Saturday Miscellany

First, in the world of political wit, Van Jones, of CNN and the Obama administration, comes in first this week. He took the full measure of the current political scene:

A bullet couldn’t stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden.

Second, the Republican Party is all-in for onshoring. They blame China for all of our manufacturing and industrial woes, so they are going to teach China a lesson by slapping tariffs on imported goods.

That this is inflationary does not seem to have bothered anyone.

And yet, as David Goldman explains, the problem is that we have to import goods from China because we no longer make them ourselves. 

Why do we depend on imports? Maybe because only 7% of our undergrads major in engineering vs. 1/3 in Russia and China. Our engineering schools can't find high school grads qualified for the subject. Only a fifth of high school kids are rated "proficient" in math. A 19-year-old with good high school math and a year's training can make $60k operating a computer-controlled machine, but industry can't find skilled workers. The liberal rot in our education system goes deep and has to be dug out and extirpated.

It takes more than clever tariff policy. We need to have the human capital needed to manufacture the same products at a reasonable price at a good quality.

Dream on!

Third, proponents of diversity are seriously torqued at the fact that many people, myself included, have been pointing out the failure of the Secret Service to protect President Trump. We have attributed this to the fact that the head of the organization, one Kimberly Cheatle, is an incompetent female. She has declared explicitly that she wants to increase the number of female agents, regardless of competence.

Nellie Bowles comments at the Free Press:

Trump’s particular lady SS agents seemed overwhelmed, beyond just being short. One tried valiantly to holster her gun, over and over. It was not a great look. Apparently the SS tests for men and women have totally different standards. You cannot tell me these scenes are good for feminism. Feminism is letting women try to pass the same tests as men. It’s not giving me a tiny lady firehose for the test—and then nodding solemnly when I can’t carry the real firehose and everyone dies while people get viral videos of me crying and calling my dad. 

Fourth, on the Bud Light death watch. I have not been following this very closely, but sales of Bud Light continue to crater. This was caused by the marketing geniuses who insulted the beer’s fan base by running ads with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The top selling beer today is Modelo Espresso. The new Number 2 is Michelob Ultra.

I thought you would want to know.

Fifth, meanwhile in the world of charter schools, New York’s Success Academies continues to educate children at a very high level.

As  you know, the teachers’ unions find this to be offensive, because such results contradict the union’s assertion that the best way to improve the test scores of minority children is to pay the teachers more and to shut down the schools.

The New York Post reports:

In June, Success’ middle schoolers took the 2024 New York State Regents exams, usually given to students in 10th and 11th grade, and beat the 2023 results of nearly 200,000 regular public high schoolers, outperforming them by more than 30%.

The method behind those stunning stats: Success believes kids are capable of meeting high standards and gives them the tools and support to do it.

These schools require uniforms and good behavior in the classroom. They assign homework and engage parents in the process of ensuring that it is done. The approach is rigorous. The results speak for themselves:

Of the 2,400 Success scholars who sat for the Regents in June, 56% were black, 31% Hispanic and 74% economically disadvantaged — yet they passed with flying colors.

Sixth, a word from Mark Zuckerberg, in re Donald Trump:

“Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I've ever seen in my life.”

Seventh, Great Britain is becoming a serious country. For now, at least. 

Climate protesters blocked one of England’s main public arteries a couple of years ago. Now they have been sentenced to prison for their efforts:

Jonathan Adler writes in Reason:

Obstructing a highway is not simple political expression, and it is far from "peaceful protest." It involves the physical obstruction of others' freedom of movement. It is also disruptive and potentially tortious conduct that can have severe consequences. In this case, those seeking to "just stop oil" have done little to advance their cause (traffic congestion results in worse fuel economy and increases emissions), but and managed to cause significant harm to others. 

And also, from the BBC:

Obstructing a highway is not simple political expression, and it is far from "peaceful protest." It involves the physical obstruction of others' freedom of movement. It is also disruptive and potentially tortious conduct that can have severe consequences. In this case, those seeking to "just stop oil" have done little to advance their cause (traffic congestion results in worse fuel economy and increases emissions), but managed to cause significant harm to others. 

Consider that your feelgood story for today.

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