Massachusetts is not going to have a popular vote to deprive same-sex couples of equal rights under the law! I was first alerted to this news by qwrrty, who I gather was there. The line “The narrow 45-151 vote means Massachusetts remains the only state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry” in that article seems odd to me — yes, 45 votes is close to the 50-vote minority required for a petition-initiated constitutional amendment to be defeated in Massachusetts, but still, a 45-151 vote is not “narrow”. I guess you could say the measure was narrowly defeated, but calling it a “narrow vote” strikes me as odd.

In 25 years or so, people are going to look back on this vote with shock that almost a quarter of Massachusetts legislators thought it was a good idea to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, but from this vantage point, I am so proud that more than three quarters of my state legislators believe in equal rights for same-sex couples under the law.

I need a “proud of Massachusetts” userpic. [EDIT: Thanks to qwrrty, I have one.]

Here’s a Q&A session with a BBC reporter who spent some time with Taleban fighters in Helmand province. One interesting quote:

I was shocked to see soldiers from the newly-formed Afghan national army taking money at gunpoint from every car that passed. This was happening on the main road linking Iran to Pakistan across the south of Afghanistan, and has powerful resonances since it was to stop corruption on this very road that the Taleban first emerged, with some popular support, in 1994. The trucking companies are paying the Taleban again to see if they can clear the road for them again.

Aren’t we lucky we spent all that blood and money to build a modern, pluralistic democracy and a functioning government in Iraq?

The Boston Globe agrees with me about who should be the Democratic nominee for governor of Massachusetts. This line from their endorsement of Deval Patrick particularly resonates with me:

Patrick sees the comprehensive picture.

I’ve heard him speak (once in person, several times broadcast), and among many inspiring attributes, I am struck by his ability to see and understand the big picture, the complexities of an issue, and yet incorporate it, accurately and without misleading, into inspiring speeches. One example of this is when, in a discussion of how to attract investment to Massachusetts, he points out that people who attend public universities are much likelier to stay in the area after graduation than people who attend private universities. Don’t get me wrong; he’s extremely supportive of private higher-education, but he feels that it’s also very important to form partnerships with public universities (both for the Commonwealth to invest in them, and for the Commonwealth to catalyze university–industry partnerships and public–private university partnerships), because that will lead to a more highly-trained workforce here, which will make us more competitive in attracting investment (i.e., jobs).

Another piece of the Globe’s endorsement also strikes me as noteworthy:

Often, the character of a political campaign provides a lens into how a candidate would govern. One may call on longtime political alliances. One may spend a lot of money on television ads. Patrick has chosen to build a broad citizen organization, fueled by his inspiring presence, perhaps, but also benefiting from the advice and participation of thousands who are joining the political process in earnest for the first time. The organization may help propel him to victory in the election. More important, because of the base it provides to speak directly to the voters and mobilize support for change, it can help him govern.

Many people point out that Patrick is not only an inspiring, charismatic leader, but a responsive, intelligent listener. I feel very confident in his ability to assemble a competent, impressive team; he’s already done it, and on an unusual scale for a gubernatorial candidate (especially one outside the political establishment).

If you are eligible to vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday the 19th (i.e., if you are registered as a Democrat), please vote in it, and if you agree with me that Deval Patrick is the best thing to happen to Massachusetts politics and government in a good long time, please vote for him.

Yesterday in lieu of my regular work day I went to Linux World Expo, along with my boss. It was fun and I certainly learned some interesting stuff, but certainly not something I would have travelled for. Nice to have it in Boston, though. I heard a nifty (and well-attended) talk at the O’Reilly booth by Jesse Vincent on his company’s new (free) web-application development tool, Jifty.

So last night I met chienne_folle for dinner and a movie in Arlington Center. We had dinner at a restaurant called Bangalore. My experience was better than hers; my malai kofta was very good. Her muttar paneer, which she ordered mild, was too spicy for her to eat. Fortunately, the garlic naan had cilantro on it, so I couldn’t eat it and she got all of it. I always forget to ask for no cilantro at Indian restaurants, because not all of them use it.

Then, after a walk because we had a lot of time to kill, we saw Mrs Henderson Presents, which I really really enjoyed. The plot was pretty straightforward and unsurprising (although quite sweet), but it was just charmingly crafted and full of very good lines.

On the way home after the movie, I was listening to a BBC Newshour piece on WBUR on the discovery and translation of a manuscript of the Gospel of Judas. One of the guests made the point that the canonical New Testament gospels leave us wondering what Judas’ motivation was in betraying Jesus, and that the new manuscript might shed some light on that. Then ’BUR went to a station break, and the local announcer started talking about the benefits of underwriting and what was going to be on their flagship call-in talk show On Point the next morning. But I noticed that the background music for the station break was a bit unusual for public radio. It was, well, peppier and more whimsical than one usually expects even the incidental music to be. The sort of thing you might expect on commercial TV, for instance.

And then it struck me. It was the theme song from The Price Is Right.

Whatever ’BUR sound technician chose that music is my new hero!

Here’s an interesting CNN article on British data suggesting that the mass-extinction event that humans started about 50,000 years ago (which wiped out lots of large mammals, for instance) is continuing. Unsurprising, but it's neat to see actual data about current effects. Thanks to my mother for forwarding the link.

My wonderful stepfather Don is a journalist (and classical music announcer) for the local NPR station in the town where I grew up (Macomb, Illinois, pop. ~19k), which means he often gets to attend interesting events for work. Macomb’s pretty small, but it has a municipal airport and sometimes hosts fly-ins of various kinds.

Recently, there was a powered parachute meet there. A powered parachute is an open metal frame with two seats (maybe some of them have just one; I’m not sure) with a motor and push propeller on the back, rigged to a big ol’ square parachute. You start the engine, and the frame moves along the ground with the chute behind it. The chute fills with air and billows out, and starts acting as an airfoil. Eventually, it develops enough lift to raise the whole thing off the ground, and you’re flying. Running out of gas is not a problem; you just drift gently to the ground as a parachute. Powered parachutes only get up to about 30mph, and usually stay within about 500 to 1000 feet of the ground, although at this particular event one pilot (Ed Neff of Hamilton, IL) broke the powered parachute height record by taking his above 20,000 feet.

So Don went to this event and got to ride in one! He said it was an amazing experience — noisy, but very restful. He had a certain something in his voice when he was telling me about it that made it clear that it was really something. They guy who took him up, Dave Krause of Red Bud, IL, took the picture below of Don in the back seat. (Don said Krause had taken his ’chute down to Texas to help look for Columbia parts after the disaster — since powered parachutes fly so low and so slowly, they’re good for search operations.) I think he said they range in cost from about $10k-$30k (expensive, but cheaper than an ultralight).

Anyway, here’s the picture: ( Picture of Don flying in a powered parachute, 84k 800x600 JPEG )

(By the way, I wanted to find out where the quote “Slipped the surly bonds of Earth” that Don used as the subject line when he sent me the picture was from, and I found a mildly amusing page with the original poem “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., and a bunch of parodies of it, including the FAA supplement. Probably not of interest unless you’re into flying.)