Dozens of planes fly over us everyday without our noticing, flying to destinations near and far. It’s a small rhythm of life that occurs, often without our knowing.

Frequently, I’ll pull up the FlightRadar24 to see what kind of plane it is, and where it’s heading. Many of these planes are on international trips, starting or ending a ridiculously long trip.

Regardless, of the destination, hundreds of people are sitting on an airplane just a few miles above my head. That is an amazing thing to contemplate.

How Biden’s Inner Circle Worked to Keep Signs of Aging Under Wraps - WSJ

In April, Murray, the high-ranking senator from Washington state, told the Journal that she hadn’t seen a change in Biden’s acuity during years of meeting with him. “He engages in a very personal way, asking questions, making comments,” she said.

On Monday, Murray said in a statement that Biden should consider his legacy in deciding whether to remain in the race: “We need to see a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future in order for him to convince voters he is up to the job.”

WSJ published a widely-critized feature on June 4th with the headline, Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping. The very next day, Politico published an article on the fall-out, Biden Team Seeths Over Another Age Piece - and Sours on The Journal.

In the Politico piece, Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Murray were, “quick to say that their on-the-record rebuttals did not make it into The Journal’s final piece. Murray said in an interview she spoke to the paper twice.”

In the span of four weeks, Sen. Murray has gone from ridiculing those who dared question Biden’s mental acquity to publicly, and politely, suggesting that he get lost.

Biden to Congressional Democrats: I’m ‘Running This Race to the End’ - WSJ

President Biden dug in Monday, telling a broad array of Democrats that he was committed to “running this race to the end” and that it was time for conversations about changing nominees to stop, as concerns about his candidacy grew louder.

Didn’t they get the memo? If you’re against Joe, you’re an enemy of democracy!

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed repeatedly Monday on why an expert on Parkinson’s disease visited the White House eight times from July 2023 to March of this year, according to visitor logs. She said Biden has seen a neurologist three times as part of three annual physicals—most recently in February—and that there has been no finding of Parkinson’s. But she would not address or explain the Parkinson’s expert’s visits and cited privacy reasons.

He had a Groupon for White House tours.

ABC News' exclusive interview with Biden: Full transcript

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about. (emphasis added)

I’m not sure that’s better than, “goodest job.”

My greatest fear about the future of drone delivery is what happens when the pregnant women find out.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, WURD Radio part ways after she used questions provided by Biden’s campaign - CBS Philadelphia

A Biden administration official told CBS News Saturday that the White House was not involved in any preparation for the two radio interviews. The official added that providing questions to interviewers is not standard practice for the White House, and the campaign is not planning to do it again going forward.

Not involved in any preparation, except for preparing the exact questions? And they’re not planning to do it again, so they did do it already?

These Men Are on the Front Lines of the Abortion-Rights Movement - WSJ

“The whole point of our organization is to get guys who are passively pro-choice but would not speak up, show up, donate—to get them to do those things,” said Florida-based Deputy Executive Director Aaron Bos-Lun. “It is the role of men to be additive, it isn’t the role of men to be dictating when it comes to reproductive freedom.”

Men advocating for abortion is not additive; it’s self-serving.

Just about perfect.

The ‘MAGA Supreme Court’ Doesn’t Exist - WSJ Opinion

Democrats denounce the Supreme Court for making the Presidency too powerful, while they also denounce the Justices for stopping Mr. Biden’s unilateral regulatory actions, including his effort to forgive $430 billion of student loans without Congress. Who really thinks he’s king? The Justices are keeping each branch in its constitutional lane, and those decisions will apply to President Trump, if he wins, the same as they do to President Biden.

Biden Aides Wrote Questions for Radio Hosts Who Interviewed Him - WSJ

Biden’s aides, grappling with the biggest political crisis of Biden’s career, sought to exert control over the Wednesday interview. “I was sent eight questions to choose from,” Lawful-Sanders told The Wall Street Journal.

The purpose of a free press is to hold leaders to account, not to lob scripted softballs at them while pretending it’s an “interview.”

Publishing is the best part of writing.

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Exploring new rails 🚉

Humans make progress and prosper when they learn new things.¹

I entered the workforce in the golden age of online leadership tutorials. It was 2014 and voices like Michael Hyatt, Jon Acuff, and Jeff Goins were breathing new life into business blogging and podcasting. They synthesized their collective knowledge and shared it openly. Although their voices have quieted since then, those lessons shaped me professionally.

One of the primary lessons that these teachers shared was that, “Leaders are readers; readers are leaders.” Most adults don’t read. My son is a voracious consumer of books, and brings them up to the adults he encounters in his day. I took him to get a haircut earlier this month, and he launched into an explainer on his latest book with the barber. I sat in my chair, in pain, as the middle-aged barber told him that they didn’t read; they preferred movies. The reality is, although the total knowledge of the world is contained in books, most adults haven’t cracked one since they were last required to in school.

This juxtaposition caused a simmering curiosity in my mind for the last decade. What is it about the simple act of reading that turns someone into a leader? How can 5, 10, or 12 books a year take an individual from average to great? As I read the quote above from Arthur Books, it clicked.

The act of reading itself is unassuming; you, on a couch, holding a bunch of paper and ink bound together. That’s not what transforms the reader. Reading ignites the brain; it enables the brain to do what it was made to do. Our minds are like sponges, soaking up whatever information they can. When you feed your brain knowledge, rather than empty consumption, it pulls the mind closer to its fullest potential. It stores that knowledge, cross-references it with previously learned facts, and creates new synergies. New ideas are created, and energy is released that propels you forward, improving your productivity and performance and making you a de facto leader in your life.

Movies are great, and so is napping by the pool and taking it easy. When there is time for leisue, choose its highest form: reading. It will always leave you satisified.

Elderly Surgeon Assures Patients He’s Still Lucid Between 10 A.M. And 4 P.M. - Babylon Bee

Despite the sudden calls from nursing staff for Dr. Williams to retire due to his mental decline, he has thus far steadfastly refused. “Nothing but the Lord Almighty could make me stop operating on people,” said Dr. Williams. “I know my mind and my surgical skills aren’t so good anymore. Heck, I know I hallucinate in the OR and forget where I am. That’s not going to stop me from cutting on people, not after all I did to claw my way to the top of the surgical department. I can still do this. They will have to pry the scalpel out of my cold, dead hands.”

At publishing time, the hospital had decided to just let Dr. Williams keep butchering patients as he had brought in a lot of donations to the hospital and it would be a lot of hassle to make him quit.

The chaos of logbooks is always irritating to me. When I’m done, though, the sense of accomplishment is always very real.

JPMorgan Warns Customers: Prepare to Pay for Checking Accounts - WSJ

Lake said Chase is planning to pass on the costs of higher regulation and charge customers for a number of now-free services, including checking accounts and wealth-management tools, if the rules become law in their current form.

Chase charges a variable APR on their personal credit cards of 20.49% - 29.24%.

But yeah, they’re going broke on your free checking account, which pays 0% interest and also generates interchange revenue.

Biden and Democrats Have Truly Worked to ‘Beat Medicare’ - WSJ Opinion

Joe Biden’s history of seeking to abolish Medicare goes all the way back to 1975. That year, the then-freshman senator introduced so-called “sunset” legislation to terminate within six years “all provisions of law in effect . . . which authorize new budget authority for an unspecified number of fiscal years”—and to limit all new laws to authorize only four years of spending. Budget experts have confirmed that, as written and without further congressional action, the bill would have sunset the Medicare and Social Security programs, which is exactly what now-President Biden has alleged Republicans want to do.

4th of July carry.

Biden’s Frailty Isn’t Breaking News - WSJ Opinion

In the run-up to the South Carolina primary that set Mr. Biden on a path to the nomination, I saw him at several events. At a small community center in North Charleston, S.C., Mr. Biden was scheduled to speak on his housing plan at—if memory serves—10 a.m. He was an hour late. When he arrived and began speaking, he looked and sounded so enervated that—this is not an exaggeration—I thought he might be dying.

He moved slowly, slurred his words badly, repeatedly said “North Carolina” when he meant North Charleston, and plainly had no idea why he was there or what his housing plan was. I found this alarming, but everybody else in the room—supporters and other reporters—evidently didn’t.

It’s easy to forget the 2020 cycle, it was so long ago. But there was a reason the Biden campaign kept him in the house and it wasn’t just COVID. He did what hid things best: scripted events and interviews. The gaffs were just the folksy Joe being Joe.

Now we know all about the Emperor’s new clothes.

Special guest on today’s podcast: Mary, the Mother of God

My absolute favorite time of day is in late afternoon, when everyone naturally and simultaneously trends towards rest.

The busy, noisy, loud house reverts to the stillness of early morning, and all is quiet.

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Happy Birthday, America!

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Summer nights