A small but very nice expression on beauty and life by Richard Feynman…
Richard Feynman on Beauty
Richard Feynman | YouTube | 2 Oct 11
________________________________________________________________________________ Richard Feynman was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world. In a 1999 poll of 130 leading physicists worldwide by the British journal Physics World he was ranked as one of the ten greatest physicists of all time.
Feynman assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, he has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing and introducing the concept of nanotechnology. Richard Feynman held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
I have been addicted to the music of Joni Mitchell for years. Lately I have enjoyed reading the lyrics to her songs while listening to her sing. This has opened a whole new door to her amazing skill as a writer that I never fully appreciated. Every now and then we are fortunate to witness an artistic genius, a master who is capable of rendering the human spirit in paint or song or words in a way never done before. Joni Mitchell is such an artist. Listen to one of my favorites…
The myth that Barack Obama is a big spender was covered here before (see “Obama Spending Binge Never Happened” May 2012.) What makes this article stand out is that it comes from Forbes Magazine, a source not known for supporting Administration economic policy…
The Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower
Rick Ungar | Forbes | 24 May 12
It’s enough to make even the most ardent Obama cynic scratch his head in confusion.
Amidst all the cries of Barack Obama being the most prolific big government spender the nation has ever suffered, Marketwatch is reporting that our president has actually been tighter with a buck than any United States president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
To introduce this article I was going to tell a banker joke. The problem is that bankers don’t think they’re funny and normal people don’t think they’re jokes. That point is made clear in this article by Robert Reich on the LIBOR scandal…
The Wall Street Scandal of all Scandals
Robert Reich | RobertReich.org | 7 July 12
Just when you thought Wall Street couldn’t sink any lower – when its myriad abuses of public trust have already spread a miasma of cynicism over the entire economic system, giving birth to Tea Partiers and Occupiers and all manner of conspiracy theories; when its excesses have already wrought havoc with the lives of millions of Americans, causing taxpayers to shell out billions (of which only a portion has been repaid) even as its top executives are back to making more money than ever; when its vast political power (via campaign contributions) has already eviscerated much of the Dodd-Frank law that was supposed to rein it in, including the so-called “Volker” Rule that was sold as a milder version of the old Glass-Steagall Act that used to separate investment from commercial banking – yes, just when you thought the Street had hit bottom, an even deeper level of public-be-damned greed and corruption is revealed.
This video may strike some as old news. It has, after all, been a week or so since the Supreme Court issued its stunning announcement regarding the constitutionality of “ObamaCare”. One oft-heard criticism of the administration is that they have done a poor job of explaining the healthcare law. Aside from ‘Death Panels’ and ‘taxes on the middle class’ disguised as penalties, we really have not had much to go on in assessing what this law is all about. Or so they say. So that’s why I’m posting this video. Here you are folks. Listen up!
At the end of this article Prof. Reich suggests that one reason the Democrats have been so timid about “casino capitalism” is because their political fortunes depend on protecting the Wall Street banks that created the mess we’re in and that the mess is worse than any of them care to admit. Even more frightening is that with regard to economic policy and wealth distribution in this country there’s not that much difference between the two parties. They both want your money and will do just about anything to get it…
Mitt Romney and the New Gilded Age
Robert Reich | Robert Reich.org | 30 Jun 12
The election of 2012 raises two perplexing questions. The first is how the GOP could put up someone for president who so brazenly epitomizes the excesses of casino capitalism that have nearly destroyed the economy and overwhelmed our democracy. The second is why the Democrats have failed to point this out.
If you have any interest at all in the subject of race in America you must watch and listen to this interview by Bill Moyers with Khalil Gibran Muhammad, head of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and author of ‘The Condemnation of Blackness’, Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America. I have never heard anyone talk so clearly and effectively about American history and the black experience. Listening to this man is like learning that you only have one eye and it’s been shut most of your life…
Confronting the Contradictions of America’s Past
Khalil Gibran Muhammad | Bill Moyers | 29 Jun 12
________________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad is the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, one of the world’s leading research facilities dedicated to the history of the African diaspora. Prior to joining the Schomburg Center in 2011, Dr. Muhammad was an assistant professor of history at Indiana University for five years. While there, he wrote the book The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and the Making of Modern Urban America, in which he explored the roots of the popular conception of black criminality in America. Mr. Muhammad is the great-grandson of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, and son of Ozier Muhammad, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times photographer.
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