The Ricochet Member Feed: The Greatest Hits

From The Queen of Stuff

With the world continuing to be a crazy place, we’re grateful for our Ricochet community. Thank you for gathering here to talk about whatever strikes your fancy. We love seeing what’s on your mind and watching the discussions that ensue.

There was certainly plenty to read this past week, so you may have missed some of our Member Feed posts. No worries! We’ve grabbed a few for you to check out. They cover a potential global recession, price hikes, why Ukraine should surrender, the importance of propaganda, and a Ukrainian girl’s viral moment. You’ll also find community news, including a heads-up on upcoming events.

Have family members, friends, or former Ricochet members who’d enjoy this kind of member-only content? Share this newsletter and tell them they can join today and get their first 14 days free. You’ll help grow our community and provide some great conversation starters for your next gathering.

Speaking of being a member, remember: We’ll have a price increase soon. If you renew your membership now, you’ll lock in our current pricing for one more year.

Top Talkers

Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot): A Global Recession By Official or Private Boycott?

The economic consequences of the Russo-Ukrainian war are beginning to make themselves felt, I think.  Many commodity prices are up, most notably gas and oil.  If this persists, it seems likely to me that it will trigger a global recession.

There could be many costs to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with some of them far reaching. Here, Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) takes a meaty look at a potential global recession. He shares graphs from Business Insider and Investing.com; insights from economist John Cochrane and geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan; and his own analysis of what’s happened and what’s at stake. That analysis includes this interesting observation: “It would be ironic, to say the least, if it turns out that Western governments have to take action to promote Russian oil exports, in order to avoid economic disaster at home.”

Mark Alexander: It’s Only Just Begun, Folks … 

I would like to thank all the Republicans over the years whom I supported as they went along with raising the congressional spending limit, and voting for trillion-dollar budgets and tens of trillions of dollars of debt while preaching fiscal conservatism.

The reason for this pointed comment from Mark Alexander: his frustration with a price jump in an item he purchases on Amazon. We have to admit, we find the increase pretty ghastly ourselves. But that’s not the only thing that caught our attention. So did the discussion that followed, which includes people sharing about the price increases they’ve experienced, a side conversation about cats, and the pitfalls of shopping on Amazon (with plenty of humor throughout). It’s a great illustration of how much fun the comments sections are here at Ricochet.

Doctor Robert: Ukraine Should Capitulate; Zelinsky Should Flee; the West Should Boycott Russia 

Absent outside help, it is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to repel the Russians. This will likely be a humanitarian disaster of extraordinary proportions.

If that be the case, then the most prudent thing to do is for Ukraine to surrender. 

With the situation in Ukraine grim, many are wondering what the best course of action is moving forward. In this post, Doctor Robert makes a case for why Ukraine should surrender. As he notes, “Better 10,000 dead than 100,000.” Doctor Robert also explains what the West should do in response to the invasion of Ukraine and the impact it would have on Russia. He invites his fellow Ricochetti to weigh in on his proposal, and weigh in you did. There were more than 70 comments (and a range of opinions) last time we checked.

iWe: Propaganda Creates Reality 

A lot of people on Ricochet ask about the “reality” of the war, trying to cut through the propaganda. But this perspective actually misses the entire point, because what the people on the ground think is often a much more important “reality” than how many soldiers and tanks are deployed in which locations.

Whether you’ve found propaganda to be an interesting subject or haven’t thought much about it, this is an intriguing post. iWe states that the public relations war between Ukraine and Russia should not be underestimated and cites the importance of propaganda in the conflict, noting how it’s greatly benefiting one country while the other poorly communicates with its people. iWe also nudges us toward two bloggers whose perspectives he recommends watching.

But Wait, There’s More

Jim George: The Indomitable Human Spirit, in One Little Ukrainian Girl and Her Song 

I saw this on Powerline this morning and it practically brought me to tears; I knew the minute I finished it that it had to be shared. No words are needed to describe this magnificent little girl, singing her song- in a bomb shelter.

A video of a Ukrainian girl sweetly singing “Let It Go” from the movie “Frozen” while in a bomb shelter recently went viral on social media. In case you missed it, Jim George kindly shared it so you can not only hear her lovely voice but also see the reactions of those around her. Quick update: Happily, there are media reports that the girl is now safe in Poland.

Support Our Winter Membership Drive

By now you’ve surely heard about our winter membership drive. If not: Hey, we’re having a winter membership drive so we can grow our terrific Ricochet community! We have a lot to offer new members, including these recently added features:

• “No Dumb Questions” webcast.
• Ricochet Editor-in-Chief Jon Gabriel’s live show “The Nightcap.”
• Free memberships for college students.

We’ve also started adding new features (think member-only opportunities such as invites to happy hours, newsmaker interviews, and New York and Washington, D.C., parties and networking events).

Encourage your favorite people to sign up today at ricochet.com/join. They’ll get 14 days of free access!

Thanks, as always, for your kind support!

Enter Today: Cocktail Recipe Competition Ends Soon

Time is almost up to enter our competition for the best nightcap cocktail recipe, created in honor of our new Callin show, “The Nightcap,” a freewheeling wrapup of the day’s news. Ricochet members must share their favorite alcoholic and booze-free nightcaps by 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, so if you want to participate, don’t delay!

Winners of each category will receive a set of handcrafted cocktail glasses with the Nightcap logo. They’ll be announced on the Wednesday, March 16, episode of the show by Ricochet’s own Peter Robinson and Callin CEO David Sacks.

Remember to tune in to “The Nightcap,” hosted by Ricochet Editor-in-Chief Jon Gabriel. The show is live Mondays through Thursdays at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the Callin app.

Know someone who isn’t a Ricochet member who’d like to participate in the contest? Share a Ricochet gift membership today!

Rob Long Joins Lean Right To Discuss Conservative Creatives

Get the inside scoop on what it means to be a creative professional and a conservative from Ricochet Co-Founder Rob Long. Rob will explore this always intriguing topic during an online conversation with Lean Right, a community for Jews and friends of Jews who are conservatives, Republicans, right leaning, or just not super progressive.

The online event will be Wednesday, March 23, from 7-8 p.m ET/4-5 p.m. PT. Register today!

ICYMI: New Ricochet Member Juliette Sellgren Introduces Herself and Her Podcast

Our complimentary student pass memberships continue to bring new voices to the community. One of those voices belongs to Juliette Sellgren. In case you missed her introductory post on the Main Feed, we wanted to mention it here. Juliette gives you some background on herself, her podcast, and why she joined Ricochet. Check out the post and say hello!

If you know any full-time or part-time U.S. college students or graduate students who’d like a complimentary student pass membership, send them our way! We’d love to add their savvy voices to our smart, civil community. All they need to join is a valid student .edu email address.

Ricochet Events

We’re hard at work creating great member-only events for you. Check out a few of them below, and visit the Ricochet Events page anytime for a quick, convenient look at what’s ahead.

Mark Your Calendars: Next ‘No Dumb Questions’ Webcast Is March 15

Great news! Our next “No Dumb Questions” webcast guest is Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution. He’s also the author of the highly acclaimed book “The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America.”

Former National Review publisher Jack Fowler will moderate this exciting conversation on Tuesday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Remember: This is a Ricochet members-only webcast. If you know some people who might enjoy it, please encourage them to join Ricochet. They’ll get their first 14 days for free (including a members-only pass to this event), and you’ll get a free month if they join! Send them an invite at ricochet.com/join.

Mark Your Calendars: ‘No Dumb Questions’ Webcast With Dennis Prager Is March 23

Just in time for the Easter and Passover season, our March 23 “No Dumb Questions” webcast guest is none other than Dennis Prager, radio talk show host and founder of PragerU! Dennis is also the author of “The Rational Bible,” which upon its first publication was the No. 1 bestselling nonfiction book in America, and the new “The Rational Passover Haggadah.”

Join Dennis and Ricochet contributor and podcast host James Lileks on Wednesday, March 23, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Remember: This is a Ricochet members-only webcast, so feel free to invite nonmembers to join by sending them an invite at ricochet.com/join. They’ll get their first 14 days for free, and you’ll get a free month if they join!

Watch a Recording of the ‘Take Back Our Schools’ Podcast With Guest Scott Walker

If you’re in the Reston, Virginia, area, mark your calendar for March 30. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, will join Ricochet Editor Bethany Mandel and Andrew Gutmann to record a live episode of their “Take Back Our Schools” podcast. They’ll discuss the parent-led battle to restore K-12 education.

Location: 11480 Commerce Park Drive, Reston, VA, 20191.

Time and date: Event registration starts at 10:30 a.m. ET March 30. The podcast, hosted on the Ricochet network, will record from 11 a.m. to noon ET. A light lunch will follow.

If you can attend, register today! If you can’t, fear not. We’ll record the event and share it later.

Comment of the Week

The Member Feed isn’t the only thing that keeps people coming back for more at Ricochet. The comments do, too, serving as the backbone of the smart, civil conversation that makes us us. This week’s comment of the week is from Full Size Tabby, pulled from Doctor Robert’s post about why Ukraine should surrender to Russia.

Remember, if you know someone who’d enjoy being part of the Ricochet community, we’re offering their first 14 days for free. Invite them to join the conversation today! And if you want to send us feedback on this newsletter, email greatest.hits@ricochet.com.

See you next week!

P.S. Want us to consider your post for this newsletter? Post by 5 p.m. ET Thursday.

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