Let’s Get (Smart About Being) Physical
July 24, 2019
“The prize never goes to the fastest guy,” Chris replied. “It goes to the guy who slows down the least.” True in endurance sports. And possibly even truer in life.” – Rich Roll
Riding the Waves of Populism to Brexit
As anticipated, Britain’s ruling Conservative Party has elected Boris Johnson to succeed Theresa May as prime minister. He takes office on Wednesday.
Johnson is a hard-line Brexiter and eccentric, larger-than-life populist in the Trumpian mold. Just as the president did, Johnson rallied around issues of controlling immigration and fostering nationalism. Other characteristics the two leaders share are penchants for extra-marital affairs and foreswearing facts. But credit must be given to both men for sensing and capitalizing on political undercurrents.
Years ago both recognized that key groups of voters were frustrated with establishment politics, suffering from the negative effects of globalization, and worried that foreigners would change their communities. Trump launched his political career in 2015 with a flurry of racism and fear mongering, famously promising to build a wall along the Mexican border to keep out criminal immigrants.
Johnson led the pro-Brexit campaign that championed withdrawal from the EU. Before the 2016 vote, he inflamed the debate by falsely claiming Turkey was on the verge of joining the EU, predicting a new horde of Muslim refugees from Syria would swarm in, and young Brits would become radicalized by ISIS.
Johnson and Trump both pledged to return their countries to a mythical, better age, or as Trump says, the good “old days.” An expert in global politics describes the appeal as tapping into nostalgia for a time when both nations were whiter and more homogeneous.
- Boris Johnson Is How Britain Ends: Not with a bang, but with a burst of blond ambition. (NYT, $)
- The 10 ages of Boris Johnson: a guide to his road to power (The Guardian)
- How trashy TV made children dumber and enabled a wave of populist leaders (WaPo, $)
When You Saw One Set Of Carbon Footprints, It Was Then That I Carried You To Montana
- The carbon footprint of an airline passenger has a disproportionate impact on the environment. Taking a long-haul flight generates more carbon emissions than the average person in dozens of countries world-wide produces in a whole year. Even a short-haul flight produces huge amounts of CO2.
- Air travel is up more than 300 percent since 1990; over the next three decades aviation emissions could triple. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN body responsible for limiting the carbon footprint from international air travel, is introducing a scheme to offset emissions by allowing airlines to purchase carbon credits rather than burn less fossil fuels.
- One expert who researches climate policy and international transport expresses skepticism about potential benefits from the ICAO’s scheme: “[There is still] a plan to increase the size of the industry…at a time when we should be making substantial reductions in emissions, particularly from the rich parts of the world.” (Guardian)
Can You Fear Me Now? Good.
- Internal documents leaked from Chinese tech giant Huawei reveal the company secretly helped the North Korean government build and maintain the country’s commercial wireless network. Huawei hid its involvement on a variety of projects there over at least eight years by partnering with a Chinese state-owned firm, Panda International Information Technology Co. Ltd.
- The Washington Post obtained copies of past work orders, contracts and spreadsheets taken from a database that charts the company’s telecom operations worldwide. In internal company documents and among employees, Huawei referred to certain countries, such as North Korea, Iran and Syria, by code; for example, North Korea was listed as A9 in the project database.
- The US Commerce Department has investigated alleged links between Huawei and North Korea since 2016 but has never publicly connected the two. Huawei was served with a subpoena in 2016 that demanded information on the export of American technology to sanctioned countries, including North Korea. The company remains blacklisted by the Trump administration as a national security threat. (WaPo)
- U.S. Punishes Chinese Company Over Iranian Oil: For the first time, the Trump administration is imposing economic penalties on a Chinese company for importing Iranian oil, a decision certain to add to tensions between Washington and Beijing. (NYT, $)
I Think, Therefore I Am Right
- Democrats hope to enlighten more Americans by having former special counsel Robert Mueller deliver live testimony about his two year investigation into Russian election meddling and presidential obstruction of justice. But history shows that efforts to educate the public often fail.
- Take science for example. Multiple studies have shown that people with the least understanding of science had the most science-opposed views, but thought they knew the most.
- In a paper published earlier this year in Nature Human Behavior, more than 90 percent of people asked about their views on genetically-modified foods said they were opposed to their use, a sentiment in opposition to 90 percent of scientists who believe GMOs are safe and even beneficial.
- Likewise with a small percentage of the public who believes vaccines are truly dangerous — not correct — and also think they know more about the topic than the experts. This is cognitive bias, and it’s partly related to the Dunning-Kruger effect, which can also explain why attempts to help people see that their beliefs do not align with experts often don’t succeed and may even wind up backfiring. (NYT)
Additional World News
- Does Russia Want More Than Your Old Face? The FaceApp fracas forces us to think hard about giving our personal data to companies in authoritarian countries. (NYT, $)
- An entire nation just got hacked (CNN)
- The Great Hack: the film that goes behind the scenes of the Facebook data scandal (The Guardian)
- Trump Tries Cooling Tensions With Pakistan to Speed Afghan Peace Talks (NYT, $)
Heads I Win, Tails I Could Also Win
- Political analyst David Wasserman shows how President Trump could lose 5 million votes and still win the 2020 election. First, it’s necessary to understand how the Electoral College and plurality rule work in presidential elections. Then Wasserman does the math. And here’s the cold reality for Democrats: The bulk of the nation’s demographic transformation is taking place in states that matter the least in deciding the Electoral College.
- The most populous states, California and Texas, are growing more diverse at a much faster rate than the nation — owing to booming Asian and Latino populations — and are trending toward Democrats. Yet neither blue California nor red Texas would play a pivotal role in a close 2020 election, potentially rendering millions of additional Democratic votes useless.
- Bottom line: Mired at an approval rating in the low 40s, Trump has a narrow path to re-election. But the concentration of demographic change in noncompetitive states, particularly California and Texas, threatens to further widen the chasm between the popular vote and the Electoral College, easing his path. Trump could once again win with less than 47 percent, a victory threshold far below the share of the popular vote the Democratic nominee might need. (whydomath.org, NBCNews)
- Think Republicans are disconnected from reality? It’s even worse among liberals: A new survey found Democrats live with less political diversity despite being more tolerant of it – with startling results (Guardian)
It’s Mueller Movie Time
- Republicans Prep for Mueller Showdown and Counsel a Light Touch (NYT, $)
- In 88 Trips to Capitol Hill, Mueller Grew Weary of Partisanship: Dozens of hours of Robert S. Mueller III’s congressional testimony since 1990 reveal his complex relationship with legislators. (NYT, $)
- Justice Dept. Letter Warns Mueller to Stay in ‘Boundaries’ of His Report (NYT, $)
Additional USA News
- The Case of Al Franken: A close look at the accusations against the former senator. (New Yorker, $)
- Meet the woman who ties Jeffrey Epstein to Trump and the Clintons Heiress Ghislaine Maxwell paved the way to presidents. (Politico) And Who Was Jeffrey Epstein Calling? A close study of his circle — social, professional, transactional — reveals a damning portrait of elite New York. (New York Magazine, $)
- No More Manholes in Berkeley as City Writes Gender Out of Codes (NYT, $)
For When The Jazzercise Classes Don’t Cut It
Here’s some free fitness advice from 12 professional trainers: Learn to do things properly and remember technique is king; lifting weights will help women stay strong and active into old age and it won’t turn them into Hulk Hogan; you don’t need fancy gear or a gym membership to just get moving; egos must be left in the locker room; train for the body you have and not the body you think you should have; be realistic about what exercise alone can achieve. (Guardian)
Additional Reads
- Humans aren’t designed to be happy – so stop trying (The Conversation)
- The Psychology of Prediction (Collaborative Fund)
- Why Has Language Changed So Much So Fast? ‘Because Internet’ (NYT, $)
- The Strange Appeal of Perverse Actions: Why do we enjoy doing things for no good reason? (The New Yorker, $)