The Agrinautica

   Okay its time for some voting. I should have told you how to vote earlier but well, I procrastinated. Anyway, I'm going to tell you how to vote on some of the issues now. You should probably abstain on everything I don't give you guidance about here =D

Davis Issues
Measures H & L - AKA Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) seizure of this corner of Yolo County through Imminent Domain from PG & E. Both sides seem to be giving the same kind of statistics about how they'd be better so thats kind of a wash to me. All the local governments are supporting SMUD and I figure they've managed to sift through the numbers and do an analysis ... but I'm extremely loathe to take THEIR word for anything. And so it comes down to the ideological issues: SMUD, a government agency, versus PG & E a private corporation. While PG & E can very easily be characterized as an evil corporation, its nevertheless a private enterprise and if anything can be appealed to "our American values" its not forcibly seizing private property by governments. As such I'm going to have to vote my concience and vote private enterprise, despite the outrage this may cause to my communist supporters.

Measure K - AKA approving a Target in the corner of town. Supporters cite that currently we are the largest leaker or sales tax to neighbouring towns in the whole county and that'll only get worse if we don't build a target. Additionally it will be very convenient to have a target, and it will be one of something like ten large retail buildings nation-wide to be built to the standard of environmental friendliness that it will. Opponents cite conservative NIMBYism and fear for the economic safety of the bougousie small-business owners. I see these as spurious non-arguments and therefore support the building of a Target in Davis and urge you to vote yes on K.

Measure L - A Measure to recommend the city council consider choice voting! Because you know it would never occur to Councilman Heystek to consider choice voting otherwise. It seems kind of retarded to have a measure to recommend the council consider something, but nevertheless, I very strongly urge you to vote yes on Measure L.


Statewide
Prop 86 - Yes! Because I am all for the gradual elimination of cigarettes from society, and the utilization of market forces to encourage this is brilliant. Anyway, I see it as a tax on self-destructive behaviour.
Prop 87 - Kind of retarded.. taxing our production but NOT passing it on to consumers? I tried to read the text of the bill but it was very long and very boring, so I don't know how they intend to prevent it from being "passed on to consumers." But it SHOULD be. In the preambulatory clauses of the bill it mentions that it will reduce consumption of automobile fuel ... not if they succeed in preventing the costs from being passed on to consumers! What it will accomplish is increasing our relative consumption of oil imported from elsewhere ... go us! Even so, I'm in favour of reducing the amount of oil extracted from the ground, which is what this will accomplish, so I say vote yes. Its retarded though.
Prop 88 - It was looking decent until I read "flat tax of $50 per parcel of land." That is unacceptably regressive to me. No.
Prop 90 - Justice Wheat urges one to vote no because this will in effect allow protected environmental land to be imminent domained. Its complicated, I don't fully understand it, but Wheat appears to and I'm trusting him on this ... and so should you!


Justices
   Did you know there are justices up for election or something? I didn't. And from looking at the elections pages I still can't figure out even if we're choosing one from each relevant group or what... or any way to evaluate them. I'd really like to have an opinion on this, but I have no idea what is going on and I blame the system.


In Other News
   Its Kristy & I's 3 Year Anniversery today. Expect an update on that later. Also today I submitted my press release announcing my retirement from the ASUCD Court (!!). I will be making my farewell speech at next week's senate (the 16th) and at that time formally resigning "effective when replaced." Okay now I've got to run off and vote.

   I caught up with George Andrews, today, recent campaign manager of US Congress candidate Mike Dugas. Though Dugas lost to heavily entrenched incumbant Bob Matsui, Congressman Matsui passed away three months later (this January 1st). It has since been a matter of much speculation as to whether Dugas is going to run again in the special election to replace him.
   George Andrews informed me today that Matsui's widow will be running in the special election, noting that widows make invincible politicians. So we I then came to a logical conclusion: in order for Dugas to defeat Mrs Matsui, what he needs to do is become a widower himself! "but seriously, elections aren't won by being funny. Unfortunately they are won by evil phone banks and evil phone calls." There you have it, from the man who got Keith Shively elected. He proceeded to complain about being woken up every morning with phone calls from network reports wanting to know if Dugas is running again, and grumbled about how unruly Daily Show reporters broke his pellet gun.


Poll Time
[Poll #417632]


Picture of the Day

ASUCD President Kalen Gallagher in his office