Author: admin

Toshiba Joins Huawei Blockade, Suspends Hard-Drive Shipments

As more companies scramble to comply with the White House executive order prohibiting telecommunications equipment deemed a national security risk – even as the administration extended Huawei a 90-day reprieve – Japan’s Toshiba said Thursday that it had suspended shipments of electronics to Huawei, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

The suspension will allow Toshiba time to figure out whether any US-originated parts or technologies are being packaged into Toshiba products sold to Huawei. If it were to ship US-made components to Huawei in violation of the ban, Toshiba would risk drawing the ire of the White House.

Toshiba

Toshiba is at least the third major Japanese supplier to cut ties with Huawei, the other two being smartphone chip-maker ARM and Panasonic, which also supplies parts for Huawei phones. Japan’s enthusiastic support of the White House’s crackdown on Huawei shows that the world’s third-largest economy has picked a side in the battle between China and the US, potentially risking the trade war (and possibly even a hot war) across the East China Sea (and perhaps more riots).

Toshiba didn’t say which products would be pulled, but it’s understood that Toshiba has been a supplier of hard-disk drives, discrete semiconductors and high-speed data processing system LSI to Huawei. Toshiba said it did not expect a big impact on its earnings, and that it would resume shipping products that are found not to include US-made components. But given the interlocking nature of supply chains in the global economy, it’s extremely likely that at least some of the components in all of its hard drives were manufactured in the US, and thus would be subject to the ban. Until March of this year, Toshiba and Huawei had been working on an Internet-of-things project, but it has since been abandoned. Google was the first major tech company to turn on Huawei by announcing that it would cut Huawei phones off from access to most of its Android operating system-related services, though that decision has been suspended for 90 days thanks to Washington’s decision to delay the order.

As more companies turn on Huawei, shifting the gravity of the trade dispute to finally focus squarely on Washington’s campaign against the global leader in 5G technology, Chinese media and its critical rhetoric have grown more strident. As the Guardian pointed out, a CCTV bulletin accused Washington of being “delusional” for thinking that “technological bullying” could hurt China. “This shows some American politicians are extremely narrow-minded and cannot tolerate the normal pursuit of development and progress of other countries.”

As for the timing for the next round of talks, neither side is showing much willingness to restart negotiations.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday via its spokesman Gao Feng that the US would need to “show sincerity” – that is, stop its escalation – if it wants talks to resume, adding that China won’t make concessions on key issues.

China Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said during his regular news briefing in Beijing that the Chinese government would continue to support Huawei and other Chinese tech companies, and accused the US government of using “ntaional power to oppress other countries’ companies and disturb market functions.” Responding to legislation proposed in the US that would sanction companies involved in China’s construction in the South China Sea, Kang warned Washington not to advance the bill, or face more of a backlash.

Japan and the UK have joined the blockade of Huawei, and South Korean media report that Washington has stepped up its lobbying of the Blue House to ban the use of Huawei telecoms equipment, warning about the potential for espionage. That’s an extension of a strategy Washington has used with other allies to mixed success.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2VGDOvO Tyler Durden

Less Underage Sex, Fewer Teen Pregnancies

For decades, American parents and policy makers have fretted about the sexual proclivities of American teenagers. Now that studies suggest a slight upward trend in the average age of first sexual encounter, alarmists have found a way to twist this into cause for concern, too.

“Some observers are beginning to wonder whether an unambiguously good thing might have roots in less salubrious developments,” The Atlantic‘s Kate Julian wrote in December. “Signs are gathering that the delay in teen sex may have been the first indication of a broader withdrawal from physical intimacy that extends well into adulthood.”

Put more simply: Along with suffering from gnat-like attention spans and increasing levels of narcissism, internet-addicted young people have allegedly lost their desire—and perhaps ability—to physically connect.

But there’s little good data to support these pessimistic theories. Adults should stop worrying about whether and when teens are having sex and look instead at the big (and positive!) teen sex picture.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teen sex rates may be down, but among those who are having sex, use of condoms, emergency contraception pills, and other forms of birth control is up. Meanwhile, teen parenthood rates—a strong predictor of depressed wages, unstable relationships, and a host of other undesirable outcomes—have dropped steadily and significantly since the 1990s.

The birth rate for U.S. teenagers aged 15–19 “fell almost continuously since 1991, reaching historic lows for the nation every year since 2009,” the CDC reported in 2016. In 2015, there were about 22.3 births per 1,000 girls in this age group. By 2017, the number had dipped to 18.8 per 1,000. The drop could be seen across racial, ethnic, and geographic lines.

Among younger girls, births were also at record lows. The birth rate for females aged 10–14 was at 0.2 per 1,000 females in 2016, down from 0.9 in 2000, according to the CDC. That’s 2,253 births compared to 8,519.

The emergence of fewer teen moms helps tell another fertility story, this one also likely to be misinterpreted by those intent on finding doom in all developments. Conventional wisdom holds that women are waiting longer to become mothers. While that’s true, it’s not the whole story. The mean age at first birth did rise from 24.9 years old in 2000 to 26.3 years old in 2014. But this primarily stems from a decline in births at the youngest end of the spectrum rather than a massive increase in older first-time moms.

“The largest factor in the rise in mean age at first birth is the decline in the proportion of first births to mothers under age 20, down 42% from 2000 to 2014, or from approximately 1 in 4 births to 1 in 7,” the CDC reported.

Abortion rates among teens—and indeed among all age groups of U.S. women—are also down. For 15- to 19-year-olds, the abortion rate rose to around 4 percent in the mid-1980s but has been dropping now for three decades. By 2013, it was at about 1 percent.

According to a study from the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, the decline in teen births can be attributed both to young people waiting longer to have sex—the bulk of the explanation for falling teen pregnancy in the ’90s and early ’00s—and to increased contraceptive use, which accounts for more of the post-2003 drop.

“Concerns about AIDS led to changes in perceptions about condoms and increases in condom use,” Guttmacher notes. Its National Survey of Family Growth, conducted with Columbia University, found that “condom use at last sex among females aged 15–19 increased from 38% in 1995 to 52% in 2006–2010; among males, condom use at last sex increased steadily, from 64% in 1995 to 75% in 2006–2010.”

The kids are having sex later in life and doing it more safely. Only in a culture of constant and irrational worry could this be seen as a bad thing.

from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2X1nBCT
via IFTTT

Less Underage Sex, Fewer Teen Pregnancies

For decades, American parents and policy makers have fretted about the sexual proclivities of American teenagers. Now that studies suggest a slight upward trend in the average age of first sexual encounter, alarmists have found a way to twist this into cause for concern, too.

“Some observers are beginning to wonder whether an unambiguously good thing might have roots in less salubrious developments,” The Atlantic‘s Kate Julian wrote in December. “Signs are gathering that the delay in teen sex may have been the first indication of a broader withdrawal from physical intimacy that extends well into adulthood.”

Put more simply: Along with suffering from gnat-like attention spans and increasing levels of narcissism, internet-addicted young people have allegedly lost their desire—and perhaps ability—to physically connect.

But there’s little good data to support these pessimistic theories. Adults should stop worrying about whether and when teens are having sex and look instead at the big (and positive!) teen sex picture.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teen sex rates may be down, but among those who are having sex, use of condoms, emergency contraception pills, and other forms of birth control is up. Meanwhile, teen parenthood rates—a strong predictor of depressed wages, unstable relationships, and a host of other undesirable outcomes—have dropped steadily and significantly since the 1990s.

The birth rate for U.S. teenagers aged 15–19 “fell almost continuously since 1991, reaching historic lows for the nation every year since 2009,” the CDC reported in 2016. In 2015, there were about 22.3 births per 1,000 girls in this age group. By 2017, the number had dipped to 18.8 per 1,000. The drop could be seen across racial, ethnic, and geographic lines.

Among younger girls, births were also at record lows. The birth rate for females aged 10–14 was at 0.2 per 1,000 females in 2016, down from 0.9 in 2000, according to the CDC. That’s 2,253 births compared to 8,519.

The emergence of fewer teen moms helps tell another fertility story, this one also likely to be misinterpreted by those intent on finding doom in all developments. Conventional wisdom holds that women are waiting longer to become mothers. While that’s true, it’s not the whole story. The mean age at first birth did rise from 24.9 years old in 2000 to 26.3 years old in 2014. But this primarily stems from a decline in births at the youngest end of the spectrum rather than a massive increase in older first-time moms.

“The largest factor in the rise in mean age at first birth is the decline in the proportion of first births to mothers under age 20, down 42% from 2000 to 2014, or from approximately 1 in 4 births to 1 in 7,” the CDC reported.

Abortion rates among teens—and indeed among all age groups of U.S. women—are also down. For 15- to 19-year-olds, the abortion rate rose to around 4 percent in the mid-1980s but has been dropping now for three decades. By 2013, it was at about 1 percent.

According to a study from the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, the decline in teen births can be attributed both to young people waiting longer to have sex—the bulk of the explanation for falling teen pregnancy in the ’90s and early ’00s—and to increased contraceptive use, which accounts for more of the post-2003 drop.

“Concerns about AIDS led to changes in perceptions about condoms and increases in condom use,” Guttmacher notes. Its National Survey of Family Growth, conducted with Columbia University, found that “condom use at last sex among females aged 15–19 increased from 38% in 1995 to 52% in 2006–2010; among males, condom use at last sex increased steadily, from 64% in 1995 to 75% in 2006–2010.”

The kids are having sex later in life and doing it more safely. Only in a culture of constant and irrational worry could this be seen as a bad thing.

from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2X1nBCT
via IFTTT

“It Felt Like An Earthquake”: Violent Tornados Tear Through Missouri, Leaving 3 Dead

On the coasts, most Americans have been so preoccupied with the drama in Washington that they’re probably not even aware of the chaos unfolding across the plains states and the Midwest. But if anything can distract America from the Democrats’ grandstanding, this just might.

Late Wednesday night, a tornado ripped across Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. The storm, described as a “direct hit” to the capital city, left dozens trapped and injured. What the National Weather Service described as a “violent tornado” landed nearly eight years to the day that another deadly storm leveled Joplin, Missouri. More tornadoes, thunderstorms and flash floods are expected for a large swath of the Midwest between Oklahoma and Illinois.

Tornado

Across the state, storms have left three people dead, the Missouri Department of Public Safety reports.

According to the National Weather Service, the Jefferson City storm moved at 40 mph and blasted debris 13,000 feet into the air. Tornado and thunderstorm warnings were extended into the early morning hours of Thursday.

Tornado watches were in place for areas from Oklahoma City northeast to central Illinois overnight. The NWS has received 33 reports of tornadoes between late Wednesday and Thursday morning. Since Tuesday, 60 such storms have been reported.

What CNN described as a “wedge tornado” – that is, a storm that is wider than it is tall – was first spotted around 11:30 pm on Wednesday near Jefferson City. The Fire Department in Jeff City asked residents to “Pray for Us” in a Facebook post.

In Jasper County, wedged in the southwestern corner of the state, another storm ripped through the area surrounding Joplin, coming within ten miles of the city, in some cases. 

Because of the severe damage in Jefferson City, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson asked all non-essential state employees to remain at home on Thursday.

One woman described to CNN how she and her daughters sheltered in the only room in their house with no windows.

“When it hit… it felt like an earthquake,” said Cindy Sandoval-Jakobsen.

Photos captured the immense bulk of the storm ripping through Jeff City.

Tornado

Tornado

For anybody wondering what it’s like to experience such a devastating storm, this first person video offers a faint idea.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2VY7rOe Tyler Durden

Debt Is The Hidden Issue In The European Elections

Via Off-Guardian.org,

The citizens of the European Union are called to vote this week for the European Parliament. It is not a real parliament, and it lacks prospects for becoming one, since all important decisions are taken by the unelected heads of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, dubbed “the worst-run Central Bank in the world”.

These elections capture however the general mood of exasperation with current policies. Conservative and extreme Right parties will rise, reflecting widespread scepticism as to the economic course of the EU and its lack of benefits for the common people. The mainstream Left unfortunately neglects these issues, and it will pay the price.

The conservatives generally blame the weak and scapegoat the refugees, the immigrants, the women, and the poor, while promising to save the middle class from the onslaught of big capital. They create false hopes of easy reform, and they never denounce the exploitation inherent in today’s system. History shows however that small owners manage to resist financial stranglehold only when they make common cause with workers and the poor, and they are not afraid to fight.

The economy looks ever more frail. In all, the Eurozone’s nominal GDP stagnates, shrinking 12% in its six largest economies in 2008-2017. The European Union remains indifferent to the peoples’ needs, while it caters for every whim of the corporations. Even so, Quantitative Easing and other crony capitalist schemes promoted by the ECB, such as the Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs) or the new Targeted Long-term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO-III) cannot save the day.

Donald Trump declares bluntly “I don’t care about Europe”, showing that US considers our continent as little more than a collection of vassal states. In all countries inequality rises, corporations rule, and oligarchs impose their will. Liberal France exhibits an abhorrent authoritarianism against the Yellow Vests. Italy chases the refugees and the Roma. Workers’ rights and incomes are eroded everywhere, with women workers hit particularly hard. Even in successful countries, such as Germany, real wages remain below their 1990 level.

Source here

Exploitation today is often effected through debt. Public and private debt are crucial mechanisms for the ongoing transfer of wealth and power from the poor to the rich, from the weak to the strong, from the many to the few. Public discussion so far neglects this issue, even though financial expropriation’s explosive potential is well known to insiders and to the mainstream parties.

Public debt in today’s European Union totals 13 trillion euro, reaching 80% of its GDP. This average masks huge variations between the European periphery and the core. For example, Greece owes 335 billion euro or 181% of its GDP, Italy 2.3 trillion (132%), and Portugal 225 billion (122%). On the other hand German public debt at 2 trillion is 61% of the GDP, and tax haven Luxemburg’s 12 billion is only 21%.

Public debt is a political choice, not a law of nature. In today’s Europe it is used to subsidise corporations, not the vanishing social state. Instead of covering their needs by taxing the rich, states beg them for loans, get gleefully indebted to them, and promptly pay huge interest to them. Falling further down into the debt trap, states transfer huge resources from the periphery to the centre, and from poor to rich. This gigantic public debt entails the destruction of democratic institutions, turning citizens into debt peons, and stealing our children’s lives.

In 2010 the Troika appointed itself as saviour of Greece from its excessive debt, which then stood at 109%. The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund imposed draconian austerity and the liquidation of public property. The Greeks’ sacrifices did not save them, but led to destitution and debt slavery. Parliamentary government became an empty form and a far Right criminal organisation, modelled on Hitler’s Nazis, surged. No European or national institution took responsibility for the debacle. But the peoples of Europe took heed.

The rest of Europe is but one debt crisis away from the fate of Greece. And the global financial bubble is guaranteed to bring this crisis forward, sooner rather than later.

Fiscal pressure leads to revolts or even cataclysmic change – it ushered to the French, the Russian, and the Chinese revolutions. But the debt crisis is not insoluble in itself. States have always the sovereign right to abolish debt, as Iceland did recently. This does not hurt the economy, but gives it a boost. It simply means that the rich will not foreclose for themselves bigger and bigger parts of future production.

We call on all European citizens, within or without the European Union, to check parties’ policies on debt. Parties lacking a clear policy on this issue either do not recognise its seriousness or simply side with the financial oligarchy.

The only responsible way to vote is to support parties promoting debt justice. This includes the abolition of odious public debt, and the resolution of non commercial private debt in favour of the many and poor debtors, instead of the few and rich creditors.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2JvNvLK Tyler Durden

How Farage’s Brexit Party Is Destroying The UK Political Establishment

Since Nigel Farage officially launched the ‘Brexit Party’ six weeks during a coming-out party in Coventry, Farage and his allies have ridden widespread frustration with a seemingly ineffectual British political establishment to the top of the polls, attracting waves of defectors from the Tories and Labour.

Farage

The most recent polls – taken just days before the vote, which, for the UK, will take place on Thursday – show the Brexit Party is up by double-digits over its nearest rival, the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, support for Labour and the Tories has dwindled to single-digit levels.

If the Brexit Party succeeds, its candidates will occupy a plurality of the UK’s 73 MEP seats. In the European Parliament, they will join a growing group of euroskeptic parties that have pledged to oppose the Brussels agenda at every turn and, where they can, change it entirely. 

Euroskeptic

Created just four months ago after Farage officially left UKIP, a pro-Brexit party that Farage once led, but that, according to the man who is widely credited as the architect of Brexit, had become increasingly occupied by racists and Islamophobes.

Ironically, the New York Times offers one of the most apt explanations of how Farage managed to pull this off:

As Brexit chainsaws its way through British politics, dismantling decades-old political allegiances, tearing apart the traditional parties and leaving voters confused, frustrated and angry, the Brexit Party is thriving by offering a simple and hard-edge message.

“People feel completely betrayed, they feel abandoned, they feel even hated and despised by the political class and also by the media,” said Martin Daubney, the lifelong Labour voter now standing for the Brexit Party, who used to edit a raunchy men’s magazine before reinventing himself as an anti-pornography advocate. “It feels like a grass-roots political revolution on the streets of Britain right now.”

Should the Brexit Party succeed in winning the largest share of the vote this week, it will send an unequivocal message to the dithering Tories: The people want Brexit, regardless of the details. A Brexit Party success could give pro-Leave Tories the ammunition they need to see it through.

As the Brexit Party has surged in the polls, the backlash from remainers has intensified, culminating with Farage being ‘milkshaked’ during a campaign rally in Newcastle.

His assailant was arrested. But the incident was followed on Wednesday by a swarm of protesters holding milkshakes surrounding Farage’s campaign bus, according to the Independent. If anything, these incidents have only helped the Brexit Party’s standing in the polls. And Farage appeared to take the attack in stride.

Political opponents who have denounced Farage as a fascist are having a much harder time arguing against his heterodox slate of candidates, which includes several former revolutionary communists who once defended the IRA’s deadly bombing campaign.

Though the Brexit party has been vague about its policy positions (apart from supporting the UK’s immediate departure from the EU, even if that means a ‘hard’ or ‘no deal’ Brexit), the party’s candidates would probably join with other euroskeptic MEPs once they take their seats. However, to determine where it stands on other issues, the Brexit Party has said it would set up an online forum where supporters can weigh in, similar to a platform run by the Five Star Movement in Italy.

But more than anything else, the Brexit Party has benefited from disillusionment with Theresa May’s promise that she would take the UK out of the EU on time and in an orderly manner because “Brexit means Brexit.” Her inability to do so may have alienated a whole generation of Tory voters.

“It doesn’t matter what happens from now on, I will never ever stick a cross in the Tory box ever again,” said Andrew Kirby, 44, sitting beside his father. “There’s nothing that could happen. If the Brexit Party doesn’t come to anything, I shall never vote again.”

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2VXW1Kb Tyler Durden

Brickbat: Sore Loser

When the votes were counted, Cedar Grove, N.J., council member Harry Kumburis appeared to have lost his bid for re-election. Challenger Joe Marceri led with 796 votes to the incumbent’s 763. So Kumburis went out after 10 p.m., two hours after the polls closed, and began ringing the doorbells of those who had requested mail-in ballots but not returned them. Kumburis told a local media outlet he wasn’t seeking votes after the polls closed. “I asked an individual if they had returned their ballot or voted provisional,” Kumburis said. “I’d like to know why they weren’t completed.”

from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2JAmx5T
via IFTTT

Brickbat: Sore Loser

When the votes were counted, Cedar Grove, N.J., council member Harry Kumburis appeared to have lost his bid for re-election. Challenger Joe Marceri led with 796 votes to the incumbent’s 763. So Kumburis went out after 10 p.m., two hours after the polls closed, and began ringing the doorbells of those who had requested mail-in ballots but not returned them. Kumburis told a local media outlet he wasn’t seeking votes after the polls closed. “I asked an individual if they had returned their ballot or voted provisional,” Kumburis said. “I’d like to know why they weren’t completed.”

from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2JAmx5T
via IFTTT

Russia Aims To Exploit Africa’s Energy Potential

By Vanand Meliksetian for Oilprice.com

Africa’s economic potential is enormous: the continent contains significant mineral and energy deposits, a young and growing population, and an underdeveloped energy sector desperately in need of investment. Approximately 640 million people, or two-thirds of the entire populace, don’t have access to electricity. According to the African Development Bank, energy poverty reduces GDP growth by 4 percent every year. Russia’s energy industry, in comparison, is booming. Its state-run nuclear energy company Rosatom has an order book of 34 reactors in 12 countries worth $300 billion. Recently, Moscow has set its eyes on Africa where most states have either already struck a deal with the Kremlin or are considering one.

Africa’s long march forward

Currently, only South Africa is operating a commercial nuclear power plant with plans on the table to expand capacity. Another ten states are in different stages of planning and negotiations including Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zambia.

(Click to enlarge)

Energy poverty is a significant problem in the world’s least developed continent. The lack of access to a reliable and affordable source of energy is a severe impediment to economic development. Although the costs of renewables have decreased significantly over the years, technical and geographic limitations impede the rapid rollout of solar and wind energy. Also, Africa is urbanizing much quicker than the rest of the world where cities are expanding by 8 percent every year compared to 2 percent globally – which puts even more pressure on the existing energy systems.

The Russian deal is particularly appealing to countries lacking nuclear knowhow due to Moscow’s comprehensive offer regarding financing, construction, and operation of the facilities. Currently, Rosatom is experimenting with a contract known as ‘build-own-operate’ under which ownership of the plant remains in Russian hands while energy is sold to the host country. This new type of contract is appealing to several African states who lack the means to finance construction. In some instances, the mineral resources of host countries could function as a deposit for any liability comparable to Moscow’s ‘arms-for-platinum’ deal with Zimbabwe worth $3 billion.

The Russian deal is also attractive for countries lacking the necessary infrastructure because Moscow takes back nuclear waste which means that host countries don’t have to worry about storage. From a security point of view, this could alleviate concerns regarding weapons production through plutonium reprocessing or threats from non-state actors.

Russia’s strategy

Moscow’s is reusing its successful Middle East strategy comprised of diplomacy, energy, and security. The Kremlin has presented itself as a ‘clean’ and honest broker lacking the colonial background of most Western countries. Africa’s relative instability and need for cheap energy makes it a good match for Russia which is looking to expand its global presence and find new markets for critical industries such as energy.

From Moscow’s perspective, sanctions and deteriorated relations with the West have increased the need to improve its relations with other parts of the world. Africa is not a new frontier for the Kremlin, which maintained diplomatic and military contact with the continent during the Cold War to counterbalance the U.S. This time, however, Moscow is not driven by ideology but by the need to increase influence and its position as a global power.

Nuclear energy is an obvious option as Russia is a global leader in nuclear technology. The country processes 7 percent of the world’s uranium production, 20 percent of uranium conversion, 45 percent of uranium enrichment, and 25 percent of the global nuclear power plant construction activities. Providing the necessary technology to Africa serves another purpose besides increasing influence and revenue for the state’s coffers. The continent is also home to some of the world’s largest uranium deposits in Malawi, Niger, and South Africa. Access to these resources is essential if Moscow’s wants to maintain its position globally.

A way forward or unnecessary risks?

Without a doubt, Africa is in desperate need of electricity to develop and industrialize. However, according to some critics, Russia’s nuclear involvement in unstable countries could become a global security threat due to those countries’ weak institutions and unstable governments. Moscow’s nuclear strategy will be tested after the first power plants are completed in developing countries in Africa and Asia. The lifespan of these facilities spans decades and they require an adequate and comprehensive approach in order to provide electricity for millions that is both safe and reliable.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2JvHCOE Tyler Durden

The World Is Getting Increasingly Dumber, Study Finds

Western Europe is home to a cluster of developed economies that boost some of the highest standards of living in the world. But that could soon change. Because as Evan Horowitz writes on NBC News’s new “Think” vertical, IQ scores in France, Scandinavia, Britain, Germany and even Australia are beginning to decline.

The trend has been well-documented across Western Europe, and could soon carry over to the US as well. Which means the data have confirmed what millions of Americans who have watched cable news or logged on to twitter over the past three years probably already suspected: The world is getting dumber.

Idiocracy

And just like that, another sign of the ‘Idiocracy’ apocalypse has emerged. Though, unlike the movie, which posits that the population of Earth will become steadily dumber as stupid people outbreed their more intelligent compatriots, the cause of the trend in Europe has yet to be determined, because even the children of relatively intelligent Europeans are getting dumber.

Details vary from study to study and from place to place given the available data. IQ shortfalls in Norway and Denmark appear in longstanding tests of military conscripts, whereas information about France is based on a smaller sample and a different test. But the broad pattern has become clearer: Beginning around the turn of the 21st century, many of the most economically advanced nations began experiencing some kind of decline in IQ.

One potential explanation was quasi-eugenic. As in the movie “Idiocracy,” it was suggested that average intelligence is being pulled down because lower-IQ families are having more children (“dysgenic fertility” is the technical term). Alternatively, widening immigration might be bringing less-intelligent newcomers to societies with otherwise higher IQs.

However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder.

Possible explanations include: The rise of smartphones and other devices, which have worn away at our ability to focus, the rise of lower-skill service work that isn’t as intellectually stimulating and less-nutritious food.

Whatever the cause, the trend seems to portend a decline in long-term productivity and economic success, factors that have long been correlated with IQ.

But for now, at least, readers can find contentment in the knowledge that it’s not just us: Everybody really is getting dumber.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2JBYAuW Tyler Durden