Seasonal Greetings from Wester Creative Office

France finally supports a possible military action by the US. Time to rename freedom fries back to French fries?

Another crazy bird story

Here's another crazy bird story: a robin has setup a nest on our front door:

Not to stress out the poor mother-to-be we're forced to use the garage door.

But every time someone uses the front door, the robin has to flee her nest. Then one can see 4 cute blue eggs:

Most anti-science Canadian government?

Harper's government may well be remembered as the most anti-science Canadian government in the history of the country. Here's a chronology of the Conservative government's campaign against science since 2006 from the blog of John Dupuis. The results of such policies are already quite visible: according to the latest report of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council, Canada has dropped in rank from 16th to 23rd in overall expenditures on research and development relative to GDP compared to other economically developed countries. 

Economics:

It seems that spreadsheet is a major tool in Economics, and you'd better know how to use it. Two prominent economists from Harvard made a spreadsheet error, caught almost 3 year later by a graduate student. As it turns out, the paper based on the wrong spreadsheet was widely cited, and used as a basis for public policies. What is even more surprising to me, is that the spreadsheet was not openly available to other researches, and so no one was able to reconfirm the assertions of the paper, or even to reproduce the results for that matter. Paul Krugman also commented on the matter.

All that again raises the question whether Economics and science, you know...

Mother goose expecting babies

Campus news: mother goose expecting new babies on the ledge of the Middlesex College. Due soon. The only remaining question is how the new babies will survive on the ledge.

Picture taken from the window on the second floor. And the close-up:

Update: May 14.  The father would stay on the ground, but would protect the family-to-be by trying to scare anyone who enters the building. The staff had to put a special sign:

The thrilling story was followed by the whole building for several weeks. Apparently, the mother does not have to sit on the eggs all the time. Every morning she would fly down from the ledge to get some fresh grass. The eggs would be left open:

After the breakfast the mother would return to her nest:

The eggs should be turned around several times a day:

And the new babies are here! Only three made it.

The first steps are the most difficult ones:

And here's the happy family together:

But how are they going to get down? Well, the babies managed to get on the rim of the ledge about 16 hours after they were born.

Apparently, the mother pushed the first baby down, and the other two followed their sibling on their own. All three landed fairly safely. And now they are gone...

P.S. Photos is the courtesy of the Middlesex College staff.

Curious detective story about theoretical physicist Paul Frampton, distinguished professor at UNC.