Confessions: Guilty Pleasures

There are few things I love more than to read comment sections on right wing blogs and observe all the idiotic "commentary" coupled with spelling and/or grammatical errors. It's just so perfect.

See, e.g., www.hotair.com.

Years Ago

Amazing how dated the West Wing is from 2001. The computers are old, the cell phones are enormous, and one line of dialogue centered on the "historically low unemployment rate."

If I could turn back time...

Seriously?

I don't like this.

In a surprise announcement the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday that it would double the number of nominees for the best-picture Academy Award to 10 from 5, returning to a practice it used more than a half-century ago when the number of films released was larger.

There is so much crap out there as it is, and now we have to sit through ten best picture nominees? The article invokes The Dark Knight, and how it was shut out from the category, but if all we're trying to do is recognize blockbusters, can't we do a montage or something? Best Picture? Come on.

And I'm still bitter about Crash winning over Brokeback in 2007. That hugging-the-shirt scene.... omg.

What LGBT Cowardice?

The president just concluded a one-hour news conference today, and not one member of the press corps felt it necessary to ask if Obama stood behind the DOMA brief, or whether he's selling out members of the LGBT community for supposed political benefit.

I know Iran, the economy and health care are very important. But there is only so much news you're going to get out of this guy. You need to mix it up a little bit. Asking questions about perceived contradictions in his response to Iran doesn't make much news, even if it might up your standing within the Beltway.

Ugh.

Repeal DADT, Now With Statistical Proof!

If the president isn't swayed by entreaties to such notions as equal protection under the law, or to "separate is not equal" lines of thinking, maybe his interest would be piqued by this (via Andrew Sullivan):

Gay and lesbian study participants who were asked to conceal their sexual orientation performed 20% worse on spatial reasoning tests and 50% worse on physical endurance tests as compared to those who were not given this instruction. The findings have clear implications for the battlefield. Gays and lesbians — even those who follow the policy — are prevented from performing optimally, which may affect the readiness of military units.

This is kind of obvious. If you have to expend energy or concentration concealing who you are (no easy feat), there is less energy/concentration available to you to do your job (or whatever). When it comes to fighting wars, you would think the military would want to remove as many mental barriers as possible.

Gay Marriage, Briefly

Contrary to my general disillusionment with elected leaders in the last month or so when it comes to gay rights, I'm pretty excited to hear that NY Gov. Patterson is going to push New York's gay marriage bill to a vote before the Senate breaks this summer, even if the prospect of enactment is remote.

And yes, I know that 2009 is going to emerge as one of the most important watershed years in the history of gay rights, regardless of what happens in the next six months. That doesn't make it any easier to take when the president of the United States refuses to even acknowledge those important victories, and it doesn't make it okay to avoid the question when political realities might make pushing the legislation less than ideal.

So, basically, kudos to Gov. Patterson.

Oh, and Senator Dodd (D-CT) is now in favor of gay marriage:

While I’ve long been for extending every benefit of marriage to same-sex couples, I have in the past drawn a distinction between a marriage-like status (“civil unions”) and full marriage rights.

The reason was simple: I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And as many other Americans have realized as they’ve struggled to reconcile the principle of fairness with the lessons they learned early in life, that’s not an easy thing to overcome.

But the fact that I was raised a certain way just isn’t a good enough reason to stand in the way of fairness anymore.

Sweet. Kudos to him, too.

Flight Risk

I'm never flying again:

A Continental Airlines jetliner carrying 247 passengers landed in Newark shortly before noon on Thursday, after the flight’s captain died midflight.

Over It, Mr. President

I am infuriated with President Obama's cowardice and lack of leadership with respect to gay rights issues. This link isn't to Obama's official site for his plan for gay rights, but it may as well be.

I don't know what it will take to force the president and Congress to recognize that (1) gay people deserve as many (some might say "equal") protections under the law as any other person; (2) there is never a good time to advocate for the rights of an historically oppressed minority; and (3) there is actually majority support for several issues (but not yet gay marriage) that the LGBT community has been advocating for.

I have been content for the past few months to give Obama time to get his sea legs as president. There is a lot on his plate, blah blah blah. But enough is enough. We can't accept "maybe later," "wait till after the midterms," or "maybe at the end of the second term" as a date for possible full legal acceptance into civilized society. It's 2009 now. Seriously.

I hope everyone considers going to Washington in October -- the weekend of the 10th and 11th -- to march for the fundamental rights and liberties to which we are entitled, but denied. We need a huge, loud, fabulous turnout. We need to stand up for ourselves and for the respect and legal recognitions we are entitled to.

On a Lighter Note

The Times likes the iPhone 3G S.

BF will be getting one on Friday, so I'm withholding judgment, but I'm about 90% sure to keep the 3G. I'll probably wait for the 4th generation to upgrade (he says while checking his bank account online....).

Iran Elections

Iran is on the brink of revolution. Follow this link on Huffington Post: Blogging the Uprising.

It's amazing. I wish I could believe that if the situation were similar in the United States we would be doing the same thing, but I really doubt it. (The 2000 election is not analogous. Gore only wanted a recount of three counties in Florida, and even if he got his way, he still would have lost.)

A Serious Question

Why do batters take a 3-0 pitch almost every single time? They know the pitch is going right down the middle of the plate. If they can get to 3-0, they obviously have a good eye, so they can hold up if it's a crap pitch.

So, why just stand there? It's a waste of a strike. This Times article from 2007 describes the trend, but doesn't explain the strategy really well. It's not the end of the world to go 3-1, but why take it as a necessity?

Pet Peeve Alert

One of my biggest pet peeves is misusing the term "begging the question." To beg the question means to assume the thing you are trying to prove. To use Wikipedia's example, when arguing that the Bible is the word of God, a person would refer to what is written in the Bible as proof of the proposition that the Bible is divinely inspired.

Begging the question does not mean to "present" the question. I was reading this post on MyDD.com discussing the Lieberman-Graham amendment to the war supplemental that would forbid the dissemination of pictures of American torture. Charles Lemus writes: "this begs the question, what are they trying to hide?" No, it presents that question, or poses that question. The question was not "begged."

(I had a pedant for a philosophy professor during my undergrad years at Pitt. Sue me.)

And another thing: "whether or not X" makes my ears bleed. It should be "whether X or not," or "regardless of whether X".

"Whether or not" is redundant, and it drives me absolutely craaaaazy.

Ok, that's probably enough.

This is Not Funny

Daughter Breaks Moms Legs While Learning to Drive

Police said a 17-year-old girl who was practicing how to drive broke her
mother's legs after stepping on the gas pedal instead of the brake. Sgt. Thomas
Long told the Republican newspaper that the mother was sitting on a fence when
she was struck Saturday morning at a movie theater parking lot.

Sarah Palin Sez:

Today the things that some in Washington would do to take away our freedoms, it's absolutely astounding, and we would do so well to look back on those Reagan years as he championed the cause for freedom and then he lived it out as our president - cheerfully, persistently and unapologetically. Reagan knew that real change and real change requiring shaking things up and maybe takin' off the entrenched interest thwarting the will of the people with their ignoring of our concerns about future peril caused by selfish short-sighted advocacy for growing government and digging more debt, and taking away individual and state's rights and hampering opportunity to responsibly develop our resources, and coddling those who would seek to harm America and her allies.

(via Huffington Post)

Omg I cannot WAIT for her to start running for prez in 2011. I'll have to start sharpening up the Alaskan accent. Kevin can help me.

Another Day

Okay, I'm twelve years late to the whole Rent thing. The first time I saw it I was at a movie theater watching the recording of the last show on Broadway last September. I know. Bad gay.

I've never considered myself really into theater, but everything that I see I love. So I guess I need to reevaluate what I think about that.

Anyhoo, Mimi's voice is fantastic. And she is gorgeous beyond words.