Campanastan

Breaking Bad Bashar

Barry Blitt's great cover 'Bad Chemistry' from the 30 September issue of The New Yorker.

"The fighting was started by terrorists, not the military crackdown on peaceful protesters. " - Bashar al-Assad

Just What I Need Right Before Classes Start! Grumpy Cat Displacement Behavior!

I love Mary Frances. She always knows what to do and when to do it. 

This weekend I am in the throes of preparing a syllabus for my course, which starts on 1 October. Tardy as usual.

So what does my wonderful spouse do? Brings me a copy of Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book, fully aware that I will drop what I have to do to read it. THen I have to blog about it. 

Fortunately, all this didn't take very long.

The book is hilarious!

Even Galahad thought it was great, but I suspect he's getting ideas about not doing what he has to do, which is..... 

"Every new beginning ends." - Grumpy Cat

Funny and Grumpy Kitties! What Else?

Mary Frances sent me these hilarious pictures.

And my favorite - dinnertime!

“If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.” ― Mark Twain

Stuff White People Like to See on Development

Thomas Soerens Tweeted this. It's by William Easterly and you can see the original here.

"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers." - Unknown

Japanese PSA: Please Hide Your Cigarette Butts in the Drain!

From good friend Marc Herman.

"The weak are meat; the strong eat." - Japanese proverb

Video: MSU Professor William Penn Trashes Republicans

Michigan State University Professor Wiliam Penn tore the GOP a new one, so to speak, with this classroom rant:

 

Penn is a tenured professor so he probably won't get fired. He has been reassigned pending a 'review of the situation' by Michigan State. 

I'd better watch myself this fall.

"I can't do politically correct very easily. ... I will say what I think, I in no way mean to offend you." - Professor William Penn

My Cat Could Do This? World-Famous 'Excess Baggage' Sculpture!

Anita Grunder (shown here) my colleague and associate dean extraordinaire at OSU, sent this picture of the infamous 'Excess Baggage' sculpture.

It will be at the corner of Airport and Fern Roads south of Corvallis until 6 PM 19 September should you want to see it before it is dismantled.

United Airlines must be drooling!

Enjoy!

"My kid could do that!" - Unknown, upon seeing a Jackson Pollock painting

U of P.O. Box 8000 Lives! Nigerian Grad Student Uses Magnets to Prove Gay Marriage is Wrong!

When I saw this post on Daniel Collins' Facebook page I thought it was a joke; apparently not. Here is the original story from io9.com:

Chibuihem Amalaha, an award winning student at the University of Lagos, is claiming that he's "disproved" gay marriage through science — and he used the power of magnets to do so. His "groundbreaking" work is backed by the university.

But that's not all. Amalaha, who says he'll win a Nobel prize one day, has also used chemistry, biology, and mathematics to disprove gay marriage.

His mathematics of gay marriage is particularly illuminating. In an interview with This Day Live he says (Note: read here if you dare).

And I thought Nigeria was known just for email scams and widows, barristers, and princes waiting to share their fortunes with others! 

But wait - Amalaha is working on showing that the Second Law of Thermodynamics allows for email scams! That's sure to win him tenure from the University of Lagos and the Medal of Achievement from the Nigeria government.

Just what Nigeria needs these days to burnish its image.

“Nigerian sector does not encourage scientific research so much but what God has given me I am using it effectively to touch Nigerian nation. All the scientific researches I have been doing  have not yielded any encouragement to do more." - Chibuihem Amalaha

Such a Deal! Nine Holes of Golf for $9.11 - on 9/11/13 Only! And AT&T Comes in Second!

No, I am not kidding. Tumbledown Trails Golf Course in Wisconsin offered this special for yesterday only. 

Wonder if you got a bigger break if you lost a loved one on 9/11?

Can't wait to see what they offer on December 7. Or maybe some real blockbusters on 6 and 9 August to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And let's not forget the AT&T smartphone ad, although I do not consider it as egregious as the offer by the Wisconsin morons.

“You can't fix stupid” ― R. Alan Woods

My 2013 9/11 Remembrance

I wrote the following two years ago, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Can't improve on it.

************************************************************************************************************

I will be avoiding all the 'specials' on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Not interested in all the contrived 'linkages' between 9/11 and the guy who collects trash in Toledo who found an image of the burning Pentagon in some dumpster or the football player who has the Twin Towers tattooed on his biceps. Sorry.

My desk is littered with magazines whose covers shout features like "Where Have We Been?", "What Went Wrong?", "Are We Safer?", "Why Do They Hate Us?", blah, blah, blah, I can't read any of them. I should say I can't finish any of them.

Actually, I did read one excellent article: "What 9/11 Wrought" by Joseph Lelyveld in the current issue of Smithsonian magazine. Read it. 

As much as I despise those who rained death upon us, I don't like what we have become. Xenophobes. Jingoes. Torturers. What moral authority the USA had, it's been greatly diminished.

I'm driving to Seattle today for a meeting tomorrow and Tuesday. When I had planned to drive it did not dawn on me that it would be on 9/11. Flying today wouldn't bother me, but it will be nice to be on the road for about five hours. No media folks trying to get a sound bite.

But let me give a shout-out to the first responders, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice to save others. And Pat Tillman.

******  

Ten years ago today my younger sister Ann Campana Judge was murdered by the five men you see above. 

She was on American Airlines Flight #77 - the one that was crashed into the Pentagon.

I will always remember that these men, as well as 10 of the other 14 murderers, were Saudi Arabians. The other four were nationals of the UAE (2), Lebanon, and Egypt. 

When we buy Saudi oil, some of our money goes to organizations that support these kinds of people. 

We should never forget that.

A few days after 9/11/2001, a field outside the Pentagon was 'appropriated' by loved ones of the victims. We left mementos of those we lost.

Below you can see what what my niece Becky and I left in Ann's memory.  The Marlboro Lights and Diet Coke should have been accompanied by a fifth (or more) of Dewar's Scotch but we exercised some good judgment - we left a Dewar's ad from a magazine. Besides, Ann would have wanted us to consume it.

 

Two years ago on this date they dedicated the Pentagon Memorial. The Washington Post had a special section on it.

I've been to the memorial thrice and it is a remarkable place. It's open 24/7.

Below are some pictures, including Ann's bench and her name carved in stone at the entrance.

In August 2009 I had a nice long visit. I sat on her bench and said "God bless!" to the other 183 murdered  heroes who are memorialized, including the three middle-school students and their teachers Ann and NGS colleague Joe Ferguson were escorting to Los Angeles to join others for a field trip to the Channel Islands. It was the students' first airplane trip.   

 

 

Here are more pictures.

Next time I vist I'll bring some Diet Coke, a pack of Marlboro Lights, and maybe a bottle of Dewar's. Those were three of Annie's favorite things.

One thing gnaws at me: what were Ann's last moments like? Was she aware that they were going to crash? She must have - she was an experienced flyer who'd flown out of DC airports many times. She knew they were flying too fast and too low. And they were going in the wrong direction to be landing at DCA. Did she die on impact or suffer? Was she comforting the children? Probably.

Somewhat morbid, I know. 

I have her effects in a box (Mary Frances had this custom-built for me) in our library - her driver's license, some business cards, etc. It's amazing how well they survived the conflagration. She was incinerated but her business cards survived.

Here is an article about the foundation I created to honor Ann.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- attributed to Edmund Burke 

"A little bit of irreverence is good. A lot is better." -- Ann Campana Judge  

The 'Other' OSU: T. Boone's Boys Done Been Bad!

Sports Illustrated has taken T. Boone Pickens' favorite school, alma mater Oklahoma State University, to the proverbial woodshed over its football program, which has migrated into the big-time arena lo these past 10 years or so. Pickens has been a huge financial contributor to OSU.

Seems like some of OSU's football players have been lured to the school, and kept there, with the proverbial sex, drugs, and cash, if not rock 'n roll.

Bad Boone!

Learn all about it here.

Interesting that TIME featured Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, aka 'Johnny Football', on its recent cover. The cover story was 'It's Time to Pay College Athletes' by Sean Gregory. Here is a video of Gregory talking about the topic.

Here is an article about Manziel by David Dennis of The Guardian. 

I think college athletes ought to get paid something - cash, that is, not a charge account at the bookstore. Lots of people and organizations - parasites - make a fortune off these folks.  

 And we're worried about Syria. Where are our priorities?

“Football, fraternities, and fun have no place in the university. They were introduced only to entertain those who shouldn’t be in the university.” - Robert Maynard Hutchins, President, University of Chicago, 1929-1945

Texas Tailgaters Secede From Common Sense

Brad Kolb, owner of Hornet Signs in Waco, TX, thought he would try something different with this tailgate decal of a woman bound and gagged. 

So how'd that work out for you, Brad?

Read here and watch an interview with Kolb on KWTX-TV.

Looks like he's trying to make amends - read his first blog post.

 “I wasn't expecting the reactions we got, nor do we condone this by any means. It was more or less something we put out there to see who noticed it.” - Brad Kolb

Infographic: Don't Let The Cloud Rain On Your Parade

A cloud infographic from Pinfographics. 

Get with it, already!

“Ultimately, the cloud is the latest example of Schumpeterian creative destruction: creating wealth for those who exploit it; and leading to the demise of those that don’t.” - Joe Weinman, Senior VP at Telx and author of Cloudonomics: The Business Value of Cloud Computing

Reframing the US Immigration Debate

From Jerry Sehlke's FB page.

Makes you think - I hope.

"All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian." - Pat Paulsen

Beloit College Mindset List for the Entering Class of 2017

       Beloit College Mindset List for the Entering Class of 2017

When the Class of 2017 arrives on campus this fall, these digital natives will already be well-connected to each other. They are more likely to have borrowed money for college than their Boomer parents were, and while their parents foresee four years of school, the students are pretty sure it will be longer than that.  Members of this year’s first year class, most of them born in 1995, will search for the academic majors reported to lead to good-paying jobs, and most of them will take a few courses taught at a distant university by a professor they will never meet.
 

The use of smart phones in class may indicate they are reading the assignment they should have read last night, or they may be recording every minute of their college experience…or they may be texting the person next to them. If they are admirers of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, they may wonder whether a college degree is all it’s cracked up to be, even as their dreams are tempered by the reality that tech geniuses come along about as often as Halley’s Comet, which they will not glimpse until they reach what we currently consider “retirement age.”
 

Though they have never had the chicken pox, they are glad to have access to health insurance for a few more years. They will study hard, learn a good deal more, teach their professors quite a lot, and realize eventually that they will soon be in power. After all, by the time they hit their thirties, four out of ten voters will be of their generation. Whatever their employers may think of them, politicians will be paying close attention.

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. Prepared by Beloit’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride, the list was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references. It quickly became an internationally monitored catalog of the changing worldview of each new college generation. Mindset List websites at themindsetlist.com and beloit.edu, as well as the Mediasite webcast and their Facebook page receive more than a million visits annually.

The Mindset List for the Class of 2017

For this generation of entering college students, born in 1995, Dean Martin, Mickey Mantle, and Jerry Garcia have always been dead.

1. Eminem and LL Cool J could show up at parents’ weekend.
2. They are the sharing generation, having shown tendencies to share everything, including possessions, no matter how personal.
3. GM means food that is Genetically Modified.
4. As they started to crawl, so did the news across the bottom of the television screen.
5. “Dude” has never had a negative tone.
6. As their parents held them as infants, they may have wondered whether it was the baby or Windows 95 that had them more excited.
7. As kids they may well have seen Chicken Run but probably never got chicken pox.
8. Having a chat has seldom involved talking.
9. Gaga has never been baby talk.
10. They could always get rid of their outdated toys on eBay.
11. They have known only two presidents.
12. Their TV screens keep getting smaller as their parents’ screens grow ever larger.
13. PayPal has replaced a pen pal as a best friend on line.
14. Rites of passage have more to do with having their own cell phone and Skype accounts than with getting a driver’s license and car.
15. The U.S. has always been trying to figure out which side to back in Middle East conflicts.
16. A tablet is no longer something you take in the morning.
17. Threatening to shut down the government during Federal budget negotiations has always been an anticipated tactic.
18. Growing up with the family dog, one of them has worn an electronic collar, while the other has toted an electronic lifeline.
19. Plasma has never been just a bodily fluid.
20. The Pentagon and Congress have always been shocked, absolutely shocked, by reports of sexual harassment and assault in the military.
21. Spray paint has never been legally sold in Chicago.
22. Captain Janeway has always taken the USS Voyager where no woman or man has ever gone before.
23. While they've grown up with a World Trade Organization, they have never known an Interstate Commerce Commission.
24. Courts have always been ordering computer network wiretaps.
25. Planes have never landed at Stapleton Airport in Denver.
26. Jurassic Park has always had rides and snack bars, not free-range triceratops and velociraptors.
27. Thanks to Megan's Law and Amber Alerts, parents have always had community support in keeping children safe.
28. With GPS, they have never needed directions to get someplace, just an address.
29. Java has never been just a cup of coffee.
30. Americans and Russians have always cooperated better in orbit than on earth.
31. Olympic fever has always erupted every two years.
32. Their parents have always bemoaned the passing of precocious little Calvin and sarcastic stuffy Hobbes.
33. In their first 18 years, they have watched the rise and fall of Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriquez.
34. Yahoo has always been looking over its shoulder for the rise of "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.”
35. Congress has always been burdened by the requirement that they comply with the anti-discrimination and safety laws they passed for everybody else to follow.
36. The U.S. has always imposed economic sanctions against Iran.
37. The Celestine Prophecy has always been bringing forth a new age of spiritual insights.
38. Smokers in California have always been searching for their special areas, which have been harder to find each year.
39. They aren’t surprised to learn that the position of Top Spook at the CIA is an equal opportunity post. 
40. They have never attended a concert in a smoke-filled arena.
41. As they slept safely in their cribs, the Oklahoma City bomber and the Unabomber were doing their deadly work.
42. There has never been a national maximum speed on U.S. highways.
43. Don Shula has always been a fine steak house.
44. Their favorite feature films have always been largely, if not totally, computer generated.
45. They have never really needed to go to their friend’s house so they could study together.
46. They have never seen the Bruins at Boston Garden, the Trailblazers at Memorial Coliseum, the Supersonics in Key Arena, or the Canucks at the Pacific Coliseum.
47. Dayton, Ohio, has always been critical to international peace accords.
48. Kevin Bacon has always maintained six degrees of separation in the cinematic universe.
49. They may have been introduced to video games with a new Sony PlayStation left in their cribs by their moms.
50. A Wiki has always been a cooperative web application rather than a shuttle bus in Hawaii.
51. The Canadian Football League Stallions have always sung Alouette in Montreal after bidding adieu to Baltimore.
52. They have always been able to plug into USB ports
53. Olestra has always had consumers worried about side effects.
54. Washington, D.C., tour buses have never been able to drive in front of the White House.
55. Being selected by Oprah’s Book Club has always read “success.”
56. There has never been a Barings Bank in England.
57. Their parents’ car CD player is soooooo ancient and embarrassing.
58. New York’s Times Square has always had a splash of the Magic Kingdom in it.
59. Bill Maher has always been politically incorrect.
60. They have always known that there are “five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes" in a year.

 

"He who opens a school door, closes a prison." - Victor Hugo