Politics vs. Science 

Question: Which country has reduced CO2 emissions by the greatest number of total tons in the last 15 years?

Answer: The USA.

Question: Do scientists universally agree that “gender-affirming care” does more good than harm? Is it a “settled science”?

Answer: Of course not. There is no such thing as settled science. There are hypotheses that are widely accepted by scientists until disproven (e.g., the sun revolves around the earth). And there are statements that, though ipso facto absurd, are not questioned because of political pressure.

Click here to watch Ted Cruz getting non-answers to such questions from a senior Biden appointee.

BJ sent me this. I love these sorts of statistical lists… that put life into perspective.

The Earth’s Population in Perspective 

The population of the Earth is around 7.8 billion. However, if you condense 7.8 billion into 100 individuals, any statistical analysis you do will be much easier to comprehend.

Out of 100:

* 11 are in Europe.

* 5 are in North America.

* 9 are in South America.

* 15 are in Africa.

* 60 are in Asia.

* 49 live in the countryside.

* 51 live in cities.

* 75 have mobile phones.

* 25 do not.

* 30 have internet access.

* 70 do not have the availability to go online.

* 7 received a university education.

* 93 did not attend college.

* 83 can read.

* 17 are illiterate.

* 33 are Christians.

* 22 are Muslims.

* 14 are Hindus.

* 7 are Buddhists.

* 12 are other religions.

* 12 have no religious beliefs.

* 26 live less than 14 years.

* 66 die between the ages of 15 and 64.

* 8 live more than 65 years.

What this means:

* If you have your own home, eat full meals and drink clean water, have a mobile phone, can surf the internet, and have gone to college, you are in the privileged lot (the less than 7% category).

* If you are over 65, be content and grateful. Cherish life. Grasp the moment.

How to Change Minds

The general opinion of left-leaning Americans about the Israeli/Palestine conflict has been pro-Palestine for the last 10 years. Palestinians living in Israel are seen as second-class citizens. And those living on the Left Bank are seen as being bullied and bombed by the richer and immensely more powerful State of Israel. Opinions of conservative Americans have, during the same time, become more ardently pro-Israel. Interestingly, the opinions of Jewish Americans are bifurcated along the same lines.

Of course, like the immigration issue (above) and so many other issues, the Israeli/Palestinian problem is complex. Too complex for the average person to have time to research and understand. So, because we don’t have the time and patience to study it in any detail, we tend to align ourselves with some political or social tribe with which we identify.

That’s why, when Ami Horowitz first asked gay- and trans-activists what they thought about the Israeli/Palestine problem, they aligned themselves with the Palestinians. But when he provided them with facts and video footage about what the Palestinians thought about homosexuality and gender identity, thy were forced to rethink their views. Click here.

What happens at the moment of death?

Researchers at NYU’s Langone Medical Center conducted a study of patients that have had near-death experiences, and the results were intriguing and chilling. Click here to watch Dr. Sam Parnia, the director of resuscitation research, discuss the findings of this mind-bending study.

And if you would like to believe in reincarnation, click here for a video about the stages of death through the perspective of chakras. Then click here for a TED Talk about consciousness, before and after general anesthesia, that is more satisfactorily scientific.

A Brief History of US / China Relations 

Biden’s recent statement (following Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last week) that the US would defend Taiwan against hostility by mainland China indisputably increased tensions between the world’s two largest economies and military powers. We now find ourselves watching our politicians discuss the possibility of war against not one, but two military behemoths.

Our diplomatic difficulties with China began in 1949 when we refused to recognize the newly formed People’s Republic of China. Things got steadily worse for two decades until China invited the US table tennis team to a surprise, all-expenses-paid trip to Beijing in 1971. The following year, President Nixon visited China and then issued the Shanghai Joint Communiqué that declared Taiwan part of China.

Since then, things have gone back and forth. (Diplomats have named it Ping Pong Diplomacy.) Today, relations between our two countries may be at an all-time low.

Click here.

And click here for an editorial about Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan by Patrick Buchanan.

Debunking the Myth of the Lost Cause: a Lie Embedded in American History

I first read about the “lost cause” theory of the Civil War many years ago. Maybe 20. It’s the argument that the war was not about slavery per se, but about states’ rights, which is constitutionally guaranteed.

I have always been attracted to contrarian ideas. And the decentralization of power has always made sense to me. So, without knowing anything about it, I was predisposed to the lost cause idea. Normally, when I run into contrarian ideas that rub against the grain, I adopt them unthinkingly. But in this case, the subject matter – slavery – was too serious, even for me, to deal with cavalierly. So I spent a few months reading (well, skimming) every book and essay I could find on the subject. And I found very little to support it. I did, though, find loads of evidence that the Civil War was, as I was taught, fundamentally about slavery.

Here’s a little video clip from TED Talks that makes that point succinctly and pins the lost cause theory chiefly on Southern women. Click here.

Bad Ideas! 

Two of the most destructive ideas that took root in the 20th century – communism and psychoanalysis – were cooked up by two highly educated academics.

Karl Marx studied law and philosophy at the universities of Bonn and Berlin. His father was a lawyer, and his mother came from a prosperous business family that later founded Philips Electronics.

And Sigmund Freud not only had a medical degree from the University of Vienna, he was also an accomplished reader of literature and a proficient speaker/reader of German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

In the first two decades of this century, the number of equally bad ideas has been great. And like communism and psychoanalysis, many of these ideas have, at their core, worthy insights into the many frailties of human nature. As such, they have a strongly humanistic appeal.

As a result, and like their 20th century predecessors, these newish bad ideas sprouted quickly in the fertile soil of elite universities; bloomed among wealthy, liberal-arts-educated trust-fund dilettantes; spread like weeds among the artists, actors, and writers suckled by the wealthy elite; and were finally adopted as incontrovertible by large swaths of the mainstream press.

Here are a few of the contenders:

1. American Exceptionalism
2. Gender Theory
3. Cultural Appropriation
4. Identity Theory (including Critical Race Theory and White Privilege)
5. Language as Violence
6. The disfunction of Male Hierarchy and Toxic Masculinity
7. Cancel Culture
8. Research Justice
9. Recovered Memory Syndrome
10. The War Against Fossil Fuels
11. The War Against Poverty
12. Equality as a Social Good

I’ve touched on many of these bad ideas in past issues. In future issues, I’ll discuss them, one at a time, in detail. I’ll begin next week with one of my favorites: the “immorality” of Cultural Appropriation.

Thoughts on Learning Italian 

Italian is a fourth language for me. But of the four, it is in one way my favorite. Italian has a tempo and openness to it that is much greater than English and equal to French and Spanish. On top of that, it has a musicality that is uniquely charming. And that is why, when I’m in Italy, I make an effort to speak it.

I bring a pocket-sized grammar with me, and work from that. But this time, due to an unhappy circumstance (see “Notes From My Journal,” above), I was without one. So, I bought a phrase book, the only one I could find. It was Italian for French speakers.

That wasn’t a huge problem. The level of my Italian is basic, but my French is pretty strong. And so, I used it. And received a surprising bonus for doing so. I discovered that, contrary to what I had always assumed, Italian is much closer to French than it is to Spanish.

Italian and French and Spanish are all descendants of Latin. And all share many of the same linguistic aspects, such as genderized nouns and pronouns. But French is much, much closer to Italian than Spanish is in terms of vocabulary and grammar. So, from now on, when I am wanting to say something in Italian, instead of thinking first, “How would I say this in Spanish?” I’ll think, “How would I say this in French?”

I recognize this is probably more exciting to me than it is to you. But if you happen to speak French, and struggle with Italian, this is cause for celebration.