Weird Metabolic Science

The New York Times reports findings from a study published in PLOS Biology journal. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link. Here is what caught my eye:

Compared with other animals, we humans have ravenous brains. Twenty percent of the calories we take in each day are consumed by our neurons as they send signals to one another.

Science explains why I think better when well fed.

Not True Believers

Writing in Ricochet, editor Jon Gabriel argues that liberals are being disingenuous about climate change:

The Left doesn’t really believe in climate change. Their true religion is raising taxes, increasing government, impeding capitalism and reducing national sovereignty. Climate change is just a temporary excuse to achieve those ends.

I'm not sure I agree, but the examples Gabriel gives ring true.

The New White

Blogger Eugene Volokh makes the claim that the meanings of "white" and "minority" have changed. See his column in The Washington Post. As Volokh notes, In many quarters, Asians are now "white."

“White” has stopped meaning Caucasian, imprecise as this term has always been, and has started to mean “those racial groups that have made it.” “Minority” has started to mean “those racial groups that have not yet made it.”

It's not Politically Correct to observe that Asians' achievement-oriented culture has enabled most to succeed in our supposedly "racist" society. Accurate? Yes. PC? No.

Good News

Mediaite reports President Obama said the following in a television interview with Kelly Ripa of the syndicated Live with Kelly and Michael:

One thing I can promise you is Michelle will not run for office.

View video of the interview at the above website.

We've had 3 pieces of good news today: the resignations of ineffective VA Secretary Shinseki and lying Press Secretary Carney, and this promise of no Michelle O. candidacy.

Voting With One's Feet

The Independent Journal Review has an article with an interesting graphic. A map of the U.S. shows 9 states in red that have the highest state income tax rates and the 9 states that have no state income tax. Using IRS data, HowMoneyWalks.com finds the following results for the last 15 years:

The states with the highest income taxes have had a net loss in taxpayer AGI of $107 billion, and the the states with no income tax have had a net gain of $146 billion. In other words, there’s been an exodus from high tax states to those with no taxes. 

AGI is adjusted gross income. This data confirms what we already knew intuitively: people are motivated to achieve legal tax avoidance. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.

Quote of the Day

The late William F. Buckley Jr., as quoted by Jay Nordlinger in his National Review Impromptus column:

Anyone who lies about Gore Vidal is doing him a favor.

A prime example of serious snark.

Weird Antarctic Ice Science

Science 2.0 reports new research published in Nature has shown that the Antarctic ice sheet is highly variable and has been so for at least 20,000 years. The following comment is attributed to Michael Weber of the University of Cologne:

One of the iceberg events in our data that is of particular interest took place 14,600 years ago and coincided with a huge ice-sheet melt, the famous Meltwater Pulse 1A, which according to previous studies led to a global sea level rise of about 4 meters within 100 years.

No one believes that neolithic humans had much to do with that event. Climate varies, has done so forever, and will continue to do so without our help.

A sea level rise of over 13 feet in 100 years is a big deal, about 1.5 inches per year. It would, for example, put much of Bangladesh underwater. Mankind ought to plan now how we'll react to such a rise when (not if) it happens again.

IBD: Obama Running for UN Secretary General

In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily argues that the President's West Point foreign policy speech was the opening salvo in his campaign for Secretary General of the United Nations. It certainly can be viewed in that light, striking all the right multinational notes.

Millennials Tired of Race Topic

Writing for the New York Post, Naomi Schaefer Riley believes we need to talk less, not more about race. She reports:

A recent MTV survey found that 73 percent of millennials “believe never considering race would improve society” and “68 percent believe focusing on race prevents society from becoming colorblind.”

And the vast majority (84 percent) of these young people say their families taught them that people should be treated the same regardless of race. Yet only 37 percent say they were brought up in families that talked about race.

We need to listen to the young, particularly when they see clearly as here.

Contempt, Humiliation, and Aggression

Writing for RealClearPolitics, Colin Dueck contrasts President Obama's West Point foreign policy speech with his actual performance in foreign affairs. See what he concludes:

If you hadn't been paying close attention to the actual consequences and implementation of Obama's foreign policy and defense decisions over the past five years, you might think the speech sounded pretty good. A realistic, balanced, and prudent American internationalism - what's not to like?

The trouble is, Obama has implemented no such policy.

In one case after another internationally, President Obama has issued verbal declarations or rhetorical statements and then simply refused to back them up in a serious way. The pattern has become so striking as to draw widespread notice internationally.

Dueck identifies the results of Obama foreign affairs:

When there is little connection between words and actions, or commitments and capabilities, that is neither moderate nor prudent. It's not a balanced reconciliation of opposing extremes. It's just a mess, and one that really does invite international contempt, humiliation and aggression.

Finally, he indicates what he believes a president should do:

A better and more genuinely prudent alternative (snip) would be a U.S. President who either backs up their words along with American commitments in a meaningful fashion, or makes no ill-considered declarations they do not intend to keep.

As we wrote yesterday, the speech enunciated a reasonable policy. However, the execution of that policy is as flawed as the rest of the Obama oeuvre.

A Further Review: The World Wars

A couple of days ago I mentioned the DrsC were watching a History Channel miniseries called The World Wars, and indicated I liked the first episode. Since then I've watched the other two episodes and have revised my opinion, to something much more negative.

I'll freely admit I'm no expert on World War I, aka "the Great War." That war formed the substance of episode one. In episodes two and three we got the between-the-wars period and World War II. As an amateur World War II military historian, this is a period with which I am much more familiar.

My ignorance enabled me to enjoy episode one. If key things were omitted or glossed over, I did not recognize the faults. However, as we got into the period with which I've a particular interest, the series fell apart.

Imagine a discussion of World War II that entirely omits the war in North Africa! No Rommel, no Montgomery, no El Alamein, no Tobruk. Watching The World Wars you'd have thought the first time U.S. ground forces took offensive (as opposed to defensive) action was in Sicily. Utter rot.

Some of the errors of fact were visual. A glaring error was footage of a wing with engine nacelle and spinning propeller supposedly representing the Japanese launching the attack on Pearl Harbor. The wing was one side of a multi-engine aircraft as no fuselage was in evidence. The problem: no multi-engine Japanese aircraft participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nippon operated no multi-engine aircraft from carriers in World War II.

Another visual error was the opening footage of infantry warfare supposedly representing the Battle of the Bulge in Europe, there was no snow on the ground. Subsequent footage showed a snowy battlefield. This battle began in mid-December and lasted until late January in northern Europe, there was snow on the ground the whole time.

The series gives credit for taking Italy to Patton, quite simply he didn't. The battle for Italy was at Churchill's insistence, and it proved very difficult mountainous terrain to assault, very easy for Germany to defend. Churchill's misjudgment leading to this tough slog is never mentioned.

To be fair, the series was right more often than it was wrong. For something purporting to be history, that is entirely too low a standard.

Coincidentally, when episode three finished the VCR switched to the local PBS feed which was doing a Nova program on technological innovations used in conjunction with D Day - the Mulberry harbors, the "funny" tanks with various attachments, the floating dock, etc. The contrast couldn't have been more stark: Nova nailed it, The World Wars was impressionistic and sloppy.

Will: Millennials Are Hurting

The Washington Post's George F. Will writes a column about how dismally the economy is treating so-called "millennials." His conclusion is almost cynical:

The Pew Research Center reports that Americans age 25 to 32 — “millennials” — constitute the first age cohort since World War II with higher unemployment or a greater portion living in poverty than their parents at this age. But today’s millennials have the consolation of having the president they wanted.

Millennials don't enjoy being poster children for "Be careful what you wish for."

Graduation Riot

See a You Tube cell phone video of a brawl involving both students and parents at a high school graduation in Towson, Maryland. The story is on the CBS Baltimore website. I don't remember anything like this happening at any of the many graduations I've attended.

Weird Cognitive Science

Canada's National Post reports the results of a study in Finland which found that cynics are three times more likely to develop dementia in later life. It is probable that the beginning stages of dementia cause the cynicism, instead of the other way around. Or, cynicism may be their reaction to our patronizing treatment of people who are no longer completely with-it.

An Evaluation

How reliable are the figures quoted both by the President and Secretary Kerry to the effect that 97% of scientists agree that global warming is man-caused and dangerous? Answer: not very.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Joseph Bast and Roy Spencer look at the various attempts to discern a scientific consensus and conclude as follows:

There is no basis for the claim that 97% of scientists believe that man-made climate change is a dangerous problem.

In fact, they cite evidence that many scientists disagree with the claim.

Quote of the Day

Instapundit Glenn Harlan Reynolds reacting to Victor Davis Hanson's long takedown of the Obama presidency for PJMedia.

Too many people don’t want to admit that the first black President is a failure. But, you know, he pretty much is.

The failure has nothing to do with his race, everything to do with his lack of managerial skills.

The West Point Commencement Speech

Pundits on left and right have rained on the President's West Point foreign policy speech. We note WaPo's reaction in our post below. Our friends at Power Line have also weighed in with a negative response.

I decided to read the speech for myself, here at the White House website. My reaction - it isn't as bad as it has been painted. Of course, I spared myself the aggravation of listening to Barry deliver it; it was probably uglier when listened to.

I'll grant it was too long, too wordy, and too self-congratulatory. However, I didn't find myself disagreeing with much of the policy content. Draw your own conclusions.

WaPo Not Amused

In an editorial, The Washington Post takes a mostly negative view of the President's foreign policy speech at West Point, an unusual step for this liberal paper. See what they wrote:

President Obama has retrenched U.S. global engagement in a way that has shaken the confidence of many U.S. allies and encouraged some adversaries. That conclusion can be heard not just from Republican hawks but also from senior officials from Singapore to France and, more quietly, from some leading congressional Democrats.

In other words, everybody except his amen corner.

The Power of Choice

Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore memorably said in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Dumbledore could have been characterizing the economic policies of the major Latin American countries. Bloomberg reports the "Pacific" countries - Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile - are growing much faster than the "Atlantic" countries - Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina. The reason: differing economic choices.

The countries faring better have opened their economies, adopted market-friendly policies and generate more productivity and investment prospects.

Atlantic countries spent more, including on subsidies and social welfare, while saving and investing less.

Like the man says, "It is our choices...."

Belgium Votes

The first time COTTonLINE mentioned the regional split in Belgium - Flemish vs. Walloons - was in 2008, and we've mentioned it several times since. Flemish separatism hasn't gone away, see the Reuters article on the CNBC website.

Reuters reports Flemish separatists won big in their northern region and will be asked to try to form a governing coalition in parliament. The last time coalition-formation talks happened, it took 18 months to form a government. The process this time may be equally laborious.