The end of history and the last woman
Apr. 5th, 2006 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cincinnatus_c
High today, here: 3. Dewpoint then: -1. High dewpoint: 1.
High today in TO: 4. Dewpoint then: 1. High dewpoint: 1.
Low today on the balcony: -3.8. High: 2.8. Currently: 0.8.
Forgot, yesterday, to note an interesting tension between two recent polls, down the pipe from angus-reid.com, concerning immigrants in the U.S., one of which found that Americans support a guest worker program by a score of 56% to 40%, and the other of which found that Americans regard immigrants generally as a burden on society, as opposed to a strengthening influence, by a score of 52% to 41%. But that's just as well, because today the interesting tension has turned into outright wackiness, with two more polls, one of which made me think I'd misread that second one yesterday, until I realized it was a different poll: it has 51% of Americans saying that immigrants "mostly make a contribution" and 42% saying that immigrants are "mostly a drain". And: another has 79% saying that illegal immigrants should be allowed to register as guest workers, 78% saying that illegal immigrants should be allowed to become citizens if they learn English, have a job, and pay taxes--and 47% saying that all illegal immigrants should be deported. Which means, if my admittedly dubious mathematical skills serve me correctly, that at least 26% of respondents gave contradictory answers.
I can't decide whether to pull the trigger on Hasek. At most, he'll get two starts. But maybe those'll be just the two starts I need! But maybe he'll stink! I am, anyway, now holding 79 of 80 possible points in my "more competitive" league, being in second place (out of ten) in penalty minutes. I'm about twenty minutes back. Is it worth spending some of my precious forward games budget on Sean Avery and/or Todd Fedoruk? How will I waste all the extra time I'll have on my hands when the regular season is finally, for the love of God, over?
Speaking of the love of God, this is one of them damnedest things--almost as good as the bloody bowerbirds--that make ya wonder: apparently, some moths or other are able to detect when bat sonar has gone into attack mode, and to emit bat-sonar-jamming clicking sounds so they don't get eaten.
Also from today's Star (by way of aldaily.com), an uncharacteristically long, thoughtful, and conservative piece about the social consequences of increased participation of women in the workforce, with a number of Interesting Facts along the way, such as that, if current trends continue, the majority of physicians in the UK will be women by 2012. This is the kind of thing that comes along, every once in a while, to remind me that I am, after all, a liberal--as is, after all, the author of the piece, like, after all, Fukuyama: this is the way the world is going, and it is destroying some of the things that might make life valuable, and yet, I can't oppose it, and in fact I'll defend it, vote for it....
O yeah. I finished marking exams today. Is this the timely end of my career as a teaching assistant at York University? (he asked himself, for the third year running).
High today in TO: 4. Dewpoint then: 1. High dewpoint: 1.
Low today on the balcony: -3.8. High: 2.8. Currently: 0.8.
Forgot, yesterday, to note an interesting tension between two recent polls, down the pipe from angus-reid.com, concerning immigrants in the U.S., one of which found that Americans support a guest worker program by a score of 56% to 40%, and the other of which found that Americans regard immigrants generally as a burden on society, as opposed to a strengthening influence, by a score of 52% to 41%. But that's just as well, because today the interesting tension has turned into outright wackiness, with two more polls, one of which made me think I'd misread that second one yesterday, until I realized it was a different poll: it has 51% of Americans saying that immigrants "mostly make a contribution" and 42% saying that immigrants are "mostly a drain". And: another has 79% saying that illegal immigrants should be allowed to register as guest workers, 78% saying that illegal immigrants should be allowed to become citizens if they learn English, have a job, and pay taxes--and 47% saying that all illegal immigrants should be deported. Which means, if my admittedly dubious mathematical skills serve me correctly, that at least 26% of respondents gave contradictory answers.
I can't decide whether to pull the trigger on Hasek. At most, he'll get two starts. But maybe those'll be just the two starts I need! But maybe he'll stink! I am, anyway, now holding 79 of 80 possible points in my "more competitive" league, being in second place (out of ten) in penalty minutes. I'm about twenty minutes back. Is it worth spending some of my precious forward games budget on Sean Avery and/or Todd Fedoruk? How will I waste all the extra time I'll have on my hands when the regular season is finally, for the love of God, over?
Speaking of the love of God, this is one of them damnedest things--almost as good as the bloody bowerbirds--that make ya wonder: apparently, some moths or other are able to detect when bat sonar has gone into attack mode, and to emit bat-sonar-jamming clicking sounds so they don't get eaten.
Also from today's Star (by way of aldaily.com), an uncharacteristically long, thoughtful, and conservative piece about the social consequences of increased participation of women in the workforce, with a number of Interesting Facts along the way, such as that, if current trends continue, the majority of physicians in the UK will be women by 2012. This is the kind of thing that comes along, every once in a while, to remind me that I am, after all, a liberal--as is, after all, the author of the piece, like, after all, Fukuyama: this is the way the world is going, and it is destroying some of the things that might make life valuable, and yet, I can't oppose it, and in fact I'll defend it, vote for it....
O yeah. I finished marking exams today. Is this the timely end of my career as a teaching assistant at York University? (he asked himself, for the third year running).
