Today was Election Day in most parts of the US, and while there aren’t any big national races going on, there were a number of local contests– town boards, county legislatures, state judges, and so on. I stopped by the local elementary school on my way home, and did my bit for representative democracy, and… Continue reading Civic Duty Update
Category: Politics
Nickel and Dimed
This is somewhat belated, as it’s no longer active, but I had a bunch of other things to do last week, and never got around to posting about Blog My Wage: HOPE asked Houston City Council member Peter Brown to spend a week living on the wage of a city worker. Council Member Brown took… Continue reading Nickel and Dimed
Stephen Colbert Is Afraid of Me
Well, so are all the other Presidential hopefuls– not one of them has responded to my offer to endorse any candidate who will play me in basketball— but I particularly want to address Colbert. After all, he’s supposed to be the unconventional maverick candidate here, tooling around in a bus stolen from John McCain… Now,… Continue reading Stephen Colbert Is Afraid of Me
Physics for Everyone (for Some Value of “Everyone”)
In today’s New York Times Natalie Angier has a nice story about increased interest in physics: Many people wring their hands over the state of science education and point to the appalling performance of America’s students in international science and math competitions. Yet some of the direst noises about our nation’s scientific prospects may be… Continue reading Physics for Everyone (for Some Value of “Everyone”)
Kids Those Days
One of the odd things about blogdom, and the commentariat in general, is the way that people will all seem to latch on to some particular idea at about the same time, despite the lack of any obvious connection between them. I keep having days when I scan through my RSS feeds, and find the… Continue reading Kids Those Days
An Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates
To the men and woman campaigning for the President of the United States: Hey, how’s it going. Boy, I bet it seems like this campaign has been going on forever, huh? All those pancake breakfasts and rubber-chicken dinners… I don’t know how you guys manage it. But here’s the thing: the campaign season is really… Continue reading An Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates
James Watson and “Uncle Al”
Separated at birth? James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America’s leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour at venues including the Science Museum in London. The 79-year-old… Continue reading James Watson and “Uncle Al”
Announcing the Uncertain Principles Physics Scholarship Program
In the spirit of the newly clarified regulations governing the Academic Competitiveness Grant and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant Programs administered by the Department of Education, I am pleased to announce the Uncertain Principles Physics Scholarship Program. Under this program, I pledge to personally pay the full tuition for any… Continue reading Announcing the Uncertain Principles Physics Scholarship Program
Columbus Day Poll: Favorite “Discoverer” of America
It’s a public holiday here in the US, which means it’s an Open House day on campus, as Admissions brings in a whole herd of high-schoolers to try to convince them to apply and enroll. This messes up the parking even more than usual, and also requires a bit of extra faculty effort to chat… Continue reading Columbus Day Poll: Favorite “Discoverer” of America
The Bubble Has Popped
Before we bought our current house, coming up on five years ago, we looked at another slightly larger house that’s literally just around the corner. It hadn’t officially been listed yet, but our agent (who, weirdly, lives right next door) showed it to us, and we thought very hard about it. Unfortunately, it was about… Continue reading The Bubble Has Popped