Forbes magazine is a 97 year old icon of business new and analysis. Their motto is "Forbes: The Capitalist Tool," a delightfully ambiguous turn of phrase. Recently, one of their contributors bemoaned the paucity of inciteful relevant reporting in the major mass media. (Click on "If you trust the American press...") Interestingly, that author has long championed the notion (also maintained by some of the most left-wing analysts) that a watershed in American history was the end of the chronic labor shortage that dated back to colonial times -- this brought on by the decline of manufacture in the 1970's.
Whether you eat food or not, this story just won't go away.
A young man visiting from Germany told be he was shocked to hear that most Americans wouldn't think twice about throwing a dead battery in the trash, but it gets worse.
Twinkies: -- glad or sad?
KPCC is a fine public radio station, produced in Pasadena, California. They carry many treasures of public radio from across the country and produce many outstanding shows. They also proudly announce that they present the news "with no rant and no slant." I certainly can attest to the former. However, regarding the latter, I do not mean to single them out. This applies to any news coverage: you needn't be an Einstein or even a Gödel to realize that it is a logical impossibility, irrespective of how well-meaning the news people might be.
At Caltech on November 30, 2011, sponsored by the Moore-Hufstedler Fund, the Graduate Student Council, and the Caltech Y, Jeremy Scahill gave a very interesting talk.
Read about Tim DeChristopher.
"Where the Wild Things Were," by William Stolzenburg (2009), is an inordinately charming and readable account of the ecologicale role of predators at the top of the food chain. He chronicles the research that led to the understanding that the dying off of forrests, the extinction of many species of wildflowers, the explosion of Lyme disease (to name a few) are direct and inevitable consequences of man's hunting down of wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, etc. Only in the last paragraphs does Stolzenburg wax passionate about reversing these trends --- and he avoids altogether considering the consequences of the disappearance of the apex predators who used to feed on homo sapiens.
I received a charming T-shirt
which would almost certainly prompt a conversation about information and black holes anywhere you'd wear it.
If you eat food, the issue discussed here or here (or both) might be relevant.
as LaTeX,
as postscript,
as pdf,
and as html.
photo copyright Nobel Foundation
"...step forward to receive your Nobel prizes from the hands of His Majesty the King."
Back at work, June 2005:
(These three photos copyright Peter Badge, the photographer)
posing for J. Vermeer, 1/1/08; photo copyright A. Politzer
Three years after eating
Two weeks later
Ready at last
Yum
same pot + 2 years
Caltech Alumni Sminar Day, 5/17/08. This and
other
photos by Bob Paz.
modified Goodtime (August 2010):
It needed an armrest (September 2010):
April 2011:
new frets for a 1925 tubaphone (August 2011):
No, wonders never cease.
And, for a limited time (for non-commercial purposes only),
the original, long-lost, 1986 cult classic by Professor Politzer and
the Rho Mesons,
The Simple Harmonic Oscillator, copyright
S. Lewicki, D. Politzer, and D. Priest.
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I didn't know I needed one until I fixed up a friend's Fairbanks Electric. I got this one from Intermountain Guitar & Banjo of Salt Lake City, made a ferrule and arm rest, and restored the dowel brace.
Ssshhhh! The head is carpet glued to plywood, rubber backing side out. (November 2011)
The case of Dr. Frankenstein, 1 1/2" wider and 5" shorter than a tenor (April 2012)
new-found appreciation for dental hygienists (June 2012)
