Execupundit.com

Many Thanks!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 16:13:27 +0000

Many thanks to serpentinesheldonserpentine and to Cultural Offering for their kind mention of my recent Substack post on Books for America's 250th Anniversary.

Many thanks also to Nicholas Bate, A Large Regular, and A Layman's Blog for their mentions.

They are deeply appreciated.

[Photo by David Kovalenko at Unsplash]

Disciplined Distractions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Consider your average workday. How much of it is consumed by distractions? How much more work could you get done if you reduced them?

Now for the brutal part: How many of those distractions are chosen by you and not inflicted by others?

My guess is that it's a large amount so here's the assignment:

Set aside 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon for those self-chosen distractions. No other time can be devoted to them.

A rigid application of that regimen will make a big difference.

[Photo by Bradley Andrews at Unsplash]

Guitar from 1679

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

A Small Sampling: The Man Never Sleeps

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 03:00:47 +0000

Make his site a daily visit.

Headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh: "This is a civilizational failure!"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:26:22 +0000

On My List

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Hit the Books!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Books for America's 250th Anniversary.

An improved and enlarged list is here. Bear with me.

[Photo by Max Sulik at Unsplash]

The Battle of Oslo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:08:03 +0000

Communication's Changing Standards

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

I have found that email messages have become so common that they are often ignored. If there ever were a resemblance to the old-fashioned paper, envelope, and ink version, it is long-gone.

That's one reason why text messages are far more likely to be read. Although techie, they are more personal and, like email, the recipient has the ability to choose when to respond.

Still, there was an intensely personal aspect to the old paper and envelope approach.

I follow a ritual and use a letter opener: a miniature samurai sword that a friend brought me from Japan.

The ritual is surprisingly enjoyable. As the process unfolds, one can study the type of stationary, the nature of the signature, and even the stamp.

All are evidence that a real person took the time to send me a message.

I recently received a letter that had a William F. Buckley Jr. postage stamp on the envelope. The hand-written postscript said:

"I want you to know that not everyone merits that stamp."

Nice touch.

Big smile.

Try that with an email!

Business Associates

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 14:25:30 +0000

A Deadly Blend

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000

The Iran War may require a new strategy.

Let's think anew.

Yes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:15:00 +0000

In the Stack

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

On My List

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 04:09:34 +0000

Back at My Desk

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:07:53 +0000

Various commitments drew me away today.

Not only can I now attend to desk work, but I can also continue with The Simplification of My Office.

The boxes of items that going into a storage area are multiplying.

If in doubt, throw it out.

Gold Star Speech Making

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

First Paragraph

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:01:43 +0000

August, 1931 - The port town of Veracruz is a little purgatory between land and sea for the traveler, but the people who live there are very fond of themselves and the town they have helped to make. They live as initiates in local custom reflecting their own history and temperament, and they carry on their lives of alternate violence and lethargy with a pleasurable contempt for outside opinion, founded on the charmed notion that their ways and feelings are above and beyond criticism.

- From Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter

Keir Starmer Resigns

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:28:33 +0000

BBC: A major change is emerging in Britain.

Hmm

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:15:00 +0000

The Media Wizards

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"[White House deputy national security adviser] Ben Rhodes seemed to enjoy boasting about his power over people he considered beneath him. That did not make his assessment of the media landscape wrong. 'The average reporter we talk to is twenty-seven years old,' he noted. 'Their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That's a sea change. They literally know nothing.' The depth of reporting and institutional experience built into the twentieth-century print model was dead. Something else that was easier to manipulate had taken its place.

- From The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control by Jacob Siegel

Happy Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000

[Photo by Vivian Arcidiacono at Unsplash]

Welcoming

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 23:18:43 +0000

Music for Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

The Factory of the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:40:00 +0000

The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.

- Warren Bennis

[Photo by NOAA at Unsplash]

A Film That Deserves More Attention

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:30:00 +0000