Governed by a Ghost? Forbes Delves Into Obama's Mindset

[Michael]

... Polish jokes in central Pennsylvania, ...

Funny you should mention that...

I mostly grew up in central PA (Centre County, to be exact!) and such jokes were legion.

In Penn State University's main campus, there is "Pollock Road." It was (when I was there--my Dad worked on that campus) pronounced locally as "Paul - luck" and if anyone pronounces it otherwise, they were derided mercilessly of being of Polish extraction.

Pollock is a common Scottish surname, pronounced P'luck

In the South of France, "Savoyard" is commonly used, by one disgruntled moterist to another.

[Uche Africanus]

It is evident that Pastaneta does not do science but she keeps looking for the genetic basis of intelligence to demonstrate the superiority of her own group or the inferiority of the group she opposes. But thankfully due to the excellent education one gets here from the likes of TI, we know that for close to the 2,000 years Jews spent in Europe their intelligence only came to the fore for only 150 years of that.

Also, I remember well when Askenazi Jews from Eastern Europe were denied entry into the United States on account of their low IQ and small skulls. Oh well, It seems that with Pasta anything goes.

[Uche Africanus]

ellen wrote:
Uche,

I for one hope that the Christian parts of Africa do develop, and partly because they would be the natural allies of Israel. Whether they will or not, nobody can predict. Right now, Ghana looks like the best prospect, if they can spend their modest oil bounty on useful development rather than wars and corruption.

I think people in Israel would be happy to have allies in Africa, especially as you point out, as the youthful and enthusiastic African Christian population could someday provide a counterforce to the decaying Arab/Islamic countries of North Africa and the Near East. I think there will be a lot of chaos in the Muslim world before things stabilize, and the developed countries do not have the manpower or the willpower to recruit armies and militias to do the necessary military intervention. All concerned may find well-trained African Christian militias to be the handiest allies, along with the Indian army, in providing outside interventionist forces, once the US army mostly withdraws.

ellen,

I know we sometimes make arguments here for advancing our favorite topic of the moment but if truth be told Israel is very critical to the African Christian. The basis of their Christianity is not Rome but the historical importance and necessity of Israel in Scripture. To deny Israel is to deny the African Christian his or her religious imperative. And they will fight to preserve Israel


Cheers,
Uche

[Michael]

It is evident that Pastaneta does not do science but she keeps looking for the genetic basis of intelligence to demonstrate the superiority of her own group or the inferiority of the group she opposes. But thankfully due to the excellent education one gets here from the likes of TI, we know that for close to the 2,000 years Jews spent in Europe their intelligence only came to the fore for only 150 years of that.

Also, I remember well when Askenazi Jews from Eastern Europe were denied entry into the United States on account of their low IQ and small skulls. Oh well, It seems that with Pasta anything goes.

There really is an interesting question about the” genetic nature of intelligence” that is often overlooked in these debates about “nature or nurture,” and that is how far one may be a function of the other.

There is a condition, characterized by severe learning difficulties that used to be called cretinism, but is now called phenolketonuria.

It was common in the Alpine valleys and the peasants of that region referred to the sufferers simply as cretins , which was the word, in their dialect for “Christians.” In this way, they reminded themselves that these unfortunates were baptized into the same hope with themselves and destined, one day, to reign with Christ in his kingdom to come. They did not have them put down, but nurtured them, but this is by the by.

Well, research into the aetiology of the condition has now shown that the brain damage that results in learning difficulties is caused by an environmental factor: the presence of phenylalanine in the diet. But it only affects that tiny minority of people who are unable to metabolize it – a genetic condition. As phenylalanine occurs in pretty well every naturally occurring protein, those at risk have to be fed on a highly artificial diet, but their brains are then perfectly normal and their intelligence average.

Nature, or nurture?

[total issues]

- most amusingly for this forum: I have always been bemused by "Polack" jokes in the US. Nobody in Europe considers Poles as particularly dim. A century ago a flood of Polish immigrants got that reputation, as new and lowly immigrants. A lot of them were Jewish. We are talking dim Ashkenazi Jews, for goodness sake: I doubt they score below average now.

IMO, A lot of ethnic jokes are regional in the US, depending upon the nationality of prevalent surnames in the area. Everybody loves to laugh at their own.

For example, French jokes in Maine and Louisiana, Italian and Irish and German jokes in upstate New York state, German jokes in Wisconsin, Nowegian and Swedish jokes in Minnesota, Jewish jokes in NYC and Long Island, Polish jokes in central Pennsylvania, redneck jokes below the Mason-Dixon line, Yankee jokes above it, etc.

So when traveling in the US, pick up a local phone book and skim it for nationality of surnames, then modify your jokes accordingly. Americans will love ya!

Oh but Europe is the same - and as in the US, they are often the same jokes , recycled with different targets. To the French, Belgians (usually with a twist to the punch line to include french fries with mayonnaise); to the Germans, Frisians; to the Spanish, Portuguese; to the Poles, Ukrainians.

In Britain , there has been a shift. It used to be Irish jokes, but since they got reasonably prosperous on activities like writing software, jokes about their stupidity started to lose credibility. Now it's Liverpool jokes, celebrating our very own third world city ("The Naples of the North") and Essex girls. For those not in the know, Essex is the wrong side of London (Americans, think northern Noo Joisey or east Chicago), and Essex girls are characterised as airhead blondes who are willing to drop their knickers at the first provocation (and inevitably drunk at the time).

Incidentally, my cynical view of the Flynn effect is people honing their skills for IQ tests on TV game shows. Then there is the aphorism that A students become teachers or consultants, while the B students work for the C students.

[Pastaneta]

It is evident that Pastaneta does not do science but she keeps looking for the genetic basis of intelligence to demonstrate the superiority of her own group or the inferiority of the group she opposes.

Actually no, I am curious. I also believe that if there is one, most of the programs to make access to education easier are mistargeted. with huge waste of resources.

I also believe that it can explain certain questions in development economics where again huge sums have been wasted maybe because of a one size fits all approach.

My guess is that ten-twenty years from now, these studies will be done, when the whole PC stupidity will be forgotten together with the baby boomers who promoted it.