Re: [Phys-L] [rete] Laboratory garbage

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

Of course it could be that someone made up the story and it is now belived
to be true.  The museums do preseve scraps of paper discarded by authors,
but they might be clues to the creative process.  Broken glassware is
unlikely to be a clue to anything similar.  I suppose if it had some blood
on it one could blood or DNA type Lord Kelvin.

The constitution: "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United
States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them,
shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or
foreign State."

I think this implies that titles can not be granted by the US, or that any
public office holder is forbidden to accept a title from abroad.  However,
existing titles of nobility are not fobidden as honorifics, and Congress can
agree to have a public official accept a title.  So titles are not
completely forbidden.  After leaving office a public official could be
knighted.  Actually the UK has other restrictions such as the prime minister
can not convert from the church of England while in office, but it is OK
after leaving office.  Divorce is still verboten for the royal family in
office, but the US now accepts it for the president as of the Regan admin.
Yes, the UK is very different.  Remember the stupid comments about Obama
accepting the Nobel peace prize?  People object to his bowing to the king
without realizing it was given by the President of Norway, Obama's
institutional equal.

The US now has an ethos about titles which is very perverse.  The title Dr
is often used for any person high in an organization who has a PhD, but is
often omitted for the lower oganization ranks.  I experienced this in public
school, so I always insist on using the title.  Either it should be used for
all, or for none in a given organization.  Los Alamos lab used it for none,
so the director was Louie, and the janitor was Joe.  I have also seen this
problem in community colleges and private schools.  A female friend
experienced that the secretaries in Houston Community College refused to
address her as Dr while addressing male colleagues as Dr.  The Germans go
the other way and use academic titles even in social address.  So my wife
when in Germany is Frau Dr Clement.  I used my academic title with Lufthansa
and it might have helped me to get compensation when some stuff was stolen
from my bags.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phys-l [mailto:phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] On Behalf Of 
> Bernard Cleyet
> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 2:41 PM
> To: Phys-L@Phys-L.org
> Subject: Re: [Phys-L] [rete] Laboratory garbage
>
>
> On 2014, May 06, , at 22:52, John Clement <clement@hal-pc.org> wrote:
>
> > Nobility hath its privileges.  Would they discard it if he 
> were just 
> > Nobel Laureate?
> >
> > John M. Clement
> > Houston, TX
>
>
> John!
>
> Your ideology is showing.  I'd think not, but the UK is very 
> different on that score.
>
> bc, likewise.  
>
> p.s.  Doesn't the US Constitution expressly forbid titles?