Why This Young Black Woman Stopped Hating the Police 

After the Freddie Gray killing in 2015, there was a great deal of anti-police sentiment in communities all over America. One of the accusations heard repeatedly was that the police were “systemically racist.” And the most-often cited evidence for it was the fact that Blacks die from police shootings at a disproportionately higher rate than their percentage of the population (12% or 13%). In an essay I posted at the time, I pointed out that there was a problem with this arithmetic. A denominator problem, I called it. It’s the same problem that was responsible for the miscalculation of the mortality rate of COVID when that first broke.

When it comes to getting arrested, studies show that being a young Black male puts one at a greater risk of harassment and intimidation than being a Black female or a white man or woman. But those same studies show that it is not true of one’s chances of being shot and killed by police. Those chances are smaller.

I was surprised to learn this when I read about it for the first time. I was also surprised to learn that the person that headed up the largest study of this kind was a Black sociologist from Harvard. In this clip, a young Black woman talks about making the same discovery.

The Dumbbell Prize for Economics: Were They Serious? 

I thought it was a joke. I thought my colleague was kidding me. I opened the morning newspaper. It was true!

Ben Bernanke had won the Nobel Prize for Economics!

This was the same guy that almost single-handedly initiated the ridiculously stupid government bailout of Wall Street after the 2008 stock market meltdown. This was the same guy that got on national TV on a Friday and said that unless Congress passed the bailout bill immediately, America would likely not have an economy left by Monday.

He was also the guy who, prior to that, had been saying the reported problems with sub-prime lending were nothing to worry about. He was the person that came up with the shibboleth of Quantitative Easing. And he was a mentor for Janet Yellen and James Powell who continued with the same foolish policies.

And he was the man who had the unmitigated gall to write and publish a book about his recklessness called The Courage to Act.

For some conversations about all of this, click here and here and here.

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.