Polymathematics

"Alleged"

Yet another public figure is involved in a possible "sex scandal".  Senator Craig from Idaho was arrested for lewd conduct for allegedly engaging in behaviors that indicated to an undercover police officer that he was interested in a homosexual liaison.  I stress the word allegedly not out of sarcasm because I believe he really did it (I don't really have an opinion about that), but because of how that word is used in some of the reports about it.  This article, in particular, bothers me.  It talks about his "alleged homosexuality" and about a blogger who had "accused Craig of homosexual sex".  Using words like alleged and accused is especially harmful here.  It perpetuates the myth that the crime he stands accused of is being gay or bisexual.  That is not his alleged crime.  His alleged crime is engaging in lewd behavior that would have been a crime whether he was soliciting homosexual or heterosexual sex.

The brain science is pretty clear that sexual preference is a biological drive, not a moral choice.  If Craig made any poor moral choice, it was (allegedly) to break the law by propositioning for sex in a bathroom.  Also, if it turns out he is in fact gay, then choosing to oppose equal rights for gay people is at best sad and self-loathing and at worst hypocritical.

Our language often implies more than we think.  Let's use words like alleged and accused for crimes, not for being gay.

How Many Administration Officials Does It Take...

...that step down amid allegations of scandal or abuse of power before the president's praise about Alberto Gonzales' honorable name being dragged through the mud just rings completely hollow?  At some point (Oh, I don't know, when the top law-and-order official in a law-and-order administration puts loyalty to his boss above the law?  Maybe?  Or when actual apparently honorable people resign because they don't think they can do their jobs anymore in an ethical manner?  Maybe?) George Bush is going to have to come to terms with the idea that what he considers honor might only be misplaced adherence to a good-ole-boy-network ethic to hold on to power no matter what.  That's not honor;  that's arrogance and greed.

And my vote for Gonzales' replacement?  Realistically speaking, of course, it will have to be a Republican.  I would trust John Danforth.  He seems moderate, sensible, and beyond ethical reproach.  And as a former senator, he would likely be confirmed easily.

Exponential Sunday Night Blues (with drooplids)

Sunday nights are never very fun for my wife and me.  We've named it the Sunday Night Blues.  You can't really start on any project because you'll have to put off the end when the week hits.  Everything you do just feels like biding time before the week starts.  You should be going to sleep, but you're not sleepy because you slept in or took a lazy Sunday nap.  But every minute you stay awake is another unit of grogginess you'll have to deal with the next day.  (By the way, what is the unit for grogginess?  I propose the drooplid.  You are 1 drooplid groggy if you do that head-jerking drift-into-dream-for-3-seconds thing we're all familiar with.  If you're still mostly able to function, but you're still kind of tired, you're probably around 60 centidrooplids groggy.  If you really can't keep your eyes open, you're probably 2 or 3 drooplids groggy.  Any takers on that unit?  Other suggestions?) So all you can do is watch lame TV or cruise the internet or play a game and think about work.  That's the Sunday Night Blues.

My school starts up again in four days.  Sure, I'm ready.  Day One will probably go fine.  I'm eager to meet my classes, and the constant daycare I'm providing to my daughter (while wonderful for bonding) is getting tiresome.  There's only so much intellectual interest you can get from an 18-month-old.  But...I can't start any big projects, etc., etc.  It's Exponential Sunday Night Blues.  And since the baby woke up before I wanted to, I have the Blues and I'm 75 centidrooplids groggy.  Good thing this kid is so darned cute.

UPDATE:  I realized that I need to calibrate my scale of drooplids.  You know what 1 drooplid is, but we need a reference for 0 drooplids.  0 drooplids is the amount of grogginess after the following series of events:  you got 8 hours of sleep on Saturday night, and you're at home alone all day on Sunday, and you take a nap at 12:30pm without setting an alarm, and wake up briefly at 1:30, but you still feel a little tired so you drift back to sleep until 2:45, when you wake up on your own and you realize you still have half a free day with nothing to do but read and work out and watch a movie.  I don't expect that to happen to me again before I retire, but that's 0 drooplids.  Insomnia due to caffeine is measured in negative drooplids.

The Last Thing...

that I ever thought I'd post here would be household cleaning advice.  But this really works, and it's so much environmentally friendlier than standard detergents.  This works well (no, I'm serious, it does) to clean countertops, stainless steel sinks, bathtubs, laminate tables, etc.  I wouldn't use it on wood, because of the abrasive nature of baking soda.

It says on the baking soda box that it can be used for cleaning, but I never quite figured out how until now.  Here's some very specific instructions—I'm still refining the process, but this is working pretty well.

Pour a large box of baking soda into a watertight plastic container, and include a small spoon in there, too.  It's much easier to sprinkle the baking soda that way than from the box.  Fill an empty spray bottle (I got mine at Target) with cheap vinegar (4 parts) bottled lemon juice (1 part), and a tablespoon or two of orange oil or peppermint oil (for scent).

Sprinkle a small amount of baking soda (less than you might think) on the surface to prepare it.  Spray a small section with the vinegar solution (watch the fizzing from the chemical reaction—and if someone knows the exact chemistry of that reaction, please post it in the comments;  I'm very curious and I don't remember enough basic Chem to get that right), and scrub with a sponge.  Rinse the sponge (you can scrub the sink while you're at it) and repeat the spray and scrub.  The hardest part is getting rid of the residue of baking soda when you're done.  Remember that the vinegar works better than water to get rid of it, so I've taking to spraying some on a paper towel right at the end of the process to clean it up.  Of course, if there is a small residue left over, it's just baking soda...no big deal.

Just be sure to keep water out of your baking soda container so it doesn't clump.

We've been trying to keep our household greener, and this is a very easy way.  Cheaper than most cleaners, too!

Okay, there.  I've done it.  I've given cleaning advice.  I am now officially, thoroughly domesticated.

UPDATE:  First of all, thanks to the commenter for explaining the chemical reaction.  Second, ummmm, don't use this on a stove.  If you get all the residual baking soda off, it's probably okay, but I thought I had, and then when I used the stove, the stuff I missed turned all yellow and crusty.  So, good for counters, bad for stoves.

Time Is Short

Yeah, I haven't posted at all recently (except for the carnival), and I haven't even made any entries in the AHSMP.  I've been intending to, but whenever I'm not caring for the kid, I'm either spending time with my wife or too frazzled to put the next entry together.  But thing seem to be clearing up in my schedule, and I might have some time and energy to write some proofs or posts before school starts again.

Also, since the political scene is heating up again, I might start to get outraged or excited enough to post some political ideas again.  I know you're all wondering, "Who would Polymath vote for?"  And if the election were held today, I think the answer would be Barack Obama.  He's extremely charismatic and smart, but I didn't want to merely jump on the bandwagon.  On the other hand, the bandwagon might be headed in the direction I wanted to go anyway, and that seems to be the case here.  I think a lot of disaffected people (African-Americans, young people) would become more engaged with Obama as president, and I basically trust and respect his ideas.  He's also a very good orator and seems to be a true seeker of compromise, and we need both after this president with divisive politics and no ability to convince anyone that he might be right.  The big flap about him right now is that he gave the "wrong" answer in a debate about meeting with leaders of rogue nations.  He said he would, while Clinton gave the more "nuanced" answer, that meetings would have to go through formal channels first before she would agree to a meeting;  she didn't want to be used for propaganda, she said.  But, of course, plenty of leaders use their very distance from the U.S. as propaganda:  proof that they are not our puppets.  I don't think withholding talks is any more immune to be used as propaganda than agreeing to talks.

The point is, I think he's smart enough and wise enough, and I would like to see him as president.  Clinton would be okay, too (and so would Richardson, to tell you the truth), but he's my current favorite.

And now, the politics of peekaboo calls...gotta go.

UPDATE:  I finally did find the time to post one of my favorite proofs ever....you should look at it.