As the sun sets on yet another semester in civil engineering here at UTC, thoughts turn to what we're really supposed to be doing. A large part of civil engineering is engaged in the building, maintenance and upgrade of our physical infrastructure, which includes roads, railroads, airports, water and sewer systems, to some extent electricity …
The Danger of Oversimplifying Extrapolation from the Sciences
This interesting tidbit, from Mechanics by John C. Slater and Nathaniel Frank (both of whom taught at MIT): The existence of fundamental laws underlying the behavior or nature has furnished the guiding principle of natural science ever since. It has also formed the basis of most modern thought in philosophy, political science, economics and the …
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A Fistful of Yuan, Thirty-Five Years Out
It's time to mark another anniversary here, in this case the thirty-fifth one of my family business' signing our first contract with the Petroleum Corporation of the People's Republic of China for the sale of pile driving equipment. That may not seem like much today but then we were selling into an economy that was …
If the Country Doesn't Make It, Will You?
This election cycle has been a wild one, and we're not even halfway through the primary season. Both parties are seeing broad-based revolts in their bases. The Democrat establishment has done a better job of managing the upheaval, because they did what the Republicans did not: pick one candidate and get behind her. Bernie Sanders …
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Free Speech and the Mikado
This past weekend my wife and I got to see Lee University's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. It was a strange production; it was one of those things where the audience sat on the stage and the performers did their thing in the seats. The program regaled us with the usual politically correct …
Bernie Sanders and the Test Pattern T-Shirt
Shepard Fairey, who designed the Obama "Hope" logo back in 2008 (which has spawned many parodies) is "feeling the Bern" and backing Bernie Sanders, not only in word but in deed, with his tee-shirt design: I dunno, this reminds me of the old test patterns TV stations used to use at the start of the …
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The Last War of the Hippie Dreamers
With the Iowa caucuses in the rear view mirror, our Presidential campaign begins to clarify a bit. Candidates drop out, others give mixed signals, still others need to quit but haven't figured it out yet. Most of that action is on the Republican side, but that's where most of the candidates are. When you have …
Hillary's Hidden Obstacle in the Electorate
Voting at eighteen years of age has been the law in the U.S. for nearly a half century now. But for those who are off to college, the same age bracket starts voting in other ways, and one of those are student evaluations of professors. There is a great deal of argument about how much …
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The Places I Couldn't Teach
The flap over Wheaton's process to dismiss Larycia Hawkins from her position makes me stop and think about a few things, especially since I am beginning yet another semester of teaching Civil Engineering at UTC. Lord willing, sometime this year I will complete my PhD pursuit. It's been a long process, not without excitement; hopefully …
The Place Which Watches the Grass Grow Gets a Pass on Shari’a
Brunei slides past our sybaritic elites: The sultan of Brunei has issued an edict that threatens Muslims with five years in prison if they celebrate Christmas. Christians are told that their celebrations must remain secret or they can be jailed as well. One of my family business' customers was Brunei Shell, as the state sanctioned …
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Positive Infinity 