Miscellany

First, the Bud Light death watch. Savvy marketers are now predicting that the nation’s formerly best selling beer will not recover from the Dylan Mulvaney debacle. Hard to imagine the mess that a few woke executives did to an important brand.

Second, Target has lost $15 billion in market cap and is seeing its customers run to Walmart.

Let’s not ignore the fact that Target has been funding a group called the NDN collective. They are trying to close Mount Rushmore and to return the land to the Lakota tribe. They also want to demilitarize the American military, and to impose sanctions on Israel.

As you see Target implode, don’t cry for Target.

Third, Tucker Carlson has returned to the airways on Twitter. His first monologue racked up some 100 million views. His second hit 40 million.

Of course, these largely surpassed the ratings even he was having at Fox News. In truth, Fox News has been hemorrhaging viewers since it fired Carlson. Evidently, the network made an appalling mistake.

Naturally, the powers that be at Fox News were horrified at the success of the Carlson Twitter feed. They accused him of being in breach of contract.

But now, if they sue him, his fans are already getting ready to boycott Fox News.

Fourth, on a brighter note, the Wall Street Journal reports on studies that we have occasionally discussed. They have shown that being religious, in the sense of attending religious services, promotes good mental health.

Large-scale studies have consistently shown a strong association between being religious and good health. For example, a paper published by Mayo Clinic researchers in 2001 found that people who regularly attend religious services tend to have lower rates of mortality and hospital admissions in any given period, as well as better cardiovascular function. The increase in death rates among people who never attend religious services compared with those who attend several times a week is comparable to that associated with smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

Is it God or is it socializing? Good question. It turns out that socializing, in and of itself, promotes emotional well being-- without the intervention of some touchy-feely therapist.

There’s ample evidence that socializing is a boon to health. Perhaps people who go to worship services are benefiting from making and meeting friends, as opposed to the worship itself.

And you thought it was all about the pills.

Fifth, just in case you missed the story, the prime minister of Sweden announced that he is, to coin a phrase, building a wall. He is shutting down the nation’s open immigration policy.

In his words:

Let me be clear: Massive immigration and poor integration just doesn’t work. That is why we are now changing Sweden’s migration policy and making it the strictest in the EU.

Sixth, in the meantime, as Canadian forest fires send toxic fumes into major American cities-- like mine-- the situation has produced an interesting side effect. The clouds of smoke have interfered with the solar panels that were touted as the best way to save the planet. It reminds you of the Texas wind power fiasco, when the electric grid shut down because the wind stopped and the windmills failed to function.

Where is Iphigenia when we need her?

From Zero Hedge:

… the shroud of smoke that covered much of the Eastern US seaboard, has sent solar power generation in parts of the eastern US plummeting by more than 50% as wildfires rage in Canada.

Seventh, from the satirical Babylon Bee comes a story about the fact, reported here and elsewhere, that Ukrainian troops are sporting Nazi insignia. Of course, we have been happy to send money and weapons to support the fearless Ukrainian freedom fighters and democratic activists.

The Bee has the story:

Tensions flared today after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of sending espionage agents into his country to place little Nazi stickers on all his soldiers' helmets.

"The fact that my entire army is wearing Nazi insignias on their uniforms and gear is entirely the fault of Russia," said Zelenskyy while desperately scraping an "I love Hitler" sticker off the side of a tank. "This is an unforgivable provocation. I hereby call on the United States to drop all their atomic bombs on Russia immediately."

Sources say Russia is also responsible for tricking Ukrainian soldiers into goose-stepping, saying "Heil Hitler," and calling for the death of inferior races while waving flags with swastikas on them. "Russia has tricked thousands of innocent Ukrainians into becoming Nazis," said MSNBC Foreign Correspondent Oleksandr Petrovich. "Does their evil know no bounds? They must be stopped!"

Have a great weekend.

And, if you have not done so already, please subscribe to my Substack.