Grab that Grab-Bag!

-- Adrian Letchford and his colleagues at the University of Warwick analyzed the number of citations an article had in other scientific journals and compared that number to the number of words in the title. Shorter-titled words were cited more often. The title of their article in Royal Society Open Science: "The advantage of short paper titles," which shows they seem to have learned from their research.

-- "Diversity" is a grail for many, and probably no place more so than the hallowed halls of academia. But what does it really mean? If you don't have the time or desire to read Peter Wood's 2004 Diversity: The Invention of a Concept, you can scan Michael Bradley's examination of it here. At the college where I used to work, my supervisor made a lot of noise about diversity, but the way he used the word it basically meant enrolling more minority students and he was certain that was good. But neither he nor the administrators above him seemed to be as certain about how to make sure diversity in August translated to diversity in May four years later, nor as interested in developing it.

-- While I was away from the office, it seems a number of folks learned that Pope Francis had met with Kim Davis, a county clerk who refused to issue licenses to same-sex couples and was jailed for contempt of a court order directing her to do so. According to the different opinions I've read, this either means that Pope Francis completely endorses Ms. Davis' beliefs about religious freedom, or that he was tricked by some members of his own staff into meeting with her even though he does not support her, or variations on those themes. Beats me; what I do know is that pastors sometimes meet with people that they disagree with and those meetings don't always imply endorsement. I know, I've seen me do it.

-- The jihadists of ISIS are working great evil on the people of the areas they control, and they are also working evil on the history and heritage of those regions. It seems as though the nations of the West that espouse religious freedom can't find a way to smack them back down to keep them from brutalizing people, so some folks are trying to smuggle out those most at risk from the soldiers. Some archaeologists are doing the same with the artifacts and historical treasures in the barbarian's path.