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
Humor Carlin on the state of the US 25 Jun 2008 Here’s a somewhat different take on the late great George Carlin, in an interview with Keith Olberman last year: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UVXj8F9Fmk&hl=en] For me, though, he’ll always be the hip Catholic Archbishop who brings about the end of the world in Dogma. Read More
Book Our inner ape 18 Nov 200718 Sep 2017 I have always enjoyed reading the work of Frans de Waal, a primatologist who focuses on the social structure and psychology of apes, particularly the two chimp species, and monkeys. His previous books, Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals, The Ape and the… Read More
Australian stuff Gillard not wonderful: opposes gay marriage 30 Jun 2010 Julia Gillard has said she opposes gay marriage. Why? She doesn’t say. But there has to be a reason, so what could they be? 1. She dislikes it and thinks she can impose her preferences on everyone no matter what the implications or rights of those concerned. 2. She is… 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?