Mary Tsingou Menzel, 1928-2026

I never heard of her either, but she was a physicist who worked on MANIAC1 at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico.  MANIAC (“Mathematical Analyzer, Numerical Integrator and Computer”) was seven feet tall, 1000 pounds, and had 3,000 vacuum tubes.  It could also make 10,000 calculations per second.

Mary Tsingou Menzel was an early coder and her coding work led to the creation in 1955 of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam problem, named after the men who worked on a numerical experiment.  

She received some recognition in a 2008 article by a French physicist.  The article was entitled “Fermi, Pasta, Ulam, and a Mysterious Lady.”  Now the problem is entitled “Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou.”

Her parents were immigrants who spoke Greek at home.  Because of her poor English she was held back, but her abilities soon bounced her up to her grade level.  She got a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a job at Los Alamos, where she was paid less than the men doing the same work.  She went back to school and got a Masters degree from the University of Michigan.

She later did research for thermonuclear devices and worked on the Strategic Defense Initiative.  

Today she would be criticized by Vice President Vance for not being a “trad wife.”  Her parents, were they still alive, would be deported, probably to El Salvador.

All the information for this post except the speculation in the last paragraph is from an obituary by Ama Sarpomaa, “Mary Tsingou Menzel, a Physicist Credited After 50 Years, dies at 97,” New York Times, (Oct. 14, 2026), p. B-11. 

Rules for Voting

I should have gotten this out a week ago–many people have already voted, including me.  However, if you have not yet voted, here is how to cast your ballot.  

If the candidate has received some of the millions and millions of dollars Musk has poured into campaigns, don’t vote for that candidate.

If the candidate calls his or her opponent a socialist, don’t vote for that candidate even if the opposing candidate is a socialist.

If the candidate says, “I don’t agree with everything Trump has done, but he has stopped the flow of illegal immigrants,” don’t vote for that candidate.

If the candidate is a Republican, don’t vote for that candidate. 

In future elections, if the candidate is a Democrat and his name is Fetterman, don’t vote for that candidate. 

Investigating Ilhan Omar

Justice Department personnel conducted a search of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s Washington apartment today.  This is about as dictatorial as you can get–using government agents to harass political opponents.  

Trump has hated Congresswoman Omar for years, questioning her citizenship, attacking her home country, calling her vile names.  The toady vice president has also questioned Ms. Omar’s status.  I don’t think this will hurt the Congresswoman’s re-election campaign, but it is further proof that we are not becoming an authoritarian state.  We are already an authoritarian state.  

If you really want to see immigration fraud, check out Mrs. Trump’s immigration status under the “Einstein visa” category.  What a giant pile of crap that was.

Putin, Zelenskyy, and Trump

Every day I wake up thinking “it can’t get any worse,” and every day it gets worse.  

Now Trump is openly aiding Russia and calling on Zelenskyy to step down as the leader of Ukraine. 

Vergangenheitsbewältigung

The German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died in March of this year at age 96, said that Germans had to commit to the collective task of “working through the past,” which is what that title means.  (And yes, I can spell it, although I had to look up how to put in the umlaut.)

This is what we need to do, and what Trump and his followers dislike.  We need to keep working through the past–the way we treated and are treating our immigrants, the way we condoned slavery and racial discrimination, what we did and are doing to our Indians, and all the other blots on our nation’s history.  

One of the reasons we are allowing ICE to do the things those agents are doing (another person was shot in N.Y. two days ago) is because we don’t do our “working through the past.”   We have a shameful history of mistreatment of immigrants, although much of the earlier horrors was not supported by government agents.

Unacceptable religions

I know a guy who has come up with a test for religions he finds unacceptable. The test involves rules about clothing and appearance.  If the men and women are required to follow strict rules of dress that differ by gender, he rejects them.  He feels that morality and religiosity should have nothing to do with clothes or hair styles or veils or bonnets or underwear, and any religion that insists on those kinds of rules should be avoided.

A new question on the 1040 form

In the draft version the 1040 form will ask you to check a box either Yes or No to answer this question:  “At the time you file your return are you and your spouse if filing jointly, a U.S. citizen, U.S. National, or an alien lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.?”

I’m going to have some fun with that if the I.R.S. actually includes it.  I can think of all kinds of answers:

If I answer no, does that mean I don’t need to pay the tax.

I am, but I’m not sure about my spouse.

All of the above.

None of the above.

You need to talk to my attorney.

Who wants to know?

I am, but I am not a pedophile like the President.

Not sure which one I’ll use.