A few random observations, charts and factoids to provide some context on what is going on in the world.
BeeLine Record For Most Views
I recently reported that BeeLine had become one of the top 1% of blogs with an average of more than 100,000 monthly views.
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| Source: Google AI |
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| Source: Google Analytics |
In May, 2026, BeeLine content had almost 160,000 views in the 30 days ending May 30.
Bloggers can make decent monthly incomes if they generate consistent content and a high volume of monthly views.
However, it has never been my intent to monetize BeeLine's content.
I have never done it and will never do it in the future.
For context, this chart shows the earning potential of bloggers based on a Blogging Income Survey from 2024.
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| Source: https://www.productiveblogging.com/how-much-do-bloggers-earn-2024/ |
My reward will continue to be the VALUE you receive from BeeLine and nothing more.
Thank you for your support and referrals.
Is It Self Control?
In my last blog post I wrote about the Dunedin Study and its conclusion that self control was the most important factor in determining how an individual would succeed in life.
I could not help but think about that study when I saw this FBI data on murderers sorted by race, gender and age.
A few observations.
- Black males between the ages of 5-14 (4.9/100,000) are more likely to be murderers than White males between the ages of 35-64 (3.6/100,000).
- Black females between the ages of 15-24 (16.9/100,000) are 12 times more likely to murderers than White females of the same age (1.4/100,000) and 3.4 times more than Hispanic females (4.8/100,000) of the same age.
- Overall, Black males commit murder at a rate of 18 times that of White males over their lifetimes.
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| Credit: https://x.com/IsabellaMDeLuca/status/2056475983067156882 |
Is this due to poverty, culture, missing fathers in the home or the lack of basic self control?
It is probably a combination of all four but more emphasis at the importance of teaching self control at early ages could have real benefits for society.
Political Divide In Georgia
Interesting data from the recent primary election in the state of Georgia.
89% of those who cast Republican ballots were White.
On the other hand, 59% of those who voted Democrat were Black.
Males voted Republican by a margin of 9.4 points.
Females voted Democrat by 17.7 points.
42% of all Democrat votes were cast by Black women.
White males made up only 9% of all Democrat votes.
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| Source: https://x.com/TonerousHyus/status/2059292931786207468 |
Should Have Kept Betting on Elon
Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes Benz, acquired a 9.1% equity interest in Tesla for $50 million in 2009.
It eventually sold the entire stake by 2014 for $740 million---a very handsome profit.
If held, that position today would be worth $140 billion.
The current market cap of Mercedes-Benz Group AG (the new name for the company since 2022) is $58.5 billion.
Mercedes makes great vehicles.
However, it could have done much better just betting on Elon Musk.
It is also worth noting that a $2,600 investment in Tesla at its IPO in 2010 would be worth $1 million today.
Musk is scheduled to take SpaceX public on June 12 with a target valuation for the company at $1,8 trillion.
If the IPO is successful at that target price SpaceX would have a higher market cap than Tesla which is currently around $1.6 trillion.
Can We Expect A Conservative Pope in 40 Years?
The recent leaders of The Vatican might be considered a little on the liberal side.
Some suggest that Pope Leo and Francis before him would be considered progressive socialists if they were politicians.
I thought data below provided interesting context.
Priests ordained in the 1960's and 1970's describe their theology overwhelmingly as progressive.
However, in the last 20 years. the theological trend of newly ordained priests has moved dramatically towards more conservative views.
This might mean that the odds are high that we will get a conservative Pope in about 40 years.
