Yesterday, a number of us congregated in an office at SLAC and did some hard earned slacking off. One of the issues that came up was the egotistical masturbation called “blogging”. The statement was made, in effect, that everybody who blogs should be lined up and asked to get a […]
Jack and Jill, went up the Hill To pass some legislation, Jack fell down, in Germantown, and Jill hit “Face the Nation” I just returned from a fall trip to Washington D.C. on behalf of users of SLAC, Fermilab, and the U.S. LHC community. There were six of us, and […]
Tonight was the first and only debate between Phil Angelides and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the two candidates for governor of California. It was a one-hour debate, with about 7 questions asked of the candidates. The format was meant to be a conversation between the two men, but it degraded IMMEDIATELY into […]
There’s a lot of great music out there. I’ve had the good fortune to be part of a few bands, on and off, in my life, exposing me to some pretty music-saavy folks. I am largely grateful for the exposure to all kinds of music this has given me, crossing […]
“Is there anything you can do on the space station that you can’t do by locking yourself in your car for a few days?” That was Tom Bodett’s quip this morning on “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” (the NPR news quiz) following a story on the recent space tourist’s reports […]
**Mettle to Meddle** *By Stephen Sekula* He stepped atop the atoll, was it four years to the day? A little dog set near the shore, a shore that tasted both the ebb and flow of time and waves He spoke of bird, of beak, of barnacle, collected by the shore, […]
Crazy times, crazy times. I thought the summer would be busy, but it seems that I misjudged the autumn. There is a real press to get a bunch of analyses out the door and into publication, some of which I have my hands in. The batch system at SLAC is […]
Not so long ago, my father asked, “When *was* the last time it rained where you are?” The fact that it hasn’t rained a drop on the peninsula since about April doesn’t surprise me, but always surprises folks from other places. Well, today the long dry spell is broken – […]
I finally heard from Jodi this morning. It’s been eating at me for days, not hearing from her. I know it’s a reflection of my being spoiled with technology, but not talking to her for just three days has really taken its toll on me. Coupled with all the other […]
It’s Nobel Prize season! I’m not a big fan of doing science for a prize, but I value the public impact that the prize has. For instance, today two American scientists, John C. Mather and George F. Smoot, were recognized with the prize for their tireless effort to realize the […]
When I stay up late to work, I usually switch in NPR’s “Day to Day” program. It’s taped earlier in the day, but here on KQED airs late at night. They were reviewing listener letters concerning a piece criticizing extreme religions and also criticizing the behavior of self-labeled “moderate Christians” […]
The Constitution of the United States guarantees that the U.S. government shall not abridge any expression of religion (covered under free speech), nor establish a state religion (the “Establishment Clause”). As “Bob Park”:http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN06/wn092906.html pointed out this week, and as I had heard would happen, the House of Representatives passed a […]