Mark Ford

Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Delray Beach, Florida

February 28, 2023 No Comments

What to Eat? What to Watch?

Should we walk two blocks to our local eatery, Boheme Bistro, where Adel treats us like celebrities, and enjoy some great Lebanese food? Or walk half a block farther, to Burger Fi, for juicy cheeseburgers by the sea? Or… maybe we should stay home and watch a movie?

Those were the questions last Sunday evening. And since G, K’s sister, was our guest, we let her decide. She opted for staying home. Very happy with that decision, I brought trays and silverware and napkins into the TV room, and searched for a few Oscar-nominated movies to choose from.

Twenty minutes later, we were having fresh salad, cacio e pepe pasta, and a big bottle of well-balanced merlot. The choice of movie was The Whale, which, as I’m sure you know, is about a 600-pound man that deals with depression by eating himself to death.

The Whale, starring a fat-suited Brendan Fraser, is worth watching. It was tightly scripted and very well acted (earning Fraser his first-ever Oscar nomination). But there were things I didn’t like about it.

It was much more a stage play than it was a film. And not just a stage play, but one that was restricted to a single room. Filmed plays can sometimes be well done, but I’ve never seen one that wouldn’t have been better on stage.

The subject matter was important. And, for the most part, it was treated with the seriousness it deserved. That is to say, the film attempted to deal with the issues at stake in a reasonably balanced way.

But when it came to the secondary plot – the effort of the protagonist to encourage his students to write better essays – it failed miserably. Instead of an inspired argument for good writing, the audience gets a threadbare Hollywood cliché about expressing your passions.

Ugh!

Anyway, I didn’t hate it. And the pasta and wine (Prisoner) was fantastic!

News & Views

February 28, 2023 No Comments

What Our World Population Will Look Like in 2050

Back in September, I wrote about how dramatically the world is changing. More recently, I found this visualization of the population of the world in 2050. Once again, I was amazed.

For example: While the US population will grow from 338 million to 375 million (about 10%), Nigeria’s is projected to grow by more than 50%, from 219 million to 375 million. India will have modest growth. And, surprisingly, China’s population will get smaller, from 1.4 billion to 1.3 billion.

Take a look here.

Can America Cope with Population Decline?

There are, of course, significant social, political, and economic repercussions from population change. It used to be thought (and still is in many corners of academia) that the world was becoming vastly overpopulated, and that “depopulation” was necessary to save the planet.

But, like so many other widely held scientific beliefs, that concern no longer tops the Armageddon charts. Today, depopulation is what popular science is worried about.

Notwithstanding the very significant population growth in many African countries, the population of China, and most developed countries, is decreasing. If we get to a net negative population trend, it will be the first decline in human population since the bubonic plague pandemic in the 14th century.

Click here for a discussion on depopulation with Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist at the American Enterprise Institute.

And here for a short and interesting view of it by Dr. Meryl Nass, who publishes Meryl’s COVID Newsletter.

Google Employee Fired for Not Cheating on Spouse

What? Did you read that right? Fired for not cheating?

I’m sure there’s more to this story than the sensational headline suggests. But it was covered by several internet news feeds – so, on your behalf, I scurried down a half-dozen rabbit holes and ended up with the following…

Click here.

And here.

Worth Quoting

February 28, 2023 No Comments

On America’s Intelligence Capabilities

In 1957, following an attempt to assassinate Indonesia’s president, James Burnham wrote this in the National Review:

“Last week’s attempted assassination of Indonesia President Sukhano had all the hallmarks of a CIA operation: Everyone in the room was killed except Sukhano.”

And in the Feb. 20 issue of Taki’s Magazine, Daniel Oliver wrote this:

“If ever there was a gang that couldn’t shoot straight – or spy usefully – it’s America’s intelligence agencies.”

As he pointed out:

“They vastly overestimated the strength of the Soviet Union, missed 9/11 plotting, claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, failed to predict North Korea’s progress on intercontinental ballistic missiles, and predicted Russia would quickly subdue Ukraine and on and on and on.”

But now we are supposed to believe the CIA’s reports on China and Russia and the Ukraine. And those are international issues. Should we also trust them when it comes to domestic spying? What kind of data are the CIA collecting and using to spy on Americans?

“‘We don’t know,’ writes the left-wing Brennan Center for Justice, ‘because the Biden administration is refusing to declassify a single word about the nature of the program.’ Americans desiring to stay free have hope the agencies’ incompetence extends to their domestic spying.”

Introducing...

February 28, 2023 No Comments

Diego Vera

In the early days of the pandemic, Diego Vera, a smart but bored 15-year-old, read about Scott Young’s experience in completing the MIT Challenge, and decided to try it himself. The challenge is to learn MIT’s four-year undergraduate curriculum, using their free online materials. Scott studied computer science. Diego went for physics and math, and achieved his goal in 18 months.

In this interview on his blog, Scott asks his young protegé how he did it.

Click here.

Fun and/or Interesting

February 28, 2023 No Comments

What Is the Multiverse?

And Why Does It Matter?

I’ve heard the term. Many times. But from different sources, in different contexts, and with what seemed like different definitions. One definition, for example, is “a collection of universes, much like our own, but somewhere else.” That makes no sense to me, because “the universe,” as I was taught, includes everything. As in (from Wikipedia), “all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy.”

I introduced you to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll in the Feb. 25 issue.[LINK] In this video, he provides his explanation.

Click here.

Arts & Letters

February 28, 2023 No Comments

The 10 Most Expensive Paintings of the Last 12 Years

Masterworks, a company that sells fractional shares of important artworks it buys at auction, sent me this list of the 10 most expensive paintings sold in the last dozen years. I was surprised by some of them.

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi – $450.3M (sold 2017)
Willem de Kooning, Interchange – $300M (sold 2015)
Paul Cézanne, The Card Players – $250M (sold 2011)
Andy Warhol, Orange Marilyn – $225M (sold 2018)
Paul Gauguin, Nafea Faa Ipoipo? – $210M (sold 2015)
Jackson Pollock, Number 17A – $200M (sold 2015)
Mark Rothko, No. 20 (Yellow Expanse) – $200M (sold 2014)
Rembrandt, The Standard Bearer – $197.9M (sold 2021)
Andy Warhol, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn – $195M (sold 2022)
Gustav Klimt, Wasserschlangen II – $187M (sold 2013)

It’s not surprising that the da Vinci tops the list. And I get the Rembrandt. And Cézanne’s The Card Players. But I don’t understand how a de Kooning fetched $300 million. Or how two of Warhol’s “Marilyns” made the list. Same with the rest. Am I wrong? What do you think?

Worth Considering

February 28, 2023 No Comments

The COVID Response. What We Got Wrong.

More Bad News on Vaccines

I’m sure you’ve read about it – the many reports confirming fears that the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which utilize messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, were causing heart inflammation, ranging from mild to dangerous to deadly. But until recently, Novavax was hoping that its vaccine, which does not use RNA technology, might be exempt from these unwanted side effects.

Alas, a new study suggests that this is not the case. Subjects that received the Novavax vaccine had a significantly higher chance of getting myocarditis, pericarditis, and both in the months following vaccination.

Click here, here, and here.

Readers Write

February 28, 2023 No Comments

From SL, re theoretical physicist Sean Carroll’s video – “Talking About Time” – in the Feb. 25 issue:

“As soon as your notes come to my inbox, I drop everything and read them immediately. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and insights. I’m a former physicist who has had a career in risk management at global banks. And with recent developments in quantum information and quantum computing, I’ve become excited about physics again…. For an interesting read without equations, I recommend The One by Heinrich Päs. It covers the history of science, philosophy, and theology from Plato and Pythagoras up to the present. Even if parts seem way out there, stick with it. You won’t regret it.”

My Response: Thank you! I will check it out! By the way, there’s another video from Sean Carroll in today’s issue. See “Interesting…” above.

From AD, re “4th of July in Chad” in the Feb. 21 issue:

“I love the pic of the tricycle race… what fun!”

Postscript

February 28, 2023 No Comments

First Time Hearing Unchained Melody?

This is one of those now ubiquitous YouTube videos of Black Americans listening to White singers singing Black-inspired popular music for the first time. (I am actually doubtful of the “first time” angle, but the trope still works. It allows viewers to appreciate the quality of the singing in a new way.)

In this case, a young Black woman listens to Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers singing Unchained Melody. (The duo recorded it in 1965, with Hatfield doing the vocals.)

Click here.

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