Freedom of Science

Freedom Is Not Free

As with literary magazines, more and more scientific journals are going online. Scientific researchers usually must bear the cost of publication which runs to hundreds and often thousands of dollars. When you submit a paper for publication, it goes through peer review process which may take a few months to a year or so. Then the e...ditor may request modification or re-write. By the time the paper is published, it may be obsolete. Then the cost of reading. A scientific journal is not cheap, and one cannot subscribe to only a few. Or one has to go to a libraray and hunt for any articile of interest. A researcher's time is quite precious, and he or she may as well send off a poorly paid assistant, usually foreigners on temporary visa, to the library on a thankless salvage mission. Or, just outsource the entire scientific research to foreign countries and go to Wall Street to gamble and make money. Online scientific journals are one reaction to this state of stupidity and insanity.

Will America maintain the cutting edge in science and technology. I don't think so. Freedom of speech. They say freedom is not free. Unfortunate.

http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Publications/Journals/Free_Online_Journals/

alphabet

Japanese Alphabet Song

Although its scent still lingers on
the form of a flower has scattered away
For whom will the glory of this world remain unchanged?
Arriving today at the yonder side
of the deep mountains of evanescent existence
We shall never allow ourselves to drift away
intoxicated, in the world of shallow dreams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroha

Japanese have 50 phonetic scripts. A Buddhist monk composed a verse in which each script occurs only once.

Every Japanese elementary school child knows this verse. No wonder it is so hard to christianize them.

They also have a beautiful "number song." A very effective device to teach pre-schoolers how to count.

The current uproar about the sad state of American math and science education may be the very cause of the educational problem facing America. Humanize math and science education. at earliest stage of development.

Solomon And Nansen

Solomon And Nansen

Solomon did not cut
a child in half
and they say he was wise

Nansen did cut
a cat in half
and they say he was wise

Solomon and Nansen
Near East and Far East
they shall never meet

Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: 'If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat.'No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.

That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.

Nansen said: 'If you had been there, you could have saved the cat.'



Mumon's Comment: Why did Joshu put his sandals on his head? If anyone answers this question, he will understand exactly how Nansen enforced the edict. If not, he should watch his own head.

- Mumonkan

Shut Up

Shut Up!

upon the roof of a funeral home
a little bird sings

hey you
hey you
hey you you you

shut up!
a mortician says
to a corpse

Deep And Meaningful

Deep And Meaningful
- to Bernard Shaw -


she seeks a man who is profound
deep and meaningful

she found a profound man
fell in love deep and meaningful

it was a profound awakening
within deep and meaningful

she is pregnant
deep and meaningful

she seeks no more