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Here at GPTP we’re missing Bill Langdon, one of the brightest people in the field and one whose long term influence is hard to overstate. He’s not dead (despite my title), but has made a principled decision to not come to the U.S. (he’s British) as long as we persist in our paranoid response to half-imagined boogey men. In particular, he’s apparently not willing to go through the whole fingerprinting rigamarole to enter Our Fine Country.
And Bill’s no evil terrorist. He’s an intelligent, thoughtful, principled person who objects to violence as a way of solving problems. He’s also a really fine scientist and interesting guy and will be missed by both the workshop and by me personally.
Now I guess I’ll have to start going to more European conferences like EuroGP. I’ve unfortunately tended to count on my European research friends coming to the U.S. for conferences and workshops and been lazy about going to European events. Bill’s stand on this issue may finally force my hand, which may not be a bad thing. Unfortunately it is an expensive thing, in terms of both time and money, but such is the way of a complex world.