What a Snoozer.

Albert Fert, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics, gave a talk today on "The Present and Future of Spintronics." He is the second Nobel Prize winning physicist that has visited the Physics and Astronomy department since I've been in Tuscaloosa. Fert's talk went way beyond anything I understand about magnetic materials research (which is almost nothing) and he ended up losing me at the first slide. I thought that Fert's talk would be more general and that I would be able to follow it better, but that was not the case.

I really gave up on trying to understand anything in magnetic materials talks after my first year in grad. school. I went to a few of them, thinking that I would be able to pick something up, but I just don't have the necessary background to follow it I guess. Also, talk about the benefits of one thin film of material over a different thin film of material just isn't that interesting to me. Sorry Scott Brown. :)

Postdocs

I didn't think getting a postdoc would be so hard. I found out today that I was turned down for another position (this one was in Paris). I've been applying for any postdoc that I would be even remotely qualified for and interested in and none have come through so far. I think I have pretty good qualifications, but apparently there are people with a lot more experience and talent out there than I have. I wonder what an astronomy PhD does if he can't get one of the few postdocs offered. Do they just go into teaching and give up on the research? It seems like once you move away from the research, it would be really hard to get back into it. What a bummer.

Perfect Timing.

Great. While I'm looking for a job, the country is headed into a longer lasting and more severe downturn than has been seen in 20 years. This should be challenging.

Unbelievable.

This is probably the most !@#$ed-up thing I've ever read. Not only did the latest al Qaeda bombing in Iraq kill 98 people in two pet markets (also killing an untold number of dogs, cats, monkeys, etc.), but they strapped bombs to and remotely detonated two mentally disabled women who probably didn't know what they were doing. Everything about this story is an outrage.

Which comic strip do like better?

100% like Calvin and Hobbes better than Dilbert. They are both fine comic strips, but Calvin and Hobbes is definitely better.

Drunk Manhattanites and Elephants.

This was a funny NPR story. Click "Listen Now" to hear it.

"Not a damn person doesn't love elephants sir."

Beer Review.

Blue Moon's Full Moon Winter Ale is pretty good. Give it a try.

No Writers On These Shows.

Now that I have been spending more time at home while I am looking for a job, I have also been watching more daytime tv. Out of everything on during the day, I really enjoy the judge shows, especially Judge Alex. I even find myself watching Judge Judy, even though I can't stand her.

I also get to catch COPS, always a great show, and The Price is Right with its new host, Drew Carey. Drew's great. He's one famous person I would really like to meet.

America's Least Green States.

I just read this article and it ranked the "green-ness" of all the US states. The five at the bottom of the list are:

• 45 - Kentucky
  
• 46 - Mississippi
  
• 47 - Louisiana
  
• 48 - Alabama
  
• 49 - Indiana
  
• 50 - West Virginia
  

They are at the bottom of the list because they "all suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption, and no clear plans to do anything about it." At the top of the list are:

• 1 - Vermont
  
• 2 - Oregon
  
• 3 - Washington
  
• 4 - Hawaii
  
• 5 - Maryland
  

Michigan is near the middle at number 24. Why are Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana always at the bottom of every list? Do the people of these states just not care about anything?

Some People Are Just No Good At Problem Solving.

Today is the big LSU vs. Alabama football game in Tuscaloosa. I rode my bike through the chaos on campus so that I could workout at the student recreation center. It was utter madness. When I finally made it back home, I was about to put my key in the door when a girl dressed in Sunday-best asked if I would help her boyfriend put a keg in the back of their Jeep Wrangler so they can go tailgating. After riding up a very steep hill to get to my apartment, all I managed to get out was, "*huff* Sure. *puff* Let *huff* me *huff* just *puff* put *huff* my *puff* bike *puff* away."

I came back out of my apartment and proceeded to help the boyfriend, also dressed in his Sunday-best, put the keg in the Jeep. Their first idea was to put the keg (which weighs 160.5 pounds according to Wikipedia) in their Rubbermaid trashcan and then carry it out to the car. I suggested that we roll the keg to the car instead of carrying it. I was then told that "that's a good idea." It sounded like common sense to me. Once we made it to the car, the girl said that she wanted to put the keg standing up in the trashcan and suggested that we put it in and then lift it into the back of the Jeep. I then suggested that we put the trashcan in the car on its side, lift the keg sideways and slide it into the trashcan, then tilt the trashcan with the keg in it so that it's vertacle. They were both amazed at that idea. Again, I thought it was just common sense.

Both of these people are students here and they are a good example of the average student body.

Reformat?!

I'm currently reformatting my entire dissertation so that it will conform to what the Graduate School wants. What a pain in the @$$!

If it ain't collapsin', don't fix it.

Would you pay more in taxes to fix America's aging infrastructure? Fox News' audience says no way. I guess a lot of people think that potentially collapsing bridges, exploding underground steam pipes, and failing levees aren't worth the cash to fix before they become problems.

I'm not a fan of Fox News, but I do like seeing the results of polls of their audience.

He Needs To Go.

As I said before, will someone please fire this guy?!

More Statistics.

I'm a numbers kinda guy and I like statistics. That is why you can find a lot of references in my blog to news articles containing rankings, statistics, polls, etc. Here's another one. This article said that 7% of people didn't rate faithfulness as very important in a relationship. This was a survey of 2020 people, which means that 141 people said it wasn't very important. Who are these people?

Also, only 12% of people surveyed said that sharing political beliefs was very important, while 49% said that sharing religious beliefs was very important. I guess people feel that tenuous, otherworldly phenomena are more important than real-world, life-altering policies.

It Doesn't Matter.

This BBC article said that the "US Senate has voted 87-1 to double the reward for the death or capture of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden to $50m." According to this website, the per capita income of a person in Pakistan is $690. I think it's safe to assume that it's much less in Afghanistan. I don't think people making so little money were waiting for the US to increase its bounty before turning in Bin Laden. To them, there is no difference between $25m and $50m. It might as well be $1b. I don't think any amount of money is really going to matter when it comes to Bin Laden. Either people don't know there is a US bounty on his head, or they don't care. Either way, the Senate just wasted their time.

41%.

It's official, 41% of Americans are clueless. This article says so.

A Newsweek poll released last week found 41 percent of Americans still believe Saddam Hussein was directly involved in financing, planning or carrying out the September 11 attacks, though no such connection has been found.

Sounds About Right.

You Are 60% Cynical

Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist. You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right.

How Cynical Are You?

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Sicko.

I just got back from watching Michael Moore's Sicko and one of the points he makes really stuck with me. Why is just about everything socialized in the U.S. except for health care? Here is a quick list of some of the basic services that are socialized in the U.S.:

• Police Department


• Fire Department


• Transportation Security Administration - the interesting thing is that after the Sept. 11th attacks, airport security was taken away from private companies and placed into government hands


• K-12 Education - why it's limited to this education range, I'm not sure


• Post Office - it's not completely paid for by tax money, but it's heavily subsidized and still cheaper than its private counterparts: FedEx, UPS, or DHL


• Library - you can borrow books, movies, and music (even new stuff) instead of having to buy these things from stores


• Military - I'm not sure this really counts as a socialized organization, but we don't hire our military from private companies (i.e. mercenaries) every time we want to fight a war. We do hire private companies, like Blackwater, to provide armed "security" though. Why they aren't considered mercenaries is beyond me.

Why is it okay to socialize these organizations and not health care? Would we be better off hiring private companies to protect us or fight our fires for profit like we let insurance and pharmacutical companies take care of our health for profit? Wouldn't we get better service from a private company's police force or fire department, or are we worried that the company might put profits ahead of what's important? Why is health care different?

Fire Him. Please.

I was just reading this article and I can't believe that Alberto Gonzales still has a job. Will someone fire this guy, please?! This guy has been caught red-handed lying to congress and lying about what he said to congress. The worst part is that Bush is trying to cover it up buy not letting aides testify about any wrongdoing in the firing of the federal prosecutors. Why are the American people letting Bush and Gonzales get away with that? Are we really that stupid?

A Little Sanity.

It looks like Mika Brzezinski tried to add a little credibility to an otherwise crappy morning news program. Kudos.

Who are these tools with her?