At 10:04 AM 8/8/98 +0000, you wrote:
>
>For a decade, Paul Davies has been an Australian national treasure. Before
>that, he was a British national treasure who fled Thatcher's UK because its
>scientifically trained Prime Minister was so mean to science (and to
>everyone else).
I find this an odd use of "mean". Thatcher was mean only in the sense that she wanted to steal less money from tax-payers to give to scientists feeding at the public trough. I'd like to see *more* "meanness" of this kind. I'd rather scientists receive funding because they can persuade people to give them money voluntarily.
On the other hand, perhaps I should complain about how mean the government is not to hand out free money to philosophers.
Meany Max