Freedom!!!!!

I turned in my fall 2011 grades. Overall the students did ok; then again you’d expect that from differential equation and upper division students.

I learned a few things along the way too, though hopefully the students learned far more.

Workout notes
I am still weak; I think that yesterday’s bathroom fest was caused by a combination of the department lunch (“home style” buffet) and dinner (Chinese buffet). My digestive track just couldn’t handle what I put into it. Yesterday was the “bananas and bagels” thing and that worked out ok.

So today I could work out a bit; I had a SLOW 4 mile run (untimed) which featured 3 hills. This was followed by a “60 percent” weight workout; basically I lightened up on the weight and did about 60 percent of what I normally do:
rows: 2 sets of 10 x 190
pull downs: 2 sets of 10 x 140
curls: 2 sets of 10 x 42 (pulley)
bench: 10 x 135, 5 x 155, 5 x 155
push-backs: 2 sets of 10 x 110 each leg
adduction: 2 sets of 10 x 190
abduction: 10 x 190, 10 x 170
sit ups: 4 sets of 25: level 1, 2, 3, 1
incline press: 2 sets of 8 x 125
military press: 1 set of 15 x 40 dumbbell, 10 x 75 seated on a machine.

So, it was better than nothing at all, but I sure am weak.

Posts
You’ve heard the disparaging term: liberal elite. The post I’ve linked to says that this might not be such a strong line of attack anymore as the gap between the true economic elite (the 1 percent, or perhaps 0.1 percent) and the rest of us widens. Roughly speaking: if you’ve met someone and have anything resembling a real relationship with them, they aren’t in the economic elite.

This post: talks about science and, no matter what Fox News says, is NOT like politics. It is true that scientists are subject to human foibles but as far as science itself: there is no “liberal” vs. “conservative” faction. There are some rivalries between disciplines and perhaps between the experimenters and the theorists, but it isn’t like politics.

Christopher Hitchens is Dead and…

Well, Mr. Hitchens was a successful writer. I enjoyed some of his work and mostly enjoyed his writing; I disagreed with him strongly on the Iraq war. No, I did not see him as one of the very smartest people in the nation (e. g., not with the top scientists or mathematicians) but he was a very smart guy who was very broadly educated.

The world will be a bit less without his work.

Here is what I have to say: yes, some out there are saying that they are glad that he is dead. Though I never knew Mr. Hitchens personally, I doubt that he’d mind their saying that. Here is Mr. Hitchens on the Hannity/Colmes show (Fox News) discussing the death of Jerry Falwell.

By the way, I can recommend the book God Is Not Great to any thinking person, atheist or theist or otherwise. Note: his writing is at a higher level than his snarky public performance shown above.