discoveryinstitute--2020-07-07--White Fragility — A Free Pass for Scientists?

My colleague Chris Rufo reports in a series of tweets that Seattle is training white employees to “ Interrupt Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness.
” Employees are tutored to “ practice self-talk that affirms [ their ] complicity in racism.
” He concludes , “ I ’ m going to keep pushing — because this is exactly the kind of thought-policing they want to implement everywhere.
” That ’ s one idea .
Here ’ s another .
Why stop with city employees and other powerless white people ?
( The powerlessness of big city employees is shown by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) How about a look up the chain of power ?
“ White Fragility ” is the phrase of the moment .
It ’ s taken from a book by University of Washington education professor Robin DiAngelo .
It refers to an unwillingness on the part of white people to admit “ complicity ” with racism .
Amid the current fury about America ’ s past and present , one powerful group is getting a free pass : scientists .
Especially evolutionary biologists .
On race , their profession has a shameful record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-talk ” by Darwinists on the role their theory has played in promoting racial injustice ?
And worse .
Professor DiAngelo explains , “ White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress.
” There ’ s something to this .
No one is more “ protected ” or “ insulated ” than scientists .
I was struck by a remark by political scientist John West : Such an acknowledgment would be healthy .
Scientists should start with scientific racism in the 19th century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinking .
I ’ ve shown that recently , examining the notorious Cornerstone Speech that Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens gave in 1861 .
The Southern states joined in rebellion as , so they saw it , the first republic based on science .
That was the year after Darwin ’ s Origin of Species came out in the United States .
Darwin theorized about the races in the The Descent of Man ( 1871 ) .
His vision included a racial hierarchy with Africans at the bottom and predicted racial genocide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote , “ The civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races through the world.
” Eugenists , seeking to breed a “ New Man , ” drew on Darwin ’ s work .
Evolutionists labored to educate the public about human evolution by exhibiting Africans in zoos .
See Dr. West ’ s award-winning documentary Human Zoos : America ’ s Forgotten History of Scientific Racism .
Germany ’ s Second Reich , animated by the scientific consensus of the time , practiced genocide against Africans .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ white Europe is the subject of a newly updated documentary , Darwin , Africa , and Genocide : The Horror of Scientific Racism : U.S. high school student learned about the new racial science in their biology textbooks .
One of those , Hunter ’ s popular Civic Biology , was at the center of the 1925 Scopes “ Monkey ” Trial .
It ’ s the biology text from which John Scopes taught .
So did many instructors at the time .
Countless young Americans absorbed its message of an evolutionary racial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bottom , per Darwin .
The Hunter textbook taught , “ At the present time there exist upon the earth five races of man , each very different from the other in instincts , social customs , and , to an extent , in structure.
” The races started with the “ Ethiopian or negro type.
” They attained their summit with “ the highest type of all , the Caucasians , represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America.
” The textbook covers “ Charles Darwin and Natural Selection , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Animal Breeding.
” Turning to eugenics , “ the science of being well born , ” it says of the poorly born : This was mainstream science .
If there ’ s an inherited sin of racism among white Americans , a taint of “ internalized racial superiority , ” it can not be “ interrupted ” without a hard look at the place of evolution in scientific thinking and teaching .
It ’ s not only evolutionists who need to “ do the work , ” as we now say , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been complicit in covering up Darwinism ’ s past .
Dr. DiAngelo ’ s University of Washington colleague Carl Bergstrom , an evolutionary biologist , admits that “ science is an inherently political activity.
” True , scientists act as a political group .
They protect their interests .
Sometimes that ’ s by denying the past and its impact on the present .
That has to stop .
Photo : An image from Darwin , Africa , and Genocide : The Horror of Scientific Racism , by John West .

My colleague Chris Rufo reports in a series of tweets that Seattle is training white employees to “Interrupt Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness.” Employees are tutored to “practice self-talk that affirms [their] complicity in racism.” He concludes, “I’m going to keep pushing — because this is exactly the kind of thought-policing they want to implement everywhere.”
That’s one idea. Here’s another. Why stop with city employees and other powerless white people? (The powerlessness of big city employees is shown by the daily mounting urban chaos they permit.) How about a look up the chain of power?
“White Fragility” is the phrase of the moment. It’s taken from a book by University of Washington education professor Robin DiAngelo. It refers to an unwillingness on the part of white people to admit “complicity” with racism. Amid the current fury about America’s past and present, one powerful group is getting a free pass: scientists. Especially evolutionary biologists. On race, their profession has a shameful record. How about a dose of “self-talk” by Darwinists on the role their theory has played in promoting racial injustice? And worse.
African Genocide
Professor DiAngelo explains, “White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress.” There’s something to this. No one is more “protected” or “insulated” than scientists. I was struck by a remark by political scientist John West:
In my experience, scientists tend to blame racism on everyone else — politicians, preachers, the unwashed masses, pop culture. They don’t want to acknowledge the scientific community’s own culpability in spreading racist ideas.
Such an acknowledgment would be healthy. Scientists should start with scientific racism in the 19th century. The Confederacy was founded on such thinking. I’ve shown that recently, examining the notorious Cornerstone Speech that Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens gave in 1861. The Southern states joined in rebellion as, so they saw it, the first republic based on science.
That was the year after Darwin’s Origin of Species came out in the United States. Darwin theorized about the races in the The Descent of Man (1871). His vision included a racial hierarchy with Africans at the bottom and predicted racial genocide against “savage” humans. He wrote, “The civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races through the world.”
Eugenists, seeking to breed a “New Man,” drew on Darwin’s work. Evolutionists labored to educate the public about human evolution by exhibiting Africans in zoos. See Dr. West’s award-winning documentary Human Zoos: America’s Forgotten History of Scientific Racism.
Follow the Science
Germany’s Second Reich, animated by the scientific consensus of the time, practiced genocide against Africans. That forgotten chapter in the history of white Europe is the subject of a newly updated documentary, Darwin, Africa, and Genocide: The Horror of Scientific Racism:
U.S. high school student learned about the new racial science in their biology textbooks. One of those, Hunter’s popular Civic Biology, was at the center of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial. It’s the biology text from which John Scopes taught. So did many instructors at the time.
Countless young Americans absorbed its message of an evolutionary racial hierarchy. Blacks again were at the bottom, per Darwin. The Hunter textbook taught, “At the present time there exist upon the earth five races of man, each very different from the other in instincts, social customs, and, to an extent, in structure.” The races started with the “Ethiopian or negro type.” They attained their summit with “the highest type of all, the Caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America.”
Well Born and Poorly Born
The textbook covers “Charles Darwin and Natural Selection,” “Artificial Selection,“ and “Animal Breeding.” Turning to eugenics, “the science of being well born,” it says of the poorly born:
If such people were lower animals, we would probably kill them off to prevent them from spreading. Humanity will not allow this, but we do have the remedy of separating the sexes in asylums or other places and in various ways prevent intermarriage and the possibilities of perpetuating such a low and degenerate race.
This was mainstream science. If there’s an inherited sin of racism among white Americans, a taint of “internalized racial superiority,” it cannot be “interrupted” without a hard look at the place of evolution in scientific thinking and teaching.
It’s not only evolutionists who need to “do the work,” as we now say, in recognizing this. The academic establishment has been complicit in covering up Darwinism’s past. Dr. DiAngelo’s University of Washington colleague Carl Bergstrom, an evolutionary biologist, admits that “science is an inherently political activity.” True, scientists act as a political group. They protect their interests. Sometimes that’s by denying the past and its impact on the present. That has to stop.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-07--African Genocide: The Horror of Scientific Racism

As Americans and Europeans continue to grapple with the legacies of racism , they might want to explore the key role played by scientific racism in the justification of Western imperialism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries .
One especially horrific example is the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples in German Southwest Africa ( modern Namibia ) .
From 1904-08 , Germany ’ s “ Second Reich ” exterminated the Herero in particular in the name of Darwinian “ survival of the fittest.
” In 2013 , I included the story of the Namibian genocide as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Second Reich , which examined the impact of Darwinism on German ideology leading up to the First World War .
After receiving nearly 90,000 views on YouTube , the documentary was effectively shut down by YouTube through the imposition of an “ age restriction.
” This meant that after late 2018 , only adults logging into YouTube were allowed to see it .
I appealed the age restriction , but YouTube is the land of faceless decisions by algorithms , and the repeal was summarily rejected without any personal interaction .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ were disturbing , especially some of the photos from World War I .
But a quick search of YouTube at the time turned up many videos that employed far more graphic historical visuals without being “ age restricted.
” I considered trying to protest YouTube ’ s double standard , especially since YouTube was effectively censoring a story about scientific racism and African genocide , but I decided that YouTube probably would be impervious to further complaints , and so I dropped the matter .
A few days ago , I decided it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Given current discussions over the history of racism , my documentary seems especially relevant right now .
Scientific racism is certainly not the only form of racism in history .
For example , many Christians in history used a distorted reading of the Bible to promote racism , despite the Bible ’ s clear teaching that all humans are created in the image of God and are ultimately part of the same human family .
Nevertheless , in my encounters over the years with scientists and students and others , far more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than scientific racism .
In fact , the grim history of scientific racism — especially scientific racism fueled by Darwinian ideology — seems to be largely forgotten , at least in the white community .
In my experience , scientists tend to blame racism on everyone else — politicians , preachers , the unwashed masses , pop culture .
They don ’ t want to acknowledge the scientific community ’ s own culpability in spreading racist ideas .
But in our current cultural moment , it may finally be time to tell the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve removed some ( but not all ) of the disturbing imagery from the original film , and I ’ ve made it shorter .
I hope it now passes YouTube ’ s censorship and more people will be able to see it for the first time .
My documentary only tells one part of the story of racism , and it also only tells a part of the story of the influence of Social Darwinism on Western imperialism , which certainly extended to other nations besides Germany .
Yet I hope my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ current conversation .

Image source: Discovery Institute.
As Americans and Europeans continue to grapple with the legacies of racism, they might want to explore the key role played by scientific racism in the justification of Western imperialism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
One especially horrific example is the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples in German Southwest Africa (modern Namibia). From 1904-08, Germany’s “Second Reich” exterminated the Herero in particular in the name of Darwinian “survival of the fittest.”
Decisions by Algorithm
In 2013, I included the story of the Namibian genocide as part of my award-winning documentary The Biology of the Second Reich, which examined the impact of Darwinism on German ideology leading up to the First World War. After receiving nearly 90,000 views on YouTube, the documentary was effectively shut down by YouTube through the imposition of an “age restriction.” This meant that after late 2018, only adults logging into YouTube were allowed to see it. I appealed the age restriction, but YouTube is the land of faceless decisions by algorithms, and the repeal was summarily rejected without any personal interaction.
My documentary did include historical photos that were disturbing, especially some of the photos from World War I. But a quick search of YouTube at the time turned up many videos that employed far more graphic historical visuals without being “age restricted.”
I considered trying to protest YouTube’s double standard, especially since YouTube was effectively censoring a story about scientific racism and African genocide, but I decided that YouTube probably would be impervious to further complaints, and so I dropped the matter.
A few days ago, I decided it might be time to re-edit my video:
Given current discussions over the history of racism, my documentary seems especially relevant right now. Scientific racism is certainly not the only form of racism in history. For example, many Christians in history used a distorted reading of the Bible to promote racism, despite the Bible’s clear teaching that all humans are created in the image of God and are ultimately part of the same human family. Nevertheless, in my encounters over the years with scientists and students and others, far more people seem to know about religious racism than scientific racism.
Forgotten History
In fact, the grim history of scientific racism — especially scientific racism fueled by Darwinian ideology — seems to be largely forgotten, at least in the white community.
In my experience, scientists tend to blame racism on everyone else — politicians, preachers, the unwashed masses, pop culture. They don’t want to acknowledge the scientific community’s own culpability in spreading racist ideas.
But in our current cultural moment, it may finally be time to tell the story of Darwinian racism. I’ve removed some (but not all) of the disturbing imagery from the original film, and I’ve made it shorter. I hope it now passes YouTube’s censorship and more people will be able to see it for the first time. My documentary only tells one part of the story of racism, and it also only tells a part of the story of the influence of Social Darwinism on Western imperialism, which certainly extended to other nations besides Germany. Yet I hope my revised film will add something to the current conversation.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-09--Cult Programming in Seattle

Cult Programming in Seattle

Last month , the City of Seattle ’ s Office of Civil Rights sent an email inviting “ white City employees ” to attend a training session on “ Interrupting Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness , ” a program designed to help white workers examine their “ complicity in the system of white supremacy ” and “ interrupt racism in ways that are accountable to Black , Indigenous and People of Color.
” Hoping to learn more , I submitted a public records request for all documentation related to the training .
The results are disturbing .
At the beginning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that white people have internalized a sense of racial superiority , which has made them unable to access their “ humanity ” and caused “ harm and violence ” to people of color .
The trainers claim that “ individualism , ” “ perfectionism , ” “ intellectualization , ” and “ objectivity ” are all vestiges of this internalized racial oppression and must be abandoned in favor of social-justice principles .
In conceptual terms , the city frames the discussion around the idea that black Americans are reducible to the essential quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are reducible to the essential quality of “ whiteness ” —that is , the new metaphysics of good and evil .
Once the diversity trainers have established this basic conceptual framework , they encourage white employees to “ practice self-talk that affirms [ their ] complicity in racism ” and work on “ undoing [ their ] own whiteness.
” As part of this process , white employees must abandon their “ white normative behavior ” and learn to let go of their “ comfort , ” “ physical safety , ” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with some other white people.
” As writer James Lindsay has pointed out , this is not the language of human resources ; it is the language of cult programming—persuading members they are defective in some predefined manner , exploiting their emotional vulnerabilities , and isolating them from previous relationships .
It ’ s important to point out that this “ interrupting whiteness ” training is not an anomaly .
In recent years , nearly every department of Seattle city government has been recruited into the ideological fight against “ white supremacy.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s homelessness agency hosted a conference on how to “ decolonize [ their ] collective work ” ; the school system released a curriculum explaining that “ math is a tool for oppression ” ; and the city-owned power company hired a team of bureaucrats to fight “ structural racism ” within their organization .
Dozens of private companies now offer diversity training to public agencies .
The idea that all whites have unconscious , “ implicit bias ” that they must vigilantly program themselves to overcome has become an article of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and law-enforcement agencies , even though the premise is unscientific and impossible to verify .
The endgame is to make Seattle ’ s municipal government the arbiter of the new orthodoxy , and then work outward .
At the end of the session on “ internalized racial superiority , ” the diversity trainers outline strategies for converting outsiders and recommend specific “ practices for interrupting others ’ whiteness.
” In effect , the activists have organized an ideological pyramid scheme—using public dollars to establish their authority within the government , then using that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As Lindsay writes , “ the goal is no longer to indoctrinate on what is ‘ rightthink ’ and ‘ wrongthink.
’ It is to make the [ subject ’ s ] thinking be completely in line with the view of the world described by the cult doctrine.
” How far can this racial-justice shakedown extend itself ?
The new racial orthodoxy has seen exponential growth in the past few years and has proved extremely difficult for local governments and elite institutions to resist .
The movement ’ s key rhetorical premise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you are not an “ antiracist , ” then you are a “ racist ” —and must be held to account .
Skeptics might dismiss Seattle ’ s “ interrupting whiteness ” training as a West Coast oddity , but it is part of a nationwide movement to make this kind of identity politics the foundation of our public discourse .
It may be coming soon to a city or town near you .

Last month, the City of Seattle’s Office of Civil Rights sent an email inviting “white City employees” to attend a training session on “Interrupting Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness,” a program designed to help white workers examine their “complicity in the system of white supremacy” and “interrupt racism in ways that are accountable to Black, Indigenous and People of Color.” Hoping to learn more, I submitted a public records request for all documentation related to the training. The results are disturbing.
At the beginning of the session, the trainers explain that white people have internalized a sense of racial superiority, which has made them unable to access their “humanity” and caused “harm and violence” to people of color. The trainers claim that “individualism,” “perfectionism,” “intellectualization,” and “objectivity” are all vestiges of this internalized racial oppression and must be abandoned in favor of social-justice principles. In conceptual terms, the city frames the discussion around the idea that black Americans are reducible to the essential quality of “blackness” and white Americans are reducible to the essential quality of “whiteness”—that is, the new metaphysics of good and evil.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-10--Peter Thiel on the Failures and “Self-Hatred” of Big-Tech

Peter Thiel opens up about how artificial intelligence , 5G wireless , and blockchain security are converging in a new era .
In a substantive and wide-ranging discussion with tech guru George Gilder Thiel outlines how new Internet and monetary systems can remedy the currently torturous relations between the U.S. and China , and how understanding money as time overthrows the prevailing economic and technological models and opens the way to a cornucopian future .
Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor .
He cofounded PayPal , led it as CEO , and took it public ; he made the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he serves as a director ; and he cofounded Palantir Technologies , where he serves as chairman .
He has provided early funding for LinkedIn , Yelp , and dozens of startups , many run by former colleagues who have been dubbed the “ PayPal Mafia.
” He is a partner at Founders Fund , a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies including SpaceX and Airbnb .
He started the Thiel Fellowship , which funds young entrepreneurs , and he leads the Thiel Foundation , which works to advance technological @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of ‘ Zero to One : Notes on Startups , or How to Build the Future ’ .
COSM is an exclusive national summit on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it .
Learn more at https : //cosm.technology/ .
And , watch all of the conference sessions including keynotes Peter Thiel , Ray Kurzweil and George Gilder .
Get your virtual ticket .

Peter Thiel opens up about how artificial intelligence, 5G wireless, and blockchain security are converging in a new era. In a substantive and wide-ranging discussion with tech guru George Gilder Thiel outlines how new Internet and monetary systems can remedy the currently torturous relations between the U.S. and China, and how understanding money as time overthrows the prevailing economic and technological models and opens the way to a cornucopian future.
Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor. He cofounded PayPal, led it as CEO, and took it public; he made the first outside investment in Facebook, where he serves as a director; and he cofounded Palantir Technologies, where he serves as chairman. He has provided early funding for LinkedIn, Yelp, and dozens of startups, many run by former colleagues who have been dubbed the “PayPal Mafia.” He is a partner at Founders Fund, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies including SpaceX and Airbnb. He started the Thiel Fellowship, which funds young entrepreneurs, and he leads the Thiel Foundation, which works to advance technological progress and long-term thinking. He is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ‘Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future’.
COSM is an exclusive national summit on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it. Learn more at https://cosm.technology/.
And, watch all of the conference sessions including keynotes Peter Thiel, Ray Kurzweil and George Gilder. Get your virtual ticket.


Why Marriage Matters

Please join us Tuesday , August 4th , at noon PT for a webinar featuring Dr. Brad Wilcox , Director @ @ @ @ @ .
Discovery Institute ’ s Christopher F. Rufo will interview Wilcox about the role of @ @ @ @ @ wealth accumulation , and happiness .
Wilcox is an associate professor in the department of @ @ @ @ @ Virginia , where he directs the National Marriage Project .
His research has focused on @ @ @ @ @ cohabitation , especially on the ways that family structure , civil society , and culture @ @ @ @ @ of family life in the United States and around the globe .
Now , Dr. @ @ @ @ @ that families make to the economic welfare of individuals and societies .
Dr. Wilcox is @ @ @ @ @ Disappears : The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America and Soft Patriarchs , New Men @ @ @ @ @ and Husbands .

Please join us Tuesday, August 4th, at noon PT for a webinar featuring Dr. Brad Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project. Discovery Institute’s Christopher F. Rufo will interview Wilcox about the role of marriage in free enterprise, wealth accumulation, and happiness.
Wilcox is an associate professor in the department of sociology at the University of Virginia, where he directs the National Marriage Project. His research has focused on marriage, fatherhood, and cohabitation, especially on the ways that family structure, civil society, and culture influence the quality and stability of family life in the United States and around the globe. Now, Dr. Wilcox is exploring the contribution that families make to the economic welfare of individuals and societies.
Dr. Wilcox is the author of When Marriage Disappears: The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America and Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-13--In Cell Death, a Stunning Display of Intelligent Design

Some counselors try to comfort the grieving by saying that “ dying is a part of life , ” as if that would cheer up someone dealing with the loss of a loved one .
Because of our exceptional natures , people have thoughts of the soul , eternity , and love .
These far outstrip the physical necessity of disposing of a body that was housing a sentient being a short time ago .
Cells only have the physical disposal to contend with , so in the following discussion , one must not draw comparisons too tightly between human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cell , dying really is a part of life .
There ’ s nothing to grieve about !
In fact , billions of cells die in the process of embryonic development , as our organs , fingers , and tissues are sculpted .
That ’ s a wonderful thing .
Nevertheless , tissues face real challenges in all stages of cell death , from deciding what cells need to bow out , to disposing of the “ corpses ” afterward .
The cellular morgue is exquisitely designed for the challenge .
Nature Molecular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by four medical researchers about cell death , titled “ The clearance of dead cells by efferocytosis.
” The term efferocytosis may be unfamiliar to those who have heard of apoptosis ( programmed cell death ) ; it ’ s a more general term meaning “ the phagocytosis of dead and dying cells ” ( where phagocytosis means , literally , “ cell-eating ” or cell-engulfing , and a phagocyte is a general term for any engulfing cell ) .
The researchers , three from St. Jude Children ’ s Research Hospital and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Sciences , organize their presentation around these topics : ( 1 ) recognition of dying cells , ( 2 ) mechanisms of engulfment , ( 3 ) efferocytosis and disease , ( 4 ) conclusions and perspectives .
Each major category is subdivided into narrower topics .
Anyone reading the paper will have a difficult time keeping track of dozens of players in the drama .
Suffice it to say that the impression of sophistication and foresight is overwhelming .
Here , space allows for just a few simplified highlights .
Cells @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are experts at recycling .
Why let all those amino acids , sugars , and other building blocks go to waste ?
While living , the cell keeps its lysosomes and proteasomes ( molecular machines that recycle substrates ) busy dismantling spent proteins and sending the components to recycling centers .
Eventually , the whole cell ’ s work is done , or worse , has become infected and needs to commit hara-kiri .
There ’ s an app for that .
Apoptosis , programmed cell death , is a suite of tools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like spies with poison pills for use if captured .
The poison pills consist primarily of the caspase family of proteins .
Numbered caspase-1 through -14 , these enzymes cut through ( “ cleave ” ) molecules like buzz saws .
They are stored in an inactivated form for safety , like chain saws with covers and batteries removed .
There ’ s more to the kit than that , though .
Numerous actors come onto the stage when the apoptosis signal is triggered .
In a sequence of steps , caspase-3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find-me ” signals that are sent out to attract wandering macrophages .
A macrophage ( a type of white blood cell in the immune system ) knows how to engulf a target , which might be a pathogenic invader or a dying cell .
The find-me signal is more than a beacon .
It can even modify the macrophage ’ s behavior depending on the situation .
In addition to the “ find-me ” signal , cells can post “ eat-me ” and “ don ’ t-eat-me ” tags on their outer membranes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priority , these act as Boolean logic gates .
The eat-me signal only activates the macrophage if the don ’ t-eat-me tag has been removed .
Consequently , part of apoptosis includes removing the don ’ t-eat-me tags .
This ensures that macrophages do not destroy healthy cells .
Here is a brief taste of the complexity involved : No more of that , but one should emphasize that our account is vastly oversimplified .
The paper is full of details like this , at every step of cell death and recycling .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ cell to eat , how does it engulf the dying cell ?
In other words , the phagocyte , such as a macrophage , needs to protect its own contents from the poison pills and buzz saws in the dying cell .
Numerous enzymes and molecular machines get involved .
A dizzying paragraph in the paper describes some 30 tools that create the “ phagosome ” ( eating-body ) that surrounds the dying cell or pathogen to engulf it safely without harming the phagocyte .
The phagosome then delivers the contents to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complexity in their description quickly overwhelms the reader .
Of interest to those who remember the rotary motor ATP synthase , another rotary motor called vacuolar ATPase gets involved here .
Vacuolar ATPase bears some similarities to ATP synthase .
It churns protons into the recycle bins to acidify the contents , just like stomach acid helps break down food in the stomach .
Uncanny the likeness at such a tiny scale .
The paper describes many kinds of modifications to the general picture .
For instance , efferocytosis may act differently in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or kidneys .
These special environments require even more players .
Additionally , signal tags on cell membranes can give phagocytes more information , like the signal PAMP ( “ I ’ m infected !
” ) or the signal DAMP ( “ I ’ m damaged !
” ) .
The immune system is prepared for each eventuality , and knows whether to send the paramedics or the morgue crew .
Every situation has its appropriate response .
Think of the foresight needed to handle so many variations !
After the phagocyte @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has recycled what can be reused , another task remains : cleaning up , and restoring the phagocyte for its next job .
This is the resolution stage .
Efferocytosis is an amazing , complete , and efficient package .
People take little thought of what is going on inside their bodies at this scale all the time — until something goes wrong .
The authors describe some of the terrible things that happen when components fail .
Among them are autoimmune diseases , necrosis ( accumulation of dead cells ) , neurodegenerative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s disease , multiple sclerosis , blindness , inflammation , atherosclerosis , liver disease , diabetes , impaired wound healing , rheumatoid arthritis , infertility , and cancer .
Sometimes cell death is uncoupled from disposal , because the dead cell has another function to perform .
Think of fingernails , where “ cornification [ hardening ] of the outermost layer of the epidermis constitutes an extreme instance where the presence of the cell ’ s remnants has a biological role , serving as a physical barrier for environmental insults.
” How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but it doesn ’ t occur in the eyeball ?
Everything works , and there ’ s a crew to handle every situation , at the right time , in the right place .
Companies sometimes take a group photo , where all the employees — the secretaries , the drivers , the administrators , the machinists , the janitors , everyone — come together and smile for the camera .
This brief look at the cellular mortuary with all its specialized “ employees ” deserves a group picture .
Congratulations to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ticking , and thanks to the authors who did not cloud their review with speculations on how the corporation evolved .

Some counselors try to comfort the grieving by saying that “dying is a part of life,” as if that would cheer up someone dealing with the loss of a loved one. Because of our exceptional natures, people have thoughts of the soul, eternity, and love. These far outstrip the physical necessity of disposing of a body that was housing a sentient being a short time ago. Cells only have the physical disposal to contend with, so in the following discussion, one must not draw comparisons too tightly between human death and cell death.
To a cell, dying really is a part of life. There’s nothing to grieve about! In fact, billions of cells die in the process of embryonic development, as our organs, fingers, and tissues are sculpted. That’s a wonderful thing. Nevertheless, tissues face real challenges in all stages of cell death, from deciding what cells need to bow out, to disposing of the “corpses” afterward. The cellular morgue is exquisitely designed for the challenge.
An Exceptional Review
Nature Molecular Cell Biology posted an exceptionally informative review by four medical researchers about cell death, titled “The clearance of dead cells by efferocytosis.” The term efferocytosis may be unfamiliar to those who have heard of apoptosis (programmed cell death); it’s a more general term meaning “the phagocytosis of dead and dying cells” (where phagocytosis means, literally, “cell-eating” or cell-engulfing, and a phagocyte is a general term for any engulfing cell). The researchers, three from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and another from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, organize their presentation around these topics: (1) recognition of dying cells, (2) mechanisms of engulfment, (3) efferocytosis and disease, (4) conclusions and perspectives. Each major category is subdivided into narrower topics. Anyone reading the paper will have a difficult time keeping track of dozens of players in the drama. Suffice it to say that the impression of sophistication and foresight is overwhelming.
Here, space allows for just a few simplified highlights.
I’m Dying; Eat Me
Cells are environmentally “green” — they are experts at recycling. Why let all those amino acids, sugars, and other building blocks go to waste? While living, the cell keeps its lysosomes and proteasomes (molecular machines that recycle substrates) busy dismantling spent proteins and sending the components to recycling centers. Eventually, the whole cell’s work is done, or worse, has become infected and needs to commit hara-kiri. There’s an app for that. Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is a suite of tools and operations. Cells contain self-destruction kits, like spies with poison pills for use if captured. The poison pills consist primarily of the caspase family of proteins. Numbered caspase-1 through -14, these enzymes cut through (“cleave”) molecules like buzz saws. They are stored in an inactivated form for safety, like chain saws with covers and batteries removed. There’s more to the kit than that, though.
Apoptosis is the archetypal form of ‘silent’ cell death (Box 1). Processing of the apoptotic cell by the actions of activated caspases and their substrates, encapsulation of the cell into apoptotic bodies, and its subsequent disposal and recycling by surrounding phagocytic cells prevent the release of proinflammatory cellular contents and inflammation. During apoptosis, the cell releases soluble signals into the milieu to attract macrophages and stimulate their scavenging potential. [Emphasis added.]
Numerous actors come onto the stage when the apoptosis signal is triggered. In a sequence of steps, caspase-3 activates two other enzymes that create “find-me” signals that are sent out to attract wandering macrophages. A macrophage (a type of white blood cell in the immune system) knows how to engulf a target, which might be a pathogenic invader or a dying cell. The find-me signal is more than a beacon. It can even modify the macrophage’s behavior depending on the situation.
Boolean Logic Gates
In addition to the “find-me” signal, cells can post “eat-me” and “don’t-eat-me” tags on their outer membranes. Because don’t-eat-me tags take priority, these act as Boolean logic gates. The eat-me signal only activates the macrophage if the don’t-eat-me tag has been removed. Consequently, part of apoptosis includes removing the don’t-eat-me tags. This ensures that macrophages do not destroy healthy cells. Here is a brief taste of the complexity involved:
Healthy cells decorate their plasma membranes with ‘don’t-eat-me’ signals that protect them from phagocytic targeting. Don’t-eat-me signals include CD47, which is recognized by signal-regulatory protein-α (SIRPα) on the phagocyte surface, and CD31, which homodimerizes with CD31 on phagocytes. Similarly, CD24 on viable cells engages SIGLEC10 on phagocytes to inhibit engulfment. Signalling in each case occurs through SHP1 and/or SHP2, mediating the suppression of pathways required for phagocytosis, including actin remodelling. MHC class I (MHC-I) can signal through LILRB1 to mitigate phagocytic activation, although the signalling cascade is not fully delineated. In combination, these signals regulate the initiation of efferocytosis.
No more of that, but one should emphasize that our account is vastly oversimplified. The paper is full of details like this, at every step of cell death and recycling.
Engulfment
Now that the phagocyte has found the cell to eat, how does it engulf the dying cell?
Efferocytosis is a tightly regulated process involving the coordinated engulfment of dead and dying cells, maturation of the phagosome and then breakdown of phagolysosomal contents. Each stage is governed by molecular mechanisms that allow rapid breakdown of the engulfed cell and recovery of the engulfing phagocyte.
In other words, the phagocyte, such as a macrophage, needs to protect its own contents from the poison pills and buzz saws in the dying cell. Numerous enzymes and molecular machines get involved. A dizzying paragraph in the paper describes some 30 tools that create the “phagosome” (eating-body) that surrounds the dying cell or pathogen to engulf it safely without harming the phagocyte. The phagosome then delivers the contents to the recycling machines.
Following recognition and entrapment of the dying cell, the phagosome and the cell corpse are destined for a well-orchestrated destructive end. The phagosome fuses with lysosomes, which contain a large variety of proteases, nucleases and lipases that digest the phagosome cargo. This fusion is promoted or impaired by modifications of the phagosome, as discussed below. The phagosome containing the cell corpse is targeted to lysosomes through a multistep maturation process, which begins immediately following the formation of the phagosome on dynamin-dependent membrane scission and is marked by multiple biochemical changes at the phagosomal membrane….
Once again, the complexity in their description quickly overwhelms the reader. Of interest to those who remember the rotary motor ATP synthase, another rotary motor called vacuolar ATPase gets involved here. Vacuolar ATPase bears some similarities to ATP synthase. It churns protons into the recycle bins to acidify the contents, just like stomach acid helps break down food in the stomach. Uncanny the likeness at such a tiny scale.
Theme and Variations
The paper describes many kinds of modifications to the general picture. For instance, efferocytosis may act differently in different organs, such as the liver or kidneys. These special environments require even more players. Additionally, signal tags on cell membranes can give phagocytes more information, like the signal PAMP (“I’m infected!”) or the signal DAMP (“I’m damaged!”). The immune system is prepared for each eventuality, and knows whether to send the paramedics or the morgue crew. Every situation has its appropriate response. Think of the foresight needed to handle so many variations!
Clean-Up
After the phagocyte has disposed of the cellular corpse and has recycled what can be reused, another task remains: cleaning up, and restoring the phagocyte for its next job. This is the resolution stage.
Once the phagosome has fused with lysosomes and its cargo has been degraded, a resolution phase restores homeostasis within the phagocyte, allowing further phagocytosis. Since dying cells are not the only phagocytic cargo, the outcome of phagocytosis can vary dependent on what cargo is internalized. In the context of efferocytosis, some of the components of the cell corpse can be recaptured and recycled for use by the phagocytic cell following lysosomal degradation. Sugars, amino acids, lipids and nucleotides are recycled to replenish cellular stores and can potentially be used as building blocks and an energy source by the phagocytic cell. The internalization and degradation of cargo can also influence the activation of signalling pathways.
Efferocytosis is an amazing, complete, and efficient package. People take little thought of what is going on inside their bodies at this scale all the time — until something goes wrong. The authors describe some of the terrible things that happen when components fail. Among them are autoimmune diseases, necrosis (accumulation of dead cells), neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, blindness, inflammation, atherosclerosis, liver disease, diabetes, impaired wound healing, rheumatoid arthritis, infertility, and cancer.
Efferocytosis is governed by a plethora of factors, including unique membrane lipids and multiple effector proteins, which mediate functions such as dead cell recognition, the activation of phagocytosis and, ultimately, the degradation of the cell corpse. As discussed, the multistep process from cell death to cell clearance is delicate, with multiple points of redundancy, indicating the importance of efferocytosis in development, homeostasis and pathophysiology.
Sometimes cell death is uncoupled from disposal, because the dead cell has another function to perform. Think of fingernails, where “cornification [hardening] of the outermost layer of the epidermis constitutes an extreme instance where the presence of the cell’s remnants has a biological role, serving as a physical barrier for environmental insults.” How does the fingertip know to do that, but it doesn’t occur in the eyeball? Everything works, and there’s a crew to handle every situation, at the right time, in the right place.
Companies sometimes take a group photo, where all the employees — the secretaries, the drivers, the administrators, the machinists, the janitors, everyone — come together and smile for the camera. This brief look at the cellular mortuary with all its specialized “employees” deserves a group picture. Congratulations to the whole company for keeping us all ticking, and thanks to the authors who did not cloud their review with speculations on how the corporation evolved.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-16--Election Models: Predicting the Past is Easy — and Useless

Shortly after the 2016 presidential election , I told my students that I had a model that predicted the popular vote for the last ten presidential elections ( 1980–2016 ) perfectly .
For example , my model ’ s prediction of Hillary Clinton ’ s share of the 2016 two-party vote was exactly equal to the actual 51.11 % share she received .
I didn ’ t look at the economy , the candidates ’ personalities , or any of the other factors that you and my students might think are important .
Instead , I used the high temperatures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Bozeman , Montana ; Broken Bow , Nebraska ; Burlington , Vermont ; Caribou , Maine ; Cody , Wyoming ; Dover , Delaware ; Elkins , West Virginia ; Fargo , North Dakota ; and Pocatello , Idaho .
How did I select these nine cities ?
They were in small states and I liked their names .
Many students were puzzled .
Some were suspicious .
Did I make up the results ?
How could the temperature in Bozeman or Broken Bow have any meaningful effect on presidential elections ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ forecasting record that they started making up theories about how the weather might affect elections .
Anticipating this temptation , I showed my students an even more preposterous model .
I had used a computer software program to generate values for nine random variables that have nothing at all to do with the real world , let alone what is going on in the United States during presidential election years .
And again the model predicted the popular vote perfectly in all ten elections .
Despite some students ’ suspicions , I did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but I did have a secret .
Any ten observations can always be predicted perfectly by a model with nine imperfectly correlated explanatory variables .
Period .
There is nothing special about the nine explanatory variables .
Any nine will do .
The important thing is that I used nine variables to predict ten elections .
Despite the perfect fit , the model is perfectly useless — which can be demonstrated by looking at the ten presidential elections before 1980 .
The figure shows that , yes , the model fits the data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but performs terribly when predicting election outcomes in other years .
For example , the model predicts that in the 1940 election , Franklin Roosevelt gets negative 11 percent of the vote instead of the 55 percent he actually received .
My nine-variable model is an example of overfitting , the relentless addition of complexity intended solely to make a model fit the data better .
Disparaging overfitting , the great mathematician John von Neumann ( 1903–1957 ) once said , “ With four parameters I can fit an elephant and with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trunk.
” The figure shows a four-parameter model that does indeed look like an elephant , though his trunk is not wiggling .
Overfitting is not the only pitfall in constructing presidential election models .
Another is data mining — sifting through a very large number of possible explanatory variables in search of high correlations .
Here , the correlation between the weather model ’ s predictions and the actual presidential vote in the 1980–2016 elections is 0.94 even with only five explanatory variables ( the weather in Burlington , Cody , Dover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How did I choose these particular cities ?
I had daily data on the high and low temperatures in 25 cities and I used data-mining software to consider all 2,118,760 possible five-variable combinations of these 50 variables .
I could identify the combinations that fit the presidential election results the closest .
The problem with ransacking data for explanatory variables that fit one set of data is that if there no logical basis for the data-mined model , it is likely to do a terrible job with fresh data .
As expected , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weather model did great job fitting the 1980–2016 data and an awful job with the 1940–1976 data .
These two pitfalls — overfitting and data mining — make many , if not most , presidential election models entertaining but unreliable .
They are very fragile in that they predict past elections astonishingly well and then do poorly with new elections and must be tweaked , after the fact , to “ correct ” for these mispredictions .
For example , on the eve of the 2016 presidential election , Alan Lichtman , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ predicted a Trump victory .
Lichtman ’ s prediction was based on a model that used 13 true/false questions .
It was said to have predicted the winner of the popular vote in every presidential election since 1984 .
After Trump ’ s surprising victory ( even Trump seemed surprised , as he had not prepared a victory speech and was planning to fly to Scotland to play golf ) , Lichtman ’ s “ correct ” forecast was widely reported , even though a final vote count showed that it was wrong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Lichtman ’ s model is surely overfit and fragile , using 13 variables ( “ keys ” ) to predict 8 elections .
The model has considerable wiggle-room in that some of the true/false questions are extremely subjective ( “ The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy ” ) .
In addition , Lichtman ’ s original model , reported in 1981 , had 12 keys .
The current model dropped one key ( “ Has the incumbent party been in office more than a single term ?
” ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and changed one key ( from “ Did the incumbent party gain more than 50 % of the vote cast in the previous election ?
” to “ After the midterm elections , the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections ” ) .
The large number of changes after a handful of election results is a sure sign that the model is better at predicting the past than predicting the future .
Lichtman has not made a prediction for the 2020 election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keys should be known by now .
Another model that has been in the news recently says that Trump has a 91–95 percent chance of winning re-election and will most likely win 362 electoral votes to Biden ’ s 176 votes .
This model , constructed by Helmut Norpoth , a political science professor at Stony Brook University , is based on three flexible variables : a presidential voting cycle , long-term trends in partisanship , and performance in the primaries .
For elections prior to 1952 , the primaries variable incorporates all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , only the New Hampshire primary is used ; and for the 2008 , 2012 , and 2016 elections , the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries are used .
Norpoth seems blissfully unaware of the dangers of tweaking models to fit past data .
We can anticipate more tweaking after the 2020 election .
Not all presidential election models are overfit and data mined .
For example , The Economist has constructed a model with the help of Andrew Gelman , a professor of statistics and political science and director of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Merlin Heidemanns , a Columbia PhD student .
Gelman is a prominent critic of sloppy statistics , including what he calls “ the garden of forking paths.
” If you wander through a garden making random choices every time you come to a fork in the road , your final destination will seem almost magical .
What are the chances that you would come to this very spot ?
Yet you had to end up somewhere .
If a model that correctly predicted your path had been specified before you started your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
However , identifying your path after you finished your walk is distinctly not amazing .
The Economist model is based on sound theory , specifies the variables used , shows the source code used to make the calculations , and updates the predictions daily .
It currently gives Biden a 99 % chance of winning the popular vote and a 91 % chance of winning the electoral vote .
True , the Economist model is based on assumptions , which may well be wrong , but models based on plausible assumptions are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on past statistical patterns .
Models constructed to fit the past are not reliable predictors of the future .
You can seldom see where you are going by looking in a rear-view mirror .
You may also enjoy : Stocks are not a Ponzi scheme and here ’ s why not : It is not the absence or presence of dividends that determine whether a stock is or is not a Ponzi scheme but the absence or presence of real profits .

Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, I told my students that I had a model that predicted the popular vote for the last ten presidential elections (1980–2016) perfectly. For example, my model’s prediction of Hillary Clinton’s share of the 2016 two-party vote was exactly equal to the actual 51.11% share she received. I didn’t look at the economy, the candidates’ personalities, or any of the other factors that you and my students might think are important. Instead, I used the high temperatures on election day in these nine cities: Bozeman, Montana; Broken Bow, Nebraska; Burlington, Vermont; Caribou, Maine; Cody, Wyoming; Dover, Delaware; Elkins, West Virginia; Fargo, North Dakota; and Pocatello, Idaho. How did I select these nine cities? They were in small states and I liked their names.
Many students were puzzled. Some were suspicious. Did I make up the results? How could the temperature in Bozeman or Broken Bow have any meaningful effect on presidential elections? Others were so smitten by the perfect forecasting record that they started making up theories about how the weather might affect elections.
Anticipating this temptation, I showed my students an even more preposterous model. I had used a computer software program to generate values for nine random variables that have nothing at all to do with the real world, let alone what is going on in the United States during presidential election years. And again the model predicted the popular vote perfectly in all ten elections.
Despite some students’ suspicions, I did not make any of this up, but I did have a secret. Any ten observations can always be predicted perfectly by a model with nine imperfectly correlated explanatory variables. Period. There is nothing special about the nine explanatory variables. Any nine will do. The important thing is that I used nine variables to predict ten elections.
Despite the perfect fit, the model is perfectly useless — which can be demonstrated by looking at the ten presidential elections before 1980. The figure shows that, yes, the model fits the data that were used to estimate the model, but performs terribly when predicting election outcomes in other years. For example, the model predicts that in the 1940 election, Franklin Roosevelt gets negative 11 percent of the vote instead of the 55 percent he actually received.
Figure 7 Using 1980-2016 Weather to Predict Presidential Elections
My nine-variable model is an example of overfitting, the relentless addition of complexity intended solely to make a model fit the data better.
Disparaging overfitting, the great mathematician John von Neumann (1903–1957) once said, “With four parameters I can fit an elephant and with five I can make him wiggle his trunk.” The figure shows a four-parameter model that does indeed look like an elephant, though his trunk is not wiggling.
Overfitting is not the only pitfall in constructing presidential election models. Another is data mining — sifting through a very large number of possible explanatory variables in search of high correlations. Here, the correlation between the weather model’s predictions and the actual presidential vote in the 1980–2016 elections is 0.94 even with only five explanatory variables (the weather in Burlington, Cody, Dover, Elkins, and Pocatello). How did I choose these particular cities? I had daily data on the high and low temperatures in 25 cities and I used data-mining software to consider all 2,118,760 possible five-variable combinations of these 50 variables. I could identify the combinations that fit the presidential election results the closest.
The problem with ransacking data for explanatory variables that fit one set of data is that if there no logical basis for the data-mined model, it is likely to do a terrible job with fresh data. As expected, the figure below shows that my five-variable weather model did great job fitting the 1980–2016 data and an awful job with the 1940–1976 data.
These two pitfalls — overfitting and data mining — make many, if not most, presidential election models entertaining but unreliable. They are very fragile in that they predict past elections astonishingly well and then do poorly with new elections and must be tweaked, after the fact, to “correct” for these mispredictions.
For example, on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Alan Lichtman, a history professor at American University, boldly predicted a Trump victory. Lichtman’s prediction was based on a model that used 13 true/false questions. It was said to have predicted the winner of the popular vote in every presidential election since 1984.
After Trump’s surprising victory (even Trump seemed surprised, as he had not prepared a victory speech and was planning to fly to Scotland to play golf), Lichtman’s “correct” forecast was widely reported, even though a final vote count showed that it was wrong — Hillary Clinton won the popular vote.
Lichtman’s model is surely overfit and fragile, using 13 variables (“keys”) to predict 8 elections. The model has considerable wiggle-room in that some of the true/false questions are extremely subjective (“The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy”). In addition, Lichtman’s original model, reported in 1981, had 12 keys. The current model dropped one key (“Has the incumbent party been in office more than a single term?”), added two foreign policy/military keys, and changed one key (from “Did the incumbent party gain more than 50% of the vote cast in the previous election?” to “After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections”). The large number of changes after a handful of election results is a sure sign that the model is better at predicting the past than predicting the future. Lichtman has not made a prediction for the 2020 election even though the answers to the 13 keys should be known by now.
Another model that has been in the news recently says that Trump has a 91–95 percent chance of winning re-election and will most likely win 362 electoral votes to Biden’s 176 votes. This model, constructed by Helmut Norpoth, a political science professor at Stony Brook University, is based on three flexible variables: a presidential voting cycle, long-term trends in partisanship, and performance in the primaries. For elections prior to 1952, the primaries variable incorporates all presidential primaries; for the 1952–2004 elections, only the New Hampshire primary is used; and for the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections, the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries are used. Norpoth seems blissfully unaware of the dangers of tweaking models to fit past data. We can anticipate more tweaking after the 2020 election.
Not all presidential election models are overfit and data mined. For example, The Economist has constructed a model with the help of Andrew Gelman, a professor of statistics and political science and director of the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University, and Merlin Heidemanns, a Columbia PhD student. Gelman is a prominent critic of sloppy statistics, including what he calls “the garden of forking paths.”
If you wander through a garden making random choices every time you come to a fork in the road, your final destination will seem almost magical. What are the chances that you would come to this very spot? Yet you had to end up somewhere. If a model that correctly predicted your path had been specified before you started your walk, that would have been amazing. However, identifying your path after you finished your walk is distinctly not amazing.
The Economist model is based on sound theory, specifies the variables used, shows the source code used to make the calculations, and updates the predictions daily. It currently gives Biden a 99% chance of winning the popular vote and a 91% chance of winning the electoral vote.
True, the Economist model is based on assumptions, which may well be wrong, but models based on plausible assumptions are generally more reliable than models based solely on past statistical patterns.
Models constructed to fit the past are not reliable predictors of the future. You can seldom see where you are going by looking in a rear-view mirror.
You may also enjoy: Stocks are not a Ponzi scheme and here’s why not: It is not the absence or presence of dividends that determine whether a stock is or is not a Ponzi scheme but the absence or presence of real profits.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-16--The Harm in “Harm Reduction”

The Harm in “Harm Reduction”

Every major city in the United States seems to have its designated opioid district , a tucked-away part of town where normal rules are suspended and the drug trade shapes the social order : Kensington in Philadelphia , the Tenderloin in San Francisco , Pioneer Square in Seattle .
The scenes are sadly familiar : disheveled men and women living under blue tarpaulins , dealers doing hand-to-hand transactions between large trash receptacles , and dope fiends searching with their fingertips for the last good vein .
Methadone clinics and rescue missions operate amid a steady rumble of ambulances and police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public order but to manage the status quo .
Political leaders have long sought to transform these places .
Among progressive policymakers , the prevailing trend is “ harm reduction , ” a public-health approach that accepts widespread drug use and directs resources toward mitigating its negative consequences .
Harm reduction began with needle exchange and methadone clinics , which helped , respectively , to reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases and to stabilize addicts with opioid replacements .
Now , as Western nations confront the opioid crisis , cities in Canada , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new harm-reduction strategy : so-called safe-injection sites , where addicts can take drugs—predominantly heroin and methamphetamine—under the supervision of medical professionals , who intervene in case of emergency .
Public-health officials and progressive leaders often cite Vancouver , Canada , as the gold standard of harm reduction .
Over the past 30 years , Vancouver has implemented the full range of harm-reduction strategies .
The centerpiece of the city ’ s current efforts is the Insite safe-injection facility on East Hastings Street , which has drawn the attention of academics and media from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such facilities can prevent fatal overdoses , reduce rates of infection , connect addicts to social services , and mitigate street disorder , with few negative consequences .
What ’ s happening in Vancouver can hardly be categorized as a success , however .
Though harm reduction has brought some benefits , such as reducing the transmission of HIV , it has also compounded the problems of addiction , homelessness , and public disorder .
Vancouver ’ s concentration of services in its own opioid district , the Downtown Eastside , has created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ British Columbia , who travel there to obtain drugs , overdose , and then perish in the streets .
As cities in the United States , including San Francisco , Denver , Philadelphia , and Seattle , consider opening their own safe-injection sites , they should understand the full consequences of these practices .
Beneath the narrow certainties of the academic literature runs a deeper story that reveals the hidden costs of harm reduction .
As the coronavirus begins to spread in opioid districts throughout North America , policymakers must reconsider the wisdom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tight quarters , where they can become vectors for a catastrophic outbreak .
On the surface , Vancouver is an unlikely location for an opioid epidemic .
In popular imagination , the crisis is taking place in impoverished inner-city slums or forgotten rural communities .
According to the influential “ deaths of despair ” hypothesis , the opioid crisis is most pronounced in communities exposed to “ prolonged economic distress , ” leading to a decline in life expectancy for middle-aged men .
But Vancouver is neither West Baltimore nor West Virginia—it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most prosperous and progressive cities , with a booming economy , liberal leadership , and universal health care .
And yet , despite this affluence , the city faces one of the worst drug problems on record .
Since 2008 , overdose deaths in British Columbia are up 151 percent , with Vancouver ’ s numbers driving much of the increase .
According to CTV News , Vancouver ’ s “ paramedics and dispatchers are feeling fatigued and burnt out ” by the pace of opioid overdoses , “ and some are experiencing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disorder.
” The Downtown Eastside neighborhood is ground zero for the troubles .
For the past century , the area has been Vancouver ’ s Skid Row , home to a dense network of cheap hotels , bars , brothels , and , increasingly , homeless encampments and social-services offices .
It ’ s here , across ten city blocks , that Vancouver has launched its experiment in harm reduction , opening Canada ’ s first needle exchange in 1988 and North America ’ s first safe-injection facility in 2003 .
Rather than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s social pathologies throughout the region , policymakers have decided to concentrate new subsidized housing construction , welfare services , and drug programs in the neighborhood .
Total social spending in the Downtown Eastside now amounts to more than $ 1 million per day .
Despite these intensive efforts , the city has failed meaningfully to reduce rates of addiction , homelessness , and criminality in the neighborhood , which remains the epicenter for all overdose deaths in the region .
In 2017 , the City of Vancouver logged 8,000 overdose calls , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the total , even with a population of only a few thousand residents .
The situation has become ever more chaotic , as Covid-19 threatens to spread among many homeless men and women who have nowhere else to go .
For the addicts caught up in the Downtown Eastside ’ s web of social programs , the results are not encouraging .
According to a ten-year longitudinal study by Simon Fraser University professor Julian Somers , even the most service-intensive interventions failed to produce better outcomes .
In his study of 433 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a program offering free housing and comprehensive services , Somers concluded that “ despite the high concentration of services and supports in the [ Downtown Eastside ] , members of the current sample experienced significant personal decline rather than recovery , as evidenced by their involvements with criminal justice , large increases in acute care and prolonged homelessness.
” Over ten years , Somers writes , “ participants ’ use of community medical services and hospital services each tripled , while criminal convictions and welfare receipt doubled.
” Even the key claim of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much of its rhetorical power when viewed in context .
While it ’ s true that Insite recorded 189,837 visits last year without any fatalities on the premises , the Downtown Eastside streets saw more overdose deaths than ever .
It ’ s not that addicts who use the safe-injection site are achieving sobriety ; they ’ re just not dying on the floor of the Insite injection room .
According to the latest numbers , more than 1,500 overdoses a year have taken place within a block of the Insite facility in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ no deaths on the premises ” statistic might be misleading .
As a secret recording from the Powell Street Getaway facility reveals , it ’ s possible for addicts to overdose at safe-injection sites , and then die en route to the hospital or after they have returned to the streets .
More broadly , if the objective is to maximize overdose reversals , safe-injection sites may not be the most efficient method of achieving this goal .
According to the BC Centre for Disease Control , British Columbia currently sees between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
These are primarily administered in the field by paramedics , law enforcement , community members , and other drug users .
The government ’ s decentralized Take Home Naloxone and Facility Overdose Response programs , which distribute overdose-reversal kits into the community , cover a much broader territory and deliver much greater results than brick-and-mortar safe-injection sites , with less potential for negative spillover effects .
Finally , even if one accepts the purported benefits of safe-injection sites , the solution can not scale to serve the addict population in the Downtown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 3 million annual budget , 12-seat injection room , and averages 700 to 800 visits per day—but according to the latest data , these figures represent only 4 percent of the total number of daily injections in the Downtown Eastside .
In other words , if policymakers were to scale safe-injection sites to meet the overall rate of neighborhood drug consumption , they would need to build 25 more facilities in the Downtown Eastside alone—a political , financial , and spatial impossibility .
The Downtown Eastside is one of the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cursory glance through the academic literature reveals at least 6,500 peer-reviewed papers , journal articles , and scientific reports that focus on life there .
According to the National Post , the neighborhood is home to “ more than 170 nonprofits clustered in an area of only a few blocks , all devoted towards supporting an increasingly dense community of addicts.
” An entire social-scientific sector is devoted to solving the problems of the Downtown Eastside , to little avail .
Indeed , these efforts have contributed to a “ magnet effect ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Columbia to move into the neighborhood in search of social programs , a permissive social environment , and easy access to drugs .
According to the Simon Fraser University study , from 2005 to 2015 , the number of homeless addicts who had migrated to the Downtown Eastside from outside the neighborhood increased from 17 percent to 52 percent of the overall population .
In the name of compassion , public officials have created perverse incentives that are worsening homelessness , overdoses , and crime .
As it turns out , much of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ current harm-reduction policy is more about activism than hard science .
According to a recent survey by the RAND Corporation , nearly 80 percent of the literature on safe-injection sites is made up of studies from just two facilities : Insite in Vancouver and the Medically Supervised Injection Centre , in Sydney , Australia .
As the RAND scholars conclude , these studies are neither rigorous nor definitive , and they often ignore the potential for community-level harm and second-order effects .
“ We conducted our own assessment of the individual studies , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found that the evidence base concerning the overall effects of SCSs [ supervised consumption sites ] is limited in quality and location.
” Even worse , as a recent investigation by the Huffington Post revealed , one activist-researcher who had lobbied for the original funding for Insite coauthored all 33 studies of the facility from 2003 to 2009 .
Unsurprisingly , they showed unanimously positive results .
Some of these studies were even produced in collaboration with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users , an activist group that requires researchers to agree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if researchers want to work with us they should really become allies of our movement , ” “ we want to see the research—in progress—to give feedback , ” and “ [ researchers must ] present us with an explanation and action plan on how the research will contribute to the empowerment and liberation of people who use drugs.
” This is the language of radicalism , not science , and any study conducted under such auspices should be treated with skepticism .
Safe-injection advocates have positioned themselves as the arbiters of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dissenters as “ deniers.
” But the advocates have constructed their argument on the moral foundation of “ harm reduction , ” which can not be evaluated simply as a neutral science .
Though it has proved a valuable tool in some cases—for example , preventing infections and reversing overdoses—harm reduction makes profound assumptions about human nature that must be subjected to a broader public debate .
The critical question facing neighborhoods like the Downtown Eastside is : What is the desired end ?
Mark Tyndall , a physician and leading harm-reduction advocate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of sobriety—the traditional telos of both medicine and public policy , when it comes to drug abuse—is outdated and should be abandoned .
The real objective , he argues , should not be recovery from addiction but the maintenance of addiction , possibly in perpetuity .
“ People have these unrealistic expectations like .
.
.
we need to get [ safe-injection users ] abstinent and recovered , ” Tyndall explains .
“ That so rarely happens to people that I don ’ t have those expectations anymore .
I want to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the best.
” The flaw of harm-reduction theory is that it contains no natural limits .
Convinced that safe-injection sites are insufficient , Tyndall and his colleagues at the BC Centre for Disease Control are launching a pilot program to provide addicts with a “ clean supply ” of opioids through “ ATM-style machines—with biometric scanners , real-time monitoring and alarm systems—that would distribute the pills to patients.
” The Vancouver Mayor ’ s Overdose Emergency Task Force has endorsed the plan , recommending that the city “ prioritize and identify space @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service space , either in or adjacent to the Downtown Eastside.
” The vision of ATM-style opioid dispensers evokes Aldous Huxley ’ s Brave New World , in which an opioid-style drug , soma , is given to the lower castes .
This approach threatens to reduce man into a machine .
It ’ s no giant leap from the state-sanctioned distribution of soma to the untouchables of the World State to the administration of “ clean ” hydromorphone to the desperate tent-dwellers of East Hastings Street .
Huxley ’ s novel illustrates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t be untangled from its moral , political , and philosophical dimensions .
Huxley ’ s fear was that , without restraint , addiction could become the dominant refuge from the difficulties of existence .
“ There ’ s always soma to calm your anger , to reconcile you to your enemies , to make you patient and long-suffering , ” he wrote .
“ In the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training .
Now , you swallow two or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are .
Anybody can be virtuous now .
You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle .
Christianity without tears—that ’ s what soma is.
” Harm reduction is ultimately a pessimistic philosophy .
It rests on the premise that human beings are subordinated to biological determinism , with almost no room for agency , hope , or grace , and maintains that science can lead us out of the darkness of addiction and human despair .
Yet despite harm reduction ’ s influence over social policy for decades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sight for the disorder of neighborhoods like the Downtown Eastside .
As tents continue to line the streets of major cities , the addiction crisis demands an answer .
Harm reduction isn ’ t it .

Every major city in the United States seems to have its designated opioid district, a tucked-away part of town where normal rules are suspended and the drug trade shapes the social order: Kensington in Philadelphia, the Tenderloin in San Francisco, Pioneer Square in Seattle. The scenes are sadly familiar: disheveled men and women living under blue tarpaulins, dealers doing hand-to-hand transactions between large trash receptacles, and dope fiends searching with their fingertips for the last good vein. Methadone clinics and rescue missions operate amid a steady rumble of ambulances and police cruisers, vehicles sent not to enforce public order but to manage the status quo.
Political leaders have long sought to transform these places. Among progressive policymakers, the prevailing trend is “harm reduction,” a public-health approach that accepts widespread drug use and directs resources toward mitigating its negative consequences. Harm reduction began with needle exchange and methadone clinics, which helped, respectively, to reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases and to stabilize addicts with opioid replacements. Now, as Western nations confront the opioid crisis, cities in Canada, Australia, and Europe have adopted a new harm-reduction strategy: so-called safe-injection sites, where addicts can take drugs—predominantly heroin and methamphetamine—under the supervision of medical professionals, who intervene in case of emergency.


Design in Virology?

A series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic We are pleased @ @ @ @ @ Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘ Design in @ @ @ @ @ will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss their implications @ @ @ @ @ Behe ( Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute , Professor at Lehigh University , and author @ @ @ @ @ Box , The Edge of Evolution , and Darwin Devolves ) , Jonathan McLatchie ( @ @ @ @ @ ) , and Hugo van Woerden ( Director of Public Health at Public Health Agency @ @ @ @ @ Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q & A .

First in a series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic
We are pleased to announce that the UK Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘Design in Virology?’ This series will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss their implications.
Webinar presenters include Michael Behe (Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Professor at Lehigh University, and author of Darwin’s Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves), Jonathan McLatchie (Assistant Professor at Sattler College), and Hugo van Woerden (Director of Public Health at Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland). Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q&A.
Complete Webinar Series:


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-17--Obscene federal ‘diversity training’ scam prospers — even under Trump

Critical race theory — the far-left academic discourse centered on the concepts of “ whiteness , ” “ white fragility ” and “ white privilege ” — is coursing through the federal government ’ s veins .
Under a GOP administration , no less .
Last month , a private diversity-consulting firm conducted a training titled “ Difficult Conversations About Race in Troubling Times ” for several federal agencies .
The training called on white employees at the Treasury Department , the Federal Reserve , the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , the National Credit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Comptroller to pledge “ allyship [ sic ] amid the George Floyd Tragedy.
” According to a trove of whistleblower documents I ’ ve reviewed , the training begins with the premise that “ virtually all white people contribute to racism ” and hold narratives that “ don ’ t support the dismantling of racist institutions.
” Therefore , the trainers argue , white federal employees must “ struggle to own their racism ” and “ invest in race-based growth.
” The trainers then ask “ white managers ” to create “ safe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explain “ what it means to be black ” and to be “ seen in their pain.
” White staffers are instructed to keep silent and to “ sit in the discomfort ” of their racism .
If any conflicts arise , the trainers insist that whites “ don ’ t get to decide when someone is being too emotional , too rash [ or ] too mean.
” Whites are told they can ’ t protest if a person of color “ responds to their oppression in a way [ they ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the consultant who created the training , has been a fixture in what might be called the diversity-industrial complex .
Since 2006 , he has billed the feds more than $ 5 million for trainings .
In 2011 , he billed the General Services Administration $ 3 million for “ consulting services.
” NASA coughed up $ 500,000 for “ power and privilege sexual-orientation workshops.
” It is somewhat distasteful but crucially important to note that Ross is a white man .
He has a bachelor ’ s degree in history but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neuro-cognitive and social-science research ” and has spent the past three decades selling the unscientific snake oil of “ unconscious bias.
” The irony : Ross has used his own privilege to enrich himself at taxpayer expense .
In the language of his own discourse , he has monetized collective black pain to create individual white profit .
Incredibly , Ross and his colleagues in the diversity-industrial complex have only expanded their footprint under the Trump administration .
Since President Trump ’ s inauguration , Ross himself has done at least 17 trainings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Department , the National Institutes of Health and the Office of the Attorney General .
The permanent bureaucracy knows that it can ignore the priorities of any one commander-in-chief — and continue to remake US institutions in its own ideological image .
The larger goal is explicit : The diversity apparatchiks want to convert “ everyone in the federal government ” to the work of “ anti-racism.
” While that sounds innocuous , it emphatically is not what most Americans understand by the term .
“ Anti-racism , ” as the diversity hustlers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans to judge each other according to the contents of their character .
Rather , the ideology stands for precisely the opposite : a rigid and simplistic account of race , in which minorities are permanent victims and whites are forever tainted by racism .
By promoting this toxic nonsense , activist bureaucrats seek to transform the federal government into power centers for this new racial orthodoxy .
As documents from the Treasury Department reveal , the new orthodoxy won ’ t be contained in the workplace .
At the end of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ talk to [ their ] children about race , ” because “ bias begins to take shape in our brains [ when we ’ re ] around 3 years old.
” It ’ s easy to see where it goes from here : a nonstop sequence of diversity seminars , trainings and curricula from preschool to graduate school and beyond — all of it naturally good for Ross ’ bank account .
What can be done ?
First , the Senate Finance Committee should immediately launch a probe into the Treasury Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Second , Trump should issue an executive order banning federal agencies from teaching the toxic principles of critical race theory , race essentialism and neo-segregationism .
And the rest of us must brace for a long war against the diversity-industrial complex and its profiteers .

Critical race theory — the far-left academic discourse centered on the concepts of “whiteness,” “white fragility” and “white privilege” — is coursing through the federal government’s veins. Under a GOP administration, no less.
Last month, a private diversity-consulting firm conducted a training titled “Difficult Conversations About Race in Troubling Times” for several federal agencies. The training called on white employees at the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of the Comptroller to pledge “allyship [sic] amid the George Floyd Tragedy.”
According to a trove of whistleblower documents I’ve reviewed, the training begins with the premise that “virtually all white people contribute to racism” and hold narratives that “don’t support the dismantling of racist institutions.” Therefore, the trainers argue, white federal employees must “struggle to own their racism” and “invest in race-based growth.”


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-18--Beauty, Coherence, Semiotics and Coronavirus

Third in a series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic We @ @ @ @ @ the UK Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘ @ @ @ @ @ This series will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss @ @ @ @ @ include Michael Behe ( Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute , Professor at Lehigh University , @ @ @ @ @ s Black Box , The Edge of Evolution , and Darwin Devolves ) , Jonathan @ @ @ @ @ Sattler College ) , and Hugo van Woerden ( Director of Public Health at Public @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q & A .

Third in a series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic
We are pleased to announce that the UK Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘Design in Virology?’ This series will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss their implications.
Webinar presenters include Michael Behe (Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Professor at Lehigh University, and author of Darwin’s Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves), Jonathan McLatchie (Assistant Professor at Sattler College), and Hugo van Woerden (Director of Public Health at Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland). Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q&A.
Webinar Topics:


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-18--The Molecular Biology of Coronaviruses

The Molecular Biology of Coronaviruses

Second in a series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic We @ @ @ @ @ the UK Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘ @ @ @ @ @ This series will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss @ @ @ @ @ include Michael Behe ( Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute , Professor at Lehigh University , @ @ @ @ @ s Black Box , The Edge of Evolution , and Darwin Devolves ) , Jonathan @ @ @ @ @ Sattler College ) , and Hugo van Woerden ( Director of Public Health at Public @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q & A .

Second in a series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic
We are pleased to announce that the UK Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘Design in Virology?’ This series will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss their implications.
Webinar presenters include Michael Behe (Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Professor at Lehigh University, and author of Darwin’s Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves), Jonathan McLatchie (Assistant Professor at Sattler College), and Hugo van Woerden (Director of Public Health at Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland). Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q&A.
Webinar Topics:


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-18--The Biochemical Basis of COVID-19

The Biochemical Basis of COVID-19

First in a series of webinars seeking to explain and explore the details and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic We @ @ @ @ @ the UK Centre for Intelligent Design will present a series of live-streamed webinars entitled ‘ @ @ @ @ @ This series will explore some of the biological and biochemical dimensions of COVID-19 and discuss @ @ @ @ @ include Michael Behe ( Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute , Professor at Lehigh University , @ @ @ @ @ s Black Box , The Edge of Evolution , and Darwin Devolves ) , Jonathan @ @ @ @ @ Sattler College ) , and Hugo van Woerden ( Director of Public Health at Public @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Each presenter will offer some time for audience Q & A .


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-24--Is Automated & Shared Vehicle Technology a Benefit to Humanity?

Jay Richards interviews Bryan Mistele , Co-founder , President and CEO of INRIX , about the future of autonomous , connected , electric , shared ( ACES ) vehicle transportation systems .
Mistele sees the implementation of ACES vehicles being a huge benefit to humanity as they will be much more convenient and cost effective , safer , and will lead to more effective land use by being able to do away with parking garages , street parking , etc .
Bryan Mistele is the co-founder , President & Chief Executive Officer of INRIX , a leading provider of connected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is at the forefront of connecting cars to smarter cities in more than 88 countries around the world .
Bryan started INRIX in 2004 , having had more than 15 years experience building high-technology businesses and transforming industries through the power of information technology .
As a leader on technology and transportation issues , Bryan is a popular speaker on the future of transportation .
Bryan has served as a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center ’ s National Transportation Policy Project , as a member of the United States Department of Transportation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a board member of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America .
Bryan is co-founder of ACES Northwest – a group committed to the adoption of Autonomous , Connected , Electric and Shared vehicles .
Prior to INRIX , Mistele was an executive at Microsoft .
Bryan holds a B.S .
in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Harvard Business School .
COSM is an exclusive national summit on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it .
Learn more at cosm.technology .
And , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keynotes Peter Thiel , Ray Kurzweil and George Gilder .
Get access here with a virtual ticket .

Jay Richards interviews Bryan Mistele, Co-founder, President and CEO of INRIX, about the future of autonomous, connected, electric, shared (ACES) vehicle transportation systems. Mistele sees the implementation of ACES vehicles being a huge benefit to humanity as they will be much more convenient and cost effective, safer, and will lead to more effective land use by being able to do away with parking garages, street parking, etc.
Bryan Mistele is the co-founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of INRIX, a leading provider of connected car services and transportation analytics. INRIX is at the forefront of connecting cars to smarter cities in more than 88 countries around the world. Bryan started INRIX in 2004, having had more than 15 years experience building high-technology businesses and transforming industries through the power of information technology.
As a leader on technology and transportation issues, Bryan is a popular speaker on the future of transportation. Bryan has served as a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project, as a member of the United States Department of Transportation’s ITS Advisory Committee, and as a board member of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. Bryan is co-founder of ACES Northwest – a group committed to the adoption of Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared vehicles.
Prior to INRIX, Mistele was an executive at Microsoft. Bryan holds a B.S. in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
COSM is an exclusive national summit on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it.
Learn more at cosm.technology. And, watch all of the conference sessions including keynotes Peter Thiel, Ray Kurzweil and George Gilder. Get access here with a virtual ticket.


discoveryinstitute--2020-07-28--Darwin’s Impact on Society in Under 3 Minutes

Darwin ’ s theory of evolution didn ’ t just affect science .
It had a dramatic impact on our @ @ @ @ @ the far-ranging consequences of Darwin ’ s theory for society in less than 3 minutes @ @ @ @ @

Darwin’s theory of evolution didn’t just affect science. It had a dramatic impact on our global culture. Learn about the far-ranging consequences of Darwin’s theory for society in less than 3 minutes in this provocative video.