How immigration restrictions are starting to hurt academic research 1 Nov 2009 Jorge Cham of PhD Comics was nearly deported from the UK recently. His story is most interesting, and somewhat scary: From here. Part one here. Who doesn’t believe that we allowed terrorism to win? Education Politics
Politics Catholic Blame Game 18 Apr 2010 Here, courtesy of Jason Brown, is a site that lists the latest scapegoat that the Catholic Church blames, instead of itself. So far they have blamed: Gays The Jews Pornography Television The Internet Pope John Paul II Victims of child rape Stay tuned for further exciting rationalisations and excuses! Read More
Politics American politics and the available spectrum 3 Feb 2008 Martin Rundkvist, a Swede, has chastised the American body politick for being Right Wing and Even More Right Wing; that is, for lacking a Left in European terms. The American Body Politick, in the person of Chad Orzel, has hit back. Instead of saying that America lacks a Left, says… Read More
Genetics An old question: genes and responsibility 1 Nov 2009 Here’s a judge doing what generations of philosophers and theologians haven’t been able to do: determine when determination is determinative: In the report, [scientists] Pietrini and Sartori concluded that Bayout’s genes would make him more prone to behaving violently if provoked. “There’s increasing evidence that some genes together with a… Read More
My wife is a scientist. We are, here in the US, finding it more and more difficult to compete with the Europeans for top-talent because of all this stupidity. The Euro’s stay home and the many of the Asians like Europe better now. Even some US students/post-docs that would have stayed are having second thoughts… It’s pretty sad.
The US, UK, and maybe some others, gave the terrorists a win beyond their wildest imaginings — to whatever extent W. Bush was right in saying that the terrorists hate our free and open societies, he gave them their greatest desire by making the society more closed. As it is, I’m fairly often the only US-born scientist around the table of scientific colleagues. If not the only, one of a minority. US science requires that people be able to come here to do science.
I have probably said this before but I will say it again. You don’t resist terrorism with war, you resist terrorism with justice. And when you commit injustice against your own residents, you encourage terrorism.
“allowed”? I guess things must be better in Australia. Here in America, we didn’t just “allow” terrorism to win, we made damn sure it steam rollered right over our rights to privacy, our constitutional protections from unreasonable search and seizure, our right to peaceably assemble, and other rights as well.
Well, llewelly, the terrorists hate us for our freedom, right? So all we need to do is lose our freedom and the terrorists won’t bother us, right? Right?