ELSEWHERE

A MOST interesting United Nations report (about the "Micronutrient Initiative") has just come out which acknowledges that the people of poor countries are less intelligent! "But the most disturbing gap between countries with good and poor nutrition is in intelligence, said Cutberto Garza, a Cornell University professor who also leads the nutrition program at United Nations University. "A difference of five to seven IQ points doesn't sound like a lot, but you have to look at the tail ends of the (statistical) curve". The report, however, glides past the magnitude of the problem. It states, correctly, that about 5 IQ points can be added by optimal nutrition but neglects to mention that the gap between (say) some European and (say) some African populations is more than 20 points on average! And the means they recommend for utilizing the potential of good nutrition is also perfectly reasonable -- adding vitamin and mineral supplements to manufactured food. But the inhabiants of poor countries eat very little manufactured food! So how are we going to get them rich enough to buy manufactured food? More capitalism and less socialism is the only way. I don't think that got a mention, though. See Lynn & Vanhanen for the full facts about international differences in IQ.

Law versus science?? Frank Sulloway, one of the authors of the infamous "Berkeley Study" of the psychology of conservatism, has just shown how much of a scientist he is. When another scientist could not replicate the findings reported in Sulloway's book, Sulloway used the legal system in an almost successful attempt to suppress the contrary evidence. How Leftist! Replicating (repeating) a finding is the acid test of any scientific theory so Sulloway has totally discredited himself as a scientist. His book was devoted to the theory that it is birth order that makes you Leftist or Rightist. If you are not a firstborn, you should be a Leftist according to Sulloway! So it was another attempt to discredit the role of reason and logic -- and his legal attack on his critics was an attack on science itself.

Amusing: "With a small band of performers, writers, technicians and investors, Mr Walsh is taking a set of unmistakably leftwing voices to America's airwaves, where the right reigns supreme. Air America radio goes on the air next Wednesday". Are they trying to do NPR out of a job?

The National Urban League has just released the very old news that blacks are poorer than whites. This bit slipped past the censors, however: "About 68 percent of Americans own their homes, but the Census Bureau has reported that ownership among blacks and Hispanics is about 48 percent. Nearly 54 percent of Asian-Americans own their homes, compared with 75 percent of whites." Those poor Asians! Someone give them a dime! That the choices people make influence how well-off they appear to be is obviously the unmentioned elephant in the bedroom there.

"Hispanics and the Bottom Rung: Often uneducated, many are more willing than blacks or whites to take less desirable jobs, which keeps their jobless rate fairly low.... Latinos' thirst for labor and employers' eagerness to hire them "is so powerful that it offsets the education advantage blacks have," adds William M. Rodgers III, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University." No comment.

With Saddam gone, the Ba'athist dictatorship next door is now coming under popular pressure

New Iraq has had enough of Old France: "France's policy is still sharply criticized by Iraqis. Contrary to what Europeans often think, having opposed the American occupation certainly does not help the popularity of Europe, or of any country, in Iraq."

Don Hagen has a humorous political beliefs quiz here

Amusing: Instead of importing people from the Third World to do menial jobs, The Japanese use robots.

Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual select reading

Pork fillet mostly seems to be eaten in the form of chops as far as I can work out but you can buy just the fillet if you want a treat. My recipe for today gives a good way to cook it. See here.

********************************

The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.

Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!

Comments? Email me here or here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.

********************************