls on Lower Payments Volume - WSJ

Credit-card payments volume dropped 20%. Debit-card payments volume rose 3%.

I guess people only felt comfortable spending money they actually had, not future money at 19% interest.

Things are nice in the shade!

Spent the morning with some new web design tools. I wonder what things were like before responsive design.

Good morning!

Trump Now Wearing 178 Masks To Show He Is Most Patriotic American Of All Time - The Babylon Bee

“Look at your FAVORITE president covered in thousands and thousands of the most BEAUTIFUL masks! PATRIOTIC!”

Local Church Tries Innovative Growth Strategy Of Being Open On Sundays - The Babylon Bee

I know this is kinda out there, but hopefully, it will grow our numbers a little bit.

Best of luck!

New Universal Movies Will Come to iTunes and Other Online Platforms Just 17 Days After Theatrical Release - MacRumors

the theatrical window for new movies will be shortened to 17 days from the current 75 days

We need more of this. Not everyone wants to go to the theater.

GOP Coronavirus Relief Proposal Leaves Student Loan Borrowers In The Dust - Forbes

Stupid, click-bait title.

The article makes no mention of the $1,200 stimulus check already mailed. If one assumes a second check, plus the cumulative value of six months of 0% interest, student loan borrowers have reaped thousands of dollars in benefits.

Margaret Sanger Gets Canceled - WSJ

“Some employees may believe they are helping women, but whether they know it or not, they are doing the work of white supremacists, which is eliminating an alarming number of black people before they are born.”

Lonely Girls: How the Pandemic Has Deepened the Isolation of Adolescents - WSJ

Emerson’s family has been more stringent about socially isolating than many of her friends’ families. Seeing her friends plan get-togethers over group texts has only magnified the loneliness.

You mean handing your kid a phone isn’t a solution?

Emerson said she cries a lot because she feels like she’s the only one not seeing friends. Her mother, Erin Christman, feels helpless. “I try not to tell her how much harder this is for people who have lost jobs or relatives because I know for her and her 10-year-old world this is really hard,” Ms. Christman said. “I try to listen and validate her feelings and let her vent and yell and cry.”

Time for a new strategy, Erin.

Food for Thought for Online Grocery Bulls - WSJ

An order that is handpicked by a worker in store and collected by the shopper makes a negative 5% operating margin

Sorry, Walmart!

New Zealand Suspends Extradition Treaty With Hong Kong Over New Security Law - WSJ

New Zealand “can no longer trust that Hong Kong’s criminal justice system is sufficiently independent from China.”

Good.

New Zealand faces a diplomatic balancing act because trade has boomed since it signed a free-trade agreement with Beijing more than a decade ago. China is now New Zealand’s largest export market.

Bring back the TPP.

Google Misled Users Over Data Privacy, Says Australian Regulator - MacRumors

the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accused Google of not explicitly getting consent or properly informing consumers of a 2016 move to combine personal information in Google accounts with browsing activities on non-Google websites. This allowed Google to link the browsing behavior of millions of users with their names and identities

Huh. That doesn’t seem like something a moral and upstanding company like Google would do.

Liberals fuel cancel culture because they don’t fear getting canceled - Washington Examiner

The poll also found that those who were more liberal were not only less fearful of retribution but were also more supportive of making others suffer personal and professional consequences for their beliefs.

Logic stands against this belief.

Of course, as believers in free speech and open debate, we would not want to advocate an environment in which even more people are fearful of speaking up. That is the path toward authoritarianism. Instead, there needs to be a shift in the culture in which individuals and institutions are willing to stand up to and defy the outrage mobs, which will stop forming once people realize such tactics are not effective.

Report: 10% Fewer Catholic High School Students Will Leave Their Faith Due to School Closures - EOTT

“This is not our fault. Without the students here under our supervision, it’s been very difficult to drive them away from Catholicism. Even with limited hours online with them, it’s nearly impossible to know what kind of stuff they’re reading. They could be reading the Summa for all we know.”