In times such as these, the challenge is packing all the news into a single episode. James, Steve and Charles do their best to move with lightning speed through Biden’s shower of clemency, UFOs in New Jersey, then across the Hudson River for the hard left’s justifications for last week’s coldblooded murder in Manhattan side-by-side with their fury over Daniel Penny’s acquittal. All of this before sitting down with Noah Rothman to get an early glimpse at the change of management in Damascus.

… And did we mention Charlie Cooke’s restaurant explosion experience?

Welcome to the all-crime podcast.

  • Daniel Penny is found not guilty as crime is a sleeper issue against the Democrats
  • Biden goes commutation happy with clemency for “non-violent” inmates
  • Assessing the killer of the United Healthcare CEO
  • The NY Times tries to re-write the history of Sen. Joe Biden’s 1994 crime bill

Motor City Meetup – August, 2025

 

Detroit GM Renaissance Center – from Pixabay.com

For a couple of years, a few Ricochet members and I have been tossing around the idea of someday having a Ricochet meetup in and around Detroit.  Well, it’s time to make a plan and put it into action.  Detroit-area native E. Kent Golding and I are co-hosting a meetup the weekend of August 15-17, 2025.  Here is the first draft of our itinerary.

Farewell, old mechanical friend!

 

As my wife and I considered our upcoming move from Seattle to Martins Ferry, Ohio, we shared three concerns:

  1. Leaving our adult children who live in Seattle
  2. Our daughter’s corn snake, Bethsaida, which we’ve been caring for
  3. Our Dodge Caravan

I think most all of you can relate to the challenge of separating from family, but our daughters and son were supportive of our move. Our daughter, who lives in a small place, still didn’t feel ready to take the snake back, so it’s going to Ohio.

Now about that van… It’s at 280,000 miles and we weren’t sure it was up for the trip. But we didn’t want to just sell it. Because, well, it’s been a good friend. A long friendship.

2024 Lessons: Toxic Social Media and College Influencers

 

My sister called me to say in a stunned voice, “I think they got the guy from NY who killed the CEO…….one hour away from here.”  That would be Altoona, PA, a quiet town where people were sharing a McDonald’s meal and someone recognized him and called the cops.  The story is too fresh, and motives and his “mental health status” will come later.   We see a grinning biker getaway, caught on camera.  Somehow, this Luigi made his way to Pennsylvania and was found huddled in a corner of a fast food joint, as he scrolled through his messages.

The next pictures we see are a shaking and shocked young man, hauled off in handcuffs, then a crazed, panicked and distorted person restrained by three cops who then suddenly regains full calm and a stoic manner as he enters the courtroom.  A gifted life, an Ivy League-educated computer scientist who his past classmates no longer recognized.  They say he changed — he’s not the person they knew.  What happened?  Who plans and shoots an unarmed person in the back and smiles on camera? Who and what influenced him?  It will all come out soon.

Remembering the Victims

 

The media is about to go into full lionization mode for a cold-blooded killer. Let’s take a moment to remember the victim:

This week on Beyond the Polls, Henry sits down with Tim Goeglein of Focus on the Family to cover his new book, Stumbling Toward Utopia: How the 1960s Turned Into a National Nightmare and How We Can Revive the American Dream. They dive into the early roots of the midcentury’s cultural upheaval and consider why Americans seem ready to turn back the tide.

Plus, Henry eschews Beltway insider opinions in favor of ordinary Americans’ take on Trump and Harris post-election, along with Trump’s cabinet selections, as shown in recent polling data.

What’s up in New Jersey? Like, way up, up in the sky? Is it the Chinese? The Iranians? Aliens?
We explore all that plus the Feds unwarranted spying, the Biden pardon spree and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. And our guest, Brig. Gen. Blaine D. Holt (USAF, Ret.), who was the Deputy United States Military Representative to NATO, chimes in on all of it.

All that and the Parting Shot.

Manipulators gotta manipulate

 

Being manipulated is institutionalized in our society, and I’ve resented it since studying how Edward Bernays started the public relations business. It makes so much sense of the great Stan Freberg’s satire. Today the invaluable Bad Cattitude substack does an invaluable deep dive into the political thought games of the current moment, and I had to share it. Be sure to watch the Penn and Teller clip, because it is precisely relevant, and besides, it’s Penn and Teller.

This week on Homeschooling Journeys, Curious Mike interviews Tim Daly, CEO of Education Navigator and former CEO of TNTP.

Mike is hunting for some Big Picture perspective.  Intrigued by what he’s seen from ESAs, he chats with old friend Tim.  The “old” Education Reform Alliance has died out somewhat; what can this new ESA sector learn?

Bookwall

 

Forgive me for this. After diddling around with it for a few days, it now seems a little boastful. But I’m among friends here, so if you think it’s over the top don’t hesitate to say so.

I’m approaching another milestone, with audiobook #89 at the publisher for review and #90 being recorded. An author friend on Facebook is celebrating ten years of being a full-time writer, and a fan made a composite graphic of the covers of all her novels. It looked like a good idea, so I started collecting thumbnails of the covers of the books I’ve narrated and trying to get them to line up straight. As I said, it took a few days, and I couldn’t do it all at once without getting a crick in my neck. But I did it, and therefore: The Bookwall.

Chanukah is Not the Jewish Christmas

 

Over the years, I’ve met many people who believed that Chanukah was an opportunity for the Jews to pretend that they were celebrating Christmas. Actually, some Jews do try to practice Chanukah like the Christians practice Christmas, but they are misguided, I believe; after all, there is no religious faith beneath their activities. So for those people who still may hold this misunderstanding about the nature of Chanukah, I thought it was time to set the record straight.

First, let me say that I delight in this time of year, watching my Christian friends, particularly the religious ones, celebrating the Christmas holiday. I also love the decorations and the music, and often sing along. (I know some of you are rolling your eyes, but I enjoy the music.) And, maybe most of all, I love the sense of love and caring that permeates this time of year.

Ivy League Idiot

 

Luigi Mangione (no relation to Chuck) is fighting extradition to New York. What kind of an idiot is this guy?  He should be begging for extradition to New York, as quickly as possible. Bragg is likely to release him without bail, put him up in a five-star hotel with all expenses paid, including health care (mental health care in this case) and perhaps charge him with jaywalking when he fled the scene of the crime. He will be released with a plea bargain on that charge, then given the keys to the city and made an assistant in the DA’s office, handling IT. Subsequently, he will receive whatever top award the city gives for meritorious service.

We’re back after an unavoidable month-long hiatus to comment on all things pop and regular culture. This week, we cover The Odd Couple, Moscow Edition, hot murderers, another episode of GLoP Jokes, and Jonah’s journey to a distant land.

A Ricochet Meetup on Panama City Beach

 

Several months ago my friend and fellow military historian Brady Kiel reached out with the joyous news that he and his wife would be relocating from Tampa to Hurlburt Field, near Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, and wouldn’t it be a great idea, he wondered, if we hosted a Ricochet Meetup on Florida’s Emerald Coast?

The question took me back several years to a time when I traveled the country in an 18-wheeler, attending Ricochet Meetups from Athens, GA to Seattle, WA and Nashville, TN to Los Angeles, CA and many more places. Why yes, I replied, it’s a fabulous idea!!

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dan Hamlin, an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Prof. Hamlin offers his insights on the state of K-12 education policy and reform. He shares how his academic experiences and research shaped his philosophy on education and informed his work with Harvard PEPG’s “Emerging School Models” conference. Hamlin also analyzes the pandemic’s impact on education, including the rise of school choice options like ESAs, microschools, and pods. He highlights findings from his Pioneer white paper, From Crisis to Opportunity: Post-Pandemic Academic Growth in Massachusetts, and offers policy recommendations for addressing learning loss, including effective use of ESSER funds. Prof. Hamlin also delves into his research on high-dosage tutoring models, emphasizing their potential to improve academic outcomes and close opportunity gaps, and advocates for data-driven approaches to K-12 education reform.

Join Ericka Redic and Dr. Lori Fineman as they welcome Grammy-award winning singer Kaya Jones. Kaya is deeply involved in pro-Israel advocacy, participating in Robert Chernin’s Israel Appreciation Day event this year. Hear from Kaya on her new streaming platform Shiloah TV, why Israel is so important to her, and what it is like to be conservative in the entertainment industry.

Brash, irreverent, and mostly peaceful! Stay in contact with us!

Repeal and Replace the 20th Amendment?

 

When the Constitution was ratified it could take a traveler in the neighborhood of 2½ weeks to get from the southernmost state capital (Augusta, GA) to the nation’s capital in New York – and that was in good weather. To that end, the transition period between administrations was set at almost 16 weeks. This was “rectified” in 1933 with the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment that set the beginning of the new Congressional term at January 3rd and Inauguration Day for the president at January 20th.

Rain and sleet mark the first January inauguration speech of FDR

Jeff is joined by Dr. John Moser, Professor of History, to discuss the pivotal Battle of the Bulge – or Ardennes Offensive – that turned out to be Nazi Germany’s last major offensive of World War 2 in northwest Europe. Catching the Allied armies by surprise, Hitler’s army pushed deep behind friendly lines, only to be stopped by the weather, lack of supplies, and the stout defensive fighting of American and British forces.

Learn about this great battle in recognition of its 80th anniversary, coming up on 16 December.

Left, Right, Individualists, Collectivists, and Occam’s Razor

 

Some interesting recent posts have delved into the nature of the modern progressive/leftist/radical — whatever we want to call the woke and their ilk.

Our prolific @drbastiat kicked it off with a characteristically thought-provoking piece with the problematic title Leftism is based on individualism. Conservatism is not. I read the piece, read the article that inspired it, and, in part for lack of time to give either the consideration they deserved, decided to refrain from commenting — and perhaps I just can’t get past the title, with which I reflexively take exception.

Ricochet presents a special Yuletide episode featuring Joseph Bottum, author of Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh: A Christmas ChrestomathyIn under an hour, he and Peter cover crammed cities and the rural expanse, crime and charity, the written word and the reader’s mind—all with thoughts on the Christmas spirit in a contemporary setting.

Dream Cars, Girls & Reveals

 

For most of the past 120 years or so, men in particular (but not exclusively!) have loved fast and flashy cars. I’ve always enjoyed Jaguar’s sophisticated, enduring design, and solid and intelligent, no-nonsense engineering. They were never cheap, but they offered surprising value for the money. Sir William Lyons demanded of every car his company built: “Grace, Space, and Pace.” The clueless self-destruction of Jaguar’s gender(less) reveal party in Miami on December 2nd, unveiling their cars of tomorrow, is disconcerting to longtime fans of the firm’s twin chrome symbols, the Leaper and the Growler. (I realize, of course, that the company wants to get away from being associated with older buyers, especially male ones; I mean, these days, what advertiser doesn’t?)

Car shows—dream cars—and the men who dreamed of them: all very different once. Spring 1962. Easter Sunday was late that year, April 22. I was ten, and had just had my confirmation, a Catholic rite of passage for boys. As a reward, one of my uncles, an NYPD sergeant, generously took me to the New York Auto Show, at the Coliseum on the west side of Manhattan. It was there that I’d first encounter a dream car, as they were then called. The memory has an indelible connection to that other Madison Avenue exploitable corner of the male imagination, dream girls, as you will see.

Leftist hatred of stay-at-home moms is not what it seems.

 

Source: Adobe Stock, digitalskillet1

There was a brilliant post yesterday about writing techniques in political propaganda.  The article it discussed involved leftist disdain for stay-at-home moms.  One normally thinks of a mother as the most wholesome of images, so convincing a majority of the population that stay-at-home moms are somehow devious and evil would seem to be a difficult goal.  Why bother?  Why do leftists want us all to hate stay-at-home moms so much?  I have a few theories: