Misbranding

Writing in the Boston Globe, echoed at msn.com, Renée Graham writes that what Joe Biden is complaining about - MAGA Republicanism - is really just white supremacy in disguise. In this claim she is both right and wrong.

She is right that what is being defended is a set of beliefs that go back a long ways, and have been defended over time by various champions, most recently by those seeking to Make America Great Again. She is wrong that those beliefs have anything to do with being white, and wrong to associate them with racists.

What is being defended are the founding principles of this nation: self-reliance, achievement, hard work, individualism, abiding by the law, private property, religious freedom, free speech, etc. There is nothing inherently “white” about these. 

Millions of people whose ancestors didn’t come from Europe adhere to these principles which, our history shows, have generally “worked” for those who follow them. They are principles worth defending by peoples of all races. Calling them “white supremacy” when they are a magnet drawing people of all races here from across the globe is misbranding: false and misleading labeling.

Major Matters

The Federal Reserve Bank has done a survey of college graduates to see which major fields of study are associated with subsequent dissatisfaction with that choice. Steven Hayward of Power Line has the findings and a chart.

As you might surmise, those who majored in the humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences were most likely to regret their choice. Almost half of those majors subsequently regretted their choice. 

At the other end of the range were those in the STEM fields - engineering, math, physical sciences, and computers. A third or fewer of these wished they'd chosen something else.

Two things stand out. First, majors with good job prospects have fewer regrets. Second, regardless of what a student chooses to study, nearly 1 in 3 will regret their choice. 

What the fortunate ones figure out is how to make lemonade out of the lemon their choice turned out to be. My undergrad major was business and I found I didn't like working in business, but I did like teaching and studying business. The result: a happy life.

Putrid Portland

Long time readers know I take a dim view of Oregon, a state which believes you are unable to safely pump gasoline into your car. It is a strange place in the best of times, which these are not. 

I did my doctoral grad school in Eugene, and in spite of everything got a decent education. Shortly before I arrived people unhappy with the Vietnam War burned the ROTC building. While I was there the National Guard marched through campus with fixed bayonets. And a leading cause of death was one-car-accident suicides, of which our University president was one.

It's a weird state, and as you might expect, its largest-by-far city - Portland - is the heart of its darkness. See a Daily Mail (U.K.) article with many photos showing how the city has basically become a gigantic homeless encampment. Imagine how nasty those tents must get during the six months or more each year when it rains almost every day.

I suppose there is a sense in which Portland is doing the rest of us a favor by catering to the homeless, drugged-out multitudes. But what variety of mass psychosis would convince a city's employed, housed majority to do this to themselves; to allow this disaster to happen in their yards, parks, and streets? Can they possibly believe they've been so evil that they deserve to live in a pig sty surrounded by lunatics?

China Slows

Market Watch has an article noting that some economists now believe that China may never overtake the U.S. economy. The Wall Street Journal reports much the same opinion, behind their paywall. Considering China’s population is roughly three times ours, that isn’t good news for China.

Factors leading to this conclusion include the lockdowns in pursuit of zero Covid, and the crash of their real estate speculation market. Population shrinkage may figure into the equation as well. 

Let’s hope that, looking at this same set of indicators, CCP leadership doesn’t decide that if they’re ever going to have a chance to beat us militarily the time is now. It could happen.

One Robin

I did a quick Internet search for articles claiming Latin America was going left politically, and found a dozen or more in the past year. Which makes Chile's rejection Sunday of a proposed new constitution with a very left bias all the more interesting. 

Perhaps there is some common sense in the region's politics after all. Some sense that Venezuela and Cuba aren't especially models to emulate in pursuit of a good life. 

One robin, they say, doesn't necessarily mean spring has arrived. Let's keep watching for other signs of political practicality in our neighbors to the South.

Further Labor Day Thoughts

Here in the high country we generally consider Labor Day to be the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Autumn arrives early, just as summer arrives late because of the altitude, locally 6000+ feet.  

Another way of saying the same thing is we have short summers and long winters. Sadly true, but the trade off is that summers are pleasant and almost never sweltering. Late spring and early autumn are usually pleasant too, so it “works” for us snowbirds. 

We haven’t seen much in the way of fall foliage yet. Our aspens and cottonwoods are still green and the mountain maples haven’t begun to go crimson. They’ll all show up in the next month and we get a beautiful week or two that rivals New England.

Locals who’ve found ways to enjoy winter like it here all year. Quite a few have snowmobiles and many hunt elk for the freezer. A fair few ski, we're told most go to Grand Targhee on the Idaho side of the Tetons as it is more affordable than the slopes of Jackson Hole. Retired locals, however, often winter somewhere warm, or wish they could.

Labor Day Thoughts

We learned a number of things during the Covid-19 epidemic. As expected most of them about disease, mortality, and our society’s uneven ability to respond to such challenges. A major unexpected learning concerned the workforce.

Today being Labor Day, it is appropriate we think about issues dealing with labor and laboring.  During the epidemic we forced literally millions out of the workforce, temporarily.

What apparently nobody expected was that substantial numbers of them would decide they preferred not working. They learned how to assemble enough government and familial transfer payments to survive, perhaps learned to be okay with the trade off of having more leisure and less money and “things,”

Now the epidemic has eased, but much-larger-than-expected numbers of people formerly doing low-level jobs decided not to look for work. They didn’t die, haven’t emigrated, are still here but not working. 

Some substantial number were close to retirement age and one way or another found a way to afford to retire. Some further number decided to homeschool their kids, and are households that have only one wage earner where they previously had two. And a bunch are working age people not in school, living in their parents’ basement or equivalent.

One of the learnings probably was that when the large cost of childcare is no longer a budget item, a household can live with quite a bit less income. We know the number of homeschooled children has risen.

If you look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics chart, something similar if less dramatic started during the 2008 recession and gradually continued until the epidemic when we sent a lot of people home and they’ve been slow to return.

Maybe it is an aspect of a post-industrial society? If you put enough food banks, housing assistance, disability assistance and WIC assistance in place, some number of people who would otherwise drag their tired, perhaps unhealthy bodies to uninteresting work will find it possible to not go, and will stay home.

Chile Votes

Chile is one of the 4-5 countries to our south upon which I keep a weather eye. It has for 40+ years operated under a very business-friendly constitution which has enabled it to become perhaps the most successful economy in Central and South America. So reports the Washington Post, echoed by msn.com.

With success came inequality, and those left behind haven't been happy. In 2019 they voted to write a new constitution and to do so in a way that incorporated the views of the entire society.

Chileans are voting to accept or reject the proposed constitution as we write this. Polls suggest the ultra-leftist 388 article document may be defeated. One voter called the document “'indigenist' and 'in the style of Venezuela.'”

For Chile's sake, I hope they turn it down and write one which is more "Western," as one interviewee hoped. We should know in a few days.

Later ... It didn't take "a few days," more like a few hours. The polls were correct, the new constitution has been defeated. The Wall Street Journal has the outcome.

The national vote to write a new constitution is still Chilean law. So another assembly will be chosen and a second draft constitution prepared to be voted on. Opinion polling can help the second effort avoid the unpopular features included in the one just defeated.

Another's Problem

It is common to see articles and news stories complaining about fentanyl deaths from overdosing. So I looked at a variety of recent polls to see if this was an important issue which would affect how people vote. 

The short answer: no, hardly anyone mentions it. I ask myself, why this might be. The least complicated answer is because those who vote believe it is happening to other people, not to them or those close to them. 

A Venn diagram of those who vote and those who acquire and utilize street drugs probably would show very little overlap between the two groups. It may not be much of a stretch to say that the former aren't overly concerned about the fate of the latter, though admitting disinterest would probably not be considered civilized.

Weird Chemical Science

The publication Science Alert reports extremely promising research findings from U. of California, Santa Cruz, concerning the production of gaseous hydrogen from water at room temperature. This could be huge.

In the new research, scientists describe a relatively simple method involving aluminum nanoparticles that are able to strip the oxygen from water molecules and leave hydrogen gas.

The process yields large amounts of hydrogen, and it all works at room temperature.

That removes one of the big barriers to hydrogen fuel production: the large amounts of power required to produce it using existing methods.

This technique works with any kind of water, too, including wastewater and ocean water.

"We don't need any energy input, and it bubbles hydrogen like crazy," says materials scientist Scott Oliver from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

Aluminum is easier to get hold of than gallium as it can be sourced from post-consumer materials, such as discarded aluminum cans and foil.

Gallium is more expensive and less abundant, but in this process at least it can be recovered and reused many times over without losing its effectiveness.

The research has been published in Applied Nano Materials.

Imagine turning inexhaustible sea water into auto fuel, the mind boggles. Hydrogen fuel stored under pressure would make admirable ICE automobile fuel, the "exhaust" would be non-polluting water vapor, and refueling would be nearly as quick as gasoline. 

Caveat: They don't report how energy-intensive the process of reclaiming the used gallium is likely to be. That cost could be a deal-breaker.

As someone "in the business" of higher ed for 30 years, I've tended to stereotype UCSantaCruz as "a hippie haven." I may have to reconsider that judgment. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.

Saturday Images

CA politics - do the opposite and thrive.

My favorite burger in Jackson, WY, comes stabbed with a steak knife. 

Liberty Burger, on Cache St., a block north of the square.

Both images courtesy of The Week in Pictures at Power Line.

He Believes What Exactly?

On Thursday night, speaking at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, President Biden read the following off his teleprompter:

MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.

To which he added: 

They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.

On Friday, answering a question about Trump supporters being a threat, asked by Fox News' Peter Doocy, the President said:

You keep trying to make that case. I don’t consider any Trump supporters a threat to the country.

My source for these quotes is Scott Johnson posting at Power Line. 

Did Biden preview and understand what he read off the teleprompter Thursday night? Did he disagree with it but was afraid to ask for changes?

It appears his answer to Doocy wasn't scripted.  Did that polar opposite sentiment represent what Biden actually believes? Does he have any functioning short-term memory, any actual beliefs?

I suspect Jill Biden and Edith Wilson have much in common. It appears Joe is either too addled or too lazy to do the job of President and leader of his Party. 

After a life in politics, he finally gets the top job and discovers he got it too late in life. I could almost feel sorry for the poor guy. I sure as heck feel sorry for our country. 

Friday Night Snark

Image courtesy of Politico

 The Nation's Cartoonists on the Week in Politics, item 9.

Phantom Files

PJ Media's Matt Margolis reports the comments of former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe which were made on Fox News' Jesse Waters Primetime. About the raid on Mar-A-Lago, Ratcliffe notes that the so-called independent "special master" Trump has requested should be appointed and put to work. And then there is this:

I was a former federal prosecutor, United States attorney. Let me tell you what this is about. Good prosecutors with good cases play it straight. They don’t need to play games, they don’t need to shop for judges, they don’t need to leak intelligence that may or may not exist. And in this case, this tells you that the government didn’t find what they were looking for.

There weren’t nuclear secrets in Melania Trump’s underwear drawer, and they’re trying to justify what they’ve done. They’re not playing it straight before the American people.

The persistent activities of the DOJ and its various special prosecutors going after Trump evoke the image of the kid digging through the barn manure pile, muttering under her breath, "There must be a pony in here somewhere." You know how that turns out. Hat tip to Stephen Green posting at Instapundit for the link.

Nets Boycott Philly Speech

Since I made no attempt to watch President Biden's speech in Philadelphia last night, I didn't realize that the three major networks did not broadcast it. The major nets broadcast summer reruns in the time slot. So reports the Washington Post, an outlet normally in Biden's corner. 

As best I can determine, it was only carried live by CNN and MSNBC. Therefore, Biden was "preaching to the choir" and the only people who saw it already knew they'd vote for Democrats. 

Because of the small audience, I believe it will have to be considered a political failure. Stylistically, the optics were spookily reminiscent of a Nuremberg rally for us World War II history buffs. Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports agrees profanely. And Scott Johnson of Power Line snidely labeled it the Triumph of the Shill.

Who Did It Better?

Hitler was delusional, too.

Image courtesy of Instapundit.

Experience

Before invading Ukraine six months ago, most of the Russian military hadn't been "at war" since leaving Afghanistan back in 1989. That is enough time for nearly everybody with war experience to retire and be replaced by people who've heard no gun fired in anger. 

The current brass thought their outfit was mostly for show, and was unlikely to be called on to fight. The sad state of their preparedness and logistics in Ukraine seem to support this assessment.

That same view has not been widespread in the U.S. military which has been in shooting matches in a variety of places off and on over the past decades. Having people with recent "at war" experience is a real plus for our forces. I wonder if we realize what an edge that gives us?

Afterthought

While musing about how chain restaurants of the non-fast food variety will deal with $22/hour wages in CA, I thought of one approach. Post a sign in the restaurant saying the state law now requires we pay our help a living wage. We suggest (or insist?) tipping is no longer necessary. 

If they really want to make it stick, refuse to process credit card transactions for more than the amount on the tab. I wonder how diners will like the rude waitstaff when "being nice to get a tip" no longer works?

Who's the Fascist?

Leni Riefenstahl was a German film director famed for her Nazi Party propaganda films, the most famous of which was Triumph of the Will.

Hat tip to Ed Driscoll, posting at Instapundit, for sharing the Tweet.

Bitter Humor

Not everything has to be deadly serious. Alex Berezow quotes the following Russian joke from the March, 2022, Internet.

According to Putin, the special military operation is really a conflict between Russia and NATO about world dominance. What’s the situation now?

Russia has lost 15,000 troops, 6 generals, 500 tanks, 3 ships, 100 planes, and 1,000 trucks. NATO hasn’t arrived yet.

And things haven't gotten better in the five months since. This classic Russian humor is the conclusion to an otherwise serious article which claims Putin has made four basic miscalculations in attacking Ukraine.