What The Hell? Part I

The Government Run Amuck

Today's online university newsletter contained the following:

Writing tip--Due to new federal guidelines, we must now use the term
"regional sites" when referring to the off-campus locations that for
years have been known as WMU's branch campuses. Please use the new
terminology in all future print and electronic communication.

Must? Must? What the hell? What in the world are Federal government doublespeak regulators doing telling the university that they "must" use the term "regional sites" instead of "branch campuses"? Guidelines? I think I know some pirates who have a different view of what guidelines mean. (grin)

Dr. Phil

What The Hell? Part II

Physics Spam

From American Physical Society <aps@aps.org>
Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 6:35 am
Subject Giant Revolution in the Physics Science
Attachments NewsLetter.htm 7K

(If you see this message in text mode, then please view our attached NewsLetter.htm file!)

AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

Sent by Philip Maurone, Villanova University; Bryan Penprase, Pomona College; Alan Dorsey, University of Florida; Matthew Moelter, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo; Adella Ahmidouch, North Carolina A&T State University; Harry Tom, University of California, Riverside, Bob Cahn, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab; Nick Hadley, University of Maryland; Sarah Eno, University of Maryland; Chip Brock, Michigan State University, in agreement with last year's Nobel Laureate men: Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa.

Not necessaries more experiments, theories and models about the particle and atomic world, because now exists the very simple and real physics of these!

This is an exceptional and private notice from ten members of APS to all physicists in the world. Six months ago we heard about the paper of Prof. Gabor Fekete, who is a hungarian physicist. We were thoughtfully that the theories and models of the particle and atomic physics every were till now incorrects. The professor reinterprets the total known experimental results and uses solely the mathematical apparatus of dynamics and electrodynamics. With these he got back with eight numeral exactitude the values about every till now known experimental results. We state positively that her paper is the giant revolution of the physics science. We wish with this mail to suggest Prof. Gabor Fekete for Nobel Prize.

Because we know very well that this news not will be welcomed by everybody (we for this reason selected this way to your notice), therefore if you also think to nominate for Nobel Prize the author of the paper, then you are requested to exert pressure on The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, so that you do send an email to Prof. Ingmar Bergström and/or Prof. Per Carlson

The their other availablities:

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Box 50005, SE-104 05 Stockholm, SWEDEN

Phone: +46 8 673 95 00, Fax: +46 8 15 56 70

Please, forward this email with the original subject to your journalist and other acquaintances too! Thanks.

The article: THE REAL PARTICLE AND ATOMIC PHYSICS - INSTEAD OF THEORIES - WITH REINTERPRETATION OF THE KNOWN EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND CONFIRMED BY THE LAWS OF THE CLASSICAL PHYSICS. www.physics1.tar.hu

We sent our notice to 70775 members of 6095 research labs, institutes, faculties and departments of physics, astronomy, mathematics and chemistry in 103 countries and merely in the United States 1015 universities and colleges.

Huh?

This just seems hinky to me. No one spams 70,000+ physicists and expects no consequences. And given the large roster of "supporters", the English is atrocious. Most non-native English speaking Physicists I know would never spam a message this bad to the world -- most speak decent English and can write better English anyway!

I emailed one of the names on the list of people. Yeah, it's not from them. They are aware of it. The first spam messages said it was from APS, but had a yahoo e-mail return address in this guy's name. Needless to say, this ain't legitimate.

What the hell is going on?

Dr. Phil

Another Lovely Review "Under Suspicion"

Tangle Girls Reviewed By Obsidianbooks.com

I always feel I have to apologize for Googling myself periodically, looking for reviews of my published works. But in 2009 it needs to be done.

Tonight I found Val Kovalin's review of the Tangle Girls anthology at Obsidianbookshelf.com. You can read the whole review of all the stories at that link. But I was touched by the comments about my story "Under Suspicion":

There is a lot to like about this straight-forward, unpretentious military space-opera...

Here at Obsidianbookshelf.com I also love how Lily and Daniella are just tiny cogs in this vast military bureaucracy. This is more realistic and more interesting than us readers sitting inside the head of an admiral. The sharp, perfectly placed details build an outstanding overall realism in this story. The lesbian relationship felt intrinsic to the solidly plotted story.

I like it when people get what I am trying to do with my stories. With comments like that and more, I can even forgive that "Under Suspicion" was second favorite behind Erin MacKay's "Cupcake". (grin)

Tangle Girls is available from Blind Eye Books and Amazon.com.

Dr. Phil