Wednesday afternoon links


1. Chart of the Day I (above) shows energy-related CO2 emissions from 2010 and projected through 2050 according to the EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2019 (with projections to 2050) for non-OECD and OECD countries. Between now and 2050, CO2 emissions are projected to decrease by 4% in the OECD countries and increase by 36% in the non-OECD countries. To combat rising CO2, perhaps Time Person of the Year Greta Thunberg should reconsider her current strategy of visiting and lecturing OECD countries like US, UK, Spain, Chile, Switz., Germany, Austria, France where CO2 is declining and instead bring her message of climate hysteria to non-OECD countries like China, India, and Russia, where the C02 increases will be taking place over the next thirty years?

2. Quotation of the Day I is from Ilya Somin’s article “Why We Shouldn’t Give Special Credence to the Political Views of Young People and Victims“:

The young, as a general rule, know less about government and public policy than other age groups. For that reason, they are also less likely to have valuable insights on how to address difficult issues. …
It would be a mistake to dismiss policy proposals out of hand, merely because of the age of their adherents. But it is also a mistake to ascribe any special political wisdom to the young. The fact that large numbers of young people support a political cause adds little, if anything, to its merits.

HT: Robby Soave’s article “Here’s What’s Wrong with Time Declaring Greta Thunberg Person of the Year.”

3. Chart of the Day II (above) shows the annual number of strong to violent tornadoes (F3, F4, and F5) in the US from 1954 to 2019. The count for this year (assuming it’s final) is 28 F3 and 3 F4 tornadoes (no F5s) for a total of 31 F3+ tornadoes this year. That’s the highest count since 2011 but well below the average of 44.5 F3+ tornadoes since 1954.

Inconvenient Fact: As the chart shows, there has been a statistically significant downward, and not upward, trend in strong to violent tornadoes over the last 65 years since 1954. That inconvenient fact is further confirmed by the reality that in the first half of the sample period from 1954 to 1985 the tornado activity was significantly higher (average of 55 per year) than during the second half of the period from 1986 to 2019 (average of 34 per year). There also hasn’t been an F5 tornado since 2011.

4. Merrian-Webster Word of the Year? They.

5. Chart of the Day III (above) shows a historic labor market milestone — the black jobless rate is at historic lows (5.4% in October, 5.5% in November) and less than half the average of 11.8% since 1972. This historic milestone will definitely work in Trump’s favor for re-election next year.

6. Quotation of the Day II is from Yale University history professor Carlos Eire:

“Yale talks a lot of diversity, but basically all that diversity means here is skin color. There’s definitely no diversity here at Yale when it comes to politics. The liberal point of view is taken to be objective — not an opinion, not a set of beliefs… There’s an assumption that goes unquestioned that if you’re not part of the herd groupthink there’s something wrong with you.”

In other words “diversity” in higher education actually translates into “uniformity” – uniformity of political thought and leftist ideology.

7. Gender Gap I. The Majority of U.S. Medical Students Are Women.

8. Gender Gap II: Why women don’t cycle to work and what cities can do about it.

Q: How about NOTHING??

9. Who’d a-Thunk It? The cost of the “free” flu shot is actually startlingly high? Hint: The government is involved via the “Unaffordable Care Act.”

10. Video of the Day (below) is the full documentary “The Red Pill,” which is now available for free on YouTube. Summary: When a feminist filmmaker — Cassie Jaye — sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs.

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