Work(s) in Progress

Scientific Humor

A good friend of mine sent me this image today. Nature is one of the premiere scientific journals in the world, some would argue the #1 journal in which to publish. It is however based in Europe and not the US. I'm sure that when they placed the advertisement on the back cover, that they had no idea what would be on the front cover.

 

I was not the only one to notice. 

Go Dilbert

I'm a big fan of Scott Adams' blog. While I don't always "get" Dilbert, I do like to read about Scott's writings that go behind and beyond his work.

Scott recently paid for a survey of economists to assess their opinions on the ability of the two major US Presidential Candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to have a positive impact on the major economic challenges facing our country. You can learn more on CNN and Scott's blog.

A strong majority of economists are democratic, a fact which surprised me. Scott had the surveyed economists rate the major economic issues and then rank the presidential candidates with respect to those issues.

Education was #1. Let me say that again, Education was #1. I have always believed this in a very visceral way. If you want to change the world in the long term, education is the only answer. Clearly, I am not alone in this belief. The next key issues were Health care, International trade, Energy, Encouraging technology and innovation (let's hear it for Entrepreneurship! of course I am biased.), and the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (homeland security).

On these key issues, Barack Obama was the clear winner, except for International Trade. I found this to be funny since so many people around the world hope that Obama will become our next president (see e.g. this article). Of course, the entire survey is biased given that most of the economists are Democratic (and thus lean towards Obama); in spite of this limitation, I found the data very interesting.

 

Of course if you don't want to ponder the substantive issues (or data), watch this parody instead. As the fake Hillary challenges the media to grow a pair, so to do I offer mine. Get some.

Quiet

Lots on my mind, not much to say in public. I've been keeping a private journal recently. I got in the habit of writing but don't have much to share at the moment.

I met with a doctor this morning to discuss tubal ligation. When they called to schedule a surgery date, I learned that it will occur the day the judge is scheduled to sign my divorce decree. I don't believe in a higher power but I sometimes feel the universe is laughing.

I try to stay above the political fray on this blog. I will say that Sarah Palin scares me. I am a registered independent. I loved the idea of McCain in 2000. I was less certain for this year. His VP choice has made it very clear that Obama is the candidate for me. If you wonder why I am frightened, I can only say, watch this:

I have no words, just abject terror at the idea that she could be our nation's leader..

So, if you are looking for wonderful things to read:

I really enjoyed Brad Feld's recent post Simplify. The idea of the "sunk cost" was one of the most important ones I learned in Business School. I tend to apply it EVERYWHERE in my life.  

Julie Berg has completed yet another 100 Mile race with a truly inspiring race write up. Be sure to buy her magic blister repelling foot potion. I have been reading Julie's blog since about 2004. If her most recent race post inspires you, I encourage you to start at post #1. She is always surprised that people find her inspiring. She is quite simply amazing.

Christine Kane recently gave a speech at a college orientation. I loved her rant on "anything worth doing is worth doing badly." I especially LOVED this part:

"Sucking is highly under-rated. Sucking should be celebrated. Sucking teaches you that sucking is not the problem. Not trying at all is the problem. Trying to be cool is the problem. Worrying about what everyone thinks of you is the problem. "

Amen.