Best Dozen Articles I've Read in 2024

• Edward Luttwak, "Why Israel Is Winning in Gaza," The Tablet (2024). "In Gaza, the Israeli air force was hardly allowed to contribute more than a fraction of its strength to the fighting, in deference to the insistent requests coming from the White House. . . Unique to Israel is the turretless Namer infantry carrier, a battle taxi in effect, that allows Israeli troops to move about in the perilous urban space protected by more armor than any combat vehicle in history."

• Rob Long, "Prestige on a Car Window Sticker," Rob’s Free For Now Newsletter (January 29, 2024).

"I could quickly discover, years ago, which of my English friends were secret aristocrats. I would simply ask them what they thought about the accidental death of Diana, Princess of Wales. My middle class English pals would say something along the lines of, “It was a tragedy. She was indeed the ‘people’s princess.’” But my upper class friends would say something more like, “Good Lord, just as well she’s dead. Mad as a brush.”

• Littlejohn and Castaldo discussion on why Protestants convert to Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicim, a transcript from an Aaron Renn podcast. Extremely good. Lots of points.

• The OSS sabotage field manual on disrupting organizations] by things like making meetings go too long and not decide anything.

• Ryan Burge, "Cultural Evangelical: A State Level Analysis| Where Do Non-Attending Evangelicals Live?" Substack (JAN 29, 2024).

"In 2008, about one in five Americans were religiously active evangelicals. That percentage has now dropped to 13%. For comparison, about 12% of Americans identify as atheist or agnostic. Approximately 8% of all U.S. adults are white evangelicals attending church every week. It's sort of amazing that a certain segment of the population fears the rise of a theocracy from this group of Americans, despite being only 8% of the population. This is a decline from 16% when Barack Obama was elected in 2008. It wouldn't be surprising if there are more atheists than weekly attending white evangelicals in the next 5-10 years."

• "Bring back the Law Lords: Tony Blair’s introduction of a US-style Supreme Court has served to undermine the supremacy of Parliament," Yuan Yi Zhu, The Critic (2 Feb. 2024). "The Supreme Court gift shop will be the first to go, with its Supreme Court-branded teddy bears and its unsold copies of the laudatory coffee table book about the building’s architecture. Baroness Hale’s leek-themed carpet, a 1970s style fever dream, will be next, revealing the sturdy floors underneath. Then their lordships can return to the anonymous backrooms of the House of Lords, safe from the temptations of being supreme over Parliament. Middlesex Guildhall, that much-abused building, can be restored to its former glory, if it ever had any, and assist in dealing with London’s rising crime levels. Then the ghosts of the Blairite constitution may finally be exorcised."

• "My Correct Views on Everything", Leszek Kolakowski (1974).

• CS Lewis speech to seminarians

• On Why There Is No Milton Friedman Today: Sui Generis, Sui Temporis, ECON JOURNAL WATCH 10(2) (May 2013) 197-204 Steven G. Medema. Full of insights-- on Galbraith too, for example.

Top Ten THigns:

*Saturday Night Live on the 3 Presidents' Testimony, very very good.

• A short video of a map on the Korean War. Great!