front range

Make Science! Make Science!

(apologies to Glen Hansard)

I've mentioned CERN here before. This month's (March) issue of National Geographic has a fantastic article on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) they are building on the Swiss/French border, & their search for the Higgs Boson (ie. the God Particle). the piece is fascinating, but it was a couple of paragraphs towards the end that really caught my eye:

"When the LHC starts smashing particles, Europe will suddenly become the dominant location for particle physics, and the United States will find itself struggling to figure out how to stay relevant. Perhaps that's a petty concern given the magnitude of what the LHC might turn up, but it's something people talk about. Since the Manhattan Project there's been a general notion that the U.S. dominates the world of physics. Until now, the energy frontier has been at Fermilab, home of the Tevatron. That collider has found some important particles, but it might not have quite enough juice to nail the Higgs.

Some U.S. money has gone into the LHC, which will cost billions of dollars: five, maybe ten—the exact number is elusive (the science will be precise, but the accounting apparently follows the Uncertainty Principle). But most of the engineering is being done by European firms. Jürgen Schukraft, who supervises an LHC experiment named ALICE (which will re-create conditions the same as those just after the big bang), said, "The brain drain that used to go from Europe to the States definitely has reversed." "

that last sentence is what really jumped off the page.
this may not be news to anyone who has been paying attention to what the policies of BushCo. have done to the U.S. scientific community over the past 7 plus years, but it should be alarming none-the-less. fingers crossed that when the next (Democratic) President comes into office these policies will change. in the meantime what can we do?
Well, the U. S. still lags far behind in science education internationally.
We can start by strongly urging our children to put down the Wii & Guitar Hero, put down the Triple Whopper w/Cheese Combo, get up off the couch & pick up a microscope &/or telescope. attack the problem of flabby bodies & flabby brains head on & Make Science!

humpday interlude

Massive Attack w/Liz Fraser - Teardrop

a view from the road

foothills near Boulder

Rachel Maddow ROCKS!

if you've ever seen her on MSNBC, then you know what I'm saying. Rachel Maddow is the best political analyst on cable. she was on Countdown last night talking w/Keith about the current wingnut kurfluffle over Obama's patriotism. (I know, I know...) she smacks it down like only she can.

(C&L has the video)

comedian or idiot...

...you be the judge. (psst, I'm going w/the latter)
Mark Halperin is considered a "serious political analyst" in some circles.
he's published a 16 point list of things McCain can do to beat Obama.
C&L has a great analysis of the list here. it's a hoot.

favorite passages

from A Wild Sheep Chase
by Haruki Murakami

"A month had passed since I agreed to the divorce and she moved out. A non-month. Unfocused and unfelt, a lukewarm protoplasm of a month.
Nothing changed from day to day, not one thing. I woke up at seven, made toast and coffee, headed out to work, ate dinner out, had one or two drinks, went home, read in bed for an hour, turned off the lights, and slept. Saturdays and Sundays, instead of work, I was out killing time from morning on, making the rounds of movie theaters. Then I had dinner and a couple of drinks, read, went to sleep alone. So it went: I passed through the month the way people X out days on a calendar, one after the one."

Glen & Marketa's Oscars performance

I'm not a big fan of awards shows, to say the least, & didn't catch the Oscars last night. I have been a big fan of the Frames & Glen Hansard for years. Once is a great little film & the music is amazing. so, I was thrilled to see that Glen & Marketa won for best song. here's a clip of the performance if you missed it. it's pretty great.

UPDATE: (new)video is back up.

sad desperation

Clinton's pathetic attempt at humor. mocking Obama, his supporters, & progressives in general. real class act.

that's Mister Sullivan to you.

Saturday Night Special

Múm - Green Grass Of Tunnel

Howard Dean on McCain

(via FDL)

Q: So there is big news about John McCain -- the story that is in the New York Times, raising questions about his relationship with a lobbyist. This is a story the McCain people are saying is unfair and untrue. What do you think?

Dean: I have no idea whether the affair story is true or not, and I don't care. What I do care about is John McCain -- and this has been well-documented -- is talking all the time about being a reformer and a maverick, and in fact, he has taken thousands of dollars from corporations, ridden on their corporate jets, and then turned around and tried to do favors for them and get projects approved. He has tons of lobbyists on his staff. This is a guy who is very close to the lobbyist community, a guy who has been documented again and again by taking contributions and then doing favors for it. This is not a guy who is a reformer. This is a guy who has been in Washington for 25 years and wants to give us four more years of the same, and I don't think we need that.

(full interview at National Journal)