The Consequences of Giving Advice

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Jazz great, Dave Brubeck, died on December 5, 2012, a day shy of his 92nd birthday. I was surprised to learn that in college, he was originally majoring in veterinary science.

He turned to music when the head of the zoology department at the College of the Pacific gave him this piece of advice:

Brubeck, your mind's not here. It's across the lawn in the conservatory. Please go there. Stop wasting my time and yours. 

CREDIT: Frank C. Müller

Had I been that professor we might never had experienced Take Five.

An end note.  He graduated with his bachelor's degree without learning to read music.

Remember Pompei?

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Pompei and Herculaneum were destroyed in 79 C.E. when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.

CREDIT: Vesuvius National Park

From Wikipedia:Ring Lady - "The skeletal remains of a young woman killed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. The skeleton, unearthed from the ruins of Herculaneum in 1982, was named the "Ring Lady" because of the emerald and ruby rings found on the woman's left hand. Two gold bracelets and gold earrings were also found by the woman's side."
Pompei today with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

CREDIT: Qfl247

Here is a view of Mt. Vesuvius from the International Space Station on Jan. 1, 2013. At bottom right of the photo is the outskirts of Naples. Between 4.1 and 4.7 million people live in the greater metropolitan area.  By the way, this is an active volcano.

CREDIT: Cmdr. Mark Hadfield

An Inventory of the Furniture in Dr. Priestley's Study

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Professor Eckstrom, a colleague of mine in the English department at Rio Hondo College, passed along a couple of poems.  They were written by Anna Laeticia Barbauld (née Aikin).  The first, reprinted below, is An Inventory of the Furniture in Dr. Priestley's Study; the second is The Mouse's Petition (To Dr. Priestly) that Prof. Eckstrom tells me is about a mouse that inhabited Priestley's study.

Portrait by Ellen Sharples, 1794,
National Portrait Galleery, London.

Joseph Priestly is usually credited with the discover of oxygen - what he called dephlogisticated air.  In his study of gases, he also discovered nitric oxide (nitrous air), hydrochloric acid (vapor of the spirit of salt), ammonia (alkaline air), and nitrous oxide (diminished air).  Priestley also wrote The History and Present State of Electricity, the authoritative text that was widely used for over hundred years.  In this text is the first demonstration of the inverse square nature of the electrostatic force and a detailed description of Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment.
In 1761, Priestley moved to Warrington, not far from Liverpool and Manchester.  He became a tutor at an academy where Barbauld's father also taught.  She became good friends with Priestley and his wife.  
Now to the poetry.


An Inventory of the Furniture in Dr. Priestley's Study

A map of every country known, 
With not a foot of land his own. 
A list of folks that kicked a dust 
On this poor globe, from Ptol. the First; 
He hopes,–indeed it is but fair,– 
Some day to get a corner there. 
A group of all the British kings, 
Fair emblem! on a packthread swings. 
The Fathers, ranged in goodly row, 
A decent, venerable show, 
Writ a great while ago, they tell us, 
And many an inch o'ertop their fellows. 
A Juvenal to hunt for mottos; 
And Ovid's tales of nymphs and grottos. 
The meek-robed lawyers, all in white; 
Pure as the lamb,–at least, to sight. 
A shelf of bottles, jar and phial, 
By which the rogues he can defy all,– 
All filled with lightning keen and genuine, 
And many a little imp he'll pen you in; 
Which, like Le Sage's sprite, let out, 
Among the neighbors makes a rout; 
Brings down the lightning on their houses, 
And kills their geese, and frights their spouses. 
A rare thermometer, by which 
He settles, to the nicest pitch, 
The just degrees of heat, to raise 
Sermons, or politics, or plays. 
Papers and books, a strange mixed olio, 
From shilling touch to pompous folio; 
Answer, remark, reply, rejoinder, 
Fresh from the mint, all stamped and coined here; 
Like new-made glass, set by to cool, 
Before it bears the workman's tool. 
A blotted proof-sheet, wet from Bowling. 
–"How can a man his anger hold in?"– 
Forgotten rimes, and college themes, 
Worm-eaten plans, and embryo schemes;– 
A mass of heterogenous matter, 
A chaos dark, nor land nor water;– 
New books, like new-born infants, stand, 
Waiting the printer's clothing hand;– 
Others, a motley ragged brood, 
Their limbs unfashioned all, and rude, 
Like Cadmus' half-formed men appear; 
One rears a helm, one lifts a spear, 
And feet were lopped and fingers torn 
Before their fellow limbs were born; 
A leg began to kick and sprawl 
Before the head was seen at all, 
Which quiet as a mushroom lay 
Till crumbling hillocks gave it way; 
And all, like controversial writing, 
Were born with teeth, and sprung up fighting.
"But what is this," I hear you cry, 
"Which saucily provokes my eye?"– 
A thing unknown, without a name, 
Born of the air, and doomed to flame.

Jose Canseco - Physicist/Paleontologist/Geologist

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CREDIT: Major League Baseball

Jose Canseco, former Oakland A outfielder, was the first to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in major league baseball.  He must now be a professor of physics, paleontology, and geology.  I can't find where.

He has recently take to Twitter to explain the changes in the strength of the gravitational interaction and the effect it has had on animal physiology.  He then hypothesizes that the reason the gravity has intensified over the millennia because the Earth's core shifted.

I look forward to reading the peer-reviewed articles.  I understand Derek Jeter, Roger Clemons, and Ryne Sandberg will be doing the reviews.

CREDIT: Gawker

Kansas to Teach Evidence Against Germ and Atomic Theory

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Remember Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister?  They were two of the scientists responsible for the acceptance of germ theory - the theory that some infectious diseases were caused by microorganisms and controversial before the 19th century and the scientific evidence in its favor,

Remember Antoine Lavoisier, John Dalton, Robert Brown, J.J. Thompson, and Ernst Rutherford? These were some of the chemists and physicists responsive for demonstrating the reality of the atom and its subatomic constituents. Another example where the evidence conclusively pointed toward the existence of these once hypothesized particles.

CREDIT: University of Kansas

Now thanks to the Kansas House Education Committee, students will have to review not only the germ theory, but the competing miasma theory of disease.  Students will have to consider the counter evidence to the atomic theory presented by alchemy and the Classical Greek science of the four elements (air, fire, water, earth).

What does the K stand for in KU and K-State?  One day, it won't be knowledge.

CREDIT: Kansas State University

Wis Manufacturing & Commerce Building Attacked by Progressives

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What the progressive socialists liberal Democrats don't seem to understand when they do this to high profile buildings just proves to the community that this is the true face of the new Democrat party. The destruction of property as a way to take away individual freedom, first amendment rights, show just who the are and what they intend to do in the future.

Progressive socialists are infested with disorder and hate for anyone that disagrees with them and their personal agenda for power and control. If you have ever attended a Tea Party rally, it's becomes very clear quickly they want to take away your first amendment rights of free speech and assembly.

Did you ever wonder why when the progressives have a rally, there never is any disruption from protesters. No blowing on horns or whistles, and no beating on drums or signing of protest song on a megaphone. Why is that?

WMC Offices Vandalized
By Collin Roth

The tolerant left on display again.

On Wednesday, the headquarters of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) was vandalized with spray paint and broken glass on the same day they hosted a Business Day in Madison. Pictures from the WMC building reveal shattered glass in the front door and green and purple paint doused on the building.

The vandalism comes on the same day that the Wisconsin Wave protested WMC in "Day of Action." In a statement yesterday, Wisconsin Wave said, "It is time to clean the house of government and remove the corporate lobbyists from the temple of democracy. It is time to shut the chamber."
How democratic. Does anyone really believe that the vandalism was coincidental? Of course this isn't the first time WMC has been vandalized. In June 2011, WMC had chalk and paint thrown on the building and sidewalks with slogans like "tax the rich."

College Students Ravaged by A Worthless Education

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I know you have heard this all many times before, but every time the federal government gets involved in anything, it becomes a nightmare of fraud and waste. With the college fund now over 1 trillion in debt and most graduates looking for work, how will that debt be paid?

Worse, our fearless leader is talking about college loan forgiveness. He says the taxpayers will pay the tab, the only thing the student has to do to get out of debt is vote the right way, he'll do the rest.

Of course, our leader has no intention of doing anything to help the ravaged students and their huge debt and ignorance of life itself. They are just useful tools for Mr Obama and his ilk to expanded his voter base.

By the way, who voted for this last November? Where are they now - still sleeping or texting from the student union complaining about the slow service!!

The Job Market: Is College Overrated?
February 20, 2013
Source: Pamela Villarreal, "The Job Market: Is College Overrated?" National Center for Policy Analysis, February 2013.

During the most recent economic downturn, college graduates have had a hard time finding work after they earn their degree. Predominant public policies and a mismatch between college graduate supply and job demand are the two primary reasons that half of all college graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed or underemployed, says Pamela Villarreal, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.

• Though many jobs do not require four-year degrees, the U.S. Department of Education made $166 billion dollars in loans in 2012.
• With an outpouring of federal funding, college costs have risen 130 percent more than inflation since 1988.

The mismatch between the number of graduates produced and the jobs available is evident in the teaching profession, where colleges have turned out more than a quarter of a million bachelor's or master's degrees annually since 2000, despite the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating that only 539,100 teaching positions will be available between 2010 and 2020.
Though we are graduating more youth than ever before, some of the faster job growth is projected for work opportunities that do not require a college degree, including apprenticeship jobs commonly found in skilled trades, machinists, mechanics and drivers.

• Job growth for brick masons, plumbers and construction equipment operators is projected to grow by 40 percent, 26 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
• Villarreal says that jobs that require only an associate's degree or vocational training will experience significant growth rates in the coming decade.
• Demand for diagnostic medical sonographers will increase 44 percent, occupational therapy assistant jobs will increase by 41 percent and dental hygienist jobs will grow by 38 percent.

Some jobs requiring a bachelor's or master's degree are expected to grow. For example, demand will increase for biomedical engineering jobs (a 62 percent increase), software engineers (a 30 percent increase), market research analyst positions (a 41 percent increase) and cost estimators (a 36 percent increase).

Villarreal demonstrates that there is a mismatch between job demand through the next decade and the graduates we are producing. It is important that the federal government stop interfering in employment and education markets by curtailing federal student loan programs and equalizing tax credits for all students at all colleges, be they four year or otherwise.