Wednesday, October 21, 2026

The Background

 


First Paragraph

One hour from Salt Lake City, in a Utah town called Eden, is a breathtaking vista of snow, trees, and sky called Powder Mountain. In 2013, a group of remarkable twentysomethings raised $40 million to purchase the 10,000-acre site. On it they're going to build an eco-retreat and second home (or third or fourth or fifth) for successful entrepreneurs who want to make the world better.

- From Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keth Ferrazzi (2014 edition)

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Warnings Were Made

 


In 2021, dozens of retired generals and other high-ranking officers from the French army signed a joint letter warning that, unless the French government got control of the immigration and integration failures that had roiled their country, civil war was a real possibility. The government and media might have considered that these men had a point. But the French authorities took the other option, the same one chosen by governments across Europe: They shot the messengers. Not literally, in this case. They merely hounded the signatories, stripped many of them of their pensions, slandered them, and more. This is the modern equivalent of carrying out a punishment beating pour encourager les autres.

- Douglas Murray, France Stares Down the Abyss of History, The Free Press, October 19, 2026


[Photo by Lucas Lemoine at Unsplash]

Heather Mac Donald's Analysis