The full-sized pool table that Mike bought is supposed to arrive on Friday afternoon -- It's too bad he lives on the third floor of his apartment complex. With the introduction of this pool table, no doubt his pad will become the social hub of the theory/comp department. Alternately, it'll be the same five or six people that always show up. Pow!

The new federal budget allocates 369 billion dollars towards defense and homeland security while cutting back on growth and social programs . Bush probably saw the wartime anxiety as the perfect setting to bring back that magnificent anti-missile system that couldn't hit anything. Next year, we'll probably hear renewed support for anti-missile moon lasers. I think the vast majority of money being spent on security and defense is wasted. In an age where a single terrorist with a nuclear device is more likely than a frontal war with a superpower, even the strongest borders in the world won't protect us effectively. If Bush would stop running his mouth about "evil" countries in his attempt to trigger another arms race, and devote those same resources to making Americans smarter, more well-off, and with less pollution, maybe we could make some progress.

Interviewer: "I'm intrigued by one title from 1951, your Grand Symphonie Militaire Op. 69."
Ligeti: "Oh that was a joke. The Opus number refers of course to the sexual position."