Rip’s Newsletter
September 28, 2026
Compiled and Edited
by
Jim Reynolds
Articles in This Issue
Hank Vanderbeek - Masculinity Doesn’t Need Rebranding
Brian C Joondeph; M D - ADHD, Nazis, And Climate Change
James Howard Kunstler - First, Quit Pretending
Jim Reynolds - Why Trump Is Fighting Canada
Overview
I see the same fight running through this set: a country tired of being lied to about what’s broken, and a political class that keeps dressing up decay as progress.
One piece goes after the fake masculinity industry, another takes aim at the sloppy inflation of words like ADHD, Nazi, and climate crisis, and both are really about the same rot: when language gets bent, reality gets buried.
The bigger argument is that America’s institutions, trade rules, and cultural standards have been allowed to drift into nonsense, and now the bill is coming due.
Trump’s clash with Canada is just the latest reminder that the old arrangements were never as fair or stable as the experts claimed.
Note: I’ll be sending out another reader survey this week. Please take a moment to participate. Last time, I received hundreds of responses. Let’s see if we can get to a thousand this time.
It’ll take about ten seconds.
Masculinity Doesn’t Need Rebranding
By: Hank Vanderbeek American Thinker
Date: 2026-09-28 · Words: 890
The article argues that masculinity does not need to be reinvented or “rebranded,” but rather defended against distortions that confuse domination, promiscuity, emotional numbness, and status-seeking with real manhood.
Drawing on commentary from Isabel Brown and examples like Pawel Widawski’s work with police officers and firefighters, it says society still depends on masculine virtues such as courage, responsibility, restraint, service, and humility.
The piece stresses that these qualities are not exclusive to men, but cultures have historically expected men to cultivate them as obligations of manhood.
It contrasts authentic masculinity with its counterfeits, arguing that a strong man protects without controlling, leads without grandstanding, and accepts responsibility without self-importance.
The author concludes that the standard for men is not perfection but self-mastery and reliability in service to others.
This story matters because it pushes back against both anti-male criticism and shallow macho culture, insisting that durable virtues—not branding—are what society still needs from men.
🅱️ A solid defense of the basics against a world obsessed with rebranding. It avoids the trap of being a grievance list and instead points to the quiet, heavy lifting that actually keeps the lights on. It’s not a revolution; it’s a reminder of the debt we owe to reliable men.
Note: AT sometimes makes you jump through minor hoops to continue reading. If it tells you to click a button to see the ad, then do that. Then immediately click the “close” indicator on the upper right. Takes a couple seconds. The articles are worth it. And they are free.
Read the full original article here
ADHD, Nazis, And Climate Change
By: Brian C Joondeph; M D American Thinker
Date: 2026-09-28 · Words: 1,003
The article argues that ADHD, Nazi comparisons, and climate change are all examples of “concept creep,” where terms expand so broadly that they lose diagnostic, historical, or scientific precision.
It cites U.K.
GPs who believe adult ADHD is overdiagnosed, warns that routine political use of “Hitler” and “Nazi” strips those words of their moral force, and says climate change is too often used as a catchall explanation for every extreme weather event.
The author frames this as linguistic inflation: once a label is applied to nearly everything, it stops distinguishing the serious from the ordinary.
He says the problem is not whether ADHD, Nazis, or climate change are real, but that overuse erodes the meaning needed for medicine, history, and science to function.
The piece closes by likening this to crying wolf, arguing that indiscriminate language eventually makes people stop paying attention.
This story matters because it warns that when powerful labels are overused, society loses the precision needed to recognize real problems and respond to them effectively.
🅱️ A solid autopsy of how we’re diluting the truth into a puddle. It connects the dots between medical overreach and political theater without getting lost in the weeds. Sharp, but it could’ve used a bit more bite to really sting.
Read the full original article here
First, Quit Pretending
By: James Howard Kunstler www.kunstler.com
Date: 2026-09-28 · Words: 1,615
Kunstler argues that America’s dysfunction is not mysterious but the result of years of “pretending” about broken institutions, from deindustrialization and credential inflation to mass immigration, welfare dependency, and the decline of skilled trades.
He says Trump is trying to reverse these trends through re-shoring, vocational training, border enforcement, and a renewed preference for American workers, while insisting the country should stop acting as a global beacon for migration.
The essay extends the same critique to medicine, education, race relations, and the legal system, portraying each as captured by bureaucracy, ideology, or corruption and calling for local-scale reform, English-language standards, and prosecution of lawfare actors and fraud networks.
He also attacks the administrative state and election system, endorsing tighter voting rules, one-day elections, and aggressive use of AI to trace government waste and scams.
The piece frames the coming election as a test of whether the country is ready to stop denying obvious failures and begin rebuilding around competence, common culture, and accountability.
It matters because it distills a hard-right diagnosis of America’s institutional collapse into a political program aimed at reshaping the next election and the country’s governing assumptions.
🅱️ It’s a laundry list of grievances masquerading as a manifesto. He’s got the fire, but he’s trying to fight a hundred wars at once instead of just taking out the king. A bit scattered, but you can tell he’s not reading from a script. JHK definitely has attitude.
Read the full original article here
Why Trump Is Fighting Canada
By: Jim Reynolds www.reynolds.com
Date: 2026-09-28 · Words: 1,692
Trump’s fight with Canada is not just about tariffs but about decades-old trade structures that protect Canadian industries, especially dairy and lumber, while also reflecting Canada’s own retaliatory tariffs against U.S. measures.
The article argues that many Canadian barriers are longstanding domestic policies that raise prices, distort trade, and create assets and businesses dependent on the status quo, making reform politically and economically disruptive.
It also highlights transshipment concerns, especially the risk that Chinese goods can be routed through Canada to evade U.S. duties, which makes rules of origin and enforcement central to the dispute.
Canada remains far more dependent on the U.S. market than the U.S. is on Canada, giving Washington significant leverage.
In this framing, Trump is trying to force reciprocity and unwind a protected system that both countries have long tolerated.
This story shows the U.S.-Canada trade fight is really a test of whether entrenched protection can survive when America decides to use its market power aggressively.
🅱️ This isn’t a political screed; it’s an autopsy of a lopsided deal. It strips the emotion away to show that ‘the way things have always been’ is just another word for a subsidy waiting to be popped.
Read the full original article here
You may also be interested in the following selected stories:
Our Town Is Every Town — Lucio Saverio Eastman, Brownstone
The Winds of War Blow Through a Desolate Continent — Stephen Soukup, American Greatness
How Trump Can Fight The Fed’s Threat To Housing Affordability — Josh Hammer, The Federalist
The Strategic Importance of Greenland — Brent Ramsey Contributor, The Patriot Post
The Trump-Xi Summit — Kenneth R Timmerman, American Greatness
Near‑Miss at RAF Fairford Raises Alarming Questions About UK Counterterror Failures — Streiff, RedState
It’s a bit more complicated than that but the essence is correct. He feels he can’t give in or he will be thrown out.
Easy fix, make Canada the 51st State.