Diving for stuff in a discard bin isn’t the classiest way to spend one’s time, but for the academic diving in the free book bin at the used book store can be a true adventure. (Diving in the dumpster may be a necessity for the adjunct academic, and the new overtime rules don’t help a …
Advice to Graduates: You May End Up Building Their Coffin
It's that time of year again, when most people who graduate from anything in the U.S. get their diplomas in large, pompous ceremonies. Since it is as doubtful that I will ever experience another graduation ceremony of my own let alone speak at one, this is a poor substitute. Hopefully it will enlighten you about …
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Pope Francis and Two-Way Ignorance
Pope Francis isn't much of a fan of things American these days, but his visit to this country was a revelation: Prior to his election Francis had never set foot in the United States, making him the only pope in the last eighty years other than St. John XXIII who had never been to America …
What a Difference a Century Makes
While going through some things, ran across this: The drawing is interesting to technology history buffs, but look at the note in the upper right hand corner: Superseded by new tracing 8/18/15 Just last year? No, just last century... Note: referring to drawings as "tracings" is very old school, but I can remember that terminology …
Hard Currency, Soft Currency and Venezuela
@jeffspross at @theweek thinks he's figured out Venezuela's problem: But as Mark Weisbrot — the co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research, who has written extensively on Venezuela and Latin America — explained to The Week, the main reason for Venezuela's troubles is likely a lot more technocratic, and a lot more banal: Namely, …
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The Aggie Who Knew How to Get Ahead With a Professor
First: congratulations are in order to my Texas A&M classmate Ray Rothrock, who won this year a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Association of Former Students. He majored in a good but highly unpopular subject--nuclear engineering--and then turned around and did very well. Although I didn't name him at the time, it's now or never: …
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Those Vanishing Episcopal Parishes
Every so often I begin a reading of the Bible through. I try to vary the translation I use, so I've read translations such as the Vulgate, Louis Segond, Reina-Valera, New American Bible, Douay-Rheims, CCD and of course the Positive Infinity New Testament. This time I had a copy of the original TEV New Testament …
Jesus Christ, the Way Up
From The World of Mathematics, this quotation from the British mathematician Augustus de Morgan: I commend my future with hope and confidence to Almighty God; to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom I believe in my heart to be the Son of God but whom I have not confessed with my lips, …
If You Can't Do the Math, You Can't Do the Science
And the math is problematic these days: The average performance of the nation’s high school seniors dropped in math from 2013 to 2015, but held steady in reading, according to results of a biennial test released Wednesday... “This trend of stagnating scores is worrisome,” said Terry Mazany, the chairman of the governing board for the …
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Donald Trump and the Entourage Problem
Now that we pretty much know who the Republican nominee will be (barring some last-minute machinations) it's obvious that many "Regular Republicans" have gotten out the brown pants, as they have developed instant irregularity. We have the "Never Trump" people saying they'll stay home or even vote for That Woman From the North Side. But …
Positive Infinity 