Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life, 2.2.24
Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School prof, moderate Dem, pro free speech/anti cancel culture, pro tax rich, pro-Israel. Research improving gov performance, China interest. Blog reprints Facebook posts
”Dangerous object” at Israel embassy in Stockholm
A "dangerous object" was found outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. The police discovered and removed it.
The Swedish word for pothole
Learned watching the Swedish news today that the Swedish word for pothole is "pot hole.”
Learning a foreign language helps arrest cognitive decline
The book by the Harvard med professor about longevity notes the research, which I vaguely remember having read about elsewhere, that learning a foreign language helps arrest cognitive decline. Love it. After starting to learn new languages in high school, college, and early adulthood, I have now in my 70s started working on Spanish.
Don’t tell Chinese not to invest in stock market
The dean of a major social science university in China was prohibited from posting new items on social media after he stated that this was not a good time to invest in stocks.
Conflict between Israel and Palestinians
A pro-Palestine person on my Facebook page shared a post saying that the conflict with Israel began not on October 7, 2023, but in 1948, when Israel was created, which they call the Nakba or “catastrophe.” They are right in a way. In 1948 the entire Arab world rejected the UN resolution calling for the partition of Palestine and proceeded to all invade Israel.
Harvard student newspaper
There is an interesting dissenting editorial in the Harvard Crimson today on the university's committees on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. What interested me were two surprising facts about the authors of the editorial, of whom there were seven. First, they all identified themselves as Jewish, surprising given the collapse in the percentage of Jews among undergraduates. Surprising there are still such a large proportion of Jewish crimson editors. Second, in my day, Crimson editors were generally majors in government, history, sociology, or social studies. These students were identified as majors in Computer Science and Mathematics.
Bezos ex-wife biggest philanthropist ever
The ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, who received 4% of Amazon stock in a divorce settlement, has now become the largest single donor in the history of philanthropy, having donated twice as much as the previous largest philanthropist. She has also donated twice as much, corrected for inflation, as Andrew Carnegie did. Her donations are all with no strings attached.
“State secrets” in Hong Kong
The new "national security" law Hong Kong is adopting to follow onto the one already imposed by China makes it illegal to share "state secrets," which includes information about internal discussions of "major policies."
Amazon film unavailable in Hong Kong
An Amazon Prime movie that features 2014 political protests in Hong Kong is unavailable to Hong Kong subscribers.
What do elementary school students learn in Gaza?
Classroom materials for elementary school students in Gaza have included the statement that “Jihad is one of the doors to Paradise” and a math lesson that instructed students to count martyrs. C
Ugh, declining at age 75
Longevity book: "Both physical activity levels and muscle mass decline steeply after about age 65, and then even more steeply after 75. It's as if people just fall off a cliff sometime in their mid-seventies." Ugh, as a 75-year-old pretty depressing, though I will state I do not feel I've fallen off a cliff yet.