Over at Gene Expression, Razib responds to my brain drain comments in a way that provokes some twinges of Liberal Guilt: Second, Chad like many others points to the issue of foreign scientists allowing us (Americans) to be complacent about nourishing home grown talent. I don’t totally dismiss this, there are probably many doctors and… Continue reading Class Implications of the Brain Drain
Month: June 2006
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Brain Drain
Another week, another “Ask a ScienceBlogger” question. This week, the topic is the putative “brain drain” caused by recent US policies: Do you think there is a brain drain going on (i.e. foreign scientists not coming to work and study in the U.S. like they used to, because of new immigration rules and the general… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: Brain Drain
Page to Screen: Homicide
I’ve been watching Netflix DVD’s of the late, lamented Homicide: Life of the Street lately, and a little while back, I went through the DVED’s of the first season of The Wire, which shares some of the same creative team. In particular, both series were based in part on work by David Simon, whose Homicide:… Continue reading Page to Screen: Homicide
Why Does James Dobson Hate Marriage?
I’m sort of on a roll of unpleasantly political posts lately, which I try to avoid. I can’t really not link Scalzi on the framing of gay marriage, though: There’s a manifest difference in a debate which has as its founding proposition that same-sex marriage is a theoretical construct in the US — which is… Continue reading Why Does James Dobson Hate Marriage?
Steelypips Book Club
Kate’s come up with a semi-ambitious plan for the summer: She’s going to re-read The Lord of the Rings (for the first time since the movies came out), and post chapter-by-chapter thoughts on her LiveJournal. At the moment, she’s only gotten through the introductory material and one critical essay, but there’s already some interesting discussion… Continue reading Steelypips Book Club
Generation in Debt?
Via bookslut, an interview at AlterNet with Tamara Draut, author of Strapped, a book about how hard young people have it today. The basic thesis of the book and the interview is that twenty- and thirty-somethings these days are in a uniquely bad position, because of the rising cost of college and relatively stagnant wages.… Continue reading Generation in Debt?
Typo of the Month
Locus is the semi-official magazine of SF– its reviews are quoted almost as prominently as those of better-known mass media outlets in cover blurbs and the like– but it remains a small operation, a “semi-prozine” in Hugo ballot terms. That means most issues aren’t edited quite as carefully as they might be, and there are… Continue reading Typo of the Month
The Last Stand, Except for the Sequel
Despite generating a surprising number of comments with last week’s burning question (thanks to Kate for the suggestion), we didn’t actually go see X-Men III until yesterday afternoon. Short verdict: Not quite as bad as I was led to believe. The longer version is either on Kate’s LiveJournal, or below the fold.
Giant Hugo Nominees Round-Up
As you know, Bob, the Hugo Awards are one of the top literary honors in the field of science fiction and fantasy. They’re voted on by the attendees of each year’s Woldcon, held in August or September, and include awards for Best Novel, Novella, Novelette, and Short Story. I posted about the Best Novel nominees… Continue reading Giant Hugo Nominees Round-Up
Outlaw Physics
PZ notes and article about a controversial physics demonstration: Every year, physics teacher David Lapp brings his Korean War era M-1 carbine to school, fires a shot into a block of wood and instructs his students to calculate the velocity of the bullet. It is a popular experiment at Mill Valley’s Tamalpais High School, where… Continue reading Outlaw Physics