Monday Miscellany, 6/16/25

Israel killed nuclear scientists, the leader of the Islamic Republican Guard, the chief of staff of Iran’s military forces, and the commander of Iran’s air force.  The offensive was ingenious, including smuggling drones for internal attacks and tricking military leaders into having a meeting all at one location where they could be killed.

Israel says that it will continue its attacks as long as necessary and Iran has vowed retaliation.

A big question now is what will the United States do?  President Trump has reiterated his support for Israel and the attacks.   His administration says that while the United States was informed about the attacks ahead of time, it was not directly involved with them.  President Trump urged Iran to resume the negotiations, to agree to a new nuclear deal “before there is nothing left.”  Secretary of State Rubio said that “our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”  So what if Iran attacks American forces?

Many Trump supporters are said to be nervous about the prospect of American involvement in a war with Iran.  Trump campaigned against the interventionist policies of the “neo-conservatives” and vowed to keep America out of “forever wars.” To go against that pledge would be seen by many of his voters as a betrayal.  Politico quotes Breitbart‘s Matt Boyle:

“Clearly people across the MAGA movement are watching what’s happening very closely and are concerned that any moves by globalists and neocon forces to drag the United States into another endless war in the Middle East would cause serious political damage to the president.”

But it doesn’t seem as if Israel needs any help.  Unlike Ukraine, which is dependent on the U.S. and Western Europe for weaponry, Israel seems to be doing fine militarily by itself.

Unemployment Rate for Computer Engineering Grads Is Double That of Art History Majors

“If you want a job after college, don’t major in the humanities!” many parents have been telling their college-aged progeny.  “Major in the STEM fields!  Take Computer Engineering!”

Well, we English majors are now vindicated.  In today’s job market, Computer Engineering grads have an unemployment rate of 7.5%.  Straight Computer Science has an unemployment rate of 6.1%.  That’s double the rate of Art History graduates at only  3%.

The overall unemployment rate in the United States is 4.2%.   The most in-demand field, according to the job market for new graduates, is nutritional science, with an unemployment rate of only 0.4%.

So much for the T and the E in “Stem” (technology and engineering).  As for the S, the hard sciences also fare poorly.  So do the Social Sciences.  Here is the list of the 10 fields with the worst employment prospects:

1. Anthropology, 9.4 percent
2. Physics, 7.8 percent
3. Computer Engineering, 7.5 percent
4. Commercial Art and Graphic Design, 7.2 percent
5. Fine Arts, 7 percent
6. Sociology, 6.7 percent
7. Computer Science, 6.1 percent
8. Chemistry, 6.1 percent
9. Information Systems and Management, 5.6 percent
10. Public Policy and Law, 5.5 percent

Why the poor prospects for computer experts in our computer age?  One article on the subject quotes an HR expert:

“Computer science majors have long been sold a dream that doesn’t match reality,” HR consultant Bryan Driscoll said. “But just like many majors and related jobs, the reality hits hard – too many grads, not enough jobs, crippling student debt, and a market that rewards pedigree over potential.”

A more concrete explanation is the rise of Artificial Intelligence.  One of the areas AI is pretty good at is the ability to code.

Says another article on the subject:

At a conference last year, Robert Goldstein, chief operating officer of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said the firm was adjusting its hiring strategy. “We have more and more conviction that we need people who majored in history, in English, and things that have nothing to do with finance or technology,” Goldstein said.

This shift is partly driven by the rise of artificial intelligence, which is increasing demand for creative thinking and soft skills in the workforce.

Actually, according to James Reinl of the UK Daily Mail, AI is already wreaking havoc in the job market more broadly.  He quotes tech entrepreneur Alex Finn:  “The AI layoffs have begun, and they’re not stopping.”

He reports that Microsoft has laid off 3% of its workforce. Walmart, the nation’s biggest employer, is cutting 1,500 jobs in sales and tech.  Proctor & Gamble is slashing 15% of its non-manufacturing jobs.  Just to name a few.

Chatbots are taking over jobs in data entry, customer service, report-writing, finance, coding, and more.  “Entry-level jobs are vanishing the fastest,” Reinl reports,  “stoking fears of recession and a generation of disillusioned graduates left stranded with CVs no one wants.”

Slight Gain in Pro-Life Beliefs

Michael New reports on a new Gallup Poll of Americans’ attitudes toward abortion. The percentage of respondents who identified themselves as “pro-life” ticked up two points from last year to 43%.

The bad news is a huge gender gap.  From the 1990s through the 2010s, men and women had pretty much the same opinions about abortion.  In 2019, more men favored abortion than women.  But today, only 41% of men consider themselves “pro-choice,” meaning that a majority of 59% oppose abortion (good news!).  But a whopping 61% of women are “pro-choice,” meaning that only 39% oppose abortion (bad news, especially since women are the only ones who are allowed a “choice”).

Ramesh Ponnuru finds another silver lining in the study.  He looks at the alternatives given for the respondents to check.  The poll asks, do you believe abortion should be legal “in all circumstances,” “in most circumstances,” “only in a few circumstances,” or “illegal in all circumstances.”

So there are two broadly pro-abortion positions (“in all” and “in most”) and two broadly anti-abortion positions (“only in a few” and “in all”).

“Historically,” he says, “the two relatively anti-abortion options have outperformed the two relatively pro-abortion ones.”  In 2020, the numbers were 55% to 43% in favor of “relatively anti-abortion.”

In the aftermath of Dobbs, the winner switched, with 53% to 45% in favor of “relatively pro-abortion.”  These latest numbers, though, show a more even 49% to 48%, still “relatively pro-abortion,” but by a margin of only 1%.  Ponnuru thinks this is a trend and that by next year, the percentages will revert closer to the historical figures.

Ponnuru comments that in every year, there are more people in the “relatively anti-abortion” group than there are who identify as “pro-life.”  Evidently, many of those who believe in “only a few” abortions describe themselves as “pro-choice,” despite their qualms.

This at least gives pro-lifers something to work with.