Listened to Norm! from WNYC Studios

Another affront to executive norms, a new level of secrecy for CBP, and the 32-year story of one family's new life in America.

Attorney General Bill Barr appeared to spar with Donald Trump in the latest chapter of the Roger Stone case. On this week’s On the Media, why the apparent interference in the Justice Department’s work should cause concern. Plus, Customs and Border Patrol builds a new bulwark against disclosure and transparency. And, a family migration story three decades in the making. 

1. Dahlia Lithwick, writer for Slate, on what the latest Dept. of Justice news tells us about the fragility of American justice. Listen.

2. Susan Hennessey [@Susan_Hennessey], executive editor at Lawfare, on the latest threats to "prosecutorial independence." Listen.

3. Ken Klippenstein [@kenklippenstein], DC correspondent at The Nation, on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)'s re-designation as a "security agency." Listen.

4. Jason DeParle [@JasonDeParle], author of A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves, on the 32-year process of reporting one family's migration story. Listen.

We really are allowing the very worst of us ruin so much of the basic values of being American. I worry that the “purity” requirements of both sides is going to be the downfall of us all.
Read Norms is expanding like crazy. How a SoCal institution is staying the same to get ahead (Los Angeles Times)
The company that bought Norms restaurants six years ago is expanding the brand. How the 70-year-old chain plans to stay the same to get ahead.
I was shocked the other day to realize the West LA location had apparently closed. Now that I hear they’ve been bought out and are expanding, I’m wondering what happened at that location?

Algebraic Number Theory: The Sequel | UCLA Extension

I know you’ve all been waiting for the announcement with bated breath! We’ve known for a while that Mike Miller’s Winter course would be a follow-on course to his Algebraic Number Theory course this Fall, but it’s been officially posted, so now you can register for it: Algebraic Number Theory: The Sequel.

I’m sure, as always, that there are a few who are interested, but who couldn’t make the Fall lectures. Never fear, there’s a group of us that can help you get up to speed to keep pace with us during the second quarter. Just drop us a note and we’ll see what we can do.

Algebraic Number Theory: The Sequel

In no field of mathematics is there such an irresistible fascination as in the theory of numbers. This course, the second in a two-quarter sequence, is an introductory, yet rigorous, survey of algebraic number theory, which evolved historically through attempts to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem. Beginning with a quick review of the previous quarter’s work, the course continues discussions on the structure of algebraic number fields, focusing particular attention on primes, units, and roots of unity in quadratic, cubic, and cyclotomic fields. Topics to be discussed include: norms and traces; the ideal class group; Minkowski’s Translate, Convex Body, and Linear Forms theorems; and Dirichlet’s Unit Theorem.

UCLA: 5137 Math Sciences
Tuesday, 7-10pm,
January 5 – March 15
11 meetings total

MATH X450.9
3.00 units

Recommended Textbook

We’ll be using Introductory Algebraic Number Theory by Saban Alaca and Kenneth S. Williams (Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN: 978-0521183048).

Introductory Algebraic Number Theory