The Nose on Her Face
Blast it all! Avedon Carol said it before I got around to it:
I am so sick of hearing some "liberal" Senator telling us that something that was as plain as the nose on my face (and mine of all noses!) is just becoming clear, now that it's too late. Like Ted Kennedy, explaining away the fact that the Senate confirmed two complete flaming loonies to the Supreme Court because "Roberts and Alito Misled Us"[.]
This time, it's Kennedy whining that Justices Stevens and Alito "misled us". Our response is this: "Honey, they may have misled you, but they didn't mislead us!"
Is this the newest excuse in politics: "oops, I got bad information — who knew?" when, in fact, the facts are abundantly clear. I was super irritated with that whole thing last year about how nobody knew that Iraq didn't have WMDs, nor did anyone realize that the Bush Administration was making up all the "facts" they used to start a war. Most of us who are not Democrats in Congress knew the truth.
For some time we have known the truth about voting "irregularities", about Katrina response, about the new Medicare drug plan, about global warming, about … you name it and we non-Democrats in Congress have known the truth.
In particular, we knew the truth about Stevens and Alito; they did not appear out of nothing, they had voting records and opinions they had written, and their positions were as clear as the reactionary nose on Robert Bork's face.
Nobody was misled who was not a Democratic Senator, and they didn't have have to be "misled" if they didn't want to. In most instances, candidates in a job interview who refuse to answer any of the questions usually don't get the job! Without adequate answers to questions about their judicial philosophy, no Democrat had to be "miseld" into confirming their nominations.
This excuse just won't work anymore as a pre-election approach to absolution. Speak the truth, Ted: you were wrong not to vote against the nominations, you're sorry about it, and you won't let it happen again.
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
A Few Runs Don't Win the Game
Last week Washington's Supreme Court ruled that its state's ban on same-sex marriage did not violate its state's constitution.* Similarly, the New York appeals court found a little while back that marriage should be reserved especially for heterosexuals, to protect children and our species.
Dan Savage, in an op-ed in the NY Times,# wrote
A perverse cruelty characterizes both decisions. The courts ruled, essentially, that making my child’s life less secure somehow makes the life of a child with straight parents more secure. Both courts found that making heterosexual couples stable requires keeping homosexual couples vulnerable. And the courts seemed to agree that heterosexuals can hardly be bothered to have children at all — or once they’ve had them, can hardly be bothered to care for them — unless marriage rights are reserved exclusively for heterosexuals. And the religious right accuses gays and lesbians of seeking “special rights.”
Even if you believe that marriage plays a special role in the lives of heterosexuals with children (another point I’m happy to concede), can it not play a similar role in the lives of homosexual couples, whether they’re parents or not? Marriage, after all, is not reserved for couples with children. (Perhaps it will be soon, if courts keep heading in this direction.)
[…]
These defeats have demoralized supporters of gay marriage, but I see a silver lining. If heterosexual instability and the link between heterosexual sex and human reproduction are the best arguments opponents of same-sex marriage can muster, I can’t help but feel that our side must be winning. Insulting heterosexuals and discriminating against children with same-sex parents may score the other side a few runs, but these strategies won’t win the game.
Aren't these excuses finally reaching the stage where even normal people can see how ridiculous they are? (I ask rhetorically.)
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*At the moment; I expect it will later on.
#Dan Savage, "Same-Sex Marriage Wins by Losing", New York Times, 30 July 2006.
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
Types of Wheat Flour
Not long ago, I was having a discussion with our young friend Scotty* about different kinds of flours, and I found I really had no idea what the differences signified. Fortunately, the editors of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook had (on page 2) a brief but useful summary:
The main difference between types of flour is the amount of protein they contain, which varies depending on what type of wheat is used. All-purpose flour (10 to 11.5 percent protein content) is a blend of high- and low-protein wheat flours and, as its name implies, is used in many applications. Bread flour (12 percent protein or higher) is made from hard wheat and contains the most protein of any flour. This high protein content ensures strong gluten development, which is crucial to developing the structure of bread. Cake flour is made from soft wheat and has a very low protein level; this makes it perfect for delicate, fine-crumbed cakes such as Chiffon Cake or Angel Food Cake.
We had wondered whether the difference between hard and soft wheats had to do with whether they were summer or winter wheats, but apparenty hard and soft wheats can come in either variety. Also, Durham wheat is an altogether difference species from the hard and soft wheats.
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*I say "young friend" as an informative thing, but also to distinguish him from our somewhat older friend Scotty.
In: All, Food Stuff, Naming Things
Fight Fundamentalism Here!
I was just reading this story* about how the White House now admits that our valient troops in Iraq are no longer fighting at the front of the global war on terrorism — instead, it seems that they are now "trying to suppress religious violence" — when I remembered that I had thought up a new Democratic campaign slogan the other night, which I didn't write down at the time because I was in bed trying to go to sleep and it was dark.
Anyway:
Religious fundamentalists: fight them here so we don't have to fight them over there.
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* Dan Froomkin, "A Whole New War", Washington Post, 26 July 2006.
Earworms in Literature I
An earworm* appears in Ian Rankin's Fleshmarket Alley (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004) p. 82:
This morning, [Detective] Rebus looked innocent enough: sleepy eyes and a patch of gray bristle on his throat which the razor had missed. He wore a tie the way some schoolkids did — on sufferance. Each morning, he seemed to come into work whistling some irritating line from an old pop song. By midmorning, he'd have stopped doing it, but by then it was too late: Tibbet would be whistling it for him, unable to escape the pernicious chorus.
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* For more about earworms, see my earlier entry on "Earworm Origins".
In: All, Crime Fiction, Such Language!
NPR Poll: Upsets Ahead?
On NPR this morning, Mara Liasson reported on a "Morning Edition" poll "…done in the 50 competitive House races where, in fact, control of the House of Representatives will be decided." Forty (i.e., 80%) of the seats in those districts are currently held by Republicans. In 2004 these districts voted Republican by a 12-point margin; in this poll, respondants said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote for a non-incumbant (i.e., not a Republican in 80% of the cases) by 46% over 29% who would definitely or probably support the incumbant.
Some people are going to be surprised by this fall's elections. Listen to Peggy Beekler:
Then there are undecided voters like Peggy Beekler, a retired social worker who lives in the 3rd District of Kentucky, represented by Ann Northup.
"Well, I'm rather disappointed in the Republicans," Beekler says. "I think they've made a mess of things, even though I've been a Republican."
Beekler is not happy about the war, but she's also unhappy about the so-called values issues that Republicans have counted on to get their voters to the polls.
"I think to do an amendment on burning the flag would be totally ridiculous," Beekler says. "I also think when Bush vetoed the stem-cell research … I feel like that's ridiculous because they're just going to destroy all those embryos anyway, so even though I am for life, I think that shouldn't have been vetoed. I think that was a really bad thing."
Ms. Beekler would, in most circumstances, probably be mistaken for one of the Republican base.
But there's more, and this is the bit that caught my attention. Consider this reaction to the big agenda of the congressional moralists:
Beekler represents one of our most surprising findings: On the question of which party would do a better job on "values issues," like stem-cell research, flag-burning and gay marriage, Democrats prevailed by their biggest margin in the entire poll: 51 percent to 37 percent.
"And when we list values issues like stem-cell research, flag-burning and gay marriage, these are the issues that Republicans took the initiative, used their control in Congress to get on the air to be voting on, to be talking about," Greenberg says. "What this says: By 13 points, voters say they are more likely to vote Democratic because of hearing about these issues. Which suggests that the strategy of using the Congress to get out the base is one that's driving away a lot of voters."
Perhaps it's time to reiterate my conviction that Democrats will do better in elections if they stand firmly and with conviction on liberal, progressive platforms. I will enjoy the irony when the day finally arrives that strong support for marriage equality means more votes.
May Days are Gay Days (NPG IV)
Oh, I forgot about this fascinating bit of Americana until I looked at the notes I keep in my pocket. Again it was something seen at the National Portrait Gallery, this time in a exhibit of "Folk Art".
The displayed work was a year's worth of pages taken from a large-format promotional calendar (the year was 1947) provided by a drugs company. It's purpose in the exhibit was as a record of a family's life, since the calendar had been used to note events and nearly everyone's birthday.
I, of course, was more interested in the various advertisements for laxatives that decorated the calendar. For instance, under a drawing of happily playing children, this reassurance (and guess what first caught my eye):
May Days are Gay Days
…but a child can't be happy if it is slowed up by the need of a laxative.
See if your youngsters aren't delighted with the pleasant taste of Syrup of Black-Draught — The Children's Laxative (May 1947)
I was fascinated by two things. One was simply using the Victorian "it" to refer to a child*. The other is the euphemism "slowed up by the need of a laxative". Now, why should one assume in a laxative advertisement that it is universally known why one might be in need of a laxative?
Also, do you think the name "Syrup of Black-Draught" strongly suggests a "pleasant taste"?
But wait! There's more. Here in February 1947, we find a dashing young man exclaiming
You're Right! It's always Black-Draught when I need a good laxative.
To my crazed mind, the question that immediately pops in is: When does one need only a fair-to-middlin' laxative? (Not to mention: What, exactly, makes a laxative good?)
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*A usage I'd be happy to return to for children, and one I might even encourage using in place of the vile "their" as a singular, non-gender-specific form so popular today.
John Marin on Good Art (NPG III)
John Marin (1870-1953) rivals John Singer Sargent on my short list of favorite artists. He painted almost-but-not-quite abstract scenes in watercolor with an amazing vitality, not to mention his eye for color and line.#
I have been thinking of Marin for a couple of reasons. As I mentioned before, we recently visited the Delaware Art Museum, and I was surprised to see a couple of very nice paintings there by Marin. Then, this past weekend when we visited the National Portrait Gallery, I met up with Marin again. This time, it was in the form of photographs of the artist in his studio ("artists in their studios" was the theme of the exhibition).*
These photographs were in a case on the floor, accompanied by a letter (undated) Marin had written to his dealer, Edith Gregor Halpert. The following excerpt** is the last half of the letter:
The other night I saw the full moon arising, suspended over our city — It gave me a —thrill— of a verity should not our picture embrace a —thrill— based on a —Life Experiences — "Try with all that is within you" for — the thrill begotten — looking at the good picture — hearing the good piece of music –Ah— to have that.
How vaporish the comments of most commentators.
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#This painting, Schooner Yachts, Deer Isle, Maine (from 1928) is not one I've seen in person, but it is characteristic of Marin's vitality and near-abstract vision.
*Although they are not the same photographs as in the exhibit, here are a couple of photos of Marin: one, two.
**I try to reproduce Marin's orthographic exuberance — he seemed very fond of dashes and apparently used long dashes around words and expressions he wanted to emphasize, in place of underlining or where printers might use italics. And while we're here in a footnote, the "s" at the end of "Life Experiences" was in the original (despite the singular article "a" beforehand), but I didn't want a "sic" to interrupt the flow of his words.
In: All, Common-Place Book, Music & Art
Halifax Gay Pride with Police
Isn't this a delightfully cheery headline to see in a Canadian newspaper:
Police force joins gay pride parade
Just imagine seeing that in a US newspaper! This happened in Halifax, Nova Scotia, known hotbed of gay rights activists. (Remember those two Mounties who were to be married this summer?)
As reported by the Chronicle Herald*
For the first time in the event's 19-year history, Halifax Regional Police officially took part in the long march. A senior officer and a few other members of the force were in uniform at the front of the procession, walking behind a police cruiser flying small rainbow flags.
They were joined by folks from all walks of life: students, seniors, children with their parents, trade unionists, dog walkers, metro firefighters and local politicians. Last year, Halifax police said about 7,000 marched in the carnival-like parade. This year's version clearly attracted more participants, but police could not provide an estimate.
It is the city's second-largest parade after the annual Parade of Lights, which is staged for the holiday season.
Deputy Police Chief Chris McNeil, one of the gay pride marchers, said his department wants to reflect the community it serves. He said the police force "is a microcosm of society" and joining the parade was the right thing to do.
Isn't that wonderful: the gay-pride parade is the second-largest parade in Halifax. And read how people responded:
Scores of spectators applauded or waved to happy people staffing floats or carrying banners; other onlookers snapped photos of parade revellers. Among those in the throng were parents of homosexual or lesbian children, drag queens, gay high school students, lesbian teachers and models of the famous cast of the Wizard of Oz who entertained spectators with verve.
Some marchers wore rainbow hats and/or capes; others carried signs and jived to music oozing out of speakers attached to vehicles in the parade. We Do Weddings, one placard read. Another had two messages separated by a crucifix: Love Every Person and No One Excluded.
On Citadel Hill, dozens of spectators hollered and waved to friends in the parade. Others, perhaps tourists who happened to be visiting one of Halifax's landmarks during a Nova Scotia holiday, recorded video images of the colourful event.
Isn't that something! "Colorful"! It begins to sound like Canada is in an alternate universe where people are sensible and everyone comes out to celebrate diversity and join in a colourful parade, the second-largest in the city.
Deputy Police Chief Chris McNeil, one of the gay pride marchers, said his department wants to reflect the community it serves. He said the police force "is a microcosm of society" and joining the parade was the right thing to do.
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*Michael Lightstone, "Police force joins gay pride parade", Chronicle Herald [Halifax, Nova Scotia], 25 July 2006.
Sojourner Truth on Fundraising (NPG II)
A little while back, when we were in Delaware visiting our friends Tom & James, we made an outing to the Delaware Art Museum. One thing that caught my attention there — I was reminded of this because I saw another example of it at the National Portrait Gallery this past weekend — was a small carte de visite for Sojourner Truth. (Here is yet another example, thanks to the Library of Congress.)
What interested me was that she used these cards as fundraising tools. When she made public appearances, she sold these cards — or, perhaps, gave them away in exchange for a donation. Printed on the cards was a photograph of Truth, below which were these words (click on the image in the link above):
I sell the shadow to support the substance.
I was fascinated by what seems to be the vestige of the idea that a photograph takes away some of the essence of a person or might endanger the person's soul, but in this case only "the shadow" seemed endangered, and that in support of a good cause.
In: All, The Art of Conversation
National Portrait Gallery I
This past Saturday Isaac and I found ourselves in need of a cultural outing, so we made a spontaneous visit to the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. They share the same historic building, which has been closed for several years, just reopened on 1 July.
We saw many things of interest — including old friends that we'd felt out of touch with during the renovation — a few of which I'll discuss separately. Those tend to be, among others, portraits by John Singer Sargent. One of my unexpected "finds" this visit was upstairs in the Portrait Gallery: a small portrait of Amelia Earhart, drawn in the 1930s by an artist whose name escapes me. It was amazingly modern and streamlined looking, as well as being a vigorous likeness, all in a space barely larger than a postcard.
In the American Art side there was a special exhibit of works by William Wegman called "Funny/Strange". Some of his earlier works would have been of some interest except that they all seemed overshadowed by his later pieces featuring his friendly Weimaraner dogs (notably, Man Ray and Fay Ray); the show was divided roughly in half with earlier works and more recent works featuring the dogs.
Also in the Portrait Gallery, the Outwin Boochever 2006 Portrait Competition Painting and Sculpture Exhibition. The exhibit displays 51 portraits selected by the jury from the 4000 submitted, and what a diverse and stimulating bunch they were, too! The website gives some idea, but they have a great deal more presence in person, particularly since modern art tends to occupy large areas. I've always been drawn to portraiture, and it was a delight to see so many fresh ideas.
In: All, Music & Art, Reflections
The Rapture as Self-Abuse
In a moment of weakness I was thinking a little about Pre-Millenial Dispensationalism — you know, that wacko, non-Biblical concept about the end-times, The Rapture, does Jesus some pre-Trib or post-Trib thing invented in the late 19th century, when it struck me that the whole thing is a fantastic sublimation of sexual desire, both by its inventors and its followers.
I'm not particularly Freudian, either, so it surprises me that this should be so obviously true. Ah, well — more as the idea develops and I get around to writing about it.
Park on Flakes & Snowflakes
Bob Park on Bush's "historic" veto:
STEM CELLS: PRESIDENT BUSH CHOOSES SUPERSTITION OVER SCIENCE.
On Wednesday, Mr. Bush vetoed the "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act." The first veto of his presidency was exercised to protect surplus embryonic stem cells in fertility clinics from research, thus preserving their "dignity" so they can be put out with the garbage. He did so on the grounds that using them in research would be "murder." This is based on the ancient belief in a "vital life force," or "soul," which is said by some Christians to be assigned at conception. The first sign of differentiation in embryonic cells occurs in about 8 weeks. Jews, however, say that infants don't get a soul until they draw their first breath. They cite Genesis: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." On the other hand, superstition may not be the best guide. Why not turn to science?
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* Robert L. Park, "Bob Park's What's New", Friday, 21 Jul 06; archive at http://www.bobpark.org.
Beard of the Week XIV
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We happened to be in Rome this time during the World Cup Soccer playoffs, which created several curious memories.
The championship was being hosted in Germany. We flew to Europe and back on Lufthansa — entirely pleasant flighs, by the way — which had a severe case of World-Cup fever itself. The noses of many of their jets were painted to look like soccer balls. With our meals we got little pieces of chocolate wrapped in foil to look like little soccer balls; each meal tray had a fold-up schedule of the play-off games. The overhead televisions were almost always showing something soccer related.
Rome, of course, was crazy for soccer by the time we got there. As evidence I offer three views of this advertisement for underwear that featured members of the Italian soccer team. This ad was everywhere — not that I had any complaints about that! For full effect I show three different views of it, roughly approximating the way I appreciated it visually on each encounter. For fuller effect it would be necessary to be in Rome to see it in its 6-meter-tall versions on billboards, its illuminated version in the metro, its mobile version as it appeared on so many buses, and its paper versions plastered on every available surface. It is an enduring visual memento of our visit.
Aurally, it was the sound of distant cheering. On several occasions we would be out in the evenings and would hear now and again distant cheering from several directions: Italy had just scored a goal. And then when they were victorious in their match: the sounds of cars honking their horns. Sometimes we would see one of these cars drive by with someone leaning out the window brandishing a large Italian flag. All would cheer the passing of the car, naturally.
One day Isaac and I made a visit to the church of Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso (Saints Ambrose and Carlo in the Corso, familiarly known as San Carlo al Corso — the Corso is a large boulevard between Piazza del Popolo and the Cathedral of St. John Lateran with much shopping at the upper end). We wanted particularly to drop in because we have a painting in which the dome of San Carlo figures prominantly.
The church was being renovated last time we visited; this time the renovations were complete and the church was looking splendid. I particularly enjoyed two features: the small chapel behind the choir where there was a charming reliquery displaying the heart of Saint Carlo, and posters describing the engineering challenges encountered during the restoration, particularly of the dome, featuring graphs and color photos of models simulating stresses on the dome.
Inside a church like this, one typically hears only very hushed sounds of the street; coupled with the coolness of the interior on the incredibly hot Roman days, the church provided a welcome spot to rest a bit.
While we were inside, there was evidently a soccer match in progress featuring the Italian team, because we frequently heard sounds of distant cheering. Also while we were inside, it seemed that there was an operatic soprano having a music lesson in an apartment across the street. She was practising an aria that I didn't recognize, but the effect put me in mind of the music lesson from Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment".
It was a potently evocative mixture: the quiet hush of the church interior, the occasional distant cheering of the soccer fans, and the desultory display of operatic filagree from the soprano.
Waxman Reports: Bush Abortion Misguidance
This is the latest update from Rep. Henry Waxman's office's keeping an eye on the Bush Administration's shenanigans in manipulating science to suit their own policy agenda.
A new study released by Rep. Henry A. Waxman finds that federally funded pregnancy resource centers often mislead pregnant teens about the medical risks of abortion, telling investigators who posed as pregnant 17-year-olds that abortion leads to breast cancer, infertility, and mental illness.
Under the Bush Administration, pregnancy resource centers, which are also called “crisis pregnancy centers,” have received over $30 million in federal funding. The new report assesses the scientific accuracy of the information they provide. Female investigators, who posed as pregnant 17-year-olds seeking advice about an unintended pregnancy, telephoned the 25 pregnancy resource centers that have received capacity-building funds from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Twenty of the 23 centers reached by the investigators (87%) provided false or misleading information about the health effects of abortion.
- The centers provided false and misleading information about a link between abortion and breast cancer. There is a medical consensus that induced abortion does not cause an increased risk of breast cancer. Despite this consensus, eight centers told the caller that having an abortion would in fact increase her risk. One center said that “all abortion causes an increased risk of breast cancer in later years," while another told the caller that an abortion would “affect the milk developing in her breasts” and that the risk of breast cancer increased by as much as 80% following an abortion.
- The centers provided false and misleading information about the effect of abortion on future fertility. Abortions in the first trimester, using the most common abortion procedure, do not pose an increased risk of infertility. However, seven centers told the caller that having an abortion could hurt her chances of having children in the future. One center said that damage from abortion could lead to “many miscarriages” or to “permanent damage” so “you wouldn’t be able to carry,” telling the caller that this is “common” and happens “a lot.”
- The centers provided false and misleading information about the mental health effects of abortion. Research shows that significant psychological stress after an abortion is no more common than after birth. However, thirteen centers told the caller that the psychological effects of abortion are severe, long-lasting, and common. One center said that the suicide rate in the year after an abortion “goes up by seven times.” Another center said that post-abortion stress suffered by women having abortions is “much like” that seen in soldiers returning from Vietnam and “is something that anyone who’s had an abortion is sure to suffer from.”
Gay Games & Cho
A government that would deny a gay man the right to a bridal registry is a fascist state.
[Mararet Cho in her film "Notorious Cho"; quoted in Jason Anderson's July 2002 review of the film for Toronto Eye; reminded by: Sarah in her interesting piece about the opening of this year's Gay Games,* "Lois Lane'ing The Gay Games VII", at Shakespeare's Sister, 17 July 2006.]
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*For those who like to adopt a condescending attitude towards the Gay Games vs the Olympics, consider two facts: 1) The Gay Games is the largest international athletic event in the world; and 2) in their earliest days (in the 80s), the Gay Games were known briefly as the "Gay Olympics" until the International Olympic Committee threatened a lawsuit because they couldn't allow just anyone to use the word "Olympics", which is why you never hear anything else called the Whatever Olympics, right?
This last bit, by the way, led to one of the more interesting phone conversations I had with a rude telemarketer. I got the call shortly after the IOC came up with this homophobic outburst — it was a woman looking for support for the "Special Olympics". Clearly, I had my own reasons why I didn't react positively to the idea of another "olympics", but my refusing her request only led her to ask in a rather strident voice: "What have you got against retarted kids?"
Gay Games VII is going on right now in Chicago. In 2010, Gay Games VIII will be in Cologne.
Singing Sand Dunes
From Physics News Update,* I found this item (given entire below) of interest, no doubt because it touches on several sub-disciplines of physics that used to attract my research interest.
DUNE TUNES. For centuries, world travelers have known of sand dunes that issue loud sounds, sometimes of great tonal quality. In the 12th century Marco Polo heard singing sand in China and Charles Darwin described the clear sounds coming from a sand deposit up against a mountain in Chile. Now, a team of scientists has disproved the long held belief that the sound comes from vibrations of the dune as a whole and proven, through field studies and through controlled experiments in a lab, that the sounds come from the synchronized motions of the grains in avalanches of a certain size. Small avalanches don’t produce any detectable sound, while large avalanches produce sound at lots of frequencies (leading to cacophonous noise). But sand slides of just the right size and velocity result in sounds of a pure frequency, with just enough overtones to give the sound “color,” as if the dunes were musical instruments. In this case, however, the uning isn’t produced by any outside influence but by critically self-organizing tendencies of the dune itself. The researchers thus rule out various “musical” explanations. For example, the dune sound does not come from the stick-slip motion of blocks of sand across the body of the dune (much as violin sounds are made by the somewhat-periodic stick-slip motion of a bow across a string attached to the body of the violin). Nor does the dune song arise from a resonance effect (much as resonating air inside a flute produces a pure tone) since it is observed that the dune sound level can be recorded at many locations around the dune. Instead, the sand sound comes from the synchronized, free sliding motion of dry larger-grained sand producing lower frequency sound. The scientists—from the University of Paris (France), Harvard (US), the CNRS lab in Paris, and the Universite Ibn Zohr (Morocco)—have set up a website (http://www.lps.ens.fr/~douady/SongofDunesIndex.html) where one can listen to sounds from different dunes in China, Oman, Morocco, and Chile. (Douady et al., Physical Review Letters, upcoming article; contact Stephane Douady at douady@lps.ens.fr)
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* The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News, Number 785 July 17, 2006, by Phillip F. Schewe, Ben Stein, and Davide Castelvecchi. http://www.aip.org/pnu
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Economic Growth: A Spectator Sport
Paul Krugman:
Here’s what happened in 2004. The U.S. economy grew 4.2 percent, a very good number. Yet last August the Census Bureau reported that real median family income — the purchasing power of the typical family — actually fell. Meanwhile, poverty increased, as did the number of Americans without health insurance. So where did the growth go?
The answer comes from the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, whose long-term estimates of income equality have become the gold standard for research on this topic, and who have recently updated their estimates to include 2004. They show that even if you exclude capital gains from a rising stock market, in 2004 the real income of the richest 1 percent of Americans surged by almost 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, the average real income of the bottom 99 percent of the population rose only 1.5 percent. In other words, a relative handful of people received most of the benefits of growth.
There are a couple of additional revelations in the 2004 data. One is that growth didn’t just bypass the poor and the lower middle class, it bypassed the upper middle class too. Even people at the 95th percentile of the income distribution — that is, people richer than 19 out of 20 Americans — gained only modestly. The big increases went only to people who were already in the economic stratosphere.
The other revelation is that being highly educated was no guarantee of sharing in the benefits of economic growth. There’s a persistent myth, perpetuated by economists who should know better — like Edward Lazear, the chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers — that rising inequality in the United States is mainly a matter of a rising gap between those with a lot of education and those without. But census data show that the real earnings of the typical college graduate actually fell in 2004.
In short, it’s a great economy if you’re a high-level corporate executive or someone who owns a lot of stock. For most other Americans, economic growth is a spectator sport.
[excerpt from Paul Krugman, "Left Behind Economics", New York Times via True Blue Liberal, 14 July 2006.]
Beard of the Week XIII
The rather tardy BoW this week belongs to your truly. In this shot I am caught eating a sardine in — naturally — a Sardinian restaurant called "La Tana Sarda" (in the San Lorenzo section of Rome, Via Tiburtina, 134). It was thought of as "Jeff's Favorite Restaurant", but that was only because Isaac and I had eaten there on our previous trip to Rome and enjoyed it, and it was a place that could accommodate our entire group of 22 people on this trip, so we palnned an outing there. However, a different restaurant (to be discussed later) altogether was adopted as our restaurant on this trip.
For me it was a seafood evening. I had a plate of mixed seafood antipasti (cold salads featuring different treasures from the sea) and then a seafood mixed grill, all very yummy. This place was inexpensive and located near one of the universities, and had a casual, noisy, and somewhat rowdy approach to dining.
One of the best things anyone at my table had all evening was a deep-fried fillet of bacalà (salt cod). My only familiarity with bacalà came via a fellow graduate student back in the days. His background was Italian and he tended to call people who irritated him "bacalà". Between that and knowing that it was cod preserved with salt, which required a great deal of preparation (mostly rinsing in water) before eating, made it all sound less than appetizing. However, this bacalà fritti was delicious in the extreme. Before we were done, three had been ordered and consumed (because the first two never made it to the person who had ordered it).
Three New Things
Three items in this week's issue of "What's New", by Bob Park,* amused me enough to share. That I found these amusing may tell you more about me than anything.#
1. ABC PRIMETIME: WAKE UP ABC, IT'S THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY!
Here's the scene: Adam Dreamhealer is a normal 19 year-old, who wears an earring, has a tattoo, pumps iron, and all that stuff. A regular guy, except he has this gift. It came from a 4-foot tall blackbird he encountered on a strange island. The bird downloaded all the world's knowledge into Adam's head. Now Adam goes into trances in dark rooms to manipulate quantum holograms with his hands. (Tom Cruise in Minority Report?) It enables Adam to cure cancers that haven't been verified by biopsy. How does it work? "Quantum mechanics." An over-the-hill physicist said scientists "groan" at that explanation. He said more but it was cut. Dr. Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14 fame came on and agreed with Adam that it must be quantum mechanics. It was Mitchell who carried out ESP experiments from space, and now worries about all of these UFO visits. He is the author of Quantum Holography: A Basis for the Interface Between Mind and Matter. Why am I telling you this? Because I was the "over-the-hill physicist" who allowed himself to be used. I will perform any penance WN readers feel is appropriate. I really should have known better: http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn021105.html.2. DOUBLE BLIND: WHAT THE MEDIA JUST CAN'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND.
Feynman once described science as "what we have learned about how not to fool ourselves." The most important discovery in medicine is the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled test, by means of which we learn what works and what doesn't. When I was first contacted by ABC about Adam Dreamhealer, a producer asked how I would respond to Adam's claims? "I would ask for the test results," I replied. But of course, there are no test results. That's the point. And it's the only point ABC needed to make.4. SOUL SEARCHING: ZYGOTES, PEOPLE, AND THE TWIN PARADOXES.
Several readers commented on last week's science v. religion story that, if a zygote is assigned a soul, identical twins would have to share a soul. One reader noted that in the very rare case of chimerism, which involves the fusion of two paternal twin zygotes, one person would have two souls. Identical twins, however, as we all know, are not identical. Many connections in the brain, mostly dealing with language, are still not completed at birth. In the sense that our "essence" is our "soul," the soul keeps changing throughout life.
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* Archive at http://www.bobpark.org. Bob: when are you going to start the "What's New Blog"?
# It should go without saying that physicists often have an inscrutible sense of humor, particularly when it comes to physics jokes; that is to say, there are things that physicists find knee-slappingly funny that makes no sense to others.
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Laughing Matters