Opinion | Measles Took My Daughter. This Is What I Want Everyone to Know.

Measles took a daughter. This is what her mother wants everyone to know. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

Is a Big Album Dropping? You Might Want to Watch the Road.

Is a Big Album Dropping? Driving fatalities increase. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/w...

HUMILIATION WITHOUT REPAIR A report on the human rights situation in Gaza

An update from Seymour Hersh on a depressing status quo in Gaza.

A morning visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ, USA.

TRANSFORMING THE IRVINE RANCH

C. Michael Stockstill and H. Pike Oliver have authored two books about the transformation of the Irvine Ranch in Southern California. Click on the image to learn more.

Excerpt from Pau Krugman's post of 8 April 2026 paulkrugman.substack.com/p/ignorance-...

Building in the Blast Zone: The Surprising New Middle East How Unprecedented Conflict is Forging a New Middle East

Wajeeh Lion explains that the Middle East of 2026 is defined by a profound paradox. It is enduring some of the most destructive state-on-state warfare in its modern history, yet it is simultaneously constructing some of the world's most ambitious frameworks for economic and security integration.

A city that refuses to govern will be governed anyway. If the city will not enforce the rules, the street will, and the street is never humane.

Strategic Assessment of Operation Epic Fury: Asymmetric Warfare, Regional Fracture, and Doctrinal Shifts in the 2026 Middle East Conflict ​The geopolitical and military landscape of the Middle East underwent a profound destabilization following the initiation of Operation Epic Fury on February 28, 2026.

An insightful abd clearly presented abalysis exposes the consequences of the war against Iran that apoear to be unanticipated by the USA. open.substack.com/pub/wajeehli...

America and Public Disorder Our biggest social flaw should be addressed

Chris Arnade offers a clear articulation of the public disorder problem in the USA. walkingtheworld.substack.com/p/america-an...

Did America’s war on poverty fail? Deprivation has fallen dramatically—but not necessarily because of the welfare state

As reported in The Economist, the poverty rate for Black children in the USA has fallen from more than 90% in 1939 to less than 10% today. A depressing notion often believed on the left—that America is a rich country full of poor people—is simply incorrect.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...

The Building That Couldn’t Be Budged

An early 20th‑century tenement building at 1301 Third Avenue in Manhattan stands out because it is a modern holdout shaped by today’s regulatory environment rather than owner obstinacy. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/n...

Fascinating history of how land was mapped and subdivided in Los Angeles www.facebook.com/share/v/1Azo...

Remembering singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka Sedaka, who died Feb. 27, was a classical piano prodigy whose hits in the late '50s and early '60s included "Calendar Girl" and "Breaking up is Hard to Do." Originally broadcast in 2007.

A wonderful reprise of the life and talent of Neil Sedaka
www.npr.org/2026/03/06/n...

Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace Consists Entirely of Human Rights Abusers An Intercept analysis finds that every single Board of Peace member state has been rebuked for human rights violations.

theintercept.com/2026/03/02/t...

Cabinet Apocalypse A News Review in an Imagined Conversation

Timothy Snyder's fictional account of a post-SOTU presidential cabinet meeting that feels just a little too real! snyder.substack.com/p/cabinet-ap...

There is one word that explains how so many men can be in the Epstein files. So why is no one saying it? We talk endlessly about the factors that make rape easier, but never about the factors that cause rape in the first place.

A long read that explains a lot!

The final paragraph of Justice Gorsuch's concurrence in the SCOTUS tariff ruling handed down on February 20, 2026, is an excellent statement on the separation of powers and the importance of the legislative process. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Wealth in America is now more concentrated in a few hands than it was during the Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th century.

There has been an explosion of billionaire money seeking to influence American elections. Since the Roberts Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling, the percentage of total contributions accounted for by billionaire money has skyrocketed.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/billionair...

Maricopa officials clash over control of election duties Republican infighting over election control raises new concerns ahead of the midterms.

In the heart of divisive election management conflict--Republicans vs. Republicans.
www.axios.com/local/phoeni...

ICE acquiring mega warehouses — Urbanexus ICE is acquiring and turning mega warehouses into detention centers.

Warehouses becoming ICE deployment and detention centers www.urbanexus.com/pikeurbanexu...

Gabriel Zucman, U.S. Distributional National Accounts Wealth Data, World Inequality Database at wid.world/data/. Chart derived from wealth‑share series for top 0.01%, 0.001%, and 0.0001% from downloadable tables; the specific 0.00001% series is calculated from these underlying distributions.

Top-heavy consumer spending in the USA — Urbanexus Since 1970, consumer spending in the United States has grown steadily more concentrated among higher‑income households. In 1970, the top quintile accounted for only the mid‑40‑percent range of all con...

Top-heavy consumer spending in the USA www.urbanexus.com/pikeurbanexu...

The backlash against Trump is showing up in hard data, not just polls.
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-back...

Video: What Happens After Immigration Agents Shoot Someone? Our reporter Allison McCann describes a pattern that appears in many of the 16 shooting cases by immigration agents in the interior of the United States over the past year.

What Happens After Immigration Agents Shoot Someone? www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...