Beware what you're a magnet for

Though I had a hard time sustaining attention during the extended football analogy at the beginning of this article, I was rewarded with some eye-popping statistics about the Nobel Prizes awarded to legal immigrants to the U.S. First, there was this pithy observation from the guy who so closely resembles our Bad Orange President:

When hundreds of Jews left Germany, including 16 who had been awarded the Nobel Prize, Adolf Hitler declared, “If the dismissal of Jewish scientists means the annihilation of contemporary German science, then we shall do without science for a few years!”

Your terms are acceptable, as they say these days.

There follow some observations on recipients of Nobels in economics that I will pass over in dignified silence on the ground that competence is no more associated with prizes in that field than in the field of world peace. The article then gets to the real meat:

Of the 117 Nobel Prizes awarded to Americans in chemistry, medicine, and physics since 2000, 45 went to immigrants. Since 1960, nearly a hundred immigrants have won the “hard science” Nobels. Legal immigrants. In some years, such as 2016, the majority of people in the entire world recognized by the Nobel Committee were American immigrants.

As the author argues, we might want to look harder at EB (employment-based) green card policy while we're tightening up the border obstacles to Tren de Aragua members in the next four years.

Hey Good Lookin’

“I’ve got a hot rod Ford and a two-dollar bill…”

Killing is the Business

A hiker writes an opinion piece for the Washington Post.

As I walked that day, I thought a lot about what we’re doing when we elect a president of the United States. This country is the most powerful and arguably the most violent empire that has ever existed, and to the extent that we have an emperor, it’s the president. Through policy choices at home and military action abroad, every president kills people. It could be thousands of people or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions, depending on circumstance and their inclination. Killing people, choosing who will die both here and abroad is a fundamental part of the job. It is the job. Whatever else the president does, they do on their own time. Is “Emperor of the Violent Hegemony” the kind of job that’s possible to be a good person in? Is it the kind of job where anyone, however well-intentioned, can effect positive change?

Is it possible to be a good person while being a farmer?*

Killing is what happens on farms. Seriously. I'm saying this as a farmer.

City people think that farms are "where life happens." Nonsense. Farming is about killing stuff. I don't even raise livestock or poultry and I have to kill stuff.

I can get crops to grow by simply putting seed in the ground. The rest of my job is to kill, kill, kill. Kill weeds. Kill insect pests. Kill vertebrate pests. Whether by herbicide, pesticides, shooting, trapping, stomping, you name it — I spend far more time killing than I do making something grow. Mother nature takes care of the growing. I have to remove the competition. There have been days when I've trapped 50+ pocket gophers and shot 100 ground squirrels - before lunch. They needed killing, and the next day, more of them were killed because they needed killing. At other times, I've shot dozens of jackrabbits at night and flung them out into the sagebrush for coyotes to eat.

And none of that starts in with helping neighbors slaughter steers, lambs, chickens, etc.

That's farming: killing. Lots of it.

I suppose one could make an argument about the USA being 'the most violent empire that has ever existed,' although one would have to argue both that it was "an empire" and also that it was more violent than some obvious alternative contenders. Still, there is a point to be made that a whole lot of killing is necessary for cultivation -- of a civilization, or a culture, or of a field of crops. 

Killing is inevitable for life; that is one of the basic facts of reality. The question isn't whether you kill, but whether what you killed for was worth it.

*The citation on that from 2008 is dubious; Cassandra posted it here and ascribed it to me, but the dead hyperlink points to National Review; I think it sounds like VDH. I've only ever written one thing for National Review, and it was not on this subject; and we don't have jackrabbits or pocket gophers, so I'm sure I didn't write it.

Anna Ruby Falls

Glorious Morning

The FEMA Scandal

In my ongoing reporting on the hurricane efforts here, I've mentioned that I haven't seen a FEMA person. I still haven't, though I'm told they've got a place in the county seat you can go to and talk to one if you want. I have also heard reports from other areas of the state that FEMA is more active there, and that may simply mean that they have been triaging their reaction to the worst zones. Triage is normal in emergency operations, and not the sign of anything untoward. 

That said, everyone I know who applied for aid got turned down by FEMA. Publicly the Feds promised '$750,' but really it was an indefinite figure and you had to fill out an application and go through a long process, one that allowed them to reject you for many different reasons. One reason was 'we weren't able to meet with you to verify your claims,' which if they wanted to verify claims about your property losses presumably means they had to come out to your property. 

So when I hear that they just avoided houses with Trump signs, I wonder if voting maps were another resource for determining which areas to visit. Allegedly, avoiding 'hostile' houses is departmental policy -- and maybe avoiding 'communities' where the 'trend' was thought negative.

On "Fox News @ Night," Washington clarified that bypassing properties that sport Trump signs is part of a broader policy designed to protect the safety of FEMA personnel. So, staffers have the right to skip over houses displaying Trump signage if they feel "uncomfortable," she said, similar to the fear of aggressive animals that are unchained and running loose.

So, the policy isn't specifically about avoiding Trump supporters per se, Washington insisted. The guidelines instruct FEMA workers to avoid any situation that may make them feel unsafe — such as an off-leash dog, she suggested.... 

"So the people [with] FEMA were fearing the Trump houses like they were fearing people with vicious dogs in their backyards?" Fox News host Trace Gallagher pressed.

"Exactly," Washington replied. "Unfortunately, the passionate supporters for Trump, some of them were a little bit violent."...

"This was the culture. They were already avoiding these homes based on community trends from hostile political encounters. It has nothing to do with the campaign sign. It just so happened to be part of the community trend," Washington went on.

I don't claim to have any definite information about this beyond having never met a FEMA person in the whole rescue operation. As I said above, that could simply be understandable triage of the sort that is normal and necessary. Her testimony invites questions, however. I'm sure we'll all be interested in the answers. 

Carbon Mike

"It's time for these state and local officials to start paying a political price for stomping all over these constitutional rights -- these civil rights, for that's what they are[.]"

In the context the shift from 'constitutional' to 'civil' makes sense, as this is a black gentleman whose rights are being trampled by a state government. That's what the Federal civil rights acts intended to stop; the fact that it is his Second Amendment rights being trampled by a Northern state rather than his voting rights being trampled by a Southern state is immaterial. 

Gorge Passage

The I-40 repair in Pigeon River Gorge will still be quite a while. Asheville’s largest newspaper has photos.

UPDATE: Taking the opportunity to improve wildlife safety along the interstate— and drivers’ too. Try hitting an elk or bear at speed and you’ll appreciate the innovation. 

Name that Tune

I know I have heard another song to this tune, which is not unusual with tunes from folk music. I can almost hear it in my mind, but the words are garbled in memory. Perhaps one of you knows it?

Saving 'Our Democracy' in Europe

The Friday before the election, I wondered whether Democrats would be willing to destroy the Ring of the appearance of legitimate elections. It proved they were not, quite, and thereby they lost nearly everything.

The system could defend itself more powerfully by discarding the illusion, and like Egypt just openly stating that only certain candidates will be allowed to win. That would do away with the challenge, but also a major source of the system's power -- somewhat like destroying the Ring unmade Sauron and his challenge to the freedom of the age, but also destroyed the work of the Three and the ability of the world to sustain magical things like elves. The system seems to think of its challenger as being Sauron-like in evil, given their choices of analogies for him. Will they destroy the Ring to stop him? The loss of this illusion would protect the powerful, but they would retain only a shadow of their power, only what they could hold onto by naked force and coercion.

Lesson learned in Europe! Germany will outright ban its biggest right-wing party before its upcoming elections. 

The Logic of the Gabbard Pick

I had forgotten this story about TSA placing Gabbard on a watch list.

In the discussion of the post below about her nomination to be DNI, I had mentioned that she was not an intelligence officer but a medical one. Thomas pointed out that she'd served in Civil Affairs, though as a reservist (not everyone realizes that Civil Affairs is a special operations posting in its active duty component, and thus entails some SOF training). She was a military police officer. None of that really points up why you'd pick her as DNI. [UPDATE: see comments for further corrections from Thomas, who is apparently a fan of her career.]

If the purpose is to de-weaponize the government so it isn't used against its own citizens, which is a noble and proper purpose, then the TSA story explains the choice. She has reason to be personally offended by what was done to her, as Trump does himself. It makes sense of what the project really is.

National Popular Vote Compact

That hoary left-wing idea for functionally disposing of the Electoral College is still a terrible idea. It technically only comes into force if ratified by enough states to make it binding, but it’s still worth pointing this out. 

Tulsi for DNI

That's a stunning pick. This is definitely shaping up to be the anti-establishment administration. Hopefully, it'll be exactly what we need.

Jim Hanson is happy with the SECDEF pick, too, which is a good recommendation from where I sit.

We bid farewell

This HotAir piece by David Strom is preaching to the choir, I know, but the final video is Schadenfreude in a bottle. Expert Dem analyst Dr. Arlene deleted her account shortly after the election, so I'm afraid we won't get to watch her updated post-election thoughts.

Her cackle rivals that of Harris and Clinton.

More Kilmer

A much less famous poem by Joyce Kilmer was featured in this Veteran’s Day piece at PJM. As noted in our earlier discussion of his poetry, Kilmer earned the right to express these sentiments by volunteering for hazardous scouting duty — duty that cost him his life. 

A Major Proposal

One of the things the incoming administration is proposing to do is to back national concealed carry reciprocity. In a way, this sounds simple. Exactly how your driver’s license is good in every state, your concealed carry license would also be. Crossing state lines wouldn’t matter; you’d be carrying legally in one state or another. 

And for most of us, it’s not that big a change anyway because most states already recognize each other’s permits. For example, if you have a permit in your home state of Florida, here’s the map of who recognizes your permit. 

That’s enough states to call a Constitutional Convention, propose and ratify an expansion of the 2nd Amendment. 

So for most people in all those green states, this is a minor change that would only slightly expand their functional liberty. 

The big change is that many states, including Florida, will issue permits to non-residents— for example, if you’re traveling there and your own state won’t. A strong Federal reciprocity law would effectively bring shall-issue concealed carry to all Americans. Even in California; even in Maryland; even in the District of Columbia. 

That’s a big deal. 

Veterans and Helene

A Washington Post photojournalist discovers what I've been telling you all along: veteran volunteers are at the forefront of the hurricane response. 

Their backgrounds make them well-suited for a disaster response of this magnitude. “This is what we do when we go to war. We go into bad scenarios with towns turned upside down,” said Mark Elkhill, an Army veteran with the relief group Christian Rangers. (The name Christian Rangers is taken from an exercise in Robin Sage, the nearly two-week special field “final exam” for would-be Green Berets.)

Most of the group with Elkhill are former U.S. Army Green Berets and this is exactly their mission: to train local people to recover, sustain and protect themselves, he said while taking a break from cutting firewood that locals will use to heat their homes this winter. “The only difference is we’re not getting shot at here, which makes it a thousand times easier,” Elkhill said.

I told somebody I was with during emergency operations that it was like 'the good-parts version of war.' It's all the eudaimonia without the downsides. It's small wonder that veterans are 'finding purpose' in it, to use the Post's chosen language.

Independence

I can't embed this YouTube short, but it's a fun one to click on.

Surprising shifts

Matt Vespa points out that this election was not just more of the "revenge of the white working class" dynamic. Some amazing precincts flipped red in places like New York's Chinatown and a Chicago ward.

You do that

I keep reading articles that flirt with awareness of where the Dem party went wrong, only to draw a laughable conclusion about the cure.

“Obviously this is a major reckoning for the Democratic Party in terms of, particularly as it relates to young men, Black and Hispanic voters and rural voters,” said Jef Pollock, a Biden and Harris campaign pollster. “If the economy were perceived by voters as swimming, things might be different. But for now, it’s clear these voters I’m talking about — particularly young men, Black men, Hispanic men, and rural White voters — do not see the Democrats as addressing their everyday needs, and that’s something we need to think about holistically.”

We certainly need to see a lot more political speeches emphasizing the holistic approach. More cowbell!

The linked article contains an excerpt from a WaPo piece, presumably behind a paywell, not that I'd go there anyway.