Unqualified Offerings

By Thoreau
Early accounts are that the budget deal includes no tax increase, and most of the cuts come from non-military spending.  Now, in asking why our most audaciously hopeful Democrat struck such decidedly not-Progressive “deal”, there are two distinct issues to consider:
1) Why wasn’t the deal very progressive?
2) Why wasn’t it more progressive than it [...]

By Thoreau
I admit to not being a fan of the concept of work-life balance in academia.  I know that I just exiled myself from polite company by saying that, but I’ve never been terribly polite, so, fvck it.  My reasons are, in no particular order:
1) No matter how noble the concept, it’s also a buzzword, [...]

By Thoreau
Strangely enough, I have observed the following in some internal politics recently:
1)  An organized minority is indeed a political majority.
2) When that minority is motivated by a combination of a dumb idea and a determination to not cooperate with another person, they will shoot themselves in the foot and call it virtue.
So, yes, this [...]

By Thoreau
I changed sub-fields after grad school, so there’s only so much that my PhD advisor can do for my career.  My postdoc advisor has not been very involved in my career since I left the group.  And a lot of my senior colleagues are not very research active, so there’s only so much they [...]

By Thoreau
Jennifer has written one of the greatest cover letters of all time.  It is to cover letters what this is to lab reports.  Too bad the prospective employer is on the verge of bankruptcy.

By Thoreau
A week or so ago I observed that some cow-orkers are refusing to obey the Principle of Least Action in a rare case where minimizing their work would in fact be a good thing.  I can’t describe exactly what they’re doing, all I can say is that, for a lot of reasons (only one [...]

By Thoreau
Joan Walsh is absolutely convinced that she’s cheering for the stupid party:
Now, Boehner knows a balanced budget amendment bill can’t pass. Hell, he probably doesn’t even want it. But this is the way the GOP ups the ante every time the president gets close to a deal.
And what did the president do? [...]

By Thoreau
I’ve been reading commentary on the debt ceiling negotiations in Salon.com and other places, and I’m struck by how many Democrats are vacillating between two explanations for Obama offering cuts to Medicare and/or Social Security in exchange for few (if any) concrete revenue increases:
1) 11-dimensional chess:  He knew that the House Republicans wouldn’t accept [...]

By Thoreau
The title of this post is what my wife said when it was learned that the mass-casualty attacks in Norway were apparently carried out by a white guy born in Norway.  And, sadly, I agree with her.
It’s not the being killed by a hateful guy from the Middle East is any worse than being [...]

By Thoreau
I have occasionally gotten quite frustrated with certain people who build their lives around the Principle of Least Action.  Yes, it can often lead to efficiency, but if followed without exception it can also lead to ignoring work that needs to be done, or foisting things on co-workers.  Balance in all things, a time [...]