Brian Gongol
Thanks to all veterans on Veterans Day
Show notes from the Brian Gongol Show on November 11, 2007
UK will spend about $20 million getting scientists to communicate with the public
A brilliant move, to be sure. It's extremely disappointing to note that many scientists think it's bad for their careers to be known as popularizers. Popularization of technical and academic subjects is quite possibly the most important job out there: It keeps the public engaged and supportive, and it ensures that the research scientists and technicians do has applications for the real world (which funds their work).
Congress spins its wheels on immigration reform
Part of the problem is that public attention was brought to a boil on the matter, but few were talking about the only answer that really makes any sense: Raising the limits on the number of immigrants allowed into the country legally each year. And for all the posturing done by anti-immigrant politicians, the likelihood of being able to send 12 million undocumented immigrants back to their original countries is nil. What would they propose to do, increase the US Marshals Service by ten-fold? We have vastly better things to do with law-enforcement time and manpower, like hunting for missing kids and capturing the most-wanted fugitives.
Pakistan will hold elections on time after all
That's a small but important victory for the rule of law
Solution to mass death of bees may have been found
Sale on cooking oil leads to stampede
Three people were killed; it happened in Chongqing, China -- which even though most Americans have never heard of it, is the fastest-growing city in the world, with more than 31 million people
