Great article in businessweek. Look at the infrastructure that brought us most of the technology we use today – much of it was done by public-private parterships (e.g. Bell Labs, Xerox Parc, etc.). If we want to recreate the jobs that have been lost during the recession, we need to put our faith back into the innovation that created the strong US economy – our intellectual leadership through scientific innovation. Great article.
Archive for category News
Reboot
Aug 3
It’s time to reboot the old blog – so I quickly changed themes, not sure if this one will stick, but I’m giving it a shot.
Things are … pretty good, I must say. Work is going well, we just had friends stay with us for a few days which was great. I got to see Yankee Stadium, and I got to visit Paris with Stephanie.
Stephanie’s pregnancy is going *very* well, and the excitement is mounting. October will come quickly, but, with the newly painted room, and the new furniture that we’re going to be assembling tonight, we should be ready… Although, is anyone really ready for a baby?
I did one fun thing to “get ready” for the baby. I got a new camera, which is a wonderful toy – a Nikon D90. I’m still getting the hang of it, but I’m sure my flickr account will soon be bursting at the seams.
Next week we’ll be in Duxbury for a well deserved, week-long vacation. And I just can’t wait. Summer is here!
I just learned two things. 1) The Out of Town news is owned by the same people who own all those Hudson News kiosks in airports. 2) Harvard Square is in desperate need of a new soul.
Dear American, My Dear Friend:
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America.
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with “Mr. Phil Gram,” lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a citizen, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check.
We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction.
After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Do not discuss this message with anyone! Time is of the essence!
Yours Faithfully.
Minister of Treasury Hank Paulson
Alan Moore on the Watchmen
Sep 18
I just had a wonderful time …. driving from NJ to Boston. Oh well, it could have been South Carolina to Boston.
Before I retire, great LA Times article on Alan Moore. Will the Watchmen hold up? I hope so!
American Life in Poetry: Column 181
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Stuart Kestenbaum, the author of this week’s poem, lost his brother Howard in the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. We thought it appropriate to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001, by sharing this poem. The poet is the director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle, Maine.
Prayer for the Dead
The light snow started late last night and continued
all night long while I slept and could hear it occasionally
enter my sleep, where I dreamed my brother
was alive again and possessing the beauty of youth, aware
that he would be leaving again shortly and that is the lesson
of the snow falling and of the seeds of death that are in everything
that is born: we are here for a moment
of a story that is longer than all of us and few of us
remember, the wind is blowing out of someplace
we don’t know, and each moment contains rhythms
within rhythms, and if you discover some old piece
of your own writing, or an old photograph,
you may not remember that it was you and even if it was once you,
it’s not you now, not this moment that the synapses fire
and your hands move to cover your face in a gesture
of grief and remembrance.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine.
Buchanan Liked It…
Aug 29
Watched it last night from my new living room chair. Obama is rockin’ my world.
The Day There Was No News
May 14
Have you seen Questionaut yet? Very well done flash game, and answering the questions will make you feel smart.
I loathe time travel as a plot line. Freakin’ loathe it. But I found this Wikihistory short short very entertaining.
I have some long train rides coming up, assuming I get my work done (no last minute working on the train!) I hope to be able to knock out some writing. Here’s a good post on writing conversationally.
Now I’m trying not to procrastinate by driving around Google maps. (Thanks metafilter)
Enjoy the day…
