Texas toddler orders 31 McDonald’s cheeseburgers with mom’s phone.

Parents be warned: If your toddler gets ahold of your phone, he or she could be entertaining themselves with pictures or music, but they could also be arranging a fast food banquet.

— this is a kid with a bright future.

NYT: Say, where have all the public-school students gone?

Over one million students have evaporated from public school rolls over the last two years, the New York Times reported. “No overriding explanation has emerged yet for the widespread drop-off,” writes reporter Shawn Hubler.

Ruminating on our ruminations causes more depression (medicalxpress.com)

Once you have depressive symptoms, it’s easy to fall into a pattern where you aggravate the disorder by ruminative thinking.

One of the key issues is what is called negative metacognitions, a phrase that needs an explanation.

“Meta-thoughts—or metacognitions—are the thoughts we think about the thoughts we think,” says Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, a professor at NTNU’s Department of Psychology, and main supervisor of the current study.

The Myth of Creative Inspiration

Franz Kafka is considered one of the most creative and influential writers of the 20th century, but he actually spent most of his time working as a lawyer for the Workers Accident Insurance Institute. How did Kafka produce such fantastic creative works while holding down his day job?

By sticking to a strict schedule.

Why Does Pepperoni Curl? | The Food Lab

Today’s installment of The Pizza Lab presents what is probably the most important work of my career. Nay, my life. It’s a story of such unparalleled importance that it makes pressing international issues like comparative baking surfaces and cold fermentation seem trivial in comparison. I’m talking about pepperoni curl. What it is, what makes it happen, and how to maximize it.

It’s far more fascinating than you may think.

Other People’s Money.

 In his excellent essay on James Buchanan’s lessons on government profligacy, Donald Boudreaux shreds the standard rationale from Keynesian economists for running up the budget deficit — that it’s nothing to worry about because we’re just borrowing the money from ourselves.

Wait, What? HALF of Infants in the U.S. Are on WIC?!

Doom! Doom! Doom! – According To Hoyt

Sometimes we all fall into doom.

Xi Jinping moves to silence Covid Zero critics in sign of brewing tumult – Times of India (indiatimes.com)

5G is a joke and the iPhone is the well-timed punchline

You remember 5G, right? It’s the thing on your phone you hardly notice, except when it’s draining your battery for no good reason.

Pumping inflation, not oil: Biden yanks multiple oil-lease sales – HotAir

Let’s not forget, too, that high gas prices are a feature for Biden in the long run. Progressives want gas prices to remain high so as to discourage the use of fossil fuels. They believe that imposing such pain on consumers will convince them to press for a conversion to renewable energy sources. 

America’s Crisis of Self-Doubt: We Must Defend Her | National Review

There is no doubt that the country faces severe challenges, many the result of shortsightedness and wishful thinking, but we still have an enormous capacity for renewal. It is because our ancestor patriots rejected despair and kept faith with America that we are here to fight another day.

Pelosi Gets Religion, Uses It in Naked Attempt to Manipulate Conservatives

But Pelosi doesn’t hesitate to invoke her religion when it seems useful to her to do so, that is, when she thinks it can help her advance her far-Left agenda. On Tuesday, she pulled out the Gospel of Matthew to justify sending $40 billion to Ukraine during a time of steeply rising inflation, astronomical gas prices, and a baby-formula shortage.

Don’t miss this weekend’s total lunar eclipse

From Sunday evening to early Monday, our pearly satellite will lapse into a total lunar eclipse, as well as its “super flower blood moon” phase. The first hints of darkness will appear on its surface around 10 p.m. Eastern on May 15. The totality part, when the moon is completely overshadowed, will last from about 11:30 p.m. Eastern on May 15 to 1 a.m. Eastern on May 16.

What happens to your body and brain when you stop eating sugar

Cutting sugar out of your diet will likely decrease inflammation, boost your energy levels, and improve your ability to focus.

The Great Resignation is becoming a “great midlife crisis”

Older, more tenured people are increasingly quitting their jobs.

12 Simple Strategies to Lose Weight After 50

You hear all these stories about how it’s harder to lose weight after age 50 than it was earlier in life. While there are some biological factors that can make it harder to take off extra weight in your 50s and beyond, some of what’s keeping the weight on is that your lifestyle has changed.

Why Feeling Lost Is Necessary to Build the Life You Want

Myself. I want to be myself.

Economy contracts as ‘Bidenflation’ glides toward ‘Bidencession’

To be sure, people generally overestimate presidents’ ability to control the economy. But Biden has done some very specific things to cause damage despite multiple warnings.

An aerospace engineer explains how hypersonic missiles work

Hypersonic weapons fly much higher than slower subsonic missiles—but much lower than intercontinental ballistic missiles.

4 smart reasons to keep an old USB drive around

Old dongle, new tricks.

Massive Study Finds We Need Better Therapies Than Antidepressants. Here’s Why

Antidepressants are the mainstay for treating depression, but their use is clouded by questions about lasting efficacy. A new study now suggests antidepressants may not improve people’s quality of life in the long run, compared to depressed people who don’t take this type of medication.

Global Stagflation

Technology-led disinflation will not shelter us from a storm of fast rising prices amid economic slowdowns

Stagflation is staring Biden in the face — but he refuses to change course

There are two ways to address inflation: Remove some of the money from the system, which the Federal Reserve did in the past via higher interest rates, and increase the supply of goods. At this point in 1980, when inflation soared, the federal funds rate was nearly 20%. Presently, it’s 0.33%.

Princeton investigating head of gerrymandering lab for possible data manipulation

Princeton University is investigating Professor Sam Wang, the head of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project over allegations of data manipulation and complaints that he created a hostile working environment. Wang is a neuroscientist who in recent years has turned his statistical talents to polling analysis and redistricting. Now there are allegations that he was essentially cooking the books.

How to Organize Your Life

10 principles for organizing your work, home, health, fitness, hobbies, finances, and more…

For microorganisms to fighter jets – what does it take to thrive?

I was thinking about ‘Agile outside the agile box’ (what I’m calling for now “organizational fitness”) and the weird librarian part of my brain brought this up.

80% of All US Dollars in Existence Have Been Printed in Just the Last Two Years

Since March of 2020, Americans and the world alike have watched from the sidelines as power hungry politicians have ushered in draconian lockdowns, shutdowns, police state measures, and brought the economy to its knees. While governments around the planet used their central banks to devalue their currencies by printing money to fund their tyranny, the US led the way down this road to fiscal horror.

How William F. Buckley Learned That Evil Is Real

The moral of this tragic story is that people are often too trusting of criminals professing their innocence, and ignore the reality of human nature: Evil exists. Heinous crimes don’t commit themselves. Some people are capable of unspeakable acts. As hard as it may be to contemplate, murderers and other predators can be normal-looking, intelligent, and engaging! Nearly all criminals convicted of a crime are actually guilty. Juries do not generally convict arbitrarily. Instances of innocent people getting convicted (beyond a reasonable doubt) for a crime they didn’t commit are exceedingly rare. Offenders deserve to be punished. Exculpatory claims by prisoners—regardless of race—must be treated with skepticism. Yet, smart people sometimes get deceived by schemers like Smith. Why?

There’s a Massive Antarctic Exploration Vehicle Lost Somewhere at the Bottom of the World

In 1939 a joint government-private sector project ran into the question of how best to traverse Antarctica’s frozen wastelands. The obvious answer? A car. A really, really, really big car. Or so thought Thomas Poulter, designer of the doomed Antarctic Snow Cruiser.

Should we be eating three meals a day?

The idea that we should eat three meals a day is surprisingly modern. How many meals a day is best for our health?

Inside the World of Guide Dog Dropouts

In this highly competitive training, pup perfection is demanded — and not every student can make it to graduation. Here’s what happens to the still very good boys who need a sudden ‘career change.’

Dice Life Links

The People Who Base Their Life Decisions On a Dice Roll (vice.com)

Roll the Dice – Ultimate Decision-Making Strategy: May Seem Irrational But Can Be The Most Rational… – BizShifts-Trends

Should You Let the Dice Decide? | Psychology Today

Can’t make a decision? Have you ever tried rolling for it? | by Franko French | Medium

Physical fatigue is in the brain as much as in the body

Over the past couple of decades, scientists too have become increasingly interested in the potential of ‘mind over muscle’. Their findings suggest that there is far more to it than a motivational mantra.

Ways to Train Your Brain to Get What You Want

Contrary to theory, which cannot get you very far in the end, people who have actually been “there” provide practical steps on what you need to do to get there too. Here are the five things you should focus on. Forget everything else.

Got food cravings? What’s living in your gut may be responsible

Eggs or yogurt, veggies or potato chips? We make decisions about what to eat every day, but those choices may not be fully our own. New University of Pittsburgh research on mice shows for the first time that the microbes in animals’ guts influence what they choose to eat, making substances that prompt cravings for different kinds of foods.

EXCLUSIVE: Voyeurism, naked women in bathtubs, orgies, ramped up violence! Nothing was off limits during Hollywood’s 1930s pre-censorship era when sex and sin ruled the big screen

Between 1930-1934, a progressive era in Hollywood had a relaxed code of censorship which allowed sin to rule the movies. Violence, nudity and profanity were rarely off limits in that four-year span, now known as the ‘pre-code era’.

Basilica de la Sagrada Familia: Folly or Masterpiece?

Masterpiece. Next Question.

American Occupation

Brave dissenters willing to defy an oppressive orthodoxy are our country’s best hope

Lithium ion batteries going cobalt-free; nickel next on the chopping block

In an effort to bring down costs, General Motors, Tesla, Nissan and other automakers have pledged to start building cars with cobalt-free lithium ion batteries.

I remember in 1979 working on reducing the amount of cobalt added as a nutrient in cattle feed because of instability in Africa and the skyrocketing cobalt prices that resulted. The more things change the more they stay the same.

How to Sharpen a Knife

A dull knife is a dangerous knife; keep yourself and those around you safe by learning how to properly sharpen your blade.

How do you mourn the end of a friendship?

What happens when you lose a friend you loved — and maybe still love? The person is not gone; They’re still alive and presumably well. But the relationship? Dead. What are the mechanics of grief there?

The End of Progressive Intellectual Life

How the foundation-NGO complex quashed innovative thinking and open debate, first on the American right and now on the center left