According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public
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Gardener’s Diary
Looking back to last year, it feels like we are a little behind schedule. There’s a lot of growth in my yard, but very few blossoms, although my neighbors’ tulips are quite pretty.
We’ve had a fair amount of rain this spring, maybe not as much as last year; some of us think the very wet Spring was the reason the hydrangeas were incredible, more blossoms than we’ve seen before.
Republican Debate, Redux
Speaking of people who can’t read: the political pundits on MSNBC consider Rudy Giuliani the most likely to win the Republican Party primary.
Evidently they didn’t bother to look at the stats on their own website, which registers the “votes” of 76,436 viewers following last Thursday night’s debate.
Reading Comprehension
The discussion forums on two local topics prove, once again, that reading comprehension is a problem for some people in these parts.
The first topic, a decision by a postmaster to suspend mail delivery to a neighborhood threatened by two out-of-control pit bulls, unleashed (pun intended) the usual “it’s not the breed, it’s the owner” apologists.
The other, a report that the Mashpee Wampanoag are petitioning the state for return of tribal land on the Mass. Military Reservation, provoked equally irrational reaction from the usual flag-waving nuts.
Mac vs Microsoft
Jason Snell, the editor of Macworld, wrote a very sensible editorial on how Mac and Windows users can co-exist.
I’ve met a number of Linux jocks, all of whom learned their trade in very expensive schools, like MIT. That, as far as I can figure out, is how most people get their entree to UNIX and UNIX-derivative world, which has always struck me as ironic.
First Republican Debate
Well, unlike the wishy-washy Democrats, at least the public knows where the Republican candidates stand, and evidently the public isn’t impressed.
Checking MSNBC’s public poll this morning, the only candidate who gets more positive than negative votes is my guy, Dr. Ron Paul.
Massive CF
Politico.com, the co-sponsor of tonight’s Republican Presidential candidates debate, has egg all over their faces.
They announced on the broadcast that their website offers the opportunity to vote on questions to be asked of the candidates.
Unfortunately, the site only works in IE. Understandable, perhaps, since MSNBC is the other co-sponsor.
What isn’t so easy to understand is that the site has a couple of major bugs: when you try to submit a question, the site displays an error that the submit was cancelled due to a disallowed HTTP verb.
Further, when you try to refresh the site, you are denied access to the “vote on a question” page.
Wanna bet that the site development was offshored? Or that someone’s kid designed it?
At Last, the Truth
From the Boston Globe’s “Quiz on the Modern Family”, an article by Patricia Wen on a report from the Council on Contemporary Families:
Younger People Have It Right
“Men have changed their ideas about what they want in a woman, seeking an egalitarian mate who can contribute financially to the home” and
So Much for Marriage as the Foundation of Society
“Married people are less likely (than singles) to help neighbors or friends, join community events or take part in politics….Single never-married people were most involved in their extended families and communities….Marriage often isolates spouses from their extended communities.”
My Next House
If I were to win the lottery this weekend, I just might buy another house, a sweet waterfront cottage in Pocasset, the same village in which I work.
I’ve been restless about the neighborhood where I live now ever since I moved here over five years ago.
It’s a “family” neighborhood, which means couples, which hereabouts means if you don’t drink and/or make passes at other people’s husbands, you don’t fit in.
Implicit Association Test
Dateline had a two-hour special on the Imus controversy last night. The program included a long segment on the Implicit Association Test, which the public can demo.
I tried it this morning and got the result “Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for African American compared to European American”.