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I think this will be my last blog post before the election. I simply have too much to do between now and 11/2 to even think of updating this blog.

I have a guide to the CA Propositions below this post, so I think I'm going to just fill out the rest of my endorsements for Regime Change Day.

• President/VP: John F. Kerry and John Edwards.
  
• Senate, CA: Barbara Boxer
  
• House of Representatives for my district: With a heavy heart, Howard Berman. Yes, he's the RIAA and MPAA's bitch. But we need all the people who can vote against what is likely going to remain a Republican majority in the House. sigh...
  

Now get out there and VOTE, DAMMIT!

(Reposted to make sure you don't have to scroll to get it)
The California Ballot Propositions: my take.
(Originally posted October 3rd, modified October 28th)

In California, we do things differently than the rest of the 49 states. Most of our legislation comes from ballot initiatives. Some argue that California is a purer democracy because of it, where others will argue that it's an unwise usurpation of the Founders' vision of our representative democratic system. Certainly, it's tied the hands of both the legislative and executive branches here in California, and made cutting the budget to bring it back into balance a labor worthy of the Hercules of Greek legend, not merely "Hercules In New York comes to California."

Anyway, there's some biggies on the ballot this time. I know I weighed in on one proposition, and I have changed my mind about it after all. So forget what I said previously...this is my list. And I'm sticking to it.

First up, 1A. This one looks good on the surface, because it's a safeguard against raiding local coffers to balance the State budget. One of the dirtiest little secrets of the Schwarzenegger administration is how Ah-nold raided local budgets to balance the current budget. I'm starting to get suspicious about it though, because Ah-nold is backing it.My suggestion: maybe.

Next up, 59. This is a "sunshine law" to open up most State Government meetings to public observation. Many of the most important meetings held to decide the minutia of the current California budget were held behind closed doors. While this will not affect Schwarzenegger's private smoke-filled tent, it will go a good long way towards opening the rest of California government to citizen scrutiny. My suggestion: YES.

Then there's 60. This was designed as "defensive legislation" against an open primary system. However, it goes exactly the opposite direction and ossifies the current system, outlawing interesting ideas like instant runoff voting and so forth. We need the flexibility to try new ideas. Open primaries are an old idea that doesn't work, but so is the status quo. My suggestion: NO.

Confusingly, the next proposition is 60A, but it has no resemblance whatsoever to its ballot neighbor. This is simply an amendment which will assure that surplus property sold by the State will go to paying off bonded indebtedness, rather than to any other application. Since I'm not a big fan of bonded indebtedness, except for very worthy causes, I would suggest a YES vote.

Next up: 61. OK, this is a bond proposition, but it's for a very good cause. Children's Hospital of Los Angeles is getting a bit long in the tooth, and could use some modernizing. This bond proposition is a relatively modest one, and will go a long way to helping these hospitals of last resort for underinsured and uninsured children. YES.

Next: 62. This proposition holds that the two primary election candidates receiving the most votes in the primary, regardless of party, will go on to face each other in the next general election. Can you see how that would suck? Imagine if you had, as a choice on the ballot, either a raging right-wing Republican or a moderate, Ah-nold anointed Republican? No Democratic choices, no Libertarians, no Greens, nothing else. Just Bob Bible-thumper and Jim Corporate Candidate. Great choice, eh? Big NO.

Next, Prop 63. This is the kind of funded mandate I can get behind. Rather than further committing the State to more bonded indebtedness, this proposition seeks to fund expanded mental health services for the indigent by a 1% tax on income above $1 Million. OK, it's a tax. But if I were making more than a million dollars a year, I would consider this a minor price to pay to make some serious inroads against the problem of the homeless mentally ill. Yes, I know the arguments about "The Millionaires Next Door" and how more people are in that category than you think. But really now, 1%? Is that skin off anyone's behind, especially the prosperous? Think of it as insurance against getting your Bruno Magli shoes puked on by a mentally ill homeless person on the streets. Big YES.

From a good idea to a really, really BAD idea: Proposition 64. I knew something was funky about this proposition when I saw commercials in favor of it starting in September, the first out of the gate. They give sob stories about small businesses getting "shaken down" by rapacious trial lawyers, but in reality the people behind this initiative are Big Oil, Big Banking, Big Insurance, and Microsoft, to name but four. Who are Unocal, Bank of America, State Farm and Microsoft trying to fool? Us. Big NO.

OK, now we come to Proposition 65. This is one of two “zombie” propositions that are on the ballot but are not being supported by their original supporters. It's sort of, kind of, like Prop 1A, but it's more radical and everyone who initially supported it is treating it like yesterday's garbage. Eew. Verdict: NO.

No uncertainty about the next one, Proposition 66. When the Three-Strikes proposition was passed, (also known as a "Three-Time Loser" law) we were told that only serious, violent felons were to be affected by it. In practice, people were getting their third strike from stealing food, selling pot, and other non-violent crimes. Three-Strikes has made our society a more, not less dangerous one. Why is it that we have more hit-and-run accidents and dangerous car chases now then before Three-Strikes? Why is it that our prisons are crammed full with inmates? Three-Strikes is not the total reason why our prisons are overcrowded hell-holes...responsible decriminalization of soft drugs and medicalization of the hard drug problem is another solution that deserves a good, honest look. In this "just say No" society, however, sanity in drug laws is a solution that dare not speak its name. However, fixing the flaws in Three-Strikes would be a good start. BIG, BIG YES.

Proposition 67 is next. This would put a new surcharge on phone service to fund improvements in 911 service and to the Trauma Care system. While I am against most regressive taxes, and a phone surcharge is a regressive tax that hurts lower and middle class people more than the rich, this is necessary. On October 3rd of this year, the Van Nuys Campus of Northridge Hospital is closing its emergency room, and King-Drew Medical Center has already voluntarily eliminated their Trauma Care service in a neighborhood which desperately needs it. Real universal health care for all Americans is what is needed, but this isn't a half-bad bandaid measure until we get there. Big YES.

Proposition 68 and 70 are both measures to expand gaming in California. While I believe there is nothing morally wrong with gambling, I think that expanding it further, particularly in urban areas, is unwise. Prop 68 is the other of the two “zombie” propositions that are still on the ballot. Churchill Downs, the racetrack company that owns horse and dog racing facilities all over the US, and Gardena card clubs, particularly the one owned by Larry Flynt, the Hustler Casino, have all washed their hands of this measure. Only the anti-68 commercials are running now. Prop 70 is slightly less repugnant, and is basically set up so that the tribes that didn't enter into compacts with Gov. Schwarzenegger can start or expand their casinos. Still, enough is enough. I'm giving both a little NO...research it for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

Proposition 69 would be something I could get behind if it weren't for how broad it is. I think that setting up a DNA database on convicted felons is a damn good idea. However, it's much broader than that. Anyone arrested for a felony would be added to this database. These felonies can include victimless crimes, not just violent crimes. And we all know that not everyone arrested for a felony is actually a criminal. There are enough innocents being arrested, and enough erosion of the presumption of innocence, to where this is a bad idea. Big NO.

OK, now we come to Prop 71, which I initially was against. However, I have been convinced that, even though this is a big-ass bond issue which I normally do not support, it's indeed worth the extra debt. It's not a sure thing that Kerry will triumph over Bush, and Bush is the one who forced this issue to come to the ballot in California. I don't like giveaways to big industries, particularly one as rapacious as Big Pharmaceuticals. The cost of this measure might be paid back, however, if pharma companies flock to California to set up shop, because high-tech jobs is what California needs. And if one of them finds a big cure, the State of California is going to get a cut of whatever money is made. Also, purely from an emotional level: who's going to refuse Christopher Reeve what seems to be his dying wish? No fair, man...I'm getting dewy-eyed...[sob] Anyway, YES.

Lastly among the State ballot measures is Proposition 72. This is a public referendum on the "Pay or Play" limited plan to make sure that medium-to-large scale employers pay for their employees health care. If a business employs 19 or fewer employees, they would be exempt from this program. If a business employs 20 to 49 employees, they only have to participate if a business tax credit to defray their costs is also passed. If a business employs 50 to 199 employees, they must either provide insurance for their employees or pay into a State insurance pool that would cover their employees. If a business employs 200 or more employees, they will have to cover not only the employee but the employee's dependents in the same manner. Notice that this is all contingent on being employed. This does nothing for the unemployed, this does nothing for employees in very small businesses. This is not universal health care for California, this is not universal health care, period. Big Insurance will make out like bandits with this proposition, just as they have with universally mandated Automobile Insurance. This is a bandaid on a person who's suffered traumatic amputation and is hemorrhaging furiously, folks. But it's a start. There have been tons of scare ads on the TV about this proposition. The people who support Prop 72 simply don't have the money to answer this barrage of misinformation and disinformation. They have to settle for voices crying in the wilderness, like me. Lucky them. BIG YES.

OK, so now you know...VOTE! VOTE LIKE THE WIND!!!

A couple of things on my mind this afternoon:

1.) Bin Laden reappears on tape, and the sheeple all cower in Bush's direction. Right now the shifting sands at the polls now have Bush with a 6% lead. Fuck. Never mind that if you vote for Bush you vote for Al Qaeda's preferred US presidential candidate. From the referenced communique, from the Al'Qaeda cell in Spain responsible for the Madrid train bombing:

"Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilisation."

"Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected."

So there you have it. A vote for George W. Bush is a vote for Osama Bin Laden.

Baaaaaaaa sheeple. Baaaa baaaa baaaa sheeple. Go gently to democracy's slaughterhouse. Bush lied to you. Bush could give a shit about whether or not he catches Bin Laden. Instead of fighting the real enemy we are hip deep in shit in Iraq.

Come on people: WAKE UP!!!!!

In less incendiary topics, the current No on Prop 72 ads give scare stories about what kind of horrible Government-run health care plan will be foisted on people if "Pay or Play" is approved by voters. OK, two things:

1.) "Pay or Play" is not a Government-run health care plan. It is a mandate that all employers with 50 employees or more pay for health coverage for their employees with no more than a 20% employee contribution to the plan, or pay into a State of California insurance pool that will buy insurance for those employees. Employers with 20 to 49 employees will only have to participate if a tax offset is passed by the State which will make paying for the insurance a cost that the company can write off their taxes 100%. And employers with 19 or fewer employees will not be asked to either Pay or Play...they are exempt.

2.) And what if Prop 72 was a Single-Payer health care plan for everyone in California? There is a horrible misunderstanding afoot about the establishment of a Canadian-style Single-Payer health care plan in the US: Single-Payer doesn't mean "socialized medicine." Single-Payer doesn't mean the kind of dysfunctional system that existed in the UK in the 1970s. Folks: Get the FAQs about Single-Payer here. We could do much worse than what these doctors are advocating, and have been since long before the Clinton health care brouhaha of 1993.

Anyway, here's the non-partisan analysis from Smart Voter on Proposition 72. There is a link on the page to the full text of the measure, in PDF format. Read it for yourself. This is a bandaid measure. If we really got serious about fixing our broken health care system we should listen to these doctors' orders, but since neither party has the political cojones to do so, this is as good as it gets for now.

I know you're sick of hearing from me today, but I think you should know of another endorsement that President Bush has received. It's from Al Qaeda.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040317/325/eotq9.html

Read it carefully. Then consider it well when you go to the polls. It certainly sounds like Al Qaeda is far more afraid of Kerry as our next President than they are of W. Kerry should run with this, and run hard. This broke Wednesday and so far he hasn't mentioned it.

It seems like every time there's been an October Surprise this time, it's been one more favorable to Kerry than Bush. This is why watching the polls has been so fucking frustrating. C'mon folks...after all we've been through this month, why hasn't Kerry run away with this race??? Is 50% of the population blind, deaf, dumb and idiotic? COME ON!

Something you might miss otherwise: Hell no, he won't go. This article puts a human face on the Bush "Backdoor Draft" that is turning Vets who have done their tour of duty into indentured servitude. This article is from the LA Weekly but didn't run in the "dead trees" version of the weekly free paper.

OK, I put my two cents worth in, here's someone else's take on the election. Beep is a friend of mine. Basically we agree on most stuff here, but there are a few little places where she makes some compelling arguments against some of my recommendations. Worth a look, for sure.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/beepbeep/204220.html

The California Ballot Propositions: my take.
(Originally posted October 3rd, modified October 28th)

In California, we do things differently than the rest of the 49 states. Most of our legislation comes from ballot initiatives. Some argue that California is a purer democracy because of it, where others will argue that it's an unwise usurpation of the Founders' vision of our representative democratic system. Certainly, it's tied the hands of both the legislative and executive branches here in California, and made cutting the budget to bring it back into balance a labor worthy of the Hercules of Greek legend, not merely "Hercules In New York comes to California."

Anyway, there's some biggies on the ballot this time. I know I weighed in on one proposition, and I have changed my mind about it after all. So forget what I said previously...this is my list. And I'm sticking to it.

First up, 1A. This one looks good on the surface, because it's a safeguard against raiding local coffers to balance the State budget. One of the dirtiest little secrets of the Schwarzenegger administration is how Ah-nold raided local budgets to balance the current budget. I'm starting to get suspicious about it though, because Ah-nold is backing it.My suggestion: maybe.

Next up, 59. This is a "sunshine law" to open up most State Government meetings to public observation. Many of the most important meetings held to decide the minutia of the current California budget were held behind closed doors. While this will not affect Schwarzenegger's private smoke-filled tent, it will go a good long way towards opening the rest of California government to citizen scrutiny. My suggestion: YES.

Then there's 60. This was designed as "defensive legislation" against an open primary system. However, it goes exactly the opposite direction and ossifies the current system, outlawing interesting ideas like instant runoff voting and so forth. We need the flexibility to try new ideas. Open primaries are an old idea that doesn't work, but so is the status quo. My suggestion: NO.

Confusingly, the next proposition is 60A, but it has no resemblance whatsoever to its ballot neighbor. This is simply an amendment which will assure that surplus property sold by the State will go to paying off bonded indebtedness, rather than to any other application. Since I'm not a big fan of bonded indebtedness, except for very worthy causes, I would suggest a YES vote.

Next up: 61. OK, this is a bond proposition, but it's for a very good cause. Children's Hospital of Los Angeles is getting a bit long in the tooth, and could use some modernizing. This bond proposition is a relatively modest one, and will go a long way to helping these hospitals of last resort for underinsured and uninsured children. YES.

Next: 62. This proposition holds that the two primary election candidates receiving the most votes in the primary, regardless of party, will go on to face each other in the next general election. Can you see how that would suck? Imagine if you had, as a choice on the ballot, either a raging right-wing Republican or a moderate, Ah-nold anointed Republican? No Democratic choices, no Libertarians, no Greens, nothing else. Just Bob Bible-thumper and Jim Corporate Candidate. Great choice, eh? Big NO.

Next, Prop 63. This is the kind of funded mandate I can get behind. Rather than further committing the State to more bonded indebtedness, this proposition seeks to fund expanded mental health services for the indigent by a 1% tax on income above $1 Million. OK, it's a tax. But if I were making more than a million dollars a year, I would consider this a minor price to pay to make some serious inroads against the problem of the homeless mentally ill. Yes, I know the arguments about "The Millionaires Next Door" and how more people are in that category than you think. But really now, 1%? Is that skin off anyone's behind, especially the prosperous? Think of it as insurance against getting your Bruno Magli shoes puked on by a mentally ill homeless person on the streets. Big YES.

From a good idea to a really, really BAD idea: Proposition 64. I knew something was funky about this proposition when I saw commercials in favor of it starting in September, the first out of the gate. They give sob stories about small businesses getting "shaken down" by rapacious trial lawyers, but in reality the people behind this initiative are Big Oil, Big Banking, Big Insurance, and Microsoft, to name but four. Who are Unocal, Bank of America, State Farm and Microsoft trying to fool? Us. Big NO.

OK, now we come to Proposition 65. This is one of two “zombie” propositions that are on the ballot but are not being supported by their original supporters. It's sort of, kind of, like Prop 1A, but it's more radical and everyone who initially supported it is treating it like yesterday's garbage. Eew. Verdict: NO.

No uncertainty about the next one, Proposition 66. When the Three-Strikes proposition was passed, (also known as a "Three-Time Loser" law) we were told that only serious, violent felons were to be affected by it. In practice, people were getting their third strike from stealing food, selling pot, and other non-violent crimes. Three-Strikes has made our society a more, not less dangerous one. Why is it that we have more hit-and-run accidents and dangerous car chases now then before Three-Strikes? Why is it that our prisons are crammed full with inmates? Three-Strikes is not the total reason why our prisons are overcrowded hell-holes...responsible decriminalization of soft drugs and medicalization of the hard drug problem is another solution that deserves a good, honest look. In this "just say No" society, however, sanity in drug laws is a solution that dare not speak its name. However, fixing the flaws in Three-Strikes would be a good start. BIG, BIG YES.

Proposition 67 is next. This would put a new surcharge on phone service to fund improvements in 911 service and to the Trauma Care system. While I am against most regressive taxes, and a phone surcharge is a regressive tax that hurts lower and middle class people more than the rich, this is necessary. On October 3rd of this year, the Van Nuys Campus of Northridge Hospital is closing its emergency room, and King-Drew Medical Center has already voluntarily eliminated their Trauma Care service in a neighborhood which desperately needs it. Real universal health care for all Americans is what is needed, but this isn't a half-bad bandaid measure until we get there. Big YES.

Proposition 68 and 70 are both measures to expand gaming in California. While I believe there is nothing morally wrong with gambling, I think that expanding it further, particularly in urban areas, is unwise. Prop 68 is the other of the two “zombie” propositions that are still on the ballot. Churchill Downs, the racetrack company that owns horse and dog racing facilities all over the US, and Gardena card clubs, particularly the one owned by Larry Flynt, the Hustler Casino, have all washed their hands of this measure. Only the anti-68 commercials are running now. Prop 70 is slightly less repugnant, and is basically set up so that the tribes that didn't enter into compacts with Gov. Schwarzenegger can start or expand their casinos. Still, enough is enough. I'm giving both a little NO...research it for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

Proposition 69 would be something I could get behind if it weren't for how broad it is. I think that setting up a DNA database on convicted felons is a damn good idea. However, it's much broader than that. Anyone arrested for a felony would be added to this database. These felonies can include victimless crimes, not just violent crimes. And we all know that not everyone arrested for a felony is actually a criminal. There are enough innocents being arrested, and enough erosion of the presumption of innocence, to where this is a bad idea. Big NO.

OK, now we come to Prop 71, which I initially was against. However, I have been convinced that, even though this is a big-ass bond issue which I normally do not support, it's indeed worth the extra debt. It's not a sure thing that Kerry will triumph over Bush, and Bush is the one who forced this issue to come to the ballot in California. I don't like giveaways to big industries, particularly one as rapacious as Big Pharmaceuticals. The cost of this measure might be paid back, however, if pharma companies flock to California to set up shop, because high-tech jobs is what California needs. And if one of them finds a big cure, the State of California is going to get a cut of whatever money is made. Also, purely from an emotional level: who's going to refuse Christopher Reeve what seems to be his dying wish? No fair, man...I'm getting dewy-eyed...[sob] Anyway, YES.

Lastly among the State ballot measures is Proposition 72. This is a public referendum on the "Pay or Play" limited plan to make sure that medium-to-large scale employers pay for their employees health care. If a business employs 19 or fewer employees, they would be exempt from this program. If a business employs 20 to 49 employees, they only have to participate if a business tax credit to defray their costs is also passed. If a business employs 50 to 199 employees, they must either provide insurance for their employees or pay into a State insurance pool that would cover their employees. If a business employs 200 or more employees, they will have to cover not only the employee but the employee's dependents in the same manner. Notice that this is all contingent on being employed. This does nothing for the unemployed, this does nothing for employees in very small businesses. This is not universal health care for California, this is not universal health care, period. Big Insurance will make out like bandits with this proposition, just as they have with universally mandated Automobile Insurance. This is a bandaid on a person who's suffered traumatic amputation and is hemorrhaging furiously, folks. But it's a start. There have been tons of scare ads on the TV about this proposition. The people who support Prop 72 simply don't have the money to answer this barrage of misinformation and disinformation. They have to settle for voices crying in the wilderness, like me. Lucky them. BIG YES.

OK, so now you know...VOTE! VOTE LIKE THE WIND!!!

Oh yeah, and how about them Sox!!! Hopefully this is a good omen as well for Kerry's chances November 2nd.

Notice: Hell has hit 32 degrees F. and the temperature's dropping...

Los Angeles has two major newspapers: the liberal-leaning Los Angeles Times, and the usually very conservative Los Angeles Daily News. Well, guess what I missed this Sunday...the Daily News endorsed Kerry for President.

Then again, real conservatives have had a beef with George W. Bush for years, and some are even putting their votes where their gripes are.

So maybe it isn't so weird.

It isn't as big of news as the lead that Kerry has taken in the newspaper endorsements, but it looks like one more music personality has come out against W in the election.

Eminem, take it away....

"Mosh"

[I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One nation under God
Indivisible
It feels so good to be back..]

Scrutinize every word, memorize every line
I spit it once, refuel, reenergize, and rewind
I give sight to the blind, mind sight through the mind
I ostracize my right to express when I feel it's time
It's just all in your mind, what you interpret it as
I say to fight you take it as I'm gonna whip someone's ass
If you don't understand don't even bother to ask
A father who has grown up with a fatherless past
Who has blown up now to rap phenomenon that has
Or at least shows no difficulty multi task
And juggling both, perhaps mastered his craft slash
Entrepreneur who has held long too few more rap acts
Who has had a few obstacles thrown his way through the last half
Of his career typical manure moving past that
Mister kiss his ass crack, he's a class act
Rubber band man, yea he just snaps back

Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won't stear you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors

To the people up top, on the side and the middle,
Come together, let's all bomb and swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build, from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
Don't matter what color, all that matters is we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weather
If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain't gonna stop us, they can't, we're stronger now more then ever,
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go,
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push up, mush, fuck Bush, until they bring our troops home come on just . . .

Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won't stear you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors, come on

Imagine it pouring, it's raining down on us,
Mosh pits outside the oval office
Someone's trying to tell us something, maybe this is God just saying
we're responsible for this monster, this coward, that we have empowered
This is Bin Laden, look at his head nodding,
How could we allow something like this, Without pumping our fist
Now this is our, final hour
Let me be the voice, and your strength, and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme, just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify the times it, and multiply it by six
Teen million people are equal of this high pitch
Maybe we can reach Al Quaida through my speech
Let the President answer on high anarchy
Strap him with AK-47, let him go
Fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our soil
No more psychological warfare to trick us to think that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country we're patronizing a hero
Look in his eyes, it's all lies, the stars and stripes
They've been swiped, washed out and wiped,
And Replaced with his own face, mosh now or die
If I get sniped tonight you'll know why, because I told you to fight

So come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won't stear you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors

[Eminem speaking angrily]
And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator.

Someone has already made a video, which might or might not be official. Unfortunately right now the Guerrilla News Network site is under very heavy traffic, and is very hard to reach. MTV seems to be treating this video as something official, so perhaps it really is. It might also explain why the GNN servers are taking such a beating this morning.

If you needed any more reason to vote Kerry November 2nd, it's this: Justice Rehnquist just went under the knife for thyroid cancer surgery. This is not the first cancer surgery for sitting Justices on this court: Justice Ginsberg underwent colon cancer surgery in 1999, and Justice O'Connor had breast cancer surgery in 1988. However, it does serve to underline just how fragile the current sitting Justices are. Bush has suggested that he will appoint Justices to the Supreme Court who sees the world his way...and as I pointed out in an earlier post, it would only take one moderate dying or retiring to allow Bush to have the 5-4 majority he desires to overturn Roe v. Wade. And as I also pointed out, 30 out of 50 states have laws on the books that would mean abortion would instantly become a crime the moment Roe v. Wade was overturned.

However, take heart: there have been some pretty impressive conservative voices out there who have come out and said that they are voting for Kerry (sometimes holding their nose) because they cannot stand what Bush has done to this country. Show this to conservative Bush fans. Show them that the little knot in their stomach is their doubt about Bush, and whether or not he and this country is on the right track or not.

Anyway, I will repost my endorsements next Monday, and when I do, I will tell you this about Proposition 71: I have changed my mind. Blame it on my being an old softy and seeing the commercial with Christopher Reeve, but even though I still have a lot of distaste for giving Big Pharma corporate welfare, I cannot say no to this effort. The best thing we can do for advancing medical progress and breaking the Fundie Christian shackles placed on research is to vote Kerry in. The next best thing we can do is suck it down and vote for this bond measure. Hey, we could go further in debt for worse things.

Finally, one scary thought to tuck y'all into bed with...the ballot going before Ohioans this time is a hideous flashback to the notorious butterfly ballot, but only more confusing this time. See for yourself. ...shudder...

Leave it to Hunter S. Thompson to have this election sussed:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/6562575

Reprinting something a friend wrote.

Zoogz Rift is one of my husband Richie's best friends and a longtime musical collaborator. Zoogz and I have had our disagreements in the past, but now we're also very good friends.

His ex-wife Laura is also a family friend, and she has for the longest time been very much an Ayn Rand fan and big-L libertarian. These current, extraordinary circumstances have made her come to a very different conclusion about whom to vote for this November 2nd.

Since ZR posted this on Usenet, I am taking it to mean that this is a 100% open letter and reprinting it here. Laura's reasoned analysis and eloquent writing style is worth spreading.

I am 49 years old and my political views have changed over the years. But whether I have considered myself liberal, conservative, libertarian, or just plain independent feminist (which is pretty much how I define myself politically right now) I have NEVER been as opposed to a president as I am to this president we have now.

Why? Here's the reasons in a nutshell.

1. Bush is not only interested in criminalizing abortion, he is against stem-cell research and is for a Human Life Amendment which would give a single cell, a zygote, the same right to life as a woman. Presumably, this would lead not only to all abortions being made illegal, but IUDs and birth control pills as well (both IUDs and birth control pills can interfere with the implantation of a fertilized egg), and in-vitro fertilization.

2. As a result of his anti-abortion views, his administration has re-instituted a gag rule that has cut off family planning aid to millions of Third World women. Keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of women DIE as a result of complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and during botched abortions, most of these deaths would be preventable if women could prevent unwanted and unaffordable pregnancies, and if necessary secure safe abortions.

How does the gag rule work? Any country that accepts family planning funds from the US can't even counsel women on abortions or perform abortions, even if they use their OWN money for the abortion counselling and abortion services. Abortion is LEGAL here but heaven forbid that women whose lives are threatened by pregnancy should be able to get abortions in the Third World where they need them the most.

3. The attacks under 9/11 occurred during Bush's watch. How dare he and his lackey Cheney (or is it the other way around) imply that this nation is safer under the Bush administration! Bush was warned REPEATEDLY by the CIA that Al Qaeda and specifically Osama bin Laden was planning an attack against the US and IGNORED those warnings (as well as information from the FBI and from sources within its own administration). The idea that planes could be used as bombs was KNOWN to the intelligence community from the mid-90s onward. As early as 1994 the French prevented an attempt to run a plane into the Eiffel tower.

Our "macho" leaders couldn't protect us against FOUR, count 'em FOUR, planes headed toward the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and the White House. It took passengers to save the White House. Clearly, Bush and the members of his administration aren't the only ones responsible for the intelligence lapse--members of the CIA, FBI, and past administrations dating all the way back to the Reagan administration bear some responsibility. It is interesting, however, that Bush opposed an independent commission to look into the causes of 9/11 and only gave in when political pressure mounted. (I'm also still wondering why those planes weren't shot out of the sky by the military as soon as it became known what was going on. They should have been. Hundreds would have still died but at least a thousand or two would have most likely been saved.)

4. Bush launched the war in Iraq under false pretenses and then failed to enact a PLAN for the reconstruction of Iraq. As a result he is making this country and this world a more dangerous place to live in by aiding and abetting our REAL enemies, which are Muslim fundamentalists.

Keep in mind that Saddam was a SECULAR dictator that the US supported in the 80s. So much for the "axis of evil." The attacks on 9/11 were committed by Islamic fundamentalists who are now STRONGER then they were previously. Our sons and daughters are dying for something worse than nothing--they are inadvertently aiding the enemy.

5. Bush pretends that countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are our allies, when both countries treat women horribly (an example: a woman in Pakistan was recently sentenced to be gang-raped because HER BROTHER accused a high status male of sexually abusing him) and are connected at least indirectly with Al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden is a Saudi and most of the 9/11 attackers were Saudis. The Saudis have funded schools over all the Middle East that teach hatred toward the US and western values. Many of these schools are in Pakistan.

Pakistan also has leaked nuclear information to our known enemies and has a population, from everything I've read, that is extremely hostile to the US, viewing Osama bin Laden as a hero.

6. Bush has spent BILLIONS of dollars on this failed war instead of spending the money securing our ports, securing our nuclear arsenal, securing our chemical plants, producing vaccines against bioterrorist threats--and just producing vaccines, period--and most importantly creating energy independence so we can stop the idiocy of pretending that Arab countries are our friends. WE need their oil and we need to stop needing their oil.

This country needs a massive R&D plan for energy independence enacted NOW.

7. Over 1,000 American lives have been lost in GW Bush's "catastrophic success" (his words, not mine) and who knows how many Iraqi lives in order to rid the world of a dictator who was not threatening us.

Please note that the world is filled with dictators and monarchs every bit as murderous as Saddam Hussein was. Presently, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese are being killed, tortured and raped by Arab militias and millions are in imminent danger of death, all with the tacit support of the Sudanese government, and we are doing nothing.

In any case, the greater enemy, Iran, is next door. From what I've read, Saddam wanted Iran to believe he had nuclear weapons because he knew Iran might have such a capacity and he thought Iran would not attack Iraq if Iran thought Iraq was similarly endowed.

So what do we do? We attack Iraq. Imagine the irony if Iran drops a nuclear bomb on us when our boys are dying next door in Iraq.

8. Before 9/11 the Taliban was supported by the Bush administration, given millions of dollars, OUR money, this to people who treat women worse than we are allowed to treat cats and dogs. To be fair, other administrations also supported the Taliban and this country has supported foreign dictators in the fight against Communism (and before that in the fight against Nazi Germany) for decades. That said, GW Bush has carried the "natural" hypocrisy of government to new extremes with his idiotic "axis of evil" comments. Presumably none of these countries were terribly evil in the past. North Korea, Pakistan, and possibly Iran have nuclear weapons and all three of these countries have either leaders or populations extremely hostile toward the US. Why aren't we invading these countries?

9. Halliburton and other companies directly or indirectly associated with the Bush administration are winning no-bid contracts to reconstruct Iraq. The reconstruction of Iraq should be run mainly by Iraqis and the Iraqi people should be the main beneficiaries. Americans should not get rich from the destruction wrought by American bombs.

10. GW Bush is a lying "born again" ex-boozer, ex-thief, ex-vandal (yes, Bush had been arrested for drunk driving and disorderly conduct well past his teen years) who was apparently a failure in everything he attempted before he entered politics despite all the advantages wealth could buy; a wastrel who blew one million dollars of taxpayer money avoiding service in Vietnam learning to fly an obsolete plane and "serving" in Alabama doing God knows what. He and Cheney, another liar--imagine accusing Kerry and Edwards of being absent from the Senate when he knows damn well they have been on the campaign trail for many months--play the role of macho men but neither one of these cowards fought in Vietnam. Kerry, for all his faults, did. (Cheney, by the way, has two drunk driving arrests).

Check out http://www.blogd.com/bushrecord.html for Bush's record of shame.

From what I've read, Ted Kennedy accused Bush of "arrogant ideological incompetence." Sounds right on the money to me. Not a fan of Mr. Ted but when you're right, you're right.

Please think about the future of this country, when you vote in November.

Please remember that we cannot be the policeman of the world. Free women here refuse to breed cannon fodder and when our military fills up with noncitizens and illegal immigrants we will be headed the way of the Roman Empire which stretched itself so thin it ended up hiring mercenaries to fight its endless battles until it finally collapsed as much from the inside out as from the outside in.

(NB: what are these "independent contractors" in Iraq if not hired mercenaries? I think we're closer to the Rome scenario than you think...--MKH)

Of course, Bush could try to reinstate the draft and force poor young men to die for his miserable mistake, and once re-elected he just might. Right now, he's putting off a major military offensive until AFTER the election. What colossal nerve--the fate of Iraq, its people, and our soldiers are simply a ploy in his election campaign.

This is the kind of man who makes me remember Richard Nixon with a great deal of fondness.

I urge you all to vote and to encourage all whom you know to vote as well.

Well, what more need be said? Throw the bastard out!

A few items from the Bush league file:

1.) George W. Bush is Tehran's candidate! Gratified that their old adversary Saddam is out of power and happy with the idea that Shi'ite candidates might sweep the Iraqi election, the head of Iran's security council is happily endorsing W for a second term. No word from Kim Jong Il about his preferences for US President, but two out of three countries in the Axis of Evil support Four More Years!

2.) The favored interpretation of the origins of the Grand Canyon is that the Genesis Flood carved the canyon, not billions and billions of years of slow erosion. Never mind that science says otherwise, Gawd said it, W. believes it, that settles it.

3.) The World Series could become a proxy battle between Bush and Kerry. Kerry is a major Red Sox fan, and the Red Sox's amazing winning streak after being behind 3-0 to the Yankees is a metaphor for Kerry's battle-back-from-behind performance in the polls. If the Astros beat the Cardinals, it will be Houston vs. Boston in the World Series. Three guess who W would support in that series, and two don't count.

Just a quick note to say that I talked to Frank Gonzales at Woodbury University, and my application was approved. "It's good that we got this done early...one less thing to sweat when it gets close to next Fall."

I was supposed to take a test for Math 112 today, but DSPS didn't get the test in time. So, I'll be doing it next Monday. I intend to take the next three tests in quick succession as well: the "Algebraic Topics" in the Math 112 text just so happen to cover topics I've been dealing with right now in Math 113. So one reinforces the other. I should be done with all the tests and the Final by the end of November.

If I do a Master's Thesis, I think it might be about Math Anxiety/Avoidance, the Affective Filter, and theoretical ways one can work around this formidable obstacle. I believe that the farther along I get in Mathematics proper (as opposed to Arithmetic...there is a difference) the better I'm doing and the less Affective issues I have. I do strongly believe that the educational theory I learned in Education 203 and I'm also working with in Linguistics 1 can be applied to Arithmetic and Mathematics, provided you deal with the subject in a similar way to how you deal with teaching a foreign language.

If you get students when it's early on in their education (K-3) you have the advantage of utilizing the miracle of language acquisition to get this new language across to students. This seems to be consonant with the way LAUSD is beginning to look at Math instruction already. Unfortunately I'm a little long in the tooth for this approach, so I have to learn Math like an adult learns a foreign language.

Anyway, this might be a bit technical for the blog...sorry. Let me just sum up by saying that I personally am feeling a lot more comfortable with Math, and these theoretical experiments I'm doing on myself are paying off. I might not go into Woodbury with all the Math requirements I need, but I will definately transfer there newly equipped to handle it better.

Rainy day, dream away...

It's actually pretty cool that it's raining, finally. The air is breathable and the dampness is somehow more tolerable now that it's actually rained. The worst time for me and my aches and pains is on a day when it's humid but it doesn't rain.

I'm now 100% ready for Halloween and also for Anime-LA, Anime Expo and Comic-Con. You've heard of Kunoichi (female ninjas), you've heard of Catgirls...well, I now have my Nekomimi no kunoichi outfit together. At least the winter version, anyway. Rather than going with the traditional Ninja hood and gi on top, I decided a hooded sweatshirt would be less effort, and would also kind of work on an "urban ninja" level as well. The pants are "real" Ninja pants, bought at a place called eBogu.Com. Basically they are just gi pants with tiebacks on the calves. Add a pair of weightlifting gloves, a black bandana, sunglasses, black sneakers, and ears and tail, and the effect is pretty cool.

However, I'm going to have to modify it for Summer. The hooded sweatshirt is going to be absolutely unbearable on the floor at AX and Comic-Con. I'm thinking of getting a "Ninj4 Union" T-Shirt from Megatokyo's Megagear store and making a lightweight hood that wouldn't look bad worn with a T-shirt. Either that or getting a Mexican Wrestling-style hood made by a local store that specializes in Luchador supplies...yes, there are such places and there's one not more than a few blocks from me.

Anyway, Anime-LA, a new Anime convention starting up in my native San Fernando Valley, has changed their date. Originally it was going to be held in February but now they will be running it the last weekend of January 2005. That's good, because it's now definitely not going to conflict with SCALE. I will be typing more about Anime-LA and Otaku-friendly Los Angeles in an upcoming article on my sister site, Ms. Geek's Los Angeles. Watch for it there.

Passing this along for my good friend Beep:

****

What I most want for my birthday...

From the it-doesn't-hurt-to-ask dept:

Please, please, please write to:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Let him know that you have a friend who is receiving medications free via Medically Needy Medi-Cal, under the 133% of federal poverty level program, that she has an SSDI income of approximately 131% of the federal poverty level which increases slightly every year due to Social Security cost of living increases, and that she is totally dependent on free Medi-Cal to literally survive.

Despite saving money in every way she can, including sharing a one-bedroom apartment with another disabled person, she has absolutely no disposable income left over at the end of every month and cannot pay for her medications. She is taking nine medications regularly, including a very expensive chemotherapy drug, and has severe systemic lupus erythematosus. She is very worried about what the plans are for people such as herself with the proposed "Medi-Cal Redesign" for which the state of California received a federal Medicaid waiver.

You may want to put something in the letter with your feelings about literally killing people to balance the budget...and, if you are a Republican, to mention that you don't believe your party should do this. October is also lupus awareness month.

If you are a California voter, please be sure to include your name and address, including zip code.

Please send a copy of the letter to:

Senator Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Senator Dianne Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Edward Kennedy
315 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Congresman Pete Stark
239 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515

Health Access
414 13th Street Suite 450
Oakland, CA 94612

Families USA
1334 G Street, NW
Washington DC 20005

Bobbie Wunsch
Medi-Cal Redesign Work Groups
info@Medi-calredesign.org

Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, Chair
California State Assembly Health Committee
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0024

Senator Deborah Ortiz, Chair
California State Senate Health Committee
State Capitol, Room 5114
Sacramento, CA 95814

President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Please send me a blind copy of the letter (don't put my name and address in it, or I'll get investigated or something, but I would like a copy to use for further advocacy efforts for people in my position)
Pamela Gross
c/o Donald Burr
P.O. Box 91212
Santa Barbara, CA 93190

It's a lot to ask, but this beep wants to live...thank you in advance, from the bottom of my heart.

****

And may I further add that it's a fucked world we live in when people have to literally plead for their lives to try to keep their health care.

Today a woman died because she was in line in the hot sun for four hours waiting to get her flu shot. I'm not kidding.

The rest of the world is alternately laughing at us and shocked about us and our barbaric, backward, health care system. We once had private, insurance-run fire brigades in America. When people realized that this system wasn't working, (people's houses were burning down because their insurance company's fire brigade wasn't in the neighborhood, etc...) they banded together and created volunteer fire departments. These volunteer fire departments became professional, publically funded fire departments.

Insurance-run health care is as silly an idea as insurance-run fire brigades. It's time to get real.

About a stain on the steps of Hamilton High....

One day, I think it was some time in the '70s, my mother and I were walking near my grandparents' apartment on Los Angeles' Westside. Suddenly, she pointed something out to me.

"See that brown stain over there?"

I saw something that looked like a very old coffee stain there...it was light and had faded but yeah, it was still there.

"A girl bled to death on these steps when I was in High School."

She then told me the whole story. A girl had gotten pregnant. She couldn't tell her parents, and certainly could not afford a discreet trip to a doctor and the payment of a large sum of money for a clandestine abortion like Beverly Hills upper crust girls could. Her boyfriend had deserted her. Bearing a child out of wedlock in the late '50s, even in cosmopolitan Los Angeles, was enough to destroy one's life forever.

She decided to take matters into her own hands. Mom did not know with what she tried to abort the fetus with, but she had done something and had staggered out of the girl's bathroom bleeding profusely. She managed to get out the doors of the building and down a few stairs when she collapsed, hemorrhaging to death. The fire department got to her way too late to save her.

"This is why I brought you here. I want you to know how important it is you have effective birth control and safe and legal abortions." my mother finished, gravely. "This kind of thing should never happen again."

Guess what, folks. In 30 out of 50 states, this kind of thing is going to start happening again if George W. Bush gets a chance to appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Here is the whole story, but I am going to give you a rundown of what is likely to happen the day after Roe v. Wade is overturned:

Abortion is immediately recriminalized in these states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Abortion is endangered in these states: Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Abortion is safe, but could be vulnerable to changes in state law in these states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

I know that California has laws on the books that specifically protect the right to choose, as do Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Washington and Vermont. But California's penchant to rule by ballot initiative might mean that a confusingly-worded initiative given the right push by the right people with the right amount of money could repeal otherwise strong laws.

It just so happens that a lot of the states currently in play this election year are also states where the repeal of Roe v. Wade will either trigger an immediate return to criminalized abortion or a strong danger of legislative action against the right to choose as soon as the ban is instituted. I would hope that women in these states understand that a vote for W is a vote for Supreme Court justices like the current President's favorite, Antonin Scalia. A vote for W is a vote for the possibility of girls and young women dying long before their time because they cannot obtain a safe and legal abortion and must take matters into their own hands.

From the 'do I see a pale horse?' department:

Guess what the FDA just approved for human implantation? A brand new artificial heart? Some other miracle of medical progress?

Nope. Just implantable ID chips. Nothing to be alarmed about...right? Right?

Remember, Christians, when you go to the polls...this was approved on W's watch. Perhaps, just maybe, your golden boy isn't playing for the team you thought he was playing for.

Bush made a big deal about Kerry making Ted Kennedy "The Conservative Senator from Massachusetts" last night in the last debate, but the fact remains that W's "borrow and spend and spend and spend" policies have been way more detrimental to the country than anything resembling the old Republican shibboleth of "Tax n' spend libruls."

Read it and weep, folks: here are the newest figures on the budget deficit. Add to this the fact that W hasn't gotten the jawbone out yet to use against his Saudi buddies regarding oil prices, we're still hemmorhaging jobs, his record is only getting worse and worse. He can run, but he can't hide.

I am hoping that the large percentage of young adults who have no landline telephones are skewing the numbers. I'm hoping that the book-cooking going on at places like Gallup is also concealing the truth of what is really going on in the Body Politic.

It doesn't hurt also that Kerry got the broom out yesterday and swept W's sorry ass. 3 for 3, plus a nice showing for Edwards against Cheney The Hutt.

I am still hoping against hope for a November 2nd Surprise. Please. If you haven't registered and there's still time, REGISTER. If you have registered, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND VOTE NOVEMBER 2nd. If you haven't and don't intend to, SHAME ON YOU.

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while...guess it's time for a Geekback, where I bring y'all up to date on what I've been up to.

1.) I passed the Math 113 test. It was a C, but the funny thing was that everyone in the class got a C in it, or worse. Hito-sensei is now moving a wee bit slower during class to make sure everyone understands her completely. I like her a lot. Another ally in my "math army."

2.) Due to a mixup at the LA Community College District campus my Physical Science 1 prof teaches at, my test arrived today rather than yesterday. He says he will email the test to Disabled Students Programs and Services from now on. I just have to find out the email for the proctor.

3.) Richie's almost done with Jury Duty...as in it's pretty much all over but the paperwork and the formal reading of the verdict. This means a few less bus trips in my future...yay!

4.) BlueTomato is still silent under Linux, and now I find the TCP/IP settings aren't sticky. It's part of the tuning process which is bound to happen with Linux on laptops. Oh well, I have enough Amtrak tickets for one and a half round trips, and there's always SFVLUG as a resource between visits.

From the "Call For Help" department:

The new version of the 2.6.8 kernel brings APM back, but sound is still screwed.

At least Windoze works, but that's not the OS I'd rather use.

There is too much about Linux that is still in "sacrifice a chicken and shake its bones at the moon" mode. At least when you are working with a laptop.

Time to get my Athlon back up and running...it's been in pieces for a while. At least on desktops Linux is pretty spiffy.

Well, the hardware is all in and updated. The software, however, is not. Debian Linux is being bratty and despite Chad Page being an absolute Linux wizard, something isn't configuring right.

At least it looks like the whole hard drive is happy, though. And so is the DVD/CD-RW combo drive. I have yet to play a DVD on here, and sound is being obstinate. However, I do have an XV overlay now, so I can play VCDs under Linux. That is, once the sound gets cleared up. Oh yeah, and something is screwed up under power manglement, too.

Anyway, it is a start, at least. Tomorrow might see a fix. Or more tsouris. Who knows.

Transmitting live from the Apple Store, Santa Monica.

We're here hanging out...Chad's using the free wireless bandwidth, and I am here in front of a beautiful iMac G5 blogging.

The Screen Savers was a lot of fun...in spite of the fact that they are still Leo-less, they still have Yoshi, and the new folks aren't that bad either. My throat is still sore from screaming like a banshee for swag.

Tonight we go off to Santa Barbara. BlueTomato, my trusty ThinkPad 600E, is going to get a major makeover. Yes, we are also going to see Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, probably on Sunday.

OMFG I want one of these G5 beauties. These are so sweet.

Oh yeah, the debate is going on. Nope, they are not showing it here. We're going to have to check out the transcripts or video later.

I will have some pix from TSS next post.

From the "Sign in, please" department:

I spent almost the entire day doing my civic duty, and so did my hubby Richie. Richie is doing jury duty, and I went to four classes at LAVC in an attempt to register people to vote. I landed a few, and a couple of more people took registration forms to fill out at home.

Richie really takes the Jury Duty thing seriously. I admit it: usually I try my best to weasel out of it when faced with it. Almost everyone does. He believes that if he has to face a jury of his peers he wants one with people who take the task seriously. He sees serving Jury Duty as a karmic duty. I can't argue with that logic.

As far as the debate last night went...I don't know whether I saw enough of it to make a judgment. I had my gut reaction to Cheney...he reminds me of Jabba the Hutt with glasses, and I mean that on levels not just on the visual. Edwards reminds me of an earnest Southern preacher, maybe one not too far out of seminary school. He's also slick like one too. However, not enough to pronounce him anything less than Better Than Cheney(tm). The subject of being "one heartbeat away from the Presidency" really gave me the shivers. Yeah, W is bad, but whoa nelly, Cheney as one heartbeat away from the Presidency is a scary thought.

Tomorrow is my first full-blown test in Math 113. I did ok on a bunch of quizzes, but this is the big time. Then Friday my long geek weekend begins. Early.

My Santa Barbara geek buddies got tickets to see The Screen Savers tape on Friday. Now, it's not as kewl as it would have been back when Leo Laporte was still on the show, but Yoshi is still part of the crew, which sort of redeems it. Then again, back when TSS was TSS they were still taping in San Francisco and I would curse the fact that it was too far away to go to a taping. Now they tape in West Los Angeles and I curse the fact that G4 fired most of the people that made the show so special. Oh well, you can't have it all.

Oh yeah, I didn't get to bring Richie to see Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, but I'll prolly be seeing it up North with the SB crew. It finally hits theatres there on Friday. We've got tentative plans for Saturday Night. Too bad Richie can't come up with me and see it on the big screen. Seeing it on DVD won't be the same, dammit.

Ah yes...DVDs. One of the successfully completed errands of the day was to also snag my copy of Fahrenheit 9/11. Apparently Wal*Mart either sold out of it...AGAIN...or they are pulling people's chains and not stocking it in the stores. However, it's on their site. W00t.

They also still sell Lindows/Linspire loaded PCs too. It's quite simple to turn a Lindows PC into a canonical Debian Linux PC, did you know that? The link will take you to how someone did that with a laptop. Not a desktop, a laptop. It's kewl. It also works with Knoppix, only somewhat easier, and this is likely how I will do my install on the fully-upgraded ThinkPad of mine. Either that, or the Debian Sarge DVD. With that Panasonic combo drive, that's now a possibility.

Too bad Wal*Mart sucks so damn much. They still haven't entered the realm of suckiness that Microsoft and News Corp and Halliburton live in, but they are awfully close. They share suckiness levels with Clear Channel and Disney and Viacom, though. And that's quite sucky indeed.

Note: 10/6/2004, 8:46am: I really think that I came off sounding like Butt-Head that last paragraph. It's retarded. However, it amuses me so much I think I'll keep it.

I hate hypocrisy.

Let me state this again: I hate hypocrisy.

And President George W. Bush is turning out to be a championship-level hypocrite.

Let's go directly to the goods, shall we? Apparently in spite of W's "God is my wingman" rhetoric, W would rather watch Baseball than go to church. Like the "sainted" President Ronald Reagan did during his frequently God-invoking administration, W rarely darkens the door of any church.

This doesn't wash. President Jimmy Carter attended a Baptist church in DC every Sunday during his administration, and even found time to teach Sunday School there. President Bill Clinton attended a Methodist church almost every Sunday when he was at home in the White House. Senator John Kerry goes to Mass almost every Sunday, even though there are high-ranking clerics in the American branch of the Catholic Church who would like to deny him Communion for his views on Abortion, Birth Control and so on.

So where is George on Sunday?

Anywhere but Church.

Despite this, the Born-Again brigades still consider W their candidate. And as a return shot today, the release day of Fahrenheit 9/11 on DVD, another DVD, George W. Bush: Faith In The White House will drop. True to form, the slapped-together documentary is nothing short of a hagiography of W, and conveniently ignores his unchurched status.

Now, back when I was going through my Hebrew Christian phase, you were "in Sin" if you didn't go to Church (we called it "shul" actually) every Saturday. Yes, Saturday...the congregation I was a part of had services on the traditional Jewish shabbat. As I understand it, most Evangelical churches see things a similar way. A good Christian attends Church every Sunday, come Hell, High Water, or attacking drooling hordes of Secular Humanist zombies.

Hypocrites. I hate those guys.

Oh yeah, I'm buying my copy of Fahrenheit 9/11 (and a copy for my neighbor's kid who wants to go into the Navy after she graduates High School) today. Are you?

From the "Poor AIM" department:

AIM was behaving badly today, so I actually had to bite the bullet and install the official AIM client in case I had to turn in a trouble ticket. AIM 1.5 for Linux didn't install on my currently borked Linux install (are you surprised?) but it installed just fine on my Windozer.

Good god it is awful. About half a dozen windows pop up all over the desktop, and they flash like a Las Vegas sign. Now contrast that with the gentle elegance of gaim, my chosen AIM client. It opens one buddy list window and a tabbed window for all your chats. If you want separate windows for your conversations, you can do that by unchecking one checkbox. You can use a custom icon for yourself if you want, but that's optional.

The gaim that's on this Linux box is a bit more primitive than version 1.0.0 of the Windows version, but it serves me well. I know that version 1.0.0 of the Linux version must be great. Once I reinstall Linux on this box and get the new HD installed on my laptop I'll be able to play with it too.

If AOHell wants to keep people using their IM client, they should definitely consider, at the very least, switching from using the Internet Explorer HTML module to using Gecko, the guts behind Mozilla and Firefox. Seeing all those IE windows on the desktop was disquieting, to say the least. At least the software didn't install any spyware, like I was dreading.

Anyway, the link for gaim is here: http://gaim.sourceforge.net . It's a good alternative to AIM for both Windows and Linux. MacOS X has iChat, which is pretty hot too.

One last thing...I will also be installing a slot-loading Panasonic combo drive on my Thinkpad. Burn, baby, burn!

The California Ballot Propositions: my take.

In California, we do things differently than the rest of the 49 states. Most of our legislation comes from ballot initiatives. Some argue that California is a purer democracy because of it, where others will argue that it's an unwise usurpation of the Founders' vision of our representative democratic system. Certainly, it's tied the hands of both the legislative and executive branches here in California, and made cutting the budget to bring it back into balance a labor worthy of the Hercules of Greek legend, not merely "Hercules In New York comes to California."

Anyway, there's some biggies on the ballot this time. I know I have already weighed in on one proposition, but there are others. Let's begin.

First up, 1A. This one's quite good, because it's a safeguard against raiding local coffers to balance the State budget. One of the dirtiest little secrets of the Schwarzenegger administration is how Ah-nold raided local budgets to balance the current budget. My suggestion: YES.

Next up, 59. This is a "sunshine law" to open up most State Government meetings to public observation. Many of the most important meetings held to decide the minutia of the current California budget were held behind closed doors. While this will not affect Schwarzenegger's private smoke-filled tent, it will go a good long way towards opening the rest of California government to citizen scrutiny. My suggestion: YES.

Then there's 60. This was designed as "defensive legislation" against an open primary system. However, it goes exactly the opposite direction and ossifies the current system, outlawing interesting ideas like instant runoff voting and so forth. We need the flexibility to try new ideas. Open primaries are an old idea that doesn't work, but so is the status quo. My suggestion: NO.

Confusingly, the next proposition is 60A, but it has no resemblance whatsoever to its ballot neighbor. This is simply an amendment which will assure that surplus property sold by the State will go to paying off bonded indebtedness, rather than to any other application. Since I'm not a big fan of bonded indebtedness, except for very worthy causes, I would suggest a YES vote.

Next up: 61. OK, this is a bond proposition, but it's for a very good cause. Children's Hospital of Los Angeles is getting a bit long in the tooth, and could use some modernizing. This bond proposition is a relatively modest one, and will go a long way to helping these hospitals of last resort for underinsured and uninsured children. YES.

Next: 62. This is the meat of the attempt to restore the "open" or "blanket" primary. This proposition holds that the two primary election candidates receiving the most votes in the primary, regardless of party, will go on to face each other in the next general election. Can you see how that would suck? Imagine if you had, as a choice on the ballot, either a raging right-wing Republican or a moderate, Ah-nold anointed Republican? No Democratic choices, no Libertarians, no Greens, nothing else. Just Bob Bible-thumper and Jim Corporate Candidate. Great choice, eh? Big NO.

Next, Prop 63. This is the kind of funded mandate I can get behind. Rather than further committing the State to more bonded indebtedness, this proposition seeks to fund expanded mental health services for the indigent by a 1% tax on income above $1 Million. OK, it's a tax. But if I were making more than a million dollars a year, I would consider this a minor price to pay to make some serious inroads against the problem of the homeless mentally ill. Yes, I know the arguments about "The Millionaires Next Door" and how more people are in that category than you think. But really now, 1%? Is that skin off anyone's behind, especially the prosperous? Think of it as insurance against getting your Bruno Magli shoes puked on by a mentally ill homeless bum on the streets. Big YES.

From a good idea to a really, really BAD idea: Proposition 64. I knew something was funky about this proposition when I saw commercials in favor of it starting a month ago, the first out of the gate. They give sob stories about small businesses getting "shaken down" by rapacious trial lawyers, but in reality the people behind this initiative are Big Oil, Big Banking, Big Insurance, and Microsoft, to name but four. Who are Unocal, Bank of America, State Farm and Microsoft trying to fool? Us. Big NO.

I really don't have enough info to say anything about Proposition 65. However, my personal way of dealing with ballot propositions is this: when in doubt, VOTE NO. However, I'll blog my views about the proposition when I have more info on it. Verdict: Jury's out.

No uncertainty about the next one, Proposition 66. When the Three-Strikes proposition was passed, (also known as a "Three-Time Loser" law) we were told that only serious, violent felons were to be affected by it. In practice, people were getting their third strike from stealing food, selling pot, and other non-violent crimes. Three-Strikes has made our society a more, not less dangerous one. Why is it that we have more hit-and-run accidents and dangerous car chases now then before Three-Strikes? Why is it that our prisons are crammed full with inmates? Three-Strikes is not the total reason why our prisons are overcrowded hell-holes...responsible decriminalization of soft drugs and medicalization of the hard drug problem is another solution that deserves a good, honest look. In this "just say No" society, however, sanity in drug laws is a solution that dare not speak its name. However, fixing the flaws in Three-Strikes would be a good start. BIG, BIG YES.

Proposition 67 is next. This would put a new surcharge on phone service to fund improvements in 911 service and to the Trauma Care system. While I am against most regressive taxes, and a phone surcharge is a regressive tax that hurts lower and middle class people more than the rich, this is necessary. Today the Van Nuys Campus of Northridge Hospital is closing its emergency room, and King-Drew Medical Center has already voluntarily eliminated their Trauma Care service in a neighborhood which desperately needs it. Real universal health care for all Americans is what is needed, but this isn't a half-bad bandaid measure until we get there. Big YES.

Proposition 68 and 70 are both measures to expand gaming in California. While I believe there is nothing morally wrong with gambling, I think that expanding it further, particularly in urban areas, is unwise. Prop 68 is funded by Churchill Downs, the racetrack company that owns horse and dog racing facilities all over the US, and by Gardena card clubs, particularly the one owned by Larry Flynt, the Hustler Casino. Prop 70 is slightly less repugnant, and is basically set up so that the tribes that didn't enter into compacts with Gov. Schwarzenegger can start or expand their casinos. Still, enough is enough. I'm giving both a little NO...research it for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

Proposition 69 would be something I could get behind if it weren't for how broad it is. I think that setting up a DNA database on convicted felons is a damn good idea. However, it's much broader than that. Anyone arrested for a felony would be added to this database. These felonies can include victimless crimes, not just violent crimes. And we all know that not everyone arrested for a felony is actually a criminal. There are enough innocents being arrested, and enough erosion of the presumption of innocence, to where this is a bad idea. Big NO.

I have already spoken about my objections about Prop 71, and I haven't heard anything yet to change my mind.

Lastly among the State ballot measures is Proposition 72. This is a public referendum on the "Pay or Play" limited plan to make sure that medium-to-large scale employers pay for their employees health care. If a business employs 19 or fewer employees, they would be exempt from this program. If a business employs 20 to 49 employees, they only have to participate if a business tax credit to defray their costs is also passed. If a business employs 50 to 199 employees, they must either provide insurance for their employees or pay into a State insurance pool that would cover their employees. If a business employs 200 or more employees, they will have to cover not only the employee but the employee's dependents in the same manner. Notice that this is all contingent on being employed. This does nothing for the unemployed, this does nothing for employees in very small businesses. This is not universal health care for California, this is not universal health care, period. Big Insurance will make out like bandits with this proposition, just as they have with universally mandated Automobile Insurance. This is a bandaid on a person who's suffered traumatic amputation and is hemorrhaging furiously, folks. But it's a start. There have been tons of scare ads on the TV about this proposition. The people who support Prop 72 simply don't have the money to answer this barrage of misinformation and disinformation. They have to settle for voices crying in the wilderness, like me. Lucky them. BIG YES.

I'll go over the LA City and LA County propositions sometime in the future, and I also intend to reprint this before November 2nd on my site.

The deadline to register to vote is October 18th. Your registration form must be postmarked on or before October 18th. DO IT. This is a big election with a lot at stake. If you aren't registered, get registered, dammit!

It looks like it's time to finally reinstall on this Linux box. Things have gotten quite crufty here, the hard drive has been on the fritz for literally months, and I need to swap out the DVD-ROM for the lovely Pioneer DVD-/+RW that Tom Reed gave me months ago.

The last straw was when I inadvertently toasted Mozilla...actually ChatZilla, to be exact. I read something about there being an update for ChatZilla. I installed it in Mozilla, everything looked copacetic, then when I tried to open up ChatZilla it gave me an ugly message that looked like something only a code Jedi could understand. Bleah.

Now I've got Firefox, and my only wish is to somehow convince it to use KMail as my email helper app. Yeah, I know that it's optimized to use Thunderbird, but what if you don't want to change the email proggy that you have grown to like?

If anyone knows how to do this, please email me at msgeek703 at gmail dot com. There is a clicky link on the sidebar. I also would like a .WAV of George W. Bush saying "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" from the first debate, if anyone's got it.

Oh yeah...no more Mandrake for me. Sorry, it's time for me to grow up. So what I'm going to do is do a HD-install of Knoppix, then apt-get update and apt-get dist-upgrade to canonical Debian Sid. People get all freaky about "unstable" but really Debian's idea of "unstable" is more like Linux-Mandrake and Fedora's idea of "ship it!" Au revoir, Mandrake, mon ami. Bon jour, Debian.

I kind of wish that I had gone up to Santa Barbara today, but now I can make sure that all my math homework is done by the end of the weekend. I also have some errands to run before the end of the weekend, too.

Oh well, my trip is delayed. I'll be going to SB next weekend, not this one.

More time to work on the math...although the way this is set up I will have a weekend's downtime before taking the next make-up test for Math 112. However, I will be fresh for the Math 113 test.

I did way better on the Physical Science 1 test than I thought I did. B+ rather than D-. Whew...

It's good that the spin is holding for Kerry. He won the debate last night. Nobody can take that away from him.

Now let me end this by invoking Mortal Kombat and instruct Senator Kerry to FINISH HIM!!!!!

Not only did the major flash polls say that Kerry won the debate, but even Faux News's website had to admit that Kerry carried it.

Even the conservative Valley paper The LA Daily News had to call the debate in favor of Kerry. The center-left leaning LA Times (sorry, soul-sucking registration required) was unambiguous in its estimate of Kerry's triumph last night.