Timatollah |
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 Comments, possibly informed. Tim Wilson Daytona Beach, Florida, USA timatollah@mackandtim.net Personal Homepage Professional Homepage Agenda Bender Dave Barry Bull Moose The Corner Defense Tech Matt Drudge Half Bakered Hit and Run Huffington Post Instapundit Kausfiles Mark Lane Ken Layne James Lileks Josh Marshall PaperFrog Virginia Postrel Shattered Buddha Mike Silverman Sploid Andrew Sullivan TPM Cafe Tapped Matt Welch Archives  |
Friday, May 30, 2003
More TV. More Math Sam Smith of The Progressive Review has put up this page with a mathematical analysis of Fox News loudmouth Bill O'Reilly's behavior towards guest Jacob Sullum. The bottom line: O'Reilly really is a rude host and a bully. Quelle surprise. Link from Virginia Postrel. Stop Him Before He Rhymes Again Vermont gubernatorial candidate Alphecca has been waxing poetic. Poetry: It's all fun and games until someone gets an eye put out. Thursday, May 29, 2003
Ho Boy! Here's a compliation of all mathematics references on The Simpsons, put together by Andrew Nestler at Santa Monica College. Isn't that just what you've been waiting for? An example entry: The PTA Disbands (2F19, 4/16/95)  3. Prof. Frink, substitute teacher for the preschoolers, demonstrates a popcorn lawnmower toy.And then there's this page from Sarah J. Greenwald at Appalachian State, with even more Simpson's mathematics references and information. Link (here) via Lucianne Goldberg's boy, Jonah (he's not the wrestler), at National Review Online. Wednesday, May 28, 2003
"He Is the Inattentive Substitute Teacher in the Classroom of Nature" The Darwinian Gardener is back (through the hard work of Flablogger Mark Lane). Monday, May 26, 2003
Memorial Day, 2003 Memorial Day, on which we pay tribute to those who died in our wars and other military conflicts, began as Decoration Day: the day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers of the US Civil War. Here's a brief history of the holiday. Today, we remember those who gave their lives for their fellow soldiers, for their communities, and for the nation. Sunday, May 25, 2003
Next? No Bad Behavior Local readers are likely aware of how Daytona Beach leadership is always pushing to keep the image of the city and region as "Family Friendly" up front. How long will it be before they latch onto Virginia Beach's "No Bad Behavior" slogan. It would only be an increment from existing attitudes, as exhibited here (scroll down to PDF page 11, text page 1619, to read the entire text of the debate on a "public nudity" ordinance, adopted last fall, that banned thong bikinis). This story in today's Washington Post tells of the Virginia Beach approach. Personally, I'm more favorably inclined towards the New Orleans attitude, "Be Nice or Leave", as implemented, say, at The Clover Grill or by Dr. Bob. But, my prediction is that within the year, Daytona Beach will be telling its visitors "No Bad Behavior". Saturday, May 24, 2003
The Earth and the Moon as Seen from Mars You might've seen the picture below already, albeit with the legends "EARTH" and "MOON" applied. I thought the raw image was worth seeking out, and found it. 
The image is used without permission from a page of images of Earth and Jupiter and their satellites at the Malin Space Science Systems site. There's more info on Mars exploration at NASA's site for the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. Gay Male Promiscuity Eugene Volokh, at The Volokh Conspiricy has been busy debunking claims that all gay men are promiscuous. His bottom line is that gay men in some small fraction of the population have lots of sex partners, while the vast majority of gay men don't. Two questions: (1) Why no comparable attention to straight guys? Aren't some fraction of them horndogs who get substantially more action than their counterparts (although likely less than gay guys just because of the guy-guy vs. guy-gal dynamic. (2) Does that fact that some men or women are promiscuous have any implication for those individuals' civil rights? In my own reasoning, I can't say that it does. Not only should it have no impact on their civil rights, it also should, excepting rare cases of public responsibility (like, say, former President Clinton) have no impact on their social status, employment status, community status, etc. The "opposition" is likely to argue that it has a public health dimension. Yes, but so does the promiscuity of straight men, sexual behavior of straight men who frequent prostitutes, etc. Ultimately, there's probably more light to be shown on the topic by considering it as one of men's sexuality, not of gay men's sexuality. Thursday, May 22, 2003
Civil Rights Bill Passes in Florida A bill that allows the Florida Attorney General to sue businesses for anti-civil-rights behavior passed the Florida Senate last night. It goes to the governor for his signature. There was a homo-threat campaign against the bill that didn't work. Stories here from the Daytona Beach News-Journal, and here (a wire report) from the Tampa Tribune. (Tribune link from the always observant Dragonleg / Shattered Buddha.) Tuesday, May 20, 2003
All Jessica, All the Time Dragonleg, in a moment of less-uniform skepticism, seems to have bought into the BBC story about the rescue of USA POW Jessica Lynch as having been staged. Instapundit, on the other hand, has links here and here to purported debunkings of the BBC story from several angles. I know this probably makes me naive or complicit, but I am more inclined to trust the US military than either the BBC or some Iraqi doctors who I have no personal knowledge of. Yes, that's knowing what I know about the US military. Given the amount of fighting that had gone down in that area, there's little reason to believe any group of service personnel would agree to use blanks for some staged rescue. And without further information as to their participation with the Ba'athist regime, there's not much reason to believe what Iraqi doctors say, especially when they could possibly be tried for war crimes or crimes against humanity, given some of the things that Iraqi doctors did. Friday, May 16, 2003
New Gallup Poll The Gallup Organization has a new poll out about USAns attitudes towards homosexuality. Overall, it supports the idea that the trend is towards acceptance, non-discrimination, and recognition of our relationships, even to the point of social-security benefits for the surviving partner of a same-sex couple. The summary, following some Blogger introduced white space:
Note that on the questions of legality, equal employment rights, and equivalent benefits to marriage, the numbers indicate strong, if not overwhelming, support for those ideas. Even though I know nothing should surprise me, the one about why homo gives me some pause. I guess what's really bothersome is that people would think they know why other people are the way they are, when there's so much evidence that we're only beginning to understand the reasons, long-term evolutionary and short-term over the events of our lives, that we are who we are. Gallup's press release include graphs showing the evolution of opinion on these subjects. For instance, the data regarding legality of homosex is presented as follows:  There's similar presentation for some of the other questions that have a history of being asked. (Link to Gallup from Andrew Sullivan.) Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Heather Havrilesky: Marxist-Feminist! Richard Bennett, apparently no close relation to the equally distasteful Bill and Bob Bennett, doesn't get former Suckster (Filler anyone?), Rabbitblogger, and now, I guess, Salon teevee critic Heather Havrilesky. In particular, he's pissed about her comments (warning: ad click-through required) on Dennis Miller's recent HBO stand-up gig. I saw part of that show, and I didn't think this particular piece by her was anywhere near accurate -- i.e., I thought it was funnier than hell -- but if Bennett seriously thinks that Havrilesky is part of the Marxist-feminist clique, I think he's been suckered in by reading her bio a little too literally. I like Bennett's up-front earnestness and seriousness, but maybe he needs to either wise up (or loosen up) to the fact that not everyone can be read with the same set of face values. I guess there's some small chance that I'm being snookered by facetiousness on Bennett's part, but given his recurring shtick I'd quantify small as being, oh, one in 100. Monday, May 12, 2003
The Most Sensible Word on Bill Bennett I know, I know: not timely. Still, Margaret Carlson, who did a Diary feature at Slate last week, seems to have hit on what just about every other pundit/commentator/loudmouth I've read missed. Regarding moralizing Book of Virtues editor Bill Bennett (and it surely is wrong to describe him as much more than an editor of much of anything. See Virginia Postrel's comments, last paragraph) and his gambling, Carlson sensibly comments: I would rather he continue gambling and give up hectoring the rest of us for our weaknesses.Really. Wouldn't that be better than what happened: Bennett bullied into being consistent with his never-ending holier-than-thou appearances on Larry King Live rather than just shutting up. No, I Haven't Died Blogging has been, er, light for reasons I don't care to blog about. Now that I've said that, I'll probably make a mess of posts. Thursday, May 08, 2003
Something So Sacred This piece from yesterday's New York Times tells an unlikely love story: Mixed race, mixed gender, mixed sexual orientation, mixed age. Okay, so it's near the simplest love of all. Still, it's a touching tale. Besides, it's about southern cooking, which is always something to be appreciated. The link was from an unexpected place: This entry from Rod Derher at The Corner from National Review Online. But that's the way real diversity works: When you let people be people instead of devaluing them because they fit some cubbyhole you don't like, they very frequently surprise you with some valuable contribution to your life or to life itself. Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Backwards I've seen these signs around some of the more Republican parts of Volusia County. I think if these people were really patriotic, their sign would put our troops first and then the President, and that it wouldn't mention the President by name, if at all. I mean, it's a free country, thankfully, but it's a shame so many feel that it's important to put everything in a with-us or against-us frame. Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Monday, May 05, 2003
Unexpected PDA Mack and I went to see X2 last night at our one-and-only beachside theater. (Capsule review: It was okay, but I'm not sure I understand why all the fanboys are so head-over-heels in love with it. I'd give it a B: Too serious and slow to be an overall great summer popcorn flick, but with definitely some very good performances and some nice scenes.) Coming out of the theater, we saw these two young men I'd noticed while we were going in. What was surprising was that they put their arms around each other and stolled out of the theater and down the walkway running across Atlantic Avenue (A1A). They seemed perfectly comfortable about it. I didn't have the sense they were trying to make an impression, piss off the 'phobes, or anything political: they were just into each other in a "young love" sweet way. This isn't something I expect to see here in Daytona Beach. Every now and then I get a little depressed/oppressed by the regular and ample displays of heterosexual affection -- say, couples walking down the beach -- because I don't feel that a good part of the locals or the visitors would take kindly to my behaving the same way with my lover. I don't necessarily have the balls to be real demonstrative with Mack in public. I try to make a contribution by being out and involved in my workplace and within our families, but I guess I passed a while ago on the idea that the rest of the world would be as accepting as I'd like. I don't expect the entire world to act like one big gay ghetto (say, Key West or Ft. Lauderdale or Boston's South End or the Castro). So I was moved and challenged and frightened ("oh, jeez, are those two boys gonna piss off some 'phobes and cause a fight that I'd have to get involved in?") and impressed by an unlikely event in an unlikely locale. |
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