Fran and I recently attended a Graduate Psychology Reunion at Princeton. Besides having an enjoyable time at the reunion, the event stimulated re-thinking of my experience there nearly a half-century ago. (more…)
April 10, 2013
January 2, 2013
Andrea del Sarto (Called “The Faultless Painter”) and Paul’s three-legged stool.
Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning
I reread this poem on New Year’s Day 2013. I believe that I had not read it fully since high school, and it is amazing how different it feels to read it in my late 60’s compared to reading it as a teenager. (more…)
November 6, 2012
“This election is bogus”
This morning I stood outside the polls along with the candidates’ representatives, holding my sign “I will not participate in a presidential election run by mega-corporations and wealthy individuals.” Instead, for the Presidential election, I did a write-in stating “This election is bogus.” This is about a particular election and not about the electoral concept. I did vote at the local level.
July 26, 2012
My venture into comparative sensory capability — with tarantulas
At one time I was going to do auditory behavioral research with spiders, and chose tarantulas because they were fairly easy to work with (at least you could observe their reflex behavior readily — crouch to an air blast, and they are not web weavers). I would use classical conditioning to check for frequency discrimination associated with an air blast for similar frequencies pairs. Anyhow, this creepy crawly box arrived while I was on vacation. A graduate assistant was assigned (more…)
Why was Pearl Harbor any surprise?
War with Japan was not a surprise for most Americans. What was a surprise (more…)
Gradualism and/or revolution in climate change? It’s not just about the whales anymore.
Although any individual instance does not establish a trend, the pattern of an increasing number of hot days and weather extremes, along with other climate changes, unfortunately makes the climate-change danger irrefutably clear (except for a few in the pay of the 1%). (more…)
July 5, 2012
Whither Occupy?
Fran and I attended the Occupy National Gathering that was held in Philadelphia the week of July 4th, 2012. For part of the time we were a Friendly Presence assigned to the parking area (actually, the old grave yard) of the Meeting House at 4th and Arch Streets, where Occupiers congregated and slept at night. We were (more…)
May 20, 2012
Fran (and Paul) and Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) walk to Pittsburgh.
PNC bank funds mountain top coal mining that destroys the environment. This includes poisoning rivers and streams, and one result of this is a documented increase in disease and birth defects in the immediate vicinity of this work. But what can you do (more…)
May 14, 2012
Student course evaluations — what do they mean, how should they be used?
Put my Spring grades in a couple of days ago. Of 21 students, there were two A’s (one of them was almost a last-minute gift with the help of departmental extra credit), three A-‘s, but no B+’s, and so on. Wonder what my course evaluations will look like considering (more…)
April 19, 2012
What role for civil disobedience and arrest in our work for justice?
Meaningful and focused civil disobedience resulting in arrest can be a significant part of peaceful action for justice, but there is no reason for arrest to become the activists’ Red Badge of Courage. (more…)