The big news of the day from the world of politics is that President Obama plans to cap executive pay at banks that take bailout money in the next round of emergency cash payments. This is not popular with the executive class: “That is pretty draconian — $500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly… Continue reading Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass
Category: Politics
A Finishing School for Third-Rate Burglars
I’m getting twinges in my neck indicating that I’ve been spending too much time looking at the computer, and I’ve got some computer-heavy work coming up in the next couple of weeks, so expect reduced blogging in the next few days. I couldn’t let this essay in the New Yorker (via Matt Yglesias) pass without… Continue reading A Finishing School for Third-Rate Burglars
Message from APS: Support Science Funding
The American Physical Society has sent out another of its email alerts encouraging people to write to Congress in support of more funding for science. Actually, they’re urging people to send two messages: a thank-you to Speaker Pelosi for the generous science funding in the House stimulus bill, and a letter to your Senators asking… Continue reading Message from APS: Support Science Funding
Buddhists Are Citizens Too
Lots of people are giving Obama props for the shout-out to atheists in his inaugural address, but I’m deeply concerned about what he said. Or, rather, what he didn’t say: We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. Where are the Buddhists? He left out a major world religion!… Continue reading Buddhists Are Citizens Too
“Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen.”
Joseph Lowery wins the Inauguration. Obama’s speech was no slouch, either, but anybody who gets a hundred thousand people to yell “Amen!” wins. I’m wearing a T-shirt today that says “I deeply resent the way this administration makes me feel like a nutbar conspiracy theorist.” And I can’t really express how happy I will be… Continue reading “Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen.”
From Mooney to Zimmer
Looking for a way to kill some time on a Sunday morning? You could do worse than yesterday’s bloggingheads.tv Science Saturday conversation between Chris Mooney and Carl Zimmer: It’s a wide-ranging conversation, covering what to expect from the Obama administration, artifical life, the possibility of life on Mars, Sanjay Gupta, and the future of science… Continue reading From Mooney to Zimmer
Are You Excited About the Inauguration?
I went to a meeting earlier this week with a bunch of other faculty members and students. Before the meeting proper got going, a few of the other faculty were discussing whether they should cancel their mid-day Tuesday classes because of the Inauguration. This struck me as an obvious “No,” but they seemed to be… Continue reading Are You Excited About the Inauguration?
Sports, Test Scores, and the Difference Between Science and Journalism
Inside Higher Ed has an article on athletics and admissions based on an investigative report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The report compares the SAT scores of football and basketball players to those of other students, but what it really highlights is the difference between science and journalism. The basis of the report is pretty simple:… Continue reading Sports, Test Scores, and the Difference Between Science and Journalism
Tenure Is Not the Problem
Steve Hsu has a nice post on teaching, following up on the Malcolm Gladwell piece that everyone is talking about. Steve took the time to track down the Brookings Institute report mentioned in the piece, and highlights two graphs: The top figure shows that certification has no impact on teaching effectiveness. The second shows that… Continue reading Tenure Is Not the Problem
Change Physicists Can Believe In
Cosmic Variance (among others) reports that 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics Steve Chu will be the next Secretary of Energy. Sean gives a good run-down of the many reasons why this is a Good Thing. Like Sean, I’ve met Chu in person. Unlike Sean, my one meeting with him doesn’t shed any light on anything.