So it turns out getting my computer to hunt down every flac music file in my collection and encode an ogg version of it takes just under four seconds to type, and just over four days to run. It doesn't slow down basic web surfing at all. I used to think typing on the command line was something one tried to get away from in computers.

On something of a whim, Tuesday, I drove up to the capitol and sat in on the hearing for HB 288, to allow cohabitating unmarried adults to become foster and adoptive parents. It got shot down, of course. Whaddaya expect? I didn't speak for the audience participation bit, though maybe I should have. I noticed the speakers from organizations opposing the bill tried to bring in statistics on the allegedly greater volatility of gay relationships. Speakers for the bill generally tried to argue against these numbers, but I think they missed a valuable moral point in doing so.
It actually matters not at all how much more or less likely homosexual couples are to break up, or have abusive relations, or take drugs than heterosexual couples. (The speakers against were actually very vague on just how much more or less.) Suppose tomorrow someone published a clear statistical study showing left-handed people were more likely than right-handed people to suffer from mental illness. Or ethnic Italians more likely than ethnic Albanians to divorce. Or that Mormons were more likely than Baptists to let their kids have too much ice cream and too little exercise. No one would actually believe that therefore these demographic categories should be entirely cut off from adopting children, even if the differences were quite large. The DCFS has a whole vetting process in place specifically to evaluate these things on a per-family basis. (And however effective or ineffective it is, it's likely to be just as effective or ineffective for all demographic groups.) An essential moral principle of America's progressive values is that you don't restrict someone based on their broader demographic category. I regret not saying anything then (not having articulated this paragraph entirely on the fly during the open mic period.) I'll probably rework this into an LTE and a too-little-too late email to the State Representatives on that committee.

In other news, today I've started biking to work again. Had to dial the speed down a bit for my lazy delinquent legs. It's several hours later now and I'm not aching or tired from it. Hopefully I'll get back into some approximation of shape.