NASA-Cassini Backlit Photo of Saturn

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Winter in Switzerland

A Wall Street Journal Photo of the Year

Those Evil Roman Catholics!

Justin Pope, Private College Presidents Pay Was up Slightly (Dec. 10, 2012):

Compensation for private college presidents has continued to drift upward, while the number crossing the $1 million barrier — a signal of prestige, and a magnet for criticism — held steady at 36, according to a new survey.

The latest annual compilation by The Chronicle of Higher Education covers data from 2010, due to lag time in the release of federal tax information. That year, median compensation for the 494 presidents in the survey — leaders of institutions with budgets of at least $50 million — was $396,649, or 2.8 percent higher than in last year's survey. But median base salary fell slightly, by less than 1 percent.

The highest paid was Bob Kerrey, who was president of The New School in New York until December 2010 before returning to Nebraska, where he made an unsuccessful run to return to the U.S Senate. Kerrey's total compensation was valued at just over $3 million. His base salary was just over $600,000, but he received the remainder in the form of a retention bonus, deferred compensation and other benefits.

[snip, snip]

Then there's the other end of the scale — presidents of roughly two dozen Roman Catholic institutions including Villanova University, Boston College, Marquette and a number of smaller schools, whose compensation is zero. All are either clergy or members of religious orders.

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A New and Old Christmas Season

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A Jersey City Thanksgiving

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A New Day Dawns - and the Stock Market Plummets

Dow's 300-Point Slide Takes It Back to August Levels Wall Street Journal, mid-day, November 7, 2012 What will happen tomorrow, I wonder.   &&& The dynamic evidence page

Bird Brains & the Valor of feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals

 Alan Cowell, A Bird Skeleton, a Code, and, Maybe, a Top Secret NYTimes (Nov. 1, 2012):

 

It kept its secret for decades. It perished in the process. It died, experts say, a valiant death, most likely on a hush-hush mission over wartime France, and was then, like so many others, forgotten.

 

But now, decades after the final flight of military carrier pigeon 40TW194, the bird’s secret message has become a matter of state and the grist of headlines. After a concerted campaign by pigeon fanciers, the encrypted message, which had been folded into a scarlet capsule on the pigeon’s leg, has now been sent to Britain’s top-secret GCHQ listening post and decoding department outside Gloucester to the west of London. 

[snip, snip]

 

The tale of 40TW194 speaks to many themes — among them, animal heroism. The Dickin Medal, Britain’s highest decoration for animal valor, has been awarded to 64 feathered, furry or four-legged creatures, including 32 pigeons, since 1943, making birds the bravest of the brave. They include an American pigeon called G.I. Joe, or Pigeon USA43SC6390, which, according to its citation, “brought a message which arrived just in time to save the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers from being bombed by their own planes.”

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2012.10.17.F

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2012.10.17.E

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2012.10.17.D

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2012.10.17.C

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2012.10.17.B

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2012.10.17.A

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Whirlpool Galaxy

Source: The Telegraph:

Australian based photographer Martin Pugh has claimed the top prize in the Royal Observatory’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for the second time, after originally winning the accolade back in 2009. As well as securing the £1,500 top prize, his image takes pride of place in the exhibition of winning photographs opening at the Royal Observatory Greenwich on 20 September.

Pugh impressed the judges in this year’s competition with the depth and clarity of his winning shot depicting the famous Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). The image combines incredible detail in the galaxy’s spiral arms with the faint tails of light that show M51’s small companion galaxy being gradually torn apart by the gravity of its giant neighbour; a closer look also reveals more distant galaxies beyond.

Deep Space category winner, and overall winner: M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy by Martin Pugh (Australia)

Picture: Martin Pugh
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Bibi

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Greek and Spanish Tragedies?

It seems more apparent than ever -- see A Greek Tragedy --  that Greece and Spain should have withdrawn from the Euro Zone. There is something bizarrely wrong with an economic and political theory that holds it is worth throwing countries into depression instead of making adjustments to the Euro.

Symbols are sometimes pernicious things.

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Keeping Things in an Ever-Deeper Perspective

The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field:

NASA Photo

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Vote for Obama - It's...

the religious and non-racist thing to do.
So sez Rev. Calvin O. Butts III. See 

This presidential election is all about race, noted preacher says

Did he really say that?
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Clint Eastwood's Show

Am I the only person on earth who found Clint Eastwood's "rambling" talk clever, witty, and cutting? Of course, it's true Eastwood didn't say anything of substance. But neither did anyone else. Clint Eastwood's talk was "memorable" and it will be remembered -- and that, presumably, is why gave the performance he did.

I don't think Eastwood rambled. I think his talk was carefully designed (by Eastwood).

It would probably be better if most of these Presidential nominating conventions were not held at all. They are almost pure show.

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Neil Armstrong

Statement of family on death of Neil Armstrong: 

We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. 

Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. 

Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a community leader in Cincinnati. 

He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits. 

As much as Neil cherished his privacy, he always appreciated the expressions of good will from people around the world and from all walks of life. 

While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves. 

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A Great Mistake: Paul Ryan

See David Kendall & Ryan McConaghy, 

Medicare in the Ryan Budget: What it Would Mean for You

The truth is that social welfare programs, including medical care programs, cost large amounts of money and this brute fact cannot be avoided. Yes, medical costs must be controlled. But Ryan's proposed program is a shabby way, a terrible way, of doing that. N.B. If you do not believe in social welfare programs, don't bother reading the above publication. &&& The dynamic evidence page

Death of James Elliot, Astronomer

I just learned of the death of James Elliot in 2011. Jim led the team that discovered the rings of Uranus. He was a high school classmate of mine. He tried to learn spoken Russian from my mother.

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2012.06.07

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